To read the original Italian monovocalic sonnet, consult Giuseppe Varaldo's "All'alba Shahrazad andrà ammazzata", or see chapter five of Douglas Hofstadter's "Le Ton Beau de Marot".
Virgil finds Pilgrim, drifting in midnight,
Bids Pilgrim visit sin's finishing pit:
Insists glimpsing spirits sinking in shit,
Sizzling in pitch, will gift him with insight.
Circling in with diminishing windings,
Visiting kith, slinging witticisms,
Indicting kings with biting criticisms,
Inscribing in ringing tristichs his findings.
Drinking in sights, drinking his fill,
Skirting grim imps with childish tricks,
Sighing, "'Tis right: it is His will."
Pilgrim clings tight whilst Virgil climbs Nick's
bristling thigh: flipping, climbs still ...
'Till sighting night's shining, inspiring pinpricks.
Alternate, "Bowdlerized" version of the first stanza:
Virgil finds Pilgrim, drifting in midnight,
Bids Pilgrim visit sin's finishing ditch:
Insists glimpsing spirits sizzling in pitch,
Sinking in filth, will gift him with insight.
Notes on Writing a Monovocalic Sonnet