“ Man may lay violent hands upon himself And his own goods; and therefore in the second Round must perforce without avail repent Whoever of your world deprives himself, Who games, and dissipates his property, And weepeth there, where he should jocund be. Violence can be done the Deity, In heart denying and blaspheming Him, And by disdaining Nature and her bounty. ”
Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy (1320). copy citation
| Author | Dante Alighieri |
|---|---|
| Source | Divine Comedy |
| Topic | violence disdain |
| Date | 1320 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translanted by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1004/pg1004.html |
Context
“A death by violence, and painful wounds, Are to our neighbour given; and in his substance Ruin, and arson, and injurious levies;
Whence homicides, and he who smites unjustly, Marauders, and freebooters, the first round Tormenteth all in companies diverse.
Man may lay violent hands upon himself And his own goods; and therefore in the second Round must perforce without avail repent
Whoever of your world deprives himself, Who games, and dissipates his property, And weepeth there, where he should jocund be.
Violence can be done the Deity, In heart denying and blaspheming Him, And by disdaining Nature and her bounty.
And for this reason doth the smallest round Seal with its signet Sodom and Cahors, And who, disdaining God, speaks from the heart.
Fraud, wherewithal is every conscience stung, A man may practise upon him who trusts, And him who doth no confidence imburse.”
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