Intro:
Now our boys are on the road
In this all-new episode.
Valley dolorous, no bliss
‘waits them down that dark abyss.
Dante peer down from his ledge
(Limbo’s It. for ‘fringe’ or ‘edge’)
Start to find out just who dwell
In the seven rings of Hell.

Dante:
“Discendiam nel cieco mondo
Io primo, tu secondo”
Quindi mio guida disse,
L’angoscia l’impallidisce
Primo cerchio mi fé intrar
I sospiri a ascoltar -
Una gente disdegnata
Perché non è battezzata

Every Hell-bound guy and guide,
Brush their Limbo-fear aside
Planned to stop at Level #1,
Dance and have a little fun.
But first circle that we found
Rang with sorrow – Limbo’s sound
Limbo’s sin-free folks - despised,
As they’d not been Lim-baptized.

Virgil:
Porta de la fede credi
Non basta loro mercedi,
Dinanzi al cristianesmo
E cotai son io medesmo.
Adorammo mal a Dio
Tai difetti, non altro rio
Sanza spema semo perduti
In disio vivemo tutti.

Portal of the faith you hold
If I may be Limbo-bold
Was no Christ back in A.C.
Couldn’t pray right, damned are we.
Without hope in Limbo-mire
Worthy types locked in desire.
Hey, eternity’s not quick
Hung up in this Limbo-shtick.

Ero nuov’in questo stato
Vidi venir un Beato
Trasseci ombre dei Parenti
E di Moisè l’ubidente
Uscicci mai per merto
Né per su’ parlar coverto
Altri spiriti salvati -
Tutti uomini dannati.

Newbie me in Limbo-town
When a Nimble Guy came ‘round
Played St Nick and filled his sleigh
Took the Forefathers away,
Caused those left to Limbo-wince
Nothing like it ‘fore or since.
Recent dogma you’ll know well –
Called the ‘Harrowing of Hell’.*

Dante:
Al pié d’un gran costello -
Intorno un fiumiciello
Per sette porte con i savi
Genti v’eran con occhi gravi.
La compagnia si scema
Dell’aura queta a che trema
Mi mena il savio duca
Vegn’ove non è che luca.

We passed through a Limbo-glade
Lamp-lit, Limbo-poles with shades
Reached the Limbo-central square
Virgil’s buds were gathered there.
Quite a Greco-Roman crew
Leaders, sages, poets too.
Had to split, say Limbo-Bye -
Other fish to Limbo-fry.

Lower circle next
Lower circle next
How low can we go?

Outro:
Limbo gets misunderstood -
It’s Hell’s premier neighborhood.
They house pagans, babes and Jews,
None who’ve pledged and then refused.
Your case takes a diff’rent Twist
Once you’ve danced with John Baptist.
Sinning-Lite - if that’s your story -
Best apply to Purgatory.

A drink at LimboBar
Before we get too far?
How low can we go?



* Tradition had held that before the Resurrection, Christ went to Hell to claim the souls of the Old Testament heroes and transport them to Heaven. This ‘Harrowing of Hell’ became official church dogma only in 1215. The event had presumably occurred in A.D.34, when Virgil (who died in A.D.19) was still a relative newcomer to Limbo.