According as impress us our desires And other affections, so the shade is shaped, And this is cause of what thou wonderest at.” And now unto the last of all the circles Had we arrived, and to the right hand turned, And were attentive to another care. There the embankment shoots forth flames of fire, And upward doth the cornice breathe a blast That drives them back, and from itself sequesters. Hence we must needs go on the open side, And one by one; and I did fear the fire On this side, and on that the falling down. My Leader said: “Along this place one ought To keep upon the eyes a tightened rein, Seeing that one so easily might err.” “ Summae Deus clementiae ,” in the bosom 1034 Of the great burning chanted then I heard, Which made me no less eager to turn round; And spirits saw I walking through the flame; Wherefore I looked, to my own steps and theirs Apportioning my sight from time to time.

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