© 1991 by Cambridge Quarterly
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A Journey Through Hell: Dante's Inferno Re-visited
(in which, before entering a fearfulmaquis, inhabited by Harpies, Virgil tells Dante he is at the second ’ring‘ Dante hears voices everywhere apparently coming from the shrubs Invited to do so by Virgil, he breaks off a twig from a large bush from which he hears a complaint and a voice explaining that what are now branches were once men, and Dante sees blood flowing from them Virgil half apologises for his share in the deed but asks the voice to tell his story, which might serve to restore the dead man's honour in the world This induces Pier della Vigna to tell that he killed himself when he found that his years of loyal service to the Emperor had not been appreciated by the court Dante is so moved that he asks Virgil to ask the voice to explain the metamorphosis Dante learns that the souls of the suicides fall into this maquis like seeds and sprout there and remain there even after the Last Trump Two naked creatures chased by black hounds crash through the undergrowth and badly damage one bush The sould within it begs the poets to collect its scattered leaves The suicide was a Florentine who had hanged himself in his own house.)