# Inferno Canto 16

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Christianity Index  Divine Comedy Index  Previous: Inferno Canto 15  Next: Inferno Canto 17  
> 
> Canto XVI
> 
> Argument
> 
>      Journeying along the pier, which crosses the sand, they are now so near
> the end of it as to hear the noise of the stream falling into the eighth
> circle, when they meet the spirits of three military men; who judging Dante,
> from his dress, to be a countryman of theirs, entreat him to stop. He complies
> and speaks with them. The two Poets then reach the place where the water
> descends, being the termination of this third compartment in the seventh
> circle; and here Virgil, having thrown down into the hollow a cord, wherewith
> Dante was girt, they behold at that signal a monstrous and horrible figure
> come swimming up to them.
> 
> Now came I where the water's din was heard
> As down it fell into the other round,
> Resounding like the hum of swarming bees:
> When forth together issued from a troop,
> That pass'd beneath the fierce tormenting storm,
> Three spirits, running swift. They toward us came,
> And each one cried aloud, "Oh! do thou stay,
> Whom, by the fashion of thy garb, we deem
> To be some inmate of our evil land."
> 
> Ah me! what wounds I mark'd upon their limbs,
> Recent and old, inflicted by the flames.
> E'en the remembrance of them grieves me yet.
> 
> Attentive to their cry, my teacher paused,
> And turned to me his visage, and then spake:
> "Wait now: our courtesy these merit well:
> And were't not for the nature of the place,
> Whence glide the fiery darts, I should have said,
> That haste had better suited thee than them."
> 
> They, when we stopp'd, resumed their ancient wail,
> And, soon as they had reach'd us, all the three
> Whirl'd round together in one restless wheel.
> As naked champions, smear'd with slippery oil
> Are wont, intent, to watch their place of hold
> And vantage, ere in closer strife they meet;
> Thus each one, as he wheel'd, his countenance
> At me directed, so that opposite
> The neck moved ever to the twinkling feet.
> 
> "If woe of this unsound and dreary waste,"
> Thus one began, "added to our sad cheer
> Thus peel'd with flame, do call forth scorn on us
> And our entreaties, let our great renown
> Incline thee to inform us who thou art,
> That dost imprint, with living feet unharm'd,
> The soil of Hell. He, in whose track thou seest
> My steps pursuing, naked though he be
> And reft of all, was of more high estate
> Than thou believest; grandchild of the chaste
> Gualdrada,[1] him they Guidoguerra call'd,
> Who in his lifetime many a noble act
> Achieved, both by his wisdom and his sword.
> The other, next to me that beats the sand,
> Is Aldobrandi,[2] name deserving well,
> In the upper world, of honor; and myself,
> Who in this torment do partake with them,
> Am Rusticucci,[3] whom, past doubt, my wife,
> Of savage temper, more than aught beside
> Hath to this evil brought." If from the fire
> I had been shelter'd, down amidst them straight
> I then had cast me; nor my guide, I deem,
> Would have restrain'd my going: but that fear
> Of the dire burning vanquish'd the desire,
> Which made me eager of their wish'd embrace.
> 
> [1: Gualdrada." Gualdrada was the daughter of Bellincione Berti, of
> whom mention is made in the Paradise, Cantos xv and xvi. He was of the family
> of Ravignani, a branch of the Adimari. The Emperor Otho IV being at a festival
> in Florence, where Gualdrada was present, was struck with her beauty; and
> inquiring who she was, was answered by Bellincione, that she was the daughter
> of one who, if it was his Majesty's pleasure, would make her admit the honor
> of his salute. On overhearing this, she arose from her seat, and blushing,
> desired her father that he would not be so liberal in his offers. The Emperor
> was delighted by her resolute modesty, and calling to him Guido, one of his
> barons, gave her to him in marriage; at the same time raising him to the rank
> of a count, and bestowing on her the whole of Casentino, and a part of the
> territory of Romagna, as her portion. Two sons were the offspring of this
> union, Guglielmo and Ruggieri; the latter was father of Guidoguerra, who, at
> the head of four hundred Florentines of the Guelf party, was signally
> instrumental to the victory of Charles of Anjou at Benevento, over Manfredi,
> King of Naples, in 1265. One consequence of this was the expulsion of the
> Ghibellini and the re - establishment of the Guelfi at Florence.]
> 
> [2: Tegghiaio Aldobrandi endeavored to dissuade the Florentines from
> the attack which they meditated against the Siennese; the rejection of his
> counsel occasioned the defeat which the former sustained at Montaperto, and
> the consequent banishment of the Guelfi from Florence.]
> 
> [3: Giacopo Rusticucci, a Florentine, remarkable for his opulence and
> generosity of spirit.]
> 
> I then began: "Nor scorn, but grief much more,
> Such as long time alone can cure, your doom
> Fix'd deep within me, soon as this my lord
> Spake words, whose tenor taught me to expect
> That such a race, as ye are, was at hand.
> I am a countryman of yours, who still
> Affectionate have utter'd, and have heard
> Your deeds and names renown'd. Leaving the gall,
> For the sweet fruit I go, that a sure guide
> Hath promised to me. But behoves, that far
> As to the centre first I downward tend."
> 
> "So may long space thy spirit guide thy limbs,"
> He answer straight return'd; "and so thy fame
> Shine bright when thou art gone, as thou shalt tell,
> If courtesy and valor, as they wont,
> Dwell in our city, or have vanish'd clean:
> For one amidst us late condemn'd to wail,
> Borsiere,[4] yonder walking with his peers,
> Grieves us no little by the news he brings."
> 
> [4: Guglielmo Borsiere, a Florentine, whom Boccaccio terms " a man of
> courteous and elegant manners, and of great readiness in conversation."]
> 
> "An upstart multitude and sudden gains,
> Pride and excess, O Florence! have in thee
> Engender'd, so that now in tears thou mourn'st!"
> 
> Thus cried I, with my face upraised, and they
> All three, who for an answer took my words,
> Look'd at each other, as men look when truth
> Comes to their ear. "If at so little cost,"
> They all at once rejoin'd, "thou satisfy
> Others who question thee, O happy thou!
> Gifted with words so apt to speak thy thought.
> Wherefore, if thou escape this darksome clime,
> Returning to behold the radiant stars,
> When thou with pleasure shalt retrace the past,[5]
> See that of us thou speak among mankind."
> This said, they broke the circle, and so swift
> Fled, that as pinions seem'd their nimble feet.
> 
> [5: "Quando ti giovera dicere io fui." So Tasso, "G.L." c. xv. st.
> 38: "Quando mi giovera narrar altrui Le novita vedute, e dire; io fui."]
> 
> Not in so short a time might one have said
> "Amen," as they had vanish'd. Straight my guide
> Pursued his track. I follow'd: and small space
> Had we past onward, when the water's sound
> Was now so near at hand, that we had scarce
> Heard one another's speech for the loud din.
> 
> E'en as the river,[6] that first holds its course
> Unmingled from the Mount of Vesulo,
> On the left side of Apennine, toward
> The east, which Acquacheta higher up
> They call, ere it descend into the vale,
> At Forli,[7] by that name no longer known,
> Rebellows o'er Saint Benedict, roll'd on
> From the Alpine summit down a precipice,
> Where space[8] enough to lodge a thousand spreads;
> Thus downward from a craggy steep we found
> That this dark wave resounded, roaring loud,
> So that the ear its clamour soon had stunn'd.
> 
> [6: He compares the fall of Phlegethon to that of the Montone (a
> river in Romagna) form the Apennines above the Abbey of St. Benedict. All the
> other streams that rise between the sources of the Po and the Montone, and
> fall from the left side of the Apennines, join the Po and accompany it to the
> sea.]
> 
> [7: There it loses the name of Acquacheta, and takes that of
> Montone.]
> 
> [8: Either because the abbey was capable of containing more than
> those who occupied it, or because (says Landino) the lords of that territory
> had intended to build a castle near the water - fall, and to collect within
> its walls the population of the neighboring villages.]
> 
> I had a cord[9] that braced my girdle round,
> Wherewith I erst had thought fast bound to take
> The painted leopard. This when I had all
> Unloosen'd from me (so my master bade)
> I gather'd up, and stretch'd it forth to him.
> Then to the right he turn'd, and from the brink
> Standing few paces distant, cast it down
> Into the deep abyss. "And somewhat strange,"
> Thus to myself I spake, "signal so strange
> Betokens, which my guide with earnest eye
> Thus follows." Ah! what caution must men use
> With those who look not at the deed alone,
> But spy into the thoughts with subtle skill.
> 
> [9: "A cord." It is believed that our poet in early life, had entered
> into the order of St. Francis. By observing the rules of that profession he
> had designed "to take the painted leopard" (that animal represented Pleasure)
> "with this cord.")]
> 
> "Quickly shall come," he said, "what I expect;
> Thine eye discover quickly that, whereof
> Thy thought is dreaming." Ever to that truth,
> Which but the semblance of a falsehood wears,
> A man, if possible, should bar his lip;
> Since, although blameless, he incurs reproach.
> But silence here were vain; and by these notes,
> Which now I sing, reader, I swear to thee,
> So may they favor find to latest times!
> That through the gross and murky air I spied
> A shape come swimming up, that might have quell'd
> The stoutest heart with wonder; in such guise
> As one returns, who hath been down to loose
> An anchor grappled fast against some rock,
> Or to aught else that in the salt wave lies,
> Who, upward springing, close draws in his feet.
>
> — *Inferno Canto 16*