5. Terza rima
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
che la diritta via era smarrita.
Ahi quanto a dir qual era e cosa dura
esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte
che nel pensier rinova la paura!
13. unknown Italian miniaturist
Dante Meeting the Three Symbolic Beasts
Bodleian Library, Oxford University, UK
This illustration is found in a fourteenth-
century Italian codex.
14. Dark woods = worldly life
Mountain lit by sun = God
Three beasts blocking his way = sin
Virgil = reason, human understanding
Beatrice = divine revelation
15. “The only way to escape from the dark wood is
to descend into Hell (man must first descend
into humility before he can raise himself to
salvation or God). The way up the mountain,
then , is to go down: before man can hope to
climb the mountain of salvation, he must first
know what sin is. The purpose of Dante’s
journey through Hell is precisely this: to learn
all there is to know about sin as a preparation
for the ascent to God. . . . His progress is slow,
and there are even occasional backslidings.”
- Mark Musa, The Portable Dante
