The divine comedy — Page 4
This beast,
Questa bestia,
At whom thou criest, her way will suffer none
Alla quale tu gridi, non lascerà passare nessuno
To pass, and no less hindrance makes than death:
Per la sua via, e non fa meno ostacolo della morte:
So bad and so accursed in her kind,
Così malvagia e così maledetta nella sua natura,
That never sated is her ravenous will,
Che mai sazia è la sua vorace volontà,
Still after food more craving than before.
Sempre più bramosa di cibo di quanto fosse prima.
To many an animal in wedlock vile
A molti animali in vile unione
She fastens, and shall yet to many more,
Si lega, e si legherà ancora a molti altri,
Until that greyhound come, who shall destroy
Finché non venga quel veltro, che la distruggerà
Her with sharp pain. He will not life support
Con acuto dolore. Egli non si nutrirà
By earth nor its base metals, but by love,
Di terra né di vili metalli, ma di amore,
Wisdom, and virtue, and his land shall be
Saggezza e virtù, e la sua terra sarà
The land 'twixt either Feltro. In his might
La terra tra l'uno e l'altro Feltro. Nella sua potenza
Shall safety to Italia's plains arise,
Sorgerà la salvezza per le pianure d'Italia,
For whose fair realm, Camilla, virgin pure,
Per il cui bel regno, Camilla, vergine pura,
Nisus, Euryalus, and Turnus fell.
Niso, Eurialo e Turno caddero.
He with incessant chase through every town
Egli con caccia incessante per ogni città
Shall worry, until he to hell at length
La incalzerà, finché alla fine all'inferno
Restore her, thence by envy first let loose.
La ricacci, di là donde l'invidia prima la lasciò andar libera.
Vocabulary
- bestia
- Beast, wild animal, creature
- quale
- Which, that (relative pronoun)
- gridi
- You shout, you cry out
- lascerà
- Will let, will allow to pass
- passare
- To pass, to go through
- nessuno
- No one, nobody, none
- via
- Way, road, path
- meno
- Less, fewer (comparative adverb)
- ostacolo
- Obstacle, impediment, barrier
- morte
- Death, end of life
- Così
- So, thus, in this way
- malvagia
- Evil, wicked, malicious (feminine adjective)
- maledetta
- Cursed, damned, wretched
- natura
- Nature, inherent character, essence
- mai
- Never, ever (temporal adverb)
- sazia
- Satisfied, sated, full
- vorace
- Voracious, greedy, extremely hungry
- volontà
- Will, desire, determination
- Sempre
- Always, ever, continually
- bramosa
- Craving, yearning, eagerly desirous
- cibo
- Food, nourishment, sustenance
- quanto
- How much, as much as
- fosse
- Were (imperfect subjunctive of essere)
- prima
- Before, previously, formerly
- molti
- Many, numerous (masculine plural)
- animali
- Animals, beasts, creatures
- vile
- Base, vile, cowardly, contemptible
- unione
- Union, joining, association
- lega
- Binds, ties, joins together
- legherà
- Will bind, will tie (future tense)
- ancora
- Still, yet, again
- altri
- Others, other people
- Finché
- Until, as long as (conjunction)
- venga
- Comes (present subjunctive of venire)
- veltro
- Greyhound, swift hunting dog
- distruggerà
- Will destroy, will annihilate
- acuto
- Sharp, acute, keen, intense
- dolore
- Pain, sorrow, grief
- Egli
- He (third person singular pronoun)
- nutrirà
- Will nourish, will feed, will sustain
- terra
- Earth, land, ground, soil
- né
- Nor, neither (negative conjunction)
- vili
- Base, vile, worthless (plural adjective)
- metalli
- Metals, metallic elements
- amore
- Love, affection, deep feeling
- Saggezza
- Wisdom, knowledge, sound judgment
- virtù
- Virtue, moral excellence, righteousness
- tra
- Between, among (preposition)
- altro
- Other, another, else
- potenza
- Power, might, strength, potency
- Sorgerà
- Will rise, will emerge, will arise
- salvezza
- Salvation, rescue, safety
- pianure
- Plains, flatlands, low flat areas
- cui
- Whose, of which (relative pronoun)
- bel
- Beautiful, handsome (elided form)
- regno
- Kingdom, realm, domain
- vergine
- Virgin, maiden, pure young woman
- pura
- Pure, clean, chaste, untainted
- caddero
- Fell, died (third person plural past)
- caccia
- Hunt, chase, pursuit
- incessante
- Incessant, unceasing, relentless
- ogni
- Every, each (adjective)
- città
- City, town, urban settlement
- incalzerà
- Will press, will pursue relentlessly
- finché
- Until, as long as (conjunction)
- fine
- End, conclusion, finish
- inferno
- Hell, underworld, inferno
- ricacci
- Drives back, repels, pushes away
- là
- There, over there (adverb)
- donde
- Whence, from where (archaic adverb)
- invidia
- Envy, jealousy, spite
- lasciò
- Let, allowed, left (past tense)
- andar
- To go (infinitive, elided form)
- libera
- Free, unrestrained, at liberty
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