Like a man saved from the sea
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E come quei che con lena affannata, uscito fuor del pelago a la riva, si volge a l’ acqua perigliosa e guata,
And like a man who, breath spent, has struggled out of the deep onto the shore and turns to gaze back at the perilous water,
A simile: like a swimmer who has struggled ashore and turns to look back at the dangerous water.
The first great simile of the <i>Comedy</i>, and it is about survival. The swimmer is safe on the sand, yet cannot help turning to look at what nearly drowned him — the danger has to be seen again before it can be believed.
Dante will complete the comparison in the next tercet, but he lingers here on the body: the heaving <i>lena affannata</i>, the stare. Before the poem's soul can move, its lungs have to stop burning.
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Inferno 1.22 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/dante-inferno/1.22/