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[Thoughtful subtext]

I.1
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
chè la diritta via era smarrita.

[When I had journeyed half of our life's way,
I found myself within a shadowed forest,
for I had lost the path that does not stray.]

I.61
Mentre ch'i' rovinava in basso loco,
dinanzi a li occhi mi si fu offerto
chi per lungo silenzio parea fioco.
Quando vidi costui nel gran deserto,
"Miserere di me," gridai a lui,
"qual che tu sii, od ombra od omo certo!"

[While I retreated down to lower ground,
before my eyes there suddenly appeared
one who seemed faint because of the long silence.
When I saw him in that vast wilderness,
"Have pity on me," were the words I cried,
"whatever you may be -- a shade, a man."]

I.73
"...Poeta fui, e cantai di quel giusto
figliuol d'Anchise che venne di Troia,
poi che 'l superbo Ilïón fu combusto."

[Virgil: "...I was a poet, and I sang the righteous
son of Anchises who had come from Troy
when flames destroyed the pride of Illium."]

Dante Alighieri, Inferno, 1307-08.
[English Trans. Allen Mandelbaum, NY: Bantam Books, 1982. Used as Fair Use]