--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The broken branch hissed loudly, and then…" description: "\"“The broken branch hissed loudly, and then that wind was converted into these words: \"Briefly will you be answered. When the fierce soul departs from t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/843/dante-alighieri-590_quote_the-broken-branch-hissed-loudly-and-then_1381226.jpg" --- # The broken branch hissed loudly, and then that wind was… ![“The broken branch hissed loudly, and then that wind was converted into these words: "Briefly will you be answered. When the fierce soul departs from the body from which it has uprooted itself, Minos sends it to the seventh mouth. It falls into the wood, and no place is assigned to it, but where…” quote by Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/843/dante-alighieri-590_quote_the-broken-branch-hissed-loudly-and-then_1381226.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/843/dante-alighieri-590_quote_the-broken-branch-hissed-loudly-and-then_1381226.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/843/dante-alighieri-590_quote_the-broken-branch-hissed-loudly-and-then_1381226.jpg) > ““The broken branch hissed loudly, and then that wind was converted into these words: "Briefly will you be answered. When the fierce soul departs from the body from which it has uprooted itself, Minos sends it to the seventh mouth. It falls into the wood, and no place is assigned to it, but where chance hurls it, there it sprouts like a grain of spelt. It grows into a shoot, then a woody plant; the Harpies, feeding on its leaves, give it pain and a window for the pain. Like the others, we will come for our remains, but not so that any may put them on again, for it is not just to have what one has taken from oneself. Here we will drag them, and through the sad wood our corpses will hang, each on the thornbrush of the soul that harmed it.”” [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage depicts souls wandering in a bleak, tangled realm where punishment and suffering are endless, reflecting on the consequences of one's actions and the inescapable nature of guilt. **In simple terms:** Souls suffer in a dark wood after death due to their deeds. Key Takeaway Recognize how actions shape afterlife consequences. Themes guilt punishment afterlife consequences fate Mood somber reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - Literary analysis - philosophical reflection - theological study Key Concepts Divine justice mythical symbolism eternal torment Questions to Reflect On - How do personal choices affect one's legacy? - Can suffering be a path to redemption? A Different Perspective The allegory may oversimplify moral complexity; cultural context may limit relevance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Harpies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harpies/) ## Related quotes > [“missed that point for a long time. I had spent so much of my life concentrating on the “fruit” of my own personal holiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-weaver/missed-that-point-for-a-long-time-i-had-spent-so-much-of-my-life/) [Joanna Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-weaver/) > [Among of green stiff old bright broken branch come white sweet May again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/among-of-green-stiff-old-bright-broken-branch-come-white-sweet-may/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [“Inferno: Canto XIII Not yet had Nessus reached the other side, When we had put ourselves within a wood, That was not marked by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/inferno-canto-xiii-not-yet-had-nessus-reached-the-other-side-when-we/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [“Tell them stories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/tell-them-stories/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Ella is nervous,” the harpy muttered from her perch on the railing. “The elephant. The elephant is watching Ella.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/ella-is-nervous-the-harpy-muttered-from-her-perch-on-the-railing-the/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [Law is a Bottomless-Pit, it is a Cormorant, a Harpy, that devours every thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-arbuthnot/law-is-a-bottomless-pit-it-is-a-cormorant-a-harpy-that-devours-every/) [John Arbuthnot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-arbuthnot/) > [You are not Kaia the Disappointment. Do you hear me? That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier. You are Kaia the Mighty.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gena-showalter/you-are-not-kaia-the-disappointment-do-you-hear-me-that-s-what-i-was/) [Gena Showalter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gena-showalter/) > [A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old, Where armies whole have sunk: the parching air Burns frore, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/a-gulf-profound-as-that-serbonian-bog-betwixt-damiata-and-mount/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [If only Paris and the Harpies had gotten along. But Promiscuity had taken one look at the beautiful women and deemed them “too much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gena-showalter/if-only-paris-and-the-harpies-had-gotten-along-but-promiscuity-had/) [Gena Showalter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gena-showalter/) > [Wives are good on paper, at least. until they turn into harpies with sharp claws and open check books. Then they're kind of frightening.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-campbell/wives-are-good-on-paper-at-least-until-they-turn-into-harpies-with/) [Rob Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-campbell/) > [My beard towards heaven, I feel my nape support / The back of my head, I grow the breast of a harpy / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelangelo/my-beard-towards-heaven-i-feel-my-nape-support-the-back-of-my-head-i/) [Michelangelo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelangelo/) > [Love's the only thing I've thought of or read about since I was knee-high. That's what I always dreamed of, of meeting somebody and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-hecht/love-s-the-only-thing-i-ve-thought-of-or-read-about-since-i-was-knee/) [Ben Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-hecht/) > [Humans had a saying. Mess with the bull and get the horns. Well, Harpies had a saying, too. Mess with a Harpy and die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gena-showalter/humans-had-a-saying-mess-with-the-bull-and-get-the-horns-well-harpies/) [Gena Showalter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gena-showalter/) > [Tabitha blinked innocently. "Why is your consort speaking to me without my having addressed him first?" she asked Kaia. "Have you not taught him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gena-showalter/tabitha-blinked-innocently-why-is-your-consort-speaking-to-me-without/) [Gena Showalter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gena-showalter/) > [Prostitution requires for its diminution not only laws, well enforced, to abolish the traffic in womanhood; not only better social protection against harpies who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-garlin-spencer/prostitution-requires-for-its-diminution-not-only-laws-well-enforced/) [Anna Garlin Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-garlin-spencer/) ## More by Dante Alighieri > [In that part of the book of my memory before the which is little that can be read, there is a rubric, saying, Incipit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/in-that-part-of-the-book-of-my-memory-before-the-which-is-little-that/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [“Be as a tower, that, firmly set, Shakes not its top for any blast that blows!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/be-as-a-tower-that-firmly-set-shakes-not-its-top-for-any-blast-that/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Pure essence, and pure matter, and the two joined into one were shot forth without flaw, like three bright arrows from a three-string bow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/pure-essence-and-pure-matter-and-the-two-joined-into-one-were-shot/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Into the eternal darkness, into fire and into ice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/into-the-eternal-darkness-into-fire-and-into-ice/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [O power of fantasy that steals our minds from things outside, to leave us unaware, although a thousand trumpets may blow loud--what stirs you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/o-power-of-fantasy-that-steals-our-minds-from-things-outside-to-leave/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [The purpose of the whole (work) is to remove those who are living in this life from a state of wretchedness and lead them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/the-purpose-of-the-whole-work-is-to-remove-those-who-are-living-in/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [“Noi leggeveamo un giorno per diletto Di Lancialotto, come amor lo strinse; Soli eravamo e senza alcun sospetto Per più fiate gli occhi ci…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/noi-leggeveamo-un-giorno-per-diletto-di-lancialotto-come-amor-lo/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Love can move the Sun and the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/love-can-move-the-sun-and-the-stars/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Oh foolish desires of mortals! How weak are the reasons that lead us to not take off our flight from the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/oh-foolish-desires-of-mortals-how-weak-are-the-reasons-that-lead-us/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [“On march the banners of the King of Hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/on-march-the-banners-of-the-king-of-hell/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Seldom indeed does human virtue rise From trunk to branch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/seldom-indeed-does-human-virtue-rise-from-trunk-to-branch/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [All hope abandon, ye who enter here!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/all-hope-abandon-ye-who-enter-here/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [We have no hope and yet we live in longing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/we-have-no-hope-and-yet-we-live-in-longing/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Not one drop of blood is left inside my veins that does not throb: I recognize signs of the ancient flame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/not-one-drop-of-blood-is-left-inside-my-veins-that-does-not-throb-i/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [It is necessity and not pleasure that compels us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/it-is-necessity-and-not-pleasure-that-compels-us/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) [Explore all 414 Dante Alighieri quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) ## More Harpies quotes > [If only Paris and the Harpies had gotten along. But Promiscuity had taken one look at the beautiful women and deemed them “too much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gena-showalter/if-only-paris-and-the-harpies-had-gotten-along-but-promiscuity-had/) [Gena Showalter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gena-showalter/) > [Tabitha blinked innocently. "Why is your consort speaking to me without my having addressed him first?" she asked Kaia. "Have you not taught him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gena-showalter/tabitha-blinked-innocently-why-is-your-consort-speaking-to-me-without/) [Gena Showalter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gena-showalter/) > [Humans had a saying. Mess with the bull and get the horns. Well, Harpies had a saying, too. Mess with a Harpy and die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gena-showalter/humans-had-a-saying-mess-with-the-bull-and-get-the-horns-well-harpies/) [Gena Showalter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gena-showalter/) > [Love's the only thing I've thought of or read about since I was knee-high. That's what I always dreamed of, of meeting somebody and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-hecht/love-s-the-only-thing-i-ve-thought-of-or-read-about-since-i-was-knee/) [Ben Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-hecht/) > [My beard towards heaven, I feel my nape support / The back of my head, I grow the breast of a harpy / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelangelo/my-beard-towards-heaven-i-feel-my-nape-support-the-back-of-my-head-i/) [Michelangelo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelangelo/) > [Wives are good on paper, at least. until they turn into harpies with sharp claws and open check books. Then they're kind of frightening.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-campbell/wives-are-good-on-paper-at-least-until-they-turn-into-harpies-with/) [Rob Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-campbell/) > [“Inferno: Canto XIII Not yet had Nessus reached the other side, When we had put ourselves within a wood, That was not marked by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/inferno-canto-xiii-not-yet-had-nessus-reached-the-other-side-when-we/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old, Where armies whole have sunk: the parching air Burns frore, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/a-gulf-profound-as-that-serbonian-bog-betwixt-damiata-and-mount/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [You are not Kaia the Disappointment. Do you hear me? That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier. You are Kaia the Mighty.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gena-showalter/you-are-not-kaia-the-disappointment-do-you-hear-me-that-s-what-i-was/) [Gena Showalter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gena-showalter/) > [Law is a Bottomless-Pit, it is a Cormorant, a Harpy, that devours every thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-arbuthnot/law-is-a-bottomless-pit-it-is-a-cormorant-a-harpy-that-devours-every/) [John Arbuthnot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-arbuthnot/) > [Ella is nervous,” the harpy muttered from her perch on the railing. “The elephant. The elephant is watching Ella.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/ella-is-nervous-the-harpy-muttered-from-her-perch-on-the-railing-the/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“Tell them stories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/tell-them-stories/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Prostitution requires for its diminution not only laws, well enforced, to abolish the traffic in womanhood; not only better social protection against harpies who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-garlin-spencer/prostitution-requires-for-its-diminution-not-only-laws-well-enforced/) [Anna Garlin Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-garlin-spencer/) > [“Crouched on the altar-steps, a grisly band Of women slumbers—not like women they, But Gorgons rather; nay, that word is weak, Nor may I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/crouched-on-the-altar-steps-a-grisly-band-of-women-slumbers-not-like/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I'll tell you something, Harpy," he said, his voice almost a whisper now. "It never even occurred to me that we wouldn't make it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristan-higgins/i-ll-tell-you-something-harpy-he-said-his-voice-almost-a-whisper-now/) [Kristan Higgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristan-higgins/) [Browse all 18 Harpies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harpies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The broken branch hissed loudly, and then that wind was converted into these words: \"Briefly will you be answered. When the fierce soul departs from the body from which it has uprooted itself, Minos sends it to the seventh mouth. It falls into the wood, and no place is assigned to it, but where chance hurls it, there it sprouts like a grain of spelt. It grows into a shoot, then a woody plant; the Harpies, feeding on its leaves, give it pain and a window for the pain. 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