“And, as at the edge of water in a ditch frogs set themselves, with just the snout outside, their feet and bulk else hidd’n; on either beach so did the sinners squat."
. . . . .
The Canto opens with a passionate address to Dante's native Florence, saying that there are so many Florentines populating Hell because of the terrible actions of its citizens The poets move on to the eighth chasm where Dante sees thousands of little flames, reminding him of fireflies on a hillside. He leans so far forward on the ledge of the bridge that he almost falls into the chasm. Virgil says that each of the flames contains a sinner, which is hidden from view by the fire surrounding it. These are the Evil Counselors, people that used their power and their intellect for evil. The retribution that the sinners of the eighth chasm suffer fits with the sin that they perpetrated in life. They gave evil counsel (particularly to religious leaders), and therefore, misused God's gifts. These souls worked in hidden ways, and they will spend eternity hidden from sight and burning in flames that symbolize a guilty conscience.