All 18 Uses of
abyss
in
The Divine Comedy -- translated by Cary
- 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 *
- 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, I,ightly 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! vouchsafe few words to set me free From error's thralldom.†
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
Definition:
-
(abyss) a hole or dropoff so deep the bottom cannot be seen -- often used figuratively to imply a frightening bottomless pit