Dante, Purgatorio 5.13--18

但丁神曲煉獄篇

Kirkpatrick's translation:

Keep close behind me. Let them say their say.
Stand straight, a mighty tower unwavering,
its height unshaken by such breaths of wind.
When thought is bred too rampantly from thought,
then, of himself, a man will miss his mark.
Each mental thrust debilitates the first.

Musa's translation:

Keep up with me and let the people talk!
Be like a solid tower whose brave height
remains unmoved by all the winds that blow;
the man who lets his thoughts be turned aside
by one thing or another, will lose sight
of his true goal, his mind sapped of its strength.

Musa 行文淺暢, 節拍爽快, 神曲在他譯筆之下輕巧幽默, 讀來有若行雲流水.

Kirkpatrick 的譯文凝重, 緩步徐行, 句中常常嵌鑲些押頭韻或尾韻(雙聲疊韻)的片語, 十分講究. 然而無法速讀.