'Son,' said the courteous Master,[217] 'understand, All such as in the wrath of God expire, From every country muster on this strand. To cross the river they are all on fire; Their wills by Heavenly justice goaded on Until their terror merges in desire. This way no righteous soul has ever gone; Wherefore[218] of thee if Charon should complain, Now art thou sure what by his words is shown.' When he had uttered this the dismal plain 130 Trembled[219] so violently, my terror past Recalling now, I'm bathed in sweat again. Out of the tearful ground there moaned a blast Whence lightning flashed forth red and terrible, Which vanquished all my senses; and, as cast In sudden slumber, to the ground I fell. FOOTNOTES: [203] _Power Divine, etc._: The Persons of the Trinity, described by their attributes. [204] _If not eternal_: Only the angels and the heavenly spheres were created before Inferno. The creation of man came later. But from _Inf._ xxxiv. 124 it appears that Inferno was hollowed out of the earth; and at _Parad._ vii. 124 the earth is declared to be 'corruptible and enduring short while;' therefore not eternal. [205] _Hard, etc._: The injunction to leave all hope behind makes Dante hesitate to enter. Virgil anticipates the objection before it is fully expressed, and reminds him that the passage through Inferno is to be only one stage of his journey. Not by this gate will he seek to quit it. [206] _True good, etc._: Truth in its highest form--the contemplation of God. [207] _Uncouth accents_: 'Like German,' says Boccaccio. [208] _Horror-stricken_: 'My head enveloped in horror.' Some texts have 'error,' and this yields a better meaning--that Dante is amazed to have come full into the crowd of suffering shades before he has even crossed Acheron. If with the best texts 'horror' be read, the meaning seems to be that he is so overwhelmed by fear as to lose his presence of mind. They are not yet in the true Inferno, but only in the vestibule or forecourt of it--the flat rim which runs round the edge of the pit. [209] _Else triumph, etc._: The satisfaction of the rebel angels at finding that they endured no worse punishment than that of such as remained neutral. [210] _A banner_: Emblem of the instability of those who would never take a side. [211] _That death, etc._: The touch is very characteristic of Dante. He feigns astonishment at finding that such a proportion of mankind can preserve so pitiful a middle course between good and evil, and spend lives that are only 'a kind of--as it were.'