Francesca: Love and Greater Sorrow Essay

Submitted By sammycranee123
Words: 555
Pages: 3

As I entered the 2nd level of hell i wondered what laid ahead.I had already seen so much and dreaded what was to come the farther I went. Virgil, my guide keeps warning what i must endure is not for the weak, yet I don't know how to strengthen my heart, make it cold, to feel no sorrow for these lost souls. however, I must for pity is not a worthy feeling in this shallow depth of hell. This level is for those who commit adultery and it worries me so for I feel remorse when I think of my sweet beatrice while my hand belongs to another. Is this where I shall be damned? Is this where my soul shall be condemned for the rest of eternity, if i should I bid its doing? I shutter at the thought. While riding along the river, we come across a maiden so fair i'm immediately taken aback. How can something so beautiful be lost in such a dreadful place? She greets us with a speech of wisdom, drawing gratitude as she whispers “O living creature gracious and benignant, who visiting goest through the purple air, us who have stained the world incarnadine, If were the King of the universe our friend, we would pray unto him to give thee peace, since thou hast pity on our woe perverse,” her words remind me of a melody as she draws me in to hear of her sin (page 120 line 88-93). Her story portrays a victim of love, true love like the feelings I feel towards Beatrice. She talks of love gently seizing a heart, how her love was taken from her like the breath from her lips (page 120 line 100-103). Her story is wrenching at my heart, it fills with sorrow for this woman who is stricken by the horror of losing the one she loved. Yet, when she gets to the truth, the truth in the lie she conceived I see her for who she truly is as she states “There is no greater sorrow than to be mindful of the happy