“O conscience, upright and stainless, how bitter a sting to thee is little fault!”

—  Dante Alighieri , book Purgatorio

Canto III, lines 8–9 (tr. C. E. Norton).
The Divine Comedy (c. 1308–1321), Purgatorio

Original

O dignitosa coscïenza e netta, | come t'è picciol fallo amaro morso!

III, 8-9
Variant: O dignitosa coscïenza, e netta,
come t'è picciol fallo amaro morso!

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Italian poet 1265–1321

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