Through the wood of spirits
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Non lasciavam l’ andar perch’ ei dicessi, ma passavam la selva tuttavia, la selva, dico, di spiriti spessi.
We did not halt our walking while he spoke, but kept crossing the wood all the while — the wood, I mean, of thronging spirits.
They do not halt their walk while he speaks, but keep passing through the forest — the forest of thronging spirits.
The talk and the walking go on together. Dante is careful to note that the lesson did not stop their motion — Limbo is crossed on foot, steadily, as Virgil teaches.
Then a beautiful correction: <i>la selva… di spiriti spessi</i>. It is a forest, but not of trees — a forest of souls standing thick as a wood. The image recalls the dark wood of Canto I and transforms it: here the crowd itself is the thicket they move through.
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Inferno 4.64 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/dante-inferno/4.64/