Thus Beatrice; and I, who at the feet
Of her commandments all devoted was,My mind and eyes directed where she willed.
Never descended with so swift a motionFire from a heavy cloud, when it is rainingFrom out the region which is most remote,
As I beheld the bird of Jove descendDown through the tree, rending away the bark,As well as blossoms and the foliage new,
And he with all his might the chariot smote,Whereat it reeled, like vessel in a tempestTossed by the waves, now starboard and now larboard.
Thereafter saw I leap into the bodyOf the triumphal vehicle a Fox,That seemed unfed with any wholesome food.
But for his hideous sins upbraiding him,My Lady put him to as swift a flightAs such a fleshless skeleton could bear.
Then by the way that it before had come,Into the chariot’s chest I saw the EagleDescend, and leave it feathered with his plumes.
And such as issues from a heart that mourns,A voice from Heaven there issued, and it said:“My little bark, how badly art thou freighted!”
Methought, then, that the earth did yawn betweenBoth wheels, and I saw rise from it a Dragon,Who through the chariot upward fixed his tail,
And as a wasp that draweth back its sting,Drawing unto himself his tail malign,Drew out the floor, and went his way rejoicing.
That which remained behind, even as with grassA fertile region, with the feathers, offeredPerhaps with pure intention and benign,
Reclothed itself, and with them were reclothedThe pole and both the wheels so speedily,A sigh doth longer keep the lips apart.