Giovanni Stradano

I was already at the place where the
   resounding of water can be heard, as it
   falls into the next round, not much different
from the bees' rumbling, when three shades took off at
   the same time, from a mob which was passing by,
   under the rain of severe torments. They
came toward us, & each of them started yelling:
   "Stop and take a break, since in your style you appear
   to be someone from our own perverse land."
Oh my, what lesions I saw all over each member,
   with fresh wounds, scabs and scars from the searing flames!
   Pure aching strikes me still, as I recall them.
Vergil, the learned master, heeded their cries;
   he turned his face to me and said, "Hold on now,
   one wishes to be courteous to such men as these.
And if it weren't the nature of this place for
   the fire to dart like arrows, I would claim that
   making haste is better for your interests than theirs."
As we came to a stop, they began their age-old
   chant again; and when they made it to our position,
   all three of them formed themselves into a wheel.
As wrestlers are in the habit of doing,
   naked and oiled up, eyeing their grip and point
   of attack, before their blows and the thrusting,
so did they whirl about, each one directing
   his gaze toward me, so that they were craning the neck
   opposite the constant shuffle of their feet.
"If the misery of this unstable spot fails to make
   us and our prayers respectable," began one
   of them, "as well as our browned features and cinged[30
hair, let our fame twist your arm into telling
   us who you are, as your surviving feet drag
   over the inferno with such security.
This man whose footprints you see me trampling
   on, as he goes about entirely nude and hair-
   less, was of higher status than you might
believe: he was kind Gualdrada's grandson;
   Guido Guerra was his name, & in his lifetime,
   he acted with a fair amount of common
sense, and with his dagger. The other man, who
   is grinding down the sand behind me, is Tegghiaio
   Aldobrandi, whose word ought to've been taken
in the world above. And I, who am put to
   the cross with them, was Jacopo Rusticucci; and
   truly, my backwoods shrew wife destroyed me more
than any other." If I could have taken
   cover from the fire, I would have jumped down there
   among them, & I believe the learned master
might have allowed it; but because it would've
   burned and fired me like clay, terror overcame
   the good intentions which I had, which made
me desirous of embracing them. So I
   began: "I'm not being disrespectful,
   though y' all's condition pierces me with pain
so deep that it will only too slowly
   disperse, soon as this lord of mine formed words
   for me so that I understood what manner
of people that you were, who came to us.
   I am a native of your country, & I
   always relate and accept your works and[60
your names with fondness. I omit the bitterness,
   in order to go for the sweet fruits which
   my truly noble guide has promised me."
"If someone's spirit leads your limbs a long
   way," he then replied, "and if your celebrity
   may illuminate you after, do tell whether
courtesy and courage abide in our city
   as they used to, or whether they have turned
   away; for Guglielmo Borsiere, such a
man who newly with us feels regret, and
   comes here along with our comrades, causes lots
   of torment among such shades, with his statements."
"New men and fast gains have produced arrogance
   and excess within you, oh town of Florence, so that
   you already bewail your own weeping over it!!"
So screamed I, with my head held high; and the
   three shades, so as to perceive my response,
   looked one another over, as if with evil eye
at the truth. "If satisfying others at
   another time so quickly is worth your while,
   lucky you, to talk like so in your correspondence!
But if you make it out of this dark place alive,
   and return to view the lovely stars again, when
   you profit from saying 'I was there,' be sure
to make poetic discourse to gentle people
   regarding us." Then they broke the wheel and
   their sleek legs seemed to flee in taking flight.
Saying 'amen' could not last so long as
   it took for them to vanish; at which point,
   leaving seemed right to the master poet.[90
I followed him, & we had only gone a short
   while, when the noise of water was so close by
   that we were hardly able to hear any speech.
As in that flowing stream which first takes its course
   due east at Monte Viso, over on the righthand
   side of th' Apennines, and is known as Aquacheta
above which point, before one emerges
   from the riverbed's basin, it exhausts its
   own name, on its course to Forlì; there it
rumbles atop San Benedetto dell'Alpe,
   by falling off from the Alps to the embankment where
   it must be taken up in tribute by a thousand
streams: just like so, did we find that tainted water
   resounding, along a rapid falling bank, so
   thunderous that much more would have deafened hearing.
I'd cinched about my waist a cord, with which
   I had intended, once upon a time,
   to bait the leopard with the skin like a painting.
So I took the cinch entirely off, just as
   my lord had ordered, and handed it to him
   knotted in coils. Then made he a turn
to the right side, and a way's off from the
   shore, he threw it down into that deep gorge.
   "It is only fitting that some newfangled
innovation should respond to that," he said
   right there in front of me, "in retort to the new
   sign that the master follows with one's eyes."
Oh, how cautious should people be, before those
   who can not only see the act at work, but marvel at
   one's internal monologue with common wisdom?![120
And he told me, "Soon you shall view from above
   what I was waiting for, and that your thoughts imagined;
   soon, as it's fit for it to be discovered in your eyes."
Like someone looking at that man who has
   the face of a liar, shuts his mouth as soon as
   he can, for causing shame without much blame to tell of --
however I am incapable of staying silent about it;
   and by the pages of this comedic poem,
   dear reader, I plead with you -- so that it might be
enjoyed a good while, -- I swear I saw a note-worthy
   form down there, through the thick and shady atmosphere,
   quite a marvelous portent to any heart of secure
knowledge, just like that man who comes on back
   after diving to hoist anchor which is caught
   on some reef or other impediment at sea, as he
stands up straight to stretch and goes numb throughout the feet.