All 18 Uses
abyss
in
The Divine Comedy -- translated by Cary
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- For certain on the brink
I found me of the lamentable vale,
The dread abyss, that joins a thund'rous sound
Of plaints innumerable.†Canto 1.1-11 *abyss = a hole or dropoff so deep the bottom cannot be seen -- often used figuratively to imply a frightening bottomless pit - Onward, this said, he mov'd;
And ent'ring led me with him on the bounds
Of the first circle, that surrounds th' abyss.†Canto 1.1-11 - Various crimes
Have sunk them deeper in the dark abyss.†Canto 1.1-11 - CANTO XI
UPON the utmost verge of a high bank,
By craggy rocks environ'd round, we came,
Where woes beneath more cruel yet were stow'd:
And here to shun the horrible excess
Of fetid exhalation, upward cast
From the profound abyss, behind the lid
Of a great monument we stood retir'd,
Whereon this scroll I mark'd: "I have in charge
Pope Anastasius, whom Photinus drew
From the right path.†Canto 1.1-11 - Then to the right he turn'd, and from the brink
Standing few paces distant, cast it down
Into the deep abyss.†Canto 1.12-22 - But Malebolge all toward the mouth
Inclining of the nethermost abyss,
The site of every valley hence requires,
That one side upward slope, the other fall.†Canto 1.23 - I did not mark,
Through all the gloomy circles of the' abyss,
Spirit, that swell'd so proudly 'gainst his God,
Not him, who headlong fell from Thebes.†Canto 1.23 - To whom my guide:
"One that descend with this man, who yet lives,
From rock to rock, and show him hell's abyss."†Canto 1.23 - As with circling round
Of turrets, Montereggion crowns his walls,
E'en thus the shore, encompassing th' abyss,
Was turreted with giants, half their length
Uprearing, horrible, whom Jove from heav'n
Yet threatens, when his mutt'ring thunder rolls.†Canto 1.23 - Yet in th' abyss,
That Lucifer with Judas low ingulfs,
Lightly he plac'd us; nor there leaning stay'd,
But rose as in a bark the stately mast.†Canto 1.23 - "Ere from th' abyss
I sep'rate," thus when risen I began,
"My guide!†Canto 1.23 - Are the firm statutes of the dread abyss
Broken, or in high heaven new laws ordain'd,
That thus, condemn'd, ye to my caves approach?†Canto 2.1-11 - "Fix now thine eye, intently as thou canst,
On th' everlasting counsel, and explore,
Instructed by my words, the dread abyss.†Canto 3.1-11 - One from the barrier of the dark abyss,
Where never any with good will returns,
Came back unto his bones.†Canto 3.12-22 - But not the soul,
That is in heav'n most lustrous, nor the seraph
That hath his eyes most fix'd on God, shall solve
What thou hast ask'd: for in th' abyss it lies
Of th' everlasting statute sunk so low,
That no created ken may fathom it.†Canto 3.12-22 - Ere I descended into hell's abyss,
El was the name on earth of the Chief Good,
Whose joy enfolds me: Eli then 't was call'd
And so beseemeth: for, in mortals, use
Is as the leaf upon the bough; that goes,
And other comes instead.†Canto 3.23-33 - CANTO XXX
Noon's fervid hour perchance six thousand miles
From hence is distant; and the shadowy cone
Almost to level on our earth declines;
When from the midmost of this blue abyss
By turns some star is to our vision lost.†Canto 3.23-33 - In that abyss
Of radiance, clear and lofty, seem'd methought,
Three orbs of triple hue clipt in one bound:
And, from another, one reflected seem'd,
As rainbow is from rainbow: and the third
Seem'd fire, breath'd equally from both.†Canto 3.23-33
Definitions:
-
(1)
(abyss) a hole or dropoff so deep the bottom cannot be seen -- often used figuratively to imply a frightening bottomless pit
- (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)