Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita Mi ritrovai per una selva oscura Che la diritta vie era smarrita Ahí quanto a dir qual era e cosa dura Esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte Che nel pensier rinova la paura! Tant'e amara che poco e giu morte Ma per trattar del ben ch'i vi trovai Diro de l'altre cose ch'i v ho scorte So bitter tis like death's shade Even the air seems afraid The right way I did not keep And lost myself half asleep Lust and pride have left their trace By greed I lived in disgrace The beast pushed me without rest To where sunlight is repressed In all my thoughts I suffer and cry Into the dark wood with sin inside On that dire night so anguished With terror my soul was kissed When in the wilderness, lo! By my side: Virgil's shadow All poets' glory and light Guide me from this dreadful plight That the living can't depart And makes tremble blood and heart In all my thoughts I suffer and cry Into the dark wood with sin inside In the midway of life's journey To cross hell it was time And just to remember Recalls the fear to mind In the midway of life's journey In the midway of life's journey To cross hell it was time And just to remember In the midway of life's journey To cross hell it was time And just to remember Just to remember Just to remember Recalls the fear to mind In the midway of life's journey