_Canto II._ The length of the journey proposed daunts Dante, until
Virgil reminds him that cowardice has often made men relinquish
honorable enterprises, and encourages him by stating that Beatrice,
moved by love, forsook her place in heaven to bid him serve as Dante's
guide. He adds that when he wondered how she could leave, even for a
moment, the heavenly abode, she explained that the Virgin Mary sent
Lucia, to bid her rescue the man who had loved her ever since she was
a child. Like a flower revived after a chilly night by the warmth of
the sun, Dante, invigorated by these words, intimates his readiness to
follow Virgil.

_Canto III._ The two travellers, passing through a wood, reach a gate,
above which Dante perceives this inscription:

"Through me you pass into the city of woe:
Through me you pass into eternal pain:
Through me among the people lost for aye.
Justice the founder of my fabric moved:
To rear me was the task of power divine,
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.
Before me things create were none, save things
Eternal, and eternal I endure.
All hope abandon, ye who enter here."[16]

Unable to grasp its meaning, Dante begs Virgil to interpret, and
learns they are about to descend into Hades. Having visited this place
before, Virgil boldly leads Dante through this portal into an
ante-hell region, where sighs, lamentations, and groans pulse through
the starless air. Shuddering with horror, Dante inquires what it all