Dante’s Purgatory Canto 10. A New Translation

[Dante, having passed through St Peter's Gate, climbs the narrow zigzag steps to the first cornice, a ledge running all the way around Purgatory Mountain a mere eighteen-feet wide, on which the Proud are purged of their vice by each carrying the crushing weight of a mighty stone around the terrace, bent double and humiliated by the labour.]

Now I had passed the threshold of the gate
that which—since soul’s aberrancy still thinks
the crooked way is straight—is seldom reached,

I heard the gate clang shut behind me and
strove upwards zag-zig in-between cracked rocks;
precarious beside the fall's immensity:

“We here must needs some ingenuity,”
my guide advised, “as both of us come near
this or the other side where the cliff wall drops.”

Our steps, so slow and steady-placed, meant that
the moon had sunk towards the sea before
reached the cornice's open plateau height.

I was exhausted; and not guide nor I
were sure which way to go. And so we stopped
and measured out how narrow was that ledge:

The distance from its rim, facing the void,
to the mountain's hefty flank, which climbs
and climbs, is thrice the height of a man;

My poet-guide observed: “Here comes a crowd
advancing, slowly, awkwardly along:
perhaps they'll tell us how to carry on.”

“Master,” I replied, “I see a something
but it does not resemble people, but
some strange confusing swarm of beings.”

And he to me: “that which makes them suffer
are heavy weights that bend them to the ground;
see there what penalty grinds each for pride.”

They were indeed bent down—some less, some more—
according to the blocks their spines now bore;
and as the crowd approached, the nearest called:

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, sorry me.
Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry,
Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry.”

“I pray that justice and compassion soon
unburden you, and that you lift yourselves
far upward from this round of punishment.”

So spoke my guide, who added quick: “and please
show us on which hand lies the shortest path
to reach the stairs that we may there ascend.”

These words were answered by another soul
bent-doubled by the weighty stone he bore—
first one and then the others joining in:

“Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,

Sorry, so sorry, sorry, sorry so,
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,
Very, very, very, very, sorry.”

This helped us not at all, not gave us hint
As to our path, and so we left them there
And by ourselves explored the likely route

Until we found an upward path and left.