Dante 9

From Inferno: Canto IV:

Broke the deep lethargy within my head
  A heavy thunder, so that I upstarted,
  Like to a person who by force is wakened;

And round about I moved my rested eyes,
  Uprisen erect, and steadfastly I gazed,
  To recognise the place wherein I was.

True is it, that upon the verge I found me
  Of the abysmal valley dolorous,
  That gathers thunder of infinite ululations.

Obscure, profound it was, and nebulous,
  So that by fixing on its depths my sight
  Nothing whatever I discerned therein.

"Let us descend now into the blind world,"
  Began the Poet, pallid utterly;
  "I will be first, and thou shalt second be."

And I, who of his colour was aware,
  Said: "How shall I come, if thou art afraid,
  Who'rt wont to be a comfort to my fears?"

And he to me: "The anguish of the people
  Who are below here in my face depicts
  That pity which for terror thou hast taken.

Let us go on, for the long way impels us."
  Thus he went in, and thus he made me enter
  The foremost circle that surrounds the abyss.

There, as it seemed to me from listening,
  Were lamentations none, but only sighs,
  That tremble made the everlasting air.

And this arose from sorrow without torment,
  Which the crowds had, that many were and great,
  Of infants and of women and of men.

To me the Master good: "Thou dost not ask
  What spirits these, which thou beholdest, are?
  Now will I have thee know, ere thou go farther,

That they sinned not; and if they merit had,
  'Tis not enough, because they had not baptism
  Which is the portal of the Faith thou holdest;

And if they were before Christianity,
  In the right manner they adored not God;
  And among such as these am I myself.

For such defects, and not for other guilt,
  Lost are we and are only so far punished,
  That without hope we live on in desire."

Great grief seized on my heart when this I heard,
  Because some people of much worthiness
  I knew, who in that Limbo were suspended.

"Tell me, my Master, tell me, thou my Lord,"
  Began I, with desire of being certain
  Of that Faith which o'ercometh every error,

"Came any one by his own merit hence,
  Or by another's, who was blessed thereafter?"
  And he, who understood my covert speech,

Replied: "I was a novice in this state,
  When I saw hither come a Mighty One,
  With sign of victory incoronate.

Hence he drew forth the shade of the First Parent,
  And that of his son Abel, and of Noah,
  Of Moses the lawgiver, and the obedient

Abraham, patriarch, and David, king,
  Israel with his father and his children,
  And Rachel, for whose sake he did so much,

And others many, and he made them blessed;
  And thou must know, that earlier than these
  Never were any human spirits saved."

We ceased not to advance because he spake,
  But still were passing onward through the forest,
  The forest, say I, of thick-crowded ghosts.

Not very far as yet our way had gone
  This side the summit, when I saw a fire
  That overcame a hemisphere of darkness.

We were a little distant from it still,
  But not so far that I in part discerned not
  That honourable people held that place.

"O thou who honourest every art and science,
  Who may these be, which such great honour have,
  That from the fashion of the rest it parts them?"

And he to me: "The honourable name,
  That sounds of them above there in thy life,
  Wins grace in Heaven, that so advances them."

In the mean time a voice was heard by me:
  "All honour be to the pre-eminent Poet;
  His shade returns again, that was departed."

After the voice had ceased and quiet was,
  Four mighty shades I saw approaching us;
  Semblance had they nor sorrowful nor glad.

To say to me began my gracious Master:
  "Him with that falchion in his hand behold,
  Who comes before the three, even as their lord.

That one is Homer, Poet sovereign;
  He who comes next is Horace, the satirist;
  The third is Ovid, and the last is Lucan.

Plate 8 of Blake's Illustrations of Dante's Infermo
Homer and the Ancient Poets
Wikipedia Commons

This is the Illustration Description of Blake Archive
The scene is set in hell. The ground at the lower border of the design is covered with grass and a few scattered leaves. A thick forest of leafy trees appears across the lower half of the design and rises along the cliff to the right. The roots of a tree in the lower right are prominent and the branches of several trees are also visible. Dark wash throughout the design indicates sky; a thick band of clouds or perhaps smoke extends horizontally across the upper portion of the image. A rocky cliff rises in the right half of the design. Two gowned males with long hair stand at the edge of the cliff. The figure to the left represents Dante. He faces left with his head turned down slightly; he likely looks down at the figures below. Both arms are bent and his hands are raised with the palms held vertically. The figure to the right represents Virgil. He faces slightly left and may look towards Dante. Virgil's left arm is bent and the palm of his left hand may be held vertically. Two steps or plinths rising above the trees at the left border of the design suggests an altar; a fire burns on the upper step. A gowned male with long hair and a beard stands to the right of the fire. The figure faces left in profile. His left arm is bent and he holds a vase, censer, or other vessel; smoke rises from the vase. Seventeen nude figures fly or hover in the sky in the center of the design. Seven figures are apparently female, identifiable by long hair or exposed breasts; they may be the mothers of the ten children and infants within the group. Five gowned males stand in the lower left portion of the design; they likely represent the ancient poets, although only four (Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan) are named in the poem. Each poet wears a spiky crown or vegetative wreath and three of the figures have long beards. The central figure is probably Homer. From left to right, the figures hold a book, scroll, sword, and lyre; the figure furthest right is partially obscured by a tree trunk. Two gowned figures with long hair stand beneath the clouds or smoke in the lower right portion of the design. Each figure holds and likely plays an instrument; the figure to the left holds a lyre at his or her side and the figure to the right holds a horn to his or her lips. The head of the figure to the left is turned up and he or she likely looks towards the figure to the right. Further down and to the right is a figure with long hair lying prone on the ground, facing down. The figure's left leg is extended, perhaps obscuring the right leg, and the left arm may be bent above or under the figure's head. Three lightly sketched figures sit or kneel together in the lower right portion of the design. The figures may lean against each other.