Page:Divine Comedy (Longfellow 1867) v1.djvu/50

30 Paris I saw, Tristan; and more than a thousand

Shades did he name and point out with his finger,

Whom Love had separated from our life.

After that I had listened to my Teacher,

Naming the dames of eld and cavaliers,

Pity prevailed, and I was nigh bewildered.

And I began: "O Poet, willingly

Speak would I to those two, who go together,

And seem upon the wind to be so light."

And he to me: "Thou 'lt mark, when they shall be

Nearer to us; and then do thou implore them

By love which leadeth them, and they will come."

Soon as the wind in our direction sways them,

My voice uplift I: "O ye weary souls!

Come speak to us, if no one interdicts it."

As turtle-doves, called onward by desire,

With open and steady wings to the sweet nest

Fly through the air by their volition borne,

So came they from the band where Dido is,

Approaching us athwart the air malign,

So strong was the affectionate appeal.

"O living creature gracious and benignant,

Who visiting goest through the purple air

Us, who have stained the world incarnadine,