Without Lifting A Finger

            [From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dante-alighieri. ] 





       From Canto VIII of Dante's Inferno : Never was arrow from the cord dismiss'd, That ran its way so nimbly through the air, As a small bark, that through the waves I spied Towards us coming, under the sole sway Of one that ferried it, who cried aloud:  "Art thou arriv'd, fell spirit?" -- "Phlegyas, Phlegyas, This time thou criest in vain," my lord replied; "No longer shalt thou have us, but while o'er The slimy pool we pass." As one who hears Of some great wrong he hath sustain'd, whereat Inly he pines; so Phlegyas inly pin'd In his fierce ire. My guide descending stepp'd Into the skiff, and bade me enter next Close at his side; nor till my entrance seem'd The vessel freighted. Soon as both embark'd, Cutting the waves, goes on the ancient prow, More deeply than with others it is wont.   

Was just thinking about the cover of Eugenio Montale's The Storm & Other Poems (translated by Charles Wright). The cover has an illustration by Gustave Dore: an illustration he did for Dante's Inferno . * Paul Gustave Doré ( French:  [pɔl ɡystav dɔʁe] ; January 6, 1832 – January 23, 1883) was a French artist, engraver , illustrator and sculptor . Doré worked primarily with wood engraving . Biography Doré was born in Strasbourg and his first illustrated story was published at the age of fifteen. His talent was evident even earlier, however. At age five he had been a prodigy troublemaker, playing pranks that were mature beyond his years. Seven years later, he began carving in cement. Subsequently, as a young man, he began work as a literary illustrator in Paris, winning commissions to depict scenes from books by Rabelais , Balzac , Milton and Dante . In 1853, Doré was asked to illustrate the works of Lord Byron . [ 1 ] This commission was followed by additio...

From "Malone": But how is it my little space is not visited by the luminaries I sometimes see shining afar and how is it the moon where Cain toils bowed beneath his burden never sheds its light on my face? *  Apparently this is an allusion to medieval folklore re the "man in the moon" and probably Dante: ["Footnote" from Robert M. Durling's translation of Dante's Paradiso ] 

Just two more photos: a classic poet and an iconic rocker. Dante's tomb in Ravenna (his cenotaph is in Florence) The John Lennon Wall in Prague (circa 1992)