The Violent

Level 7

As we gazed with timid eyes down the frostbitten chasm
Ears deafened by the hissing winds, smashed up against jagged stones
I, in mortal dread, turned to my phantasmal guide and asked of him,

“My guide, my guardian! Give voice to this chill of my bones
That seems to emanate from this rock-strewn brim!
What is this, made by his glorious hand, this abyss that bemoans

Its terrifying fate? What fiend dwells within?” And my guide turned his grim
Face towards mine and said, “This is the fate of those of blood crazed,
Who in life, strived to temper their swords in innocent limb.

Men whose lifework was the sight of cold corpses and halls razed,
Now in death, ensnared in hell’s foul breath, deafened by the cries
Of their bloodstains. The winds tear at their skin, their eyes set a blazed

In eternal agony. The blood of these beasts streams down their thighs
And into the affixed mouths of their gutless servant, those in life who
Followed blindly after the scent of bloodshed, drawn like flies

To a rotting carcass.” I looked down in dismay as the gales blew
Up out of the pit, and up into the terrible black
like tormented steam billowing from a blackened brew

But them my guide pointed a wispy finger at an icy crack
Adjacent to the howling orbs, where the winds seemed to swell.
I could see the head of a man, mounted on a weeping golden plaque

Channeling the ghastly currents that propel
Outward, feeding the spheres that raze and rip at the beast’s hide.
“Those who strike out against God, are sent to this hell.

They who spoke out against now act as his voice. And what betide
Of usurers is that they are encased in their greed, gilded in their horror
For all of eternity.” I trembled in fear, but my benevolent guide

motioned to me, and we continued on as a trepid explorer
Will dally about before entering into a murky cave
With anxious anticipation. As we descended, like a borer

Gnawing into wood, I took heart and stayed brave
And thought only of her who makes me love’s knave


Explanatory Paragraph

I decided to redo Dante’s circle seven entirely, because in our modern time, we see both homosexuality and suicide as lesser sins, and certainly not violent sins, because it is something people don’t choose usually or something caused by mental illness. So without the need for the middle ring and a 1/3 of the last ring, the circle needed heavy revision. There are really four punishments here for four different “violent sins.” First, those violent against neighbor are incased in the wails of those they’ve killed that rips off their skin and causes them to bleed profusely. Their blood then drops down and drowns their followers, those that “were just following orders,” because they followed after these people bloody paths of death. The next portion of the contrapasso deals with those of the lower ring, the blasphemers and usurers. Blasphemers are decapitated and mounted, and serve as the mouthpiece of God’s punishment of the violent because they in life spoke out against god. Usurers were those who charged interest on loans, and were turned into golden plaques because gold was their god and primary motive in life.

William Arguelles, Period 2