"You Are Here"

E tutti li altri che tu vedi qui...

And all the others here whom you can see
were, when alive, the sowers of dissension
and scandal, and for this they now are split.

Behind us here, a devil decks us out
so cruelly, re-placing every one
of this throng underneath the sword edge when

we've made our way around the road of pain,
because our wounds have closed again before
we have returned to meet his blade once more.

But who are you who dawdle on this ridge,
perhaps to slow your going to the verdict
that was pronounced on your self-accusations?

"Death has not reached him yet," my master answered,
"nor is it guilt that summons him to torment;
but that he may gain full experience,

I, who am dead, must guide him here below,
to circle after circle, throughout Hell:
this is as true as that I speak to you."

from Inferno 28.33-48 (Mandlebaum)