[37] We have translated _lacusque_ by "the Pit," as being the nearest
English correlative. Dante probably meant by it the several circles
of his Hell, narrowing, one beneath the other, to the centre. As a
curious specimen of English we subjoin Professor de Vericour's
translation: "I have sang the rights of monarchy; I have sang, in
exploring them, the abode of God, the Phlegethon and the impure
lakes, as long as destinies have permitted. But as the part of
myself, which was only passing, returns to better fields, and
happier, returned to his Maker, I, Dante, exiled from the regions of
fatherland, I am laid here, I, to whom Florence gave birth, a mother
who experienced but a feeble love." (The Life and Times of Dante,
London, 1858, p. 208.)
[38] Inferno, X. 85.
[39] Paradiso, XVII.
[40] He says after the return of Louis of Bavaria to Germany, which
took place in that year. The De Monarchia was afterward condemned by
the Council of Trent.
[41] Paradiso, XXVII.
[42] Inferno, XI.
[43] See the letter in Gaye, Carteggio inedito d' artisti, Vol. I. p.
123.
[44] St. Rene Taillandier, in Revue des Deux Mondes, December 1,
1856.
[45] Dante, Vol.
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