Page:Divine Comedy (Longfellow 1867) v1.djvu/216

196 "O thou, who in the valley fortunate,

Which Scipio the heir of glory made,

When Hannibal turned back with all his hosts,

Once brought'st a thousand lions for thy prey,

And who, hadst thou been at the mighty war

Among thy brothers, some it seems still think

The sons of Earth the victory would have gained;

Place us below, nor be disdainful of it,

There where the cold doth lock Cocytus up.

Make us not go to Tityus nor Typhœus;

This one can give of that which here is longed for;

Therefore stoop down, and do not curl thy lip.

Still in the world can he restore thy fame;

Because he lives, and still expects long life,

If to itself Grace call him not untimely."

So said the Master; and in haste the other

His hands extended and took up my Guide,—

Hands whose great pressure Hercules once felt.

Virgilius, when he felt himself embraced,

Said unto me: "Draw nigh, that I may take thee";

Then of himself and me one bundle made.

As seems the Carisenda, to behold

Beneath the leaning side, when goes a cloud

Above it so that opposite it hangs;