That it resembled thunderings following fast: “I am Aglaurus, who became a stone!” 812 And then, to press myself close to the Poet, I backward, and not forward, took a step. Already on all sides the air was quiet; And said he to me: “That was the hard curb That ought to hold a man within his bounds; But you take in the bait so that the hook Of the old Adversary draws you to him, And hence availeth little curb or call. 813 The heavens are calling you, and wheel around you, 814 Displaying to you their eternal beauties, And still your eye is looking on the ground; 815 Whence He, who all discerns, chastises you.”
The Third Circle—The Irascible.