The Divine Comedy by Dante, Illustrated, Purgatory, Volume 1 — Dante Alighieri — John Shaqi
The Divine Comedy by Dante, Illustrated, Purgatory, Volume 1
Dante Alighieri · en
His lazy acts and broken words my lips
To laughter somewhat mov'd; when I began:
"Belacqua, now for thee I grieve no more.
But tell, why thou art seated upright there?
Waitest thou escort to conduct thee hence?
Or blame I only shine accustom'd ways?"
Then he: "My brother, of what use to mount,
When to my suffering would not let me pass
The bird of God, who at the portal sits?
Behooves so long that heav'n first bear me round
Without its limits, as in life it bore,
Because I to the end repentant Sighs
Delay'd, if prayer do not aid me first,
That riseth up from heart which lives in grace.
What other kind avails, not heard in heaven?"'
Before me now the Poet up the mount
Ascending, cried: "Haste thee, for see the sun
Has touch'd the point meridian, and the night
Now covers with her foot Marocco's shore."
End of Project Gutenberg's The Vision of Purgatory, Part 1, by Dante Alighieri
Translated By The Rev. H. F. Cary, Illustrated by Gustave Dore