Inferno

"Behold the monster with the pointed tail,
Who cleaves the hills, and breaketh walls and weapons,
Behold him who infecteth all the world."

Thus unto me my Guide began to say, And beckoned him that he should come to shore, Near to the confine of the trodden marble;
And that uncleanly image of deceit
Came up and thrust ashore its head and bust, But on the border did not drag its tail.
The face was as the face of a just man, Its semblance outwardly was so benign, And of a serpent all the trunk beside.
Two paws it had, hairy unto the armpits;
The back, and breast, and both the sides it had Depicted o'er with nooses and with shields.

Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri (c. 1265 – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante, was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher.