Page:The Contrasts in Dante.djvu/33

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THE CONTRASTS IN DANTE

When he had thus completed his tale, the flame in anguish speeded away, twisting and flapping its sharp horn.

Benvenuto da Imola thinks the chief cause of Quido's anguish was the thought of how little all his wisdom and cunning had availed him.

Among the lost souls in Hell, some have entreated Dante to mention their names on earth, as, for instance, Ciacco, in Inf, VI.; Pier delle Vigne', Canto XIII.; Brunetto Latini, Canto XV.; and the three noble Florentines in Canto XVI.; but the fallen great man, to whose grievous tale Dante has been listening, has no wish to be remembered, nor, having died apparently in the odour of sanctity, desires that his reputation should be tarnished by it being recorded that Dante had seen him in nearly the lowest depths of Hell.