Dantes Inferno Hey Guys, I spent a lot of time on reading and analyzing Dantes Inferno in high school so I thought

Id provide some of my background knowledge on both the book and on Guido da Montefeltro, the guy being referenced in the epigraph (which you may have already looked up). Dantes Inferno narrates the story of a man named Dante who had messed up a lot in his life and the poet Virgil was sent from Heaven to take Dante through Hell in order to show him what was waiting there if he continued his life the way he was. Hell, of the Inferno, has nine circles, and in the book, it is noted that no one that had gone there had ever returned to Earth-except for Dante since he was just being guided through. Each one of the nine circles is for a different category of crime or sin, and they get worse as you travel into the center. Through his travels through each circle of the Inferno, Dante meets various people who have been wrong-doers in their lives. In the epigraph that introduces The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Dante is listening to Guido da Montefeltro in the 8th circle of the Inferno, the circle of fraud. Guido is explaining how he got so far down in Hell. It is important to understand the character of Guido in understanding what he is saying. Guido, being in the 8th circle for the frauds he committed in his life, is someone who is conniving and scheming. Thus, when he that if he was telling his story to a person whod ever get back to the world, he would probably not be stopping to even talk to Dante. Because no one has ever returned back to Earth from the Inferno, Guido is willing to share his story since he doesnt think anyone would learn of his fraudulent life otherwise. Guido doesnt have a body in Hell and is actually just a flame, which is why he says this flame would keep still without moving any further-that he would just stand quietly. That is why Guido tells his story since he doesnt have to fear of infamy if Dante were to repeat the story back on Earth.
If I believed my answer would be given to a person who'd ever get back to the world, this flame would keep still without moving any further. But since no one has ever returned from these depths alive, if I've heard the truth, I answer you without fear of infamy.

The Inferno tells the story of how a guy (Dante) who has messed up his life badly enough to require some help from the nice folks in heaven. In order to scare him away from sin and other bad things, heaven sends another poet named Virgil to give Dante a guided tour through the horrors of Hell (known as "Inferno" in Italian). Along the way he meets a lot of evil and misguided people.

In stanza 1, we are being invited by the speaker to join him to go somewhere (LET us go). However, since the poem is a love song, he could be addressing the woman he loves. He compares the evening to patient spread out on an anesthetic table (evening is spread outlike a patient etherized on a table). I thought this was a weird introduction to the poem as I dont see the evening described in that sense as being romantic, like you would assume a love song to be. He then repeats himself and tells us to go with him again, this time describing the path were going through. Again, the image of half-deserted streets with muttering people coming out of cheap hotels seems very sketchy to me. The image I get in my head is of a sort of red light district or where people who are promiscuous or drunk are hanging out.