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Traitors on Ice: Canto XXXII of Inferno

by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
translated by Stephen Binns
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If I could summon up such raucous rasp
__in rhymes as could apply to that sad sluice____Ninth Circle of Hell
__where all the stones converge, and then could grasp
my theme more firmly, I would press the juice
__quite thoroughly. Not having such a way,
__I open here unsure of voice’s use,
for it’s with difficulty, as I say,
__to plumb the universe—not for a baby
__who for his dam and daddy babbles away.
But may my verses’ ladies heed my plea, the Muses
__who helped Thebes’ Amphion. Attend my lay,____his lyre attracted stones to form the walls
__that word and wicked fact not disagree.
O misbegotten mob, down in that deep
__so hard to speak about, that freezing Hell,
__fitter that you’d been born as goats or sheep!
We stood then in the dark depth of the well,
__beneath the giant’s feet, within that keep,____Antaeus, of the previous canto
__and while I stared up at the wall it fell
that some voice cried: “Now watch which way you go,
__and take care you not trample, as you pass,
__us of the brotherhood of ice and woe!”
I turned and saw at front a shining mass,
__and underfoot, a lake, nay, boreal floe:____frozen river of Cocytus
__it did not look like water but like glass.
Austria’s Danube’s never had a course
__as this, and if you sought ne’er could be found
__the Don locked like this at its frigid source.
For were Tambura and the towering mound
__of Pietrapana brought down with all force,____mountains in northwest Tuscany
__the shorelines of that ice would scarce resound. ____it is so solidly frozen
And as a frog sits croaking, mouth at a lean
__out of the water, at a time and place
__when peasant women dream of season’s glean, ____early summer
just so these dead are sunk to blushing face,
__all of them chattering, as could be seen,
__like rattling storks, this icebound sorry race.
All looking down, their eyes their story told;
__with grief within they wept. All while, the teeth
__bore rhythmic witness to the outward cold.
And after looking round, I looked beneath,
__toward two who closely held each other’s face,
__so near their hair was twined into one wreath.
“You there who’re locked in such a tight embrace,”
__said I, “who are you?” Each bent back his neck,
__and as they both looked up in great amaze,
from their dewed eyes there came then such a break,
__such gush of tears, until the cold would make
__great solid drops and seal their lids again.
No vise has ever pressed two blocks of wood
__as tight as these. At this—and, oh, the pain!—
__they butted heads like mad rams only could.
Another who, within this frozen plain,
__had lost both ears, still looking down, then said:
__“Why do you gawk at us, as in a mirror? ____perhaps because the ice reflects
You want to know the two of just one head?
__Bisenzio was theirs, the title clear, ____brothers who killed each other over inheritance
__that vale passed down from father. From one bed
they issued forth, and when you’ve seen this bier,
__this Cäina, you’ll find no shade you’d prefer____ named for Cain
__to see sit freezing in gelatinous snow,
not even he whose breast and shadow were____Mordred
__struck by King Arthur’s lance, a single blow;____the hole showed in his shadow
__not Focaccia, and not this nearby cur,____killed a cousin, starting White and Black Guelf feud
whose head blocks out my view, held there just so.
__Sassolo Mascheroni was his name,____a Florentine who murdered a relative
__and if you’re Tuscan this you plainly see.
Perhaps you are familiar with my fame:
__I am Camicione de’ Pazzi, ____a Tuscan who killed a relative
__and when Carlino comes you’ll shift the blame.”____White Guelf who delivered a castle to Black Guelfs
A thousand pallid faces stared at me,
__those frigid visages, souls insensate.
__I shake still seeing ice: not cold, afraid.
And we went toward the center of all weight— ____the bottom of Hell
__and we were shivering within that shade—
__and if by will that’s free, or chance, or fate,
I cannot say, but as we progress made____he and Virgil
__amid the heads, my foot struck, violent,
__against the face of one of them. He brayed:
“Why did you strike me? If you were not bent
__on vengeance for the Montaperti cause,____battle in which Ghibellines defeated Guelfs
__why do you add this to my grave lament?”
“Master,” I said, “give me a time to pause. ____to Virgil
__I have a doubt of him I wish to free,
__and then we’ll go at speed just as it was.”
The master stopped, and through the contumely,
__the shouts of foul abuse, I called out loud:
__“Who are you, with your curses so?” Said he:
“But who are you to pass amid this crowd
__to kick at us and hard enough to maim.
__You’d find I’d kick still harder, were it allowed.”
“But I’m alive,” I said. “If you wish fame,
__I may be helpful. If you would permit,
__my tale of Hell might well include your name.”
Then he to me: “I wish the opposite. ____Bocca degli Abati, treacherous Guelf
__Be on your way, just let me be instead.
__Your promises are useless in this pit.”
I snatched the hair of his dog’s ruff and said:
__“Now you must tell me truly who you were,
__or you’ll have no fur left upon your head.”
Said he: “Not if you bald me. I aver
__I will not give my name or let you see
__my face, not if you rip to brain pan pure.”
I had a grasp of his hair, firm and steady,
__and had already pulled some clumps away,
__He howled just like a hound but turned from me.
Another: “Bocca, what is it today?
__Just what the devil’s wrong? We can’t ignore
__the flap of jaws.  Must you now bark and bay?”
I cried: “You worthless traitor! Say no more.
__Now to your shame, be sure that I’ll convey
__a just report of you.” And he: “Therefore
say anything you like but go away.
__For your return, I’ll take you now to school:
__that one o’er there who has so much to say
is here lamenting for French coin, and you’ll____bribery to allow Charles of Anjou safe passage
__say: ‘Buoso da Duera’—make this clear— ____when the French invaded Lombardy in 1265
__‘is where the worst souls are kept fresh and cool.’
And if you’re asked who else is on this tier:
__Beccheria, who by Florence was undone, ____Guelf who conspired with Ghibellines
__is here beside you. Gianni de’ Soldanier ____Ghibelline who conspired with Guelfs
is some way down, I think, with Ganelon, ____famous traitor
__and Tebaldello, who unloosed Faenza’s tether
__and let Bologna creep in with the dawn.” ____in 1280
I left him then and saw two souls together
__in just one hole, and squeezed till they were thinner.
__One head, it seemed, was chapeau for the other.
As starving men chew husks, just so one sinner
__had sunk his teeth down to a neck bone’s core,
__twixt brain and nape, gnawing this gnarly dinner.
Tydeus with his final furious roar____mortally wounded by Menalippus
__chewed Menalippus’s head with far more tact
__than this one ripped at pate and spilled-out gore.
“O you who show by such a beastly act
__your hatred for him,” I said, feeling faint,
__“tell me the reason and we’ll make a pact:
If it will seem you have a fair complaint
__against him you consume with vile glee,
__I, knowing who you are, and his sore taint,
will speak your cause while speech is left to me.”
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Italian Original
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S’ïo avessi le rime aspre e chiocce,
come si converrebbe al tristo buco
sovra ’l qual pontan tutte l’altre rocce,
io premerei di mio concetto il suco
più pienamente; ma perch’ io non l’abbo,
non sanza tema a dicer mi conduco;
ché non è impresa da pigliare a gabbo
discriver fondo a tutto l’universo,
né da lingua che chiami mamma o babbo.
Ma quelle donne aiutino il mio verso
ch’aiutaro Anfïone a chiuder Tebe,
sì che dal fatto il dir non sia diverso.
Oh sovra tutte mal creata plebe
che stai nel loco onde parlare è duro,
mei foste state qui pecore o zebe!
Come noi fummo giù nel pozzo scuro
sotto i piè del gigante assai più bassi,
e io mirava ancora a l’alto muro,
dicere udi’mi: “Guarda come passi:
va sì, che tu non calchi con le piante
le teste de’ fratei miseri lassi.”
Per ch’io mi volsi, e vidimi davante
e sotto i piedi un lago che per gelo
avea di vetro e non d’acqua sembiante.
Non fece al corso suo sì grosso velo
di verno la Danoia in Osterlicchi,
né Tanaï là sotto ’l freddo cielo,
com’ era quivi; che se Tambernicchi
vi fosse sù caduto, o Pietrapana,
non avria pur da l’orlo fatto cricchi.
E come a gracidar si sta la rana
col muso fuor de l’acqua, quando sogna
di spigolar sovente la villana,
livide, insin là dove appar vergogna
eran l’ombre dolenti ne la ghiaccia,
mettendo i denti in nota di cicogna.
Ognuna in giù tenea volta la faccia;
da bocca il freddo, e da li occhi il cor tristo
tra lor testimonianza si procaccia.
Quand’ io m’ebbi dintorno alquanto visto,
volsimi a’ piedi, e vidi due sì stretti,
che ’l pel del capo avieno insieme misto.
“Ditemi, voi che sì strignete i petti,”
diss’ io, «chi siete.” E quei piegaro i colli;
poi ch’ebber li visi a me eretti,
li occhi lor, ch’eran pria pur dentro molli,
gocciar su per le labbra, e ’l gelo strinse
le lagrime tra essi e riserrolli.
Con legno legno spranga mai non cinse
forte così; ond’ ei come due becchi
cozzaro insieme, tanta ira li vinse.
E un ch’avea perduti ambo li orecchi
per la freddura, pur col viso in giùe,
disse: “Perché cotanto in noi ti specchi?
Se vuoi saper chi son cotesti due,
la valle onde Bisenzo si dichina
del padre loro Alberto e di lor fue.
D’un corpo usciro; e tutta la Caina
potrai cercare, e non troverai ombra
degna più d’esser fitta in gelatina:
non quelli a cui fu rotto il petto e l’ombra
con esso un colpo per la man d’Artù;
non Focaccia; non questi che m’ingombra
col capo sì, ch’i’ non veggio oltre più,
fu nomato Sassol Mascheroni;
se tosco se’, ben sai omai chi fu.
E perché non mi metti in più sermoni,
sappi ch’i’ fu’ il Camiscion de’ Pazzi;
e aspetto Carlin che mi scagioni».
Poscia vid’ io mille visi cagnazzi
fatti per freddo; onde mi vien riprezzo,
e verrà sempre, de’ gelati guazzi.
E mentre ch’andavamo inver’ lo mezzo
al quale ogne gravezza si rauna,
e io tremava ne l’etterno rezzo;
se voler fu o destino o fortuna,
non so; ma, passeggiando tra le teste,
forte percossi ’l piè nel viso ad una.
Piangendo mi sgridò: “Perché mi peste?
0se tu non vieni a crescer la vendetta
di Montaperti, perché mi moleste?”
E io:  “Maestro mio, or qui m’aspetta,
sì ch’io esca d’un dubbio per costui;
poi mi farai, quantunque vorrai, fretta.”
Lo duca stette, e io dissi a colui
che bestemmiava duramente ancora:
“Qual se’ tu che così rampogni altrui?”
“Or tu chi se’ che vai per l’Antenora,
percotendo,” rispuose, “altrui le gote,
sì che, se fossi vivo, troppo fora?”
“Vivo son io, e caro esser ti puote,”
fu mia risposta, “se dimandi fama,
ch’io metta il nome tuo tra l’altre note.”
Ed elli a me: “Del contrario ho io brama.
Lèvati quinci e non mi dar più lagna,
ché mal sai lusingar per questa lama!”
Allor lo presi per la cuticagna
e dissi: “El converrà che tu ti nomi,
che capel qui sù non ti rimagna.”
Ond’ elli a me: “Perché tu mi dischiomi,
né ti dirò ch’io sia, né mosterrolti,
se mille fiate in sul capo mi tomi.”
Io avea già i capelli in mano avvolti,
tratti glien’ avea più d’una ciocca,
latrando lui con li occhi in giù raccolti,
quando un altro gridò: “Che hai tu, Bocca?
non ti basta sonar con le mascelle,
se tu non latri? qual diavol ti tocca?”
“Omai,” diss’ io, “non vo’ che più favelle,
malvagio traditor; ch’a la tua onta
io porterò di te vere novelle.”
“Va via,” rispuose, “e ciò che tu vuoi conta;
ma non tacer, se tu di qua entro eschi,
di quel ch’ebbe or così la lingua pronta.
El piange qui l’argento de’ Franceschi:
‘Io vidi,’ potrai dir, ‘quel da Duera
là dove i peccatori stanno freschi.’
Se fossi domandato ‘Altri chi v’era?’
tu hai dallato quel di Beccheria
di cui segò Fiorenza la gorgiera.
Gianni de’ Soldanier credo che sia
più là con Ganellone e Tebaldello,
ch’aprì Faenza quando si dormia.”
Noi eravam partiti già da ello,
ch’io vidi due ghiacciati in una buca,
sì che l’un capo a l’altro era cappello;
e come ’l pan per fame si manduca,
così ’l sovran li denti a l’altro pose
là ’ve ’l cervel s’aggiugne con la nuca:
non altrimenti Tidëo si rose
le tempie a Menalippo per disdegno,
che quei faceva il teschio e l’altre cose.
“O tu che mostri per sì bestial segno
odio sovra colui che tu ti mangi,
dimmi ’l perché,” diss’ io, “per tal convegno,
che se tu a ragion di lui ti piangi,
sappiendo chi voi siete e la sua pecca,
nel mondo suso ancora io te ne cangi,
se quella con ch’io parlo non si secca.”
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Stephen Binns is an editor at the Smithsonian (the institution, not the magazine). His most recently published poetry appeared in the January 2023 issue of First Things.

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5 Responses

  3. Stephen Binns

    Thank you so much, James and Mary. This most harrowing story continues in the next canto, which I’ve also submitted to Classical Poets.

    Reply
  4. Monika Cooper

    It took me this long to read and comment because I shy from Inferno’s last cantos: they are such heavy metal. I forget that Dante always weaves amazing strands of beauty into the grotesque. Your translation is wonderful.

    And I forgot that Dante mentions King Arthur! Where would he put Vivian who used the arts that Merlin taught her against him? Below with the betrayers of benefactors, no doubt.

    Looking forward to the next canto; the very end of Book One is just wild.

    Reply
  5. Stephen Binns

    Thanks so much, Monika. High praise indeed from one so talented.

    Apologies for the typo in the third stanza. Canto 33, which continues the story, is scheduled for next week.

    As for the final, Canto 34: how odd that Satan is given no say. I seem to recall reading that Milton was quite grateful for this. If that is true, one can see the reason. Dante’s three-headed monster is certainly not Milton’s Satan.

    And how odd that Dante places Brutus and Cassius in maws one and three, as ultimate sinners, along with Judas Iscariot. My favorite “Julius Caesar” is the 1953 Marlon Brando movie. So I can’t help picturing James Mason and John Gielgud there, getting chewed alive!

    And, yes, how startling, the mention of King Arthur. In Dante, Christendom seems far more integrated than the EU.

    Reply

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