Inferno Episodio 2 Di 7 -

"O thou that comest to the abode of pain!" Minos bellowed, his voice vibrating in Dante's very marrow. "Look how thou enterest, and in whom thou trustest!"

She described how they were murdered by her husband—Paolo’s brother—before they could repent. As she spoke, Paolo did nothing but sob, his grief a silent echo to her tale. Inferno Episodio 2 di 7

"Poet," Dante pleaded, "I would gladly speak to those two who go together and seem so light upon the wind." Virgil nodded. "Call them by the love that leads them." "O thou that comest to the abode of pain

The weight of their tragedy, the realization that their eternal togetherness was actually their eternal punishment, became too much for Dante. The wind, the weeping, and the sheer pity for their lost souls crushed his spirit. His knees buckled, the world turned to ink, and he fell to the rocky floor like a dead body falls. "Poet," Dante pleaded, "I would gladly speak to

Like two doves returning to their nest, the pair descended from the gale. They were and Paolo Malatesta . Francesca spoke, her voice weeping even as she found words. She told of a book—the story of Lancelot—that they had read together one afternoon.

Dante looked up into the blackness. He saw them—the "carnal sinners" who had let their reason be swept away by desire. They were tossed like autumn leaves in a storm, never resting, never touching the ground.