Canto 4: Limbo

Canto 4

I woke on far shore
Virgil looks down and turns pale
The un-baptised woods

The cries of infants
Sinless souls, a crowd packed tight
None were born again

Once the Lord came down
To rescue Hebrew prophets
Before that, none left

Virgil says he lives
Here in this hopeless valley
Before us, a fire

Great poets: Homer
Horace, Ovid and Lucan
And they welcome me.

And now we are six
We talk of things kept secret
A distant castle

Seven walls, a stream
We entered, crossing the stream
Walking on water.

Inside the castle
Is a lush meadow valley
Past seven stone gates

Hollow and solemn
The heroes of history
Mourn fate together

Now six becomes two
As we leave my heart aches to
Free them all from Hell.