Thus he went in, and thus he made me enter The foremost circle that surrounds the abyss. There, in so far as I had power to hear, Were lamentations none, but only sighs, That tremulous made the everlasting air. And this arose from sorrow without torment, 60 Which the crowds had, that many were and great, Of infants and of women and of men. 61 To me the Master good: “Thou dost not ask What spirits these, which thou beholdest, are? Now will I have thee know, ere thou go farther, That they sinned not; and if they merit had, ’Tis not enough, because they had not baptism Which is the portal of the Faith thou holdest; And if they were before Christianity, In the right manner they adored not God; And among such as these am I myself. For such defects, and not for other guilt, Lost are we, and are only so far punished, That without hope we live on in desire.” Great grief seized on my heart when this I heard, Because some people of much worthiness