In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself in a dark wood where the straight way was lost[…]

Whilst I was rushing downwards, there appeared before my eyes one who seemed hoarse from long silence. When I saw him in the great desert, I cried: “Have pity on me, whate’er thou be, whether or shade or veritable man!” He answered me: “Not man, a man I once was[…]”

“See the beast from which I turned back; help me from her, thou famous sage; for she makes my veins and pulses tremble.” “Thou must take another road,” he answered, when he saw me weeping, “if thou desirest to escape from this wild place[…]”

Then he moved; and I kept on behind him.

(This post will be unpinned when I return from deployment. – Virgil )

Source:
I and II Canto of the Divine Comedy.