To get back up to the shining world from there My guide and I went into that hidden tunnel, And Following its path, we took no care To rest, but climbed: he first, then I-so far, through a round aperture I saw appear Some of the beautiful things that Heaven bears, Where we came forth, and once more saw the stars.

Love and the gentle heart are but the same thing.

Lost are we, and are only so far punished, That without hope we live on in desire.

The infernal storm, eternal in its rage, sweeps and drives the spirits with its blast; it whirls them, lashing them with punishment. When they are swept back past their place of judgment then come the shrieks, laments, and anguished cries; there they blaspheme God's almighty power.

Through me you go into a city of weeping; through me you go into eternal pain; through me you go amongst the lost people

Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories, and still your eyes are on the ground.

And we came forth to contemplate the stars.