# Inferno Canto  9

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> 
> Canto IX
> 
> Argument
> 
>      After some hindrances, and having seen the hellish furies and other
> monsters, the Poet, by the help of an angel, enters the city of Dis, wherein
> he discovers that the heretics are punished in tombs burning with intense
> fire; and he, together with Virgil, passes onward between the sepulchres and
> the walls of the city.
> 
> The hue,[1] which coward dread on my pale cheeks
> Imprinted when I saw my guide turn back,
> Chased that from his which newly they had worn,
> And inwardly restrain'd it. He, as one
> Who listens, stood attentive: for his eye
> Not far could lead him through the sable air,
> And the thick - gathering cloud. "It yet behoves
> We win this fight;" thus he began: "if not,
> Such aid to us is offer'd - Oh! how long
> Me seems it, ere the promised help arrive."
> 
> [1: "The hue," Virgil, perceiving that Dante was pale with fear,
> restrained those outward tokens of displeasure which his own countenance had
> betrayed.]
> 
> I noted, how the sequel of his words
> Cloked their beginning; for the last he spake
> Agreed not with the first. But not the less
> My fear was at his saying; sith I drew
> To import worse, perchance, than that he held,
> His mutilated speech. "Doth ever any
> Into this rueful concave's extreme depth
> Descend, out of the first degree, whose pain
> Is deprivation merely of sweet hope?"
> 
> Thus I inquiring. "Rarely," he replied,
> "It chances, that among us any makes
> This journey, which I wend. Erewhile, 'tis true,
> Once came I here beneath, conjured by fell
> Erichtho,[2] sorceress, who compell'd the shades
> Back to their bodies. No long space my flesh
> Was naked of me, when within these walls
> She made me enter, to draw forth a spirit
> From out of Judas' circle. Lowest place
> Is that of all, obscurest, and removed
> 
> [2: Erichtho, a Thessalian sorceress (Lucan, "Pharsal." 1. vi.), was
> employed by Sextus, son of Pompey the Great, to conjure up a spirit, who
> should inform him of the issue of the civil wars between his father and
> Caesar.]
> 
> Farthest from Heaven's all - circling orb. The road
> Full well I know: thou therefore rest secure.
> That lake, the noisome stench exhaling, round
> The city of grief encompasses, which now
> We may not enter without rage, "Yet more
> He added: but I hold it not in mind,
> For that mine eye toward the lofty tower
> Had drawn me wholly, to its burning top;
> Where, in an instant, I beheld uprisen
> At once three hellish furies stain'd with blood.
> In limb and motion feminine they seem'd;
> Around them greenest hydras twisting roll'd
> Their volumes; adders and cerastes crept
> Instead of hair, and their fierce temples bound.
> 
> He, knowing well the miserable hags
> Who tend the queen of endless owe, thus spake:
> "Mark thou each dire Erynnis. To the left,
> This is Megaera; on the right hand, she
> Who wails, Alecto; and Tisiphone
> I'th' midst." This said, in silence he remain'd.
> Their breast they each one clawing tore; themselves
> Smote with their palms, and such thrill clamour raised,
> That to the bard I clung, suspicion - bound.
> "Hasten Medusa: so to adamant
> Him shall we change;" all looking down exclaim'd:
> "E'en when by Theseus' might assail'd, we took
> No ill revenge." "Turn thyself round and keep
> Thy countenance hid; for if the Gorgon dire
> Be shown, and thou shouldst view it, thy return
> Upwards would be forever lost." This said,
> Himself, my gentle master, turn'd me round;
> Nor trusted he my hands, but with his own
> He also hid me. Ye of intellect
> Sound and entire, mark well the lore[3] conceal'd
> 
> [3: The Poet probably intends to call the reader's attention to the
> allegorical and mystic sense of the present Canto, and not, as Venturi
> supposes, to that of the whole work. Landino supposes this hidden meaning to
> be that in the case of those vices which proceed from intemperance, reason,
> figured under the person of Virgil, with the ordinary grace of God, may be a
> sufficient safeguard; but that in the instance of more heinous crimes, such as
> those we shall hereafter see punished, a special grace, represented by the
> angel, is requisite for our defence.]
> 
> Under close texture of the mystic strain.
> 
> And now there came o'er the perturbed waves
> Loud - crashing, terrible, a sound that made
> Either shore tremble, as if of a wind
> Impetuous, from conflicting vapors sprung,
> That 'gainst some forest driving all his might,
> Plucks off the branches, beats them down, and hurls
> Afar; then, onward passing, proudly sweeps
> His whirlwind rage, while beasts and shepherds fly.
> 
> Mine eyes he loosed, and spake: "And now direct
> Thy visual nerve along that ancient foam,
> There, thickest where the smoke ascends." As frogs
> Before their foe the serpent, through the wave
> Ply swiftly all, till at the ground each one
> Lies on a heap; more than a thousand spirits
> Destroy'd, so saw I fleeing before one
> Who pass'd with unwet feet the Stygian sound.
> He, from his face removing the gross air,
> Oft his left hand forth stretch'd, and seem'd alone
> By that annoyance wearied. I perceived
> That he was sent from Heaven; and to my guide
> Turn'd me, who signal made, that I should stand
> Quiet, and bend to him. Ah me! how full
> Of noble anger seem'd he. To the gate
> He came, and with his wand touch'd it, whereat
> Open without impediment it flew.
> 
> "Outcasts of heaven! O abject race, scorn'd!"
> Began he, on the horrid grunsel standing,
> "Whence doth this wild excess of insolence
> Lodge in you? wherefore kick you 'gainst that will
> Ne'er frustrate of its end, and which so oft
> Hath laid on you enforcement of your pangs?
> What profits at the Fates to butt the horn?
> Your Cerberus,[4] if ye remember, hence
> Bears still, peel'd of their hair, his throat and maw."
> 
> [4: "Your Cerberus." Cerberus is feigned to have been dragged by
> Hercules, bound with a threefold chain, of which, says the angel, he still
> bears the marks. Lombardi blames the other interpreters for having supposed
> that the angel attributes this exploit to Hercules, a fabulous hero, rather
> than to our Saviour, It would seem as if the good father had forgotten that
> Cerberus is himself no less a creature of the imagination than the hero who
> encountered him.]
> 
> This said, he turn'd back o'er the filthy way,
> And syllable to us spake none; but wore
> The semblance of a man by other care
> Beset, and keenly prest, than thought of him
> Who in his presence stands. Then we our steps
> Toward that territory moved, secure
> After the hallow'd words. We, unopposed,
> There enter'd; and, my mind eager to learn
> What state a fortress like to that might hold,
> I, soon as enter'd, throw mine eye around,
> And see, on every part, wide - stretching space,
> Replete with bitter pain and torment ill.
> 
> As where Rhone stagnates on the plains of Arles,[5]
> Or as at Pola,[6] near Quarnaro's gulf,
> That closes Italy and laves her bounds,
> The place is all thick spread with sepulchres;
> So was it here, save what in horror here
> Excell'd: for 'midst the graves were scattered flames,
> Wherewith intensely all throughout they burn'd,
> That iron for no craft there hotter needs.
> 
> [5: "The plains of Arles." In Provence. These sepulchres are
> mentioned in the Life of Charlemagne, which has been attributed to Archbishop
> Turpin, cap. 28, and 30, and by Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamondo, L. iv. cap.
> xxi.]
> 
> [6: "At Pola." A city of Istria, situated near the gulf of Quarnaro,
> in the Adriatic Sea.]
> 
> Their lids all hung suspended; and beneath,
> From them forth issued lamentable moans,
> Such as the sad and tortured well might raise.
> 
> I thus: "Master! say who are these, interr'd
> Within these vaults, of whom distinct we hear
> The dolorous sighs." He answer thus return'd:
> "The arch - heretics are here, accompanied
> By every sect their followers; and much more
> Than thou believest, the tombs are freighted: like
> With like is buried; and the monuments
> Are different in degrees of heat." This said,
> He to the right hand turning, on we pass'd
> Betwixt the afflicted and the ramparts high.
>
> — *Inferno Canto  9*