| Quivi sospiri pianti et alti guai, |
There sighs, tears, and loud cries of woe |
Sighing and weeping, screeches of fear and madness, |
| Rissonavan per l'aer senza stelle, |
Resounded through a sky without stars, |
Filled a sky without stars with deep vibrations, |
| Perch' io al cominciar ne lagrimai, |
So that I at first wept at them: |
And hearing, I wept with overwhelming sadness |
| Diverse lingue horribili favelle, |
Foreign tongues, horrible dialects, |
At tortured phrases, abhorrent intonations, |
| Parole di dolore accenti d'ira, |
Words of pain, accents of anger, |
At words of pain and anguish, at tones of fury, |
| Voci alte et fioche et suon di man con elle. |
Voices shrill and dim, and the sounds of wringing hands with them. |
Shrill voices and distant, and twisting hands' frustrations. |
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| Dante Alighieri |
Carol Anne Perry Lagemann |
Carol Anne Perry Lagemann |