PDA

View Full Version : Dante



laughingman7212
09-21-2010, 04:46 PM
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Dante03.jpg/562px-Dante03.jpg

Dante's Inferno

By: The Laughing Man

Comedy of the Divine, The Inferno is Dante’s story of his travels in all Nine,
Dante will seek Virgil, a poet born in Rome; Virgil will be Dante’s guide in Satan’s dome, cursed by father Jerome,
Transverse did he along a dark path, He will face all three's wrath,
Dante finds the enemy of the Shepherd, encountering a lion, wolf and leopard,
Approaching the Gates of Hell, Janus speaks the echoing spell,
“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here,” Dante, do you fear? Seeing the souls of those neither good nor evil,
Traveling outside of the First level, None of whom ally with the Devil,
Sin has yet to speak into Dante’s faithful ear, God shall be the poets golden spear,
Wondering here are those whose faith could not commit, upon judgment God did not forget,
Cross the river Acheron, Dante must, even so, Charon thought it unjust,
Virgil spoke, “So it is wanted there where the power lies,” Dante is watched by Gods eyes,
Over the Acheron River, into the Nine Circles of Hell,
Dante, may God keep you well, those of sin should shiver.

The First of Nine, sinful Pagans you may be not,
Still, unbaptized swine, yet, for ignoring Christ you shall be the envious lot,
In limbo near a grassy mound, a castle is found, for which Dante is bound,
Homer, Aristotle and Caesar speak, Dante will meet those who are far from meek.

Second of Nine, by Menos the poets stood hindered, neither would have surrendered,
Evil souls Menos can beckon, to which of Nine he will recon,
Wrapped his tail to tell, which level the soul fell,
The Second Ring is ruled by Lust, seen is Helen of Troy,
Dante stands in disgust, Foolish love he believes she did employ.

Cerberus guards Three of Nine, here they know not how to decline,
Gluttons linger in an icy rain, their consumption was all in vein,
They overindulged, orphan children shook in hunger while their stomachs bulged,
A three headed hound, a shrilling barking sound,
To it the Glutton is wedded, their fate like all is to be dreaded.

In the Fourth of Nine, Plutus guards those who seek more, not the poor,
Greed drives their need, it is from this that their ultimate sin did breed,
Dante will see what their fate will be, they joust, yet, never will they oust,
Their keeper, greed's happy reaper.

Five of Nine, a battle of the the angry is waged,
Upon the rivers surface the souls of the enraged now and forever engage,
The sullen lie below, they move to and fro,
Dante arrives at the city walls, to the fallen angels Virgil calls,
The angels guard the city of Dis, it is behind these stones that true hell exists,
Unable to pass, God will send his servant, with a fervent hand, the angel will make the holy demand,
Open the gates, Dante will see what awaits.

Sixth of Nine, Heretics Dante will find,
The life of the soul Epicurus denies, A flaming tomb is his prize,
For this all heretics Christians despise, all of those who deny,
God’s facts to the point that they defy,
Shall, find themselves in the Sixth Ring of Hell.

In Seventh Ring of Nine, ruled by the Minotaur, upon a rock he slept,
Within its depth, Dante will witness that three sets are kept,
The outer ring keeps the people's destroyer, Chiron is the Centaurs voyeur,
They keep men such as Alexander the Great sealed to his fate,
These men are kept by a flaming arrow, as sharp as the eye of a black sparrow,
Passage was obtained, those who have committed suicide are chained,
Harpies feed upon those who will never be resurrected, for life they have rejected and God’s law they have neglected,
The inner ring houses a great sinner, the blasphemer, in a desert of flaming sand,
The sinner is under pains command,
Always to be trapped in this godless land.

Eight Before the Last, facing a cliff of darkness that is vast,
Geryon, slayer of priest, is released, head of three to feast, human, reptile and beast,
A poisonous tail used to impale, its wings take flight and they sail,
Bolgia, ten ditches of stone, slaves of demons, they are not alone,
The corrupt, the thief, the seducer and he who has to flatter, your heart, mind and soul, Satan has but to shatter, you exist, yet, you do not matter.

The Last Ring of the Underworld, to here from heaven Satan was hurled,
The greatest traitors even seen by mankind, in ice, Judas, Antenor and Ptolemy all stand confined,
Faces hidden, from heaven forbidden,
Found in the center, the Ultimate Sin, to the Angels once akin,
Weeping tears, all light fears,
Ignorant, full of hate, from now till the end, it is to late,
God is all knowing, his love always flowing,
Leaving the Inferno, escaping to Purgatorio.

hillwalker
09-21-2010, 04:58 PM
Artfully presented, and this shows a great deal of effort has been employed in trying to do justice to Dante's masterwork.

But personally I feel you have been over-ambitious. An attempt at summarising part of Dante's Divine Commedies in one extended poem requires much more than what we have here.

It ends up reading like the blurb on a book jacket - or a chapter-by-chapter exposition - with many of the short sentences twisted out of shape to maintain the rhyme.

My suggestion would be to concentrate on one particular scene or event and examine or explore in more detail - giving some insight into the plot or Dante's reason for writing. And sticking so rigidly to rhyme is asking for trouble.

Good luck, H

MANICHAEAN
09-22-2010, 09:57 AM
L
You have certainly taken on a task & a half! Bit like doing a poem on Gibbon's "Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire."

If I might suggest exploring and incorporating some of the underlying themes of Dante's work, where you can get behind the formal narrative e.g.

1. It is a difficult task to write of the relations between romantic love and devotional religion. But that is where I think Dante is so supremely great.

2. His power of heightening the glory and the terribleness of the human race. Across the three-fold kingdom of his "Terza Rima" passes, in tragic array, the whole procession of human history - and each figure there, whether of the Blessed or the Purged, or the Condemned, wears the dreadful dignity of having been a man.

Best wishes
M.