The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Allusions: Dante's "Inferno"

Dante's "Inferno": Canto XXVII: Lines 61-66

From Prufrock's Prologue: (In Italian)

S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Non torno vivo alcun, s'i'odo il vero,
Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

John Ciardi's Translation:

If I believed that my reply were made
To one who could ever climb to the world again,
This flame would shake no more. But since no shade
Ever returned- if what I am told is true-
From this blind world into living light,
Without fear of dishonor I answer you.

Explanation

In the "Inferno", Dante's narrator is being led through Hell for a tour, I guess you could say. In one of the lower rings of Hell (Dante's Hell is composed of 9 rings, the lowest one containing Satan), the narrator and his guide (Virgil) come across a man with his body (from the head down) encased in ice, as part of his punishment. When this man is asked what sin he is being punished for, he replies with the excerpt above.

Note: I realize this is a direct quote, but I label it is an allusion, since Eliot does not directly state where the quote came from; ergo, it is an indirect reference, an allusion.