Inferno
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Themes
Characters
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Inferno
byDante Alighieri
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Dante is the protagonist and narrator of The Inferno. He presents the poem as a true, autobiographical recollection of his miraculous journey. He is a good man who strays from the path of virtue, finding himself in the dark wood at the beginning of the poem. He is saved by his beloved Beatrice, who sends Virgil to guide him on his spectacular journey through hell. Dante is often terrified in hell and is moved by pity for the suffering sinners he sees there. However, he gradually learns from Virgil and becomes both more confident and less sympathetic toward those who have sinned against God. He is often interested in lingering to speak with sinners from Italy, particularly his native city of Florence. As the author of his own story, he wields the power to give both himself and others the immortality of fame through his work.
Dante Quotes in Inferno
The Inferno quotes below are all either spoken by Dante or refer to Dante. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Canto 1Quotes
Midway this way of life we're bound upon,
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
Where the right road was wholly lost and gone.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Symbols:The Journey, Light and Dark
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:1.1-3
Explanation and Analysis:
Canst thou be Virgil? Thou that fount of splendour
Whence poured so wide a stream of lordly speech?
Related Characters:Dante (speaker), Virgil
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:1.79-80
Canto 4Quotes
And greater honour yet they [Homer, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan] did me—yea,
Into their fellowship they deigned invite
And make me sixth among such minds as they.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker), Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:4.100-102
Nay, but I tell not all that I saw then;
The long theme drives me hard, and everywhere
The wondrous truth outstrips my staggering pen.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:4.145-147
Canto 9Quotes
So we stirred
Our footsteps citywards, with hearts reposed,
Safely protected by the heavenly word.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Symbols:The Journey
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:9.103-105
Canto 15Quotes
Keep handy my Thesaurus, where I yet
Live on; I ask no more.
Related Characters:Brunetto Latini (speaker), Dante
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:15.119-120
Canto 16Quotes
So may thy soul these many years abide
Housed in thy body, and the after-light
Of fame shine long behind thee.
Related Characters:Guido Guerra, Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, and Jacopo Rusticucci (speaker), Dante
Related Symbols:Light and Dark
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:16.64-66
Canto 24Quotes
Put off this sloth [...]
Sitting on feather-pillows, lying reclined
Beneath the blanket is no way to fame—
Fame, without which man's life wastes out of mind,
Leaving on earth no more memorial
Than foam in water or smoke upon the wind.
Related Characters:Virgil (speaker), Dante
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:24.46-51
Canto 26Quotes
Florence, rejoice, because thy soaring fame
Beats its broad wings across both land and sea,
And all the deep of Hell rings with thy name!
Five of thy noble townsmen did I see
Among the thieves; which makes me blush anew,
And mighty little honour it does to thee.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:26.1-6
Canto 28Quotes
Who, though with words unshackled from the rhymes,
Could yet tell full the tale of wounds and blood
Now shown me, let him try ten thousand times?
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:28.1-3
Canto 31Quotes
The self-same tongue that first had wounded me,
Bringing the scarlet blood to both my cheeks,
Thus to my sore applied the remedy.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:31.1-3
Canto 32Quotes
As ‘tis, I tremble lest the telling mar
The tale; for, truly, to describe the great
Fundament of the world is very far
From being a task for idle wits at play,
[...]
But may those heavenly ladies aid my lay
That helped Amphion wall high Thebes with stone,
Lest from the truth my wandering verses stray.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:32.5-12
Canto 34Quotes
How cold I grew, how faint with fearfulness,
Ask me not, Reader; I shall not waste breath
Telling what words are powerless to express.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:34.22-24
Each mouth devoured a sinner clenched within,
Frayed by the fangs like flax beneath a brake;
Three at a time he tortured them for sin.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker), Judas, Lucifer, Brutus and Cassius
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:34.55-57
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Dante Quotes in Inferno
The Inferno quotes below are all either spoken by Dante or refer to Dante. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Canto 1Quotes
Midway this way of life we're bound upon,
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
Where the right road was wholly lost and gone.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Symbols:The Journey, Light and Dark
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:1.1-3
Explanation and Analysis:
Canst thou be Virgil? Thou that fount of splendour
Whence poured so wide a stream of lordly speech?
Related Characters:Dante (speaker), Virgil
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:1.79-80
Canto 4Quotes
And greater honour yet they [Homer, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan] did me—yea,
Into their fellowship they deigned invite
And make me sixth among such minds as they.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker), Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:4.100-102
Nay, but I tell not all that I saw then;
The long theme drives me hard, and everywhere
The wondrous truth outstrips my staggering pen.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:4.145-147
Canto 9Quotes
So we stirred
Our footsteps citywards, with hearts reposed,
Safely protected by the heavenly word.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Symbols:The Journey
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:9.103-105
Canto 15Quotes
Keep handy my Thesaurus, where I yet
Live on; I ask no more.
Related Characters:Brunetto Latini (speaker), Dante
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:15.119-120
Canto 16Quotes
So may thy soul these many years abide
Housed in thy body, and the after-light
Of fame shine long behind thee.
Related Characters:Guido Guerra, Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, and Jacopo Rusticucci (speaker), Dante
Related Symbols:Light and Dark
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:16.64-66
Canto 24Quotes
Put off this sloth [...]
Sitting on feather-pillows, lying reclined
Beneath the blanket is no way to fame—
Fame, without which man's life wastes out of mind,
Leaving on earth no more memorial
Than foam in water or smoke upon the wind.
Related Characters:Virgil (speaker), Dante
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:24.46-51
Canto 26Quotes
Florence, rejoice, because thy soaring fame
Beats its broad wings across both land and sea,
And all the deep of Hell rings with thy name!
Five of thy noble townsmen did I see
Among the thieves; which makes me blush anew,
And mighty little honour it does to thee.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:26.1-6
Canto 28Quotes
Who, though with words unshackled from the rhymes,
Could yet tell full the tale of wounds and blood
Now shown me, let him try ten thousand times?
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:28.1-3
Canto 31Quotes
The self-same tongue that first had wounded me,
Bringing the scarlet blood to both my cheeks,
Thus to my sore applied the remedy.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:31.1-3
Canto 32Quotes
As ‘tis, I tremble lest the telling mar
The tale; for, truly, to describe the great
Fundament of the world is very far
From being a task for idle wits at play,
[...]
But may those heavenly ladies aid my lay
That helped Amphion wall high Thebes with stone,
Lest from the truth my wandering verses stray.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:32.5-12
Canto 34Quotes
How cold I grew, how faint with fearfulness,
Ask me not, Reader; I shall not waste breath
Telling what words are powerless to express.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:34.22-24
Each mouth devoured a sinner clenched within,
Frayed by the fangs like flax beneath a brake;
Three at a time he tortured them for sin.
Related Characters:Dante (speaker), Judas, Lucifer, Brutus and Cassius
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:34.55-57
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