L ' I N F E R N O

DANTE’S SPEECH WAS PROBABLY PREPARED EARLIER.
DANTE:
INF C27 37-39 / DANTE
Romagna tua non è, e non fu mai, your Romagna is not, and never has been,
sanza guerra ne' cuor de' suoi tiranni; without war in the hearts of her tyrants:
ma 'n palese nessuna or vi lasciai. but I left no open war there now.
184
INF C27 40-42 / DANTE
Ravenna sta come stata è molt' anni: Ravenna stands, as it has stood for many years:
l'aguglia da Polenta la si cova, Guido Vecchio da Polenta’s eagle broods over it,
sì che Cervia ricuopre co' suoi vanni. so that it covers Cervia with its claws.
GUIDO VECCHIO DA POLENTA: LORD OF RAVENNA, FATHER OF FRANCESCA DA RIMINI
INF C27 43-45 / DANTE
La terra che fé già la lunga prova That city, Forlì, that withstood so long a siege,
e di Franceschi sanguinoso mucchio, and made a bloody pile of Frenchmen, finds itself
sotto le branche verdi si ritrova. again under the paws of Ordelaffi’s green lion.
SINIBALDO DEGLI ORDELAFFI: IN 1300 HELD FORLÌ, WHICH HAD ENDURED A LONG SIEGE BY THE FRENCH SOLDIERS OF POPE
MARTIN IV. THE FRENCH WERE FINALLY ROUTED WITH GREAT SLAUGHTER BY GUIDO DA MONTEFELTRO HIMSELF. THE
FAMILY ARMS WERE A LION RAMPANT VERT ON A FIELD OR
INF C27 46-48 / DANTE
E 'l mastin vecchio e 'l nuovo da Verrucchio, Malatesta, the old mastiff of Verrucchio, and the
che fecer di Montagna il mal governo, young one, Malatestino, who made bad jailors for
là dove soglion fan d'i denti succhio. Montagna, sharpen their teeth, where they used to
do.
MALATESTA DA VERUCCHIO: LORD OF RIMINI, RULING FROM THE CASTLE OF VERRUCCHIO (1293-1312) WAS ‘THE OLD
MASTIFF’ & HIS SON MALATESTINO ‘THE YOUNG MASTIFF’, NOTED FOR THEIR FEROCIOUS CRUELTY. GUELPHS, THEY
IMPRISONED (1295) & MURDERED THE GHIBELLINE LEADER IN RIMINI, MONTAGNA DE’ PARCITATI.
INF C27 49-51 / DANTE
Le città di Lamone e di Santerno Faenza, on the Lamone, and Imola on the Santerno,
conduce il lïoncel dal nido bianco, those cities lead out Pagano, the lion of the white
lair,
che muta parte da la state al verno. who changes sides when he goes from south to
north,
MAINARDO PAGANO, OR MAGHINARDO PAGANO DA SUSINANA: LORD OF FAENZA ON THE RIVER LAMONE; IMOLA, NEAR THE
SANTERNO; & FORLÌ. HIS ARMS WERE A LION AZURE ON A FIELD ARGENT. HE WAS A GHIBELLINE IN THE NORTH (‘STATE’) & A
GUELPH IN FLORENCE (‘VERNO’). HE DIED IN 1302
INF C27 52-54 / DANTE
E quella cu' il Savio bagna il fianco, and Cesena, that city whose walls the Savio bathes,
così com' ella sie' tra 'l piano e 'l monte, where it lies between the mountain and the plain,
tra tirannia si vive e stato franco. likewise lives between freedom and tyranny.
DANTE:
INF C27 55-57 / DANTE INF C27 55-57 / KLINE
Ora chi se', ti priego che ne conte; Now I beg you, tell us who you are:
non esser duro più ch'altri sia stato, do not be harder than others have been to you,
se 'l nome tuo nel mondo tegna fronte. so that your name may keep its lustre on earth.
INF C27 58-60 / KLINE
When the flame had roared for a while as usual, it flickered the sharp point to and fro, and then gave out this breath:
THE FLAME ‘ROARS AND FLICKERS TO AND FRO’ FOR A WHILE, THEN SPEAKS.
GUIDO FLAME VOICE & ERATO:
INF C27 61-63 / DANTE INF C27 61-63 / KLINE
S'i' credesse che mia risposta fosse If I thought my answer was given to one
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, who could ever return to the world,
questa fiamma staria sanza più scosse; this flame would flicker no more,