People at a great river
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E poi ch’ a riguardar oltre mi diedi, vidi genti a la riva d’ un gran fiume; per ch’ io dissi: « Maestro, or mi concedi
And when I set myself to look farther, I saw people at the bank of a great river; so I said: “Master, now grant me
Looking farther on, Dante sees a throng at the bank of a great river and asks Virgil to explain.
Dante's gaze moves past the swirling neutrals to something new — a crowd gathered at water, <i>a la riva d'un gran fiume</i>. It is Acheron, the first of Hell's rivers, though he does not yet know its name. The vestibule is behind him; the real boundary is ahead.
His reflex, as always, is to ask. <i>Or mi concedi</i>, now grant me — the pilgrim never simply looks; he wants the meaning of what he sees. The sentence again runs past the tercet's end, carrying the reader across the line as Dante's own curiosity carries him toward the river.
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Inferno 3.70 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/dante-inferno/3.70/