Part 4
Part 4
of the college, say a 3DWHU 1RVWHU
there for me, as much of one as is as
needed by us, in this world, where
the power to sin is no longer ours.’
Then, perhaps in order to give way,
to another following closely, he
vanished through the fire, like a fish
diving, through water, to the depths.
I drew forward, a little, towards
the one Guido had pointed to, and
said that my longing was preparing
a place of gratitude for his name.
And, freely, he began to speak:
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‘Your sweet request of me is so
pleasing,
that I cannot, and will not, hide
me from you.
I am Arnaut, who weeping goes and sings:
seeing, gone by, the folly in my
mind,
joyful, I hope for what the new
day brings.
By that true good, I beg you, that
you find,
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guiding you to the summit of the stairway,
think of my sorrow, sometimes,
as \RX climb.’
Then he hid himself in the
refining fire.
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So the sun stood, as when he shoots out his first rays, there at
Jerusalem, where his Maker shed
his blood; as when Ebro’s river falls
under heaven-borne Libra’s scales,
and Ganges’s waves are scorched by
mid-day heat: so there the daylight
was fading when God’s joyful
Angel appeared to us. He was
standing beyond the flames, on the
bank, and singing: Beati mundo:
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corde. Blessed are the pure in heart,’
in a voice more thrilling than ours.
Then, when we were nearer to him,
he said: ‘You may go no further, O
sacred spirits, if the fire has not first
bitten you: enter it, and do not be
deaf to the singing beyond,’ at
which, on hearing him, I became
like someone laid in the grave.
I bent forward, over my linked
hands, staring at the fire, and,
powerfully conceiving human
bodies, once seen, being burnt alive.
The kindly guides then turned to
me, and Virgil said: ‘My son, there
may be torment here, but not death.
Remember, remember......if I led
you safely, on Geryon’s back, what will I do now, closer to God?
Believe, in truth, that if you lived in
this womb of flames, even for a
thousand years, they could not
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scorch a single hair: and if you think, perhaps, that I deceive you,
go towards them, and gain belief, by
holding the edge of your clothes out,
in your hands. Now forget, forget all
fear: turn this way, and go on, in
safety.’
And I, still rooted to the spot:
and conscience against it. When he
saw me standing there still rooted,
and stubborn, troubled a little, he
said: ‘Now, see, my son, this wall
lies between you and Beatrice.’
As Pyramus opened his eyes on the point of death, at Thisbe’s name, and gazed at her, there, where the
mulberry was reddened, so, my
stubbornness softened, I turned to
my wise leader, on hearing that
name that always stirs in my mind.
At which, he shook his head, and
said: ‘What? Do we desire to stay
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on this side?’ Then he smiled, as one smiles at a child, won over with
an apple.’
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Then he went into the fire, in
front of me, begging Statius, who,
for a long distance before, had
separated us, to come behind.
When I was inside, I would have
thrown myself into molten glass to
cool myself, so immeasurable was
the burning there. My sweet father,
to comfort me, went on speaking
only of Beatrice, saying: ‘I seem,
already, to see her eyes.’
A voice guided us, that was
singing on the far side, and, only
intent on it, we came out, there,
where the ascent begins. ‘Venite
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EHQHGLFWL SDWULV PHL: Come ye blessed of my father,’ sounded from
inside a light that shone there, so
bright it overcame me, and I could
not look at it. It added: ‘The sun, is sinking and the evening comes: do
not stay, but quicken your steps,
while the west is not yet dark.’
The way climbed straight
through the rock, in such a direction
that I blocked the light, of the
already low sun, in front of me. And
we had attempted only a few steps,
when I, and the wise, saw, because
of the shadow, which vanished, that
the sun had set behind us. And
before night held all sovereignty,
and the horizon, through all its
immense spaces, had become one
colour, each of us made a bed, of a
step: since the law of the Mount
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took the power, not the desire, to climb, from us.
As mountain goats, that have
been quick and wanton on the
summits, before they are fed,
become tame, ruminating, silently in
the shade, when the sun is hot,
guarded by the shepherd leaning on
his staff, and watching them as he
leans: and as the shepherd lodging
in the open, keeps quiet vigil, at
night, near his flock, guarding it, in
case a wild beast scatters it: so were
we, all three, I, the goat, and they,
the shepherds, closed in by the high
rock, on both sides.
Little could be seen there of the
outside world, but through that little
space I saw the stars, brighter and
bigger than they used to be. As I
ruminated, like this, and gazed at
them, sleep came to me: sleep that
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often knows the future, before the fact exists.
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In that hour, I think, when Cytherean Venus, who always seems burning with the fire of love,
first shone from the east towards the
Mount, a lady appeared to me in a
dream, young and beautiful and
going along a plain gathering
flowers: and she said, singing:
‘Whoever asks my name, know that
I am Leah, and go moving my lovely hands around to make a
garland. I adorn myself here, to look
pleasing in the glass, but my sister,
Rachel, never moves from her mirror, and sits there all day long.
She is as happy to gaze at her lovely
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eyes, as I am to adorn myself with my hands: action satisfies me: her,
contemplation.’
And now, at the pre-dawn
splendour, which grows more
welcome to travellers, when,
returning, they lodge nearer home,
the shadows of night were
vanishing, on all sides, and my sleep with them, at which I rose, seeing
the great Masters had already risen.
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‘That sweet fruit, that mortal
anxiety goes in search of, on so
many branches, will give your
hunger peace today.’ Virgil
employed such words to me, and
there were never gifts equalling
these in sweetness. Such deep
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longing, on longing, overcame me, to be above, that afterwards, I felt
my wings growing, for the flight, at
every step.
When the stairway, below us,
was done, and we were on the
topmost step, Virgil fixed his eyes on me, and said: ‘Son you have seen
the temporal and the eternal fire,
and have reached a place where I,
by myself, can see no further. Here I
have led you, by skill and art: now,
take your delight for a guide: you
are free of the steep path, and the
narrow. See, there, the sun that shines on your forehead, see the
grass, the flowers and the bushes,
that the earth here produces by
itself.
While the lovely, joyful eyes,
that, weeping, made me come to
you, are arriving, here you can sit
600
601
down, or walk amongst all this. Do not expect another word, or sign,
from me. Your will is free, direct
and whole, and it would be wrong
not to do, as it demands: and, by
that, I crown you, and mitre you,
over yourself.’
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Now, eager to explore, within
and round, the dense green of the
divine wood, that moderated new
daylight to my eyes, I left the
mountainside without delay,
crossing the plain, slowly, slowly,
over the ground, perfumed on every
side. A sweet breath of continuous
air, struck my forehead, with no
more force than a gentle wind,
before which the branches,
602
leaning towards that western quarter
where the sacred Mount casts its
first shadow, not bent so far from
their vertical that the little birds, in
the treetops, left off practising their
art: but singing, in true delight, they
welcomed the first breezes among
the leaves, that murmured a refrain
to their songs: such as gathers, from
bough to bough, through the pine-
woods on Chiassi’s shore, when
Aeolus frees the Sirocco.
Already my slow steps had taken
me into the ancient wood, so far that
I could not see where I had entered:
and, see, a stream prevented my
going further, that, with its little
waves, bent the grass that issued
from its shore, towards the left. All
the waters that seem purest, here,
would appear tainted, compared to
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though it flows dark, dark in
perpetual shade, that never allows
the sun or moonlight there.
I rested my feet, and, with my
eyes I passed beyond the stream, to
stare at the vast multitude of fresh
flowers of May, and, just as
something suddenly appears, that
sets all other thoughts aside, through
wonderment, a lady, all alone, appeared to me, going along
singing, gathering flowers on
flowers, with which all her path was
painted. I said to her: ‘I beg you,
lovely lady, who warm yourself at
Love’s rays, if I can believe
appearances, so often witness to the
heart, may it please you to come
nearer to the stream, so that I can
know what you sing. You make me
think of where, and how, Proserpine
604
seemed, when Ceres, her mother, lost her, and she, the Spring.
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As a lady, who is dancing, turns,
with feet close to each other, and to
the ground, and barely placing foot
in front of foot, she turned to me,
among the red and yellow flowers,
as a virgin who looks downwards,
modestly: and satisfied my prayer,
drawing so near, that the sweet
sound, and its meaning, reached me.
As soon as she was there, where
the grass is already bathed by the
waves of the lovely stream, she
granted me the gift of raising her
eyes. I do not think as bright a light
shone, beneath Venus’s eyelids, 605
wounded by her son, Cupid, against his wish. Matilda smiled, from the right bank, opposite, gathering more
flowers in her hands, which the high
ground bears without seeds. The
river kept us three steps apart, but
the Hellespont, that Xerxes crossed, a check to human pride to this day,
was not hated more by Leander, because of its turbulent wash,
between Sestos and Abydos, than
this stream was by me, because it
did not open then, for me.
She began: ‘You are new, and
perhaps because I am smiling here,
in this place chosen as a nest for the
human race, wonderingly, you have
some doubts: but the psalm
“'HOHFWDVWL: you have made me glad” sheds light that might un-fog
your intellect. And you, who are in
606
front, and entreated me, say if you want to hear anything more, since I
came ready to answer your
questions, until you are sated.’
‘The water,’ I said, ‘and the
sound of the forest, are struggling in
me with a new belief, in something,
I have heard, contrary to this.’ At
which she said: ‘I will tell you the
cause of what you wonder at, and I
will clear away the fog that annoys
you.
The highest Good, who is his
own sole joy, created Man good,
and for goodness, and gave him this
place as a pledge of eternal peace.
Through Man’s fault, he did not stay
here long: through Man’s fault, he
exchanged honest laughter, and
sweet play, for tears and sweat. So
that the storms, caused below this
Mount, by the exhalations of water
607
and earth, following the heat as far as they can, should not hurt Man, it
rose this far towards Heaven, free of
them, from beyond where it is
closed off.
Now, since the whole of the air
turns in a circle with the primal
circling, unless its motion is blocked
in some direction, that motion
strikes this summit, which is wholly
free in the clear air, and makes the
woods resound because they are so
solid: and a plant that is struck has
such power, that it impregnates the
air with its virtue, and the air, in its
circling, scatters it round: and the
other soil, depending on its quality
and its situation, conceives, and
produces various plants, with
various virtues.
If this were understood, over
there, it would not seem strange
608
when some plant takes root without obvious seed. And you must know
that the sacred plain, where you are,
is full of every kind of seed, and
bears fruit in it that is not gathered
over there.
The water you see does not rise
from a spring, fed by the moisture
that the cold condenses, as a river
does that gains and loses volume,
but issues from a constant, unfailing
fountain, that, by God’s will,
recovers as much as it pours out
freely, on every side.
On this side it falls with a power
that takes away the memory of sin:
on the other, with one that restores
the memory of every good action.
On this side it is called Lethe, on
that side Eunoë, and does not act
completely unless it is tasted first on
this side, and then on that. It
609
surpasses all other savours, and though your thirst to know may be
fully sated, even though I say no
more to you, I will give you this
corollary, out of grace, and I do not
think my words will be less precious
to you, because they go beyond my
promise to you.
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Perhaps, in ancient times, those
who sang of the Golden Age, and its
happy state, dreamed of this place,
on Parnassus. Here the root of
Humanity was innocent: here is
everlasting Spring, and every fruit:
this is the nectar of which they all
speak.’
Then I turned straight back
towards the poets, and saw that,
610
with smiles, they had heard the last elucidation. Then I turned my face
to the lovely lady.
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She continued, from the end of
her words, singing, like a lady in
love: ‘%HDWLTXRUXPWHFWDVXQWSHFFDWD:
Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven.’ And, like the nymphs
who used, alone, to wander through
the woodland shadows, one wishing
to see the sun, another to flee it, she
moved then, walking along the
bank, against the stream, and I
across from her, one small step
answering the other.
Her steps, with mine, were not a
hundred, when both banks curved
alike, so that I turned eastwards.
611
And our journey was not far yet, when the lady turned completely to
me, saying: ‘My brother, look and
listen.’ And see a sudden brightness
flooded, through the great forest, on
every side, so that I was unsure if it
was lightning. But since lightning
vanishes, as it comes, and that shone
brighter and brighter, lasting, I said,
in my mind: ‘What is this thing?’
And a sweet melody ran through
the glowing air, at which righteous
zeal made me condemn Eve’s
boldness, who a woman, alone, and
newly created, there, where Heaven
and Earth were obedient, could not
bear to be under any veil, which if
she had borne, devoutly, I would
have known these ineffable delights
earlier, and for longer.
While I was moving among such
first fruits of the eternal bliss,
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enraptured and still longing for greater joys, the air turned to
blazing fire, under the green
branches in front of us, and the
sweet sound was distinguished as a
song.
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O sacred, virgin Muses, if ever I endured hunger, cold or vigil for
you, the occasion spurs me on to ask
my reward. Now I need Helicon to
stream out for me, and Urania to aid me with her choir, to put into words,
things that are hard to imagine.
A little further on, the illusion of
seven golden trees appeared, caused
by the great space still between us
and them: but when I had come
nearer, so that the common object,
613
that can deceive the senses, had not lost any of its details, the power that
creates matter for reasoning,
realised that branched candlesticks
were what they were, and the
content of the singing was:
‘Hosanna.’ The lovely pageant was
blazing out, above, far brighter than
the mid-month moon, at midnight.
I turned full of wonder, towards
the good Virgil, and he replied with
a face no less stunned. Then I turned
my face back towards the sublime
things, which moved towards us, so
slowly, that they would be out-
paced by a new bride.
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The lady cried to me: ‘Why are
you only so ardent for the sight of
614
attention to what comes behind
them?’
Then I saw people, dressed in
white, following as if behind their
leader: and there was never such
whiteness, here, among us. The
water shone brightly on my left, and
reflected my left side, like a mirror,
if I gazed into it. When I was
situated on the edge, so that the
river alone separated me from them,
I stopped to see better, and I saw the
flames advance, leaving the air
behind them tinted, and they had the
appearance of trailing banners, so that the air above remained coloured
in seven bands, of the hues in which
the sun creates his bow, and Diana, the Moon, her halo.
615
616
rear, way beyond my sight, and, as
far as I could judge, the outermost
ones were ten paces apart.
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Under as lovely a sky as I could
describe, came twenty -four Elders,
two by two, crowned with lilies.
They were all singing: ‘Blessed art
thou among the daughters of Adam, and blessed to all eternity be thy
beauties.’ When the flowers, and the
other fresh herbs, on the other bank
opposite, were free of all those
chosen people, four creatures came after them, each one crowned with
green leaves, as star follows star in
the sky.
617
Each was plumed with six wings, the feathers full of eyes, and the
eyes of Argus, if they were living, would be like them. Reader, I will
scatter no more words, to describe
their form, since other duties
constrain me, so that I cannot be
lavish here, but read Ezekiel, who pictures them as he saw them,
coming from the icy firmament in
whirlwind, cloud and fire, and as
you will find them in his pages, so
they were here, except that
John, the Divine, is with me as to the wings, and differs from him.
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The space within the four of
them contained a triumphal, two-
618
wheeled, chariot drawn by a Grifon, harnessed at the neck. And the
Grifon stretched each wing upwards
between the centre and three of the
banners, so that he did no harm by
cutting across them. The wings rose
so high their tips could not be seen.
Its members were golden, where he
was birdlike, and the rest white
mixed with brilliant red. Neither
Scipio Africanus nor, indeed,
Augustus ever gladdened Rome with so magnificent a chariot, and
the Sun’s would be poor by
comparison, the Sun’s, that was
consumed when Phaethon strayed, at Earth’s devout request, when
Jupiter was darkly just.
Three ladies came dancing, in a circle, by the right hand wheel: one
was so red she would scarcely be
visible in the fire: the next was as if
619
her flesh and bones were made of emerald: the third seemed of newly
fallen snow: and now they seemed
led by the white, and now by the
red, and from her song the others
took their metre, slow or quick.
By the left hand wheel, four
dressed in purple, made festive,
following the lead of the one who
had three eyes in her face.
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Behind the group I have
described, I saw two aged men, of similar bearing, but dissimilar
clothing, grave and venerable: one
was Luke, showing himself to be of the school of that supreme
Hippocrates, whom nature made physician to the creatures she most
620
cares for: the other, Paul, displayed the opposite role, with a sharp,
gleaming sword, so that it made me
afraid, even on this side of the
stream.
Then I saw four, of humble
aspect: and behind them all, a
solitary old man, John the Divine, coming by, with a visionary face, as
if dreaming. And all these seven
were costumed like the first
company, but had no garland of
lilies round their heads, rather one
of roses and other crimson flowers,
so that someone who saw them
close to would have said they were
all on fire above their eyes.
And when the chariot was
opposite me, a clap of thunder was
heard: and those noble people
seemed to have their further
621
progress stopped, and halted there with the first banners.
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When those Seven Lights of the
first Heaven had halted, that never
knew setting or rising, or the veil of
any other mist but sin, and which
made all aware of their duty, just as
the lower seven, Ursa Minor, guide
the helmsman towards port, the
people of truth, who had first
appeared, between them and the
Grifon, turned towards the chariot,
as if towards their place of peace:
and one of them, as if sent from
Heaven, lifted his voice, three times,
singing: ‘9HQL VSRQVD GH /LEDQR:
Come with me from Lebanon, my
622
spouse,’ and all the others sang after him.
As the Saints at the Last
Judgment will rise, ready, each one,
from his tomb, singing Halleluiah,
with renewed voice, so a hundred
rose, in the divine chariot, DGYRFHP
WDQWL VHQLV, at the voice of so great
an Elder, the ministers and
messengers of eternal life. All were
saying: ‘%HQHGLFWXV TXL YHQLV:
Blessed art thou that comest’ and,
scattering flowers above and
around, ‘0DQLEXVRGDWHOLOLDSOHQLV:
O give lilies with full hands.’
I have seen, before now, at dawn
of day, the eastern sky all rose-red,
and the rest of the heavens serene
and clear, and seen the sun’s face
rise, veiled, so that because of the
moderating mists, the eye, for a long
while, endured him: and so, in a
623
cloud of flowers, that lifted from the angelic hands, and fell again, inside
and beyond, a lady appeared to me, crowned with olive-leaves, over a
white veil, dressed in colours of
living flame, beneath a green cloak.
And my spirit, that had endured
so great a space of time, since it had
been struck with awe, trembling, in
her presence, through the hidden
virtue that issued from her, and
without having greater knowledge
through my eyes, felt the intense
power of former love.
As soon as that high virtue struck
my sight, which had already
transfixed me, before I was out of
my childhood, I turned to the left,
with that faith with which a little
boy runs to his mother, when he is
afraid or troubled, saying to Virgil:
‘There is a barely a drop of blood in
624
me that does not tremble: I know the tokens of the ancient flame.’
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But Virgil had left us, bereft of himself, Virgil, sweetest father,
Virgil to whose guidance I gave
myself: and all the beauties, that our
ancient mother lost, did not prevent
my dew-washed cheeks from
turning dark again with tears.
‘Dante, do not weep, because Virgil goes, do not weep yet, not
yet, since you must weep soon for
another reason.’ Like an admiral,
who stands, at stern and prow, to
inspect the crews who man the other
ships, and encourage them to brave
action, so I saw the lady who first
625
appeared to me, veiled, beneath the angelic festival, directing her gaze
towards me on this side of the
stream, from the left of the chariot,
when I turned at the sound of my
own name, that I write here, from
necessity.
Although the veil which draped
her head, crowned with Minerva’s olive leaves, did not allow her to
appear clearly, she continued to
speak, regally, and severely, like
someone who holds back the
sharpest words till last.
‘Look at me, truly: I truly am, I
truly am Beatrice. How did you dare
to approach the Mount? Did you not
know that here Man is happy?’ My
eyes dropped to the clear water, but
seeing myself there, I looked back at
the grass, so much shame bowed my
forehead down. As the mother
626
seems severe to her child, so she seemed to me: since the savour of
sharp pity tastes of bitterness.
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She fell silent, and immediately
the Angels sang: ‘,QWH'RPLQHVSHUDYL:
In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust..’
but did not sing beyond the words:
‘SHGHVPHRV: my feet.’
As the snow is frozen, among the
living rafters, along Italy’s back,
under the blast and stress of
Slavonic winds, then, melting,
trickles down inside its mass, if the
ground, free of shadow, breathes, so
that the fire seems to melt the
candle, so I was frozen, without
sighs or tears, before they, who
always harmonise their notes with
627
628
the melody of the eternal spheres, sang: but when I heard the
compassion for me in their sweet
harmony, greater than if they had
said: ‘Lady, why do you shame him
so?’ the ice that had closed around
my heart became breath and water,
and issued from my chest, in
anguish, through my mouth and
eyes.
She, still standing on that side of
the chariot I spoke of, directed her
words, then, to the pitying Angels:
‘You are vigilant in the eternal day,
so that night or sleep do not hide
one measure of the earth’s journey
along its way, from you: therefore I
answer with greater care, so that he
who weeps there can understand, so
that his sorrow and his sin can be
measured together.
629
Not merely by the motion of the vast spheres, that direct each seed to
some objective, according to the
stars’ attendance, but by the
generosity of divine graces, that
yield their rain from such lofty
vapours our eyes do not reach near
them, this man, potentially, was
such in his YLWDQXRYD his new life, that every true skill would have
grown miraculously in him. But the
more good qualities the earth’s soil
has, the more wild and coarse it
becomes with evil seed, and lack of
cultivation.
For a while I supported him with
my face: showing him my young
eyes, I drew him with me, directed
towards the right goal. But, as soon
as I was on the threshold of my
second age, and changed existences,
he left me and gave himself to
630
others. I was less dear to him, and less pleasing, when I rose from flesh
to spirit, and beauty and virtue
increased in me: and he turned his
steps to an untrue road, chasing
false illusions of good, that never
completely repay their promise.
Nor was it any use to me to gain
inspiration to call him back to
himself, in dreams, or otherwise: he
valued them so little. He sank so
low, that all means to save him were
already useless, except that of
showing him the lost people. To
achieve that, I visited the gates of
the dead, and, weeping, my prayers
carried to him who guided him
upwards.
God’s highest law would be
broken, if Lethe were gone by, and
such food was tasted, without some
tax of penitence, that sheds tears.’
631
'DQWHFRQIHVVHVKLVJXLOW
She began again, continuing
without delay, directing her speech
with its sharp point towards me,
whose edge had seemed keen to me:
‘O you, who are on that side of the
sacred stream, say, say if it is true:
your confession must meet the
charge.’
My powers were so confused,
that the voice sounded and was gone
before it emerged from its agent.
She suffered a pause, then said:
‘What are you thinking of? Reply to
me: the sad memories, you have, are
not yet erased by the water.’
Confusion and fear, joined together,
drove a ‘Yes’ from my mouth, so
632
quietly that eyes were needed to interpret it.
As a crossbow breaks, in string
and bow, when fired at too high a
tension, and the bolt hits the mark
with lessened force, so I broke
under this heavy charge, pouring out
a flood of tears and sighs, and my
voice died away in transit. At which
she said to me: ‘In your desire for
me, that led you to love that good,
beyond which there is nothing to
aspire to, what pits did you find in
your path, or chains to bind, that
you had to despoil your hope of
passing upward? And what
allurements, or attractions were
displayed in others’ faces, to make
you stray towards them?’
After heaving a bitter sigh, I had
hardly voice to answer, and my lips
gave it shape with effort. I said,
633
weeping: ‘Present things with false delights turned my steps away, as
soon as your face had vanished.’
And she: ‘If you had stayed silent,
or denied what you have confessed,
your fault would be no less noted,
such is the judge who knows of it.
But when self-accusation of sin
bursts from the mouth, in our Court,
the grindstone blunts the edge.’
3XUJDWRULR &DQWR ;;;,
%HDWULFHUHEXNHVKLP
‘However, in order that you
might be ashamed of your errors,
and might be more steadfast, on
hearing the Siren sing next time, stifle the source of your weeping,
and listen: then you will hear how
my entombed flesh should have led
you towards the opposite goal.
634
Art and Nature never presented
such delight to you, as the lovely
body I was enclosed by, now
scattered into dust: and if the
greatest delight was lost to you, by
my death, what mortal thing should
have led you to desire it? Truly, at
the first sting of false things, you
should have risen after me, who was
no longer such. Some young girl, or
other vanity, of such brief
enjoyment, should not have
weighted your wings, to wait for
more arrows. The young bird stays
for two or three, but the net is
spread, and the shaft fired, in vain,
in front of the eyes of the fully-
fledged.
As children stand, mute with
shame, listening with eyes on the
ground, repentant, and self-
confessing, so I stood, there. And
635
she said: ‘Since you are grieving at what you hear, lift your bearded
head, and you will have greater grief
from what you see.’
3XUJDWRULR &DQWR ;;;,
'DQWH¶VUHPRUVH
A strong oak-tree is uprooted
with less resistance by our northern
winds, or the southerlies from
Iarbas’s Africa, than I lifted my face, at her command. And when
she spoke of my beard, as a man I
knew the venom behind her words.
And when my head was
stretched forward, my eyes saw
those primal creatures resting from
strewing flowers, and my eyes, not
yet quite in my control, saw
Beatrice, turned towards the Grifon,
636
which is Christ, one sole person in two natures.
Under her veil, and beyond the
stream, she seemed to me to exceed
her former self, more than she
exceeded others when she was here.
The nettle of repentance stung me
so fiercely, that the thing that drew
me most to love of it, of all other
things became most hateful to me.
Such great remorse gnawed at my
heart, that I fell, stunned, and what I
became then she knows, who gave
me cause.
3XUJDWRULR &DQWR ;;;,
/HWKH%HDWULFHXQYHLOHG
Then, when my heart restored the
power of outward things, I saw
Matilda bending over me, that lady
whom I had found alone, and she
637
said: ‘Hold to me! Hold to me!’ She had drawn me into the river, up to
my neck, and she went along, over
the water, light as a shuttle, pulling
me behind her.
When I was near to the shore of
the blessed, I heard: ‘$VSHUJHV PH:
cleanse me’ sung so sweetly, I
cannot remember it, nor can I
describe it. The lovely lady opened
her arms, clasped my head, and
submerged me so that I had to
swallow water, then pulled me out,
and led me, cleansed, in among the
dance of the four lovely ones, and
each took my arm, and singing, they
began: ‘Here we are nymphs, and in
heaven we are stars: before Beatrice
descended to your world, we were
ordained to be her helpers. We will
take you to her eyes: but the three
on the other side, who look more
638
639
deeply, will sharpen your vision to the joyful inward light.’
Then they lead me, with them, up
to the Grifon’s breast, where
Beatrice stood, turned towards us.
They said: ‘See that you do not
spare your eyes: we have set you in
front of the bright emeralds, from
which Love once shot his arrows at
you.’ A thousand desires, hotter
than flame, kept my eyes fixed on
those shining eyes, that in turn
stayed fixed on the Grifon. The
dual-natured creature was reflected
in them, just like the sun in a mirror,
with the attributes now of the
human, now of the divine. Reader,
think how I marvelled, in my mind,
to see the thing itself remain
unmoving, and yet its image
changing.
640
delight and wonder, was tasting that
food, that satisfies and causes
hunger, the other three ladies,
revealing themselves to be of
highest nobility in their aspect,
came forward, dancing to their
angelic measure. ‘Turn Beatrice, turn your sacred eyes, to your
faithful one,’ was their song, ‘he,
who has trodden so many steps to
see you. By your grace, grace us, by
unveiling your face to him, so that
he may see the second beauty that
you conceal.’
O splendour of eternal living
light, who of us is there, grown pale
in the shadow of Parnassus, a
drinker from its well, whose mind
would not seem hampered, trying to
render you as you appeared, there,
where Heaven in harmony outhnes
641
you, when you showed yourself in the clear air?
3XUJDWRULR &DQWR ;;;,,
7KH3DJHDQWPRYHVHDVWZDUG
My eyes were so fixed on
satisfying their ten-year thirst, that
all my other senses were dulled, and
there was a wall of disinterest either
side of them, so that her holy smile
drew my vision in, towards itself,
into its ancient net: at which my
face was turned of necessity to my
left to those goddesses, because I
heard them say: ‘Too intensely.’
And the state of vision the eyes
are in, struck, just now, by the sun,
left me sightless for a while: but
once my sight adjusted to lesser
things (I mean lesser compared to
the greater object of perception, that
642
I turned away from, of necessity) I saw the glorious pageant had turned
round on the right and was
returning, with the sun and the
seven flames in its front.
As a detachment turns to retreat,
behinds its shields, and wheels, with
the standard, before it can fully
change fronts, that militia of the
heavenly region, that led, passed us
all by, before the chariot-pole had
turned. Then the ladies returned
near to the wheels, and the Grifon
moved the holy burden forwards,
without ruffling a plume.
The lovely lady who drew me
across the ford, and Statius, and I,
were following the right wheel that
made its turn following a tighter arc.
So, an angelic melody accompanied
our steps, passing through the tall
forest that was empty, because of
643
her who believed the serpent. We had gone as far, perhaps, as an
arrow would travel in three flights,
when Beatrice descended from the
chariot.
3XUJDWRULR &DQWR ;;;,,
I heard them all mutter: ‘Adam!’
Then they surrounded a tree, with every branch stripped of blossom,
and foliage. The height of its
canopy, that stretches out further the
higher it reaches, would be
marvelled at by the people of India,
in their forests.
‘Blessed, are you, Grifon, who
tears nothing sweet-tasting from this
tree, with your beak, because the
stomach is wrenched by it.’ So the
others shouted, round the solid tree;
644
and the creature of two natures said:
‘So the seed of righteousness is
preserved.’ And turning to the pole
he had dragged, he pulled it to the
foot of the denuded trunk, and left,
bound to it, the Cross, that came
from it.
As our trees bud, when the great
light falls, mixed with the light that
shines from Aries, following Pisces,
the heavenly Fish, and each is newly
dressed with colour, before the sun
yokes his horses under the light of
the following constellation, opening
tinted more than rose and less than
violet, so that tree renewed itself,
that had naked branches before.
I did not understand the hymn
the people sang then, nor is it sung
here, and I could not withstand its
burden to the end.
645
'DQWHVOHHSV%HDWULFHJXDUGVWKH
FKDULRW
If I could depict how Argus’s pitiless eyes closed in sleep, hearing
the tale of Syrinx, those eyes, whose greater power to watch, cost him so
dear, I would paint how I fell asleep,
as an artist does from a model: but
who can truly show drowsiness? So,
I move on, to when I woke, and say
that a bright light tore the veil of
sleep, and there was a cry: ‘Rise,
what are you about?’
As, at the Transfiguration, Peter,
John, and James were brought, to behold the blossom of Christ, the apple-tree, that makes the Angels
eager for its fruit, and makes a
perpetual marriage in Heaven, and
came to themselves, having been
646
overcome, at the word by which
Lazarus’s deeper sleep had been broken, and saw that Moses and
Elias had vanished, and their Master’s white raiment changed,
even so I came to myself, and saw
the compassionate one, who guided
my steps, before, along the stream,
bending over me.
And all bemused I said: ‘Where
is Beatrice?’ and Matilda replied:
‘See her sitting under the new foliage, at its root. See, the company
that surround her: the rest are rising
after the Grifon, with sweeter and
deeper song.’ And I do not know if
her words went on, because now
She was in front of my eyes, whose
presence prevented me from
attending to other things. She sat,
alone, on the bare earth, left there as
the guardian of the chariot, that I
647
had seen the dual-natured creature anchor to the tree.
The seven nymphs made a ring,
encircling her, carrying those lights,
which are secure from the north and
south winds, in their hands.
3XUJDWRULR &DQWR ;;;,,
)XWXUH
Beatrice spoke: ‘You will not be
a forester long, here, and will be
with me, a citizen, eternally, of that
Rome of which Christ is a Roman.
So, to help the world that lives
wrongly, fix your gaze on
the chariot, and take care to write what you see, when you return, over
there.’ And I, completely obedient
to her commands, set my mind and
eyes where she desired.
648
Fire never fell so swiftly from dense cloud, falling from that region
that is most remote, as I saw
Jupiter’s eagle swoop down through the tree, tearing its bark, its flowers,
and its new leaves, and he struck the
chariot with all his power, at which
it swayed like a ship in a storm,
beaten by the seas, now to larboard,
then to starboard.
Then I saw a vixen that seemed starved, of all decent food, leap into
the body of the triumphal car. But
my Lady put her to a flight as swift
as fleshless bones could sustain,
rebuking her for her foul sins.
Then I saw the eagle drop into
the body of the chariot from the
place where he had first swooped,
and leave it feathered with his
plumage. And a voice came from
Heaven, as it comes from a
649
sorrowing heart, and it said: O my little boat, how badly you are
freighted!’
Then it seemed to me that the
ground opened, between the two
wheels, and a dragon emerged pointing his tail upwards through
the chariot, and drawing his spiteful
tail towards himself, like a wasp
withdrawing her sting, he wrenched
away part of its base, and slid away.
What was left, covered itself,
with those feathers, just as fertile
land is covered with grass, offered
perhaps with true and benign intent,
and the chariot-pole and both
wheels were covered by them, in
less time than a mouth is open for a
sigh. The holy structure,
transformed, grew heads above its members, three above the pole and
one at each corner. The first three
650
were horned like oxen, but the other four had a single horn on the
forehead: such a Monster was never seen before.
Seated on it, secure as a tower on
a high hill, a shameless Whore
appeared, looking eagerly round
her. And I saw a Giant standing by her side, so that she could not be
snatched from him, and each kissed
the other, now and then: but because
she turned her lustful, wandering
eye on me, her fierce lover scourged
her from head to foot. Then full of
jealousy and vicious with anger, he
loosed the Monster, and dragged it
so far, through the wood, that he
made a screen between me, and the
Whore and Monster.
651
652
%HDWULFH¶VSURSKHWLFZRUGV
Now as three, then four,
alternately, and weeping, the ladies
began a sweet psalmody, singing:
‘'HXV YHQHUXQW JHQHV: O God, the heathen are come,’ and Beatrice.
compassionate and sighing, was
listening to them, so altered in
aspect, that Mary was no less altered at the foot of the Cross. But when
the virgins gave way for her to
speak, standing upright she replied,
colouring like fire: Modicum, et
‘QRQ YLGHELWLV PH HW LWHUXP my beloved sisters, PRGLFXP HW YRV
YLGHELWLV PH: a little while, and ye
shall not see me, my beloved sisters,
and again, a little while, and ye shall
see me.’
653
Then she set all seven of them in front of her, and, merely with a nod
of the head, motioned myself, the
Lady and the Sage who had stayed,
behind her. So she went on, and I
believe that hardly a tenth step
touched the ground, until her eyes
struck my eyes, and she said to me,
quietly: ‘Come along, faster, so that,
if I speak to you, you are well
placed to listen.’
As soon as I, dutifully, was next
to her, she said: ‘Brother, why when
you come along with me, do you not
venture to question me?’ I was like
those, who are too humble in speech
in front of their elders, who do not
raise their voice fully to their lips,
and short of full volume, I began:
‘Madonna, you know my needs, and
what is good for them.’ And she to
me: ‘I want you to free yourself,
654
now, from fear and shame, so that you no longer speak like one who
dreams.
Learn that the chariot that the
serpent shattered was, and is not:
and let him, whose fault it is, know
that God’s vengeance cannot be
evaded. The eagle, that left its feathers on the car, to make it a
Monster, to be preyed on, shall not be without heirs for ever, since I
see, with certainty, and so I tell you,
stars are already nearing, safe from
all barriers and impediments, that
will bring us times in which a five-
hundred, a ten, and a five (DVX, a
leader) sent by God, will kill the
Whore, and the Giant, who sins with her.
And perhaps my prophecy, as
obscure as Themis and the Sphinx, persuades you less, because it
655
fashion, but the fact is that Oedipus, will solve this difficult question,
without damage to flocks or harvest.
Take note of it: and just as these
words carry from you to me, tell
them to those who live the life that
is a race towards death, and
remember when you write, not to
hide that you have seen the tree,
now twice spoiled, here.’
3XUJDWRULR &DQWR ;;;,,,
7KH7UHHRI(PSLUH
‘Whoever robs it, and tears at it,
in a blasphemous act, offends God, who created it sacred to his sole use.
Adam, the first soul, longed for Him, in torment and desire, for
more than five thousand years: He
who punished the bite of the apple
656
in Himself. Your intelligence is asleep if it does not judge that tree
to be so high, and widened towards
its summit, from some special
cause. And if your idle thoughts had
not been like the waters of the River
Elsa round your mind, petrifying it,
and their delights had not stained it
as Pyramus’s blood the mulberry, you would have recognised in the
tree, by these many circumstances
alone, that, morally, God’s justice is
in the injunction.
But since I see your mind made
of stone, and like a stone, stained, so
the light of my words dazes you, I
want you to carry my words away
with you as well, if not written at
least in symbolic form, for the same
reason that the pilgrim’s staff
returns wreathed with palm-
branches. And I said: ‘My brain is
657
now stamped by you, like wax by the seal, whose imprint does not
change. But why do your words, I
longed for, soar so far beyond my
vision, that the more it strains after
them, the more they vanish?
She said: ‘So you may know the
School you followed, and see
whether its teachings follow my
words, and may see that your way is
as far from the divine way, as the
swiftest Heaven is from the earth.’
At which I replied: ‘I do not
remember that I was ever estranged
from you, nor does conscience gnaw
me, regarding it.’ She answered,
smiling: ‘And, if you cannot
remember it, think, now, how you
drank Lethe’s water today: and if
fire is deduced from smoke, this
forgetfulness clearly proves the
guiltiness of your desire, intent on
658
other things. But now my words will be naked, as far as is needed to
show them to your dull vision.’
3XUJDWRULR &DQWR ;;;,,,
'DQWHDQG6WDWLXVGULQNIURP
(XQRs
The sun was holding the noon, circle which varies here and there,
as location varies, shining more
brightly, travelling more slowly,
when, like those who act as escorts
for people, who stop if they find
strange things or their traces, those
seven ladies stopped, at the edge of
a pale shadow, such as the Alps cast
over their cool streams, under green
leaves and dark branches.
I seemed to see Euphrates and
Tigris, welling from one spring, in
front of them, and parting, like
659
lingering friends. I said: ‘O light, O
glory of human kind, what waters
are these that pour from one source,
here, and separate themselves?’ At
my prayer, she said: ‘Beg Matilda,
to explain,’ and that lovely Lady
answered her, like one who absolves
herself from blame: ‘I have told him
about this, and about other things,
and I am sure Lethe’s water does
not hide them from him.’ And
Beatrice said: ‘Perhaps some greater
care, that often robs us of memory,
has dimmed the eyes of his mind.
But see, Eunoë, that flows from
there: lead him to it, and as you are
used to do, revive his flagging
virtue.’
Like a gentle spirit, that does not
make excuses, but forms her will
from another’s will, as soon as it is
revealed, by outward sign, so that
660
661
lovely Lady, set out, after taking charge of me, and said to Statius, in
a ladylike way: ‘Come, with him.’
Reader, if I had more space to
write, I would speak, partially at
least, about that sweet drink, which
would never have sated me: but
because all the pages determined for
the second Canticle are full, the curb
of art lets me go no further.
I came back, from the most
sacred waves, remade, as fresh
plants are, refreshed, with fresh
leaves: pure, and ready to climb to
the stars.
662
Canto I:1-36 Dante’s Invocation.................................. 668
Canto I:37-72 The Sun.................................................670
Canto I:73-99 The Harmony of the Spheres.................672
Canto I:100-142 Beatrice explains Universal Order .... 674
Canto II:1-45 The First Sphere: The Moon: Inconstancy
......................................................................................676
Canto II:46-105 The Shadows on the Moon ...............679
Canto III:1-33 The Spirits manifested in the Moon...... 686
Canto III:34-60 Piccarda Donati .................................. 688
Canto III:61-96 God’s Will..........................................690
Canto III:97-130 St Clare: The Empress Constance..... 692
Canto IV:1-63 Dante’s doubts: The Spirits: Plato’s Error
......................................................................................695
Canto IV:64-114 Response to Violence: The Dual Will
......................................................................................699
Canto IV:115-142 Dante’s desire for Truth .................702
Canto V:1-84 Free Will: Vows: Dispensations............704
Canto V:85-139 The Second Sphere: Mercury: Ambition
......................................................................................709
Canto VI:1-111 Justinian: The Empire ........................714
Canto VI:112-142 Romeo of Villeneuve .....................721
Canto VII:1-54 The Fall of Man and the Crucifixion... 723
Canto VII:55-120 The Redemption: The Incarnation .. 726
Canto VII:121-148 Creation and Resurrection.............730
Canto VIII:1-30 The Third Sphere: Venus: Earthly Love
......................................................................................732
663
Canto VIII:31-84 Charles Martel ................................. 734
Canto VIII:85-148 Heredity and the Influence of the
Heavens.........................................................................738
Canto IX:1-66 Cunizza da Romano .............................742
Canto IX:67-126 Folco of Marseilles...........................746
Canto IX:127-142 Florence: The corruption of usury.. 750
Canto X:1-63 The Fourth Sphere: The Sun: Prudence. 751
Canto X:64-99 Thomas Aquinas: Albertus Magnus .... 755
Canto X:100-129 Solomon: Dionysius: Boëthius ........757
Canto X:130-148 Isidore: Bede: Richard of St. Victor:
Sigier.............................................................................759
Canto XI:1-42 Saint Dominic and Saint Francis..........760
Canto XI:43-117 The Life of Saint Francis..................763
Canto XI:118-139 Saint Dominic: The Dominicans ... 768
Canto XII:1-36 Saint Bonaventura...............................769
Canto XII:37-105 Bonaventura speaks of Saint Dominic
......................................................................................771
Canto XII:106-145 Bonaventura names the spirits ...... 776
Canto XIII:1-51 Aquinas answers Dante’s second
question.........................................................................779
Canto XIII:52-90 Creation and Emanation: Matter and
Form..............................................................................782
Canto XIII:91-142 Solomon’s choice: his Wisdom:
Heretics .........................................................................785
Canto XIV:1-66 Solomon: The Resurrection...............788
Canto XIV:67-139 The Fifth Sphere: Mars: Fortitude. 792
Canto XV:1-36 Silence: Beatrice’s eyes......................797
Canto XV:37-87 All things seen in God ......................799
Canto XV:88-148 Cacciaguida .................................... 802
664
Canto XVI:1-45 Cacciaguida’s ancestry......................806
Canto XVI:46-87 The growth of Florence...................810
Canto XVI:88-154 The ancient families of Florence ... 812
Canto XVII:1-99 Cacciaguida unfolds Dante’s future. 817
Canto XVII:100-142 He urges Dante to reveal his Vision
......................................................................................823
Canto XVIII:1-57 The Warriors of God.......................825
Canto XVIII:58-99 The Sixth Sphere: Jupiter: Justice. 830
Canto XVIII:100-136 The lights form an Eagle...........832
Canto XIX:1-90 Divine Justice.................................... 836
Canto XIX:91-148 The Christian Kings ......................841
Canto XX:1-72 The Eagle celebrates the Just..............845
Canto XX:73-148 Trajan and Ripheus: Predestination 849
Canto XXI:1-51 The Seventh Sphere: Saturn:
Temperance................................................................... 853
Canto XXI:52-142 Peter Damian................................. 857
Canto XXII:1-99 Saint Benedict.................................. 863
Canto XXII:100-154 Dante enters Gemini...................868
Canto XXIII:1-48 The Vision of Christ .......................872
Canto XXIII:49-87 The Virgin and the Apostles.........875
Canto XXIII:88-139 Gabriel: The Redeemed: The
Apostles ........................................................................877
Canto XXIV:1-51 Saint Peter ...................................... 880
Canto XXIV:52-87 Faith: Saint Paul ...........................883
Canto XXIV:88-114 The Source of Faith ....................885
Canto XXIV:115-154 Dante’s Belief...........................887
Canto XXV:1-63 Saint James and Saint Peter .............889
Canto XXV:64-96 Hope: Saint James..........................893
Canto XXV:97-139 Love: Saint John ..........................895
665
Canto XXVI:1-69 Dante blinded temporarily speaks of
Love ..............................................................................898
Canto XXVI:70-142 Dante regains his sight: Adam.... 902
Canto XXVII:1-66 Saint Peter denounces the Popes ... 907
Canto XXVII:67-96 Dante’s view of Earth..................910
Canto XXVII:97-148 The Primum Mobile: Time:
Degeneracy ................................................................... 913
Canto XXVIII:1-57 The Angelic Circles .....................916
Canto XXVIII:58-93 Beatrice reconciles the two orders
......................................................................................919
Canto XXVIII:94-139 The Angelic Hierarchies ..........921
Canto XXIX:1-66 The Creation of the Angels.............924
Canto XXIX:67-84 The Angels’ Faculties...................928
Canto XXIX:85-126 Ineffectual teaching and remission
......................................................................................929
Canto XXIX:127-145 The Number and Diversity of
Angels ...........................................................................932
Canto XXX:1-45 Dante and Beatrice enter the Empyrean
......................................................................................933
Canto XXX:46-96 The River of Light .........................936
Canto XXX:97-148 The Ranks of the Blest.................939
Canto XXXI:1-27 The Rose.........................................942
Canto XXXI:28-63 Saint Bernard................................944
Canto XXXI:64-93 Beatrice crowned in Heaven.........947
Canto XXXI:94-142 The Virgin .................................. 948
Canto XXXII:1-36 The Two Halves of the Rose.........951
Canto XXXII:37-84 The Children ...............................954
Canto XXXII:85-114 Gabriel....................................... 956
Canto XXXII:115-151 The Noble Souls......................958
666
Canto XXXIII:1-48 The Prayer to the Virgin ..............961
Canto XXXIII:49-145 The Final Vision ......................963
667
,QYRFDWLRQ
The glory of Him, who moves all
things, penetrates the universe, and
glows in one region more, in
another less. I have been in that
Heaven that knows his light most,
and have seen things, which
whoever descends from there has
neither power, nor knowledge, to
relate: because as our intellect draws
near to its desire, it reaches such
depths that memory cannot go back
along the track.
Nevertheless, whatever, of the
sacred regions, I had power to
treasure in my mind, will now be
the subject of my labour.
O good Apollo, for the final effort, make me such a vessel of
your genius, as you demand for the
668
gift of your beloved laurel. Till now, one peak of Parnassus was enough,
but now inspired by both I must
enter this remaining ring. Enter my
chest, and breathe, as you did when
you drew Marsyas out of the sheath that covered his limbs.
O Divine Virtue if you lend me
your help, so that I can reveal that
shadow of the kingdom of the
Blessed, stamped on my brain, you
will see me come to your chosen
bough, and there crown myself with
the leaves, that you, and the subject,
will make me worthy of. Father,
they are gathered, infrequently from
it, for a Caesar’s or a Poet’s
Triumph, through the fault, and to
the shame, of human will: so the
leaves of Daphne’s tree, the Peneian
frond, should light joy in the joyful
Delphic god, when it makes
669
someone long for them. A great
flame follows a tiny spark: perhaps,
after me, better voices will pray, and
Parnassus will respond.
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The Light of the World rises, for
mortals, through different gates: but
he issues on a happier course, and is
joined to happier stars, and moulds
and stamps the earthly wax more in
his manner, when his rising joins
four circles in three crosses. It had made it morning there, when it was
evening here: and now
that
hemisphere was all bright, at noon,
and this one dark, when I saw
Beatrice, turned towards her left,
gazing at the sun. No eagle ever
fixed its eyes on it so intently.
670
always issues from the first, and
rises back upwards, like a pilgrim
wishing to return, so my stance took
its form from hers, infused through
the eyes into my imagination, and I
fixed my eyes on the sun, beyond
our custom. Much is allowed to our
powers there, which is not allowed
here, through the gift of that place,
made to fit the human species.
I could not endure it long, but
enough to see him sparkle all round,
like iron poured, molten, from the
furnace. And suddenly, it seemed
that day was added to day, as
though He who has the power, had
equipped Heaven with a second sun.
Beatrice was standing, with her
gaze fixed on the eternal spheres,
and I, removing my sight from
above, fixed it on her. In that aspect
671
I became, inwardly, like Glaucus, eating the grass that made him one
with the gods of the sea.
To go beyond Humanity is not to be
told in words: so let the analogy
serve for those to whom grace,
alone, may allow the experience.
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Love, who rules the Heavens,
you know, who lifted me upwards,
with your light, whether I was only
that which you created, new, in me.
When the sphere, which you
make eternal through the world’s
longing, drew my mind towards itself with that harmony which you tune and modulate, so much of the
Heavens seemed to me then lit by
the sun’s flame, that no rainfall or
672
river’s flow ever made so wide an expanse of lake. The novelty of the
sound, and the great light, lit a
greater longing in me than I had
ever felt, desiring to know their
cause. So that She, who saw me as I
see myself, opened her lips, to still
my troubled mind, before I could
open mine to ask, and said: ‘You
make yourself stupid with false
imaginings, and so you do not see,
what you would see, if you
discarded them.
You are no longer on earth, as
you think, but lightning leaving its
proper home, never flew as quickly
as you, who are returning there.’ If
my first perplexity was answered by
the brief smiling words, I was more
entangled by a second, and I said:
‘Content, and already free of one
673
great wonder, now I am startled as to how I lift above lighter matter.’
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At that, after a sigh of pity, she
turned her eyes towards me, with
that look a mother gives to her
fevered child, and began: ‘All things
observe a mutual order among
themselves, and this is the structure
that makes the universe resemble
God. In it the higher creatures find
the signature of Eternal Value,
which is the end for which these
laws were made, that I speak of.
In that order, I say, all things are
graduated, in diverse allocations,
nearer to, or further from, their
source, so that they move towards
diverse harbours, over the great sea
674
of being, each one with its given instincts that carry it onwards. This
instinct carries the fire towards the
moon; that one is the mover in the
mortal heart; this other pulls the
earth together and unifies it. And
this bow does not only fire creatures
that are lacking in intelligence, but
also those that have intellect and
love.
The Providence that orders it so,
makes the Empyrean, in which the ninth sphere whirls with the greatest
speed, quiet, with its light: and the
power of the bowstring, that directs
whatever it fires towards a joyful
target, carries us towards it now, as
if to the appointed place. It is true
that, as form is sometimes
inadequate to the artist’s intention,
because the material fails to answer,
so the creature, that has power, so
675
impelled, to swerve towards some other place, sometimes deserts the
track (just as fire can be seen,
darting down from a cloud) if its
first impulse is deflected towards
earth by false pleasures.
You should not wonder more at
your ascent, if I judge rightly, than
at rivers falling, from mountains to
their foot. It would be a marvellous
thing, in you, if without any
obstruction, you had settled below;
just as stillness would be
marvellous, on earth, in a living
flame.’ At that She turned her gaze
back towards Heaven.
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O you, in your little boat, who,
longing to hear, have followed my
676
keel, singing on its way, turn to regain your own shores: do not
commit to the open sea, since,
losing me, perhaps, you would be
left adrift.
The water I cut was never sailed
before: Minerva breathes, Apollo
guides, and the nine Muses point me toward the Bears.
You other few, who have lifted
your mouths, in time, towards the
bread of Angels, by which life up
here is nourished, and from which
none of them come away sated, you
may truly set your ship to the deep
saltwater, following my furrow, in
front of the water falling back to its
level. The glorious Argonauts who
sailed to Colchis, who marvelled
when they saw Jason
turned
ploughman, did not marvel as much
as you will.
677
The inborn, perpetual thirst for the divine regions lifted us, almost
as swiftly as you see the Heavens
move. Beatrice was gazing upwards,
and I at her: and I saw myself
arriving, in the space of time
perhaps it takes an arrow to be
drawn, released, and leave the
notch, there, where a marvellous
thing engaged my sight: and
therefore She, from whom nothing I
did was hidden, turning towards me,
as joyful as she was lovely, said:
‘Turn your mind towards God in
gratitude, who has joined us with
It seemed to me that a cloud
covered us, dense, lucid, firm, and
polished, like diamond struck by
sunlight. The eternal pearl accepted
us into it, as water accepts a ray of
light, though still, itself, unbroken.
678
If we cannot conceive, here, how one dimension could absorb
another, which must be the case, if
one body enters another, and if I
were then a body, the greater should
be our longing to see that Essence,
where we see how our own nature,
and God’s, were once unified.
There, what we take, on trust,
will be shown us, not demonstrated,
but realised in ourselves, like a self-
evident truth in which we believe.
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I replied to her: ‘Lady, I thank
Him who has raised me from the
mortal world, as devoutly as I can,
but tell me what are those dark
marks on this planet, that make the
679
people down there on earth make fables about Cain?’
She smiled a moment, and then
said: ‘If human opinion errs, where
the key of the senses cannot unlock
it, the arrows of amazement should
certainly not pierce you, since you
see that Reason’s wings are too
short, even when the senses can take
the lead. But tell me what you
yourself think about it.’ And I: ‘I
think what appears variegated to us
up here, is caused by dense and rare
bodies.’
And she: ‘You will see that your
thought is truly submerged in error,
if you listen attentively to the
argument I will make against it.
The eighth sphere, the Stellar
Heaven, shows many lights to you,
which can be seen to have diverse
appearance, in quantity and quality.
680
If rarity and density alone produced that effect, there would be one
quality in all of them, more or less
equally distributed. Different
qualities must be the result of
different formal principles, and on
your reasoning, only one could
exist.
Again, if rarity were the cause of
those dark non-reflecting patches
you ask about, this planet would be
short of matter in one part, right
through: or, as a body layers fat and
lean, it would have alternate pages
in its volume.
If the first were true, it would be
revealed by solar eclipses, when the
light would shine, through the less
dense parts, as it does when falling
on anything else that is translucent.
That is not so: so we must consider
the second case, and if I can show
681
this is false also, your idea will have been refuted.
If this less dense matter does not
go right through, there must be a
boundary, beyond which its denser
opposite must prevent light
travelling on, and from that
boundary the rays would be
reflected, as coloured light returns
from glass that hides lead behind it.
Now you will say that the ray is
darker here than elsewhere because
it is reflected from further back.
Experiment can untangle you from
that suggestion, if you will try it,
which is always the spring that
feeds the rivers of your science.
Take three mirrors, and set two
equidistant from you, and let the
third, further away, be visible to
your eyes, between the other two.
Turn towards them, and have a light
682
behind you, reflected from the three mirrors, back towards you. Though
the more distant has a smaller area,
you will see it shine as brightly as the others.
Paradiso Canto II:106-148 The
Diffusion of the Divine Spirit
Now, I wish to illuminate you, who are stripped in mind, as the
surface of the snow is stripped of
colour and coldness by the stroke of
the sun’s warm rays, with light so
living it will tremble, as you gaze at
it.
In the Empyrean, the heaven of
divine peace, a body whirls, the
Primum Mobile, in whose virtue
rests the existence of everything it
contains. The Stellar Heaven that
follows next, within and below it,
which shows many lights, divides
683
essences, which it separates out, and
contains. The other seven, lower
Heavens circling, dispose the
distinct powers they have, in
themselves, by various
differentiations, to their own seeds
and ends.
These organs of the universe fall,
as you can see, from grade to grade,
since they receive from above, and
work downwards. Now, note well
how I thread this pass, to the truth
you long for, so that afterwards you
may know how to keep the ford
alone.
The motion and power, of the
sacred lower gyres, must be derived
from the Angels, who are their
movers and are blessed, as the
hammer’s art derives from the
blacksmith. And the Stellar Heaven,
684
that so many lights beautify, takes its imprint from the profound mind,
of the Cherubim, that turn it, and
from that forms the seal. And as the
soul, in your dust, diffuses itself
through your different members,
and melds to diverse powers, so the
Divine Intelligence deploys its
goodness, multiplied throughout the
stars, still turning round its own
unity. Each separate Angelic virtue
makes a separate alloy with the
precious body it vivifies, in which it
is bound, as life is bound in you.
Because of the joyful nature it flows
from, the Angelic virtue, mingled
with the body, shines through it, as
joy shines through the living eye.
From this, come the differences,
between light and light, not from
density or rarity: this is the formal
principle that, according to its own
685
excellence, produces the turbid and the clear.
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That sun, which first warmed my
heart with love, had unveiled lovely
truth’s sweet aspect to me, by proof
and refutation: and I lifted up my
head to speak, to confess myself
corrected and believing, as was
needed. But something appeared,
that forced me to look at it, so that I
stopped thinking of my confession.
As the outhnes of our faces are
reflected, from transparent, polished
glass, or from clear, tranquil water
that is not deep enough for the
bottom to be darkened, and are so
faint that a pearl on a white forehead
is not distinguished more slowly by
686
our eyes, so I saw many faces, eager to speak: at which I fell into the
opposite error to that which sparked
love between Narcissus and the pool. I was no sooner aware of
them, than, thinking they were
reflected images, I turned my eyes
round to see whose they were: and I
saw nothing, and turned them back
again, straight to the light of my
sweet guide whose holy eyes
glowed, as she smiled.
She said: ‘Do not wonder if I
smile, in the presence of your
childish thought, since it does not
trust itself with the truth, but turns,
as it usually does, to emptiness.
Those you behold are truly
substantial, consigned here for
failing in their vows. So speak to
them, and listen, and believe, since
the true light that satisfies them,
687
does not allow them to turn their steps away from itself.’
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And I turned to the shadow who
seemed to long to speak to me most,
and, like someone whom too great a
desire seizes, I began: ‘O spirit,
happily created, who feels, in the
rays of the eternal life, that
sweetness, never understood till it is
tasted, it would please me, if you
would grace me with your name and
your story.’
At which she replied, eagerly,
with smiling eyes: ‘Our love no
more closes the gate on a valid
request, than does that Love which
would make all its courts like itself.
I was a virgin sister in the world,
688
and if your memory is searched
deeply, my greater beauty, now, will
not hide me from you, but you will
know me again, as Piccarda, who am blessed in this sphere that moves
the slowest, placed here with these
others, who are blessed. Our
affections that are only inflamed by
the pleasure of the Holy Spirit,
delight to be informed under his
guidance. And this fate, which
seems so humble, is given us
because our vows were neglected
and missing certain cantos.’
At that I said to her: ‘In your
marvellous aspect, something divine
shines out again, that transmutes
you from my previous concept of
you. That is why I was slow to
recall you to mind: now what you
tell me gives me such assistance,
that I remember you more clearly.’
689
:LOO
‘But tell me, you who are happy
here, do you wish for a higher place,
to see further, or to make yourself
dearer?’ She smiled with the other
shadows first, a little, then replied to
me so joyously she seemed to be
burning with the first fire of love:
‘Brother, the power of love quiets
our will, and makes us only long for
what we have, and gives us no other
thirst. If we desired to be higher up,
our wishes would be at odds with
his will, who assigns us here, and
there is no room for that discord in
these circles, if you think again
about love’s nature, and that we RI
QHFHVVLW\ have our being in Love.
690
No, it is the essence of this EHLQJ
EOHVVHG to keep ourselves to the
Divine Will, through which our own
wills are unified. So that our being
as we are, from step to step,
throughout the kingdom, is a joy to
all the kingdom, as it is to the king,
who draws our wills towards what
he wills: and in his will is our peace,
ODVXDYRORQWDWHqQRVWUDSDFH: it is
the sea, to which all things flow,
that it creates, and nature forms.’ It
was clear to me then how every part
of Heaven is Paradise, even though
the grace of the Highest Good does
not pour down to it in only one way.
But even as it happens that, if
one kind of food satisfies us, while
the appetite for another kind
persists, and giving thanks for that
one, we ask for this one, so by word
and gesture I learned from her what
691
that warp was, through which she had not drawn the shuttle, to its end.
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She said: ‘A life perfected, and
great merit, set a lady, Saint Clare,
higher in Heaven, and there are
those, in your world, who dress and
veil themselves, according to her
rule, so that they might sleep and
wake, till death, with the Spouse
who accepts every vow, which Love
has made conformable with his
pleasure. I fled from the world,
while still a girl, to follow her, and
shut myself in her habit, and
promised to pursue the way of her
company.
After that, men, who were more
used to evil than good, tore me
692
away from that sweet cloister, and God knows what my life became
then.
And this other splendour, who
shows herself to you, on my right
side, and who burns with all the
light of our sphere, says what I say,
of myself, about herself. She was a
sister, and, in a similar way, the
shadow of the holy veil was
snatched from her head. But, turned
back towards the world as she was,
against her will, and against right
dealings, she was never torn from
her heart’s veil. This is the light of
the great Constance, who by
Henry the Sixth, the second stormwind of Suabia, conceived
Frederick, the third and final power.’So she spoke to me, and
then began singing: ‘$YH 0DULD’,
and, singing, vanished like a heavy
693
694
vision, which followed her as far as
it could, turned, when it lost her, to
the mark of a greater longing, and
fastened its look wholly on Beatrice:
but she flashed into my gaze so
brightly, that my sight could not at
first endure it, and this made me
slower with my questioning.
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Death from starvation would
come to a man, between two foods,
equally distant and equally
appetising, before a free man set his
teeth in either. So a lamb would
stand, equally fearful, between the
appetites of two fierce wolves, or a
dog stand still between two hinds.
So I do not blame or commend
695
myself for keeping quiet, caught in the same way, suspended between
doubts, because I was forced to.
I kept quiet, but my longing was
pictured on my face, and my
questioning also, in far warmer
colours than speech could show.
And Beatrice took the part that
took, when he lifted
Nebuchadnezzar’s cloud of anger that had made him cruel, unjustly,
and she said: ‘I can see clearly how
this desire and that one stirs you, so
that your anxiety constricts itself,
and cannot breathe itself out.
You argue: ‘If the right intent is
still there, how can another’s
violence lessen my measure of
worth?’ And you are given further
cause for perplexity, by the souls
returning to the stars, in Plato’s
doctrine. These are the two
696
questions that weigh equally on your will, so I will take that first
which contains the most dangerous
error.
He of the Seraphim nearest to
God, Moses, Samuel, John, either,
one you may choose, and Mary, none of them take their places in
any different Heaven than the spirits
who appeared to you just now, nor
do they have more years or less of
existence. But all beautify the first
sphere, the Empyrean, and share
sweet life, but differently, by feeling
the eternal spirit more, or less.
They have shown themselves
here, not because this sphere is
theirs, but to signify the least steep
celestial ascent for you. Such speech
needs to match your faculties that
can only make fit matter, for your
intellect, from what is apprehended
697
by your senses. So the Scriptures also bend to your capacity,
attributing hands and feet to God,
symbolically, and Holy Church
represents Gabriel and Michael, and
Raphael who made Tobit complete again, in human form.
What Timaeus argues concerning
spirits, is not what can be seen here,
since he seems to believe what he
says, and says the soul returns to its
star, thinking it was split from it,
when nature gave it form, though
perhaps his meaning is different
than the words say, and may have
an intention that should not be
derided. If he means that the honour
and the blame, ascribed to their
influence, returns to these spheres,
perhaps his arrow hits some mark of
truth.
698
This principle, badly understood, almost wrenched the whole world
awry, so that it rushed to call upon
the names of Jupiter, Mars and
Mercury.’
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‘The other source of doubt which
troubles you, is less venomous,
because its evil influence could not
lead you away from me, elsewhere.
That our justice appears an injustice
to mortal eyes, is a question for
faith, not for heretical error. But
since your intellect has the power to
penetrate easily to this truth, I will
satisfy you, as you desire.
If violence occurs when those
who suffer it do nothing to
699
contribute, to what displays force towards them, well then, these souls
did not have that excuse: since, the
will cannot be overcome if it does
not will to be, but behaves like
nature in the flames, though a
thousand times wrenched away by
violence. But if it wavers, more or
less, it helps the force against it: and
they wavered, since they had the
power to return later to the sacred
place.
If their will had remained entire,
like that which held Saint Lawrence
on the grid, and made Mucius
Scaevola treat his right hand with severity, it would have pushed them
back towards the path, from which
they were taken, as soon as they
were free: but such strong will is all
too rare.
700
you should have from these words,
the difficulty that would have
troubled you, many more times, has
been resolved. But now another gulf
across your track, meets your eyes,
which would make you weary,
before you crossed it, alone.
I have surely instilled in your
mind that spirits who are blessed
cannot tell a lie, because they live
close to the First Truth, and also you
might have understood, from
Piccarda, that Constance maintained
her devotion to the veil, so that
Piccarda appears to contradict me.
Brother, many times before, things
have been done to escape danger,
that were against the grain, and not
fitting: so Alcmaeon, moved by his father’s prayer, killed his own
701
mother, and to be pious, rendered himself impious.
At this point, I want you to
remember that violence is allowed
by the will, and they work together,
so that the offence cannot be
excused. The absolute will does not
consent to evil, but it does consent,
in as much as it fears that, if it does
not, it will encounter worse. So,
when Piccarda expresses this, she is
speaking of the absolute will, and I of the practical will, so that, together, we both speak the truth.’
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Such was the flow, from that
holy stream, that rose from the
fountain from which all truth
derives: and was such that it brought
702
peace to both my desires. Then I said: ‘O divine lady, loved by the
First Lover, you whose speech
floods through me, and warms me,
so that it makes me more and more
alive, my affections have not the
depth to be able to return grace for
grace but may He who sees it, and
has the power, respond to it.
Now I see that our intellect can
never be satisfied unless the Truth,
which no truth goes beyond, shines
on it. It rests there, like a wild
creature in its lair, as soon as it has
reached it: and it can, otherwise all
longing would be in vain. So inquiry
grows, like a new shoot at the base
of truth, a natural thing that rises
towards the summit, from ridge to
ridge. That invites me, and gives me
confidence, to question you lady,
703
reverentially, about another truth hidden from me.
I wish to know if Man can give
you such satisfaction, by other good
intentions, for his broken vows, as
not to weigh short on your scales.’
Beatrice looked at me, with eyes
so filled with divine sparks of love,
that my faculties turned away,
overcome, and I felt lost, with
downcast eyes.
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‘If I flame at you, in the heat of
love, beyond the degree of it seen
on earth, and, in so doing, overcome
the power of your eyes, do not
wonder, since it arises from perfect
vision, that, as it understands,
advances in the good it understands.
704
I note clearly how the eternal light, already, shines back from your
intellect, that, which, once seen,
always sets love alight, and if
anything else seduces your love, it is
nothing but a trace of this light,
wrongly comprehended, that shines
through in it.
You wish to know whether
reparation may be made, for broken
vows, by means of some other
service, great enough as to render
the soul secure from disputation.’
So Beatrice began this canto, and
like someone who does not pause,
continued the sacred progress, like
this: ‘The greatest gift that God
made at the Creation, out of his
munificence, the one that most fitted
his supreme goodness, and which he
values most, is Free Will, with
705
which intelligent creatures, all and sundry, were, and are, endowed.
Now the high value placed on
vows will be clear to you, if they are
made such that God consents, when
you consent: since, in confirming
the pact between God and Man, the
guilty party is rendered such by this
treasure of Free Will, just as I say,
and by their own act. What can be
done then, in recompense? If you
thought to make good use of what
you once consecrated, you would be
doing good with stolen evil. You are
now clear on the major point.
But since Holy Church grants
dispensations, that seem to run
counter to the truth I have revealed,
you must still sit at table for a while,
as the tough fibres, you have eaten,
require further help to aid digestion.
Open your mind to what I unfold for
706
you, and fix it inwardly, since to understand and not retain, is not
knowledge.
Two things appertain to the
essence of this self-sacrifice: the
first is its content: the second is the
vow itself. The latter can never be
cancelled, except by being kept: and
it is about this that my previous
discourse is so precise: so it was
necessary, always, for the Hebrews
to make sacrifice, though, as you
ought to know, the thing sacrificed
might sometimes be altered.
The content, the other aspect of
the matter being explained to you,
may indeed be such that there is no
offence if it is substituted by other
content. But let no one shift the
burden from his shoulder at his own
discretion, without a turn of the gold
and silver keys (of knowledge and
707
authority). And let him consider any change as foolish, unless the thing
that is lapsed from bears a
proportion of four to six, to the
thing replacing it. And so whatever
weighs so heavily in respect of its
value, that it exceeds every scale,
can never be replaced by any other
means.
Human beings should never take
vows lightly: be faithful, and not
perverse, as Jepthath was perverse in his first vow, whom it would
have been more fitting to have said:
‘0DO IHFL: I did wrong,’ than keep
the vow and do worse: and you may
accuse the great leader of the
Greeks, Agamemnon, of the same foolishness, that made Iphigenia
weep that her face was lovely, and
made the wise and foolish weep for
her, hearing tell of such a rite.
708
Be more cautious in action, you Christians, not like a feather blown
by every wind: and do not think that
all water purifies. You have the Old
and New Testaments, and the
shepherd of the Church to guide
you: let that be enough for your
salvation. If evil greed declares
otherwise, be men not mindless
sheep, so that the Jews among you
do not deride you. Do not do as the
lamb does that leaves its mother’s
milk, capricious and silly, sporting
with itself for pleasure.’
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So Beatrice spoke to me, as I
write it: then she turned, all in
longing, to that region where the
709
universe is most alive. Her silence, and her changed aspect, demanded
reticence from my eager intellect
that already had new questions to
ask. And like an arrow, that hits the
target, before the bowstring is still,
we rose to the second sphere.
There I saw my Lady, so
delighted, at committing herself to
the light of this heaven, that the
planet itself grew brighter. And if
the star was altered, and smiled,
what did I, who am, by my very
nature, changeable in every way!
As the fish in a still, clear pool
swim towards whatever falls from
above that they consider something
to feed on, so I saw more than a
thousand radiances draw towards us,
and in each one was heard: ‘(FFR
FKLFUHVFHUjOLQRVWULDPRUL: Behold
someone who will increase our
710
711
love.’ And as each one came to us, the shadow seemed filled with
delight, judging by the bright glow
that came from it.
Reader, think how you would
feel an anguished craving, to know
more, if what I start now did not
continue, and you will see yourself
how I longed to hear from them
about their state, as soon as they
were manifested to my sight.
‘O fortunately-born one, you, to
whom grace concedes the right to
see the thrones of eternal triumph,
before you abandon the place of
militancy, we are fired by the light
that burns through all the heavens,
and therefore if you want to be lit by
us, satisfy yourself at pleasure.’ So
one of the spirits said to me, and
Beatrice said: ‘Speak, speak in
712
safety, and believe, as you would gods.’
Turned to the light that had
spoken to me first, I said: ‘Truly, I
see how you are nested in your own
light, and that you draw it through
your eyes, since they sparkle as you
smile, but I do not know who you
are, noble spirit, or why you are
graded in this sphere, that is veiled,
for mortals, in the sun’s rays,’ at
which it glowed more brightly even
than before.
Like the sun, which hides itself
in excess light when heat has eaten
away the moderating effect of the
thick clouds, so the sacred figure,
through greater delight, hid himself
in his own rays, and so, enclosed,
enclosed, replied to me, as the
following canto declares.
713
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‘When Constantine had turned the Imperial eagle eastwards,
against the sky’s course which it
had followed in the wake of Aeneas, who took Lavinia from her father, the Bird of God held court at the
extremity of Europe, for two
hundred years and more, near to the
mountains of Troy that he had first
issued from: and there he ruled the
world, under the shadow of his
sacred wings, from reign to reign,
until by the passage of time, rule fell
to me.
Caesar I was, Justinian I am, who pared excess and ineffectiveness
from the Law, at the wish of the
First Love I now feel: and when I
first fixed my mind on that labour, I
714
held that Christ had one nature, and no more, and I was content in that
belief: but Agapetus, the blessed, who was Pope, pointed me to the
true faith, by his words. I believed
him, and now I see the content of
his faith, as clearly as you see that in
every contradictory pair, if one statement is false, the other is true.
As soon as I was in step with the
Church, it pleased God, in his grace,
to inspire me to that high task, and I
gave it my all, and committed my
weapons to Belisarius, whom Heaven’s right hand was so wedded
to, it was a sign that I should rest
from them. Now here is the end,
already, of my answer to your first
question: who I am: but its context
forces me to follow with some
additions.
715
reason is on the side of those who
oppose the sacred banner of Empire,
as well as those who embrace it, see
how great a nobility has made it
worthy of reverence, beginning
from the time when Evander’s son,
Pallas, died to ensure its rule.
You know it rested in Alba
Longa for more than three hundred years, until the end, when the
three Horatii and the three Curiatii
fought for it. And you know what it
enacted, from the wrong to the
Sabine women, to Lucretia’s grief, through the reigns of seven kings
who conquered the neighbouring
peoples.
You know what it did, carried
against Brennus the Gaul, against Greek Pyrrhus, and against the other princes and powers, from which
716
Torquatus, and Cincinnatus, named for his curling hair, the
Decii, and the Fabii, earned the fame that I delight in remembering.
It threw down the Arab pride that followed Hannibal over the Alps, from which the River Po rises.
triumphed
beneath it, while still young, and it
was bitter to Fiesole, in those hills, under which you were born.
Then, near the time when
Heaven wished to lead the world to
its own peaceful mode, Caesar laid hands on it, at Rome’s wish, and the
Isère and Arar, the Seine, and every
valley filled by the Rhone, know
what it achieved, then, from Var to
Rhine.
What it did then, when he left
Ravenna and crossed the Rubicon, was so great that tongue and pen
717
could not describe it. It wheeled the armies towards Spain, and then Durazzo, and struck Pharsalia so fiercely that the pain was felt as far
as the hot Nile. It saw Trojan
Antandros and Simois again, from
which it first came, and saw the
place where Hector lies, and then, alas for Ptolemy, soared again, and afterwards swooped on Juba in a lightning flash, then wheeled to the
west where it heard the Pompeian
trumpets.
Brutus and Cassius howl in Hell because of its support for Augustus
who followed, and it made
mourn.
Miserable Cleopatra still suffers because of it, who, as she fled from
the eagle, took dark sudden death
from the viper.
It ran with Augustus to the
718
Red Sea coast, and with him brought the world to such a peace
that Janus saw his temple gates closed.
But what the Eagle, that I speak
of, did before, what it was yet to do
throughout the subject mortal world,
becomes a dull and insignificant
thing to see, if the standard is
viewed, with clear eye and pure
heart, in Tiberius’s, the third Caesar’s, hand, since the living
Justice, that was my inspiration,
granted it the glory
of
taking vengeance for his anger, in the hands of which I speak.
Now see the wonder in the
twofold thing I tell you! It rushed
to wreak vengeance, on that vengeance for the ancient sin,
afterwards, under Titus.
719
Lombard tooth gnawed at the Holy
Church, Charlemagne, victorious, sheltered her under its wings.
Now you may judge those I
accused just now, and their sins,
which are the cause of all your
troubles. One faction, the Guelphs,
oppose the golden lilies of France to
the people’s Eagle, and the other,
the Ghibellines, appropriate it to
their party, so that it is difficult to
see which one offends the most. Let
the Ghibellines deploy their skills
under some other banner, since he
who divorces it from justice always
follows it to disaster. And do not let
that new Charles, of Naples, beat it down, with his Guelphs, but let him
fear the talons, that have torn the
hide from greater lions than him.
Many a time, before now, the
720
father’s sin, and do not let Charles
imagine that God will change his
coat of arms for royal lilies.’
3DUDGLVR
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‘This little planet adorns herself
with good souls, who actively
searched for honour and fame, and
when desire, swerving, tends
towards that, the rays of true love
shine upwards with less life. But
part of our delight is in the matching
of our reward to our merit, because
we see them neither magnified nor
lessened. By this, the living Justice
so sweetens our affections, that they
may never be twisted to any malice.
On earth a diversity of voices
creates sweet harmony, and in the
721
same way the different degrees in this life make sweet harmony
among the spheres.
And, here, in this pearl, the light
of Romeo of Villeneuve shines, whose fine, and extensive efforts
were so badly rewarded. But the
Provençals who harmed him, cannot
smile, and he who makes his own
ruin out of another’s goodness,
takes a bad road. Raymond
Berenger had four daughters, and every one a queen, and this was
achieved, on his behalf, by Romeo
of Villeneuve, a humble pilgrim
wanderer: then muttered words
made Raymond demand account
from this just man, who gave him
twelve for every ten: and Romeo
went his way again, old and poor:
and if the world knew the heart he
had in him, who begged, crust after
722
crust, to stay alive, much as it praises him, it would praise him
more.’
3DUDGLVR&DQWR9,,7KH)DOO
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VXSHULOOXVWUDQV FODULWDWH WXD IHOLFHV
LJQHV KRUXP PDODFKRWK! Hosanna,
Holy God of Sabaoth, illuminating
the blessed fires of these kingdoms,
with your brightness from above! So
I saw him, singing, to whom the
double lustre, of Law and Empire,
adds itself, revolving to his own
note, and he and the others moved
in dance, and like the swiftest of
sparks, suddenly veiled themselves
from me, in the distance.
I said, hesitating: ‘Speak to her,
Speak,’ in myself, ‘Speak to my
723
Lady who quenches my thirst, with the sweetest drops.’ But that
reverence that completely
overcomes me, even at the sound of
%H or LFH, bowed me again, like a
man who slumbers. Beatrice only let
me be like that for a moment, and
began to direct the rays of her smile
towards me, that would make a man
happy in the flames: ‘According to
my unerring perception, those words
about how just vengeance was
revenged, with justice, have set you
thinking: but I will quickly relieve
your thoughts: and listen closely
since my words will grant you the
gift of a noble statement.
Adam, that man who was not
born, condemned his whole race
because he would not suffer a rein
on his will, for his own good.
Therefore Humanity lay in sickness
724
down there, and in great error, for many ages, until it pleased God’s
Word to descend, when he joined
that nature that had wandered from
its Creator, to his own person, solely
by an act of his eternal Love.
Now turn you vision to what I
now say: this nature, joined to its
maker, was pure and good, as it was
when first created, but it had been
exiled from Paradise, by its own
action, by turning from the way of
truth, and its own life. Measured by
the nature assumed, no penalty was
ever exacted so justly, as that one,
inflicted on the Cross, and if we
gaze at the Person who endured it, in whom that nature was incarnate,
by the same measure no punishment
was ever so unjust. So contrary
effects came from one cause: God
and the Jews were satisfied by the
725
same death: and Earth shook, and Heaven opened at it.
Now, it should not seem a
difficulty to you, to hear it said that
just revenge was taken by the Court
of Justice. But now I see your mind
tangled in knots, from thought to
thought, which it greatly longs for
release from.’
3DUDGLVR &DQWR 9,, 7KH
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‘You are saying to yourself: Yes,
I understand what I hear, but why
God only willed this method of our
redemption, is hidden from me.
Brother, this decree is buried from
the sight of everyone whose intellect
is not ripened in Love’s flame. But I
will reveal why this method was the
726
most valuable, since it is knowledge often aimed at, but little understood.
The Divine Good, that rejects all
envy, fires out such sparks from its
inner fire as to show forth the
eternal beauty. What distills from it,
without mediation, is eternal,
because the print cannot be
removed, once it has stamped the
seal. What rains down from it,
without mediation, is total freedom,
since it is not subject to the power
of transient things. It conforms more
closely to the Good, and is therefore
more pleasing to it: since the sacred
flame that lights everything, is most
alive in what most resembles it.
The human creature has all these
advantages, and if one fails, then
that creature falls from nobility. Sin
is the only thing that disenfranchises
it, and makes it dissimilar to the
727
Highest Good, so that its light irradiates it less, and the creature
may never return to dignity, unless
it fills the place where guilt has
made a void, with just punishment
for sinful delight.
When your nature sinned in
totality in the first seed, it was
parted from dignity, as it was from
Paradise: and they could not be
regained, however subtly you
search, except by crossing over one
of these two fords: either that God
out of his grace remitted the debt, or
Man gave satisfaction for his
foolishness.
Now fix your eyes on the abyss
of Eternal Wisdom, following my
speech as closely as you can.
Man had no power ever to be
able to give satisfaction, in his own
being, since he could not humble
728
deeply, as he had aimed, so highly,
to exalt himself, through
disobedience. This was the reason
why man was shut out from the
power to give satisfaction by
himself. Therefore God had to
return Man to his perfect life in his
own way: that is, through mercy or
through justice, or both. And since
what is done by the doer is more
gracious the more it shows us the
goodness of the heart it comes from,
the Divine Goodness, that imprints
the world, was content to act in both
ways, to raise you up again.
Between the first day and the
last, there never was, nor ever will
be again, so high and magnificent a
progress on either of those roads,
since God was more generous in
giving of himself, to make Man
729
capable of rising again, than if he had only granted remission, from
himself: and every other way fell
short of justice, except that by
which the Son of God humbled
himself, to become incarnate.’
3DUDGLVR
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‘Now to answer all your
longings, I go back to explain a
certain passage, so that you can
understand it as I do. You are saying
to yourself: I see the water, fire,
earth, and air: and all their mixtures
come to corruption, and do not last
for long, and yet these things were
creatures, and ought to be secure
from corruption, if what I have said
to you is true.
730
Brother, the Angels, and the pure region where you are, may be said
to be created as they are, in their
total being, but the elements you
have named and all the compounds
of them, have been inwardly IRUPHG
by a created power. The matter that
they hold was created: the formative
power in those stars which circle
round them was created.
The life of every wild creature
and every plant is drawn from
compounds gaining power by the
rays and motion of the sacred lights.
But your life is breathed into you
without mediation, by the supreme
beneficence that makes life love it,
so that it always longs for it. And
from this you can deduce your resurrection in the flesh, if you
again consider how human bodies
731
were first made, when your first parents were both made.
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In its Pagan days the world used
to believe that lovely Cyprian Venus
used to beam down fond love,
turning in the third epicycle, so that
those ancient peoples, in ancient
error, not only did her the honour of
sacrifice and the votive cry, but
honoured Dione as well, and Cupid,
one as her mother, the other as her
son, and told how Cupid sat in
Dido’s lap: and from her, from whom I take my start, they took the
name of the planet, that courts the
Sun, now setting in front, and now
behind.
732
I had no sense of rising into her sphere, but my Lady’s aspect gave
me faith that I was there, because I
saw her grow more beautiful. And
as we see a spark in a flame, and as
a voice can be distinguished from a
voice, if one remains fixed and the
other comes and goes, so, in that
light itself, I saw other lamps,
moving in circles, faster or slower,
in accord, I believe, with the nature
of their eternal vision.
Blasts never blew from a chill
cold, visibly or invisibly, so rapidly
that that they would not seem slow
and hindered, to whoever had seen
those divine lights coming towards
us, leaving the sphere that has its
first conception in the exalted
Seraphim. And among those who
appeared most in advance, Hosanna
sounded, in such a manner that ever
733
since I have not been free of the desire to hear it again.
3DUDGLVR
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Then one came nearer to us, and
began alone: ‘We are all at your
pleasure, so that you may have joy
of us. We orbit with those celestial
Princes in one circle, and one
circling, and with one thirst, we, to
whom you, from the world below,
once said: 9RL FKH LQWHQGHQGR LO
WHU]R FLHO PRYHWH: You who by
understanding move the third circle:
and we are so filled with love, that a
moment of rest, to give you
pleasure, will be no less sweet to
us.’
When my eyes had been lifted in
reverence to my Lady, and she had
734
herself given them satisfaction and assurance, they turned back to the
light that had offered itself so
generously, and: ‘Say, who you
are.’ were my words, stamped with
great affection. Oh, how I saw it
grow in size and splendour, at the
new joy, added to its joys, when I
spoke! Altered in that way, it said to
me: ‘The world held me, held
Charles Martel, below for only a little while: if it had been longer,
much of the evil that will happen
would not happen. My joy, shining
round me, keeps me hidden from
you, concealing me like a silkworm
cocooned in its own silk. You loved
me greatly, and with good cause,
since if I had stayed below I would
have shown you greater love than
the mere shoots of it.
735
736
That left bank, Provence, that the Rhone washes after its meeting with
the Sorgue, waited for me to be its
lord in time, so did Naples, that
stretch of Ausonia, with its cities of
Bari, Gaeta, and Catona, down from
where Tronto and Verde discharge
into the sea. The Crown of Hungary,
that the Danube waters, when it has
left its German banks, already shone
on my forehead: and beautiful
Sicily, Trinacria, over the gulf the
east wind torments most, that is
darkened between Pachynus and
Pelorus, not by Typhon, but by the sulphurous clouds, would still have
looked for its kings born of the line
through me from Charles II and the
Emperor Rudolph, if bad
governance, that stirs the hearts of
subject peoples, had not caused
Palermo to cry out: “Death, Death.”
737
And if Robert of Calabria my brother had seen it in good time, he
would already have avoided the
greedy adventurers of Catalonia,
before they do him wrong, and
indeed he or another needs to make
provision that a heavier load is not
laid on his already laden boat. His
nature, meanness descended from
generosity, needs soldiers who do
not care about stuffing their purses.’
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I said: ‘Sir, because I believe you
see the great joy your conversation
floods me with, as I see it, there
where every good has its beginning
and end, it is more gratifying to me:
and also I value that you see it by
738
gazing on God. You have given me delight, now enlighten me, since in
speaking you have stirred me to
question how bitter seed can be born
from the sweet.’ And he to me: ‘If I
can show you a truth, you will have
the thing you ask, that is behind
your back, in front of your eyes.
The Good, which turns, and
makes content, the whole kingdom,
that you climb, makes its
providence a power in these great
celestial bodies, and provision is not
only made for the nature of things
but for their welfare too, by that
Mind that is perfection in itself. So
whatever this bow fires moves
towards its destined end, like an
arrow fired at the mark. If that were
not so, the Heaven you are crossing
would bring its effects into being so
that they would be chaos and not
739
art, and that cannot be unless the intellects that move these planets are
defective, and the First Mover too,
who failed to perfect them. Do you
wish this truth to be clarified more?’
I said: ‘No, since I know it is
impossible for Nature to fall short of
what is needed.’ And he again:
‘Now, say, would it be worse for
man if he were not a citizen, on
earth, but left to his own
sufficiency?’ ‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘and I
do not need to ask the reason.’ ‘And
can that be, unless men live various
lives below, and with various tasks?
Not if your master, Aristotle, wrote truly for you.’ He reached this point,
deducing, and then gave the
conclusion: ‘Therefore the roots of
your qualities must be diverse, so
that one is born Solon the lawgiver, and another Xerxes, the soldier, one 740
Melchizedek, the priest, and another
Daedalus, the inventor, who lost his son, soaring through the sky.
Circling Nature, the seal on the
mortal wax, is a good maker, and
does not distinguish between one
house and another. So that Esau
differs from Jacob in the seed, and
Romulus worshipped as Quirinus, comes from so lowly a father he is
assigned to Mars instead. The nature at birth would always be like its
parent, if Divine Providence did not
overrule it.
Now what was hidden behind
you is in front of you, but so you
may know I am delighted with you,
I will wrap you round with a
corollary. Nature makes a poor fist
of things, if she finds events out of
harmony with herself, like any other
seed out of its proper soil. If the
741
world below paid attention to the foundation Nature lays, and
followed that, it would be satisfied
with its citizens, but you drag him
born to the sword into a religious
order, and make a king of him who
should be an orator, so that your
path cuts across the road.’
3DUDGLVR &DQWR ,; &XQL]]D
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Lovely Clemence, when your
Charles had clarified things for me, he told me about the wrongs his
seed was fated to encounter, but
added: ‘Be silent, and let the years
turn,’ so that I can say nothing
except that well-justified grief will
follow those wrongs.
And already the life of that holy
light had turned towards the Sun
742
that illuminates it, as towards the Good which is sufficient to
everything. O impious creatures! O
deceived spirits who twist your
hearts away from that Good, turning
your minds to vanities!
And see, another of those
splendours came towards me, and
signified his desire to satisfy me, by
an outer brightening. Beatrice’s
eyes, gazing at me, as before,
assured me of happy assent to my
wish. I said: ‘Ah, give quick
satisfaction to my will, spirit who
are blessed, and show proof that I
can reflect what I think from you.’
At which the light which was still a
stranger to me, from the depths,
where it was, at first singing,
continued by speaking, like one
happy to do good: ‘In that region of
Italy, the depraved country, which
743
lies between Venice and the sources of the Brenta and Piave, rises a hill
raised to no great height, from
which, Ezzelino da Romano, the burning brand, descended, who
made a vicious assault on that land.
I sprang with him out of the same
root: Cunizza I am called, and I shine here because the light of this
star conquered me. But I grant
myself indulgence for my fate, and
it does not grieve me, which perhaps
would seem strange to the common
man.
The great fame of this dear
shining jewel in our Heaven, Folco
of Marseilles, who is my nearest
neighbour, remains, and before it
dies this centenary year will be
repeated five times. See how
another life follows the first if a man
achieves excellence! The present
744
enclosed by the Tagliamento and the
Adige, do not think of that, beaten
but still unrepentant. But it will soon
come to pass that Paduan blood will
stain the water that bathes Vicenza,
because the people rebel against
their duty. And at Treviso, where
the
Sile meets the Cagnano,
Riccardo da Camino holds sway, and goes with head held high, for
whom the net to catch him is
already woven.
From Feltro a wail of grief will
rise yet, because of the sins of its
impious pastor, Alessandro Novello, so foul, that no one ever entered the
prison of Malta for their equal. The
dish that would be needed to receive
Ferrara’s blood, which this obliging
priest will give up to show himself
loyal, would be too large, and weary
745
whoever had to weigh it ounce by ounce: and such are the gifts that
suit this country’s way of life. There
are mirrors above, you call them
Thrones, from which God shines in
judgement on us, so that these
words prove good to us.’
Here she fell silent, and to me
she seemed like one who turns to
other things, giving herself to the
wheel, so that she was as before.
3DUDGLVR &DQWR ,; )ROFR
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The other joyful light, which I
had already noted as being
distinguished, shone to my sight like
a fine ruby, illuminated by the sun.
Brightness comes from joy up there,
as a smile does here on earth, while
down below the spirits are dark
746
saddened.
I said: ‘God sees it all, and your
vision is in him, spirit of the
blessed, so that no desire is hidden
from you. Why then does your
voice, which, with the singing of
those devoted fires, the Seraphim,
who make a cowl, with six wings, of
themselves, gladdens Heaven
endlessly, not satisfy my wishes? If
I were in you, as you are in me, I
would not have waited for your
request till now.
Then he began to speak: ‘The
Mediterranean, that greatest valley,
into which water flows, from the
ocean round the earth, extends so far
between its opposite shores,
eastwards, that its zenith is formed
of what was horizon. I was an
inhabitant of Marseilles’s shore, half
747
Macra, which, with its short course,
separates the Genoese and the
Tuscans. The site of Bougia in
Algeria is almost alike in sunrises
and sunsets to the place I come
from, whose harbour Caesar once warmed with that place’s blood.
Those who knew me, called me
Folco, and I imprint this Heaven as it imprinted me, since Dido, Belus’s daughter, wronging Sichaeus and
Aeneas’s Creüsa, burned no hotter than I, as long as it suited my
youthfulness: nor did Phyllis, the girl from Rhodope, who was
deceived by Demophoön, nor
Hercules when his heart enclosed
Iole. But this is not a place of repentance, here we smile: not at the
sin, which the mind does not dwell
748
on, but the Power that ordained and provided.
Here we gaze at the Art, which
beautified so great a creation, and
discern the Good, which returns the
world below to the world above. But
so that you might fully satisfy all the
longings born in this sphere, I must
continue. You will wish to know
who is inside that light that gleams
next to me, like the sun’s rays in
pure water. Know, now, that Rahab, the prostitute, finds peace there, and
when she joined our order, it sealed
itself, in the highest rank, with her.
Before any other soul, she was
uplifted at Christ’s triumph, by this sphere, which is touched by the
shadow your Earth casts into space.
It was truly fitting to leave her in
one of the Heavens as a symbol of
the great victory achieved by those
749
favoured Joshua’s first glorious campaign in the Holy Land, that
land that scarcely touches
this Pope’s memory.’
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‘Florence, the city founded by
Mars, that Satan who first turned his back on his Maker, and from whose
envy such great grief has come,
coins and spreads that accursed lily
flower, that has sent the sheep and
lambs astray, since it has made a
wolf of the shepherd.
So the Gospels and the Great
Doctors are neglected, and only the
Decretals, the law-books are
studied, as can be seen by their
margins. On that, the Pope and 750
Cardinals are intent: their thoughts do not stray to Nazareth, where
Gabriel’s wings unfolded, But the Vatican and the other sacred parts of
Rome, that cemetery for the soldiers
who followed Peter, will soon be
freed from the bond of adultery.’
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The primal and unutterable
Power, gazing at his Son, with the
Love that both breathe out eternally,
made whatever circles through mind
and space with such order, that
whoever knows them is not without
some sense of Him. Then, Reader,
raise you eyes with me to the distant
wheels, directed to that point where the Celestial Equator and the
751
Ecliptic meet, and begin to view the art of that Master who loves it so
much, within himself, that he never
lets his eyes leave it.
See how the Ecliptic, the oblique
circle that carries the planets, slants
from that Equinoctial point, to
satisfy the world’s call for them:
and if their path were not inclined,
much of the power of the Heavens
would be useless, and every
potential dead on Earth: and if the
slope from the level was greater or
smaller, much would be lacking in
Cosmic order below and above.
Now, Reader, stay on your
bench, thinking back on this
preamble, if you would delight in it
before you weary. I have put the
food in front of you, now feed
yourself, since the matter I have set
752
myself to write of, now draws my complete attention to itself.
The Sun, the greatest minister of
Nature, who stamps the world with
the power of Heaven, and measures
time for us by his light, was circling
on the spiral where he shows
himself earlier every day, joined to
that Equinoctial point I recalled.
And I was with him: but I was no
more aware of my ascent than a man
is aware of his first thoughts
approaching. It is Beatrice who
leads me from good to better, so
suddenly that her action requires no
time.
How bright, in itself, must that
be, that shows itself in the Sun,
which I had entered, not by colour,
but by light! Though I might call on
intellect, art and knowledge, I could
never express it so as to make it
753
imaginable, but it may be believed, and desired to be seen. And if our
imaginations are too base for such
exaltation, it is no surprise, since no
eye could ever transcend the Sun.
Such was the fourth House of the
supreme Father, who always
contents it, by showing how he
breathes and engenders.
And Beatrice began to speak:
‘Give thanks, Give thanks to the
Sun of the Angels, who, in his
grace, has raised you to this visible
sun.’ The heart of man was never so
disposed to devotion, and so eager
to give itself to God with all its will,
as I was at those words: and my
love was committed to Him so
completely, it eclipsed Beatrice
from memory. That did not
displease her: but she smiled at it so
that the splendour, of her laughing
754
eyes, scattered my mind’s coherence amongst many things.
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Then I saw many lights, living
and victorious, make a central point
of us, and a coronet, even sweeter in
voice than shining in appearance, of
themselves. So we sometimes see
the Moon, Diana, Latona’s daughter, haloed when the air is so
damp as to retain the rainbow thread
that weaves her zone. There are
many jewels so dear and lovely, in
the courts of Heaven I have returned
from, that they cannot be moved
from that region, and such was the
song of these lights: he who does
not wing himself to fly up to them,
755
may as well look for news of them from the speechless.
When those burning suns, so
singing, had circled round us three
times, like stars near the fixed poles,
they seemed as ladies do, not
released from the dance, but resting,
silent, listening, until they hear the
notes again. And in one I heard a
voice begin to say: ‘Since the light
of grace glows in you, at which true
love is lit, and then by loving is
multiplied, so as to lead you on that
stair, that no one descends except to
climb again, whoever denied you
the wine from his glass, to quench
your thirst, would be as little at
liberty to do so, as water to refuse to
flow to the sea.
You wish to know with what
flowers this garland is decorated
that circles the lovely lady who
756
Heaven. I was one of the lambs, of
the sacred flock, that Dominic leads on the path ZKHUH WKHUH LV JRRG
SDVWXUH, if we do not stray. He, who
is nearest to me on the right, was my
master and my brother: he was
Albert of Cologne, and I,
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‘If you wish to know the rest as
well, circling above around the
garland, blessed, direct your sight
according to my words. This next
flamelet issues from Gratian’s
smile, he who gave such help to the
ecclesiastical and civil spheres as is
acceptable in Paradise. The fourth,
that adorns our choir next, was that
757
Peter Lombard, who, like the poor widow, offered his wealth to Holy
Church. The fifth light, which is
most beautiful among us, breathes
from such a love, that all the world,
below, thirsts to have news of it. In
there is the noble mind of Solomon, to which was granted a wisdom so
profound, that if truth be known, QR
RWKHU HYHU DFKLHYHG so complete a
vision.
Next look at that taper’s light,
Dionysius, who in the flesh down there, saw deepest into the Angelic
nature and its ministry. In the
seventh little light, Orosius, that pleader for the Christian Age,
whose works Augustine made use of.
Now if you run your mind’s eye
from light to light, following my
praise, you are already thirsting for
758
the eighth. In there, seeing every
good, Boëthius, the sainted soul rejoices, who unmasked the
deceitful world to those who give
him a careful hearing. The body
from which it was chased out, lies
down below in Cieldauro, and it
came from exile and martyrdom to
this peace.’
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‘Next, see the glowing breath of
Isidore of Seville flame out, of
Bede, and Richard of SaintVictor, who in contemplation exceeded
Man. The one from whom your
glance returns to me, is the light of a
spirit, who, of profound thought,
seemed to himself to reach death too
759
slowly: it is the eternal light of
Sigier, who, lecturing in the Rue du Fouarre, syllogised truths that
brought him hatred.’
Then, as the clock, that strikes
the hour, when the bride of God
rises, to sing her Matins, to the
Bridegroom, so that he might love
her, where one part pulls and pushes
another, making a chiming sound, of
such sweet notes, that the well-
disposed spirit fills with love, so I
saw the glorious wheel revolve, and
answer voice to voice, in harmony,
and with a sweetness that cannot be
known except where joy renders
itself eternal.
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760
defective the reasoning that makes
you beat your wings towards the
earth! One person was chasing law,
another medicine; one following the
priesthood, another rule, by force or
sophistry; one robbery, another civic
business; one was involved in
bodily pleasure, and another taking
their ease: while I, free of all these
things, was received, with Beatrice,
so gloriously in Heaven.
When each spirit had returned to
the place in the circle where he was
before, he rested, like a candle in its
holder. And I saw a smile begin
inside the light that had first spoken,
as it grew brighter, and Thomas
said: ‘Just as I glow with its rays, so
as I gaze into the Eternal Light I
know the reason for your thoughts.
You question, and wish to
761
understand my words, in such open and extended speech as will match
your comprehension, the words I
spoke just now, ZKHUHWKHUHLVJRRG
SDVWXUH and, QR RWKHU HYHU
DFKLHYHG, and here we need to draw
careful distinctions.
The Providence that governs the
world, with wisdom, that defeats
every creature’s understanding,
before that creature can plumb its
depths, ordained two Princes, to be
guides, over there and over here, on
behalf of the Church, the spouse of
Him, who wedded Her, with great
cries, in blessed blood, in order that
She might go to Christ, her delight, secure in Herself, and more faithful
to Him.
The one Prince, Saint Francis,
was all Seraphic in his ardour, the
other, Dominic, was a splendour of 762
Cherubic Light, on earth. I will speak of the first, because whoever
praises either, whichever he
chooses, talks of both, since both
their efforts were to the same end.’
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‘A fertile slope falls from a high
mountain, between the Tupino and
the Chiascio, the stream that drops
from the hill chosen by the blessed
Ubaldo, a slope from which Perugia feels the cold and heat, through the
eastern gate of Porta Sole, and
behind it the towns of Nocera and
Gualdo bemoan the Angevin’s
heavy yoke. From this slope, where
it becomes least steep, a Sun was
born into this world, even as our sun
rises from the Ganges. So that
763
whoever speaks of that place, let him not say $VFHVL, ,KDYHDVFHQGHG,
which is inadequate, but 2ULHQWH if
he wants to name it correctly.
He was not far from rising when
he began to make the earth feel a
certain comfort from his great
virtue, since in his youth, he rushed
to oppose his father, for such a
Lady, to whom, like Death, no one
opens the gate of his pleasure, and
he was united to her in the spiritual
court that had jurisdiction over him,
and in his father’s presence, and
then loved her more deeply, from
day to day.
She, deprived of her first
husband for eleven hundred years
and more, was obscure, despised,
until he stood in front of her,
uninvited. And the tale that she was
found safe with Amyclas, the 764
fisherman, when Caesar’s voice sounded to terrify the world, had not
helped her, nor to have been so
faithful and unafraid that She
mounted the Cross with Christ,
when Mary remained below.
But lest I proceed too darkly,
accept, in plain speech, that Francis
and Poverty were these two lovers.
Their harmony and their delighted
appearance made love, wonder, and
tender looks, the cause of sacred
thought, so that the venerable
Bernard first cast off his sandals, and ran to chase after so great a
peacefulness, and thought himself
all too slow, while he ran. O
unnoted riches, O fertile Good!
Egidius casts off his sandals, and
following the
Bridegroom, as the Bride delights to
do.
765
This Master and this Father went his way, together with his Lady, and
with that family already wearing the
humble cord, nor did lowhness of
heart weigh down his forehead,
because he was Pietro Bernardino’s son, nor that he seemed to be so
greatly despised. But he revealed his
serious intention to Pope Innocent,
and took the seal of his Order from
him. When the people of poverty,
who followed his path, increased,
his miraculous life sung more
sweetly in Heaven’s glory, then was
this master shepherd’s sacred will
encircled with a second crown, from
Honorious’s hands, by the Eternal Spirit.
And when, thirsting for
martyrdom, he had preached Christ
and his followers’ message, in the
proud Soldan’s presence; and,
766
finding the people bitterly against conversion, had returned, to avoid a
useless stay, to gather fruit from the
Italian branches; then, on the harsh
rock, between the Tiber and the
Arno, he received the final wounds,
from Christ, that his limbs showed for two years.
When it pleased Him, who
ordained him to such good effect, to
raise him to the reward, which he
had earned by humbling himself, he
commended his Lady to his
brotherhood, his rightful heirs, and
asked that they should love her
faithfully, and the illustrious spirit
willed himself to leave her breast,
turning to his own kingdom, yet
wished for no other deathbed for his
body.’
767
'RPLQLF7KH'RPLQLFDQV
‘Now think what he must be,
who was a worthy colleague, to
maintain the course of Peter’s boat in the right direction! Such was our
founder, Dominic, so that whoever follows his commands, as you can
see, freights himself with good
cargoes. But his flock has grown so
greedy for new food, it cannot do
other than stray through strange
pastures, and the more his distant,
wandering sheep stray from him, the
emptier of milk they return, to the
fold. Indeed there are some of them
who fear the loss, and keep close to
the shepherd, but they are so few it
needs little cloth to make cowls for
them.
768
Now, if my words have not been
weak, if you have listened closely,
and if you recall what I have said,
your wish must now be partly
satisfied, since you can see the stem
they whittle away, and can see the
rebuke intended in the words: ZKHUH
WKHUH LV JRRG SDVWXUH LI ZH GR QRW
VWUD\.’
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As soon as the flame of the spirit
that was blessed had spoken the last
word, the sacred mill began to turn,
and had not fully revolved before a
second, circling, clasped it, and
harmonised movement with
movement and song with song: song
which is as far beyond our Muses,
and our Sirens, in those sweet 769
pipings, as the first glory its reflection.
As two rainbows, parallel and
identical in colour, arch through the
thin mist, when Juno commands Iris
her servant, the outer one born from
the inner one, like the speech of
Echo, that wandering nymph, whom Love consumed as the sun the
vapour, making people here on earth
aware, that, through the covenant
God made with Noah, the world should never be drowned again: so
the two garlands of those everlasting
roses circled round us, and so the
outer answered the inner.
As soon as the dance, and the
great high-festival of song and
radiance, of light with light, joyful
and gentle, joined in point of time
and will, had stilled them, like eyes
which must close and open together
770
to the pleasure that stirs them, a voice came from the heart of one of
the fresh lights that made me seem
like the compass needle to the pole
star, turning me towards it, and
Bonaventura began: ‘The Love that adorns me, brings me to speak of
the other leader, on whose account
such noble words are spoken of my
leader.
It is right that wherever the one
is, the other should be presented, so
that, just as they fought side by side,
their glory might shine together.’
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‘Christ’s army, whose re-arming
cost so dear, followed the standard
slowly, fearfully and sparsely, when
771
the Emperor, who reigns forever, of his own grace, and not because of
that army’s worth, made provision
for the soldiers who were in danger,
and, as has been said, He came to
the aid of his Bride, with two
champions, at whose works and
words, the scattered ranks re-
grouped.
In Spain, towards that region,
where sweet Zephyr rises, to unfold
the new leaves Europe sees herself
re-clothed with, not far from the
crash of the waves, behind which
because of their vast reaches, the
sun sometimes conceals himself
from all people, Calahorra, the
fortunate, lies, under the protection
of the noble shield of Castile, on
whose arms, in the left quarters, the
lion is below the castle, and on the
right above.
772
There the loving servant of the Christian faith was born, the holy
wrestler, kind to his followers and
cruel to his enemies: and as soon as
he was created his mind was so full
of living virtue that in the womb it
sent his mother a prophetic dream.
When the marriage between him
and the faith was completed at the
holy font, where they dowered each
other with mutual salvation, the
lady, who gave the assent for him,
saw, in her sleep, the marvellous
harvest destined to issue from him
and his heirs, and so that this might
be known, in his very name, a spirit
from above moved them to call him
after the Lord, whose he was
completely. Dominic, he was named: and I talk of him as I would
of a labourer, whom Christ chose to
nurture his orchard.
773
companion and messenger of Christ,
since the first love he showed was
for the first counsel of Christ, that of
Poverty. Often his nurse found him,
on the floor, silent and wakeful, as if
to say: ,WZDVIRUWKLV,FDPH. Truly
his father was Felice, IDYRXUHG, and his mother, Giovanna, JUDFHGE\WKH
/RUG, if the interpretation of their
names is valid!
Soon, for love of the true PDQQD
and not of the world, for whose sake
men labour after Henry of Susa, Ostia’s bishop, and Taddeo
Alderotti’s doctrines, he became a powerful teacher, so that he set
himself to a circuit of the vineyard,
which soon withers if the vine-
dresser is at fault: and from the
Apostolic See, that once was more generous to the rightful poor, not
774
because it has altered in itself, but because of the one who holds it, degenerately, he demanded not a
profit of a third or a half, not the
grant of the next vacancy, not
GHFLPDV TXDH VXQW SDXSHUXP 'HL,
the tithe that belongs to God’s poor,
but leave to fight against the
heretical world for that seed from
which these twenty-four plants en-
leaf you.
Then he went forward, teaching
and will as one, with the blessing of
the Apostolic Office, like a torrent
driven out of a deep fissure, and his
force struck the roots of heresy most
fiercely where the resistance was
most obstinate. Then many streams
sprang from his, so that the Catholic
garden is watered, and its shrubs
achieve a fuller growth.’
775
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‘If this was one wheel of the
chariot in which Holy Church
defended herself, and won her civil
war in open battle, the excellence of
Francis, the other, should be clear to you, about whom Thomas was so courteous, before I came to you. But
the orbit, that touched the highest
points of its circumference, is
derelict, and now there is mould
where there was once bread. His
family, who walked directly in his
footprints, have turned so that their
toes strike his heel-prints, and soon
the harvest of poor cultivation will
be seen, when the tares will bemoan
that the barn is closed to them.
I accept in truth that those who
search page after page of our book,
776
might still find one page, reading: , DPDV,ZDV, but it will not be one of
Ubertino da Casale’s or Matteo
d’Acquasparta’s, from whom men come to our discipline, by relaxing
it, or making it more severe.
I am the life of Bonaventura of Bagnoregio, who in the great offices
always placed temporal cares
behind. Illuminato and Agostino are here, who were Francis’s first poor
shoeless brothers, who made
themselves friends of God by the
cord.
Hugh of Saint Victor is here with them, Pietro Mangiadore, and Pietro
Ispano, who gave Logic light, below there, in his twelve books; Nathan
the Prophet, the metropolitan
Chrysostom, Anselm, and that
Donatus who deigned to set his hand to the first art of Grammar.
777
778
Rabanus is here, and Joachim of Flora, the Calabrian abbot, imbued
with prophetic spirit, shines by my
side,
The bright courtesy of brother
Thomas, and his well-judged speech, stirred me to praise of so
great a knight, and stirred this
company with me.’
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Let him, who would grasp
correctly what I now saw (and let
him retain the image while I speak,
as he holds a piece of rock) imagine
fifteen of those stars, which, in
various regions, vivify the Heavens,
with such brightness as to pierce the
interwoven air; let him also imagine
779
Ursa Major, that rests on the breast of our sky, night and day, so that it
is never absent from the polar circle;
and let him imagine the mouth of
that horn, Ursa Minor, that starts
from the axle of the primal circling,
all making two wreathes in Heaven
such as Ariadne, Minos’s daughter made, when she felt the cold of
death; and one ring of light, to lie
inside the other, and both to revolve,
in such a way that one leads and the
other follows, and he will have only
the shadow of the real constellation,
and the twofold dance, that circled
round the point where I was, since it
goes as far beyond what we know,
as the movement of the quickest
sphere, exceeds our sluggish
Chiana.
There they sang, not Bacchus
and the Paean, but three Persons in 780
one Divine Nature, and It, and
Human Nature, in one Person. The
singing and circling had completed
their measure, and those sacred