THE FOLLOWING LINES and CANTO'S CONTAIN DESCRIPTIONS AND GRAPHIC IMAGES OF PEOPLE THAT YOU MAY IN FACT LIKE.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Canto IV

I woke to heavy thunderclap 1
As if two titans met and clashed
And stood then I and stared around
To see what place had me surround 4
I found myself upon the brink
The burning edge of hell's first ring
And looked I down into abyss
Deep valley that was filled with mist 8
And cries and wails assailed my ears
As moans of sadness dim and drear
That whisper by me slowly drifting
From a crowd of spirits lifting 12
Children sighed in sadness born
Before the savior crowned in thorns.
My guide then Virgil leads ahead
As follow I in growing dread. 16
So we traversed that lonely way
With halting breath I softly prayed
And on the road through Limbo town
I saw a host all spread around 20
So all about us came these sighs
As host that gathered softly cried
'You know the crime for which we dwell
Upon these bitter slopes of hell?' 24
I answered 'No' as down we climbed,
He stumbled then, as if struck blind.
'The only sin we've ever known
Is not to worship God alone 28
These born before the risen Christ
Salvation lost for un-baptized' 30
And I myself am one of these
In circle first who live in peace
Where only torment that we know
Beyond the reach of Heaven’s glow 34
No torture but we’re left to long
Right here beyond the end of song
'Can none be saved?' I begged to know
He told me this in voice full slow
'When first I came to this foul place
I saw a Lord descend in grace 40
With crown of flames upon his brow
All sinners at the same time bowed
And gathered he the kings of old
Were lifted in his golden robe 44
And all the lords of Israel past
Were saved as helpless demons gnashed
But never fore and never since
Has comeback tour to hell by Prince 48
Now thirteen hundred years have gone
And yet poor Virgil lingers on
For always and a day I’ll bide
In death beyond the risen Christ' 52
And tears I shed when tale I heard
Of those condemned before the word
That God would let these souls be damned
In blinding fog their spirits crammed 56
Because they knew not God alone
He cast them from his shining throne 58
And sadness this now caused in me
For those whose soul know no reprieve
And Hell is always and a day
In Limbo world of gray on gray 62
Then saw I fire through the fog
As if I spy a burning log
And shapes there were that drew me in
And welcomed me to poets ring 66
Where Home, Horace, Ovid dwelled
Upon the slopes that circled hell
So moved we then towards the light
And spied I then a wondrous sight 70
A castle stood with shining walls
Surround by moat with tower tall
And walked we over this fair stream
That seemed like painted from a dream 74
And passed then under seven gates
That led to garden filled with sage
And so right there in splendid school
I met the king of golden rule 78
Whose eyes were grave and voices low
In garden filled with gentle glow
Where lords of thought from ancient times
Here gathered for a sinless crime 82
Where gentle lords and ladies great
Live on towards some unknown date
So on we walked through hell's first ring
With subjects filled but with no king 86
Beyond a point beyond all gleam
Were blinded in this downward seam
And so beyond then Limbo town
We found the gate to second round. 90

These are working out a lot faster now than I thought. I'm already starting the revision process for canto V. Thats 3 canto's so far in two days.

Lots of revised sections in this canto, I have to read it all the way through and make sure it flows, it might need a couple lines more, or less.

The one thing that I couldn't find place for is the concept that Limbo, Hell's first ring was locked now because there could be no more born before the Risen Christ. Maybe thats what I might dedicate two more lines to, it could go in the first third under the line ' before the savior crowned in thorns' bit.

Canto III

'Righteous anger made me be 1
My master is divinity'
These words their meaning so unclear
'Abandon hope, who enter here' 4
Inscribed above the gate it read
The words above my quaking head
Had seen and to my master cried
Who looked at me with counting eye 8
'Beyond this gate' he says to me
'A journey through calamity
Now you must set your fear at bay
If you would last this fearsome way 12
For you will see the land of death
Where first to go is intellect
And you must never hesitate
If you would see far Heaven's gate' 16
And saying so he took my hand
And entered we among the damned
As whispers strange and dreadful sounds
That seemed to come from underground 20
And beating hands fanned turbid air
For those who failed to choose dwelt there
Then Virgil turned to me and said
With words of fear full dipped in dread 24
'These souls that writhe before your eyes
Are those in life who chose no side
And angels who from conflict strayed
When God and Satan battle made 28
And so from world made black and white
These cowards who chose not to fight
The heavens cast them out in shame
Their greatest sin, they lived in vain.'
'But why so loud do these souls wail?'
I asked him with my lips turned pale
He looked at me with hooded gaze
'I'll say it short I can' he says 36
'The world will let no fame endure
Of these poor souls from heaven spurned
Beyond all hope we must disdain
These wretched souls that live in pain' 40
And so the great one quickly passed
As vision on my eyeball cast
A banner moved across the plain
And conga line there chased in vain 44
A million souls and more I saw
And some I knew to break God's law
The sky was filled with wasps and flies
As tears of blood fell from their eyes 48
That rained onto a mess of worms
Which feasted as their bellies churned.
Beyond the press of screaming souls
A river cross the landscape flowed
And then I saw the crowded shore,
'Who are these souls?' I then implored. 54
But Virgil did not answer me
He moved away then beckoned he
And once beside the restless stream
A shape I saw from darkest dream.
A boat then sails from out of dark
By Charon helmed with eyes like sparks 60
Then cried he loud in dreadful shout
And gestures as he sort’s souls out
'Oh woe to you corrupted souls
By heaven now abandon hope 64
I'll lead you to the other side
To darkness, pain and burning fire'
And then he turns to me and says
'You shall not pass o yee not dead!' 68
My guide then Virgil turns to him
And silenced him with sentence grim,
Says 'Charon, don't torment your mind
His passage has been willed you'll find 72
And one should do what one is told
So ferry us cross river cold'
Then silence fell on woolly cheeks
As round him spirits gnashed their teeth 76
And cursed their very lives they did
Then Charon to their fate he bid
So pointed he to left and right
With jerking thumb in growing spite 80
I could not grasp this fearful scale
Of evil passed through mortal vale 82
And then the ground began to shake
The red air burned now set ablaze
The burning earth beneath my soles
Was rocking like the Beatles roll 86
And sudden I was in a sweat
As whirlwinds from the pit past swept
My mind recoiled from this foul taint
And keeled I down in sudden faint 90

I have to say that I love this canto, its kind of the quintessential Dante, the gate, the inscription, Charon and the visions of torture. The start of this canto is also the one part of the poem that almost anyone can reference. You got to love it. Above and beyond the basically Greek structure (as described by Virgil himself in the Aeneid) overlayed with an entirely Christian viewpoint of the sliding scale of sin. On top of this Dante starts to lay in the sinners. They are for the most part of three parts.

Part 1 Mythical heroes and persons.

Part 2 Historical heroes and persons.

Part 3 Dante's own contemporaries which include both his political and personal friends and enemies. It has to be said that Dante sheds more tears for some and feels a particular sadness for sinners of the flesh, no matter how low, in 1300 Christian terms that is.

Verse required so very little revision, two lines were added so that the line count was 90, I may add 2 more at some point to make 92 (All the verses are supposed to stretch in a range from 88-92 lines).

PROJECT DANTE Canto I

PROJECT DANTE

Canto I

When I was near two score years old 1
I found myself in forest cold
For I was lost, from path I'd strayed
In forest dark with shadows frayed 4
How hard it is to fear recall
Without the shame of undies soiled
This wood of darkness I did find
Put creepy crawlies on my spine 8
If I must speak of what is good
Then first must speak of pain and blood
For us to learn of what is fair
We need first evil tale to share 12
And journey took along a road
Of deepest pit and sorrow sowed
That found in me epiphany
When seen I there the things I seen 16
And tell now of this evil stroll 17
My word is good, so cost my soul
So found myself in shadowed vale
My feet had strayed on spooky trail 20
As set the sun so I know fear 21
Then sudden there a trail appear.
Then from the foot of hill I reached
A path that rose through mountain breached
And almost where the hill did rise 25
I saw a leopard thin and lithe
And stretched it out its jagged claws
I tell you what, it gave me pause 28
And then a lion I beheld
Full ravenous with fearsome head
And then the kitty starts to roar
Loud bellows that soon chilled my core
And then a she-wolf showed herself
Her leanness seemed to bring despair
And darker beast there never was
Than this foul dog that gnashed its jaws 36
As then she starts to round me stalk
And backwards now I start to walk
This very sight so frightened me
I lost all sense or so it seemed 40
And having there abandoned hope
Of climbing up that mountain slope
That restless beast she stalked me down
Retreated I to lower ground 44
Before my eyes there then appeared
A vision faint of silence speared
A man I saw in vastness wild
'Oh pity me,' were words I cried 48
‘Please tell me how to dodge this beast
Who plans of me to make a feast!’
'Whatever you may be.' I said
He answered me with ghostly breath 52
'Not man but once before was man
From Lombardy my parent came
Sub Julio I sang the praise
Of Anchises and Troy in flames 56
A poet I was born before
The son of one true God was born.'
'And you are Virgil,' I replied
'The stream of all fair speech,' I cried 60
‘The beast that blocks your climbing path
Is metaphor of blood and wrath!
And any man that dares to stray
On road to top by wolf is slain. 64
I think and judge it best for you
To follow me, I'll lead you through,
For passage you must look below
Where Phlegathon and Styx fast flow, 68
And so this other path you'll take.’
He answered as he watched me shake,
‘From Lions Gate and fear beyond
Do you concur? You must respond! 72
And none alive have gone this road
Where demons live and Satan bodes
And if on lower path you fail
In madness then your spirit wail 76
For all time until the judgment comes.’
He told me as I stood there numb
And told me then of Lady high
Who’d sent this shade to be my guide 80
And how she asked from heaven great
That help might come my soul be saved
And granted was her special prayer
A path provide if I would dare 84
And so the poet moved away
And followed him to my dark fate
On journey deep he guided me
So soul of mine could be complete 88

Anything that I added to hit my 88-92 line target per canto is in red. For these early canto's there is going to be a lot of red, some are as short as 50 lines after the first pass, this first one was only 40 lines long. It was an easy choice to tackle first as a. its the first verse and b. its also the shortest by a mile.

The next step for the completed canto's is going to be getting the notes and annotations ready as well as the illustration. Big jobs for another day.

I'm calling this done. Its a useful marker for some serious realizations that I've had about the project in the last few days. For starters, finding out how much work was left on the first half of the poem was an eye opener. It kind of threw me for a few days while I got my head around in.

On the the other hand I kind of got a reasonable sense of what I have to face. The paintings and illustrations are coming along nicely, I really dig the look of the thing, that makes me extremely happy. I think that it would be safe to say that the visual exploration of the subject could last a lifetime and more. I have to start generating maps and diagrams for the index and appendix sections, I have to build an entire reference section on the poem, the influence and the meaning of everything in the project and then lay it out for print as economically as possible.

Oh, well. Big jobs are a speciality. Happy thanksgiving folks.

Believe it or not this is nearly finished. I'm leaving it a little rough because I like it that way. Its mostly adding just tiny amounts of detail to fill in the too obvious gaps. If you know what I mean.

I intend it to have the exact right number of strokes, not one too many.

I have just migrated to blogger beta, which may or may not end up being a mistake.

Working hard, can't seem to post any pictures.