Dante's Divine Comedy - 1883 Author:Dante Alighieri Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ARGUMENT TO CANTO III. The two Poets now start to ascend the mountain of Purgatory, but find the road too steep and impracticable. While doubting how to proce... more »ed, they catch sight of a troop of spirits who point out to them the proper path to follow in the ascent, and while journeying with them, one of the spirits, Manfred!, late King of Sicily and Apulia, recounts to Dante his death, his contrition, and dilates upon the boundless nature of the Divine mercy. CANTO III. When this sudden flight dispersed those spirits through the plain, with faces turned towards the mountain whither reason urges them, I drew near to my faithful guide, and how could I have held my course without him ? Who else could have led me up the mountain ? He seemed to me to be self-reproached. O pure and worthy conscience, how bitter a pang is a slight fault to thee ! When his feet ceased from that haste, which mars the decency of every act, my mind, which was at first distraught, enlarged its scope as if eager to proceed; and I turned my face towards the hill, which stretches aloft towards Avregnaohe la subitana fuga Dispergesse color per la campagua, Eivolti al monte, ove ragion ne fruga; lo mi ristrinsi alia fida compagna: E come sare' io senza lui corso ? 5 Chi m' avria tratto su per la montagna ? Ei mi parea da Be stesso rimorso. 0 dignitosa coscienza e netta, Come t' e picciol fallo amaro morso ! Quando li piedi suoi lasciar la fretta, 10 Che 1' onestade ad ogni atto dismaga, La mente mia, che prima era ristretta, Lo intento rallargo, si come vaga, E diedi il viso mio incontro al poggio, Che inverse il ciel piu alto si dialaga. 15Heaven. The Sun, which flared out red behind us, was broken up before me in the shape of the obstacle that his rays found in my person. I ...« less