Inferno, Canto 32
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
The poet asks for rough, croaking rhymes fit for the bottom of the universe, then turns from that difficulty to the first frozen zones of Cocytus. Dante steps onto the glass-hard lake, sees the traitors to kin locked in Caina, and hears Camiscion de' Pazzi name the Alberti brothers and other family traitors. Moving toward the center, where all weight gathers, he enters Antenora, strikes Bocca degli Abati, forces his exposure through violence and rival accusation, and hears a list of political traitors. The canto ends with Ugolino gnawing Ruggieri's skull, and Dante promises speech in the world above if the hatred has just cause.
Narrative arc
- The poet invokes rough speech for the bottom of the universe and the worst-made people in Hell
- The poets step into Cocytus, where the frozen lake looks like glass and Caina's shades chatter like storks
- Dante questions the Alberti brothers, and Camiscion de' Pazzi names Caina's kin-traitors
- Frozen faces haunt Dante as the poets move toward the center and he strikes a traitor of Montaperti
- Dante pauses the journey, confronts Bocca in Antenora, and forces his name through hair-pulling and accusation
- Bocca retaliates by naming other political traitors preserved in the cold
- The canto hands off to Ugolino and Ruggieri through the bestial image of a skull being eaten
Central themes
- betrayal
- frozen relation
- anti-love
- inversion
- exit
The poet invokes rough speech for the bottom of the universe and the worst-made people in Hell XXXII.1–15
1S’ïo avessi le rime aspre e chiocce,
come si converrebbe al tristo buco
sovra ’l qual pontan tutte l’altre rocce,
io premerei di mio concetto il suco
5più pienamente; ma perch’ io non l’abbo,
non sanza tema a dicer mi conduco;
ché non è impresa da pigliare a gabbo
discriver fondo a tutto l’universo,
né da lingua che chiami mamma o babbo.
10Ma quelle donne aiutino il mio verso
ch’aiutaro Anfïone a chiuder Tebe,
sì che dal fatto il dir non sia diverso.
Oh sovra tutte mal creata plebe
che stai nel loco onde parlare è duro,
15mei foste state qui pecore o zebe!
1If I had rough and croaking rhymes,
as would be fitting for the wretched hole
on which all the other rocks bear down,
I would press the juice from my thought
5more fully; but because I do not have them,
not without fear do I bring myself to speak;
for it is no undertaking to be taken as a joke,
to describe the bottom of the whole universe,
nor work for a tongue that calls mamma or babbo.
10But let those ladies help my verse
who helped Amphion wall in Thebes,
so that speech may not differ from the fact.
O rabble ill-created above all others
who stand in the place of which it is hard to speak,
15better if you had been sheep or goats here!
Commentary
The proem turns on harsh sound, speech difficulty, and the requirement that poetic saying match the fact. Rough and croaking rhymes keeps aspre e chiocce audible.
XXXII.1–3 Aspre e chiocce sets the canto's harsh sound field; croaking keeps the onomatopoetic pressure without smoothing the line. The line points to the bottom as the structural and moral weight-bearing center of Hell.
XXXII.1–3 Aspre e chiocce sets the canto's harsh sound field; croaking keeps the onomatopoetic pressure without smoothing the line. Line 1: Aspre e chiocce sets the canto's harsh sound field; croaking keeps the onomatopoetic pressure without smoothing the line. Line 3: The line points to the bottom as the structural and moral weight-bearing center of Hell.
XXXII.1 Aspre e chiocce sets the canto's harsh sound field; croaking keeps the onomatopoetic pressure without smoothing the line. Aspre e chiocce sets the canto's harsh sound field; croaking keeps the onomatopoetic pressure without smoothing the line.
XXXII.3 The line points to the bottom as the structural and moral weight-bearing center of Hell. The line points to the bottom as the structural and moral weight-bearing center of Hell.
XXXII.4–6 Tema keeps the speech act ethically and poetically fearful, not merely technically difficult.
XXXII.4–6 Tema keeps the speech act ethically and poetically fearful, not merely technically difficult. Line 6: Tema keeps the speech act ethically and poetically fearful, not merely technically difficult.
XXXII.6 Tema keeps the speech act ethically and poetically fearful, not merely technically difficult. Tema keeps the speech act ethically and poetically fearful, not merely technically difficult.
XXXII.7–9 The local geography is cosmological: Cocytus is the bottom of the universe, not just a deeper ditch. The Italian infant words are retained to preserve Dante's register shock and sound play.
XXXII.7–9 The local geography is cosmological: Cocytus is the bottom of the universe, not just a deeper ditch. Line 8: The local geography is cosmological: Cocytus is the bottom of the universe, not just a deeper ditch. Line 9: The Italian infant words are retained to preserve Dante's register shock and sound play.
XXXII.8 The local geography is cosmological: Cocytus is the bottom of the universe, not just a deeper ditch. The local geography is cosmological: Cocytus is the bottom of the universe, not just a deeper ditch.
XXXII.9 The Italian infant words are retained to preserve Dante's register shock and sound play. The Italian infant words are retained to preserve Dante's register shock and sound play.
XXXII.10–12 The donne are the Muses, invoked through Amphion and Thebes. This keeps Dante's explicit pressure that poetic saying must match what is.
XXXII.10–12 The donne are the Muses, invoked through Amphion and Thebes. Line 10: The donne are the Muses, invoked through Amphion and Thebes. Line 12: This keeps Dante's explicit pressure that poetic saying must match what is.
XXXII.10 The donne are the Muses, invoked through Amphion and Thebes. The donne are the Muses, invoked through Amphion and Thebes.
XXXII.12 This keeps Dante's explicit pressure that poetic saying must match what is. This keeps Dante's explicit pressure that poetic saying must match what is.
XXXII.13–15 The animal wish demotes human treachery below brute life without making the line abstract.
XXXII.13–15 The animal wish demotes human treachery below brute life without making the line abstract. Line 15: The animal wish demotes human treachery below brute life without making the line abstract.
XXXII.15 The animal wish demotes human treachery below brute life without making the line abstract. The animal wish demotes human treachery below brute life without making the line abstract.
The poets step into Cocytus, where the frozen lake looks like glass and Caina's shades chatter like storks XXXII.16–39
16Come noi fummo giù nel pozzo scuro
sotto i piè del gigante assai più bassi,
e io mirava ancora a l’alto muro,
dicere udi’mi: «Guarda come passi:
20va sì, che tu non calchi con le piante
le teste de’ fratei miseri lassi».
Per ch’io mi volsi, e vidimi davante
e sotto i piedi un lago che per gelo
avea di vetro e non d’acqua sembiante.
25Non fece al corso suo sì grosso velo
di verno la Danoia in Osterlicchi,
né Tanaï là sotto ’l freddo cielo,
com’ era quivi; che se Tambernicchi
vi fosse sù caduto, o Pietrapana,
30non avria pur da l’orlo fatto cricchi.
E come a gracidar si sta la rana
col muso fuor de l’acqua, quando sogna
di spigolar sovente la villana,
livide, insin là dove appar vergogna
35eran l’ombre dolenti ne la ghiaccia,
mettendo i denti in nota di cicogna.
Ognuna in giù tenea volta la faccia;
da bocca il freddo, e da li occhi il cor tristo
tra lor testimonianza si procaccia.
16When we were down in the dark well,
beneath the giant's feet, much lower still,
and I was still looking up at the high wall,
I heard someone say to me: "Watch how you step:
20go so that you do not trample with your soles
the heads of the miserable, weary brothers."
At that I turned and saw before me
and under my feet a lake that, through frost,
had the look of glass and not of water.
25Never over its current did winter make
so thick a veil on the Danube in Austria,
nor on the Don there under the cold sky,
as there was here; for if Tambernic
had fallen onto it, or Pietrapana,
30it would not have made even the edge go crack.
And as the frog holds itself to croak
with its muzzle out of the water, when the peasant woman
often dreams of gleaning,
livid, up to where shame shows,
35were the grieving shades in the ice,
setting their teeth to a stork's note.
Each held his face turned downward;
from the mouth the cold, and from the eyes the sad heart,
sought testimony between them.
Commentary
The entry into Cocytus registers scale after the giants, glass-hard ice, Danube/Don comparison, mountain-fall hyperbole, frog/stork sounds, and testimony of mouth and eyes.
XXXII.16–18 The line carries over Inferno XXXI's scale and misdirected sight as Dante enters the ice.
XXXII.16–18 The line carries over Inferno XXXI's scale and misdirected sight as Dante enters the ice. Line 18: The line carries over Inferno XXXI's scale and misdirected sight as Dante enters the ice.
XXXII.18 The line carries over Inferno XXXI's scale and misdirected sight as Dante enters the ice. The line carries over Inferno XXXI's scale and misdirected sight as Dante enters the ice.
XXXII.19–21 Brothers is literal and also prepares Caina's kin-betrayal field.
XXXII.19–21 Brothers is literal and also prepares Caina's kin-betrayal field. Line 21: Brothers is literal and also prepares Caina's kin-betrayal field.
XXXII.21 Brothers is literal and also prepares Caina's kin-betrayal field. Brothers is literal and also prepares Caina's kin-betrayal field.
XXXII.22–24 The glass image introduces Cocytus as fixed transparency and hard surface, unlike the earlier infernal waters.
XXXII.22–24 The glass image introduces Cocytus as fixed transparency and hard surface, unlike the earlier infernal waters. Line 24: The glass image introduces Cocytus as fixed transparency and hard surface, unlike the earlier infernal waters.
XXXII.24 The glass image introduces Cocytus as fixed transparency and hard surface, unlike the earlier infernal waters. The glass image introduces Cocytus as fixed transparency and hard surface, unlike the earlier infernal waters.
XXXII.28–30 Cricchi is kept as a blunt crack-sound to preserve the canto's harsh acoustics.
XXXII.28–30 Cricchi is kept as a blunt crack-sound to preserve the canto's harsh acoustics. Line 30: Cricchi is kept as a blunt crack-sound to preserve the canto's harsh acoustics.
XXXII.30 Cricchi is kept as a blunt crack-sound to preserve the canto's harsh acoustics. Cricchi is kept as a blunt crack-sound to preserve the canto's harsh acoustics.
XXXII.31–33 The seasonal peasant detail is left strange rather than normalized into an explanatory gloss.
XXXII.31–33 The seasonal peasant detail is left strange rather than normalized into an explanatory gloss. Line 33: The seasonal peasant detail is left strange rather than normalized into an explanatory gloss.
XXXII.33 The seasonal peasant detail is left strange rather than normalized into an explanatory gloss. The seasonal peasant detail is left strange rather than normalized into an explanatory gloss.
XXXII.34–36 Vergogna is kept as shame/modesty pressure; the image marks how far the bodies are exposed above the ice. The teeth become sound-makers, extending the canto's degraded speech and animal noise.
XXXII.34–36 Vergogna is kept as shame/modesty pressure; the image marks how far the bodies are exposed above the ice. Line 34: Vergogna is kept as shame/modesty pressure; the image marks how far the bodies are exposed above the ice. Line 36: The teeth become sound-makers, extending the canto's degraded speech and animal noise.
XXXII.34 Vergogna is kept as shame/modesty pressure; the image marks how far the bodies are exposed above the ice. Vergogna is kept as shame/modesty pressure; the image marks how far the bodies are exposed above the ice.
XXXII.36 The teeth become sound-makers, extending the canto's degraded speech and animal noise. The teeth become sound-makers, extending the canto's degraded speech and animal noise.
XXXII.37–39 The mouth and eyes testify separately: bodily cold and inward grief are both made visible.
XXXII.37–39 The mouth and eyes testify separately: bodily cold and inward grief are both made visible. Line 39: The mouth and eyes testify separately: bodily cold and inward grief are both made visible.
XXXII.39 The mouth and eyes testify separately: bodily cold and inward grief are both made visible. The mouth and eyes testify separately: bodily cold and inward grief are both made visible.
Dante questions the Alberti brothers, and Camiscion de' Pazzi names Caina's kin-traitors XXXII.40–69
40Quand’ io m’ebbi dintorno alquanto visto,
volsimi a’ piedi, e vidi due sì stretti,
che ’l pel del capo avieno insieme misto.
«Ditemi, voi che sì strignete i petti»,
diss’ io, «chi siete?». E quei piegaro i colli;
45e poi ch’ebber li visi a me eretti,
li occhi lor, ch’eran pria pur dentro molli,
gocciar su per le labbra, e ’l gelo strinse
le lagrime tra essi e riserrolli.
Con legno legno spranga mai non cinse
50forte così; ond’ ei come due becchi
cozzaro insieme, tanta ira li vinse.
E un ch’avea perduti ambo li orecchi
per la freddura, pur col viso in giùe,
disse: «Perché cotanto in noi ti specchi?
55Se vuoi saper chi son cotesti due,
la valle onde Bisenzo si dichina
del padre loro Alberto e di lor fue.
D’un corpo usciro; e tutta la Caina
potrai cercare, e non troverai ombra
60degna più d’esser fitta in gelatina:
non quelli a cui fu rotto il petto e l’ombra
con esso un colpo per la man d’Artù;
non Focaccia; non questi che m’ingombra
col capo sì, ch’i’ non veggio oltre più,
65e fu nomato Sassol Mascheroni;
se tosco se’, ben sai omai chi fu.
E perché non mi metti in più sermoni,
sappi ch’i’ fu’ il Camiscion de’ Pazzi;
e aspetto Carlin che mi scagioni».
40When I had looked around me somewhat,
I turned to my feet and saw two so pressed together
that the hair of their heads was mingled into one.
"Tell me, you who clasp your breasts so tightly,"
I said, "who are you?" And they bent their necks;
45and after they had raised their faces to me,
their eyes, which before were moist only within,
dripped down over their lips, and the ice gripped
the tears between them and locked them shut again.
Never did clamp bind wood to wood
50so strongly; whereat, like two he-goats,
they butted together, so much anger overcame them.
And one who had lost both his ears
because of the cold, still with his face downward,
said: "Why do you mirror yourself so much in us?
55If you want to know who those two are,
the valley from which the Bisenzio slopes down
belonged to their father Alberto and to them.
They came out of one body; and all Caina
you may search, and you will not find a shade
60more worthy of being fixed in gelatin:
not the one whose breast and shadow were split
together by one blow from Arthur's hand;
not Focaccia; not this one who blocks me
so with his head that I can see no farther,
65and he was named Sassol Mascheroni;
if you are Tuscan, by now you know well who he was.
And so that you do not draw me into more speech,
know that I was Camiscion de' Pazzi;
and I await Carlino, who will clear me."
Commentary
The translation keeps the kinship/womb pressure and the grotesque frozen-food image.
XXXII.40–42 The fused hair anticipates kinship perverted into forced proximity and hatred.
XXXII.40–42 The fused hair anticipates kinship perverted into forced proximity and hatred. Line 42: The fused hair anticipates kinship perverted into forced proximity and hatred.
XXXII.42 The fused hair anticipates kinship perverted into forced proximity and hatred. The fused hair anticipates kinship perverted into forced proximity and hatred.
XXXII.46–48 Tears become another freezing mechanism, turning feeling into renewed enclosure.
XXXII.46–48 Tears become another freezing mechanism, turning feeling into renewed enclosure. Line 48: Tears become another freezing mechanism, turning feeling into renewed enclosure.
XXXII.48 Tears become another freezing mechanism, turning feeling into renewed enclosure. Tears become another freezing mechanism, turning feeling into renewed enclosure.
XXXII.49–51 Kinship locked together becomes animal collision under anger.
XXXII.49–51 Kinship locked together becomes animal collision under anger. Line 51: Kinship locked together becomes animal collision under anger.
XXXII.51 Kinship locked together becomes animal collision under anger. Kinship locked together becomes animal collision under anger.
XXXII.52–54 Specchi keeps the ice, gaze, and self-recognition pressure active.
XXXII.52–54 Specchi keeps the ice, gaze, and self-recognition pressure active. Line 54: Specchi keeps the ice, gaze, and self-recognition pressure active.
XXXII.54 Specchi keeps the ice, gaze, and self-recognition pressure active. Specchi keeps the ice, gaze, and self-recognition pressure active.
XXXII.55–57 The speakers identify Napoleone and Alessandro degli Alberti through territory and paternity.
XXXII.55–57 The speakers identify Napoleone and Alessandro degli Alberti through territory and paternity. Line 57: The speakers identify Napoleone and Alessandro degli Alberti through territory and paternity.
XXXII.57 The speakers identify Napoleone and Alessandro degli Alberti through territory and paternity. The speakers identify Napoleone and Alessandro degli Alberti through territory and paternity.
XXXII.58–60 The womb phrase intensifies the kin-treachery charge. Gelatina is retained as grotesque cold-body humor rather than generalized as ice.
XXXII.58–60 The womb phrase intensifies the kin-treachery charge. Line 58: The womb phrase intensifies the kin-treachery charge. Line 60: Gelatina is retained as grotesque cold-body humor rather than generalized as ice.
XXXII.58 The womb phrase intensifies the kin-treachery charge. The womb phrase intensifies the kin-treachery charge.
XXXII.60 Gelatina is retained as grotesque cold-body humor rather than generalized as ice. Gelatina is retained as grotesque cold-body humor rather than generalized as ice.
XXXII.61–63 The Arthurian reference is to Mordred, pierced so through-and-through that even the shadow is split.
XXXII.61–63 The Arthurian reference is to Mordred, pierced so through-and-through that even the shadow is split. Line 61: The Arthurian reference is to Mordred, pierced so through-and-through that even the shadow is split.
XXXII.61 The Arthurian reference is to Mordred, pierced so through-and-through that even the shadow is split. The Arthurian reference is to Mordred, pierced so through-and-through that even the shadow is split.
XXXII.67–69 Camiscion expects Carlino's worse betrayal to make his own guilt seem lighter.
XXXII.67–69 Camiscion expects Carlino's worse betrayal to make his own guilt seem lighter. Line 69: Camiscion expects Carlino's worse betrayal to make his own guilt seem lighter.
XXXII.69 Camiscion expects Carlino's worse betrayal to make his own guilt seem lighter. Camiscion expects Carlino's worse betrayal to make his own guilt seem lighter.
Frozen faces haunt Dante as the poets move toward the center and he strikes a traitor of Montaperti XXXII.70–81
70Poscia vid’ io mille visi cagnazzi
fatti per freddo; onde mi vien riprezzo,
e verrà sempre, de’ gelati guazzi.
E mentre ch’andavamo inver’ lo mezzo
al quale ogne gravezza si rauna,
75e io tremava ne l’etterno rezzo;
se voler fu o destino o fortuna,
non so; ma, passeggiando tra le teste,
forte percossi ’l piè nel viso ad una.
Piangendo mi sgridò: «Perché mi peste?
80se tu non vieni a crescer la vendetta
di Montaperti, perché mi moleste?».
70Then I saw a thousand dog-dark faces
made so by cold; from which a shudder comes over me,
and always will, at frozen shallows.
And while we were going toward the middle,
to which all weight gathers itself,
75and I was trembling in the eternal chill;
whether it was will or destiny or Fortune,
I do not know; but, walking among the heads,
I struck my foot hard into one face.
Weeping, he shouted at me: "Why do you trample me?
80If you do not come to increase the vengeance
of Montaperti, why do you harass me?"
Commentary
The transition toward the center preserves cagnazzi, the recurring shudder before frozen shallows, the gathering of all weight, and the deliberately unstable agency of will, destiny, or Fortune before Bocca is struck.
XXXII.70–72 Cagnazzi holds both color and doggish sound/face pressure, anticipating Bocca's barking.
XXXII.70–72 Cagnazzi holds both color and doggish sound/face pressure, anticipating Bocca's barking. Line 70: Cagnazzi holds both color and doggish sound/face pressure, anticipating Bocca's barking.
XXXII.70 Cagnazzi holds both color and doggish sound/face pressure, anticipating Bocca's barking. Cagnazzi holds both color and doggish sound/face pressure, anticipating Bocca's barking.
XXXII.73–75 The physical center of gravity becomes the moral center of treachery.
XXXII.73–75 The physical center of gravity becomes the moral center of treachery. Line 74: The physical center of gravity becomes the moral center of treachery.
XXXII.74 The physical center of gravity becomes the moral center of treachery. The physical center of gravity becomes the moral center of treachery.
XXXII.76–78 The triad leaves agency deliberately unstable before Dante's foot strikes Bocca.
XXXII.76–78 The triad leaves agency deliberately unstable before Dante's foot strikes Bocca. Line 76: The triad leaves agency deliberately unstable before Dante's foot strikes Bocca.
XXXII.76 The triad leaves agency deliberately unstable before Dante's foot strikes Bocca. The triad leaves agency deliberately unstable before Dante's foot strikes Bocca.
XXXII.79–81 Bocca's first self-exposure is political: Montaperti identifies the betrayal before his name is spoken.
XXXII.79–81 Bocca's first self-exposure is political: Montaperti identifies the betrayal before his name is spoken. Line 81: Bocca's first self-exposure is political: Montaperti identifies the betrayal before his name is spoken.
XXXII.81 Bocca's first self-exposure is political: Montaperti identifies the betrayal before his name is spoken. Bocca's first self-exposure is political: Montaperti identifies the betrayal before his name is spoken.
Dante pauses the journey, confronts Bocca in Antenora, and forces his name through hair-pulling and accusation XXXII.82–111
82E io: «Maestro mio, or qui m’aspetta,
sì ch’io esca d’un dubbio per costui;
poi mi farai, quantunque vorrai, fretta».
85Lo duca stette, e io dissi a colui
che bestemmiava duramente ancora:
«Qual se’ tu che così rampogni altrui?».
«Or tu chi se’ che vai per l’Antenora,
percotendo», rispuose, «altrui le gote,
90sì che, se fossi vivo, troppo fora?».
«Vivo son io, e caro esser ti puote»,
fu mia risposta, «se dimandi fama,
ch’io metta il nome tuo tra l’altre note».
Ed elli a me: «Del contrario ho io brama.
95Lèvati quinci e non mi dar più lagna,
ché mal sai lusingar per questa lama!».
Allor lo presi per la cuticagna
e dissi: «El converrà che tu ti nomi,
o che capel qui sù non ti rimagna».
100Ond’ elli a me: «Perché tu mi dischiomi,
né ti dirò ch’io sia, né mosterrolti,
se mille fiate in sul capo mi tomi».
Io avea già i capelli in mano avvolti,
e tratti glien’ avea più d’una ciocca,
105latrando lui con li occhi in giù raccolti,
quando un altro gridò: «Che hai tu, Bocca?
non ti basta sonar con le mascelle,
se tu non latri? qual diavol ti tocca?».
«Omai», diss’ io, «non vo’ che più favelle,
110malvagio traditor; ch’a la tua onta
io porterò di te vere novelle».
82And I: "My master, wait for me here now,
so that through this one I may come out of a doubt;
then you may hurry me as much as you want."
85The guide stopped, and I said to the one
who was still cursing harshly:
"Who are you, who so reproach others?"
"Now who are you, who go through Antenora,
striking," he answered, "other people's cheeks,
90so that, if you were alive, it would be too much?"
"I am alive, and it may be dear to you,"
was my answer, "if you ask for fame,
that I set your name among my other notes."
And he to me: "I desire the contrary.
95Get yourself away from here and give me no more grief,
for you are poor at flattering across this frozen flat!"
Then I seized him by the scruff of the scalp
and said: "You will have to name yourself,
or no hair will remain on you up here."
100Whereupon he to me: "Though you strip me of hair,
I will neither tell you who I am nor show it to you,
if a thousand times you fall upon my head."
I already had his hair twisted in my hand,
and I had pulled more than one lock from him,
105while he barked with his eyes gathered downward,
when another cried: "What is wrong with you, Bocca?
Is it not enough for you to sound with your jaws,
unless you bark? What devil is at you?"
"Now," I said, "I do not want you to speak any more,
110wicked traitor; for to your shame
I will carry true news of you."
Commentary
The Bocca exchange keeps Antenora as the second zone of Cocytus, fame as a refused bargain, Dante's coercive naming as ethically exposed, and the dog/bark/jaw sound field active.
XXXII.85–87 The harsh speech field from the proem enters the dialogue as blaspheming/cursing.
XXXII.85–87 The harsh speech field from the proem enters the dialogue as blaspheming/cursing. Line 86: The harsh speech field from the proem enters the dialogue as blaspheming/cursing.
XXXII.86 The harsh speech field from the proem enters the dialogue as blaspheming/cursing. The harsh speech field from the proem enters the dialogue as blaspheming/cursing.
XXXII.88–90 Antenora is kept as the proper name for the zone of traitors to city or party. Bocca unknowingly marks Dante's living exception while resisting identification.
XXXII.88–90 Antenora is kept as the proper name for the zone of traitors to city or party. Line 88: Antenora is kept as the proper name for the zone of traitors to city or party. Line 90: Bocca unknowingly marks Dante's living exception while resisting identification.
XXXII.88 Antenora is kept as the proper name for the zone of traitors to city or party. Antenora is kept as the proper name for the zone of traitors to city or party.
XXXII.90 Bocca unknowingly marks Dante's living exception while resisting identification. Bocca unknowingly marks Dante's living exception while resisting identification.
XXXII.91–93 Fame becomes a bargaining tool, as with Antaeus, but here the sinner refuses it.
XXXII.91–93 Fame becomes a bargaining tool, as with Antaeus, but here the sinner refuses it. Line 92: Fame becomes a bargaining tool, as with Antaeus, but here the sinner refuses it.
XXXII.92 Fame becomes a bargaining tool, as with Antaeus, but here the sinner refuses it. Fame becomes a bargaining tool, as with Antaeus, but here the sinner refuses it.
XXXII.94–96 Lusingar points back to Malebolge's fraudulent speech categories even as Bocca rejects public naming.
XXXII.94–96 Lusingar points back to Malebolge's fraudulent speech categories even as Bocca rejects public naming. Line 96: Lusingar points back to Malebolge's fraudulent speech categories even as Bocca rejects public naming.
XXXII.96 Lusingar points back to Malebolge's fraudulent speech categories even as Bocca rejects public naming. Lusingar points back to Malebolge's fraudulent speech categories even as Bocca rejects public naming.
XXXII.97–99 Dante's coercive naming is intentionally troubling and invites ethical scrutiny.
XXXII.97–99 Dante's coercive naming is intentionally troubling and invites ethical scrutiny. Line 99: Dante's coercive naming is intentionally troubling and invites ethical scrutiny.
XXXII.99 Dante's coercive naming is intentionally troubling and invites ethical scrutiny. Dante's coercive naming is intentionally troubling and invites ethical scrutiny.
XXXII.103–105 The barking completes the doggish sound field opened by cagnazzi.
XXXII.103–105 The barking completes the doggish sound field opened by cagnazzi. Line 105: The barking completes the doggish sound field opened by cagnazzi.
XXXII.105 The barking completes the doggish sound field opened by cagnazzi. The barking completes the doggish sound field opened by cagnazzi.
XXXII.106–108 The name Bocca is exposed by another traitor rather than by confession.
XXXII.106–108 The name Bocca is exposed by another traitor rather than by confession. Line 106: The name Bocca is exposed by another traitor rather than by confession.
XXXII.106 The name Bocca is exposed by another traitor rather than by confession. The name Bocca is exposed by another traitor rather than by confession.
XXXII.109–111 The pilgrim turns living speech into punishment by promising true public report.
XXXII.109–111 The pilgrim turns living speech into punishment by promising true public report. Line 111: The pilgrim turns living speech into punishment by promising true public report.
XXXII.111 The pilgrim turns living speech into punishment by promising true public report. The pilgrim turns living speech into punishment by promising true public report.
Bocca retaliates by naming other political traitors preserved in the cold XXXII.112–123
112«Va via», rispuose, «e ciò che tu vuoi conta;
ma non tacer, se tu di qua entro eschi,
di quel ch’ebbe or così la lingua pronta.
115El piange qui l’argento de’ Franceschi:
“Io vidi”, potrai dir, “quel da Duera
là dove i peccatori stanno freschi”.
Se fossi domandato “Altri chi v’era?”,
tu hai dallato quel di Beccheria
120di cui segò Fiorenza la gorgiera.
Gianni de’ Soldanier credo che sia
più là con Ganellone e Tebaldello,
ch’aprì Faenza quando si dormia».
112"Go away," he answered, "and tell what you want;
but do not keep silent, if you get out from in here,
about the one who had his tongue so ready just now.
115Here he weeps for the Frenchmen's silver:
'I saw,' you will be able to say, 'the one from Duera
where the sinners are kept fresh.'
If you should be asked, 'Who else was there?'
you have beside you the one of Beccheria,
120whose throat Florence cut through.
I think Gianni de' Soldanier is
farther on with Ganelon and Tebaldello,
who opened Faenza when it was sleeping."
Commentary
Bocca's retaliatory list names Buoso da Duera, Beccheria, Gianni de' Soldanier, Ganelon, Tebaldello, and the punning cold of stanno freschi. Political treachery remains concrete rather than generalized.
XXXII.112–114 Bocca uses Dante's promise of fame as retaliatory exposure against another.
XXXII.112–114 Bocca uses Dante's promise of fame as retaliatory exposure against another. Line 114: Bocca uses Dante's promise of fame as retaliatory exposure against another.
XXXII.114 Bocca uses Dante's promise of fame as retaliatory exposure against another. Bocca uses Dante's promise of fame as retaliatory exposure against another.
XXXII.115–117 Buoso da Duera's betrayal is compressed into payment and political treachery. Freschi is left as a cold pun rather than softened into neutral suffering.
XXXII.115–117 Buoso da Duera's betrayal is compressed into payment and political treachery. Line 115: Buoso da Duera's betrayal is compressed into payment and political treachery. Line 117: Freschi is left as a cold pun rather than softened into neutral suffering.
XXXII.115 Buoso da Duera's betrayal is compressed into payment and political treachery. Buoso da Duera's betrayal is compressed into payment and political treachery.
XXXII.117 Freschi is left as a cold pun rather than softened into neutral suffering. Freschi is left as a cold pun rather than softened into neutral suffering.
XXXII.118–120 Gorgiera keeps the neck/gorget image; the execution remains civic and bodily.
XXXII.118–120 Gorgiera keeps the neck/gorget image; the execution remains civic and bodily. Line 120: Gorgiera keeps the neck/gorget image; the execution remains civic and bodily.
XXXII.120 Gorgiera keeps the neck/gorget image; the execution remains civic and bodily. Gorgiera keeps the neck/gorget image; the execution remains civic and bodily.
XXXII.121–123 The line closes the Antenora list with civic betrayal by night.
XXXII.121–123 The line closes the Antenora list with civic betrayal by night. Line 123: The line closes the Antenora list with civic betrayal by night.
XXXII.123 The line closes the Antenora list with civic betrayal by night. The line closes the Antenora list with civic betrayal by night.
The canto hands off to Ugolino and Ruggieri through the bestial image of a skull being eaten XXXII.124–139
124Noi eravam partiti già da ello,
125ch’io vidi due ghiacciati in una buca,
sì che l’un capo a l’altro era cappello;
e come ’l pan per fame si manduca,
così ’l sovran li denti a l’altro pose
là ’ve ’l cervel s’aggiugne con la nuca:
130non altrimenti Tidëo si rose
le tempie a Menalippo per disdegno,
che quei faceva il teschio e l’altre cose.
«O tu che mostri per sì bestial segno
odio sovra colui che tu ti mangi,
135dimmi ’l perché», diss’ io, «per tal convegno,
che se tu a ragion di lui ti piangi,
sappiendo chi voi siete e la sua pecca,
nel mondo suso ancora io te ne cangi,
se quella con ch’io parlo non si secca».
124We had already gone away from him,
125when I saw two frozen in one hole,
so that one head was a cap to the other;
and as bread is eaten for hunger,
so the one above set his teeth into the other
where the brain joins with the nape:
130not otherwise did Tydeus gnaw
the temples of Menalippus out of disdain,
than that one did the skull and the other things.
"O you who show by so bestial a sign
hatred over the one you are eating,
135tell me why," I said, "under this agreement:
that if you complain of him with reason,
then, knowing who you are and his sin,
in the world above I may yet repay you for it,
if the tongue with which I speak does not dry up."
Commentary
The Ugolino/Ruggieri handoff turns on hunger, brain/nape, the Tydeus/Menalippus allusion, disdegno, bestial hatred, and Dante's promise to repay just grievance through speech if his tongue does not dry up.
XXXII.124–126 The image introduces Ugolino and Ruggieri before they are named in Inferno XXXIII.
XXXII.124–126 The image introduces Ugolino and Ruggieri before they are named in Inferno XXXIII. Line 126: The image introduces Ugolino and Ruggieri before they are named in Inferno XXXIII.
XXXII.126 The image introduces Ugolino and Ruggieri before they are named in Inferno XXXIII. The image introduces Ugolino and Ruggieri before they are named in Inferno XXXIII.
XXXII.127–129 Hunger imagery turns political hatred into a cannibal meal at the brain-nape junction.
XXXII.127–129 Hunger imagery turns political hatred into a cannibal meal at the brain-nape junction. Line 129: Hunger imagery turns political hatred into a cannibal meal at the brain-nape junction.
XXXII.129 Hunger imagery turns political hatred into a cannibal meal at the brain-nape junction. Hunger imagery turns political hatred into a cannibal meal at the brain-nape junction.
XXXII.130–132 Disdegno keeps the disdain/contempt field while the Theban allusion raises heroic rage into bestiality. The blunt other things is preserved to keep the canto's deliberately crude register.
XXXII.130–132 Disdegno keeps the disdain/contempt field while the Theban allusion raises heroic rage into bestiality. Line 131: Disdegno keeps the disdain/contempt field while the Theban allusion raises heroic rage into bestiality. Line 132: The blunt other things is preserved to keep the canto's deliberately crude register.
XXXII.131 Disdegno keeps the disdain/contempt field while the Theban allusion raises heroic rage into bestiality. Disdegno keeps the disdain/contempt field while the Theban allusion raises heroic rage into bestiality.
XXXII.132 The blunt other things is preserved to keep the canto's deliberately crude register. The blunt other things is preserved to keep the canto's deliberately crude register.
XXXII.136–138 Dante again offers earthly speech as recompense, but now in response to a claim of just grievance.
XXXII.136–138 Dante again offers earthly speech as recompense, but now in response to a claim of just grievance. Line 138: Dante again offers earthly speech as recompense, but now in response to a claim of just grievance.
XXXII.138 Dante again offers earthly speech as recompense, but now in response to a claim of just grievance. Dante again offers earthly speech as recompense, but now in response to a claim of just grievance.
XXXII.139 The canto ends on the vulnerability of Dante's tongue after beginning with the difficulty of fitting speech to Cocytus. The canto ends on the vulnerability of Dante's tongue after beginning with the difficulty of fitting speech to Cocytus.