Cf. Inferno IV, 25-27:

Quivi, secondo che per ascolatre,
non avea piante mai che di sospiri
che l'aura eterna facevan tremare.
[Eliot's note]

In Limbo, the first circle of hell, Dante has found the virtuous heathens, who lived before Christianity and are, therefore, eternally unable to achieve their desire of seeing God (NA).

reference topics

Dante, Inferno IV
back to "The Waste Land"