IX.
When him a melancholy voice addressed;
“Ah! without harming other, downward wend.
“Me but too sore the sable fumes molest,
“Which hither from the hellish fires ascend.”
Thereat the duke, amazed, his steps represt,
And to the spirit cried; “So may Heaven send
“A respite from the vapours that exhale,
“As thou shalt deign to tell thy mournful tale!
X.
“And to be known on earth shouldst thou be fain,
“Thee will I satisfy.” To him the sprite;
“So sweet it seems to me, in fame again
“Thus to return into the glorious light,
“My huge desire such favour to obtain,
“Forces my words from me in my despite,
“Constraining me to tell the things ye seek;
“Though ’tis annoyance and fatigue to speak.
XI.
“Lydia, the child of Lydia’s king, am I[3],
“To proud estate and princely honours born,
“Condemned by righteous doom of God on high
“In murky smoke eternally to mourn:
“Because a kindly lover’s constancy
“I, while I lived, repaid with spite and scorn.
“With countless others swarm these grots below,
“For the same sin, condemned to the same woe.
