Words Per Mile

(I’m posting this a day early to coincide with the Ides of March–you’ll see why!)

When Dante visits the ninth and last circle of Hell (in Cantos 32, 33, and 34), some of the shades there refuse to give their names, as their crimes were so heinous that they’re desperate to be forgotten. The ninth circle is for the treasonous—in order, those that were treasonous to kin, country, their guests or hosts, and Jesus Himself. In the very mouths of Lucifer are Judas, Brutus, and Cassius, who are literally unable to speak for themselves.

Lucifer himself is in one way very different from the traditional fire-and-brimstone image seen in pop culture: he’s frozen in ice. All the shades in this circle are, as the wind from Lucifer’s wingbeats (his attempts to escape) freezes this circle. Hozier references this in Unknown / Nth when he says “Where you were held frozen like an angel to me.”

The “you” in question is clearly a lover, so why is this person in the ninth circle of Hell? In the context on Unreal Unearth, the worst form of treachery is making someone feel lonely in a relationship. The repeated pair of phrases solidifies this: “It ain’t the being alone…You know it’s more the being unknown.” This person was supposed to love the singer, know him, and they didn’t. He’s now trapped, frozen, unknown, by the person who was supposed to protect him. A Judas, indeed.

Dante himself is said to be neither dead nor alive in this circle, which could also represent the state of the relationship or the feeling of the person in it. To be with a person who only wants parts of you, who ignores or suppresses your true self and leaves you feeling unknown with the person who’s supposed to know you best—it’s not love, and painting it as such could indeed feel like the worst kind of betrayal.

A song that was already beautiful when I thought it was about pure loneliness becomes stunning when looked at in its full context.

While Unknown / Nth and the cantos of the ninth circle would be hauntingly beautiful places to leave off their respective works, there’s a denouement to both. After regarding the final circle of Hell, and Lucifer himself, Dante and Virgil must pass over the back of the beast to escape Hell and begin their ascent into higher realms. Let me know your thoughts on this section below, and check back next time for the final entry in this series.