Dante AlighieriThe divine comedy

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The divine comedy

Dante Alighieri

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CANTO IRun: 2026-08-21 17:24BokRobot · Page 1 / 245

CANTO I

To speed her rapid course over better waves, The light bark of my genius lifts its sail, Well pleased to leave so cruel a sea behind; And of that second region will I sing, In which the human spirit from sinful stain Is purged, and prepares for ascent to Heaven.

Here, O hallowed Nine! for in your train I follow, here revive the deadened strain; Nor let Calliope refuse to sound A somewhat higher song, of that loud tone Which, when the wretched birds of chattering note Had heard it, they lost all hope of forgiveness.

Sweet hue of eastern sapphire, that was spread O'er the serene aspect of the pure air, High up as the first circle, to my eyes Renewed unwonted joy, as soon as I escaped Forth from the atmosphere of deadly gloom, That had filled my eyes and bosom with grief. The radiant planet that invites to love Made all the east laugh, and veiled beneath The light of Pisces, which came in its escort.

I turned to the right and fixed my mind Attentively on the other pole, where I saw Four stars never seen before except by the ken Of our first parents. Heaven seemed joyous With their rays. O thou northern site, bereft Indeed, and widowed, since deprived of these!

When I had desisted from this view, straightway Turning a little toward the other pole, There where the Wain had now disappeared, I saw an old man standing by my side Alone, so worthy of reverence in his look, Never was more owed from son to father. Low down his beard, mixed with hoary white, descended like his locks, which, parting, fell upon his breast in a double fold. The beams of those four luminaries shone so brightly upon his face, and with such clear radiance adorned it, that I beheld him as the sun.

"Say who you are, who, stemming the blind stream, have fled forth from the eternal prison-house?" He spoke and moved those venerable plumes. "Who has guided you, or with a sure lantern lights you as you emerge from the depth of night, which makes the infernal valley forever black? Are the firm statutes of the dread abyss broken, or are new laws ordained in high heaven, that thus, condemned, you approach my caves?"

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My guide then laid hold of me, and by words and intimations given with hand and head, made my bent knees and eyes submissively pay due reverence; then I replied to him thus:

"Not of myself do I come; a Lady from heaven descending besought me to take him under my charge. But since thy will implies that I should unfold our true condition more at large, it is not mine to deny thee thy request. This mortal has never seen the farthest gloom. But erring by his folly he had approached so near that little space was left to turn. Then, as I told thee before, I was dispatched to work his rescue, and no way remained save this which I have taken. I have displayed before him all the regions of the bad; And now I shall show you those spirits, who have been purged of sin and are under your command. It would take long to tell how I brought him here. From on high descends the power by whose aid I have led him to your sight and hearing. May our coming now please you. In his search for liberty he journeys—how dear that is, those know who have refused life for its sake.

You know, for whom death for her was sweet in Utica, where you left those garments that will shine so bright on the last great day. For us the eternal edicts are unmoved: he breathes, and I am free of Minos' power, abiding in that circle where the eyes of your chaste Marcia beam, who still in her look prays you, O hallowed spirit, to acknowledge her radiance. Then by her love we implore thee, let us pass through your seven regions; and for that I will return my best thanks to her for your favour, if you do not disdain to be mentioned down there below."

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"Marcia was so pleasing in my sight," he then replied to him, "while I was there, that all she asked of me I was glad to grant. Now that she dwells beyond the accursed stream, she may no longer move me, by that law which was ordained for me when I came forth from there. Not so, if a lady from heaven, as you say, moves and directs you; then no flattery is needed. It is enough for me that you ask in her name. Go therefore now: and with a slender reed see that you duly gird him, and wash his face, until you wipe away all sordid stain from it. Not with the eye, obscured by any cloud, Would it be seemly to come before him, Who stands the foremost minister in heaven. This islet all around, far beneath there, Where the wave beats against it, on the oozy bed Produces a store of reeds. No other plant, Covered with leaves or hardened in its stalk, Lives there, or bends to the water's sway.

Afterward, do not return this way; but the sun, Which now rises, will show you where to take The mountain by its easiest ascent."

He disappeared; and I rose up Speechless, and drawing close to my guide, Turned my eyes toward him. He thus began: "My son! Follow my steps attentively. We must retreat backward, for that way "The champion to its low extreme declines."

Dawn had driven away the early morning hour of prime, Which was deaf before it, so that from afar I could see the trembling of the ocean stream.

We crossed the deserted plain like one Who, having wandered from his path, thinks every step Is trodden in vain until he finds the way again.

When we had come to where the tender dew still struggled with the sun, and to a place where the fresh wind breathed over it as it slowly dried, my master placed both hands on the watery grass in a graceful and kind gesture. Then, having already understood his intent, I stretched my tear-soaked cheeks out to him. There he restored to my face the hue that the dark shades of hell had concealed.

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Then, having arrived on the solitary shore That had never seen any man sailing on its waters Who could afterward retrace his course, He girded me in the manner that had pleased The one who instructed him, and oh, strange to tell! As he picked every humble plant, Wherever one was plucked, another there, Resembling it, immediately arose in its place.

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CANTO II

Now the sun had reached that horizon which covers Salem’s walls with the highest point of its meridian circle, and night, which opposite to him sounds her orb, had issued forth from the stream of the Ganges, holding the scales, which drop from her hands when she reigns highest: so that where I was, Aurora’s white and vermeil-tinted cheek had turned to orange as she increased in age.

Meanwhile we lingered by the water’s brink, like men who, musing on their road, journey in thought while the body rests motionless. When lo! as near the hour of dawn, through the thick vapors Mars with fiery beam glares down in the west, over the ocean floor; so seemed what once again I hope to see, A light so swiftly coming through the sea, No winged course could match its speed. When from it I had withdrawn my gaze for a time From your eyes, to question my guide, I looked again and saw it grown in size And brightness: on either side appeared Something—I knew not what—of bright hue, And by degrees from underneath it came Another. My teacher, still silent, Stood, while the brightness we had first discerned Opened the form of wings: then when he recognized The pilot, he cried aloud, "Down, down; bend low Your knees; behold God's angel: fold your hands: Now you shall see true Ministers indeed."

See how he sets all human means at naught! So that he needs neither oar nor other sail Except his wings, between such distant shores. Look how he holds them raised straight up toward heaven, Fanning the air with those eternal plumes, which, unlike mortal hair, do not fall out or change!"

As he came closer and closer toward us, the bird of God appeared brighter and brighter, nor could the eye endure his splendor at close range: I bent my gaze down. He drove ashore in a small bark so swift and light that it drank no wave along its course. The heavenly steersman was visible at the prow, blessed visibly written in his looks.

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Within sat a hundred spirits and more. "In Exitu Israel de Aegypto;" they all sang together with one voice, with what is written in the remainder of that hymn. Then as soon as with the sign of the holy cross He blessed them, and they at once leaped out onto the land, and returned as swiftly as he had come. The crew, left there, appeared astounded by the place, gazing around like one who sees new sights.

From every side the sun shot forth his beams, and with his arrowy radiance from mid-heaven had chased away the Capricorn, when that strange tribe, lifting their eyes toward us: "If you know, declare what path will lead us to the mount."

Virgil answered them. "Perhaps you suppose that we are well acquainted with this place; but here we, like yourselves, are strangers. Not long since we came, a little while before you, by another road so rough and hard that now the ascent will seem to us like play." The spirits, who from my breathing had perceived that I was alive, Grew pale with wonder. Just as a crowd flocks around a herald sent with an olive branch to hear what news he brings, and in their haste tread one another down, even so at the sight of me those happy spirits stood fixed, each one forgetful of its errand to depart to where, cleansed from sin, it might be made all fair.

Then I saw one darting ahead of the rest with such fond ardour to embrace me that I was moved to do the same. O shadows vain except in outward semblance! Three times my hands I clasped behind it, and as often they returned empty to my breast again. Surprise I must think was painted in my looks, for the shadow smiled and drew back. I hastened to follow it, but with a voice Of sweetness it enjoined me to desist. Then I knew who it was, and I begged it to speak with me a little while. It answered: "As in my mortal frame I loved thee, so, released from it, I love thee still, and therefore I pause; but why walkest thou here?"

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"Not without purpose, to return once more, thou findest me, my Casella, where I am, journeying this way," I said; "but how of thee hath so much time been lost?" He answered straight: "No outrage hath been done to me, if he who takes when and whom he chooses hath oft denied me this passage, since of just will he makes his will. These three months past indeed, he who chose to enter hath taken with free leave; whence I, wandering by the shore Where Tyber's wave grows salt, from him received kind Admission, at that river's mouth, toward which His wings are pointed, for there always throng All those who do not descend to Acheron."

Then I: "If new laws have not quite destroyed The memory and use of that sweet song of love That once had power to soothe all my cares, May it please you to console my spirit a little With it, for my spirit, encumbered by its frame And traveling so far, is overcome with pain."

"Love that discourses in my thoughts." He then Began in such soft accents that within me The sweetness still thrills. My gentle guide And all who came with him were so well pleased That nothing else seemed able to find room in their thoughts.

Fast fixed in mute attention to his notes We stood, when lo! that venerable old man exclaiming, "How is this, ye tardy spirits? What negligence detains you loitering here? Run to the mountain to cast off those scales that conceal from your eyes the sight of God."

As a wild flock of pigeons, gathered to their food, blade or tares, without their pride accustomed, and in still and quiet sort, if aught alarm them, suddenly desert their meal, assailed by more important care; so I beheld that new-come troop, the song deserting, hasten to the mountain's side, as one who goes yet knows not where he tends.

Nor with less hurried step did we depart.

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CANTO III

Sudden flight had scattered them over the plain, turned toward the mountain, whither reason's voice Drives us on—I to my faithful company, clinging to him, did not leave him. For how, deprived of him, could I have fared, or who else would have led my steps over the mountainous tract? He seemed struck by the bitter pang of self-remorse. O clear and upright conscience, how sorely does a little fault wound you!

As soon as his feet slowed (slackening pace) from the haste that mars all decency of action, my mind, which before had been wrapped in itself, expanded its thoughts, as if restored with joy; and I set my face full against the steep ascent, where its top overflows highest toward heaven.

The sun, which blazed behind, with ruddy beam was broken before my form; for in me his rays met resistance. I turned aside Fearing to be left behind, when I saw only the ground darkened before me. Then my comfort, turning toward me, spoke kindly: "Why do you distrust? Do you not believe that I am with you, your sure guide? It is now evening there, where lies buried the body in which I once cast a shadow, moved to Naples from the walls of Brundusium. And do not marvel that no shadow falls before me, any more than in the element of the sky one ray obstructs another. To endure torments of extreme heat and cold, like the frames that virtue has disposed, whose working it does not will that we should have revealed. Insane is he who hopes that our reason may explore that space which holds three persons knit in one substance.

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Seek not the reason why, O human race; Had you been able to see the whole, no need would there have been For Mary to give birth. Moreover, you Have seen such men desiring fruitlessly; To whose desires repose would have been given, Which now serve them only for eternal grief. I speak of Plato and the Stagirite, And many others besides." And then he bent His forehead downward, and in troubled mood Broke off his speech. Meanwhile we had arrived As far as the mountain's foot, and there the rock Was found to be of so steep an ascent that the nimblest steps Would have been vain to climb it. The most remote, Most wild and untrodden path in all the stretch Between Lerici and Turbia would, compared to this, Be an easy ladder of open access.

"Who knows which way the steep descent lies now?" My master said, then paused: "so that he may Ascend, who journeys without the aid of wine?" And while, with his gaze fixed on the ground, he studied the meaning of the path, and I looked up around the rocky height, at spirits who were moving their steps toward us, yet seemed not to move, so slowly did they approach,

I addressed my guide thus: "Raise your eyes, look over there at some from whom you may obtain counsel, if you do not find it within yourself!"

At once he looked, and with ready speech replied: "Let us head that way; they come but slowly. And you, my beloved son, be firm in hope."

Now that people were far off in space, a thousand paces behind ours—as far as a sinewy arm could fling a stone— when all drew back upon the rugged crags From the steep bank, standing firm and unmoved, Like one who walks in doubt might stand to look.

"O perfect spirits! O already chosen!" Virgil began to them, "by that blessed peace which, as I believe, is prepared for you all, instruct us where the mountain slopes down low, so that our attempt to climb it is not in vain. For whoever knows most grieves most at the loss of time."

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Like sheep that step out from their fold, one or in pairs, or three at once; meanwhile the rest stand fearfully, bending eye and nose to the ground, and whatever the foremost does, the others do, gathering round her if she stops, simple and quiet, and they do not discern the cause; so I saw the first ones moving forward, who were at the head of that fortunate crew, Of modest bearing and graceful in their gait. When they had beheld the light before me fall broken on the ground from my right side, so that the shadow reached the cave, they stopped and drew somewhat back: all those did the same who followed, though unaware of the cause.

"Unasked by you, yet freely I confess, this is a human body that you see. Do not marvel that the sun's light is broken on the ground, but believe that not without virtue derived from Heaven do we aspire to climb over this wall." So my master spoke to them; and that virtuous tribe replied: "Turn, and before you there lies the entrance," making a signal to us with bent hands.

Then one of them began: "Whoever thou art, "Who are you, who are coming this way? Turn your face, and consider whether you have ever seen me anywhere else."

I turned toward him and fixed my gaze on him. He seemed handsome, fair, and gentle in appearance, but a gash was marked on one brow.

When I humbly denied that I had ever seen him, he said, "Now look!" and showed a wound high on his breast; then he spoke with a smile:

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"I am Manfredi, grandson of Queen Costanza. Therefore I pray you, when you have returned, go to my fair daughter, the glad parent of the pride of Aragon and Sicily, and tell her the truth, if anything else is said about me. When my body was shattered by two mortal blows, I betook myself, weeping, to him who forgives of his own free will. My sins were horrible; but so wide arms Hath goodness infinite, that it receives All who turn to it. Had this text divine Been better scanned by Cosenza's shepherd, Who then was set by Clement on my hunt, Yet at the bridge's head my bones had lain, Near Benevento, by the heavy mole Protected; but the rain now drenches them, And the wind drives them beyond the kingdom’s bounds, As far as the stream of Verde, where, with their lights extinguished, he removed them from their bed. Yet by their curse we are not so destroyed that eternal love may not turn, while hope still retains her verdant blossoms.

True it is that one who dies in contumacy against the holy church, though he repent, Must wander thirty-fold for all time. In his presumption past; if such decree Be not shortened by the prayers of good men, Look therefore if thou canst advance my bliss, Revealing to my good Costanza how Thou hast beheld me, and beside the terms Laid on me by that interdict; for here By means of those below much profit comes."

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CANTO IV

When by sensations of delight or pain That any of our faculties hath seized, The soul entirely collects herself, it seems She is intent on that power alone, And thus the error is disproved which holds The soul not singly lighted in the breast. And therefore when as aught is heard or seen That firmly keeps the soul turned toward it, Time passes, and a man does not notice it. For the power by which he listens is one thing, and another is the power that holds the whole spirit; the latter is, as it were, bound, while the former is free.

I found this true by experience, as I listened to that spirit and marveled; for a full fifty degrees up the sun had traveled without my noticing, when we arrived where all with one accord the spirits shouted, "Here is what you ask."

Often a larger opening is blocked by a villager with a forked thorn stake, when the ripe grape turns brown, than was the path by which my guide and I close behind him ascended alone, when that troop departed and left us. On the road to Sanleo whoever journeys, or descends to low Noli, Or scale the height of Mount Bismantua on foot; But here a man would need to fly—I mean with the swift wing and plumage of high desire, guided by his aid, who gave me hope and furnished me with light to direct my way.

We climbed up through the broken rock, hemmed in tightly on either side, while the ground beneath called for help from hands and feet. When we arrived near the topmost ridge of the steep bank, where the plain opened out level, I exclaimed, "O master! tell me, which way can we go?"

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He answered, "Let no step of yours draw back. Keep climbing the mountain behind me, until some practiced guide appears to us." That height was so lofty that no eye could reach its summit, and the side rose proudly, steeper than a line From the mid quadrant to the centre drawn. Weary, I began thus: "Beloved parent! Turn and see how I remain alone, If you do not stay."—"My son!" he replied at once, "Thus far put forth your strength;" and to a path He pointed, which, projecting on this side, circles The hill around. His words so spurred me on That I, clambering behind him, forced myself Until my feet pressed the plain circuit beneath. There, both seated together, we turned round To the eastward, whence had been our ascent: and often Many besides have looked back with delight.

First I turned my eyes to the lower shores, Then raised them to the sun, and wondering marked That it struck us from the left. Soon I perceived That the sage Poet now at the chariot of light Amazed I stood where it enters its course between us and the north. Then he said to me: “If Leda’s offspring were now in the company of that broad mirror which, high up and low, sheds its light beneath, you would see the ruddy zodiac nearer to the Bears’ wheel, if it did not forsake its ancient course. How that may be, if you would think: within your pondering, imagine Zion with this mount placed on the earth, so that for both there is one horizon, and two hemispheres apart, where lies the path that Phaethon ill knew how to guide his erring chariot: you will see how of necessity by this one on one he passes, while by that on the other side, if clear vision attends your intellect.”

"Of truth, kind teacher!" I exclaimed, "so clear I never saw anything as I now discern where my sight seemed to fail—that the middle orb of the supernal motion (which in terms of art is called the Equator, and remains ever between the sun and winter) for the reason you have assigned, departs from here toward the north when those who in the Hebrew land inhabit see it toward the warmer part. But if it pleases you, I would gladly know how far we have to journey: for the hill mounts higher than this sight of mine can mount."

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He thus to me: "Such is this steep ascent that it is ever difficult at first, but the more a man proceeds, the less evil it grows. When it shall seem pleasant to you, so much That upward path will be easy for you. As in a vessel to go down the tide, Then you will have reached the end of this path. There you may hope to rest from your toil. No more I answer, and know this much for certain." As he had spoken these words, near to us A voice sounded there: "Yet perhaps you first May be led to rest by constraint." At the sound of it each turned, and on the left We beheld a huge stone, of which neither I Nor he had been aware before. We drew thither, and found there were some who in the shady place Behind the rock were standing, as a man might stand through idleness. Among them one, Who seemed to me much wearied, sat himself down, And with his arms did fold his knees about, Holding his face between his knees, bent downward.

"Sweet Sir!" I cried, "behold that man, who shows Himself more idle than if laziness Were sister to him." Straightway he turned to us, And, lifting his face over his thigh, observed, Then spoke in these accents: "Up then, proceed, Thou valiant one." Straightway I knew who it was; Nor could the pain I felt (for want of breath Still somewhat urged me) hinder my approach. And when I came to him, he scarcely his head Uplifted, saying, "Well hast thou discerned How from the left the sun leads his chariot."

His lazy acts and broken words moved my lips Somewhat to laughter; when I began: "Belacqua, now for thee I grieve no more. But tell me, why art thou seated upright there? Do you wait for an escort to lead you from here? Or am I to blame only for the ways I am accustomed to shine?" Then he said: "My brother, what use is it to climb, when my suffering would not let me pass the bird of God, who sits at the portal? It must be that heaven first bears me around without its limits, as it bore me in life, because I delayed my repentant sighs until the end, unless prayer aids me first, prayer that rises from a heart that lives in grace. What other kind avails, if it is not heard in heaven?"

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Before me now the Poet, ascending the mount, cried: "Hurry, for see, the sun has touched the meridian point, and night now covers Morocco's shore with her foot."

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CANTO V

Now I had left those spirits and pursued The steps of my Conductor, when beheld Pointing a finger at me, one exclaimed: "See how it seems as if the light did not shine From the left hand of him beneath, and he, As if living, seems to be led on." At that sound I turned my eyes and saw them gazing, First in wonder at me, and then at me And the light broken underneath, by turns. "Why are your thoughts thus riveted?" my guide Exclaimed, "that you have slackened your pace? Or how Does it concern you what is whispered here? Come after me, and leave the crowd To their babblings. Be like a tower that, firmly set, Does not shake its top for any blast that blows! He in whose bosom thought after thought shoots out, Is still wide of his aim, in that the one Sicklies and wastes to nought the other's strength." What other answer could I give but "I come"? I said it, somewhat tinged with that colour which often earns a man pardon.

Meanwhile, along the hill there came, a little way ahead of us, some who sang the "Miserere" in responsive strains. When they perceived that through my body I did not let the rays pass, their song straightway changed to a long and hoarse cry; and two of them, in the manner of messengers, ran on to meet us, and asked: "We would gladly learn of your condition." To them my guide: "You may return, and bear tidings to those who sent you, that his frame is real flesh. If, as I believe, to view His shade they paused for—enough has answered them. Let them honour him; they may prize him well." Never saw I fiery vapours with such speed Cut through the serene air at nightfall, Nor August's clouds across the setting sun, That these did not return upward in shorter space Than they; and, arriving there, with the rest Wheel back on us, like a troop with loosened rein.

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"Many," exclaimed the bard, "are these who throng Around us: they come to petition thee. Go on therefore, and listen as thou goest." "O spirit! who goest on to blessedness With the same limbs that clothed thee at thy birth." Shouting they came, "a little rest for thy step. Look if thou hast ever beheld any one among our tribe, That tidings of him there You may report. Ah, why do you go on? Ah, why do you not stay? We all died by violence, and to our final hour were sinners, but then warned by light from heaven, so that, repenting and forgiving, we departed from life at peace with God, who fills our hearts with the desire to see him." Then I: "I scan the faces of all yet I remember none of you. But if anything, that I can do, may please you, gentle spirits! Speak; and I will do it, by that peace which, following the steps of so excellent a guide, I seek intently from world to world."

In answer he began: "No one here distrusts your kindness, though it was not promised with an oath; so long as the will does not fail for want of power. Since I am the one who speaks before the others, I beg you, if you ever see that land which lies between Romagna and the realm of Charles, that in your courtesy you pray those who dwell in Fano to offer up their prayers on my behalf, as is due, so that I may cleanse away my grievous sins. I came from there. But the deep wounds, from which the blood I dwelt in flowed out, were made on my breast in Antenor's land, where I thought I would be safer. The author of the deed was the prince of Este, who, with more wrath than justice warranted, pursued me. Had I fled toward Mira, when I was overtaken at Oriaco, I might still have breathed. But I hastened to the marsh, And there, tangled in the mire and rushes, I fell, and saw my life-blood spread across the plain."

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Then another said: "Ah! so may the wish That carries you over the mountain be fulfilled, as you will graciously grant aid to mine. I am of Montefeltro; I am Buonconte: Giovanna nor anyone else cares for me, so I go sorrowing with these." I then: "From Campaldino's field, what force or chance drew you away, so that your burial place was never known?" "Oh!" he answered, "at the foot of Casentino a stream flows there, called the Archiano, rising in the Apennines above the Hermit's seat. Even where its name is lost, there I came, pierced through the heart, fleeing on foot, and bloodying the plain. Here sight and speech Failed me, and ending with Mary's name. I fell, and my flesh remained there, empty of life. I will report the truth; which you in turn Tell to the living. God's angel took me, while he of hell exclaimed: "O thou from heaven! Say, why hast thou robbed me?

Thou bearest away with thee his eternal portion for one poor tear that he deprives me of. But of the other, I make a different rule." "Thou knowest how in the atmosphere collects that dank vapour, returning into water, as soon as it mounts where cold condenses it. That evil will, which in his intellect still follows evil, came, and raised the wind and smoky mist, by virtue of the power given by his nature. Thence the valley, soon As the day was spent, he covered the sky with cloud from Pratomagno to the mountain range, and stretched it out above, so that the air, now heavy, turned to water. The rain fell, and all that the land could not contain came to the ditches; and, as mightiest streams are wont to do, it rushed to the great river with such headlong force that nothing stayed its course.

My stiffened frame the fell Archiano found at his mouth and dashed it into the Arno, loosening from my breast the cross that I had made of myself when overcome with pain. He hurled me on, along the banks and bottom of his course; then wrapped me round in his muddy spoils."

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"Ah! when you shall return to the world, and rest after your long road," so he spoke Next the third spirit: "Then remember me. I once was Pia. Siena gave me life, Maremma took it from me. He knows that, who had first espoused me with his jeweled ring."

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CANTO VI

When men separate from their game of dice, he who has lost remains fixed in sadness, revolving in his mind what unlucky throws he cast; but meanwhile all the company go with the other; one runs before him, and one tugs at his mantle from behind, one close by his side bids him remember him. He does not stop; and each one to whom his hand is stretched well knows that he is bidding him stand aside; and thus he defends himself from the crowd. Even such was I in that close-crowding throng; and turning my face around to all, And promising, I escaped from it with pains. Here I saw the one from Arezzo, who fell by Ghino's cruel arm; and beside him, the one who was swallowed by the stream in his pursuit. Here Frederic Novello, with his hand stretched forth, entreated; and the one from Pisa, who put the good Marzuco to such proof of constancy.

I beheld Count Orso; and from its frame a soul was dismissed out of spite and envy, as it said, but for no crime: I speak of Peter de la Brosse; and here, while she still lives, let that Lady of Brabant beware; lest for so false a deed she herd with worse than these. When I was freed from all those spirits, who prayed for others' prayers to hasten on their state of blessedness; I began straightway: "O thou, my luminary! It seems expressly denied in thy text that heaven's supreme decree can never bend to supplication; yet with this design do these entreat. Can their hope then be vain, or is thy saying not revealed to me?" He thus to me: "Both what I write is plain, and these were not deceived in their hope, if well thou considerest that the sacred height of judgment doth not stoop, because love's flame in a short moment fulfils all that he who sojourns here should rightly satisfy.

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Besides, when I concluded this point thus, no defect could be supplied by praying, because the prayer had no access to God. Yet rest thou not in this deep suspicion Contented unless she assures you so, who infuses light between truth and mind. I do not know whether you take me rightly; I mean Beatrice. You shall behold her above, on this mountain's crown, fair seat of joy." Then I: "Sir! let us mend our speed, for now I am not tired as before; and look! the hill stretches its shadow far." He answered thus: "Our progress with this day shall be as much as we may now dispatch; but otherwise than you suppose is the truth. For there you cannot be before you once more behold him returning back, who behind the steep is now so hidden that, as before, you do not break his beam. But look! a spirit there stands solitary and looks toward us: "It will teach us the quickest way." We soon drew near to it. O Lombard soul!

How you stood there, in lofty, abstracted mood, your eyes scarcely moving with slow dignity! It said nothing, but let us pass onward, watching us like a lion on guard. But Virgil advanced with gentle entreaty, asking it to show us the best way up. It gave no answer to his question, but asked about our country and our manner of life. When my courteous guide began, "Mantua," the solitary shade quickly rose toward us from the place where it stood, and cried, "Mantuan! I am your countryman, Sordello." Then each embraced the other. Ah, slavish Italy! you inn of grief, Vessel without a pilot in a loud storm, Lady no longer of fair provinces, But impure brothel-house!

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This gentle spirit, Even from the pleasant sound of his dear land Was prompt to greet a fellow citizen With such glad cheer; while now thy living ones Abide not in thee without war; and one Malicious gnaws another, yes, of those Whom the same wall and the same moat contains, Seek, wretched one! around thy wide sea-coasts; Then homeward to thy bosom turn, and mark If any part enjoys the sweet peace. What boots it that thy reins Justinian's hand Befitted, if thy saddle be unpress'd? He now does nothing but aggravate thy shame. Ah people! thou obedient still shouldst live, And let thy Caesar sit in the saddle, If thou hast well marked what God commands. See how that beast has relapsed into savagery From having lost the correction of the spur, Since thou hast laid thine hand upon the bridle, O German Albert! who abandonest her, Who has grown savage and unmanageable, When thou shouldst clasp her flanks with forked heels.

May just judgment from the stars fall upon thy blood! And may it be strange and manifest to all! Such as may strike thy successor with dread! For that thy sire and thou have suffered thus, Detained through greediness for yonder realms, To let the garden of the empire run to waste. Come see the Capulets and Montagues, The Philippeschi and Monaldi! man Who cares for nothing! Those sunk in grief, and these racked with dire suspicion. Come, cruel one! Come and behold the oppression of the nobles, and mark their injuries; and you may see what safety Santafiore can supply. Come and behold your Rome, who calls on you, desolate widow! day and night with moans: "My Caesar, why do you desert my side?" Come and behold what love among your people; and if no pity touches you for us, come and blush for your own report. For me, if it be lawful, O Almighty Power, who was crucified on earth for our sakes! Are your just eyes turned elsewhere?

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Or is this a preparation in the wondrous depth of your sage counsel made, for some good end, Cut off entirely from the reach of our thought? So the Italian cities are all overrun With tyrants, and a great Marcellus is made Out of every petty factious villager. My Florence! You may well remain unmoved At this digression, which does not affect you: Thanks to your people, who proceed so wisely. Many have justice in their heart, which long Waits for counsel to direct the bow Before it darts to its aim: but some Have it on the edge of their lips. Many refuse To bear the common burdens: yours are readier To answer unasked, and cry, "Behold, I stoop!" Make yourself glad, for you have reason now, You wealthy one! You at peace! You fraught with wisdom! Facts are the best witness to whether I speak the truth.

Athens and Lacedaemon, who of old Enacted laws, for civil arts renowned, Made little progress in improving life Toward you, who use such fine subtlety That by the middle of November scarcely Reaches the thread you weave in October. How many times, within your memory, Customs, and laws, and coins, and offices I have been renewed by you, and people changed! If you remember well and can see clearly, you will perceive yourself to be like a sick wretch, who finds no rest on her down, but often, shifting her side, seeks brief respite from pain.

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CANTO VII

After their courteous greetings had been joyfully exchanged seven times, Sordello drew back exclaiming, "Who are you?" "Before this mount By spirits worthy to ascend to God, my bones had been sought out by Octavius' care and buried. I am Virgil, deprived of heaven for no sin except lack of faith." Thus my gentle guide answered him briefly. Like one who suddenly beholds something before him from which his wonder rises, and cries, "It is—and yet it is not," wavering in belief; so he appeared; then he bent his eyes downward, and drawing near with reverential step, clasped him where one of mean estate might clasp his lord. "Glory of Latium!" he exclaimed, "in whom our tongue displayed its utmost power! Boast of my honored birthplace! What desert of mine, what undeserved favor rather, shows you to me? If I may hear that voice "Am I worthy?

Say if you come from below, and from what cloister's pale?"—"Through every orb of that sad region," he replied, "I have come thus far, led by heavenly influence, and with such aid I come. There is a place down there, made sad not by torments, but by dark shades alone, where the voice of mourning sounds not of sharp anguish, but breathes in sighs."

There I dwell with little innocents, who were bitten by death's fangs before they were exempt from human taint. There I dwell with those who did not put on the three holy virtues, but understood the rest, and without blame followed them all. But if you know and can, direct us how we may soonest arrive where Purgatory takes its true beginning." He answered thus: "We have no certain place assigned to us: upward I may go, or around, as far as I can; I join you as your guide. But you see now how the day declines: and to proceed upward by night, our power is greater; therefore it may be well to choose a place of pleasant sojourn. To the right some spirits sit apart, withdrawn. If you consent, I will lead your steps to them: and you will know them, not without delight." "How does this happen?" was answered; "whoever wished to ascend by night, would he be prevented from it by another, or fail through his own weakness?"

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The good Sordello then, along the ground trailing his finger, spoke: "Only this line you shall not overpass, as soon as the sun Has disappeared; not that anything else impedes your ascent, save the shadows of night. These, as is the way of power, perplex the will. With them you might perhaps return below, or wander to and fro around the mountainside, while day is shut within the horizon." My master at once, as if wondering at his speech, exclaimed: "Then lead us quickly to where you say, so that, while we stay, we may enjoy delight." We had moved a little way from there when I perceived that the mountain was hollowed out. Just like large valleys hollowed out on earth, "This way," the escorting spirit cried, "we go, where the high bank recedes into a hollow: and you wait for the renewal of the day."

Between the steep slope and the plain, a crooked path Let us go through the side of the ridge, where more than half the sloping edge comes to an end. Radiant gold, and silver refined three times, and scarlet grain and white lead, Indian wood of serene, luminous dye, fresh emeralds only newly broken, by the herbs and flowers placed in that fair recess, in color all would have been surpassed, as great surpasses less. Nor did nature lavish her hues only there, but from the sweetness of a thousand smells she made a rare and undistinguishable fragrance.

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"Salve Regina," on the grass and flowers I beheld those spirits sitting and chanting there, who could not be seen beyond the valley. "Before the setting sun sinks to his bed," began the Mantuan, who had turned our steps, 'Mid these desires, not that I lead you on. For from this height you shall discern Better the deeds and faces of all Than in the lower valley, mingled among them. He who sits high above the rest and seems To have neglected what he should have done, And at the others' song does not move his lips— Call him Emperor Rudolph, who might have healed The wounds of which fair Italy has died, So that through others she revives but slowly. He who comforts him with a kindly face Ruled in that land where the waters spring That Moldau's river to the Elbe, and the Elbe Rolls to the ocean: Ottocar is his name, Who in his swaddling clothes was worth more Than Wenceslaus his son, a bearded man, Pampered with rank luxury and ease.

And that one there with the sunken nose, who close In counsel seems to be with him of gentle look, Flew off and expired, withering the lily's flower. Look there how he knocks against his breast! The other you behold, who for his cheek Makes a couch of one hand, with frequent sighs. They are the father and the father-in-law Of Gaul's bane: they know his vicious life And foul; thence comes the grief that rends them thus. "He, so robust of limb, who keeps measure In song, with him of prominent feature, Bore his girdle braced with every virtue. And if that stripling who sits behind him, King after him, had lived, his virtue then From vessel to like vessel had been poured; Which cannot be said of the other heirs. By James and Frederick his realms are held; Neither obtains the better heritage. Rarely does human worth mount up into the branches of the tree; and so ordains He who bestows it, that it may be called his free gift.

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To Charles my words apply no less than to his brother in the song; which Pouille and Provence now confess with grief. That plant degenerates so much from its seed that more than Beatrice and Margaret Costanza still boasts of her valorous spouse. "Behold the king of simple and plain life, Harry of England, sitting there alone: through his branches he spreads better issue. "That one, who on the ground beneath the rest He sits lowest, yet his gaze directs aloft, That William, the brave Marquis, for whose cause The deed of Alexandria and his war Make Conferrat and Canavese weep."

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CANTO VIII

Now was the hour that wakens fond desire In men at sea and melts their thoughtful heart, Who in the morning have bid sweet friends farewell, And the pilgrim newly on his road with love Thrills if he hears the vesper bell from afar, That seems to mourn for the expiring day: When I, no longer taking heed to hear, Began, with wonder, from those spirits to mark One risen from its seat, which with its hand Implored audience. Both palms it joined and raised, Fixing its steadfast gaze towards the east, As telling God, "I care for naught beside." "Te Lucis Ante," so devoutly then came from its lip, and in so soft a strain, that all my sense was lost in ravishment. And the rest after, softly and devout, followed through all the hymn, with upward gaze directed to the bright supernal wheels. Here, reader! for the truth makes your eyes keen: for of so subtle texture is this veil, that you may easily pass through it unmarked.

I saw that gentle band silently next look up, as if held in expectation, pale and in lowly guise; and from on high I saw descending to come beneath two angels with two flame-illumined swords, broken and mutilated at their points. Green as the tender leaves but newly born, Their garments were, beaten by wings as green, which they drew behind them, fanned in the air. A little above us one took his stand, the other lighted on the opposing hill, so that the troop was contained in the midst. I clearly descried the whiteness on their heads; but in their faces the dazzled eye was lost, as a faculty that by too much is overpowered. "From Mary's bosom both have come," exclaimed Sordello, "as a guard over the vale, against him who hither tends, the serpent." Whence, not knowing by which path he came, I turned me round, and closely pressed, all frozen, to my leader's trusted side.

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Sordello did not pause: "To the valley now (for it is time) let us descend; and hold Converse with those great shadows: perhaps their sight may please you." Only three steps down I think I had measured, before I was beneath, and noted one who looked as if with desire to know me. The time was now that the air was dim; yet not so dim that between his eyes and mine it did not clear up what had been concealed before. We advanced toward each other mutually. Nino, thou courteous judge! what joy I felt when I perceived thou wert not with the bad! No kind salutation on either part was left unsaid. He then inquired: "How long since thou arrivedst at the mountain's foot, over the distant waves?"—"O!" answered I, "through the sad seats of woe this morn I came, and still in my first life, thus journeying on, The other strives to gain." As soon as they heard my words, he and Sordello drew back, suddenly amazed.

One turned to Virgil, the other to a spirit seated nearby, crying: "Conrad! Up with speed: come, see what of his grace high God has willed." Then, turning to me: "By that rare mark of honour which you owe to him who hides his first cause so deeply that it has no ford, when you shall be beyond the vast of waves, tell my Giovanna that for me she call there, where reply to innocence is made. Her mother, I believe, loves me no more, since she has changed the white and wimpled folds, which she is doomed once more with grief to wish for. By her it easily may be perceived, How long does the flame of love last in women, if sight and touch do not rekindle it often? For her, so fair a burial will not make the viper that calls Milan to the field, as had been made by shrill Gallura's bird." He spoke, and on his face took the stamp of that true seal which, with due temperature, glows in the breast.

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Meanwhile my insatiable eyes had traveled to heaven, even there where the bright stars are slowest, like a wheel nearest the axle; when my guide inquired: "What there aloft, my son, has caught your gaze?" I answered: "The three torches, with which here the pole is all on fire." He then to me: "The four resplendent stars you saw this morning are there beneath, and these have risen in their stead." While he was still speaking, Sordello drew himself toward him and cried: "Look there—our enemy!" And he pointed that way with his hand for him to look. Along the side, where no barrier rose around the little valley, a serpent lay, such perhaps as gave Eve the bitter food. Between the grass and flowers, the evil snake came on, often turning back its lifted head; and, like a beast that smooths its polished coat, licking its back.

I did not see, nor can I tell, how those celestial falcons moved from their place, but each was clearly seen in motion, as I heard the air cut by their green plumes. The serpent fled; and back to their stations the angels returned with equal flight.

The spirit (who to Nino, when he called, Had come), from viewing me with fixed ken, Through all that conflict, it did not loosen its gaze. "So may the lamp that leads thee up on high find, in thy destined lot, enough wax to suffice thee to the enamel's height." It thus began: "If thou know'st any certain news of Valdimagra and the neighbouring part, tell me, who once was mighty there. They called me Conrad Malaspina—not that old one, but I sprang from him. The love I bore my people is now refined here." "In your dominions," I answered, "I have never been. But throughout all Europe, where do those men dwell to whom their glory is not manifest? The fame that honours your illustrious house proclaims the nobles and proclaims the land; So that he knows it, who was never there. I swear to you, as surely as my upward path Prosper! your honoured nation does not impair The value of her coffer and her sword.

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Nature and use give her such privilege That while the world is twisted from its course By a bad head, she alone walks aright, And holds the evil way in scorn." He then: "Now pass on: seven times the tired sun Shall not revisit the couch which with four feet The forked Aries covers, before that kind Opinion shall be nailed into your brain With stronger nails than others' speech can drive, If the sure course of judgment be not stayed."

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CANTO IX

Now the fair consort of old Tithonus, Risen from her mate's beloved arms, Gazing palely over the eastern cliff: her brow, gleaming with jewels, shone, bearing the sign of that cold creature who, with his retinue, strikes fearful nations; and where we then were, the night had passed two steps of her ascent, and now the third was folding up its wing, when I, who had so much of Adam in me, sank down on the grass, overcome by sleep, there where all five were seated. In that hour, when near the dawn the swallow renews her sad song, perhaps remembering ancient grief, and when our minds, more wanderers from the flesh, and less restrained by thought, are, as it were, full of holy divination in their dreams, then in a vision I seemed to see a golden-feathered eagle in the sky, With open wings, hovering for descent, And I was in that place, I thought, from which Young Ganymede, torn from his companions, Was snatched aloft to the high consistory.

"Perhaps," I thought within myself, "here alone He strikes his quarry, and elsewhere disdains To pounce on the prey." With that, it seemed, Wheeling a little in his airy circuit, Terrible as lightning he rushed down, And snatched me upward even to the fire.

There, I thought, both the eagle and I Did burn; and so intense were the imagined flames That my sleep was necessarily broken off. As once Achilles shook himself, and around him rolled His awakened eyes, wondering where he was, When his mother had fled from Chiron To Scyros, with him sleeping in her arms; Even thus I shook myself, as soon as from my face The slumber parted, turning deadly pale, Like one frozen with dread. Alone at my side My comfort stood: and the bright sun was now More than two hours aloft: and to the sea My looks were turned. "Fear not," my master cried, "Assured we are at a happy point. Thy strength Shrink not, but rise dilated. Thou art come To Purgatory now. Lo! there the cliff That circling bounds it! Lo! the entrance there, Where it doth seem disparted! Ere the dawn Ushered the daylight, when thy wearied soul Slept in thee, o'er the flowery vale beneath A lady came, and thus bespake me: I Am Lucia.

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Suffer me to take this man, Who slumbers. Easier thus shall his way speed." Sordello and the other gentle forms Lingering, she bore you up: and, as day shone, We reached this summit: and I followed her steps. Here she placed you. First her lovely eyes Showed me that open entrance; then at once She vanished with your sleep." Like one whose doubts Are chased away by certainty, and whose terror is turned To comfort upon discovering the truth, Such was the change in me: and as my guide Saw me fearless, up along the cliff He moved, and I behind him, toward the height. Reader! you mark how my theme rises, Nor wonder therefore if more artfully I prop the structure! Nearer now we drew, Arrived where, in that part where first a breach As if a wall appeared, I could make out a portal, and three steps beneath it, which led to the entrance there, each of a different color, and one who watched, but had not yet spoken a word.

As my eye stretched its view more and more, I noticed him seated on the highest step, with a face such as I could not bear to look at.

Grasped in his hand was a naked sword, which glanced back the rays toward me so that I often in vain directed my sight. "Speak from where you stand:" he cried: "What do you want? Where is your escort? Take care that your coming upward does you no harm." "A heavenly lady, not unskilled in these things," replied the instructor, "told us just now, 'Pass that way: here is the gate.'"—"And may she, befriending, prosper your ascent," he resumed The courteous keeper of the gate: "Come then, before our steps." We went straight there. The lowest stair was white marble, so smooth and polished that I saw my mirrored form distinctly in it. The next was darker in hue than the darkest grain, a rough and scorched block, cracked lengthwise and across. The third, which lay massive above, seemed porphyry, flaming red as life-blood spurting from a vein. On this the angel of God rested either foot, seated on the threshold, which appeared a rock of diamond.

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Up the three steps my leader cheerfully drew me. "Ask," he said, "with a humble heart, that he unbar the bolt." Piously at his holy feet I threw myself down, praying him for pity's sake That he would open to me; but first he fell three times prostrate upon my breast. Seven times he inscribed the letter that denotes the inward stain upon my forehead with the blunted point of his drawn sword. And "Look," he cried, "when you have entered, that you wash these scars away." Ashes, or earth taken dry out of the ground, were of one color with the robe he wore. From underneath that vestment he drew forth two keys of different metal: one was gold, its fellow silver. With the pale one first, and next the burnished one, he so worked the gate as to content me well. "Whenever one of these fails, so that in the keyhole straight it does not turn, then expect access to this passage in vain." Such were the words he spoke.

"One is more precious: but the other needs Skill and sagacity, a large share of each, Before its good task of disengaging the knot Can be worthily performed. From Peter I have this, Instructed by him, that I err Rather in opening than in keeping fast; If only the suppliant at my feet implore." Then of that hallowed gate he thrust the door, Exclaiming, "Enter, but hear this warning: He departs forth again who looks behind." As in the hinges of that sacred ward The swivels turned, sonorous strong metal, Harsh was the grating; nor so surlily Did the Tarpeian roar, when by force bereft Of good Metellus, thenceforth from his loss Doomed to leanness. Attentively I turned, Listening to the thunder, which first rang out; And "We praise thee, O God," I thought I heard In accents blended with sweet melody.

The strains came to my ear even as the sound Of choral voices that in solemn chant Mingle with the organ, and, now high and clear, Come swelling, now float indistinct away.

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CANTO X

When we had passed the threshold of the gate (Which the soul's ill affection leaves unused, Making the crooked seem the straighter path), I heard its closing sound. Had my eyes turned, What plea could have availed for that offence? We mounted up the riven rock, which wound On either side alternately, as the wave Flies and advances. "Here some little art Is needed of us," said my leader, "so that our steps "Observe the varying flexure of the path. So slowly did we advance that the crescent moon once more hung over her watery bed before we had threaded that strait. But when we came free and into the open, where the mountain above retires as one solid mass, I was spent with toil, and both of us, uncertain of the way, stood on a plain more desolate than the roads that cross desert wilds.

From where the brink borders on emptiness, to the foot of the steep bank that rises still above, the space measured three times the height of a man: and, as far as my eye could wing its flight, now sent leftward and now to the right, that cornice appeared equal in extent. Not yet had our feet moved on that summit," When I discovered that the bank around, whose proud rise denied all ascent, was white marble, and so exactly wrought with the most intricate sculpture, that not there alone had Polycletus, but even nature herself been put to shame. The angel who came down to earth with tidings of the peace for which so many years had wept in vain, who opened the heavenly gates from their long interdict, seemed before us, in a sweet act, so sculpted to the life, that he looked no silent image.

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One would have sworn he had said, "Hail!" for she was imaged there by whom the key opened to God's love, and in her act was as sensibly impressed that word, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord," as a figure sealed on wax. "Fix not thy mind "On one place only," said the guide I loved, who had me near him on that side where lies the heart of man. At once I turned my sight and marked, behind the form of the virgin mother, on that side where stood he who had moved me, another story carved upon the rock. I passed before the bard and drew near, so that it might stand more aptly for my view. There, in that selfsame marble, were engraved the cart and oxen drawing the sacred ark, which from an unbidden office awes mankind. Before it came a great multitude; and the whole was parted into seven choirs. One sense cried, "No," another, "Yes, they sing."

A like doubt arose between the eye and the smell, from the curling smoke of incense breathing up the well-wrought toil. Before the blessed vessel, onward came With a light, leaping dance, girded in humble guise, sweet Israel's harper: in that bearing he seemed less and yet more than kingly. Opposite, at a great palace, forth from the lattice looked Michol, like a lady full of scorn and sorrow. Next I moved to behold the tablet which shone white at Michol's back. There was storied on the rock the exalted glory of the Roman prince, whose mighty worth moved Gregory to win his mighty conquest, Trajan the Emperor. A widow stood at his bridle, attired in tears and mourning. Round about them trooped a full throng of knights, and overhead in gold the eagles floated, struggling with the wind.

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The wretch appeared among all these to say: "Grant vengeance, sire! for woe befell this heart— my son is murdered." He seemed to reply, "Wait now till I return." And she, as one made hasty by her grief: "O sire, if thou dost not return?"—"Where I am, who then is, may right thee."—"What is another's good to thee, if thou neglect thy own?"—"Now comfort thee," at length he answers. "It beseemeth well that my duty be performed ere I move hence: so justice wills; and pity bids me stay." He whose ken nothing new surveys produced that visible speaking, new to us and strange, the like not found on earth. Fondly I gazed on those patterns of meek humbleness, shapes yet more precious for their artist's sake, When "Lo," the poet whispered, "where along this way— (but slack their pace), a multitude advances. These will guide us on to the lofty steps." My eyes, though bent on the view of novel sights, their loved allurement, were not slow to turn.

Reader! I would not have you, amazed, miss your good purpose, hearing how just God decrees that our debts be canceled. Do not ponder the form of suffering. Think on what follows, think that at worst it cannot pass beyond the mighty doom. "Instructor," I began, "what I see tending hither bears no trace of human semblance, nor of anything else that my baffled sight can guess." He answered thus: "So bowed to earth, beneath their heavy loads of torment they stoop, that my eye at first You struggled as well. But look intently over there, and disentangle with your straining gaze what is approaching underneath those stones. Now, even now, you may discern the torments of each." Christians, proud and wretched as you are! Weak in the mind's eye, you lean your trust on unstable perversity! Do you not know that we are worms, yet made at last to form the winged insect, adorned with angel plumes that soars unobstructed to heaven's justice?

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Why do you buoy up aloft your unfledged souls? You remain abortive then and shapeless, like the untimely embryo of a worm! As, to support an incumbent floor or roof, a corbel is sometimes seen as a figure that crumples its knees up to its breast, With their feigned posture stirring unfeigned pity in the beholder's fancy; so I saw these fashioned, when I noted well their guise. Each, as his back was laden, came indeed more or less contracted; but it appeared as he who showed most patience in his look, wailing, exclaimed: "I can endure no more."

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CANTO XI

"O thou Almighty Father, who dost make the heavens thy dwelling, not confined by bounds, but with more intense love dost there behold thy primal effluence, hallowed be thy name: join every created being to extol thy might, for worthy of humblest thanks and praise is thy blessed Spirit. May thy kingdom's peace come unto us; for we, unless it come, with all our striving tend thither in vain. As the angels do thy will, a tender, meet sacrifice, circling thy throne with loud hosannas, so may it be done by saintly men on earth. Grant us this day our daily manna, without which he roams through this rough desert retrograde, who most toils to advance his steps. As we to each pardon the evil done us, pardon thou, benign, and of our merit take no count. Against the old adversary prove thou not our virtue easily subdued; but free from his incitements and defeat his wiles.

This last petition, dearest Lord! is made not for ourselves, since that were needless now, but for their sakes who after us remain."

Thus for themselves and us good speed imploring, Those spirits went beneath a weight like that. We sometimes feel in dreams, all sore beset, But with unequal anguish, wearied all, Round the first circuit, purging as they go, The world's gross darkness off. In our behalf, if there vows still be offered, what can here be vowed and done for them by such, whose wills have root of goodness in them? Well it beseems that we should help them wash away the stains they carried hence, that so, made pure and light, they may spring upward to the starry spheres.

"Ah! so may mercy-tempered justice rid your burdens speedily, that ye have power to stretch your wing, which even to your desire shall lift you, as ye show us on which hand toward the ladder leads the shortest way. And if there are more passages than one, Tell us which is easiest to climb; For this man who comes with me, and still bears The burden of the fleshly garment Adam left him, Mounts but slowly, despite his better will." From whom the answer came to these words, Which my guide spoke, did not appear; but it was said:

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"Come with us along the bank to the right, And you shall find a pass that does not mock the toil Of a living man to climb; and were it not That I am hindered by the rock, with which This arrogant neck is tamed, so that I must stoop My face to the ground, him who still lives, Whose name you do not speak, I would gladly see, To mark whether I ever knew him, and to beg His pity for the burden that I bear. I was of Latiun, of a Tuscan horn A mighty one: Aldobranlesco's name My sire's, I know not if ye e'er have heard. My old blood and forefathers' gallant deeds Made me so haughty that I quite forgot The common mother, and to such excess Waxed in my scorn of all men, that I fell, Fell therefore; by what fate Sienna's sons, Each child in Campagnatico, can tell. I am Omberto; not me only pride Hath injured, but my kindred all involved In mischief with her.

Here my lot ordains Under this weight to groan, till I appease God's angry justice, since I did it not Among the living, here among the dead."

Listening, I bent my face down: and one (Not he who spoke) twisted beneath the weight of what urged him on, saw me, recognized me at once, and called out, holding his eyes fixed with difficulty intently on me, stooping as I went as a companion of their way. "O!" I exclaimed,

"Are you not Oderigi, are you not the glory of Agobbio, the glory of that art which those in Paris call the illuminator's skill?"

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"Brother!" he said, "with tints that smile more brightly, Bolognian Franco's pencil lines the leaves. All the honour is his now; mine is borrowed light. In truth I would not have been so courteous to him, while I lived, through eagerness of zeal for that pre-eminence to which my heart was bent. Here the forfeiture of such pride is paid. Nor would I even be here, if, still able To sin, I had not turned me unto God. O powers of man! how vain your glory, nipped even in its height of verdure, if an age less bright succeed not! Cimabue thought to lord it over painting's field; and now the cry is Giotto's, and his name eclipsed. Thus hath one Guido from the other snatched the lettered prize: and he perhaps is born, who shall drive either from their nest. The noise of worldly fame is but a blast of wind, that blows from divers points, and shifts its name shifting the point it blows from.

Shalt thou more live in the mouths of mankind, if thy flesh part shriveled from thee, than if thou hadst died, before the coral and the pap were left, or ere some thousand years have passed? and that Compared with eternity, it is a space briefer than the twinkling of an eye to the slowest-moving orb of heaven. The one who treads so leisurely ahead of me once resounded far and wide through Tuscany; and now he is scarcely named in Siena, and only in whispers. He was sovereign there when destruction seized the maddened rage of Florence, in that day when she was as proud as she is now loathsome. Your renown is like the herb whose hue comes and goes, and his might withers it—the one from whom it sprang crude from the lap of earth." I then said to him: "True are your words: to my heart they breathe the kindly spirit of meekness, and allay the swellings that rankle there.

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But who is he of whom you spoke just now?"—"This one," he replied, "Provenzano. He is here because he reached, with presumptuous grasp, for the rule of all Siena. Thus he has continued, and thus he goes without rest, since he died. Such is the reckoning rendered back for him, who, beyond measure, dared on earth." Then I: "If a soul that delays repentance to the very brink of life lingers in that lower space, nor mounts here unless good prayers befriend it, how was admittance granted to him?"

"When he was at the topmost height of his glory," he said, "casting aside all respect for dignity, He freely fixed him on the plain of Siena, a suitor to redeem his suffering friend, who languished in the prison-house of Charles, nor for his sake refused through every vein To tremble. More I will not say; and dark, I know, my words are, but thy neighbours soon Shall help thee to a comment on the text. This is the work that from these limits freed him."

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CANTO XII

With equal pace as oxen in the yoke, I journeyed on with that laden spirit As long as the mild instructor suffered me; But when he bade me quit him and proceed (For "here," said he, "behooves with sail and oars Each man, as best he may, push on his bark"), Upright, as one disposed for speed, I raised My body, still in thought submissive bowed.

I now my leader's track not loath pursued; And each had shown how light we fared along When thus he warned me: "Bend thine eyesight down: For thou to ease the way shall find it good To ruminate the bed beneath thy feet."

As in memorial of the buried, drawn On earth-level tombs, the sculptur'd form Of what was once, appears (at sight whereof Tears often stream forth by remembrance wak'd, Whose sacred stings the piteous only feel), So saw I there, but with more curious skill Of portraiture o'erwrought, whate'er of space From forth the mountain stretches. On one part Him I beheld, above all creatures erst Created noblest, light'ning fall from heaven: On th' other side with bolt celestial pierc'd Briareus: cumb'ring earth he lay through dint Of mortal ice-stroke. The Thymbraean god With Mars, I saw, and Pallas, round their sire, Arm'd still, and gazing on the giant's limbs Scattered across the ethereal field, I saw Nimrod: He stood at the foot of the stupendous work, As if bewildered, looking at the crowd United in his proud attempt on Sennaar's plain.

O Niobe! In what a trance of woe I beheld you, drawn along that highway, With seven sons slain on either side of you! O Saul! How ghastly you looked! Falling on your own sword In Gilboa, from that hour Never visited by rain from heaven or dew!

O fond Arachne! I also saw you Now half spider, crawling up in anguish The unfinished web you wove to your ruin!

O Rehoboam! Here your shape seems To scowl no more defiance! But, struck with fear, With no one to chase him, he is whirled away in his chariot.

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Was shown beside it on the solid floor How dear Alcmaeon forced his mother to pay the price for that ornament she received in an evil hour: How in the temple Sennacherib was struck down by his sons, and how they left him there a corpse. Was shown the harm and cruel mangling inflicted by Tomyris on Cyrus, when she cried: "Blood you thirsted for, take your fill of blood!" Was shown how the Assyrians fled, routed in battle, Holofernes slain, and even the relics of the carnage. I marked Troy in ashes and in caverns. Oh! how fallen, how abject, Ilion, was your semblance there!

What master of the pencil or the style had traced the shades and lines that might have made the subtlest workman wonder? Dead the dead, The living seemed alive; with clearer sight His eye beheld not who beheld the truth, Than mine did what I trod upon, as I went Bending low. Now swell out; and with stiff necks Pass on, ye sons of Eve! veil not your looks, Lest they descry the evil of your path!

I did not note (so busied was my thought) How much of the mount we now had circled, And how much more of his course the sun had spent, When he, who went with still wakeful caution, Admonished: "Raise up thy head: for know Time is not now for slow suspense. Behold That way an angel hastening towards us! Lo Where duly the sixth handmaid returns From service on the day. Wear thou in look And gesture seemly grace of reverent awe, "That he may gladly speed us upward. Consider that this day will never dawn again."

He had so often warned me against wasting time that I could not miss the goal at which he aimed.

The noble figure approached us, snowy white in raiment, and with a face casting streams of trembling radiance like the morning star. He opened his arms, then his wings, and spoke: "Onward: behold, the steps are near; and now the ascent is gained without difficulty."

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Few are they who, when they hear such tidings, hasten. O race of men, though born to soar, why do you let a wind so slight baffle you? He led us on where the rock parted; here against my brow his wings beat, and then he promised that I would fare in safety on my way. As to ascend That steep slope, on whose brow the chapel stands (O'er Rubaconte, looking lordly down On the well-guided city,) up the right The impetuous rise is broken by the steps Carved in that old and simple age, when still The registry and label rested safe; Thus is the acclivity relieved, which here Precipitous from the other circuit falls: But on each hand the tall cliff presses close.

As, entering there, we turned, voices, in strain Ineffable, sang: "Blessed are the poor In spirit." Ah, how far unlike to these The straits of hell; here songs to usher us, There shrieks of woe! We climb the holy stairs: And lighter to myself by far I seemed Than on the plain before, whence thus I spake: "Tell me, master, what heavy thing have I Been relieved of, that I scarcely feel the sense of toil As I journey?" He replied briefly: "When the broad marks of sin that still remain On your brow, though nearly erased, Shall be, as one already is, all clean wiped away, Then your feet, through eagerness of will, Shall be so overcome that they shall not only feel No sense of labour, but far more delight Shall attend them as they are urged along their upward way."

Then like one on whose head is placed Something he is not aware of but from the nods Of others as they pass him by; his hand Therefore lends help to reassure him, searches, finds, And well performs the office that the eye Lacks power to perform: so stretching forth I found that the fingers of my right hand had traced six only of the letters on my brow, which his sword —he who bore the keys—. The leader smiled as he marked my action.

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CANTO XIII

We reached the summit of the scale and stood on the second buttress of that mountain which heals the one who climbs. There a cornice, like the former one, girdles the hill round, except that its arch bends in a less ample sweep.

No shadow and no image is seen there; all smooth are the rampart and the path, reflecting nothing but the rock's sullen hue. "If here we wait for someone to question," said the bard, "I fear our choice may perhaps meet with too long a delay."

Then he fixed his eyes intently on the sun and made his right hand the central point From there we moved on and turned to the left. "O pleasant light, my confidence and hope, lead us," he cried, "on this new way, where I now venture, leading to the bourn we seek. The universal world to you owes warmth and lustre. If no other cause forbid, your beams should ever be our guide."

We had journeyed far—as far as a mile is measured on earth—in a brief space; such prompt will impelled us. And now, flying toward us, invisible spirits were heard, who courteously invited the welcome guest to the table of love. The voice that first flew by called out aloud, "They have no wine"; and so it passed on behind us, those sounds repeating, nor yet lost in the faint distance, when another came crying, "I am Orestes," and likewise winged its swift way. "O father!" I exclaimed, "what tongues are these?" And as I questioned, lo! a third exclaiming, "Love those who have wronged you."

"This circuit," said my teacher, "applies the scourge for envy, and the cords are therefore drawn by charity's correcting hand. The curb is of a harsher sound, as you shall hear (if I judge rightly), before you reach the pass where pardon sets them free. But fix your eyes intently through the air, and you shall see a multitude seated before you, each Along the shelving grot." Then more than erst I opened my eyes, and before me I looked and saw Shades whose garments were as dark as the rock; And when we had gone a little farther, I heard A cry: "Blessed Mary, pray for us, Michael and Peter! All you saints above!"

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I do not think there walks on earth today A man so pitiless that he would not have yearned With pity at the sight I saw next. My eyes brimmed with a load of sorrow when I stood so near to them that their forms Came clearly into my view. Their covering seemed To be vile sackcloth; and one on another's shoulder Did lean, and all leaned Against the cliff. Even thus the blind and poor, Near the confessionals, to beg for alms, Standing, each with his head sunk against his fellow's, so as most to stir compassion, not by the sound of words alone, but by what moves no less, the sight of misery. And as no beam of noon ever visits the eyeless man, even so was heaven a niggard to these of its fair light; for through the eyes of all, a thread of wire, piercing, stitches them shut, as for the taming of a haggard hawk.

It would be wrong, I thought, to pass and look on others, while myself unseen. To my sage counsel, therefore, I turned. He knew the meaning of the mute appeal, nor waited for my questioning, but said: "Speak; and be brief, be subtle in your words."

On that part of the cornice, whence no rim Then Virgil came, despite its steep fall; On the other side of me were the spirits, their cheeks Devoutly bathing with penitential tears, Which forced a way through the dread impalement.

I turned to them and said, "O shades,

"Assured that the lofty light, sole object of your wish, Shall shine unveiled before your eyes, So may heaven's grace clear whatever foam Floats turbid on the conscience, that thenceforth The stream of mind may roll limpid from its source, As you declare (for so shall you impart A boon I dearly prize) if any soul Of Latium dwells among you; and perchance That soul may profit, if I learn so much."

"My brother, we are each citizens Of one true city. Any you would name, "Who lived a stranger in Italia's land."

So I heard answering, as if in reply, a voice that came from some distance beyond where I stood.

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I noticed a spirit in whose look was marked expectation. Ask how? The chin was raised as in one deprived of sight. "Spirit," I said, "who for your rising are tutoring yourself (if you are the one who answered me), or by place or name, reveal yourself, that I may know you."

"I was," it answered, "of Siena: here I cleanse away with these the evil life, beseeching with tears that He who is vouchsafe him to us. Though Sapia named in wisdom I excelled not, gladder far of others' hurt than of the good that befell me. That you may own I now deceive you not, hear, if my folly were not as I speak it. When my years were now ebbing away down the arch of life, it so happened that my fellow citizens near Colle met their enemies in the field, and I prayed God to grant what He had willed. There they were vanquished and betook themselves to the bitter passages of flight. I marked the hunt, and, growing out of bounds in gladness, lifted up my shameless brow, and like the merlin cheated by a gleam, cried, "It is over. Heaven! I fear thee not."

On the verge of life I wished for peace with God; nor had repentance supplied what I lacked in duty, were it not that the hermit Piero, touched with charity, in his devout orisons thought on me. "But who art thou that questionest of our state, "Who comes to my belief with unclosed lids and breathes in your speech?"—"My eyes," I said, "may yet be taken from me; but not for long; for they have not offended grievously with envious glances. But the woe beneath urges my soul with far greater dread. That lower burden already weighs me down."

She then: "Who, then, among us here above has brought you, if you believe you will return?"

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"He," I answered, "who stands silent beside me. I live: therefore ask of me, chosen spirit, if you desire that I should yet move yonder my mortal feet for you."—"Oh!" she replied, "this is so strange a thing, it is a great sign that God loves you. Therefore with your prayer assist me sometime: and by that which I crave, which you most covet, that if your feet E'er tread on Tuscan soil, thou save my fame Among my kindred. Them shalt thou behold With that vain multitude, who set their hope On Telamone's haven, there to fail Confounded, more shall when the fancied stream They sought of Dian call'd: but they who lead Their navies, more than ruin'd hopes shall mourn."

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CANTO XIV

"Say who is he around our mountain winds, Or ever death has prun'd his wing for flight, That opes his eyes and covers them at will?"

"I know not who he is, but know thus much He comes not singly. Do thou ask of him, For thou art nearer to him, and take heed Accost him gently, so that he may speak."

Thus on the right two Spirits bending each Toward the other, talk'd of me, then both Addressing me, their faces turned backward, And thus one began: "O soul, who are still Confined in the body and tend toward heaven! For charity, we pray you, comfort us, Telling us whence you come and who you are: For you make us marvel at the favor shown you, As at a thing that has never been."

"There stretches through the midst of Tuscany," I began straightway, "a little stream, whose source Springs up in Falterona, and whose course Is not satisfied when it has measured Some hundred miles. From its banks I bring this frame. To tell you who I am would be words misspent: For my name scarcely sounds on the lips of rumor yet."

"If I rightly incorporate with my thought The meaning of your speech," said he who first Addressed me, "You speak of Arno's wave."

To whom the other: "Why has he concealed The name of that river, as a man Does of some horrible thing?" The spirit, who Was questioned about it, acquitted himself thus: "I know not; but it is fitting that the name Of that valley should perish; for from the source Where the Alpine slope, maimed of Pelorus, teems so plenteously (which scarcely passes Beyond that limit), even to the point Where the ocean is restored, whatever heaven Drains from the exhaustless store for all earth's streams, Throughout that space virtue is worried down, As though it were a snake, by all as a mortal foe, Either through a disastrous influence on the place, Or else through the distortion of misguided wills, That custom encourages evil: hence among those dwellers in that miserable valley, nature is so transformed that it seems as though they had partaken of Circe's feeding.

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Amid brute swine, worthier of acorns than of any other food created for man's use, he first shapes his obscure way; then, sloping onward, he finds curs, snarlers more in spite than in power, from whom he turns with scorn aside: still journeying down, the more the cursed and luckless ditch swells out to largeness, so much the more it finds dogs turning into wolves. Descending still through yet more hollow eddies, next he meets a race of foxes, so replete with craft that they do not fear any skill can master it. Nor will I cease because my words are heard By ears other than yours. It shall be well. For this man, if he keeps in memory What I reveal from no erring Spirit. Lo! I behold your grandson, who becomes A hunter of those wolves, on the shore Of the fierce stream, and cows them all with dread: Their flesh while still living he puts up for sale, Then dooms them to slaughter like an aged beast.

He takes life from many, himself of worth And goodly estimation. Smear'd with gore, Mark how he issues from the rueful wood, Leaving such havoc that in a thousand years It does not spread to prime lustihood again."

As one who hears tidings of woe to come Changes his perturb'd looks, from whatever part The peril grasps him, so I beheld change That spirit, who had turned to listen, was struck with sadness as soon as he had caught the word.

His face and the other's speech raised in me a desire to know both their names, whereof with meek entreaty I inquired.

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The shade who had just addressed me thus resumed: "Your wish implies that I should grant to do For your sake what you will not do for mine. But since God's will is to shine so greatly His grace in you—I will be generous as well. Guido of Duca, know then that I am. Envy so parched my blood that, had I seen A fellow man made joyous, you had marked A livid paleness spread across my cheek. Such harvest I reap from the seed I sowed. O man, why place your heart where there must be Does exclusion of participants count as good? This is Rinieri's spirit, this the boast And honour of the house of Calboli, Whereof no heritage of his worth remains. Nor is his the only blood that has been stripped ('twixt Po, the mount, the Reno, and the shore,) Of all that truth or fancy asks for bliss; But within those limits such a growth has sprung Of rank and venom'd roots, as long would mock Slow culture's toil.

Where is good Lizio? where Manardi, Traversalo, and Carpigna? O bastard slips of old Romagna's line! When in Bologna the low artisan, And in Faenza yon Bernardin sprouts, A gentle scion from ignoble stem. Wonder not, Tuscan, if thou see me weep, When I call to mind those once-loved names— Guido of Prata, and Azzo him who dwelt with you; Tignoso and his band, with Traversaro's house and Anastagio's, (each race disinherited), and beside these, the ladies and the knights, the toils and ease that bewitched us into love and courtesy; where now such malice reigns in recreant hearts. O Brettinoro! why do you still linger, since your family has gone forth from you, and many, hating evil, have joined their steps? He does well who bids his lineage cease, Bagnacavallo; Castracaro ill, and Conio worse, who care to propagate a race of Counts from such blood as theirs. Well shall you also do, Pagani, then When one of you tries your demon child.

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Not so, however, that from this point on there remains True proof of what you were. O Hugolin! You sprung from the line of Fantolini! Your name Is safe, since no one is expected after you To cloud its luster, warping from your stock. But, Tuscan, go your way; for now I take Far more delight in weeping than in words. Such pity for your sakes has wrung my heart."

We knew those gentle spirits heard at parting Our steps. Their silence therefore assured us Of our way. As soon as we had left them, Advancing onward, lo! a voice that seemed Like volleyed lightning, when it splits the air, Met us, and shouted, "Whoever finds me Will slay me," then fled from us, like the bolt Lanc'd sudden from a downward-rushing cloud. When it had given short truce to our hearing, Behold the other with a crash as loud As the quickly following thunder: "Mark in me Aglauros turned to rock." At the sound I retreated and drew more closely to my guide.

Now all the air rested in mute stillness: And thus he spoke: "There was the galling bit. But your old enemy so baits his hook That he drags you eagerly to him. Hence neither curb Avails you, nor a reclaiming call. Heaven calls And, wheeling around you, courts your gaze With everlasting beauties. Yet your eye Still turns with fond doting on the earth. Therefore He who discerns all smites you."

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CANTO XV

As much as lies between the close of the third hour and dawn, As the sphere of heaven appears, which ever whirls As restless as an infant at play, so much still seemed to remain for the sun on its sloping journey toward the western goal.

It was evening there, and here the midnight hour; and the beams struck full upon our foreheads. For our path had led us round the mountain in a circle, so that now we were journeying directly toward the sunset, when I felt a weight of splendor greater than before press upon my brow. The cause unknown, amazement took hold of me, and lifting both hands against my brow, I interposed them as a screen, which clipped from that gorgeous excess of light the diminished orb. As when a ray, striking on water or a clear surface Of mirror, leaps unto the opposite part, Ascending at a glance, even as it fell, (And so much differs from the stone that falls) Through equal space, as practice skill hath shown; Thus with refracted light before me seemed The ground there smitten; whence in sudden haste My sight recoiled. "What is this, sire beloved! 'Gainst which I strive to shield the sight in vain?" Cried I, "and which towards us moving seems?"

"Marvel not, if the family of heav'n," He answered, "yet with dazzling radiance dim Thy sense it is a messenger who comes, Inviting man's ascent. Such sights ere long, Not grievous, shall impart to thee delight, As thy perception is by nature wrought Up to their pitch." The blessed angel, soon As soon as we reached him, he greeted us with a glad voice: "Enter here by a ladder far less steep Than any you have yet encountered." We immediately Climbed, and behind us heard sweet chanting: "Blessed are the merciful," and "happy are you Who conquer." Alone, each of us—my guide and I— Continued our way upward; and as we went, I hoped to gain some profit from his words, And so, questioning him, I framed my speech:

"What did the spirit from Romagna mean when he spoke of bliss shared with no partner?"

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He replied at once: "No wonder, since he knows What sorrow awaits his own worst defect, If he rebukes others, so that they may mourn less. Because you fix your desires on a mark Where, through the sharing of possessors, each part Is diminished, envy inflames men's sighs. "No fear of that can touch you, if the love of a higher sphere has exalted your desire. For there, the more they call it ours, the more each one's propriety in good increases, and heightened charity wraps that fair cloister in a brighter flame."

"Now I lack satisfaction more," I said, "than if you had been silent from the start, and doubt gathers more upon my laboring thought. How can it happen that good distributed, the many who possess it, makes them richer, than if it were shared by few?" He answered thus: "Your mind, still turning back to things of earth, strikes darkness from true light. The highest good, unlimited, ineffable, does so speed to love, as a beam darts to a lucid body, Giving as much ardour as it finds. The everlasting effluence streams abroad, Spreading wherever charity extends, So that the more aspirants to that bliss Are multiplied, the more good there is to love, And more is loved; as mirrors that reflect Each to the other, propagating light. If these my words do not suffice to allay Thy thirst, thou shalt see Beatrice, Who of this want, and of all else thou hast, Shall rid thee to the full.

Only provide thou That from thy temples may soon be erased, Even as the two already, those five scars, That when they pain thee worst, then kindliest heal,"

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"Thou," I had said, "content'st me," when I saw The other round was gained, and wondering eyes Did keep me mute. There suddenly I seemed By an ecstatic vision wrapt away; And in a temple saw, methought, a crowd Of many persons; and at the entrance stood A dame, whose sweet demeanour did express A mother's love, who said, "Child! why hast thou Dealt with us thus? Behold thy sire and I Sorrowing have sought thee;" and so held her peace, And straight the vision fled. A female next Appeared before me, down whose visage coursed Those waters, that grief forces out from one By deep resentment stung, who seemed to say: "If thou, Pisistratus, be lord indeed Over this city, named with such debate Of adverse gods, and whence each science sparkles, Avenge thee of those arms, whose bold embrace "Hath clasp'd our daughter; and to fuel, meseem'd, Benign and meek, with visage undisturb'd, Her sovran spake: "How shall we those requite, Who wish us evil, if we thus condemn The man that loves us?"

After that I saw A multitude, in fury burning, slay With stones a stripling youth, and shout amain "Destroy, destroy!" and him I saw, who bow'd Heavy with death unto the ground, yet made His eyes, unfolded upward, gates to heav'n,

Praying forgiveness of th' Almighty Sire, Amidst that cruel conflict, on his foes, With looks, that With compassion to their aim.

Soon as my spirit, from her airy flight Returning, sought again the things, whose truth Depends not on her shaping, I observ'd How she had roved to no unreal scenes

Meanwhile the leader, who could see that I was moving, like one struggling to shake off sleep, exclaimed: "What is wrong with you, that you cannot keep your footing firm, but have traveled more than half a league with closed eyes and a tottering gait, like a man overcome by wine or sleep?"

"Beloved father! if you deign," I said, "to listen, I will tell you what appeared before me when my steps faltered so."

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He replied: "Even if your face were masked with a hundred visors, no thought of yours, however small, could elude me. What you saw was shown so that you might freely open your heart to the waters of peace, which flow diffused from their eternal fountain. I did not ask what was wrong with you for the same reason as one who looks only with that eye which sees no more when the body lies spiritless; but I asked to give fresh vigor to your foot. Such goads are needed by the slow and loitering, so that they may be found Not wanting, when their hour of watch returns."

So we journeyed on through the evening sky, Gazing intently far ahead, as far as our eyes Could reach with a level view against the bright vespertine ray; and lo! by slow degrees a fog came gathering toward us, dark as night. There was no room to escape; and that mist deprived us of both sight and the pure air.

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CANTO XVI

Hell's densest gloom, or night unlustrous, dark, stripped of every plane and cloaked in clouds, never spread before the sight a veil as thick as that fog, nor to the senses so palpable and gross. Entering its shade, my eye could not endure with unclosed lids; noting which, the faithful guide drew near to me, offering me his shoulder for support.

As the blind man walks behind his leader, lest he should err or stumble unawares on what might harm him or perhaps destroy him, I journeyed through that bitter and foul air, still listening to my escort’s warning voice: “See that you do not part from me.” Straightway I heard voices, and each one seemed to pray for peace and for compassion to the Lamb of God who takes away sins. Their prelude was still “Agnus Dei,” and through the whole choir one voice, one measure ran, so that the concord of their song seemed perfect. “Are these spirits I hear, O master?” I exclaimed; and he: “You aim aright: these loose the bonds of wrath.”

“Now who are you, that through our smoke do cleave? And speak of us, as you yourself even yet "Dividing time by calends?" So one voice Addressed me; whence my master said: "Reply; And ask, if the passage upward leads from here."

"O being! who dost make thyself pure, to stand Beautiful once more in thy Maker's sight! Come along with me: and thou shalt hear and wonder." Thus I, whereto the spirit answering spake:

"As long as it is lawful for me, my steps Shall follow thine; and since the cloudy smoke Forbids seeing, hearing in its stead Shall keep us joined." I then forthwith began "Yet in my mortal swathing, I ascend To higher regions, and am hither come Through the fearful agony of hell. And, if God hath doled out his grace so abundantly, That, wholly beside all modern precedent, He wills me to behold his kingly state. From me conceal not who thou wast, ere death Had loos'd thee; but instruct me: and instruct If rightly to the pass I tend; thy words The way directing as a safe escort."

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"I was of Lombardy, and Marco call'd: Not inexperienc'd of the world, that worth I still affected, from which all have turn'd The nerveless bow aside. Thy course tends right Unto the summit:" and, replying thus, He added, "I beseech thee pray for me, When thou shalt come aloft." And I to him: "Accept my faith for pledge I will perform What thou requirest. Yet one doubt remains, That wrings me sorely, if I solve it not, Singly before it urg'd me, doubled now In your opinion, when I pair that with something stated elsewhere, each reinforcing the other. The world is indeed as forlorn of all good as you say, and so swarms with every evil. Yet, I beseech you, point out the cause to me, so that I myself may see it, and show it to others; for some place it in heaven and some on earth below."

Then, heaving a deep and audible sigh, "Brother!" he began, "the world is blind; and you truly come from it. You who live refer every cause to heaven above, as if its motion of necessity drew with it all that moves. If this were so, there would be no free choice in you; nor would justice require joy for virtue and woe for ill. Your movements have their primal bent from heaven; Not all; yet I said all; what then follows? You still have light to follow evil or good, And free power of the will, which, if it stands Firm and unwearied in Heaven's first test, Conquers at last, if it is well cherished, Triumphant over all. Subject to mightier force, To better nature, you remain Free, not constrained by that which forms in you The reasoning mind, uninfluenced by the stars. If then the present race of mankind errs, Seek the cause in yourselves, and find it there. In this you shall confess me no false spy.

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"Forth from his shaping hand, who, charmed, beholds Her image ere she yet exists, the soul Comes like a babe, that sports playfully Weeping and laughing in its wayward moods, As artless and as ignorant of anything, Except that, since her Maker is one who dwells In gladness forever, she willingly turns To whatever brings her joy. Of some slight good She soon tastes the flavor; and, ensnared by it, She pursues it fondly, if no guide Recalls her, no rein directs her wandering course. Hence it was needful that the law should be a curb; Hence a sovereign was needful, whose piercing view Might mark at least the fortress and main tower Of the true city. Laws indeed there are: But who is he who observes them? None; not even he Who goes before, the shepherd of the flock, Who chews the cud but does not cleave the hoof. Therefore the multitude, who see their guide Strike at the very good they covet most, Feed there and look no further.

Thus the cause Is not corrupted nature in yourselves, But ill-conducting, that hath turn'd the world To evil. Rome, that turn'd it unto good, Was wont to boast two suns, whose several beams Cast light on either way, the world's and God's. One since hath quench'd the other; and the sword Is grafted on the crook; and so conjoin'd Each must perforce decline to worse, unaw'd By fear of other. If thou doubt me, mark The blade: each herb is judg'd of by its seed. That land, through which Adice and the Po Their waters roll, was once the residence Of courtesy and velour, ere the day, That frown'd on Frederick; now secure may pass Those limits, whoever has left them, for shame, to talk with good men or come near their haunts.

Three aged ones are still found there, in whom the old time chides the new: these deem it long ere God restore them to a better world: the good Gherardo, of Palazzo he Conrad, and Guido of Castello, named in Gallic phrase more fitly the plain Lombard. On this at last conclude. The church of Rome, mixing two governments that ill assort, has missed her footing, fallen into the mire, and there herself and burden much defiled."

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"O Marco!" I replied, "your arguments convince me: and the cause I now discern why of the heritage no portion came to Levi's offspring. But resolve me this Who is that Gherardo, who, as you say, is left as a sample of the perished race, and as a rebuke to this perverse age?"

"Either your words," he said, "deceive me, or else they are meant to test me—that you, speaking Tuscan, seem not to have heard of the good Gherardo; the sole addition by which I know him, unless I borrowed from his daughter Gaia another name to grace him. God be with you. I keep you company no more. Behold the dawn glimmering with white ray through the mist. I must go—the angel comes—before he appears." He said this, and would hear me no more.

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CANTO XVII

Call to remembrance, reader, if you ever have been caught by cloud on a mountain top, through which you saw no better than the mole Doth through opacous membrane; then, whene'er The wat'ry vapours dense began to melt Into thin air, how faintly the sun's sphere Seem'd wading through them; so thy nimble thought May image, how at first I re-beheld The sun, that bedward now his couch o'erhung.

Thus with my leader's feet still equaling pace From forth that cloud I came, when now expir'd The parting beams from off the nether shores.

O quick and forgetive power! that sometimes dost So rob us of ourselves, we take no mark Though round about us thousand trumpets clang! What moves thee, if the senses stir not? Light Kindled in heav'n, spontaneous, self-inform'd, Or likelier gliding down with swift illapse By will divine. Portray'd before me came The traces of her dire impiety, whose form was changed into the bird that most delights in song; and here my mind was so inwardly wrapped that it gave no place to anything that asked admittance from without.

Next a shape showered into my fantasy, as of one crucified, whose visage spoke of fell rancour and deep malice, in which he died; and around him Ahasuerus the great king, Esther his bride, and Mordecai the just, blameless in word and deed. As of itself that unsubstantial coinage of the brain burst like a bubble that the water fails that fed it; in my vision straightaway rose up a damsel weeping loudly, and cried, "O queen! O mother! wherefore has intemperate ire Driven to loathe your being? Not to lose Lavinia, desperate, you have slain yourself. Now you have lost me. I am she whose tears Mourn, before I fall, a mother's timeless end."

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Even as sleep breaks off, if suddenly new radiance strikes the closed lids, the broken slumber quivering before it dies; thus from before me sank that imagery vanishing, as soon as there struck my face the light, outshining far our earthly beam. As I turned round to survey what place I had arrived at, "Here you mount," exclaimed a voice, which left me no other purpose save a will so eager to behold who spoke that I could not choose but gaze. As before the sun, which weighs our vision down and veils his form In light transcendent, thus my virtue failed Unequal. "This is a Spirit from above, Who marshals us our upward way, unsought; And in his own light shrouds himself. As a man Doth for himself, so now is done for us. For whoso waits imploring, yet sees need Of his prompt aidance, sets himself prepar'd For blunt denial, ere the suit be made.

Refuse we not to lend a ready foot At such inviting: haste we to ascend, Before it darken: for we may not then, Till morn again return." So spake my guide; And to one ladder both address'd our steps; And the first stair approaching, I perceiv'd Near me as 'twere the waving of a wing, That fann'd my face and whisper'd: "Blessed they The peacemakers: they know not evil wrath."

Now to such height above our heads were raised The last beams, followed close by hooded night, That many a star on all sides through the gloom Shone out. "Why do you part from me, O my strength?" So I communed with myself, for I felt My overtoiled sinews slacken. We had reached The summit, and were fixed like a bark Arrived at land. And waiting a short space, In case anything should meet my ear in that new round, Then I turned to my guide and said: "Beloved sire! Declare what guilt is purged on this circle. If our feet rest, there is no need for your speech to pause."

He thus to me: "The love of good, whatever Is wanting of just proportion, here fulfils. Here plies afresh the oar that loitered ill. But so that you may understand more clearly, lend an ear to my words, and you shall gather some fruit from this delay that may please you well.

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"Neither the Creator nor any created being," he began, "my son, was ever without love, whether natural or arising from the free spirit's growth. That you have no need to learn. Natural love is still without error; but the other goes astray, if it is bent on an evil object, or through excess of vigour, or through defect. As long as it seeks the primal blessings, or with due measure the inferior ones, no delight that flows from it partakes of evil. But let it turn to evil, or pursue the good with more ardour than is fitting, or with less: then the thing created works against its Maker. Hence you must infer That love is the germ of every virtue in you, and of every act no less, that merits pain. Now since it cannot be but that love intends mainly the welfare of the thing it loves, all are secure from self-hatred; and since no being can be thought to exist apart and independent of the first, a bar of equal force restrains from hating that.

"Grant the distinction just; and it remains that the evil must be another's, which is loved. Three ways such love is engendered in your clay. There is one who hopes (his neighbour's worth depressed) for preeminence himself, and hence draws cover for his own greatness from another's fall. There is one who so much fears the loss of power, fame, favour, glory (should his fellow mount Above him), and so sickens at the thought, He loves their opposite: and there is he, Whom wrong or insult seems to gall and shame That he doth thirst for vengeance, and such needs Must doat on other's evil. Here beneath This threefold love is mourn'd. Of th' other sort Be now instructed, that which follows good But with disorder'd and irregular course.

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"All indistinctly apprehend a bliss On which the soul may rest, the hearts of all Yearn after it, and to that wished bourn All therefore strive to tend. If ye behold Or seek it with a love remiss and lax, This cornice after just repenting lays Its penal torment on ye. Other good There is, where man finds not his happiness: It is not true fruition, not that blest Essence, of every good the branch and root. The love too lavishly bestow'd on this, Along three circles over us, is mourn'd. Account of that division tripartite Expect not, fitter for thine own research."

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CANTO XVIII

The teacher ended, and his high discourse Concluding, earnest in my looks inquir'd If I appear'd content; and I, whom still Unsated thirst to hear him urg'd, was mute, Mute outwardly, yet inwardly I said: "Perchance my too much questioning offends." But he, true father, mark'd the secret wish By diffidence restrain'd, and speaking, gave Me boldness thus to speak: "Master, my Sight Gathers so lively virtue from thy beams, That all is seen distinctly which your words convey. Therefore I pray you, father, whom this heart holds dearest, that you would deign to unfold by proof that love from which, as from their source, you derive all good deeds and their opposite." He then: "Let your clear understanding be directed to what I now reveal, and you will plainly see how greatly those blind ones have erred who set themselves up as guides of men.

The soul, created apt to love, moves readily in whatever direction something pleasing prompts her, as soon as she is awakened into act by pleasure. Of true substance your apprehension forms a counterfeit, and, presenting the ideal shape within you, attracts the soul's regard. If she, thus drawn, inclines toward it, that inclining is love, And a new nature knit by pleasure in you. Then, as fire points upward and, rising, seeks its birthplace and its lasting seat, even so the captive soul enters into desire, which is a spiritual motion that never rests before enjoying the thing it loves. This is enough to show you how the truth is hidden from those who claim that all love is a thing praiseworthy in itself, although perhaps its substance still seems good. Yet if the wax is good, it does not follow that the impression must be." "What love is," I replied, "your words, O guide, and my own docile mind reveal.

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Yet from this new doubts have sprung. For if love is offered to us from without, and the spirit knows no other footing, whether it tends right or wrong, "Is no desert of hers." He answering thus: "What reason here discovers I have power To show thee: that which lies beyond, expect From Beatrice, faith not reason's task. Spirit, substantial form, with matter join'd Not in confusion mix'd, hath in itself Specific virtue of that union born, Which is not felt except it work, nor prov'd But through effect, as vegetable life By the green leaf. From whence his intellect Deduced its primal notices of things, Man therefore knows not, or his appetites Their first affections; such in you, as zeal In bees to gather honey; at the first, Volition, meriting nor blame nor praise.

But o'er each lower faculty supreme, That as she list are summon'd to her bar, Ye have that virtue in you whose just voice Uttereth counsel, and whose word should keep The threshold of assent. Here is the source Whence the cause of merit in you is deriv'd, E'en as the affections good or ill she takes, Or severs, winnow'd as the chaff. Those men Who with reasoning went to the profoundest depths mark'd That innate freedom, and were thence induc'd To leave their moral teaching to the world. Grant then that from necessity arise All love that glows within you; to dismiss Or harbour it, the pow'r is in yourselves. Remember, Beatrice, in her style, Denominates free choice by eminence The noble virtue, if in talk with thee She touched on that theme."

The moon, well nigh Belated to the midnight hour, made the stars Appear to wink and fade; and her broad disk Seemed like a crag on fire, as up the vault She journeyed that course which the sun then warms, When those of Rome behold him at his setting, Between Sardinia and the Corsican isle. And now the weight that hung upon my thought Was lightened by the aid of that clear spirit Who raises Andes above Mantua's name. I therefore, when my questions had obtained Plain and ample solution, stood as one Musing in dreary slumber; but not long Did I slumber; for suddenly a multitude,

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The steep already turning, from behind, Rushed on. With fury and like random rout, As, at midnight, they are heard echoing on their shores— Ismenus and Asopus, for his Thebes— if Bacchus' help were needed; so these came, tumultuous, each curving his rapid step, impelled by the eagerness of holy love.

Soon they overtook us; with such swiftness moved the mighty crowd. Two spirits at their head cried weeping: "Blessed Mary sought with haste the hilly region. Caesar, to subdue Ilerda, darted his sting into Marseilles and flew to Spain."—"Oh, do not tarry: away!" the others shouted. "Let not time be lost through slackness of affection. Hearty zeal to serve reanimates celestial grace."

"O ye in whom a more intense fervor haply supplies where once, lukewarm, ye failed, Slow or neglectful, to absolve your part Of good and virtuous, this man, who yet lives, (Credit my tale, though strange) desires to ascend, So morning rise to light us. Therefore say Which hand leads nearest to the rifted rock?"

So spake my guide, to whom a shade returned: "Come after us, and thou shalt find the cleft. We may not linger: such resistless will Speeds our unwearied course. Vouchsafe us then Thy pardon, if our duty seem to thee Discourteous rudeness. In Verona I Was abbot of San Zeno, when the hand Of Barbarossa grasped Imperial sway, That name, ne'er uttered without tears in Milan. And there is he, hath one foot in his grave, Who for that monastery ere long shall weep, Blaming his power misused: for that his son, Of body ill compact, and worse in mind, And born in evil, he hath set in place Of its true pastor." Whether more he spake, Or here was mute, I know not: he had sped E'en now so far beyond us. Yet thus much I heard, and in remembrance treasured it.

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He then, who never failed me at my need, Cried, "Hither turn. Lo! two with sharp remorse Chiding their sin!" In rear of all the troop These shouted: "First they died, to whom the sea Opened, or ever Jordan saw his heirs: And they, who with Aeneas to the end Endured not suffering, for their portion chose Life without glory." Soon as they had fled Past reach of sight, new thought within me rose By others followed fast, and each unlike Its fellow: till led on from thought to thought, And pleased with the fleeting train, my eye Was closed, and meditation changed to dream.

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CANTO XIX

It was the hour when no remnants of diurnal heat Chafe the cold beams of the moon, Overpowered by earth, or by the planetary sway Of Saturn; and the geomancer sees His Greater Fortune ascend the east, Where gray dawn first checkers the shadowy cone; When before me in my dream a woman's shape Came, with lips that stammered, eyes aslant, Distorted feet, maimed hands, and pale colour.

I looked on her; and as sunshine cheers Limbs numbed by nightly cold, even thus my look Unloosed her tongue, next in brief space her form Raised erect from decrepitude, her faded face Illumined with the very hue of love. Recovering speech, She straightway began to warble such a strain That I, however reluctant, could scarcely have withheld My attention from the song. "I," she sang thus, "I am the Siren, she whom mariners Are bewildered by on the wide sea when they hear me: Such fullness of delight does the listener feel. I drew Ulysses from his course by my lay, Enchanted. Whoever keeps company with me once Rarely departs; so I charm him, and his heart, Contented, knows no void." Before her mouth Was closed, to shame her there appeared at her side A lady of holy semblance. With stern voice She uttered: "Say, O Virgil, who is this?"

Hearing which, he approached, with eyes still fixed Toward that goodly presence; the other seized her, and, tearing her robes, opened her before me, and showed me the belly, from which a smell, exhaling loathsome, woke me. I turned my eyes around, and the teacher said: "At least three times my voice has called you. Rise, begone. Let us find the opening where you may pass."

I rose straightway. Now day, poured down from on high, filled all the circuits of the sacred mount; and, as we journeyed, the early ray struck our shoulders. I followed, stooping low my forehead, like a man overcharged with thought, who bends himself into the likeness of an arch that spans the flood midway; when thus I heard, "Come, enter here," in a tone so soft and mild as never met the ear on mortal shore.

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With swan-like wings spread wide and pointing upward, Who had thus spoken marshaled us along, Where on each side of the solid masonry The sloping walls receded; then he moved his plumes, And fanning us, affirmed that those who mourn Are blessed, for that comfort shall be theirs.

"What ails thee, that thou still lookest to the earth?" Began my leader, while the angelic shape A little above us took his station.

"New vision," I replied, "hath raised in me Strange surmises and anxious doubts, on which My soul, intent, allows no other thought Or room or entrance."—"Hast thou seen," said he, "That old enchantress, she whose wiles alone Make the spirits above us weep? Hast thou seen How man may free himself of her bonds? Enough. Let thy heels spurn the earth, and thy raised gaze Fix on the lure which heaven's eternal King "Whirls in the rolling spheres." As on his feet The falcon first looks down, then to the sky Turns, and stretches forth eager for the food That lures him thither; so the call I heard, So onward, as far as the dividing rock Gave way, I journeyed, until the plain was reached.

When I stood at large on the fifth circle, A race appeared before me, on the ground All lying prone face-down and weeping sorely. "My soul hath cleaved to the dust," I heard With sighs so deep they well-nigh choked the words. "O ye elect of God, whose penal woes Both hope and justice mitigate, direct Toward the steep rise our uncertain way."

"If ye approach secure from this our doom, Prostration—and would urge your course with speed, See that ye still keep to the right along the brink."

So the bard besought them; and such the words, some short space beyond us, came in answer.

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I noted what remained yet hidden from them: Then I turned my eyes to my lord's eyes, and he, immediately interpreting their plea, beckoned his glad assent. Free then to act as pleased me, I drew near and took my stand over that shade whose words I had just marked. And I said, "Spirit, in whom repentant tears ripen that blessed hour when you with God shall find acceptance, for a while suspend for me that mightier care. Say who you were, why thus you grovel prone on your bellies, and if in anything you wish my service there, whence living I am come." He answering spoke: "The cause why Heaven reverses our backs toward his cope you shall know; but know me first as the successor of Peter, and the name And the title of my lineage comes from that stream, which between Chiaveri and Siestri draws its clear waters through the lowly glen.

In a month and a little more I learned by experience how heavy that robe of sovereignty rests on the shoulders of one who would keep it from the mire: so that every other burden seems but a feather in the balance. Late, alas! was my conversion; but when I became Rome's pastor, I discerned at once the dream and deceit of life, saw that the heart found no rest there, and yet no prouder height lured the climber onward; therefore, no longer enamored of that life, in my bosom was kindled love of a purer being. For until then I was a soul in misery, estranged From God, and covetous of all earthly things; Now, as thou seest, here punished for my doting. Such cleansing from the taint of avarice Do spirits converted need. This mount inflicts No direr penalty. Even as our eyes Were fastened below, nor ever to a loftier clime Were lifted, so has justice leveled us Here on the earth.

As avarice quenched our love Of good, without which is no working, so Here justice holds us imprisoned, hand and foot Chained down and bound, while heaven's just Lord shall please. So long to tarry motionless outstretched."

I bowed my knees and would have spoken; but he, before I began, perceived by his ear that I was doing him reverence; and "What cause," said he, "has bowed thee thus?"—"Compunction," I replied, "and inward awe of your high dignity."

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"Rise," he exclaimed, "brother! on thy feet Arise: err not: thy fellow servant I, (Thine and all others') of one Sovereign Power. If you have ever marked those holy sounds of gospel truth, "nor shall be given ill marriage," you may discern the reasons for my speech. Go your ways now, and linger here no more. Your tarrying is a hindrance to the tears with which I hasten that of which you spoke. I have on earth a kinswoman; her name is Alagia, worthy in herself, so may the ill example of our house not corrupt her. And she is all that remains of me there."

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CANTO XX

Ill does the will strive against a wiser will. Therefore, preferring his pleasure to my own, I drew the sponge from the wave still thirsty.

Onward I moved; he also moved onward, who led me, skirting still whatever place along the rock was vacant, as a man walks near the battlements on a narrow wall. For those on the other side, who drop by drop Wring out their all-infecting malady, Too closely press the verge. Accursed be thou! Inveterate wolf! whose gorge gulps down more prey Than every beast beside, yet is not filled! So bottomless is thy maw!—Ye spheres of heaven! To whom there are, as it seems, those who attribute All change in mortal state, when is the day Of his appearing, for whom fate reserves To chase her hence? —With wary steps and slow We passed; and I, attentive to the shades, Whom piteously I heard lament and wail;

And, amidst the wailing, one before us I heard Cry out "O blessed Virgin!" as a dame In the sharp pangs of childbed; and "How poor Thou wast," it added, "witness that low roof Where thou didst lay thy sacred burden down. O good Fabricius! You chose virtue with poverty, rather than great wealth with vice."

The words pleased me so much that my desire to know the spirit from whose lips they seemed to come drew me onward. Yet he spoke of the gift of Nicholas, which he generously bestowed on the maidens, to save their youthful prime unblemished. "Spirit! You who speak of deeds so worthy, tell me who you were," I said, "and why you renew with a single voice the memorial of such praise. That boon, if granted, may perhaps meet with reward, if I return to finish the short pilgrimage of life, still speeding to its close on restless wing."

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"I," he answered, "will tell you, not for hell, which I expect from there; but so that in yourself Grace so exceeding shines, before thy time Of mortal dissolution. I was the root Of that evil plant whose shade sheds such poison Over all the Christian land, so that good fruit Is seldom gathered from it. Vengeance should soon come, If Ghent and Douai, Lille and Bruges had power; And I implore vengeance from heaven's great Judge. I was Hugh Capet, high-born: from me descend The Philips and the Louis, by whom France Is newly governed; born of one who plied The slaughterer's trade at Paris. When the race Of ancient kings had vanished (all save one Wrapped in sable weeds), within my grasp I found the reins of empire, and such powers Of new acquisition, with a full store of friends, That soon the widowed circlet of the crown Was girt on the temples of my son, He from whose bones the anointed race begins.

Until the great dowry of Provence had removed The stains that still obscured our lowly blood, Its sway was indeed narrow, but however It wrought no evil: there, with force and lies, Its rapine began; afterward, for amends, It seized Poitou, Navarre, and Gascony. To Italy came Charles, and for amends Slew young Conradine, an innocent victim, And sent the angelic teacher back to heaven, Still for amends. I see the time at hand That from France invites another Charles To make himself and his kindred better known. Unarmed he issues, saving with that lance Which the arch-traitor tilted with; and that He advances with such ruinous force that it tears open the very entrails of poor Florence. No increase of territory will come of this, but sin and shame shall be his reward, and all the more the more lightly he regards such foul wrong.

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I see the other, who, lately a prisoner, had set foot on shore, exposing at the market his daughter, whom he bargains away, as do the Corsairs with their slaves. O avarice! What more can you do, you who have so wholly subdued our blood to yourself that they feel no care for their own flesh? To conceal with yet more dire guilt past ill and future, behold! the fleur-de-lis enters Alagna! In his Vicar, Christ Himself is a captive, and his mockery is acted out again! Behold! behold his holy lip The vinegar and gall are offered once more! And he is doomed to bleed between living robbers! Behold the new Pilate, whose cruelty No violence can fully measure, Who, with no authority to sanction it, drives on Into the temple his still eager sails!

"O sovereign Master! when shall I rejoice To see the vengeance that thy well-pleased wrath Broods over in secret silence?—While daylight lasts, All that you heard of her, the sole spouse Of the Great Spirit, and on which you turned To me for commentary, is the general theme Of all our prayers; but when darkness falls, then We utter a different strain, then record Pygmalion, whom his gluttonous thirst for gold Made traitor, robber, parricide: the woes Of Midas, whose greedy wish ensued, Marked for derision to all future times: And fond Achan, how he stole the prey, That yet he seems by Joshua's ire pursued. Sapphira with her husband next, we blame; And praise the forefeet, that with furious ramp Spurned Heliodorus. All the mountain round Rings with the infamy of Thracia's king, Who slew his Phrygian charge: and last a shout Ascends: "Declare, O Crassus! for thou know'st, The flavour of thy gold."

The voice of each Now high now low, as each his impulse prompts, Is led through many a pitch, acute or grave. Therefore, not singly, I erewhile rehearsed That blessedness we tell of in the day: But near me none beside his accent raised."

From him we had now parted and strove with utmost effort to surmount the way, when I felt the mountain tremble, as if nodding to its fall; at which an icy chill seized me, like one being carried to death. Not so shook Delos when Latona there lay down to bring forth the twin-born eyes of heaven.

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Forthwith from every side a shout arose so vehement that suddenly my guide drew near and cried: "Do not doubt while I lead you." "Glory!" all shouted (such were the sounds my ear gathered from those who swelled the sounds around me) "Glory in the highest be to God." We stood motionless, suspended, like those shepherds who first heard in Bethlehem's field that song—until the trembling ceased, and the song Then our hallowed path resumed, Watching the prostrate shadows, who renewed Their customary mourning. Never in my breast Did ignorance so struggle with the desire For knowledge, if my memory does not err, As in that moment; nor did I dare To ask through haste, nor could I discern anything myself, So I journeyed on in thoughtfulness and dread.

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CANTO XXI

The natural thirst, never quenched except from the well For which the woman of Samaria craved, Stirred me: I hurried along the encumbered path, Driven after my guide; and pity moved My breast for the vengeful deed, though just. When lo! even as Luke relates that Christ Appeared to the two on their way, Newly risen from his vaulted grave, to us A shade appeared and approached us from behind, Contemplating the crowd beneath its feet. We were not aware of it; so it spoke first, Saying, "God give you peace, my brethren!" Then We turned suddenly: and Virgil gave such a salute As suited that kind greeting, and cried: "May peace be your lot in the blessed council, Awarded by that righteous court which exiles me To everlasting banishment!"

"How!" he exclaimed, nor meanwhile desisting From his speed, "If you are spirits whom God Vouchsafes no room above, who has been your guide Thus far up the height?" To whom the bard: "If you observe the tokens which this man Bears, traced by the finger of the angel, It is plain that in the kingdom of the just He must share. But since she whose wheel spins day and night has not yet drawn for him that yarn which, piled on the fatal distaff, Clotho apportions to every living being, his soul, which is sister to mine and yours, could not mount by itself, for its sight is not like ours. Therefore I was taken from the vast gulf of hell to lead him, and I will lead him as far as my knowledge allows. But if you know, tell us why the mountain just now shook and trembled so, and why all at once there seemed to be shouting, even from its wave-washed foot."

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That question so matched my wish that the edge of my thirst was dulled by expectation alone. He replied at once, "In its devotion nothing irregular This mount can bear witness, or, by fixed law, Unsanctioned; here it is exempt from every change. Other than that which heaven in itself Receives of itself, no influence Can reach us. No tempest, shower, hail or snow, Hoar frost or dewy moisture falls higher Than that brief scale of threefold steps: thick clouds Nor scudding rack are ever seen: swift lightning Ne'er flashes, nor does Thaumantian Iris gleam, Which yonder often shift on each side of heaven. Sultry vapour never mounts above The highest of the threefold stairs, whereon Peter's vicegerent stands.

Lower down perhaps, Rocked with various motion, the soil trembles: But here, through wind pent in the earth's deep hollow, I know not how, yet it has never trembled: then Trembles, when any spirit feels itself So purified that it may rise, or move For rising, and such loud acclaim ensues. Purification by the will alone Is proved, that free to change society Seizes the soul rejoicing in her will. Desire of bliss is present from the first; But strong propensity hinders, to that wish By the just ordinance of heav'n opposed; Propensity now as eager to fulfil Th' allotted torment, as erewhile to sin. And I who in this punishment had lain Five hundred years and more, but now have felt Free wish for happier clime. Therefore thou felt'st The mountain tremble, and the spirits devout Heard'st, over all his limits, utter praise To that liege Lord, whom I entreat to hasten their joy."

Thus he spoke: and since the draught Is always welcome in proportion as the thirst is keen, No words can express the fullness of my contentment.

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"Now," said the wise instructor, "I see the net That catches you here, and how the snares are loosed, Why the mountain shakes and why you rejoice. Grant that I may next learn from your lips Who you were on earth, and why here You lay prostrate for so many ages."—"In that time, When the good Titus, with the King of Heaven's help, Avenged those piteous wounds from which the blood Sold by Judas flowed, I was there Abundantly renowned under the name Most lasting and most honored," the shade replied, "Not yet endowed with faith. So passing sweet My poetic spirit, from Tolosa to Rome, drew me to herself, where I earned a myrtle garland to wreathe around my brow. They still call me Statius. Of Thebes I sang, and next of great Achilles: but along the way I fell beneath the second burden.

Of my flame those sparks were the seeds, which I derived from the bright fountain of celestial fire that feeds unnumbered lamps—I mean the song that tells of Aeneas' wanderings: that the breast I clung to, that the nurse from whom my veins drank inspiration: whose authority was ever sacred to me. To have lived at the same time as the Mantuan, I would endure the revolution of another sun beyond my allotted years in banishment."

The Mantuan, when he heard him, turned to me, and holding silence: by his countenance enjoined me silence, but the power which wills bears not supreme control: laughter and tears follow so closely on the passion that prompts them they wait not for the motions of the will in natures most sincere. I did but smile, as one who winks; and thereupon the shade broke off and peered into my eyes, where best our looks interpret. "So to good outcome may you conduct such great emprise," he cried, "Say, why across your visage beamed, but now, the lightning of a smile!" On either side now am I straitened; one conjures me to speak, the other binds me to silence: whence a sigh I utter, and the sigh is heard. "Speak on;" The teacher cried, "And do not fear to speak, but tell him what he asks so earnestly." Whereupon I said, "Perhaps, O ancient spirit, you marvel at my smiling. There is room for yet more wonder.

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He who guides my sight on high—he is that Mantuan, led by whom you presumed to sing of men and gods. If you thought there was another cause for which I smiled, set it aside as not the true one; and believe that those words you spoke of him were indeed the cause."

Now he bent down to embrace my teacher's feet, but he forbade him: "Brother! Do not do it: you are a shadow, and you behold a shade." Rising, he answered thus: "Now you have proved the force and ardour of the love I bear you, when I forget that we are but things of air, And treat an empty shade as a substance."

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CANTO XXII

Now we had left the angel, who had turned to the sixth circle our ascending step, one gash erased from off my forehead, while they, whose wishes tend to justice, shouted forth: "Blessed!" and ended with, "I thirst"; and I, more nimble than along the other straits, so journeyed that, without the sense of toil, I followed upward the swift-footed shades; when Virgil thus began: "Let its pure flame flow from virtue, and love can never fail to warm another's bosom, so the light shine manifestly forth. Hence from that hour, when amongst us in the purlieus of the deep came down the spirit of Aquinum's hard, who told of thine affection, my good will Has been for you of quality as strong As ever linked itself to one not seen. Therefore these stairs will now seem short to me.

But tell me: and if too secure I loose The rein with a friend's license, as a friend Forgive me, and speak now as with a friend: How did it happen that covetous desire could find A place in that bosom, amidst such ample store Of wisdom, as your zeal had treasured there?"

First somewhat moved to laughter by his words, Statius replied: "Each syllable of yours Is a dear pledge of love. Things often appear That minister false matters to our doubts, When their true causes are removed from sight. Your question doth assure me, you believe I was on earth a covetous man, perhaps Because you found me placed in that circle. Know, then, that I was too far from avarice, and even for that excess thousands of moons have waxed and waned during my sufferings. And were it not that I, with heedful care, noted where you exclaim, as if in anger at human nature, “Why, you cursed thirst for gold! do you not with juster measure guide the appetite of mortals?” I would have met the fierce encounter of the voluble rock. Then I was aware that with too ample a wing the hands may hasten to lavishment, and I turned, as from my other evil, so also from this, in penitence.

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How many from their grave shall arise with shorn locks, who while living, ever and at life’s last extreme, of this offense, Through ignorance, did not repent. And know, the fault that follows directly from any sin stands in exact opposition here to that which wastes its green rankness on one common heap. Therefore, if I have been among those who wail over their avarice, to cleanse me through the reverse of their transgression, such has been my lot."

To whom the sovereign of the pastoral song: "While you sang of that cruel warfare waged by the twin sorrow of Jocasta's womb, from your discourse with Clio there, it seems that faith had not been shining in you: without which good deeds do not suffice. And if so, what sun rose on you, or what candle pierced the dark that you afterward saw fit to hoist the sail and follow where the fisherman had led?"

He answered thus: "Conducted first by thee, I entered the grots of Parnassus and drank of the clear spring; first illuminated by thee, I opened my eyes to God. Thou didst, like one who, journeying through the darkness, hears a light behind him, which profits not himself but makes his followers wise, when thou exclaimedst, 'Lo! A renovated world! Justice returned! Times of primeval innocence restored! And a new race descended from above!' Poet and Christian both, I owed to thee. That thou mayst mark more clearly what I trace, my hand shall stretch forth to inform the lines with livelier colouring. Soon over all the world, by messengers from heaven, the true belief Teemed now prolific, and that word of thine Accordant with the new instructors, I sang.

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Moved by that agreement, I used to resort to them; and soon their sanctity so won me over that, when Domitian's rage pursued them, I mingled my tears with theirs, and, while I remained on earth, I still helped them; and their most righteous customs made me scorn all other sects. Before I led the Greeks in tuneful fiction to the streams of Thebes, I was baptized; but secretly, through fear, I remained a Christian and conformed for a long time to pagan rites. For five centuries and more, for that lukewarmness I was fain to pace round the fourth circle. You, then, who have raised the covering that hid such blessing from me, while much of this ascent is yet to climb, Say, if thou know, where our old Terence bides, Caecilius, Plautus, Varro: if condemn'd They dwell, and in what province of the deep."

"These," said my guide, "with Persius and myself, And many others more, are with that Greek, Of mortals the most cherished by the Nine, In the first ward of darkness. There oftentimes We of that mount hold converse, on whose top Our nurses live forever. We have the bard Of Pella, and the Teian, Agatho, Simonides, and many another Greek Garlanded with laurel. Of thy train Antigone is there, Deiphile, Argia, and Ismene as sorrowful as erst, And she who showed Langia's wave: Deidamia with her sisters there, And the daughter of blind Tiresias, and the bride Sea-born, of Peleus." Either poet now was silent, and no longer by the ascent or the steep walls obstructed, cast inquiring eyes around them.

Four handmaids of the day had now finished their office, and the fifth was at the chariot-beam, still directing its balmy point aloft, when my guide spoke thus: "Methinks it well behooves us to bend the right shoulder toward the brink, circling the mount, as we have ever been used to do." So custom there was usher to the road, which we chose with less doubt, since that worthy shade complied.

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They went on before me; I followed alone, listening to their speech, which conveyed to my thoughts mysterious lessons of sweet poesy. But soon they stopped; for midway along the road we found a tree, hung with goodly fruit and pleasant to the smell; and as a fir spreads less amply upward from bough to bough, so this tree spread less amply downward, so that no one, I think, could climb it. On the side that closed off our path, a liquid crystal fell from the steep rock, and through the sprays above streamed down in a shower. With united step the poets drew near the plant; and from amidst the leaves a voice was heard: "You shall be wary of me;" and afterward it added: "Mary took more thought for the joy and honour of the nuptial feast than for herself who now answers for you. The women of old Rome were satisfied with water for their drink. Daniel fed On impulse, and wisdom gained.

The primal age Was beautiful as gold; and hunger then Made acorns tasty, and thirst made each rivulet Run with nectar. Honey and locusts were the food On which the Baptist in the wilderness Fed, and reached that eminence of glory And greatness which the Evangelist records."

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CANTO XXIII

My eyes were fixed on the green leaf, like his Who throws away his days in idle pursuit Of trifles, when I thus heard The more-than-father warn me: "Son! our time Demands more frugal use. Do not linger: away."

At that, I turned my face and steps at once Toward the sages, cheered by whose converse I journeyed on and felt no toil; and lo! A sound of weeping and a song: "My lips, "O Lord!" and these so mingled that they gave birth to pleasure and to pain. "O Sire, beloved! Tell me, what is this I hear?" Thus I inquired.

"Spirits," said he, "who, as they go, perchance pay their debt of duty." As on their road the thoughtful pilgrims, overtaking some unknown to them, turn to them and look, but do not stay; thus, approaching from behind with swifter motion, a crowd of spirits eyed us as they passed, silent and devout. The eyes of each were dark and hollow; pale their visage, and so lean besides that the bones stood staring through the skin. I do not think Erysichthon showed so dry and meagre when pinched to the quick by sharp-set famine.

"Lo!" I mused to myself, "the race who lost Jerusalem, when Mary with dire beak Preyed on her child." The sockets seemed like rings from which the gems had dropped. Whoever reads the name of man on his forehead—there the M had been traced most plainly. Who would think that the scent of water and an apple could have proved powerful enough to generate such pining want, not knowing how it worked? While I now stood wondering what could thus waste them away (for the cause of their gaunt hollowness and scaly rind did not appear), lo! a spirit turned his eyes within their deep-sunken cell, and then fixed them on me, then cried out vehemently: "What grace is this vouchsafed to me?" From his looks I would never have recognized him, but the voice brought to my knowledge what his countenance concealed. The remembrance of his altered features was kindled by that spark; and I recognized the face of Forese.

"Ah! respect this pale and leprous withered skin," he implored as a suppliant, "this emaciated flesh. Speak to me truly of yourself. And who are those two spirits who escort you there? Let it not be said that you disdain to talk with me."

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"That face of yours," I answered him, "which I once bewailed as dead, disposes me no less to weep when I see it thus transformed. Tell me, then, by Heaven, what blasts you so? While I marvel, do not ask me to speak: he is unfit to speak whom another will employs."

He then: "The water and the plant we passed possess a virtue, infused by the eternal will, which so pines me away. Every spirit whose song bewails his gluttony indulged too grossly is here purified in hunger and in thirst. The odour which the fruit and the spray that showers on the verdure breathe, It inflames us with the desire to eat and drink. Nor does it encompass our path only once. We come to add fresh fuel to the pain: Pain, did I say? Rather solace: for that will Lead us to the tree by which Christ was led To call Elias, joyful when he paid Our ransom from his vein." Answering thus, I said: "Forese! From that day on which the world Thou changedst for a better life, not five years Have circled. If the power to sin more Was first concluded in thee before thou knewest That kindly grief which re-espouses us To God, how art thou come here so soon? I thought to find thee lower, there where time Is recompense for time."

He straight replied: "To drink up the sweet wormwood of affliction I have been brought here so early by the tears that streamed down my Nella's cheeks. Her devout prayers and her sighs have drawn me from the coast, where often expectation lingers, and have set me free from the other circles. In the sight of God my widow is all the dearer to me, she whom I loved so fondly, since she ranks all the more singularly eminent for virtuous deeds. The most barbarous region of Sardinia's isle has dames far more chaste and modest than the one in which I left her. O sweet brother! What would you have me say? A time to come stands fully within my view, compared with which this hour shall not be counted as an ancient date, when from the pulpit the unblushing dames of Florence shall be loudly warned, lest they bare Uncovered bosoms to the common gaze.

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What savage women has the world ever seen, What Saracens, for whom there was need of scourge Of spiritual or other discipline, To force them to walk with covering on their limbs! But if they saw, the shameless ones, that Heaven Wafts on swift wing toward them, while I speak, Their mouths would open for howling: they shall taste Of Borrow (unless foresight deceive me here) Before the cheek of him is clothed with down Who is now rocked asleep with lullaby. Ah! now, my brother, hide yourself no more, You see how not I alone but all Gaze, where you veil the intercepted sun."

Whence I replied: "If you recall to mind What we were once together, even yet The remembrance of those days may grieve you deeply. That I forsook that life was due to him who goes before me there, some few evenings past, when she was full who shines with a sister lamp to his, which glitters yonder," and I pointed out the sun. "It is he who, through the profoundest night of the true dead, has brought me, with this flesh as true, which follows. From that gloom the aid of his sure comfort drew me on to climb, and climbing, wind along this mountain steep, which straightens in you whatever the world made crooked and depraved. I have his word that he will bear me company as far as until I come where Beatrice dwells; but there he must leave me. Virgil is that spirit who has thus promised," and I pointed to him; "The other is that shade, for whom so late Your realm, as he arose, exulting shook Through every pendent cliff and rocky bound."

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CANTO XXIV

Our journey was not slowed by our talk, Nor yet our talk by journeying. Still we spoke, And pressed our travel stoutly on, like a ship When the wind sits astern. The shadowy forms,

That seemed things dead and dead again, drew in At their deep-delved orbs rare wonder of me, Perceiving I had life; and I my words Continued, and thus spoke: "He journeys up Perhaps more tardily than else he would, For others' sake. But tell me, if thou know'st, Where is Piccarda? Tell me, if I see Any of mark, among this multitude, Who eye me thus."—"My sister (she for whom, 'Twixt beautiful and good I cannot say Which name was fitter) wears e'en now her crown, And triumphs in Olympus." Saying this, He added: "Since spare diet hath so worn Our semblance out, 't is lawful here to name Each one. This," and his finger then he rais'd, "Is Buonaggiuna,—Buonaggiuna, he Of Lucca: and that face beyond him, pierc'd Unto a leaner fineness than the rest, Had keeping of the church: he was of Tours, And purges by wan abstinence away Bolsena's eels and cups of muscadel."

He show'd me many others, one by one, And all, as they were nam'd, seem'd well content; For no dark gesture I discern'd in any. I saw through hunger Ubaldino grind His teeth on emptiness; and Boniface, Who waved the crozier over a numerous flock. I saw the Marquis, who had time erewhile To swill at Forli with less drought, yet so Was one ne'er sated. I however, like him, That gazing 'midst a crowd, singles out one, So singled him of Lucca; for methought Was none among them took such note of me. Somewhat I heard him whisper of Gentucca: The sound was indistinct, and murmured there, Where justice, that so strips them, fixed her sting.

"Spirit!" said I, "it seems as thou wouldst fain Speak with me. Let me hear thee. Mutual wish To converse prompts, which let us both indulge."

He, answering, straight began: "Woman is born, Whose brow no wimple shades yet, that shall make My city pleases you—let them blame it as they may. Go then with this forewarning. If anything false My whisper too implied, the event shall tell But say, if in truth I see the man Who invented that new song, which begins With 'Ladies, ye that know the lore of love'."

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To whom I thus: "Count me but as one who is the scribe of love; that, when he breathes, I take up my pen and, as he dictates, write."

"Brother!" said he, "the hindrance which once held the notary with Guittone and myself back from that new and sweeter style I hear is now disclosed. I see how ye stretch your plumes, as the inditer guides them; which, no question, ours did not. He that seeks a grace beyond sees not the distance that parts one style from the other." And, as contented, here he held his peace.

Like as the birds, that winter near the Nile, In squared regiment direct their course, Then stretch themselves in file for speedier flight; Thus all the tribe of spirits, as they turned Their faces, faster became, nimble alike Through leanness and desire. And as a man, Tired with the motion of a trotting steed, Slacks pace, and stays behind his company, To keep his overbreathed lungs in steady time; Even so Forese let that holy crew Move on, while he lingered behind them at my side, And said: "When shall I see you again?"

"How long my life may last," I said, "I do not know; This I know: however soon I return, My wishes will have arrived before me. For the place where I am set to live Is, day by day, more drained of all its good, And dismal ruin seems to threaten it."

"Go now," he cried: "look! he whose guilt is greatest Passes before my vision, dragged by the heels By a furious beast. Toward the valley, Where guilt has no redemption, it speeds on, Each step increasing the swiftness of the last; Until it strikes a blow that leaves him A course most vilely shattered. No long space Those wheels have yet to roll" (with that his eyes Looked up to heaven) "before you shall plainly see That which my words cannot more plainly tell. I leave you: time is precious here: I waste Too much, thus measuring my pace with shine."

As from a troop of well-ranked chivalry One knight, more enterprising than the rest, Spurs forth at a gallop, eager to display His prowess in the first encounter tried So he parted from us with lengthened strides, And left me on the way with those two spirits, Who were such mighty marshals of the world.

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When he had fled so far beyond my eyes That they reached him no nearer than my thought reached his words, The branches of another fruit, thickly hung, And blooming fresh, it appeared. Even as our steps turned thither, not far off it rose into view. Beneath it was a multitude that raised their hands and shouted forth I know not what at the boughs, like greedy and fond brats who beg and receive no answer from him of whom they beg; but to draw them on further, he holds the object of their wish at arm's length above them, aloft, and does not hide it.

At length, as if undeceived, they went their way; and we approach the tree, which vows and tears sue to in vain, the mighty tree. "Pass on, and come not near. Higher up stands the wood of which Eve tasted, and from it was taken this plant." Such sounds came from amid the thickets. Whence I, with either bard, close to the side That rose, passed forth beyond. "Remember," next We heard, "those noblest creatures of the clouds, How they their twofold bosoms overgorged Opposed in fight to Theseus: call to mind The Hebrews, how effeminate they stooped To ease their thirst; whence Gideon's ranks were thinned, As he to Midian marched down the hills."

Thus, coasting near one border, still we heard The sins of gluttony, with woe erewhile Reguerdoned. Then along the lonely path, Once more at large, full thousand paces on We traveled, each contemplative and mute.

"Why pensive journey thus ye three alone?" Thus suddenly a voice exclaimed: whereat I shook, as doth a scared and paltry beast; Then raised my head to look from whence it came.

Was ne'er, in furnace, glass, or metal seen So bright and glowing red, as was the shape I now beheld. "If ye desire to mount," He cried, "here must ye turn. This way he goes, Who goes in quest of peace." His countenance Had dazzled me; and to my guides I turned Backward, like one who walks as sound directs.

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As when, to herald the dawn, springs up On freshened wing the air of May, and breathes Of fragrance, all impregnated with herbs and flowers, Even such a wind I felt upon my brow Blow gently, and the moving of a wing Perceived, that moving shed ambrosial smell; And then a voice: "Blessed are they, whom grace Doth so illumine, that appetite in them Exhaleth no inordinate desire, Still hungry, as the rule of temperance wills."

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CANTO XXV

It was the hour when he who climbs must needs walk unhindered, for the sun had now left the meridian circle to Taurus, and left the night to the Scorpion. Like one who makes no pause but presses on along his road, whatever befalls him, if some urgent need impels him: so we entered on our way, one before the other; for, singly, none is admitted to climb that steep and narrow stair.

Even as the young stork lifts its wing through the wish to fly, yet does not venture to leave the nest, and lets it drop; so in me the desire to question my guide arose and fell, reaching even to the act that marks a man prepared for speech. Him all our haste Restrained not, but thus spoke the beloved sire: "Fear not to speed the shaft that on your lip Stands trembling for its flight." Encouraged thus, I straightway began: "How can leanness come Where there is no lack of nourishment to feed it?"

"If you," he answered, "had remembered How Meleager, with the wasting brand, Wasted alike, consumed by equal fires, This would not trouble you; and had you thought How in the mirror your reflected form Vibrates with mimic motion, what now seems Hard would have appeared no harder than the pulp Of summer fruit mature. But so that your will May find its full repose in certainty, Lo, Statius here! On him I call, and pray That he would now be healer of your wound."

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"If in your presence I reveal to him the secrets of heaven's vengeance, let me plead your own injunction, to exonerate me." So Statius answered, and at once began: "Attend my words, O son, and in your mind receive them: so shall they be a light to clear the doubt you offer. Blood, well concocted, which is never imbibed by the thirsty veins, and remains as superfluous food, to be taken from the replenished table, in the heart derives effectual virtue, which informs the several human limbs, as being that which passes through the veins themselves to make them. Yet more concocted it descends, where shame forbids to mention: and from there it distills in natural vessel onto another's blood. Then each unites together, one disposed to endure, to act the other, through a fitting frame of its recipient mould: once that is reached, it begins to work, coagulating first; then it vivifies what its own substance caused to bear.

Now endowed with animation, the active virtue (differing from a plant no further than that this is on the way and at its limit that) continues still to operate, so that now it moves and feels, like a sea sponge clinging to the rock: and there it assumes the organic powers its seed conveyed. 'This is the period, son! at which the virtue, that proceeds from the generating heart, is pliant and expansive; for each limb is planned in the heart by forging nature. How the animal becomes a babe, and remains so For your consideration. At this point, you are wiser than you have erred, making the soul disjoined from the passive intellect, because he saw no organ assigned for the latter's use.

"Open your bosom to the truth that comes. Know that as soon as in the embryo, to the brain, articulation is complete, then turns the primal Mover with a smile of joy on such great work of nature, and breathes in a new spirit replete with virtue, that what here it finds active, to its own substance draws, and forms an individual soul, that lives, and feels, and bends reflective on itself. And that you may marvel less at the word, mark the sun's heat, how that to wine doth change, Mixed with the moisture filtered through the vine.

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"When Lachesis has spun the thread, the soul Takes with her both the human and the divine, Memory, intelligence, and will, in act Far keener than before, while all the other powers Remain inactive and mute. Allowed no pause, Self-moving in wondrous ways, she falls to one strand Of those where the departed roam, And here learns her destined path. As soon as the place Receives her, the plastic virtue shines around, Distinct as in the living limbs before: And as the air, when saturated with showers, Refracting the casual beam, decks itself With many a hue; so here the ambient air Wears that form which the influence of the soul Imprints on it; and like the flame that, where The fire moves; we follow it from there, so from this point on The new form still follows the spirit: Hence it has semblance, and is called a shadow, Endued with every sense, even sight: Hence speech is ours, hence laughter, tears, and sighs, Which thou mayst often have witnessed on the mount.

The obedient shadow fails not to present Whatever varying passion moves within us. And this is the cause of what thou marvel'st at."

Now we reached the last bend of our path, And turning to the right, another care Awaits us. Here the rocky precipice Hurls forth overflowing flames, and from the rim A blast blown upward, with forceful rebuff, Drives them back, sequestered from its boundary.

We were obliged, one by one, along the side, That bordered on the void, to pass; and I feared on one hand the fire, on the other feared to fall headlong: when thus the instructor warned: "Strict rein must in this place direct the eyes. A little swerving and the way is lost."

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Then from the bosom of the burning mass, "O God of mercy!" heard I sung; and felt no less desire to turn. And when I saw spirits along the flame proceeding, I between their footsteps and mine own was fain to share by turns my view. At the hymn's close they shouted loud, "I do not know a man;" then in low voice again took up the strain, which once more ended, "To the wood," they cried, "ran Dian, and drave forth Callisto, stung with Cytherea's poison:" then returned To their song; then marry a pair extolled, who lived in chaste virtue, and the bands of wedded love. Nor from that task, I ween, do they cease, as long as the scorching fire enclasps them. Of such skill appliance needs to medicine the wound that healeth last.

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CANTO XXVI

While thus we walked singly along the rim, often the good master warned me: "Look thou well. Let it avail thee that I caution thee." The sun now had irradiated all the western clime, changing from azure tint to white; and, as I passed, my passing shadow made the umbered flame burn ruddier. At so strange a sight I marked that many a spirit marveled on his way.

This first bred occasion to speak of me: "He seems," said they, "no insubstantial frame:" Then, to obtain whatever certainty they might, stretched out toward me, careful not to step beyond the burning pale. "O you who follow the others, perhaps no slower than they, but moved by reverence, answer me—I who burn with thirst and fire; nor I alone, but these all thirst for your answer more than an Indian or an Ethiopian thirsts for the cooling stream. Tell us, how is it that you make yourself a wall against the sun, as if you had not yet entered into the inextricable toils of death?" Thus spoke one, and I would have straightway declared myself, had my attention not turned to a new appearance. Meeting these, there came, midway along the burning path, a crowd, on whom gazing earnestly, from each

Part I view The shadows all press forward, each separately Each snatches a hasty kiss, and then away. Even so the ants, amid their dusky troops, Peer closely at one another, to spy out Their mutual road perchance, and how they thrive.

That friendly greeting parted, before the dispatch Of the first onward step, from either tribe Loud clamour rises: those who newly come Shout "Sodom and Gomorrah!" these, "The cow Pasiphae entered, so that the beast she wooed Might rush unto her luxury." Then as cranes, That part towards the Riphaean mountains fly, Part towards the Libyan sands, these to avoid The ice, and those the sun; so hastens off One crowd advances, the other falls back; and they resume Their first song, weeping, and their several shout.

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Again the very same drew near my side, who had besought me shortly before, and their looks marked eagerness to listen. I, who had twice noted their will, spoke: "O spirits assured, whenever the time may be, of peaceful end! My limbs, neither crude nor in mature old age, have I left yonder: here they bear me, fed with blood, and sinew-strung. That I may no longer live in blindness, hence I tend aloft. There is a lady on high who winds for us this grace, by which I bear my mortal frame through your realm. But may your utmost wish soon meet such full fruition that the orb of heaven, fullest of love and of most ample space, "Receive you, as ye tell (on my page Henceforth to stand recorded) who ye are, And what this multitude, that at your backs Have past behind us." As one, mountain-bred, Rugged and clownish, if some city's walls He chance to enter, round him stares agape, Confounded and struck dumb; e'en such appear'd Each spirit.

But when rid of that amaze, (Not long the inmate of a noble heart) He, who before had question'd, thus resum'd: "O blessed, who, for death preparing, tak'st Experience of our limits, in thy bark! Their crime, who not with us proceed, was that, For which, as he did triumph, Caesar heard The snout of 'queen,' to taunt him. Hence their cry Of 'Sodom,' as they parted, to rebuke Themselves, and aid the burning by their shame. Our sin was hermaphroditic: but we, Because we broke the law of humankind, Following like beasts our vile concupiscence, Hence, parting from them, to our own disgrace Record the name of her by whom the beast Was acted in bestial attire. Now our deeds Thou know'st, and how we sinned. If thou by name Wouldst haply know us, time permits not now To tell so much, nor can I. Of myself Learn what thou wishest. I am Guinicelli, Who, having truly sorrowed ere my last, Already cleanse me."

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With such pious joy, As the two sons gaz'd on their mother Rescued from sad Lycurgus, such was my joy (Save that I more repressed it) when I heard From his own lips I heard his name pronounced— he who was a father to me, and to those my betters, who have always made sweet and pleasant use of the rhymes of love. So I heard nothing and said nothing, but for a long time I walked thoughtfully, gazing at him; and only because of the fire I did not come nearer. When my eyes were fed by looking at him, with such a solemn pledge as compels belief, I devoted myself wholly to his service. In reply he spoke to me thus: "What I hear from you is engraved so deeply on my mind that the waves of Lethe shall not wash it away, nor make it a whit less vivid. But since your oath has now sealed the truth, declare what cause impels that love which both your looks and your speech betray."

"Those dulcet lays," I answered, "which, as long as the beauty of our tongue does not fade, shall make us love the very ink that traced them."

"Brother!" he cried, and pointed at a shade before him, "there is one whose mother tongue owes to him a fairer ornament. In love ditties and tales in prose he stands without a rival, and lets the fools talk on who think the songster of Limoges surpasses him. Rumour and the popular voice look to more than truth, and so confirm opinion before it is taught by art or reason. Thus many of the elder time cried up Guittone, giving him the prize, until truth was vanquished by strength of numbers. If thou own so ample a privilege as to have gained free entrance to the cloister whereof Christ is Abbot of the college, say to him One paternoster for me, as far as needs be. For those who dwell in this world, where the power to sin No longer tempts us." Perhaps to make way For the one who followed next, when that was said, He vanished through the fire as through the wave A fish darts, diving to the deep.

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I drew a little closer to the spirit he had shown me, And besought his name, For which, I said, my heart kept a gracious place. He frankly began thus: "Your courtesy So wins me over that I have neither the power nor the will To hide myself. I am Arnault; and with songs, Sorely lamenting my past folly, I wade through this ford of fire, and see The day I hope for smiling in my view. I pray you, by the worth that guides you up Up to the summit of the scale, in time Remember my sufferings.” With such words He disappeared in the refining flame.

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CANTO XXVII

Now the sun was so positioned, as when first His early radiance quivers on the heights, Where his Maker’s blood streamed, while Libra hangs Above Hesperian Ebro, and new fires Flash at noon on Ganges’ yellow tide.

So the day was sinking when the angel of God Appeared before us. Joy was in his countenance. He stood forth from the flame on the brink, And with a voice whose lively clarity far Surpassed our human voice, “Blessed are the pure In heart,” he sang; then, as we came near him, “Go no further, holy spirits!” he cried, “Before the fire pierces you: enter in; and listen "Attentive to the song you hear from there."

When I heard his words, I was like one Laid in the grave. With my hands clasped together And stretched upward, I gazed at the fire, And busy fancy conjured up the forms I had once seen alive, consumed in flames.

The escorting spirits turned with gentle looks Toward me, and the Mantuan said: "My son, Here you may feel torment, but you cannot die. Remember, remember, if I Brought you safely even on Geryon: now that I come Nearer to God, will you not trust me now? Of this be sure: though that flame Hold you in its womb a thousand years, not a hair Of your head should perish. If you doubt my truth, Approach, and with your hands [touch] the hem of your garment Stretch forth, and confirm your belief for yourself. Lay all fear aside now, O lay all fear aside. Turn this way, and come forward undismayed." I still did not advance a step, though conscience urged me.

When he saw me still fixed and obstinate, somewhat disturbed he cried: "Mark now, my son, by this wall thou art divided from Beatrice." As at Thisbe's name the eye of Pyramus was opened (when life ebbed fast from his veins), and took one parting glance, while vermeil dyed the mulberry; thus I turned to my sage guide, relenting, when I heard the name that springs forever in my breast.

He shook his forehead; and, "How long," he said, "do we linger now?" then smiled, as one would smile on a child that eyes the fruit and yields. Then he walked into the fire before me; And Statius, who had until then kept some distance between us, begged to come behind.

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I would have cast myself into molten glass to cool myself when I entered, so intense did the blazing mass rage. My beloved father, to comfort me as he went on, still spoke of Beatrice. "Her eyes," he said, "even now I seem to see." From the other side a voice that sang guided us, and following the voice with attentive ear, we came out where the path led upward. "Come," we heard, "come, blessed of my Father." Such were the sounds that hailed us from within a light which shone so radiantly that I could not endure the sight. "The sun," it added, "hastens, and evening comes. Delay not: before the western sky is hung with blackness, strive for the pass." Our way rose upright within the rock, and faced such part of heaven that from before my steps the beams of the sinking sun were shrouded.

Nor had we climbed many stairs when now, by the fading of the shadow, we perceived the sun couched behind us; and before one face of darkness had enveloped the horizon across its measureless expanse, and night had claimed her lot, each of us had made a stair his pallet—not that will, but power, had failed us, by the nature of that mount forbidden further travel. As the goats, that have lately skipped and wantoned swiftly on the craggy cliffs, before they had taken Their supper on the herb, now silent they lie And ruminate beneath the brown shade, While noon blazes; and the goatherd leans On his staff, and leaning watches them: And as the swain who lodges out all night In quiet by his flock, lest beasts of prey Scatter them; even so all three remained, I as a goat and they as the shepherds, Closely pent on either side by shelving rock.

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A little glimpse of sky was seen above; Yet through that little I beheld the stars In magnitude and rustle shining forth With more than wonted glory. As I lay, Gazing on them, and in that fit of musing, Sleep overcame me—sleep, which often brings Tidings of future hap. About the hour, As I believe, when Venus from the east first lightened on the mountain—she whose orb seems always glowing with the fire of love— a lady young and beautiful, I dreamed, was passing o'er a lea; and, as she came, methought I saw her ever and anon bending to cull the flowers; and thus she sang: "Know ye, whoever of my name would ask, That I am Leah: for my brow to weave A garland, these fair hands unwearied ply. To please me at the crystal mirror, here I deck me. But my sister Rachel, she Before her glass abides the livelong day, Her radiant eyes beholding, charmed no less Than I with this delightful task. Her joy In contemplation, as in labour mine.

And now the glimmering dawn appeared, which breaks Still more welcome to the pilgrim as he Journeys less far along his homeward way, Darkness fled from every side, and with it fled My slumber; whence I rose and saw my guide Already risen. "That delicious fruit, Which through so many a branch the zealous care Of mortals seeks in quest of, shall this day Appease thy hunger." Such the words I heard From Virgil's lips; and never greeting heard So pleasant as those sounds. Within me straightway Desire so grew upon desire to mount That thenceforward at each step I felt the wings Increasing for my flight. When we had run O'er all the ladder to its topmost round, As there we stood, on me the Mantuan fixed His eyes, and thus he spoke: "Both fires, my son, the temporal and the eternal, you have seen, and have arrived where my own sight no further reaches. With skill and art I have drawn you thus far. Now take your pleasure as your guide.

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You have overcome the steeper way, overcome the straighter. Lo! the sun, which darts its beam upon your forehead! Lo! the grass, the trees and flowers, which of itself this land pours forth in profusion! Until those bright eyes come with gladness, which, weeping, made me hasten to succour you, you may either sit down, or wander where you will. Expect no more sanction of warning voice or sign from me, free to choose at your own judgment, discreet, judicious. To distrust your sense "Were henceforth error. I invest thee then With crown and mitre, sovereign over thyself."

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CANTO XXVIII

Through that celestial forest, whose thick shade Was tempered with lively greenness by the new-springing day, Eager now to roam and search Its limits round, forthwith I left the bank, Along the champaign leisurely pursuing my way Over the ground, which on all sides Breathed delicious odour. A pleasant air, That never intermitted, never veered, Smote gently on my temples, like a wind Of softest influence: at which the sprays, All obedient, leaned trembling toward that part Where first the holy mountain casts its shade, Yet were not so disordered but that still On their top the feathered choristers Applied their wonted art, and with full joy welcomed those hours of prime, and warbled shrill amid the leaves, which to their jocund lays were an inept tenor; even as from branch to branch, along the piney forests on the shore of Chiassi, the gathering melody rolls, when Aeolus has loosed from his cavern the dripping south wind.

Already my steps, though slow, had transported me so far into that ancient wood that I could not discern the place where I had entered, when behold! my path was bounded by a rill, which to the left with little rippling waters bent the grass, that issued from its brink. On earth no wave, however clean, that would not seem to have some mixture in itself, compared with this, Transpicuous and clear; yet darkly across it rolled, Darkly beneath perpetual gloom that never Allows either sunlight or moonlight to shine there.

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My feet did not advance; but my wondering eyes Passed onward over the little stream to survey The tender May-bloom, flushed with many a hue In lavish variety; and there, As an object rising suddenly into view That drives every other thought from our breast With its rare marvel, I beheld A lady all alone, who went along singing And picking flower after flower, so that her path Was painted all over with them. "Beautiful lady! You who (if looks, which are accustomed to speak the heart, Are worthy of our trust), with love's own beam Warm yourself," thus I framed my speech to her: "Ah! Please come hither toward the streamlet, your steps so near that I may hear your song. Beholding you and this fair place, methinks I call to mind where wandered and how looked Proserpine, in that season when her child the mother lost, and she the bloomy spring."

As when a lady, turning in the dance, doth foot it featly, and advances scarce one step before the other to the ground; over the yellow and vermilion flowers thus turned she at my suit, most maiden-like, veiling her sober eyes, and came so near that I distinctly caught the dulcet sound. Arriving where the limpid waters now laved the green sward, her eyes she deigned to raise, that shot such splendour on me, as I ween Never glanced from Cytherea's when her son Had sped his keenest weapon to her heart. On the opposite bank she stood and smiled through her graceful fingers shifted still The intermingling dyes, which without seed That lofty land unbosoms. By the stream Three paces only separated us: yet The Hellespont, where Xerxes passed it o'er, (A curb for ever to the pride of man) Was by Leander not more hateful held For floating, with inhospitable wave 'Twixt Sestus and Abydos, than by me That flood, because it gave no passage thence.

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"Strangers ye come, and haply in this place, That cradled human nature in its birth, Wond'ring, ye not without suspicion view My smiles—but that sweet strain of psalmody, "Thou, Lord! hast made me glad," will give you light, which may uncloud your minds. And you, who stand foremost, and made your suit to me, say if there is anything else you wish to hear; for I came promptly to answer your every doubt."

She spoke; and I replied: "I do not know how to reconcile this wave and rustling sound of forest leaves with what I recently heard of an opposite report." She answered thus: "I will unfold the cause from which that proceeds which makes you wonder, and so purge the cloud that has enwrapped you. The First Good, whose joy is only in himself, created man for happiness, and gave this goodly place, his pledge and earnest of eternal peace. Favored thus highly, through his own fault he fell, and here made a short stay; he fell, and, because of the bitterness of sorrow, exchanged blameless laughter and ever-new delight. So that no vapors exhaled from the earth beneath, or from the waters (which, wherever heat attracts them, follow it), might ascend this far to disturb man's peaceful state, this mountain rose so high toward heaven, nor does it fear the rage of the contending elements, being exempt from that region where the gate bars his limit.

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Because the surrounding air throughout still circles with its first impulse, unless something interposes to check or thwart its course; on the summit, which on every side is open to the visitation of the impassive air Is open, and that motion strikes and makes Beneath its sway the shady wood resound: And in the shaken plant such power resides That it impregnates with its efficacy The voyaging breeze, on whose subtle plume That wafted flies abroad; and the other land, Receiving it (as is worthy in itself, Or in the clime that warms it), doth conceive, And from its womb produces many a tree Of various virtue. This when thou hast heard, The marvel ceases, if in yonder earth Some plant without apparent seed be found To fix its fibrous stem. And further learn, That with prolific abundance of all seeds This holy plain is filled, and in itself Bears fruit that never was plucked on other soil.

The water you see does not spring from a vein, like a stream that intermittently renews itself and spends its pulse of life, but issues forth from a fountain that is solid, undecaying, sure; and by the omnific will, a full supply feeds whatever it pours on either side; on this side it has power to take away the remembrance of offence, on that to bring back the remembrance of every good deed done. Hence its name of Lethe on this part; on the other, Eunoe: both of which must first be tasted before it works; the last exceeding all other flavours. Although your thirst may now be well contented if I break off here and reveal no more, yet a corollary I freely give besides: nor deem my words Less grateful to thee, if they somewhat pass The stretch of promise. They whose verse of yore Recorded the golden age and its bliss, On the Parnassian mountain, of this place Perhaps had dreamed.

Here was man guiltless, here Perpetual spring and every fruit, and this The far-famed nectar." Turning to the bards, When she had ceased, I noted in their looks A smile at her conclusion; then I turned my face Again to the lovely dame.

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CANTO XXIX

Singing, as if enamoured, she resumed And closed the song with "Blessed are they whose sins Are covered." Like the wood-nymphs then, that tripped Singly across the sylvan shadows, one Eager to view and one to escape the sun, So moved she on, against the current, up The verdant shore. I followed her mincing step, Watching, with a step as slow as hers.

Between us we had not trod a hundred paces, The bank, bending equally on each side, Turned me to face the east. Nor had our way Brought us far onward when, all at once, She turned to me and cried: "My brother! Look and listen." And lo! a sudden radiance ran across Through the great forest in every part, so bright That I wondered whether lightning were abroad; But since it kept expiring in the spleen That unfolds it, and this light stayed still And still grew in splendor, it made me question What it might be; and a sweet melody Ran through the luminous air. Then I chided With justifiable zeal the hardihood Of our first parent, for on that earth Stood in obedience to the heavens, she alone, Woman, the creature of an hour, did not endure Restraint of any veil: had she borne this Devoutly, joys as ineffable as these Would have been mine from the first, and for a long time since.

While through that wilderness of early sweets That never fade, I walked in suspense, and yet Expectant of a higher beatitude, Before us, like a blazing fire, the air Beneath the green boughs glowed; and, in place of a song, The sound of melody was heard distinctly.

O thrice holy virgins! for your sakes, If ever I have suffered hunger, cold and watching, Occasion calls on me to crave your bounty. Now through my breast let Helicon pour his stream Pour copiously; and Urania with her choir Arise to aid me, while the verse unfolds Things that almost mock the grasp of thought.

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A little farther on, what seemed seven trees of gold Were falsely presented to my eye By the intervening distance; but when I had come So near them that no feature was lost Of those with which a doubtful object, seen From afar, plays on the misjudging sense, Then the faculty that ministers Discourse to reason distinguished these as tapers of gold, And in the singing I traced the sound "Hosanna." Above, their beauteous garniture Flaméd with more ample lustre than the moon Through a cloudless sky at midnight in her fullness.

I turned to my guide, full of wonder; And he did answer with a countenance Charged with no less amazement; at which my gaze Turned back to those lofty things, which came Moving toward us so slowly that the bride Would have outrun them on her wedding day.

The lady called aloud: "Why does affection Still burn in you for these living lights, And why do you not look at what follows them?"

I straightway marked a tribe walking behind them, As if attendant on their leaders, clothed In raiment of such whiteness as on earth Was never seen. On my left, the watery gleam Borrowed, and gave me back, when I looked there, As in a mirror, my left side portrayed.

When I had chosen such a station on the river's edge That the distance of the stream Alone I withdrew; there I remained My steps for a clearer view, and beheld The flames move onward, leaving, as they went, The air behind them painted as with trails Of the liveliest pencils! so distinct were marked All those seven listed colors, whence the sun Makes his bow, and Cynthia her zone. These streaming banners did flow beyond My vision; and ten paces, as I guess, Parted the outermost. Beneath a sky So beautiful, came four and twenty elders, By two and two, with flower-de-luces crowned.

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All sang one song: "Blessed be thou among The daughters of Adam! and thy loveliness Blessed for ever!" After that the flowers, And the fresh herblets, on the opposite brink, We are free from that elected race; as light In heaven doth second light, came after them Four animals, each crowned with verdurous leaf. With six wings each was plumed, the plumage full Of eyes, and the eyes of Argus would be such, Were they endued with life. Reader, more rhymes Will not be wasted in shadowing forth their form: For other need no straitens, that in this I may not give my bounty room. But read Ezekiel; for he paints them, from the north How he beheld them come by Chebar's flood, In whirlwind, cloud and fire; and even such As thou shalt find them characterized by him, Here were they; save as to the pennons; there, From him departing, John accords with me.

The space, surrounded by the four, enclosed A triumphal car: it came on two wheels, drawn by a Gryphon’s neck; and above it he stretched either wing uplifted, between the middle and the three listed hues, three on each side; so that the wings neither clove nor injured any; and out of sight they rose. The members, as far as he was bird, were golden; the rest white interveined with vermilion. So beautiful a car never graced Augustus’ pomp in Rome, or Africanus’: even the sun’s own would be poor to this—that chariot of the sun erroneous, which fell in blazing ruin at Tellus’ devout prayer, by the just doom mysterious of all-seeing Jove. Three nymphs at the right wheel came circling in a smooth dance; the one so ruddy that her form had scarcely Was known within a furnace of clear flame: The next one appeared as if his flesh and bones Were emerald; the third seemed like newly fallen snow.

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Now the white seemed lead, and now the red; And from her song who led, the others took Their treasure, swift or slow. At the other wheel, A group of four advanced, each clad in purple, With festive step, as if one among them Conducted the rest—one on whose brow Three eyes were seen. Behind all this group, I beheld two old men, dissimilar In raiment, but alike in bearing and gesture, Solid and chiefly grave; of whom the one Showed himself to be some favored counselor Of the great Coan—him whom nature made To serve the costliest creature of her tribe. His companion showed an opposing intent, Bearing a sword whose glittering and keen edge, Even as I viewed it with the flood between, Appalled me. Next I beheld four others, Of humble appearance; and behind them all, A single old man, sleeping as he came, With a shrewd visage. And these seven were each Habited like the first troop, but wore No braid of lilies wreathed upon their temples.

Rather with roses and every vermeil flower, A sight, but little distant, might have sworn That they were all on fire above their brow.

When the car was opposite me, straightway A thundering was heard, at whose voice it seemed The chosen multitude were stayed; for there, With the first ensigns, they made solemn halt.

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CANTO XXX

As soon as the polar light, which never knows Setting or rising, nor the shadowy veil Of any cloud but sin, fair ornament Of the first heaven, safely convoying each one there To duty, as that lower light doth The steersman to his port, stood firmly fixed; Forthwith the saintly tribe, who in the van Came between the Gryphon and its radiance, Turned them to the car, as to their rest: And one, as if commissioned from above, In holy chant thrice shorted forth aloud: "Come, spouse, from Libanus!" and all the rest Took up the song—at the last audit so The blest shall rise, from forth his cavern each Lightly uplifting his new-vested flesh, As, on the sacred litter, at the voice Authoritative in that elder, sprang A hundred ministers and messengers Of life eternal. "Blessed art thou who comest!" And, "O," they cried, "from full hands scatter ye Unwithering lilies;" and, so saying, cast Flowers over head and round them on all sides.

I have beheld, ere now, at break of day, The eastern clime all roseate, and the sky Opposed, one deep and beautiful serene, And the sun's face so shaded, and with mists Attempered at lids rising, that the eye Long while endured the sight: thus in a cloud Of flowers, that from those hands angelic rose, And down, within and outside of the car, Fell showering, in white veil with olive wreathed, A virgin in my view appeared, beneath Green mantle, robed in the hue of living flame:

And over my spirit, which in former days had dwelt so long within her presence, no shuddering terror crept. My eyes no longer had knowledge of her; yet there moved from her a hidden virtue, at whose touch awakened, the power of ancient love was strong within me.

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No sooner had the heavenly influence, which in years past and even in childhood had thrilled me, struck my streaming vision, than I turned toward Virgil, to the left, panting like a babe that flees for refuge to his mother's breast if anything has terrified him or worked him woe: and I would have cried: "There is not a dram of blood that does not quiver in me. The old flame throws out clear tokens of reviving fire:" But Virgil had been taken from us— Virgil, my most beloved father; Virgil, he to whom I gave myself up for safety; nor, though our prime mother was lost, did that avail to save my cheeks, not yet graced with down, from the blur of defiling tears.

“Dante, do not weep that Virgil leaves you—no, do not weep yet: it behooves you to feel the edge of another sword, and you shall weep for that.”

As on the prow or stern some admiral paces the deck, inspiriting his crew, when among the sail-yards all hands ply their work aloft; so on the left side of the chariot I saw, (turning at the sound of my own name, which here I am compelled to register) the virgin stationed, who had before appeared veiled in that angelic festive shower.

Towards me, across the stream, she bent her eyes; Though from her brow the veil descending, bound With foliage of Minerva, did not allow That I beheld her clearly; then with an act Full royal, still insulting over her thrall, She added, as one who, speaking, keeps back The bitterest saying, to conclude the speech: "Observe me well. I am, in sooth, I am Beatrice. What! and hast thou deign'd at last To approach the mountain? Knewest not, O man! Thy happiness is whole?" Down fell mine eyes On the clear fount, but there, espying myself, I recoil'd, and sought the greensward: such a weight Of shame was on my forehead. With a mien Of that stern majesty which doth surround A mother's presence to her awe-struck child, She looked; a trace of such bitterness was mingled with her pity.

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There her words broke off, and suddenly the angels sang: "In thee, O gracious Lord, my hope has been:" but went no further than, "Thou Lord, hast set my feet in ample room." As snow that lies among the living rafters on the back of Italy, congealed when drifted high and closely piled by rough Sclavonian blasts, breathe but the land whereon no shadow falls, and straightway melting it distils away, like a fire-wasted taper: thus was I, without a sigh or tear, or ever these did sing, that with the chiming of heaven's sphere, still in their warbling chime: but when the strain of dulcet symphony, expressed for me Their tender compassion, more than words could express, "Virgin, why do you consume him so?" Then the ice, which had congealed around my heart, turned itself into spirit and water, and in anguish poured forth through my lips and eyelids from my heart.

She still stood at the right edge of the chariot, immovable, and addressed her words to those bright figures touched with pity: "You who keep your vigils in the eternal day, so that neither night nor sleep, with stealthy closeness, takes from you a single step in all the goings-on of life: therefore with more care I frame my answer, intended for his ear, who stands there weeping, so that the sorrow now may equal the transgression. Not alone through the operation of the mighty orbs, That mark each seed to some predestined aim, As with aspect or fortunate or ill The constellations meet, but through benign Largess of heavenly graces, which rain down From such a height as mocks our vision, this man Was in the freshness of his being, such, So gifted virtually, that in him All better habits wondrously had thrived.

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The more of kindly strength is in the soil, So much doth evil seed and lack of culture Mar it the more, and make it run to wildness. These looks sometime upheld him; for I showed My youthful eyes, and led him by their light In upright walking. Soon as I had reached The threshold of my second age, and changed My mortal for immortal, then he left me, And gave himself to others. When from flesh to spirit I had risen, and increase of beauty and of virtue circled me, I was less dear to him, and valued less. His steps were turned into deceitful ways, following false images of good, that make no promise perfect. Nor did it avail me aught to sue for inspirations, with which, I, both in dreams of night and otherwise, did call him back; of them so little recked he, such depth he fell, that all device was short of his preserving, save that he should view the children of perdition.

To this end I visited the purlieus of the dead: and one, who hath conducted him thus high, received my supplications urged with weeping. It was a breaking of God's high decree, if Lethe should be passed, and such food tasted without the cost of some repentant tear."

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CANTO XXXI

"O Thou!" she thus, without delay, resuming, turned her words' point on me, to whom they had seemed harsh before only with their lateral edge, "Say thou, who standest beyond the holy stream, if this be true. A charge so grievous needs thine own avowal." Upon my faculty such strange amazement hung that the voice expired imperfect, before its organs gave it birth.

Refraining a little space, then she spoke: "What dost thou muse on? Answer me. The wave on thy remembrances of evil hath as yet done no injury." A mingled sense of fear and of confusion, from my lips Did such a "Yea" produce, as needed help Of vision to interpret. As when, breaking In act to be discharged, a crossbow bent Beyond its pitch, both nerve and bow o'erstretched, The flagging weapon feebly hits the mark; Thus, tears and sighs forth gushing, did I burst Beneath the heavy load, and thus my voice Was slackened on its way. She straight began: "When my desire invited thee to love The good, which sets a bound to our aspirings, What bar of thwarting foss or linked chain Did meet thee, that thou so shouldst quit the hope Of further progress, or what bait of ease Or promise of allurement led thee on Elsewhere, that thou elsewhere shouldst rather wait?"

A bitter sigh I drew, then scarce found voice To answer these sounds, my lips barely gave utterance, wailing: "Thy fair looks withdrawn, things present, with deceitful pleasures, turned my steps aside." She answering spoke: "Hadst thou Has been silent, or denied what you avow, You would not have hidden your sin the more: such an eye Observes it. But whenever the sinner's cheek Breaks forth into the precious-streaming tears Of self-accusation: in our court the wheel of justice turns contrary to the edge. However you may profit from your shame for past errors, and so that from now on more strength may arm you when you hear the Siren voice, set aside the cause of this grief, and lend an attentive ear while I unfold how, in the opposite way, my buried flesh Should have compelled you. Never did you see in art or nature anything so surpassingly sweet as were the limbs that, in their beauteous frame, enclosed me, and are now scattered in dust.

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If the sweetest thing thus failed you with my death, what, afterward, of mortal should your wish have tempted? When you first had felt the dart of perishable things, in my departing for better realms, you should have pruned your wing to follow me, and never stooped again to abide a second blow for a slight girl, or other gaud as transient and as vain. The new and inexperienced bird awaits, twice it may be, or thrice, the fowler's aim; but in the sight of one whose plumes are full, in vain the net is spread, the arrow winged."

I stood like a child, silent and ashamed, listening with eyes fixed on the ground, acknowledging my fault and condemning myself. And she resumed: "If hearing this pains you so, lift your beard and see what sight will do."

With less reluctance does a sturdy holm oak yield, torn from its fibers by a blast that blows from off the pole, or from Iarbas' land, than I raised my face at her command: and thus, showing my face by the beard, I marked the secret sting her words conveyed.

No sooner had I lifted my gaze than that vision I beheld sank downward and vanished, of goodly creatures; and my eyes, still unassured and wavering, bent their light on Beatrice. Toward the animal that joins two natures in one form, she turned, and, even under the shadow of her veil, and parted by the verdant rill that flowed between, she appeared in loveliness as much Her former self surpassing, as on earth she surpassed all others. Remorseful goads shot suddenly through me. Each thing else, the more its love had lately beguiled me, now the more I was loathsome. On my heart so keenly smote the bitter consciousness that, on the ground, overpowered I fell; and what my state was then, she knows who was the cause. When now my strength flowed back, returning outward from the heart, the lady, whom alone I first had seen, I found above me.

"Loose me not," she cried: "loose not thy hold;" and lo! she had dragged me high as to my neck into the stream, while she, still as she drew me after, swept along, swift as a shuttle, bounding over the wave.

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The blessed shore approaching then was heard So sweetly, "Tu asperges me," that I may not remember, much less tell the sound. The beauteous lady, opening her arms, clasped my temples and immersed me where it was fit that the wave should drench me; and then, raising me up, within the fourfold dance of lovely nymphs presented me so washed, and with their arms they each covered me. "Here are we nymphs, and in the heavens are stars. Before ever earth was visited by Beatrice, we were appointed as her handmaids and tended on her. We will lead you to her eyes; but the light of gladness that is in them, to scan it well, those three yonder, of deeper ken than ours, shall quicken your sight." Thus began their song; and then they led me to the Gryphon's breast, While Beatrice stood turned toward us, "Spare not thy vision. We have stationed thee Before the emeralds, from which love once Drew his weapons against thee."

As they spoke, A thousand fervent wishes riveted My eyes on her beaming eyes, which stood Still fixed toward the Gryphon, motionless. As the sun strikes a mirror, even so Within those orbs the twofold being shone, Forever varying, now in one figure Reflected, now in the other. Reader! muse How wondrous in my sight it seemed to mark A thing, albeit steadfast in itself, Yet mutable in its imaged semblance.

Full of amazement and joy, while my soul Fed on the viand of which still desire Grows with satiety, the other three With a gesture that declared a loftier line, advanced: to their own carol on they came dancing in a festive, angelical ring.

"Turn, Beatrice!" was their song: "O turn your saintly sight on this your faithful one, who to behold you many a wearisome pace has measured. Gracious at our prayer vouchsafe to unveil your cheeks to him: that he may mark your second beauty, now concealed." O splendour! O sacred light eternal! who is he so pale with musing in Pierian shades, or so lavishly imbued with that fount, whose spirit should not fail him in the attempt to represent you such as you did seem, when under the cope of the still-chiming heaven You revealed your charms to the open air.

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CANTO XXXII

My eyes, with such eager coveting, were bent on slaking their ten years' thirst, and no other sense was awake; even they were fenced on either side against heed of anything, so tangled in their accustomed toils that the smile of saintly brightness drew me to itself, when my sight was forcibly turned to the left toward the sacred virgins; for from their lips I heard the warning sounds: "Too fixed a gaze!"

For a while my vision labored, as when late the sun has smitten the overstrained eyes; but soon, as my view was now recovered, to a lesser object (lesser in respect to that excess of the sensible from which late I had perforce been sundered), on their right I marked that glorious army wheel and turn their front against the sun and the sevenfold lights. As when, having raised their bucklers for protection, a well-ordered troop, with stately banners curled, wheels in a circle before the whole can change its ground: even so the goodly regiment of heaven, advancing, all passed us before the chariot had lowered its beam. Attendant at the wheels the maidens turned; and upon the Gryphon moved the sacred burden, with a pace so smooth that no feather on him trembled. The fair lady who had drawn me through the wave, accompanied by Statius and myself, followed the wheel, whose rolling orbit traced a lesser arc.

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Through the high wood, now empty (the more her blame, who was beguiled by the serpent) I passed With steps in cadence to the harmony, Angelic. We had moved onward, as far As perhaps an arrow at three separate flights Fully winged would have sped, when from her station Beatrice descended. With one voice All murmured "Adam," then circled a plant Stripped of flowers and leaves on every bough. Its branches, spreading wider the higher they rose, Were such that amid their wild forest, for height, The Indians might have gazed at them. "Blessed are you, Gryphon, whose beak has never plucked that tree Pleasant to taste: for from it the appetite Was warped to evil." Around the stately trunk The rest thus shouted forth, and to them replied The two-gendered animal: "Yes: for so The generation of the just are saved." And turning to the chariot-pole, to foot he drew it from the widowed branch, and bound it there, left on the stock where it had grown.

As when great floods of radiance from above stream, mingled with that radiance which ascends just after the setting of the scaly sign, our plants then bud, and each puts on anew its wonted colours, before the sun has yoked beneath another star his flaming steeds; thus putting forth a hue more faint than rose, and deeper than the violet, was renewed the plant, till then bare in all its branches.

Unearthly was the hymn that then arose. I did not understand it, nor endure the harmony to the end. Had I the skill to depict how the unpitying eyes closed Slumbering, when Syrinx warbled (eyes that paid so dearly for their watching), then like a painter who paints from a model, I might depict the manner of my falling into sleep. But let who will feign slumber cunningly; I pass over that to when I woke, and tell how suddenly a flash of splendour rent the curtain of my sleep, and one cries out: "Arise, what art thou doing?"

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As the chosen three, on Mount Tabor, admitted to behold the blossoming of that fair tree whose fruit is coveted by angels and does make a perpetual feast in heaven, returning to themselves at the word, whence deeper sleeps were broken, so that they saw their tribe diminished, both Moses and Elias gone, and changed The stole their master wore: thus to myself Returning, I beheld myself standing over me —the piteous one who had brought my steps across the stream. "And where," I exclaimed, full of doubt, "is Beatrice?"—"See her," she replied, "beneath the fresh leaf, seated on its root. Behold the associate choir that circles her. The others, with a melody more sweet and more profound, journeying to higher realms, are bound for the Gryphon." Whether her words ended there, I do not know; but my eyes had now caught sight of her, by whom all other thoughts were barred from admittance.

On the very ground alone she sat, as if she had been left there as a guard on the wain, which I beheld bound to the two-formed beast. The seven nymphs She made a cloister for herself around her, and in their hands they held those lights secure from the north blast and the gusty south.

"A little while you shall be a forester here, and you shall be a citizen forever with me of that true Rome wherein Christ is a Roman. To profit the misguided world, keep now your eyes on the chariot; and what you see, take heed that you write it down when you return to that place."

Thus Beatrice spoke; and at her feet, inclined devoutly, at her command I directed my thought and eyes as she bade me. Never did fire, with such swift motion, leap downward from a stormy cloud from the farthest bound of the sky, as I beheld the bird of Jove descending to pounce upon the tree, and, as he rushed, the bark, Scattering a crush beneath him, buds much more And leaflets. On the car with all his might He struck, whence, staggering like a ship, it reeled, Driven at random, now to starboard, overcome, And now to larboard, by the vaulting waves.

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Next springing up into the chariot's womb I saw a fox, with hunger seeming pined Of all good food. But, for his ugly sins The saintly maid rebuking him, away Scampering he turned, fast as his hide-bound corpse Would bear him. Next, from whence before he came, I saw the eagle dart into the hull O' th' car, and leave it with his feathers lined; And then a voice, like that which issues forth From a heart with sorrow rived, did issue forth From heav'n, and, "O poor bark of mine!" it cried, "How heavily art thou freighted!" Then it seemed that the earth opened between either wheel, and I beheld a dragon issue thence, that through the chariot fixed his forked train; and like a wasp that draggeth back the sting, so drawing forth his baleful train, he dragged part of the bottom forth, and went his way exulting.

What remained, as lively turf with green herb, so did clothe itself with plumes, which haply had with purpose chaste and kind been offered; and therewith were clothed the wheels, both one and the other, and the beam, so quickly a sigh were not breathed sooner. Thus transformed, the holy structure, through its several parts, did put forth heads, three on the beam, and one on every side; the first like oxen horned, But with a single horn on their front The four. Like monster sight hath never seen. O'er it methought there sat, secure as rock On mountain's lofty top, a shameless whore, Whose ken rov'd loosely round her. At her side, As 't were that none might bear her off, I saw A giant stand; and ever, and anon They mingled kisses.

But, her lustful eyes Chancing on me to wander, that fell minion Scourg'd her from head to foot all o'er; then full Of jealousy, and fierce with rage, unloos'd The monster, and dragg'd on, so far across The forest, that from me its shades alone Shielded the harlot and the new-form'd brute.

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CANTO XXXIII

"The heathen, Lord! are come!" responsive thus, The trinal now, and now the virgin band Their sweet psalmody began, Weeping; and Beatrice listened, sad And sighing, to the song, in such a mood That Mary, as she stood beside the cross, Was scarcely more changed. But when they gave her leave To speak, then, risen upright on her feet, She, with a color glowing bright as fire, Answered: "Yet a little while, and ye Shall see me not; and, my beloved sisters, Again a little while, and ye shall see me."

Before her then she marshaled all the seven, And, beckoning only, motioned me, the lady, And that remaining sage, to follow her.

So on she passed; and had not set, I ween, Her tenth step to the ground, when with my eyes Her eyes met mine; and, with visage mild, "So mend thy pace," she cried, "that if my words Address thee, thou mayst still be aptly plac'd To hear them." As soon as I had duly hastened To her side: "Brother!" she began, "Why dost thou make no attempt at questioning, As thus we walk together?" Like those Who, speaking with too reverent an awe Before their betters, draw not forth the voice Alive unto their lips, it befell me That I in imperfect sounds thus began: "Lady! what I have need of, that thou know'st, And what will suit my need." She answering thus: "Of fearfulness and shame, I will that thou Henceforth rid thee: that thou speak no more As one who dreams. Thus far be taught of me: The vessel, which thou saw'st the serpent break, Was and is not: let him who bears the blame not hope to ward off God's vengeance with a sop.

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Without an heir forever shall not be that eagle, he who left the chariot plumed, which monster first made it and then a prey. Plainly I see, and therefore speak: the stars even now approaching, whose conjunction, free from all impediment and bar, brings on a season in which one sent from God, (five hundred, five, and ten mark him out) that foul one, and the accomplice of her guilt, the giant, both shall slay. And if perchance my saying, dark as Themis or as the Sphinx, fails to persuade thee (since like them it baffles the intellect with blindness), yet ere long events shall be the Naiads that will solve This knotty riddle, and no damage light on flock or field. Take heed; and as these words are uttered by me, teach them just so to those who live that life which is a race to death: and when you write them, keep in mind not to conceal how you have seen the plant, which has now twice been spoiled.

Whoever robs it, whoever plucks it, sins against God with blasphemy of deed, who created it holy for his use alone. For a taste of this, in pain and in desire, for five thousand years and more, the first soul yearned for him who punished in himself the fatal taste.

"Your reason slumbers if it deems this height and summit of the plant thus inverted without due cause: and were not vainer thoughts, As Elsa's numbing waters to thy soul, And their fond pleasures had not dyed it dark As Pyramus the mulberry, thou hadst seen, In such momentous circumstance alone, God's equal justice morally implied In the forbidden tree. But since I mark thee In understanding hardened into stone, And, to that hardness, spotted too and stained, So that thine eye is dazzled at my word, I will that, if not written, yet at least Painted thou take it in thee, for the cause, That one brings home his staff inwreath'd with palm.

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I thus: "As wax by seal, that changeth not Its impress, now is stamped my brain by thee. But wherefore soars thy wished-for speech so high Beyond my sight, that loses it the more, "The more it strains to reach it?"—"To the end That thou mayst know," she answered straight, "the school That thou hast followed, and how far behind, When following my discourse, its learning halts; And thou mayst behold your art, from the divine As distant as the disagreement is Between earth and heaven's most high and rapturous orb."

"I do not remember," I replied, "that I ever Was estranged from thee, nor for such fault Does conscience chide me." Smiling, she returned: "If thou canst not remember, call to mind How lately thou hast drunk of Lethe's wave; And, sure as smoke indicates a flame, In that forgetfulness itself conclude Blame incurred from thy alienated will. From henceforth verily my words shall be As naked as they will want to appear In your unpracticed view." More sparkling now, And with slowed course the sun had reached The circle of midday, which still varies As the aspect of each different clime varies, When, like one sent ahead of a troop As escort, he pauses, if perhaps he spies Some trace of something strange and rare: so paused The sevenfold band, arriving at the edge Of a dark, hoary shade, such as is often seen, Beneath green leaves and gloomy branches, Overhanging a bleak alpine cliff.

And where they stood, before them, as it seemed, They beheld both Tigris and Euphrates Issuing from one fountain; and, like friends, Lingering at parting. "O enlightening beam! O glory of our kind! I beseech thee, say: What water is this which, derived from one source, removes itself to a distance from itself?"

To such entreaty this answer was made: "Entreat Matilda, that she teach thee this."

And here, like one who clears himself of blame imputed to him, the fair lady replied: "From me he has learned this and more; and I am certain that Lethe's water has not hidden it from him."

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And Beatrice: "Some more pressing care that often steals away the memory has, perhaps, made his mind's eye dark. But lo! where Eunoe flows! Lead him thither; and, as thou art wont, revive his fainting virtue." As a courteous spirit, who offers no excuses, but as soon as he has a token of another's will, makes it his own; when she had taken me, thus The lovely maiden moved on and called to Statius with a most ladylike air: "Come with him." If more space were allowed, then, Reader, I might sing, though only in part, of that drink with whose sweetness I had never been sated. But since all the leaves are full, appointed for this second strain, my art checks me with a warning bridle. I returned from the most holy wave, reborn, as if renewed like new plants with new foliage, pure and made fit for mounting to the stars.

PARADISE

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CANTO I

His glory, by whose might all things are moved, pierces the universe, and in one part sheds more resplendence, elsewhere less. In heaven, that largest part of his light, I was, Witness of things, which to relate again Surpasses the power of him who comes from thence; For that, so near approaching its desire Our intellect is absorbed to such depth, That memory cannot follow. Nevertheless, all That in my thoughts I of that sacred realm Could store shall now be the matter of my song.

Benign Apollo! aid this last labour, And make me such a vessel of thy worth As thy own laurel claims of me beloved. Thus far one of steep Parnassus' brows Has sufficed me; henceforth there is need of both For my remaining enterprise. Do thou Enter into my bosom, and there breathe As when Marsyas by thy hand was dragged Forth from his limbs unsheathed. O power divine! If you impart to me even a little of your radiance, so that I may set before my eyes the shadowed form of that blessed realm, traced in my thoughts, then you shall see me come to the foot of your favored tree and crown myself with its leaves; for you and my lofty theme will make me worthy of that honor. Only seldom, mighty Sire, does a Caesar or a poet gather from there a wreath to grace his triumph (to the greater shame of human wills, depraved); yet joy must spring up for the Delphic god from the Pierian foliage when one breast is inspired with such thirst.

From a small spark a great flame has risen; after me, perhaps, others with better voice may pray and receive a kind answer from the Cirrhaean city.

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Through diverse passages, the world's bright lamp Rises toward mortals, but through that which joins Four circles with the threefold cross, at the best Course, and set in the happiest constellation, He comes, and to the worldly wax best gives Its temper and impression. Morning there, Here evening was made by almost such a passage; And whiteness had spread over that hemisphere, Blackness over the other part; when to the left I saw Beatrice turn, and on the sun Gazing, as never eagle fixed its sight. As from the first a second beam is wont To issue, and reflected upwards rise, Even as a pilgrim bent on his return, So from her act, which through the eyesight passed Into my fancy, mine was formed; and straight, Beyond our mortal wont, I fixed my eyes On the sun. Much is permitted us there that here exceeds our power; thanks to the place made for the dwelling of humankind.

I did not endure it long, and yet so long that I beheld it sparking and crackling around, like iron that comes boiling from the fire. And suddenly the day appeared as a newly risen day, as if he who has the power had decked the sky with another sun.

Her eyes fixed fast on the eternal wheels, Beatrice stood unmoved; and I, with my gaze fixed on her, withdrew from looking upward at her aspect, and inwardly became such as Glaucus, when he tasted of the herb that made him a peer among the ocean gods; words cannot tell of that transhuman change: And so let this example serve, though weak, for those for whom grace holds better proof in store.

If I were only what you did create, then newly, Love! by whom the heavens are ruled, you know, who by your light did bear me up. When the wheel that you forever guide, Desired Spirit! with its harmony tempered by you and measured, charmed my ear, then it seemed to me that so much of heaven blazed with the sun's flame that rain or flood never made a lake so broad. The newness of the sound, and that great light, inflamed me with desire, keener than was ever felt, to know their cause.

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Whence she who saw me, clearly as myself, to calm my troubled mind, before I asked, opened her lips, and gracious thus began: "With false imagination thou thyself Mak'st dull, so that thou seest not the thing, Which thou hadst seen, had that been shaken off. Thou art not on the earth as thou believ'st; For light'ning scap'd from its own proper place Ne'er ran, as thou hast hither now return'd."

Although divested of my first-rais'd doubt, By those brief words, accompanied with smiles, Yet in new doubt was I entangled more, And said: "Already satisfied, I rest From admiration deep, but now admire How I above those lighter bodies rise."

Whence, after utt'rance of a piteous sigh, She tow'rds me bent her eyes, with such a look, As on her frenzied child a mother casts; Then thus began: "Among themselves all things Have order, and from this the form that makes the universe resemble God. In this the higher creatures see the printed steps of that eternal worth, which is the end toward which the line is drawn. All natures lean, in this their order, in diverse ways—some more, some less approaching their primal source. Thus they are moved toward different havens through the vast sea of being, and each one by the instinct given that bears it on its course; this directs the fire to the lunar sphere, this prompts the hearts of mortal animals, this knits and binds the brute earth together. Nor are only creatures void of intellect aimed at by this bow; but even those that have intelligence and love are pierced.

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That Providence, which so well orders all things, with its own light makes the heavens forever calm, in which the substance that has the greatest speed is turned: and thither now, as to our destined seat, we are carried by the force of that strong cord, which never looses its dart except at a fair and glad aim. Yet it is true that, just as the form often ill accords with the design of art, through the sluggishness of unresponsive matter, so this course is sometimes abandoned by the creature, which has the power, though thus directed, to bend elsewhere; as from a cloud fire is seen to fall, warped from its original impulse down to earth by vicious fondness. Do not wonder at your soaring any more (if I judge rightly) than at the lapse Of a torrent falling downward from a mountain's height. There would be more cause for wonder in you, If, free of hindrance, you had fixed yourself Below, like fire unmoving on the earth."

So saying, she turned her face toward heaven.

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CANTO II

All you who in a small bark have followed sailing, Eager to listen, on the adventurous track Of my proud keel, which singing cuts its way, Return backward with speed, and revisit your own shores, Nor put out to the open sea, Where, losing me, perhaps you may remain Bewildered in a deep maze. The way I pass Was never yet run: Minerva breathes the gale, Apollo guides me, and another Nine Reveal the arctic beams to my rapt sight. You other few, who have outstretched the neck. Timely for the food of angels, on which here they live, yet never know satiety, through the deep brine you may fearlessly put out your vessel, marking well the broad furrow before you in the wave, which on both sides returns equally. Those glorious ones who passed over to Colchos did not wonder as you will, when they saw Jason following the plough.

The uncreated perpetual thirst that draws toward the realm of God's own form bore us swift almost as the heaven you behold.

Beatrice gazed upward, and I at her, and in such time as a dart is placed upon the notch, then loosed flies, I saw myself arrived where a wondrous thing engaged my sight. Whence she, to whom no work of mine was hidden, Turning to me with an aspect as glad as it was fair, he said to me: "Direct your mind in gratitude to God, through whom we have come to this first star."

It seemed to me as if a cloud had covered us, translucent, solid, firm, and brightly polished, like adamant, which the sun's beam has struck. Within itself the ever-during pearl received us, as the wave receives a ray of light and remains unbroken. If I then was of corporeal frame, and it transcends our weaker thought, how one dimension thus could endure another, which must needs be if body enters body, how much more must the desire inflame us to behold that essence, which reveals by what means God and our nature are joined! There will be seen That which we hold through faith, not shown by proof, But in itself intelligibly plain, Even as the truth that man at first believes.

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I answered: "Lady! with devout thoughts, Such as I best can frame, I give thanks to Him Who has removed me from the mortal world. But tell me, I pray thee, whence the gloomy spots On this body, which below on earth Give rise to talk of Cain in quaint fable?"

She smiled somewhat, then spake: "If mortals err in their opinion when the key of sense unlocks not, surely the keen weapon of wonder ought not to pierce thee; since thou findest that the wings of reason are too short to pursue the flight of the senses. But declare what thy own thought is."

Then I: "What various here above appears is caused, I deem, by bodies dense or rare."

She then resumed: "Thou certainly wilt see Thy belief overwhelmed in falsehood, if well Thou listen to the arguments which I Shall bring to face it. The eighth sphere displays Numberless lights, the which in kind and size May be remarked in different respects; If rarity or density alone were the cause of that, then there would be one single virtue in all things, distributed alike, whether more or less. Different virtues must necessarily be the fruits of formal principles, and these, except for one, will be destroyed by your reasoning. Besides, if rarity were the cause of that dimness which you inquire about, then either in some part that planet must be entirely void throughout, and not fed with its own matter; or, just as bodies share their fat and leanness, in like manner this must change its leaves throughout its volume.

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The first, if it were true, would have been manifested through the sun's eclipse, by the transparency of light, as through any rare thing besides, poured through. But this is not. It therefore remains to be seen The other cause: and if the other falls, Erroneous, so must prove what seemed to you. If this rarity does not pass from side to side Through, there must needs be a limit, whence Its contrary no longer lets it pass. And hence the beam, which proceeds from without, Must be poured back, as colour comes through glass Reflected, which conceals the lead behind it. Now you will say that there the ray is shown Of a murkier hue than in the other part, By being refracted farther back from there. From this perplexity experience will soon Free you, if you make trial thereof, The fountain whence your arts derive their stream. Three mirrors shall you take, and two remove From the same source as those two, and more remote, the third.

Between the former pair, shall meet your eyes; Then turn toward them, and cause behind your back A light to stand that shall shine on all three, And thus reflected come to you from all. Though the most distant one beheld does not stretch Across so ample a space, yet in brightness you Will acknowledge it equal to the rest. But now, As beneath snow the ground, if the warm ray Strikes it, remains stripped of the hue And cold that covered it before, so you, Stripped bare in your mind, I will inform With light so lively that the trembling beam Shall quiver where it falls. Within the heaven Where divine peace dwells, there circles round A body in whose virtue dies the being Of all that it contains, the following heaven, which has so many lights, divides this being through different essences, distinct from it, and yet contained within it. The other orbs variously dispose their separate distinctions, apt for their own seed and produce.

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Thus do these organs of the world proceed, as you now behold, from step to step, deriving their influences from above and transmitting them downward from there. Mark me well, how through this passage I ford my way to the truth, the truth you love, so that from now on you alone may know how to keep to the shallows, safe, untold.

"The virtue and motion of the sacred orbs, as a mallet by the workman's hand, must needs be inspired by blessed movers. This heaven, Made beautiful by so many luminaries, From the deep spirit that moves its circling sphere, It takes an imprint as a seal takes wax: And just as the soul that dwells within your dust, Through different members, yet together formed, Resolves itself into different powers; even so The intellectual efficacy unfolds Its goodness multiplied throughout the stars, Still revolving on its own unity. Different virtue compacted with different Makes with the precious body it enlivens, With which it knits, as life in you is knit. From its original nature full of joy, The virtue mingled through the body shines, As joy through the pupil of the living eye. From this proceeds that which from light to light Seems different, and not from dense or rare.

This is the formal cause, which generates Proportioned to its power, the dusk or clear."

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CANTO III

That sun, which once with love had warmed my bosom Had unveiled the sweet aspect of fair truth, By proof of right, and of the false reproof; And I, to acknowledge myself convinced and free Of doubt, as much as needed, raised my head Erect for speech. But soon a sight appeared, Which, so intent was I to mark it, held me fixed, That of confession I no longer thought.

As through translucent and smooth glass, or wave Clear and unmoved, and flowing not so deep That its bed is dark, the shape returns So faint of our pictured lineaments, That on white forehead set a pearl as strong Comes to the eye: such saw I many a face, All stretch'd to speak, from whence I straight conceiv'd Delusion opposite to that, which rais'd Between the man and fountain, amorous flame.

Sudden, as I perceiv'd them, deeming these Reflected semblances to see of whom They were, I turn'd mine eyes, and nothing saw; Then turn'd them back, directed on the light Of my sweet guide, who smiling shot forth beams From her celestial eyes. "Wonder not thou," She cry'd, "at this my smiling, when I see Thy childish judgment; since not yet on truth It rests the foot, but, as it still is wont, Makes thee fall back in unsound vacancy. True substances are these, which thou behold'st, Hither through failure of their vow exil'd. But you speak with them; listen, and believe, That the true light, which fills them with desire, Does not let their feet stray from its beams."

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Straight to the shadow that seemed most eager for conversation I addressed myself, and began, As one perplexed by over-eagerness: "O spirit, born for joy! who in the rays Of eternal life know the flavor of that sweetness Which, untasted, surpasses far All apprehension, it would please me well If you would tell me your name, and this Your station here." Whereupon she, prompt with kindness, And eyes glistening with smiles: "Our charity, To any wish introduced by justice, Does not bar the door, no more than she above, Who would have all her court be like herself. I was a virgin sister on earth; And if you observe me well, this form, Adorned with such added loveliness, Will not conceal me for long, but you will recognize Piccarda, placed thus in the slowest sphere, Here among these other blessed souls also blessed. Our hearts, whose lofty affections burn with pleasure alone, Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Dwell in joy, admitted to His order.

And this condition, which appears so low, Is assigned to us for this reason: that our vows Were in some part neglected and made void."

Whereupon I replied to her: "Something divine Beams in your countenance, wondrously fair, Quite transforming you from former knowledge. Therefore I was so slow to recognize you. But what you say has brought back to my memory such aid now that retracing your forms is easier. Yet tell me, you who here are happy—do you long for a higher place, to behold more, and to dwell more in love?"

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She smiled gently with those other spirits, then answered with such gladness that she seemed to glow with love's first flame: "Brother! our will is settled in composure by the power of charity, which makes us will only what we possess, and desire nothing beyond; if we should wish to be exalted more, then our wishes would clash with the high will of him who sets us here, which in these spheres you will confess is not possible, if here to be in charity must necessarily befall, And if you contemplate her nature well, rather it is inherent in this state of blessedness to keep ourselves within the divine will, by which our wills are one with his. So that, as we are placed from step to step throughout this kingdom, all pleases us, even as our King, who plants his will in us; and in his will is our tranquillity; it is the mighty ocean, to which tends whatever it creates and nature makes."

Then I saw clearly how each place in heaven is Paradise, though with like gracious dew the supreme virtue does not shower over all.

But as it happens, if one kind of food has satiated us, and for another the appetite remains, that this is asked, And thanks for that returned; even so did I, in word and motion, bent from her to learn what web it was through which she had not drawn the shuttle to its point. She thus began: "Exalted worth and perfectness of life the Lady higher up enshrines in heaven, by whose pure laws on your nether earth the robe and veil they wear, to that intent, that even till death they may keep watch or sleep with their great bridegroom, who accepts each vow which love conforms to his gracious pleasure. from the world, to follow her, when young escaped; and, in her vesture mantling me, made promise of the way her sect enjoins. Thereafter men, more apt for ill than good, snatched me forth from the pleasant cloister's pale. God knows how my life was shaped after that.

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This other splendid form, which you behold at my right side, burning with all the light of this our orb—what I tell of myself may apply to her as well. From her, like me a sister, with like violence were torn the saintly folds that had shaded her fair brows. Even when she was brought back to the world against her own will and better inclination, yet not for that did she renounce the bosom's inward veil. This is the luminary of mighty Constance, who from that loud blast which blew the second over Swabia's realm, produced that power which was the third and last."

She ceased from further talk, and then began singing "Ave Maria," and with that song Vanished, as a heavy substance through deep water.

My eye, as far as it was able, Pursued her, until she was lost in the dimness, Then turned to the mark where a greater need impelled it, And fixed all its gaze on Beatrice. But she shone on my looks like a lightning bolt, So that my sight could not endure it at first. Hence I became less quick to question her.

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CANTO IV

Between two kinds of food, both equally remote and tempting, a man might die of hunger before he could freely choose one. Even so would a lamb stand between the jaws of two fierce wolves, in equal dread of both; even so would a dog stand between two deer. Therefore, if I was silent, neither fault nor praise do I impute to myself, by equal doubts Held in suspense, since of necessity It happened. Silent was I, yet desire Was painted in my looks; and thus I spoke My wish more earnestly than language could.

As Daniel, when the haughty king he freed From ire, that spurred him on to deeds unjust And violent; so looked Beatrice then.

"Well I discern," she thus addressed her words, "How contrary desires constrain thee each way, So that thy anxious thought is in itself Bound up and stifled, nor breathes freely forth. Thou arguest; if the good intent remain; What reason that another's violence Should stint the measure of my fair desert?

"Cause too thou findst for doubt, in that it seems, That spirits to the stars, as Plato deemed, Return. These are the questions which thy will Urges equally; and therefore I shall first Treat of that which hath the more of gall. Of the seraphim, he who is most exalted, Moses and Samuel, and either John, Choose which thou wilt, nor even Mary herself, Have their seats in any other heaven Than have those spirits which thou sawest so late; Nor do more or fewer years exist; but all Make the first circle beauteous, diversely Partaking of sweet life, as more or less The afflation of eternal bliss pervades them. Here were they shown thee, not that fate assigns This as their sphere, but for a sign to thee Of that celestial which is furthest from the height. Thus needs, that ye may apprehend, we speak: Since from sensible things alone you learn That which, rightly digested, afterward turns To intellectual.

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For no other cause Does scripture, graciously condescending To your perception, attribute hands and feet to God, Nor means otherwise: and holy church Represents with human countenance Gabriel, and Michael, and him who made Tobias whole. Unlike what you see here Is the judgment of Timaeus, who affirms Each soul is restored to its particular star, Believing it to have been taken from there When nature gave it to inform her mold: Since to all appearance his intention is Even what his words declare: or else to shun Derision, perhaps he has thus disguised His true opinion. If his meaning be, That the honour and blame in human acts revert To the influence of these orbs, Perhaps he does not wholly miss the truth. This principle, not rightly understood, Once perverted well-nigh all the world, So that it fell to the fabled names of Jove, And Mercury, and Mars.

That other doubt, Which moves you, is less harmful, for it brings No peril of removing you from me.

"That, to the eye of man, our justice seems Unjust, is an argument for faith, and not For heretical declension. To the end That this truth may stand more clearly in your view, I will content you even to your wish.

"If violence be, when that which suffers, nought [Consents to that which forces it, not for this] These spirits stood exculpated. For the will, which does not consent, still survives unquenched, and does as nature does in fire, though violence wrest it a thousand times; for, if it yields more or less, to that extent it follows force. And thus did these, whom they had power to seek the hallowed place again. In them, had will been perfect, such as once on the bars held Laurence firm, or wrought in Scaevola to his own hand remorseless, to the path from which they were drawn, their steps would have hastened back, when liberty returned: but in too few does resolve so steadfast dwell. And by these words, if duly weighed, that argument is void, which often might have perplexed thee still. But now Another question confronts you, which to solve might try your patience without better aid.

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I have, no doubt, instilled into your mind that the blessed spirit cannot lie, since it dwells forever near the source of primal truth. And you might afterward learn from Piccarda that Constance held affection for the veil, so that she seems to contradict me here. Not seldom, brother, it has happened that men do what they would gladly have left undone, yet to shun peril they have done amiss: even as Alcmaeon, at his father's urging, slew his own mother, and so became pitiless in order not to lose pity. On this point consider that force and will are blended in such a way as not to make the offense excusable. Absolute will does not consent to wrong, insofar as there is fear of woe from non-compliance, it does consent. Of will Thus spoke absolute Piccarda, and I of the other; so that both have truly said."

Such was the flow of that pure rill that welled forth from the fountain of all truth; and such the rest, that to my wondering thoughts I found.

"O thou of primal love the prime delight! Goddess!" I straight replied, "whose lively words still shed new heat and vigor through my soul! Affection fails me to requite thy grace with equal sum of gratitude: be his to recompense, who sees and can reward thee. Well I discern that by that truth alone enlightened, beyond which no truth may roam, Our mind can satisfy her thirst to know: Therein she rests, even as in his lair The wild beast, as soon as she has reached that bound, And she has power to reach it; otherwise desire Would be given to no end. And from this doubt Springs, like a shoot, around the stock of truth; And it is nature which from height to height Prompts us on to the summit. This invites, This assures me, lady, reverently To ask you of another truth, which yet Is dark to me. I would gladly know whether man By other works well done may so supply The failure of his vows, that in your scale They lack not weight."

I spoke; and straightway upon me Beatrice looked with eyes that shot forth sparks Of celestial love in such a copious stream, That, as virtue sank into me, overpowered, I turned and, confused, cast my gaze downward.

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CANTO V

"If beyond earthly custom the flame of love illumines me so that I overcome your power of sight, do not marvel; but learn the cause in that perfection of sight which, as soon as it apprehends, hastens to reach the good it apprehends. I clearly discern how in your intellect already shines the eternal light, which, once seen, never fails to kindle love; and if anything else seduces your love, it is only because it shows some ill-marked vestige of that primal beam.

"This you would know: whether failure of the vow may be so supplied by other service as to assure the soul from self-questioning."

Thus she spoke her words, not heedless of my wish, and began; and then, as one who does not break off discourse, continued in her saintly strain. "Supreme of gifts, which God in creating gave of his free bounty, sign most evident of goodness, and in his account most prized, was liberty of will, the boon with which all intellectual creatures, and them alone, he has endowed. Hence now you may infer of what high worth the vow, which is so framed that when man offers, God well-pleased accepts; for in the compact between God and him, this treasure, such as I describe it to you, he makes the victim, and of his own act. What compensation, therefore, may he find? If that, of which you have made oblation, By doing good, you think to consecrate, You would make a charitable deed out of theft. Thus I resolve you of the greater point.

"But insofar as holy Church, in this, Dispensing, seems to contradict the truth I have revealed to you, yet it behooves You to rest a little longer at the table, Before the crude food you have taken Is fitly digested and turned to nourishment. Open your mind to what I now unfold, And keep it inwardly. Knowledge comes From learning well retained, unfruitful otherwise.

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"This sacrifice consists in essence of two things; One is that of which it is made, The other is the covenant. As for the latter, It is never canceled if not kept: and hence I spoke earlier so strictly of its force. For this reason the Israelites were commanded, Though, as you know, they were permitted to change The offering, still to offer. The other part, The matter and the substance of the vow, May well be such that, without offense, It may be exchanged for another substance. But no one may shift at his own discretion The burden on his shoulders, unreleased By either key, the yellow and the white. Nor deem any change less than vain If the last bond is not included within the new, As the four is in the six. Therefore no satisfaction can be paid For what weighs so precious in the balance That all in counterpoise must kick the beam.

Take no vow at random, then; take one with faith and keep it; yet do not be bent, as Jephthah once was, to carry out a rash resolve blindly, when it would have suited him better to exclaim, "I have done wrong," than to redeem his pledge by doing worse; nor be like him in folly, that great leader of the Greeks, from which, on the altar, Iphigenia mourned her virgin beauty, and has since made mourn both wise and simple, even all who hear of so cruel a sacrifice. Be more steadfast, O Christians, not, like a feather, by each wind removable; nor think to cleanse ourselves in every water. Either testament, the old and the new, is yours; and for your guide let this suffice: the shepherd of the church To save you. When by evil lust enticed, Remember that you are men, not senseless beasts; Nor let the Jew, who dwells in your streets, Hold you in mockery.

Do not be like the lamb, That fickle wanton, leaves its mother's milk To dally with itself in idle play."

Such were the words that Beatrice spoke: These ended, to that region, where the world Is liveliest, full of fond desire she turned.

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Though mainly prompted to propose a new question, Her silence and changed look kept me dumb. And as the arrow, before the cord is still, Leaps to its mark; so on we sped Into the second realm. There I beheld The lady enter so joyously that the orb Grew brighter at her smiles; and, if the star I was moved to gladness—what then was my cheer, whom nature has made apt for every change!

As in a quiet and clear lake the fish, if anything approaches them from without, draw toward it, deeming it their food; so drew far more than a thousand splendors toward us, and in each one was heard: "Lo! one has arrived to multiply our loves!" and as each came the shadow, streaming forth new effulgence, witnessed augmented joy. Here, reader! think, if thou didst miss the sequel of my tale, how sorely thou wouldst crave to know the rest; and thou shalt see what vehement desire possessed me, as soon as these had met my view, to know their state. "O born in happy hour! Thou to whom grace vouchsafes, or ere thy close Of fleshly warfare, to behold the thrones Of that eternal triumph, made known to us The light communicated, which through heaven Spreads without bound. Therefore, if you would Borrow anything of our beams for your aid, Do not spare it; and take your fill of our radiance."

Thus one of those piteous spirits spoke to me; And Beatrice next: "Say on; and trust As unto gods!"—"How you harbor within The supreme light, and from there bring forth the virtue That, sparkling in your eyes, denotes your joy, I mark; but who you are, I am still to seek; Or why, worthy spirit! for your lot This sphere is assigned, which often from mortal ken Is veiled by others' beams." I said, and turned Toward the luster that, with kindly greeting, Formerly had hailed me. Forthwith, far brighter Than before, it waxed: and, as the sun himself Hides through excess of light, when his warm gaze Has preyed upon the mantle of thick vapours; Within its proper ray the saintly shape Was, through increase of gladness, thus concealed; And, shrouded so in splendour, answered me, Even as the tenor of my song declares.

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CANTO VI

"After that Constantine the eagle turned Against the motions of the heavens, that rolled Consenting with its course, when he of yore, Lavinia's spouse, was leader of the flight, A hundred years twice told and more, his seat At Europe's extreme point, the bird of Jove Held, near the mountains whence he issued first. There, under shadow of his sacred plumes Swaying the world, until through successive hands it came down, transformed, to mine. I was Caesar, and I am Justinian, destined by the will of that primal love whose influence I feel to free the burdened laws from vain excess. Before that work engaged me, I held Christ's nature to be merely human, and with such faith was content. But blessed Agapetus, who was chief shepherd, with a warning voice recalled me to the true faith. I believed his words, and what he taught I now plainly see, as you see in every contradiction the true and false set in opposition.

As soon as my feet were reclaimed to the church, to my great task, impelled by the inspiration of God's grace, I gave myself wholly, and consigned my arms To Belisarius, with whom heaven's right hand Was joined in such union that it was a sign That I should rest. To your first question, then, I frame my answer, which would end here, Were it not that its tendency necessarily prompts Some addition, so that you may clearly mark What reason each side has to plead, By those by whom that holiest banner is opposed, Both those who claim its power and those who oppose it. "Beginning from that hour when Pallas died To give it rule, behold the valorous deeds That have made it worthy of reverence.

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Not unknown To you, how for three hundred years and more It dwelt in Alba, up to those fell lists Where for its sake the rival three met; Nor is anything unknown to you that it achieved Down to the Sabines' wrong to Lucrece' woe, With its seven kings conquering the surrounding nation; Nor all it wrought, by Roman worthies at home Against Brennus and the Epirot prince, and hosts Of single chiefs, or states in league combined In social warfare; hence stern Torquatus, And Quintius named for his neglected locks, The Decii, and the Fabii hence acquired Their fame, which I with dutiful zeal embalm. By it the pride of Arab hordes was quelled, When, led on by Hannibal, they crossed The Alpine rocks, whence glide thy currents, Po! Beneath its guidance, in their prime of days Scipio and Pompey triumphed; and that hill, Under whose summit thou didst see the light, Rued its stern bearing.

After, near the hour, When Heaven willed that over all the world His own deep calm should brood, Rome consigned it to Caesar's hand; and what it then wrought from the Var to the Rhine, the Isère's flood saw, saw the Loire and the Seine, and every valley that fills the torrent Rhone. What it wrought after that, when it came forth from Ravenna and leapt the Rubicon, was of so bold a flight, No tongue or pen could follow it. Toward Spain it wheeled its bands, then struck toward Dyrrachium, and on Pharsalia with so fierce a plunge that even the warm Nile felt the pang; it revisited its native shores, Antandros, and the streams of Simois, and there where Hector lies; then, ill for Ptolemy, its pennons shook again; lightning fell thence On Juba; and the next on your west, At the sound of the Pompeian trump, returned.

"What it subsequently accomplished, and what was then taken up by its next bearer, is now barked off in hell by Cassius and Brutus, and was mourned by the sons of Perugia and of Modena. Hence sad Cleopatra still weeps, she who, pursued by it, took from the adder black and sudden death. With him it ran even to the Red Sea coast; with him it composed the world to such a peace that Janus barred the door of his temple.

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"But all that the mighty standard had yet wrought, and was appointed thereafter to perform, throughout the mortal kingdom which it swayed, falls away in appearance, dwindled and obscured, if one with steady eye and perfect thought On the third Caesar, look; for to his hands, the living Justice, in whose breath I move, committed glory, even into his hands, to execute the vengeance of its wrath.

"Hear now and wonder at what I tell you next. After it was sent with Titus to wreak vengeance for the vengeance of the ancient sin, and when the Lombard tooth, with impure fangs, did gore the bosom of the holy church, under its victorious wings Charlemagne sped to her rescue. Judge then for yourself of those whom I earlier accused to you, what they are, and how grievous their offending, who are the cause of all your ills. The one against the universal ensign rears the yellow lilies, and with partial aim That to himself the other arrogates: So that it is hard to see which offends more. Be it yours, ye Ghibellines, to veil your arts Beneath another standard: this is ill Followed by him who severs it from justice: And let not the newly crowned Charles with his Guelphs Assail it, but hold those talons in dread, Which from a lion of more lofty bearing Have torn the fleece.

Many a time before now The sons have wept for the sire's transgression; Nor let him trust the fond belief that Heaven Will trade its armor for his lilied shield.

"This little star is furnished with good spirits, Whose mortal lives were busied to that end That honor and renown might wait on them: And, when desires thus err in their intention, True love must necessarily rise with a fainter beam. But it is part of our delight to measure our wages against the merit, and admire the close proportion. Hence heavenly justice tempers affection in us so evenly that it can never warp toward any wrongfulness. Sweet music is made of diverse voices: so in our life the different degrees render sweet harmony among these wheels.

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"Within the pearl that now encloses us shines Romeo's light, whose goodly and fair deed met with ill acceptance. But the Provencals, who were his foes, have little cause for mirth. That man shapes his course ill who makes his wrong out of another's worth. Four daughters were born to Raymond Berenger, and every one Became a queen; and this Romeo did for him, though of low estate and from a foreign land. Yet envious tongues incited him to demand an accounting from that just man, who returned to him twelvefold for ten. Aged and poor, he departed thence; and if the world knew the heart he had, begging his life by morsels, it would deem the praise it yields him scantly dealt."

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CANTO VII

"Hosanna Sanctus Deus Sabaoth, Superillustrans claritate tua Felices ignes horum malahoth!" Thus chanting, I saw that bright substance turn with fourfold luster back to its orb, revolving; and the rest moved also with it unto their dance; and like swiftest sparks, in sudden distance from my sight were veiled.

Doubt possessed me, and it whispered, "Speak," "Speak, speak to your lady, so that she may quench Your thirst with drops of sweetness." Yet a blank awe, Which rules over me, even at the sound Of Beatrice's name, bowed me down Like one held in slumber. Beatrice did not suffer that mood for long: she, with such a smile as might have made one blessed amid the flames, beaming on me, thus began her words: "You are pondering in your thought (as I deem), and what I deem is truth: how just revenge could be punished with justice. From this doubt I will soon free you, if you mark my words, for they shall possess you with weighty matter.

"That man, who was never born, condemned himself, and, in himself, all who have lived since him, His offspring: whence, below, the human kind Lay sick in grievous error many an age; Until it pleased the Word of God to come Among them down, to his own person joining The nature, from its Maker far estranged, By the mere act of his eternal love. Contemplate here the wonder I unfold. The nature with its Maker thus conjoined, Created first was blameless, pure and good; But through itself alone was driven forth From Paradise, because it had eschewed The way of truth and life, to evil turned. Ne'er then was penalty so just as that Inflicted by the cross, if thou regard The nature in assumption doomed: ne'er wrong So great, in reference to him, who took Such was his nature, and he endured the doom.

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God and the Jews were therefore pleased by one sentence: So different effects flowed from one act, And heaven was opened, though the earth did quake. Do not think it hard hereafter, when you hear That a just vengeance was by a righteous court Justly avenged. But yet I see your mind Sorely perplexed by thought upon thought arising, And with how vehement a desire it asks For the solution of the maze. What I have heard, Is plain, you say: but why God chose this way For our redemption eludes my search.

"Brother! no eye of man not perfected, Nor fully ripened in the flame of love, May fathom this decree. It is a mark, In truth, much aimed at, and but little known: And I will therefore show thee why such a way was worthiest. The celestial love, that spumes all envy in its bounty, in itself blazes with such effulgence that it sends forth all beauteous things eternal. What distils immediately thence knows no end of being, bearing its seal immutably impressed. Whatever thence immediately falls is free, wholly free, uncontrollable by the power of each new thing: by such conformity more grateful to its author, whose bright beams, though all partake of their shining, are yet liveliest in those which resemble him the most. These tokens of pre-eminence largely bestowed on man—if any of them fail, he needs must forfeit his nobility, No longer stainless.

Sin alone is that which disfranchises him and makes him unlike the chief good; for its light in him is darkened. And from dignity thus lost there is no return, unless, where guilt makes void, he pays for ill pleasure with equal pain. Your nature, which entirely in its seed transgressed, fell from these distinctions no less than from its state in Paradise; nor means found of recovery (search out all methods as strictly as thou may) save one of these, the only fords left through which to wade: either that God had of his courtesy released him merely, or else man himself for his own folly by himself atoned.

"Fix now thine eye, intently as thou canst, On the everlasting counsel, and explore, Instructed by my words, the dread abyss.

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"Man in himself had always lacked the means Of satisfaction, for he could not stoop In obedience, in humility so low, As high he, in disobedience, thought to soar: And for this reason he had vainly tried Out of his own sufficiency to pay The rigid satisfaction. Then it behooved That God should by his own ways lead him back Unto the life from which he fell, restored: By both his ways, I mean, or one alone. But since the deed is ever prized the more, The more the doer's good intent appears, Goodness celestial, whose broad signature Is on the universe, of all its ways To raise you up, was willing to leave out nothing, Nor anything so vast or so magnificent, Whether for him who gave or who received Between the last night and the primal day, Was or can be. For God showed more bounty In giving himself to make man capable Of his return to life, than if the terms Had been mere and unconditional release.

And for his justice, every other method Would be all too scant, had not the Son of God Humbled himself to put on mortal flesh.

"Now, to fulfil each wish of yours, there remains For me to unfold somewhat further to your view, That you may see as clearly as I do.

"I see, you say, the air, the fire I see, The earth and water, and all things made of them Compounded, they turn to corruption, and soon dissolve. Yet these too were things created, because, if what I was told had been true, they would therefore have been free from corruption.

"The angels, O my brother, and this clime in which you are, impassible and pure, I call created, as indeed they are in their whole being. But the elements, which you have named, and what is made of them, are informed by created virtue: their substance is created, and the informing virtue is created in these bright stars that move circling around them— the soul of every brute and of each plant— the ray and motion of the sacred lights, with complex potency attract and turn. But this our life the eternal good inspires Immediate, and in love with itself; So that our wishes may rest here forever.

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"And hence you may conclude by inference That our resurrection is certain, if your mind Considers how human flesh was formed, When both our parents were first made."

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CANTO VIII

The world, in its dark day of peril, Was wont to believe the foolish doting of fond love From the fair Cyprian goddess, who rolls In her third epicycle, shed upon men By a stream of potent radiance: therefore those Of elder time, blind in their old error, Adored not her alone with sacrifice And invocation, but paid like honours To Cupid and Dione, deemed by them Her mother and her son—him whom they feigned To rest in Dido's bosom; and from her, whom I have sung as a prelude, they borrowed the name of that star which now faces and now turns away from the sun.

I was not aware that I had been wafted up into its orb; but the new loveliness that graced my lady gave me ample proof that we had entered there. And as in flame a spark is distinct, or a voice within a voice is discerned, when one keeps its even tenor and the other comes and goes, so in that light I saw other luminaries that coursed in circling motion, more or less rapid as their eternal phases each impels them.

Never was a blast from vapour charged with cold, whether visible to the eye or not, Descended with such speed, it had not seemed to linger in dull tardiness, compared to those celestial lights that came toward us, leaving the circuit of their joyous ring, conducted by the lofty seraphim. And after them, who appeared in the lead, such a hosanna sounded as has left a desire, never since extinguished in me, to hear the strain renewed. Then, parting from the rest, one drew near to us and alone began: "We all are ready at thy pleasure, well disposed to do thee gentle service. We are they to whom thou in the world erewhile didst sing 'O ye! whose intellectual ministry moves the third heaven!' and in one orb we roll, one motion, one impulse, with those who rule Principalities in heaven; yet are so full of love, that to please you will be as sweet as rest."

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After my eyes had with meek reverence sought the celestial guide, and by her were reassured, they turned again to the light that had promised so abundantly, and with a voice that bore the living pressure of my zeal, "Tell me who you are," I cried. At once it grew in size and splendour, through augmented joy; and thus it answered: "A short time below, the world possessed me. Had the time been longer, much evil that will come would never have happened. My gladness hides you from me, which shines around and shrouds me, like an animal unwrapped from its own silk. You loved me well, and had good cause; for had my sojourning I have lived longer on the earth, and the love I bear you had put forth more than blossoms. The left bank, which the Rhone, when he has mingled with the Sorga, washes."

"In me its lord was expected, and that horn of fair Ausonia, with its old boroughs, Bari, and Croton, and Gaeta piled, from where the Trento discharges its waves, mingled with Verde, to the salt sea-flood. Already on my temples beamed the crown, which gave me sovereignty over the land washed by the Danube, when it strays beyond the limits of its German shores. The realm, where, on the gulf lashed by stormy Eurus, between Pelorus and the Pachynian heights, beautiful Trinacria lies in gloom (not through Typhaeus, but the vapory cloud Bituminous upstream too), THAT also looked to have its scepter wielded by a race of monarchs, sprung through me from Charles and Rodolph; had not ill lording, which ever stirs up the people, raised in Palermo the shout of "death," re-echoed loud and long. Had but my brother's foresight known as much, he would have been warier that the greedy want of Catalonia might not work his bale.

And truly there is need that he forecast, or another for him, lest more freight be laid on his already over-laden bark. Nature in him, from bounty fallen to thrift, would ask the guard of braver arms than such as only care to have their coffers filled."

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"My liege, it doth enhance the joy thy words Infuse into me, mighty as it is, To think my gladness manifest to thee, As to myself, who own it, when thou lookst Into the source and limit of all good, There, where thou markest that which thou dost speak, Thence priz'd of me the more. Glad thou hast made me. Now make intelligent, clearing the doubt Thy speech hath raised in me; for much I muse, How bitter can spring up, when sweet is sown."

I thus inquiring; he forthwith replied: "If I have power to show one truth, soon that Shall face thee, which thy questioning declares Behind thee now conceal'd. The Good, that guides And blessed makes this realm, which thou dost mount, Ordains its providence to be the virtue In these great bodies: nor th' all perfect Mind Merely upholds their nature, but in them Their energy to save; for nothing lies Within the range of that unerring bow But is as level with the destined aim As ever mark opposed to an arrow's point. Were it not so, these heavens, which thou dost visit, Would so work their effect that it would not be Art, but destruction; and this may not come to pass, If the intellectual powers that move these stars Fail not, or he who first made them faulty. Wilt thou have this truth more clearly evidenced?"

To whom I thus: "It is enough: I see no fear lest nature in her part should tire."

He straight rejoined: "Say, would it be worse for man if he lived not in fellowship on earth?"

"Yea," answered I; "nor does this need a reason here."

"And may that be, if different estates Grow not from different duties in your life? Consult your teacher, and he tells you 'no'."

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Thus he came, reasoning to this point, and then concluded: "For this reason it must be that the roots from which your operations spring must differ. Therefore one is born a Solon; another, a Xerxes; and Melchizedek a third; and he a fourth, whose airy voyage cost him his son. In her circuitous course, Nature, who is the seal upon mortal wax, practices her art well, but makes no distinction between one household and another. Hence it befalls that Esau is so unlike Jacob; hence Quirinus springs from so base a father, he traces his lineage from Mars. Were it not that heavenly providence overruled, Nature, in generation, would have to [follow] the path Drawn by the generator, still pursue Unswervingly. So I place before you That which was lately behind you. But as a sign Of greater affection for you, it is my will That you wear this corollary.

Nature, ever Finding fortune discordant, like all seed Out of its proper climate, thrives but poorly. And if the world below were content to mark And work upon the foundation nature lays, It would not lack a supply of excellence. But you perversely strain to religion Him who was born to gird the sword upon himself, And make your king out of the fluent phrasemen; Therefore your steps have wandered from the paths."

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CANTO IX

After the solution of my doubt, your Charles, O fair Clemenza, spoke of the treachery That must befall his seed: but, "Tell it not," said he, "and let the destined years come round." Nor may I tell thee more, save that the meed of well-deserved sorrow shall requite your wrongs.

And now the face of that saintly light was turned again to the sun that fills it, as to the good whose plenitude of bliss suffices all. O ye misguided souls! Infatuate, who from such a good estrange your hearts, and bend your gaze on vanity, alas for you!—And lo! next, toward me, another of those splendent forms approached, which, by its outward brightening, testified the will it had to pleasure me. The eyes of Beatrice, resting, as before, firmly on me, manifested forth Approval of my wish. "And O," I cried, "Blest spirit! quickly be my will perform'd; And prove thou to me, that my inmost thoughts I can reflect on thee."

Thereat the light, That yet was new to me, from the recess, Where it before was singing, thus began, As one who joys in kindness: "In that part Of the deprav'd Italian land, which lies Between Rialto, and the fountain-springs Of Brenta and of Piava, there doth rise, But to no lofty eminence, a hill, From whence erewhile a firebrand did descend, That sorely sheet the region. From one root I and it sprang; my name on earth Cunizza: And here I glitter, for that by its light This star o'ercame me. Yet I naught repine, Nor do I blame myself for the cause of this my lot, Which vulgar hearts can scarcely conceive.

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"This jewel, that is next to me in our heaven, Lustrous and costly, has left great renown, And will not perish before these hundred years Have five times completed their round. Consider, If to excel is worthy of man's endeavor, When such a life may attend the first. Yet they Care not for this, the crowd that now are girded By the Adice and the Tagliamento, still Impenitent, though scourged. The hour is near When, for their stubbornness at Padua's marsh, The water shall be changed, that laves Vicenza, And where the Cagnano meets the Sile, one Lords it, and bears his head aloft, for whom The web is now a-warping. Feltro too Shall sorrow for its godless shepherd's fault, Of so deep a stain, that never, for the like, Was Malta's bar unclos'd.

Too large should be The skillet, that would hold Ferrara's blood, And wearied he, who ounce by ounce would weigh it, The which this priest, in show of party-zeal, Courteous will give; nor will the gift ill suit The country's custom. We descry above, Mirrors, ye call them thrones, from which to us Reflected shine the judgments of our God: Whence these our sayings we avouch for good."

She ended, and appear'd on other thoughts Intent, re-ent'ring on the wheel she late Had left. That other joyance meanwhile wax'd A thing to marvel at, in splendour glowing, Like choicest ruby stricken by the sun, For in that upper realm, radiance comes from gladness, as laughter does here; and below, as the mind grows sad, the shade grows murkier.

"God sees all, and in him is your sight," I said, "blessed Spirit! Therefore his will cannot be dark to you. Why then does your voice delay to satisfy my unspoken wish— that voice which joins the inexpressible song, pastime of heaven, which those ardors sing, that cowl themselves with six outspread shadowing wings? I would not wait for you to ask, were you known to me as thoroughly as I am known to you."

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Answering forthwith, he thus began his words: "The valley of waters, widest next to that which garlands the earth, shapes its course, between discordant shores, against the sun Inward so far that it makes the meridian there, where the horizon had been before. In that valley I lived on the shore between the Ebro's stream and the Macra, which briefly divides the Genoese borders from the Tuscan. East and west are nearly the same to Begga and my land, whose harbor was once warmed with its own blood. Those who knew my name called me Folco, and I bore the impression of this heaven, which now bears mine; for not with a fiercer flame did Belus' daughter glow, injuring alike Sichaeus and Creusa, than I did, as long as it suited the unripened down that fledged my cheek; nor did she of Rhodope, who was beguiled by Demophoon; nor Jove's son, when the charms of Iole Were shrined within his heart.

And yet there hides No sorrowful repentance here, but mirth, Not for the fault (that does not come to mind), But for the virtue, whose o'erruling sway And providence have wrought thus quaintly. Here The skill is looked into, that fashions With such effectual working, and the good Discerned, accruing to this upper world From that below. But fully to content Thy wishes, all that in this sphere have birth, Demands my further parle. Thou wouldst inquire, Who of this light is denizen, that here Beside me sparkles, as the sun-beam doth On the clear wave. Know then, the soul of Rahab Is in that gladsome harbour, to our tribe United, and the foremost rank assigned.

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He was taken up to that heaven where the shadow ends, out of your sublunar world, first, in Christ's triumph, of all souls redeemed: for it was fitting that, in some part of heaven, she should remain as a trophy, to declare the mighty contest won with either palm; for she first favored the high exploit of Joshua in the Holy Land, of which the Pope now cares little. Your city, plant of him who turned his back on his Maker, and from whose envy so much woe has sprung, engenders and spreads the cursed flower, which has made both the sheep and the lambs wander, turning the shepherd into a wolf. For this, the Gospel and great teachers laid aside, the decretals, as their stuffed margins show, Are the sole study. Pope and Cardinals, Intent on these, never journey except in thought To Nazareth, where Gabriel opened his wings.

Yet it may chance, before long, that the Vatican, And other most select parts of Rome, That were the grave of Peter's soldiery, Shall be delivered from the adulterous bond."

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CANTO X

Looking into his first-born with the love, Which breathes from both eternal, the first Might Ineffable, whence eye or mind Can roam, hath in such order all disposed, As none may see and fail to enjoy. Raise, then, O reader! to the lofty wheels, with me, Thy ken directed to the point, whereat One motion strikes on the other. There begin Thy wonder of the mighty Architect, Who loves his work so inwardly that his eye ever watches it. See how from that point the circle branches off obliquely, where the planets roll to pour their wished influence on the world; if their path did not bend thus, in heaven above much virtue would be lost, and here on earth all power would be well-nigh extinct; or, if their departure from the direct line were more or less distant, a great defect in the universal order must ensue, both in heaven and here below.

Now rest yourself, reader, on your bench, and muse in anticipation of the feast to come; so shall delight keep you from feeling your toil. Lo! I have set this before you; feed now for yourself: the matter I write from here on demands my entire thought. Joined with the part, Which we spoke of late—the great minister of nature, who imprints upon the world the virtue of the heavens and apportions time to us with his beam—went circling on along the spires, where each hour comes sooner; and I was with him, unaware of the ascent, like one who, until he has arrived, does not know he is coming.

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For Beatrice, she who passes on so suddenly from good to better, time does not count the act—oh, then how great must needs have been her brightness! What she was in the sun (where I had entered), not through change of hue, but light transparent—did I summon up genius, art, practice—I could not speak it so that it should ever be imagined; yet it may be believed, and the sight justly craved. And if our fantasy falls short of such height, what wonder, since no eye above the sun has ever traveled? Such are they who dwell here, the fourth family of the omnipotent Sire, who shows himself in his spirit and in his offspring; and he holds them still enraptured with the view. And thus Beatrice said to me: "Thank, oh thank the Sun of angels, him who by his grace has lifted you to this perceptible heaven."

Never was a heart so bound in devotion, and so absolutely disposed with complacency to surrender itself to God, as mine was at those words; and so complete was the love for Him that held me that it eclipsed Beatrice in oblivion. She was not at all displeased, but smiled at this so joyously, The radiance of her laughing eyes broke forth and scattered my gathered mind abroad.

Then I saw a bright band, in liveliness surpassing, who themselves made the crown, and us their center; yet sweeter in voice than in their faces beaming. Encircled thus, we sometimes behold Latona's daughter, when the impregnated air retains the thread that weaves her zone. In the celestial court, from which I return, many jewels are found, so dear and beautiful that they cannot endure being transported from that realm; and of these lights such was the song. Whoever does not trim his wing to soar up there, let him look from thence for tidings from the mute.

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When, singing thus, those burning suns that circled round us three times As the nearest stars around the fixed pole, then they seemed like ladies, from the dance not ceasing, but suspended in silent pause, listening until they have caught the strain anew: suspended so they stood; and from within, I thus heard one who spoke: "Since with its beam the grace from which true love first lights his flame, which afterward increases by loving, shines so multiplied in you that it leads you up along this ladder, down whose hallowed steps none ever descends and does not mount them again, whoever should refuse you wine from his phial to slake your thirst would be no less constrained than water that does not flow to the sea. You would gladly hear what plants these are that bloom in the bright garland which, admiring, girds This fair lady around you, who strengthens you for heaven.

I was then one of the lambs that Dominic Leads, for his saintly flock, along the way where they thrive well, not sworn to vanity. He nearest on my right hand was my brother and my master: Albert of Cologne is this one; and of Aquinum, I am Thomas. If you would be assured of all the rest, let your eye, following the words I speak, journey in a circle around the blessed wreath. That next radiance issues from the smile of Gratian, who lent such help to both forums as finds favor in Paradise. The other nearest one, who adorns our choir, was Peter, he who with the widow gave his treasure to holy church. The fifth light, Most glorious of all, is inspired by such love, That all your world craves tidings of its doom: Within, there is the lofty light, endowed With wisdom so profound, if truth be truth, That with a range of vision so wide No second has arisen.

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Next behold That taper's radiance, to whose view was shown, Most clearly, the nature and the ministry Angelic, while yet it dwelt in flesh. In the other little light serenely smiles That champion of the Christian temples, he Who provided Augustin with his lore. Now, if thy mind's eye passes from light to light, Following my praises, of the eighth Thy thirst is next. The saintly soul that shows The world's deceitfulness to all who hear him, Is, with the sight of all the good, that is, Blest there. The limbs from which it was driven lie Down in Cieldauro, and from martyrdom And exile it came here. Lo! further on, Where flames the arduous Spirit of Isidore, Of Bede, and Richard, more than man, erstwhile, In deep discernment. Lastly this, from whom Thy look on me reverteth, was the beam Of one whose spirit, on high musings bent, Rebuk'd the ling'ring tardiness of death.

It is the eternal light of Sigebert, Who 'scap'd not envy, when of truth he argued, Reading in the straw-litter'd street." Forthwith, As clock, that calleth up the spouse of God To win her bridegroom's love at matin's hour, Each part of other fitly drawn and urg'd, Sends out a tinkling sound, of note so sweet, Affection springs in the well-disposed breast; Thus I saw the glorious wheel move, and thus heard Voice answering voice, so musical and soft That it can be known only where day shines endlessly.

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CANTO XI

O fond anxiety of mortal men! How vain and inconclusive are the arguments That make you beat your wings down here— one hunting for statues, another for aphorisms; this one followed the priesthood, that one aspired to rule by force or sophistry; one sought to rob another, and another sought wealth through civil business; one lay toiling, entangled in the net of sensual delight, and one resigned himself to witless indolence— when from all these empty things I had escaped, With Beatrice, I was thus gloriously raised aloft and made a guest of heaven.

Those in the circle had each turned to that point where it had been before, and glowed steadily, like a candle in its socket. Then within the radiance that had spoken to me earlier, smiling with purer gladness, I heard begin:

"Even as his beam illumines me, so I look Into the eternal light, and clearly mark Thy thoughts, from whence they rise. Thou art in doubt, And wouldst that I should bolt my words afresh In such plain open phrase as may be smooth To thy perception, where I told thee late That "well they thrive," and that "no second such Hath risen," which no small distinction needs.

"The providence that governeth the world, In depth of counsel by created ken Unfathomable, so that she, Who with loud cries was espoused in precious blood, Might keep her footing toward her well-beloved, Safe in herself and constant to him, Has ordained two, who should on either hand Be her chief escort: one all seraphic In fervency; for wisdom on earth, The other the splendor of cherubic light. I will tell of but one: he tells of both, Who commends whichever one of them is taken: For their deeds were to one end.

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"Between Tupino and the wave that falls From blessed Ubaldo's chosen hill, there hangs A rich slope of high mountain, whence heat and cold Are wafted through Perugia's eastern gate: And Norcera with Gualdo, behind it Mourn for their heavy yoke. On that side, Where it breaks its steepness most, there rose A sun upon the world, as this one duly Does from the Ganges: therefore let no one who speaks Of that place call it Ascesi; for its name Would be lamely delivered so; but the East, To call things rightly, let it be henceforth styled. He was not yet far distant from his rising, When his good influence began to bless the earth. A lady to whom none opens the gate of pleasure More than to death, was, against his father's will, His youthful choice: and he made her his, Before the spiritual court, by nuptial bonds, And in his father's sight: from day to day, Then he loved her more devoutly.

She, bereaved Of her first husband, slighted and obscure, for a thousand years and more she remained without a single suitor, until he came. Nor did it avail her anything that, with Amyclas, she was found unmoved at the rumor of his voice, who shook the world; nor did her constant boldness avail anything, whereby with Christ she mounted on the cross, when Mary stayed beneath. But not to deal thus closely with you any longer, take at large the rovers' titles—Poverty and Francis. Their concord and glad looks, wonder and love, and sweet regard gave birth to holy thoughts, so much so that venerable Bernard first did bare his feet, and, in pursuit of peace so heavenly, ran, yet deemed his footing slow. O hidden riches! O prolific good! Egidius follows him, and then Sylvester, And both follow the bridegroom; so the bride Can please them.

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From there he continues on his way, The father and the master, with his spouse, And with that family, whom the cord now Humbly girded: nor did lowliness of heart Weigh down his eyelids, because he was the son Of Pietro Bernardone, and by men Despised in wondrous manner. But royally He set forth his hard resolve to Innocent, And from him first received the seal On his religion. Then, when numerous flocked The tribe of lowly ones, who traced HIS steps, Whose marvellous life was deservedly sung In the empyreal heights, through Honorius' hand A second crown, to deck their Guardian's virtues, Was encircled by the eternal Spirit: and when he had, through thirst for martyrdom, stood up in the proud Sultan's presence, and there preached Christ and his followers; but found the race unripe for conversion: back once more he hastened (not to interrupt his toil), and reaped Ausonian lands.

On the hard rock, between the Arno and the Tiber, he from Christ received the final Signet, which his limbs for two years did carry. Then the season came when he who had destined him to such good was pleased to advance him to the reward which he had earned by his self-humbling; to his brotherhood, as their just heritage, he gave in charge his dearest lady, and enjoined their love and faith to her: and, from her bosom, willed His noble spirit should move forth, returning to its appointed kingdom, and he would not have his body laid on another bier.

"Think now of one who would be a fit colleague to keep the bark of Peter on the deep sea, steered to the right point; and such our Patriarch was. Therefore, those who follow him, as he enjoins, you may be certain, take on good cargo. But hunger for new viands tempts his flock, so that they must needs spread out into strange, wide pastures; and the farther from him the stragglers wander, the more they come back to the sheepfold like weaklings, destitute of milk. There are indeed some among them who fear their harm and cling to the shepherd; but these are so few that a little stuff may furnish out their cloaks.

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"Now, if my words are clear, if you have taken good heed, if what I have told you recalls to mind, your wish may be in part fulfilled: for you will see the point from which they split, nor miss the reproof that this implies, 'that those sworn with vanity do not thrive well.'"

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CANTO XII

As soon as the blessed flame had raised its final word for utterance, straight the holy mill began to wheel, nor had it once revolved, before another, circling, encompassed it, motion to motion, song to song conjoining, a song that excels our muses as much, and our Sirens with their tuneful pipes, as a ray of primal splendour does its faint reflex.

As when, if Juno bids her handmaid go forth, two arches parallel and alike adorned, Span the thin cloud, the outer taking birth From that within (in the manner of that voice Whom love did melt away, as the sun the mist), And they who gaze, presageful, call to mind The compact made with Noah, of the world No more to be o'erflowed; about us thus Of sempiternal roses, bending, wreathed Those garlands twain, and to the innermost Even thus the external answered. When the footing, And other great festivity, of song, And radiance, light with light accordant, each Jocund and blithe, had at their pleasure stilled (Even as the eyes by quick volition moved, Are shut and raised together), from the heart Of one among the new lights moved a voice, That made me seem like needle to the star, Turning to its whereabouts, it thus Began: "The love that makes me beautiful Prompts me to tell of the other guide, for whom Such good of mine is spoken.

Where one is, The other worthily should also be; That as their warfare was alike, alike Should be their glory. Slow, and full of doubt, And with thin ranks, after its banner moved The army of Christ (which it so clearly cost To reappoint), when its imperial Head, Who reigneth ever, for the drooping host Did make provision, through grace alone, And not through its deserving. As thou heard'st, Two champions to the succour of his spouse He sent, who by their deeds and words might join Again his scattered people. In that clime, Where does the pleasant west wind spring from to unfold the fresh leaves with which Europe sees herself newly clothed; nor from those billows far off, beyond whose chiding, after a weary course, the sun sometimes hides himself, does Happy Callaroga dwell safe, under the guard of the great shield on which the lion lies subjected and supreme.

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And there was born the loving champion of the Christian faith, the wrestler who hollowed himself, gentle to his own and terrible to his enemies. So full was his soul with living virtue that, when first created, even in his mother's womb, it prophesied. When, at the sacred font, the marriage between faith and him was completed, where the pledge of mutual safety was exchanged, The lady who was his surety, in her sleep beheld the wondrous fruit that was to issue from him and from his heirs. And so that he might be understood as—and indeed he was— she was inspired to name him after his owner, to whom he belonged wholly, and so called him Dominic. And I speak of him as the labourer whom Christ chose in his own garden to be his helpmate. He seemed a messenger and a friend fast-knit to Christ; and the first love he showed was after the first counsel that Christ gave.

Many a time his nurse, on entering, found that he had risen in silence and was prostrate, as if to say, "My errand was for this." O happy father! Felix, rightly named! O favoured mother! rightly named Joanna! If that is what it means, as men interpret it. Not for the world's sake, for which they now pore Over Ostiense and Taddeo's page, But for the true manna, soon he grew Mighty in learning, and he set himself To go about the vineyard, which soon turns Wan and withered, if not tended well: And from the see (whose bounty to the just And Need, passing by, is not through its own fault, But through the fault of him who basely fills it, he prayed, Not for a dispensation for wrong that has been commuted, Nor for the first vacant fortune, nor the tenth), Which rightly belongs to God's poor, But, against an erring and degenerate world, Licence to fight, in favour of that seed From which the twice twelve scions gird you round.

Then, with sage doctrine and good will to help, He journeyed far on his great apostleship, Like a torrent bursting from a lofty vein; And, dashing against the stocks of heresy, He struck fiercest where resistance was most stout. Since then many rivulets have been turned, To lead over the Catholic garden Their living waters, and have fed its plants.

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"If such is one wheel of that two-yoked car In which the holy Church defended herself And rode triumphant through the civil strife, Thou canst not doubt the excellence of its fellow, Which Thomas, before my coming, hath declared So courteously unto thee. But the track, Which its smooth fellies made, is now deserted: That mouldy mother is where late were lees. His family, who once used to trace his path, will turn back and reverse their steps; before long they will rue the gathering of their poor harvest, when the rejected tares shall in vain ask for admittance to the barn. I do not doubt that he who searched our volume, leaf by leaf, might still find a page with this inscription on it, "I am as I once was." Yet such were not from Acquasparta or Casale, whence of those who come to meddle with the text, one stretches and another cramps its rule.

Behold Bonaventura's life in me, from Bagnoregio, one who, in discharge of my great offices, still set aside all sinister aim. Illuminato here, and Agostino join me: two they were, Among the first of those barefooted meek ones, who sought God's friendship in the cord: with them Hugues of Saint Victor, Pietro Mangiadore, and he of Spain shining in his twelve volumes, Nathan the prophet, Metropolitan Chrysostom, and Anselmo, and the one who deigned to put his hand to the first art, Donatus. Raban is here: and at my side there shines Calabria's abbot, Joachim, endowed with a prophetic soul. The bright courtesy of friar Thomas, and his goodly lore, have moved me to the blazon of a peer so worthy, and with me have moved this throng."

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CANTO XIII

Let him who would conceive what now I saw imagine (and retain the image firm, as mountain rock, the while he hears me speak), Of fifteen stars, from amid the ethereal host, selected, that, with lively and serene ray, overcome the densest air; to that imagine the Wain, that, in the bosom of our sky, spins ever on its axle night and day, with the bright summit of that horn which swells due from the pole, round which the first wheel rolls, to have ranged themselves in the fashion of two signs in heaven, such as Ariadne made, when death's chill seized her; and that one of them did encompass the other's beam; and both in such a way whirl around, that each should tend with opposite motion and, conceiving thus, of that true constellation, and the dance twofold, that circled me, he shall attain as it were the shadow; for things there as much Surpass our usage, as the swiftest heaven Is swifter than the Chiana.

There was sung No Bacchus, and no Io Paean, but Three Persons in the Godhead, and in one Substance that nature and the human joined.

The song fulfilled its measure; and to us Those saintly lights attended, happier made At each new ministering. Then silence broke, Amid the accordant sons of Deity, That luminary in which the wondrous life Of the meek man of God was told to me; And thus it spoke: "One ear of the harvest threshed, And its grain safely stored, sweet charity Invites me with the other to like toil.

"Thou knowest that in the bosom whence the rib Was taken to fashion that fair cheek, whose taste All the world pays for, and in that which was pierced by the keen lance, both after and before, such satisfaction is offered as outweighs every evil in the scale; whatever light is allowed to human nature must all have been infused by his virtue, who formed both the one and the other; and therefore you marvel at what I told you—that of beatitudes a second there is none, to his enclosed in the fifth radiance. Open now your eyes to what I answer you, and you shall see your thinking and my saying meet in truth, as the center in the circle.

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That which does not die, and that which can die, are each but the beam of that idea which our Sovereign Sire engenders loving; for that living light, Which passes from his brightness; not disjoined from him, nor from his love triune with them, does, through his bounty, gather itself, mirrored, as it were, in new existences, itself unalterable and ever one.

"Descending from here to the lowest powers, its energy sinks so far that at last it produces only brief contingencies; for so I name things generated, which the heavenly orbs, moving, produce with seed or without seed. Their wax, and that which molds it, differ greatly: and hence with more or less luster it shows the ideal stamp impressed: so that one tree, according to its kind, has better fruit and worse; and at your birth, ye mortal men, are various in your talents. Were the wax Molded with fine precision, and the heavens In their disposing influence supreme, The lustre of the seal should be complete: But nature ever renders it imperfect, Thus resembling the artist in her work, Whose faltering hand is faithless to his skill.

However, if love itself dispose and mark The primal virtue, kindling with bright view, There all perfection is vouchsafed; and such The clay was made, accomplished with each gift That life can teem with; such the burden filled The virgin's bosom: so that I commend Thy judgment, that human nature never Was or can be such as it was in them.

"Did I advance no further than this point, 'How then had he no peer?' thou might'st reply. But what now does not appear may yet appear. Consider plainly and reflect on who he was, and what (When he was bidden, "Ask"), the motive swayed His request. I have spoken thus, So that you may see he was a king who asked For wisdom so that he might be a king Sufficient: not to search out the number Of the celestial movers; or to know Whether a necessary thing has ever Made necessity with a contingent; or whether That is granted, that there is a first motion; or whether By art a triangle can be made From the mid circle with every corner blunt or sharp.

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"Whence, noting that which I have said, and this, You may learn kingly prudence and that ken At which the dart of my intention aims. And, stating clearly, that I told thee, 'Risen,' Thou shalt discern that it hath respect Only to kings, of whom there are many, and the good Are rare. Take my words with this distinction; And they may well be consistent with what thou Believest of the first human father, And of our well-beloved. And let this Henceforth be brought before thy feet, to make Thee slow in motion, like a weary man, Both as to the 'yea' and to the 'nay' that thou seest not. For he among the fools is brought down full low, Whose affirmation or denial is Without distinction, in each case alike, Since it happens that in most instances Current opinion leads to falsehood: and then Affection bends the judgment to her will.

"Far more than vainly does he loose from shore, Since he returns not such as he set forth, Who fishes for the truth and lacks the skill. And open proofs of this have been afforded To the world in Parmenides, Melissus, Bryso, and the crowd besides, Who journeyed on and knew not whither; so did Sabellius, Arius, and the other fools, Who, like scimitars, reflected back The scripture-image, marred by distortion.

"Let not the people be too swift to judge, Like one who reckons on the blades in the field Before the crop is ripe. For I have seen The thorn frown rudely all the winter long And afterward bear the rose on its top; And bark, that all the way across the sea Ran straight and swiftly, only to perish at the last, Even at the harbor's mouth seeing one steal, Another the brine, his offering to the priest, Let not Dame Birtha and Sir Martin thence Deem that they can pry into heaven's counsels: For one of these may rise, the other fall."

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CANTO XIV

From center to the circle, and so back From circle to the center, the water moves In the round chalice, even as the blow Impels it, inwardly or from without. Such was the image that glanced into my mind, When the great spirit of Aquinum ceased; And Beatrice after him resumed her words In turn: "There is need (though yet He does not tell it to you in words, nor even In thought) that he should fathom to its depth Another mystery. Tell him, if the light With which your substance blooms shall stay with you Eternally, as now—and if it does, How, when you shall regain your visible forms, The sight may endure the change without harm, That too tell." As those who in a ring Tread the light measure, in their fitful mirth Raise loud the voice and spring with gladder bound, Thus, at the hearing of that pious suit, The saintly circles in their tourneying And wondrous note attested new delight.

Whoso laments that we must doff this garb Of frail mortality, thenceforth to live Immortally above, he hath not seen The sweet refreshing of that heavenly shower.

Him who lives ever, and forever reigns In the mystic union of the Three in One, Unbounded, yet bounding all, each spirit thrice sang, with such melody that merely to hear it would be an ample reward for the highest merit. And from the lesser orb the fairest light, with a gentle and mild voice, such as perhaps the angel once spoke to Mary, thus replied: "As long as the joy of Paradise shall last, our love shall shine around that raiment, bright as fervent; fervent as in blessed vision; and that raiment shall exceed in blessedness as far as it has grace beyond its great virtue. Our form, reclothed with the glorious garments of saintly flesh, being thus entire, must show yet more gracious.

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Therefore shall increase, whatever of light, gratuitous, imparts The Supreme Good; light, ministering aid, The better disclose his glory: whence The vision needs increasing, much increase The fervour, which it kindles; and that too The ray, that comes from it. But as the greed Which gives out flame, yet it its whiteness shines More lively than that, and so preserves Its proper semblance; thus this circling sphere Of splendour, shall to view less radiant seem, Than shall our fleshly robe, which yonder earth Now covers. Nor will such excess of light O'erpower us, in corporeal organs made Firm, and susceptible of all delight."

So ready and so cordial an "Amen," Followed from either choir, as plainly spoke Desire of their dead bodies; yet perchance Not for themselves, but for their dear kindred, Mothers and fathers, and those they loved best, Before they were made imperishable flame.

And lo! at once there rose up all around A radiance beyond that which was already there, Of equal brightness, like the brightening Of the horizon. As at an evening hour Of twilight, new appearances through heaven Peer with faint glimmer, doubtfully discerned; So there new substances, it seemed to me, began To rise into view; and around the other two Wheeling, they swept their wider circuit.

O gentle glitter of eternal beam! With what a whiteness it did flow, Overpowering vision in me! But so fair, So surpassing lovely, Beatrice appeared, The mind cannot follow it, nor can words express her infinite sweetness. From there my eyes regained the power to look up, and I saw myself alone with my lady, translated to a more lofty bliss: for the star, with a warmer smile impurpled, clearly marked our ascent.

With all my heart, and with that tongue which speaks the same in all, I made a holocaust to God, befitting the new grace vouchsafed. And from my breast had not yet risen the fuming of that incense when I knew the rite was accepted. With such mighty radiance and mantling crimson, in two listed rays the splendors shot before me that I cried, "God of Sabaoth, who adorns them thus!"

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As the galaxy leads from pole to pole, Distinguished into greater lights and lesser, Its pathway, which the wisest fail to decipher; So thickly studded, in the depth of Mars, Those rays described the venerable sign, That quadrants in the round conjoining frame. Here memory mocks the toil of genius. Christ Beamed on that cross; and pattern fails me now. But whoso takes his cross, and follows Christ Will pardon me for that I leave untold, When in the fleckered dawning he shall spy The glitterance of Christ. From horn to horn, And between the summit and the base did move Lights, scintillating, as they met and passed. Thus oft are seen, with ever-changeful glance, Straight or athwart, now rapid and now slow, The atomies of bodies, long or short, To move along the sunbeam, whose slant line Checkers the shadow, cast by art Against the noontide heat.

And as the chime Of minstrel music, dulcimer, and harp With many strings, makes a pleasant dining For him who does not hear the notes distinctly; So from the lights, which there appeared to me, Gathered along the cross, a melody, That, indistinctly heard, with ravishment Possessed me. Yet I marked it was a hymn Of lofty praises; for there came to me "Arise and conquer," as to one who hears And does not comprehend. Such ecstasy Overcame me, that never until that hour was there a thing That held me in so sweet an imprisonment.

Perhaps my saying appears overbold, Accounting less the pleasure of those eyes, On which to look fulfills all desire. But he who is aware that those living seals Of every beauty work with quicker force, The higher they have risen; and that I Had not turned me to them; he may well Excuse me for that whereof in my excuse I accuse myself, and may own my truth; That holy pleasure here not yet revealed, Which grows in transport as we mount aloft.

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CANTO XV

True love, that ever shows itself as clear In kindness as loose appetite in wrong, Silenced that harmonious lyre, and stilled The sacred chords, which by heaven's right hand Unwound and tightened, flow to righteous prayers Should they not hearken, who, to give me will For prayer, was I thus mute? He truly has good cause for endless grief, who, for love of a thing that does not last, deprives himself forever of that love.

As often along the still and pure serene, at nightfall, a sudden trail of fire glides, drawing the eye with involuntary attention to follow it, though it had been at rest, and seems some star that shifted place in heaven, except that, from where it kindles, none is lost, and it is soon extinguished; thus from the horn, that extends on the right side of the cross, down to its foot, one light ran from amid the cluster that shone there; yet no gem dropped from its setting; and through the luminous list its course glowed like flame in alabaster.

So forward stretch'd him (if of credence aught Our greater muse may claim) the pious ghost Of old Anchises, in the Elysian bower, when he perceived his son. "O thou, my blood! O most exceeding grace divine! To whom, As now to thee, has the heavenly gate twice ever been unclosed?" So spoke the light; at which I turned toward him; then to my lady My sight was fixed, and on either side amazement awaited me; for in her eyes was kindled such a smile that I thought mine had plunged to the bottom of my grace and of my bliss in Paradise. At once, welcome alike to hearing and to sight, the spirit added to his prelude things I did not understand, so profoundly did he speak; Yet not by choice but through necessity Mysterious; for his lofty conception scarred Beyond the mark of mortals.

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When the flight Of holy transport had so spent its rage, That nearer to the level of our thought The speech descended, the first sounds I heard Were, "Blessed be thou, Triunal Deity! That hast vouchsafed such favour in my seed!" Then followed: "No unpleasant thirst, though long, Which took me reading in the sacred book, Whose leaves, or white or dusky, never change, Thou hast allayed, my son, within this light, From whence thou hear'st my voice; more thanks to her Who for such lofty mounting has with plumes Begirt thee. Thou dost deem thy thoughts to me From him transmitted, who is first of all, Even as all numbers radiate from unity; And therefore you do not ask me who I am, Or why I appear more joyous to you Than anyone else in this glad throng. The truth is as you believe; for in this hue Both lesser and greater look into that mirror In which your thoughts, before you think them, are shown.

But so that the love, which keeps me ever wakeful, Urging with sacred thirst of sweet desire, May be fully satisfied, let your voice, Fearless, frank, and cheerful, utter forth Your will distinctly, utter forth the wish To which my ready answer stands decreed."

I turned to Beatrice; and she heard Before I had spoken, smiling, an assent, That gave wings to my will; and I began "To each among your tribe, when you perceived the nature in whom nothing unequal dwells, wisdom and love were dealt in equal measure; for they are so equal in the sun, from which you drew your radiance and your heat, as to make all likeness scant. But will and means, in mortals, for the cause you well discern, are fledged with unequal wings. I am a mortal and experience inequality like this, and therefore give no thanks, except in my heart, for your paternal greeting. This, however, I pray you, living topaz! that engem this precious jewel, let me hear your name."

"I am your root, O leaf! whom to expect evenly has pleased me": thus the prompt reply, prefacing, next added: "he, of whom Your kinsman’s name comes, and who, for more than a hundred years, on its first ledge has circled the mountain, was my son and your great-grandsire. It is fitting that his long endurance should be shortened by your deeds.

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“Florence, within her ancient boundary marks, which still call her to matins and noon prayers, was chaste and sober and dwelt in peace. She had no armlets and no headdresses then, no embroidered ladies, no belt that caught the eye more than the person did. The time had not yet come when, at his daughter’s birth, the father grew pale for fear that the age and the dowry should exceed due proportion on either side. There was no house empty of its family; nor had there yet come Sardanapalus, to exhibit feats Of chamber prowess. Montemalo yet rose above our suburban tower; and it will be surpassed in its fall as much as in its rising. I saw Bellincione Berti walk abroad in a leathern girdle and a clasp of bone; and, with no artful colouring on her cheeks, his lady leave the glass. I saw the sons of Nerli and of Vecchio well content with unrobed jerkin; and their good dames handling the spindle and the flax; O happy they!

Each sure of burial in her native land, and none left desolate a-bed for France! One waked to tend the cradle, hushing it with sounds that lulled the parent's infancy: another, with her maidens, drawing off the tresses from the distaff, lectured them Old tales of Troy, Fiesole, and Rome. A Salterello and a Cianghella would seem to us as strange a marvel as you would a Cincinnatus or a Cornelia now.

"In such well-ordered and seemly fellowship, such faithful and such fair equality, in so sweet a household, Mary bestowed me at my birth, called upon with loud cries; and there in your old baptistery I was made a Christian at once and Cacciaguida; as were my brothers, Eliseo and Moronto.

"From Valdipado came to me my spouse, and from her thy surname grew. I then followed the Emperor Conrad; and he girded knighthood on me; in such good part he took my valiant service. After him I went To testify against that evil law, Whose people, through the shepherd's fault, possess Your right by usurpation. There, by that foul crew, I was released from the deceitful world, Whose base affection soils many a spirit, And from martyrdom I came to this peace."

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CANTO XVI

O slight regard for man's nobility! I shall never account it marvelous That our infirm affection here below Thou mov'st to boasting, when I could not choose, Even in that region of unwarped desire, In heaven itself, but make my vaunt in thee! Yet, cloak, thou art soon shortened, for that time, Unless thou be eked out from day to day, Goes round thee with his shears. Resuming then With greeting such as Rome was first to bear, But since disuse has left me out of practice, I began: And Beatrice, who had been separated from me for a little while, smiled, reminding me of her, whose cough emboldened (as the story holds) the doubting Guinevere to her first offense.

"You are my father," I said. "You give me the heart to speak my thought freely; you raise me above myself. Through so many streams my soul is filled with joy that gladness wells up from it, so that it bears the mighty tide and does not burst. Say then, my honored stem, what ancestors were those from whom you sprang, and what years were marked in your first childhood? Tell me of the fold that has Saint John for its guardian — what was its state then, and who was seated highest in it?"

As embers, at the breathing of the wind, Their flame grew livelier, so that the light I saw shone at my blandishments; and, as it grew more fair to look upon, so with a sweeter voice, yet not in our modern phrase, forthwith it answered: "From the day when it was said 'Hail Virgin!' to the throes by which my mother, who now is sainted, lightened herself of me whom she was heavy with, this fire had come, five hundred fifty times and three, its beams to reillumine underneath the foot of its own lion. They, of whom I sprang, and I, had there our birthplace, where the last partition of our city first is reached by him that runs her annual game. Thus much suffice of my forefathers: who they were, and whence they hither came, more honourable It is better to pass by in silence than to speak. All those who were then living here, from Mars down to the Baptist, fit to bear arms, were but a fifth of them alive today.

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But then the citizens' blood, now mixed from Campi and Certaldo and Fighine, ran pure through the veins of the lowliest craftsman. O how much better it would be if these people were your neighbours, and if at Galluzzo and at Trespiano you had your boundary, than to have them within, and bear the stench of Aguglione's churl, and Signa's, him whose eye is already keen for bargaining! Had the people, which of all the world degenerates most, not been a stepmother to Caesar, but, as a mother, gracious to her son; One such as has become a Florentine, and through trade and commerce would have been set adrift to Simifonte, where his grandfather practiced the beggar's trade. The Conti still held Montemurlo; the Cerchi still were in Acone's parish; nor had the Buondelmonte perhaps yet passed from Valdigrieve.

The city's malady has ever had its source in the confusion of its persons, as the body's does in variety of food: and the blind bull falls with a steeper plunge than the blind lamb; and often one sword does more and better execution than five. Mark Luni, mark Urbisaglia, how they are gone, and after them how go Chiusi and Sinigaglia; and it will seem It is no longer new or strange for you to hear, that families fall when cities meet their end. All things that belong to you, like yourselves, are mortal; but in some you do not notice mortality, because they endure so long, while you pass by so suddenly. And as the moon does, by the rolling of her heavenly sphere, hide and reveal the shore unceasingly; Thus fortune deals with Florence. So do not admire At what I tell you of them, whose renown Time covers, the first Florentines.

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I saw The Ughi, Catilini and Filippi, The Alberichi, Greci and Ormanni, Now in their decline, illustrious citizens: And great as ancient, him of Sannella, With him of Arca I saw, and Soldanieri And Ardinghi, and Bostichi. At the poop, now laden with new felony, so cumbersome that it may quickly sink the bark, sat the Ravignani, from whom descends Count Guido, and he who has since taken his title from the famed Bellincione. Fair governance was still an art well prized by him of Pressa; Galigaio displayed the gilded hilt and pommel in his house. The column, clothed with vair, was still seen unshaken; the Sacchetti were still great, Giouchi, Sifanti, Galli and Barucci, with those who blush to hear the bushel named. Of the Calfucci the branchy trunk was still in its strength; and to the curule chairs Sizii and Arigucci were still drawn.

How mighty I saw them then, whom since their pride has undone! and in all her goodly deeds Florence was by the bullets of bright gold outshone. Such were the sires of those who now, As surely as your church is vacant, flock into her consistory, and at leisure there stall them and grow fat. The overweening brood, that plays the dragon after him that flees, But to those who turn and bare their teeth, or the purse, he is as gentle as a lamb, was on its rise, but yet so little esteemed that Ubertino of Donati resented that his father-in-law should yoke him to its tribe. Already Caponsacco had descended into the marketplace from Fiesole; and Giuda and Infangato were good citizens. A thing incredible I tell, though true: The gateway, named after those of Pera, led Into the narrow circuit of your walls.

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Each one who bore the sightly quarterings Of the great Baron (he whose name and worth The festival of Thomas still revives) Retained his knighthood and his privilege; Albeit one who borders them with gold Is this day mingled with the common herd. In Borgo yet the Gualterotti dwelt, And Importuni: well for its repose Had it still lacked newer neighbourhood. The house from which your tears have had their spring, Through the just anger that hath murdered ye And put a period to your gladsome days, Was honoured, it and those consorted with it. O Buondelmonte! What evil counsel prevailed on you to break the plighted bond? Many who now are weeping would rejoice had God given you to Ema the first time you came near our city. But so it was doomed: on that maimed stone set up to guard the bridge, at your last peace, the victim, Florence, fell.

With these and others like them, I saw Florence in such assured tranquility that she had no cause to grieve: with these I saw her so glorious and so just that never had the lily hung reversed from the lance, or been dyed vermilion through division."

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CANTO XVII

Like the youth who came to Clymene to confirm for himself that reproach which had been fastened on him (he whose end Still makes fathers cautious with their sons), Even such was I; nor was such unnoticed By Beatrice, and by that saintly lamp Who had previously moved his station for me; When thus the lady: "Give your wish free vent, So that it may issue forth, bearing a true report Of the mind's impression; not that anything in your words Can add to our knowledge, but so that You may accustom yourself to acknowledge your thirst And men may mix [their words] for you when they hear."

"O plant! from which I spring! revered and loved! Who soar to so high a pitch, you see as clearly, As earthly thought determines two obtuse angles Cannot be contained in one triangle, so clearly Do you see contingencies, before they exist In themselves, looking at the point to which All times are present to me, and I, while I was scaling with Virgil the soul-purifying mount, and visited the nether world of woe, have heard, touching my future destiny, words grievous, though I feel myself on all sides well squared against fortune's blows. Therefore my will would be satisfied to know the lot that awaits me; the arrow, seen beforehand, slackens its flight."

So I spoke to the brightness which a while before had spoken to me and declared my will, as Beatrice willed, explicitly. Nor with obscure oracular response, such as, before the Lamb of God was slain, beguiled the credulous nations, but in terms precise and unambiguous, replied the spirit of paternal love, enshrined, Yet in his smile it was apparent; and thus he spoke: "Contingency, not unfolded to view On the tablet of your mortal mold, Is all depicted in the eternal sight; But from this no necessity derives, Any more than the tall ship, hurried down the flood, Does from the vision that reflects the scene. From there, as to the ear sweet harmony Comes from the organ, so comes before my eye The time prepared for you. Just as, driven out From Athens by his cruel stepmother's wiles, Hippolytus departed, so must you Depart from Florence.

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This they wish, and this They contrive, and will before long bring to pass, there, Where gainful merchandise is made of Christ, Throughout the livelong day. The common cry, Will, as it is ever wont, lay the blame upon the injured party; but the truth shall, in the vengeance it dispenses, find a faithful witness. You shall leave behind each thing you hold most dearly: this is the first arrow shot from the bow of exile. You shall learn how salty is the taste of another's bread, how hard the path to descend and climb by another's stairs. But what shall gall you most will be the worthless and vile company with whom you must be thrown into these straits. For all ungrateful, impious, all and mad, shall turn against you; but in a little while theirs and not yours shall be the crimsoned brow. Their course shall so evince their brutishness that to have taken your stand apart shall well become you.

"First you must find refuge, first a place of rest, in the courtesy of the great Lombard, who bears the sacred bird perched on the ladder. He will look upon you with such kind regard that between the two of you—the opposite of what befalls other men—the granting will come before the asking. With him you shall see that mortal who at his birth was so strongly stamped by this star that of his deeds the nations shall take note. His unripe age still holds him back from notice; for these wheels have circled him for only nine years. But before the Gascon works his will on great Harry, sparks of virtue shall shoot forth in him, in equal scorn of labours and of gold. His bounty shall be spread abroad so widely, So that even the tongues of his enemies are not idle in his praise. Look to him and his beneficence: for he shall bring a reversal of their lot to many people, rich men and beggars exchanging fortunes.

And you shall bear this written in your soul concerning him, but do not tell it"; and things he told incredible to those who witness them; then added: "So interpret, my son, what has been told to you.—Lo! the ambush that a few circling seasons hide for you! Yet do not envy your neighbours: time extends your span beyond their treason's chastisement."

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Soon, when the saintly spirit, by his silence, had shown that the web which I had stretched for him on the warp was woven, I began, As one who in perplexity desires counsel from another, wise, kind, and friendly: "My father! I clearly see how time drives on toward me, ready to strike the blow that falls most heavily on him who has most abandoned himself. Therefore it is good that I should look ahead, so that, driven from the place most dear to me, I may not lose myself among all the others because of my song. Down through the world of infinite mourning, and along the mountain from whose fair height my lady's eyes lifted me, and then through this heaven from light to light, I have learned that, if I tell it again, it may be woefully distasteful to many; and if I am a timid friend to truth, I fear my life may perish among those, "To whom these days shall be of ancient date."

The brightness, where the enclosed treasure smiled, Which I had found there, first shone glisteningly, Like a golden mirror in the sun; Next answered: "Conscience, dimmed either by its own Or another's shame, will feel thy saying sharp. Thou, notwithstanding, all deceit removed, See that the whole vision be made manifest. And let them wince who have their withers wrung. What though, when tasted first, thy voice shall prove Unwelcome, on digestion it will turn To vital nourishment. The cry thou raisest Shall, as the wind doth, smite the proudest summits; Which is of honour no light argument, For this there only have been shown to thee, Throughout these orbs, the mountain, and the deep, Spirits whose fame has been noted. For the mind of one who hears is reluctant to accept and fix its faith, unless the instance brought be palpable and apparent proof urge it."

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CANTO XVIII

Now in his words, alone, ruminating, rejoiced that blessed spirit; and I fed on mine, tempting the sweet with bitter; she meanwhile, who led me to God, admonished: "Muse on other thoughts; bethink you that near Him I dwell, who recompenses every wrong."

At the sweet sounds of comfort I turned straight away; and what love was seen in the saintly eyes, I leave in silence here; nor through distrust of my words only, but because to such bliss the mind does not remount without aid. This much yet may I speak: that, as I gazed on her, My affection had no room for any other desire. While the eternal pleasure that shone full upon Beatrice, with a second glance from her fair countenance, my gladdened soul was contented; conquering me with a beam of her soft smile, she spoke: "Turn and listen. These eyes are not your only Paradise."

As here below we sometimes see in someone's look the affection marked, when its sway has taken the spirit wholly; so the hallowed light to which I turned, flashing, revealed its will to speak with me further, and began: "On this fifth level of the tree, whose life comes from its top, whose fruit is ever fair and whose leaf never withers, blessed spirits abide, who were below, before they arrived in heaven, So mighty in renown, as every muse Might grace her triumph with them. On the horns Look therefore of the cross: he whom I name Shall there enact, as doth in summer cloud Its nimble fire." Along the cross I saw, At the repeated name of Joshua, A splendour gliding; nor, the word was said, Ere it was done: then, at the naming saw Of the great Maccabee, another move With whirling speed; and gladness was the scourge Unto that top.

The next for Charlemagne And for the peer Orlando, two my gaze Pursued, intently, as the eye pursues A falcon flying. Last, along the cross, William, and Renard, and Duke Godfrey drew My ken, and Robert Guiscard. And the soul, Who spoke with me among the other lights Moved away and mingled; and with the choir Of heavenly songsters proved his tuneful skill.

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I turned to Beatrice on my right, Looking for intimation, whether by word Or act, of what I should do next; and I beheld Such pure radiance in her eyes, such joy, That it surpassed all former custom. And, as by sense Of new delight, the man who perseveres In good deeds perceives from day to day His virtue growing, so I likewise perceived, Together with the heaven, that my ascent Widened the circuit, noting the increase Of beauty in that wonder. Like the change In a brief moment on some maiden's cheek, Which from its fairness discharges the weight Of modesty that stained her; such was she, And to my eyes so sudden was the change, Through the silvery whiteness of that temperate star, whose sixth sphere now enfolded us. I saw, within that Jovian lantern, the clear sparks of love that reigned there take shape before me as our language.

And as birds, risen from river banks, now in a circle, now in a lengthened troop, arrange themselves in flight, greeting, it seems, their new-found pastures; so, within the lights, the saintly creatures flying sang, and formed now D, now I, now L, figured in the air.

First, singing, they moved to their notes, then one of these signs becoming, they rested a little while and were mute. O divine nymph of Pegasean race! whose souls, which you Inspir'st, mak'st glorious and long-lived, as they Cities and realms by thee! Thou with thyself Inform me, that I may set forth the shapes, As fancy doth present them. Be thy power Display'd in this brief song. The characters, Vocal and consonant, were five-fold seven. In order each, as they appear'd, I mark'd. Diligite Justitiam, the first, Both verb and noun all blazon'd; and the extreme Qui judicatis terram. In the M Of the fifth word they held their station, Making the star seem silver streak'd with gold. And on the summit of the M I saw Descending other lights, that rested there, Singing, methinks, their bliss and primal good.

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Then, as at shaking of a lighted brand, Countless sparks on every side Rose scattered, a source of augury for the unwise; Thus more than a thousand twinkling lights from here Seemed to be rising again, and some mounting to a higher pitch And some less; even as the sun, Which kindles them, decreed. And when each one Had settled in its place, I then saw The head and neck of an eagle, vividly Engraved in that streaked fire. He who paints there Has no one to guide him; of himself he guides; And every line and texture of the nest Owes its virtue to him, who fashions it. The other bright beatitude, which seemed Just before, with lilied crowning, well content To over-canopy the M., moved forth, Gently following the impress of the bird.

Sweet star! what glorious and thick-studded gems Have declared to me our justice on the earth To be the effluence of that heaven, which thou, Thyself a costly jewel, dost inlay! Therefore I pray the Sovran Mind, from whom Thy motion and thy virtue are begun, That he would look from whence the fog doth rise, To vitiate thy beam: so that once more He may put forth his hand against such as drive Their traffic in that sanctuary, whose walls With miracles and martyrdoms were built.

Ye host of heaven! whose glory I survey, O beg ye grace for those that are on earth All after ill example gone astray. War once had for its instrument the sword: But now 't is made, taking the bread away Which the good Father locks from none. —And you, Who write only to cancel, consider that they, Who died for the vineyard that you lay waste, Peter and Paul, still live and mark your deeds. You have good cause to cry, "My heart so cleaves To him who lived in remote solitude, And was dragged from the wilds to martyrdom, I knew nothing of the fisherman or Paul."

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CANTO XIX

Before my sight appeared, with open wings, The beauteous image, sweet in fruition, Gladdening the thronged spirits. Each one seemed A little ruby, on which so intense The sunbeam glowed that to my eyes it came In clear refraction. And that which next Befalls me to portray, voice has not uttered, Nor has ink written, nor in fantasy Was e'er conceived. For I beheld and heard the beak discourse; and, what intention formed of many, singly as of one expressed, beginning: "For that I was just and piteous, I am exalted to this height of glory, the which no wish exceeds: and there on earth have I my memory left, e'en by the bad commended, while they leave its course untrod."

Thus is one heat from many embers felt, as in that image many were the loves, and one the voice that issued from them all. Whence I address them: "O perennial flowers of gladness everlasting! that exhale in single breath your odours manifold! Breathe now; and let the hunger be appeased, that with great craving long hath held my soul, Finding no food on earth—this I well know— that if there is in heaven a realm that shows in faithful mirror the celestial Justice, yours reflects it without a veil. You discern the attentiveness with which I prepare myself to listen; you discern the doubt that urges me with such inveterate craving." Straightway I saw, like a falcon issuing from the hood, that rears its head and beats its wings, betraying its beauty and its eagerness. So I saw that stately sign move, with praise of divine grace interwoven and high song of inexpressible joy.

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"He," it began, "who turned His compass on the world's extreme, and in that space has wrought so variously, both openly and in secret, in such wise Could not through all the universe display An impression of his glory, so that the Word Of his omniscience should not still remain In infinite excess. As proof of this, he who first supplanted through pride, who was the sum Of each created being, did not wait For celestial light, and fell abortive. Whence each lesser nature is necessarily but a scant Receptacle unto that Good, which knows No limit, measured by itself alone. Therefore your sight, of the omnipresent Mind A single beam, must acknowledge its origin As surpassing far its utmost potency.

The ken with which your world is gifted descends Into the everlasting Justice as low down As the eye does into the sea; which, though it mark The bottom from the shore, in the wide main Discerns it not; and nevertheless it is, But hidden through its deepness. There is no light, Save that which comes from the pure serene Of never-disturbed ether: for the rest, It is all darkness, or the shadow of the flesh, Or else its poison. Here confess revealed That covert, which has hidden from your search The living justice, of which you made Such frequent question; for you said—'A man Is born on the banks of the Indus, and there is no one there Who speaks of Christ, nor who can read or write, And all his inclinations and his acts, As far as human reason sees, are good, And he offends not in word or deed. But he dies unbaptized, and void of faith. Where is the justice that condemns him?

Where is his blame, if he does not believe?'—What then, And who are you, that would sit on the stool to judge at a distance of a thousand miles with the short-sighted vision of a span? For him who reasons so subtly with me, there would assuredly be room for doubt, even for wonder, did not the safe word of scripture hold supreme authority.

"O animals of clay! O spirits gross! The primal will, which in itself is good, has never been moved from itself, the chief Good. Justice consists in consonance with it, derivable from no created good, whose very cause depends on its beam."

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As on her nest the stork, that turns about To her young, whom she has recently fed, While they look up at her with upward eyes; So I lifted my gaze; and bending thus, The ever-blessed image waved its wings, Working with such deep counsel. Wheeling around It warbled and said: "As are my notes To you, who do not understand them, such is The eternal judgment to mortal ken."

Then still abiding in that ensign ranged, With which the Romans overawed the world, Those burning splendors of the Holy Spirit Took up the strain; and thus it spoke again: "None ever has ascended to this realm Who has not been a believer in Christ, Either before or after the blessed limbs Were nailed to the wood. But lo! of those Those who call "Christ, Christ," there shall be many found, In judgment, further off from him by far, Than those to whom his name was never known. Christians like these the Ethiopian shall condemn: When the two assemblies shall part; One rich eternally, the other poor.

"What may the Persians say unto your kings, When they shall see that volume in which All their dispraise is written, spread to view? There amidst Albert's works shall that be read Which will give speedy motion to the pen, When Prague shall mourn her desolated realm. There shall be read the woe that he doth work With his adulterate money on the Seine, Who by the tusk will perish: there be read The thirsting pride that maketh fool alike The English and the Scot, impatient of their bound. There the Spaniard's luxury shall be seen, The delicate living there of the Bohemian, Who has always been a willing stranger to worth. The halter of Jerusalem shall see A unit for his virtue, and for his vices No less a mark than a million. He who guards The isle of fire honoured by old Anchises Shall find his avarice there and his cowardice; And better to denote his littleness, The writing must be maimed letters, that speak Much in a narrow space.

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All there shall know His uncle's and his brother's filthy doings, Who so renowned a nation and two crowns Have bastardized. And those of Portugal And Norway shall be exposed there with him Of Ratza, who has counterfeited ill The coin of Venice. O blessed Hungary! If thou no longer patiently endurest Thy ill-treatment! and, O blessed Navarre! If with thy mountainous girdle thou wouldst arm thee In earnest of that day, even now are heard Wailings and groans in Famagosta's streets And Nicosia's, grudging at their beast, Who keepeth even footing with the rest."

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CANTO XX

When, disappearing from our hemisphere, The world's enlightener vanishes, and day On all sides wasteth, suddenly the sky, Erewhile irradiated only by his beam, Is yet again unfolded, putting forth Innumerable lights wherein one shines. Of such vicissitude in heaven I thought, As the great sign that marshals the world And the world's leaders, in the blessed beak Was silent; for all those living lights, Waxing in splendour, burst forth into songs, Such as from memory glide and fall away.

Sweet love! that dost apparel thee in smiles, how lustrous was thy semblance in those sparkles, which merely are from holy thoughts inspir'd!

After the precious and bright beaming stones, That did ingem the sixth light, ceas'd the chiming Of their angelic bells; methought I heard The murmuring of a river, that doth fall From rock to rock transpicuous, making known The richness of his spring-head: and as sound Of cistern, at the fret-board, or of pipe, Is, at the wind-hole, modulate and tun'd; Thus up the neck, as it were hollow, rose That murmuring of the eagle, and forthwith A voice then formed there, and from the beak it issued in the form of words, such as my heart was waiting for, and on whose tables I inscribed them.

"The part of me that sees and bears the sun, in mortal eagles," it began, "must now be noted steadfastly: for of the fires that figure me, those glittering in my eye are chief among the greatest. This one, that shines midmost for pupil, was the same who sang the Holy Spirit's song, and bore about the ark from town to town; now he knows the merit of his soul-impassioned strains by their well-fitted guerdon. Of the five that make the circle of the vision, he who is nearest to the beak comforted the widow for her son: now he knows How dearly he pays for not following Christ, both from experience of this pleasant life and of its opposite. Next, the one who follows along the circumference, in place of the over-arch, slowed the pace of death by true repentance: now he knows that the degrees of heaven do not change, when through pious prayer below today's is made tomorrow's destiny.

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The other who follows, with the laws and me, to yield room to the shepherd, passed over to Greece, producing evil fruit from good intent: now he knows how all the ill derived from his well-doing does not helm him at all, though it has brought destruction on the world. That which you see in the lower bow was William, whom that land bewails, which weeps For Charles and Frederick living: now he knows How well the righteous king is loved in heaven, Which he signifies by his radiant appearance. Who in the erring world below would deem That Trojan Ripheus was set in this round As the fifth of the saintly splendours? Now he knows Enough of that which the world cannot see— The grace divine, although even his sight Does not reach its utmost depth."

Like the lark, That warbling in the air ranges long, Then, trilling out its last sweet melody, Drops satiated with the sweetness; such appeared That image stamped by the everlasting pleasure, Which fashions all lovely things like itself.

I, though my doubting were as manifest As is through glass the hue that mantles it, In silence I did not wait: for to my lips "What things are these?" I involuntarily burst out, And forced a passage out: at which I noticed A sudden lightening and new revelry. The eye was kindled: and the blessed sign, No longer keeping me wondering and in suspense, Replied: "I see that thou believest these things, Because I tell them to thee, but discernest not how; So that thy knowledge waits not on thy faith: As one who knows the name of a thing by rote, But is a stranger to its properties, Till another's tongue reveals them. Fervent love And lively hope with violence assail The kingdom of the heavens, and overcome The will of the Most High; not in such a way As man prevails over man; but conquers it, Because it is willing to be conquered, still, though conquered, conquering by its mercy.

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"Those who live in the eye the first and fifth, cause you to marvel, in that you behold the region of the angels decked with them. They did not quit their bodies, as you deem, Gentiles but Christians, in firm-rooted faith, this one of the feet in future to be pierced, that one of feet already nailed to the cross. One from the barrier of the dark abyss, where never any returns with good will, came back unto his bones. Of lively hope such was the meed; of lively hope, that winged the prayers sent up to God for his release, and put power into them to bend his will. The glorious Spirit of whom I speak to you, A little while before returning to the flesh, he believed in him who had the means to help, and, in believing, nourished such a flame of holy love that, at the second death, he was made a sharer in our playful mirth.

The other, through the riches of that grace which distills from so deep a fountain that no created eye ever saw its rising, placed all his love below on what is just and right. Therefore, by the grace God opened in him, he gained the eye to the redemption of mankind to come; believing in this, he no longer endured the filth of paganism, and for their ways he rebuked the stubborn nations. The three nymphs, whom you saw advancing at the right wheel, were sponsors for him for more than a thousand years Before baptizing. O how far removed, Predestination! is thy root from such As see not the First Cause entire: and ye, O mortal men! be wary how ye judge: For we, who see our Maker, know not yet The number of the chosen: and esteem Such scantiness of knowledge our delight: For all our good is in that primal good Concentrate, and God's will and ours are one."

So, by that form divine, was given to me Sweet medicine to clear and strengthen sight, And, as one handling skillfully the harp, Attendant on some skilful songster's voice Bids the chords vibrate, and therein the song Acquires more pleasure; so, the while it spake, It doth remember me, that I beheld The pair of blessed luminaries move. Like the harmonious twinkling of two eyes, Their radiant circlets, dancing to the sound.

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CANTO XXI

Once more my eyes were fixed on Beatrice, And with my eyes my soul, which in her looks Found all contentment. Yet she wore no smile, And, "If I smiled," she said, "you would at once Be like Semele when she was turned to ashes: For, ascending these eternal palace stairs, My beauty, which the higher it climbs, As you have noted, still burns brighter, Shines so that, were no tempering interposed, Your mortal power would shrink from its rays As the leaf does from the thunderbolt. We are borne into the seventh splendour, Which, beneath the burning lion's breast, In this hour, beams mingled with his might, Let your mind be with your eyes, and in them be mirrored the shape that shall be shown in this mirror." Whoever can conceive how fondly I had fed my sight on her blissful countenance may know what joy I felt when I turned to new thoughts to do the bidding of my heavenly guide, poising either weight in equal balance.

Within the crystal that records the name (as its farther circle girds the world) of that beloved monarch in whose happy reign no ill had power to harm, I saw reared up, in colour like gold illumined by the sun, a ladder whose summit was so lofty that my sight pursued it in vain; down whose steps I saw the splendours in such multitude Descending, every light in heaven, I thought, was shed from there. As rooks at dawn of day rouse themselves to dry their chill feathers, some speed off to the fields, and some homeward, returning, cross their flight, while some stay and wheel around their airy lodge; so seemed that glittering host, borne on alternate wing, as on a certain stair it met and clashed its shining. And one lingering near us grew so bright that in my thought I said: "The love which this betokens me admits no doubt."

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Unwillingly I refrain from question, looking to her by whom my silence and my speech are ordered, for a sign; whence she, who in the sight of Him that sees all saw why I was silent, prompted me T' indulge the fervent wish; and I began: "I am not worthy, of my own desert, That thou shouldst answer me; but for her sake, Who hath vouchsaf'd my asking, spirit blest! That in thy joy art shrouded! say the cause, Which bringeth thee so near: and wherefore, say, Doth the sweet symphony of Paradise Keep silence here, pervading with such sounds Of rapt devotion ev'ry lower sphere?" "Mortal art thou in hearing as in sight;" Was the reply: "and what forbade the smile Of Beatrice interrupts our song.

Only to yield thee gladness of my voice, And of the light that vests me, I thus far Descend these hallow'd steps: not that more love Invites me; for lo! there aloft, as much More of love is witnessed in those flames: But such is my lot, assigned by charity, which makes us ready servants, as you see, to carry out the counsel of the Highest. "In this court," I said, "O sacred lamp! Love needs no compulsion, but freely follows eternal Providence—I discern this well: this is harder to conceive—why of your peers you alone were foredoomed to this office."

I had not finished when, like a swift mill, the light whirled on its center; and then the love that dwelt there replied: "Eternal splendor, piercing through these folds, knits its virtue to my vision, and thus supported, lifts me so far above myself that on the sovereign essence, from which it wells, I have the power to gaze, and from that comes the joy with which I shine, matching with my blaze the keenness of my sight. But not the soul that is in heaven most luminous, nor the seraph whose eyes are most fixed on God, shall solve what you have asked; for in the abyss it lies, sunk so low within the everlasting statute, that no created understanding may fathom it. And when you return to the mortal world, let this be reported: that none henceforth dare direct his steps to so dread a destination. The mind that here is radiant on the earth is wrapped in mist.

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Consider, then, whether she can do, below, what exceeds her ability, when she is taken up to heaven.” By words like these admonished, I pressed the question no further; And of the spirit humbly sued alone to instruct me of its state. "'Twixt either shore of Italy, nor distant from thy land, a stony ridge ariseth, in such sort, the thunder doth not lift his voice so high, they call it Catria: at whose foot a cell is sacred to the lonely Eremite, for worship set apart and holy rites." A third time thus it spake; then added: "There so firmly to God's service I adher'd, that with no costlier viands than the juice of olives, easily I pass'd the heats of summer and the winter frosts, content in heav'n-ward musings.

Rich were the returns and fertile, which that cloister once was us'd to render to these heavens: now 't is fall'n Into a waste so empty that, before long, Detection must lay bare its vanity Pietro Damiano was I called: Pietro the sinner, when I dwelt Beside the Adriatic, in the house Of our blessed Lady. Near the close Of my mortal life, through much importuning I was constrained to wear the hat that still Shifted from bad to worse.—Cephas came; He came, who was the Holy Spirit's vessel, Barefoot and lean, eating their bread, as it chanced, At the first table. Modern Shepherds need Those who on either hand may prop and lead them, So burly have they grown: and from behind Others to hoist them. Down the palfrey's sides Spread their broad mantles, so that both the beasts Are covered with one skin. O patience! you who look upon this and endure so long."

At those words I saw the splendors descend from step to step, alight, and wheel, and wax, each circling more beautiful. Around this they came and stayed themselves; uttered a shout so loud it has no likeness here; nor did I know what it spoke, so deafening was the thunder."

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CANTO XXII

Astounded, to the guardian of my steps I turned, like the child who always runs there for succor where he trusts most, and she was like the mother who, her son beholding pale and breathless, with her voice soothes him, and he is cheered; for thus she spoke, soothing me: "Do you not know you are in heaven? And do you not know that whatever is in heaven, Is holy, and that nothing there is done But is done zealously and well? Consider now, What change in you the song, and what my smile had wrought, since thus the shout had power to move you. If you could have understood their prayers, The vengeance would already be known to you, Which you must witness before your mortal hour. The sword of heaven is not hasty to strike, Nor yet does it linger, except in the view of him Who looks for it in desire or fear. But elsewhere now I bid you turn your view; So shall you behold many a famous spirit."

Directing my eyes as she willed, I saw A hundred little spheres, which grew fairer By interchange of splendour. I remained, As one who, fearful of presuming too much, The keenness of his desire abates, Nor does he dare to ask, when among those pearls one largest and most lustrous drew forward, that it might grant fulfillment to my wish; and from within it I heard these sounds.

"If you, like me, beheld the charity that burns among us, what your mind conceives would be uttered. But so that, before you reach the lofty boundary, expectancy may not weary you, I will answer even the thought which you hold in such reverence. In old days, that mountain, at whose side Cassino rests, was frequented on its height by a race deceived and ill-disposed; and it was I who first carried thither the name of Him who brought the soul-subliming truth to man. And such a speeding grace shone over me that from their impious worship I reclaimed the dwellers round about, who with the world were lost in delusion. These other flames, the spirits of contemplative men, were all enlivened by that warmth whose kindly force gives birth to flowers and fruits of holiness. Here is Macarius; Romoaldo here; and here my brethren, who restrained their steps within the cloisters and held firm their hearts."

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I answering thus: "Thy gentle and kind words, and this cheerful semblance that I behold beaming in you all, not unobserved, have raised assurance in me, awakening it full-blossomed in my bosom, like a rose before the sun, when the consummate flower Has spread to the utmost amplitude. Of thee Therefore I entreat, father! to declare If I may gain such favour as to gaze Upon thine image, by no covering veil'd."

"Brother!" he thus rejoin'd, "in the last sphere Expect completion of thy lofty aim, For there on each desire completion waits, And there on mine: where every aim is found Perfect, entire, and ripe for fulfillment. There all things are as they have ever been: For there is no space to bound, nor pole divides, Our ladder reaches even to that clime, And so at giddy distance mocks thy view. Thither the Patriarch Jacob saw it stretch Its topmost round, when it appear'd to him With angels laden. But to mount it now No one lifts his foot from the earth: and hence my rule is left a profitless stain on the leaves; the walls, reared as an abbey, turned into dens, the cowls into sacks choked up with musty meal.

Foul usury does not lift itself more against God's pleasure than that fruit which makes the hearts of monks so wanton: for whatever is in the church's keeping, all pertains to such as sue for heaven's sweet sake, and not to those who claim by right of kindred, or on a viler allowance. Mortal flesh has grown so dainty that good beginnings do not last from the oak's birth to the acorn's setting. Peter founded his convent without gold or silver; I founded mine with prayers and fasting; and Francis his in meek humility. And if you note the point from which each proceeds, then look at what it has erred toward, and you shall find the white grown murky. The Jordan was turned back; and a lesser wonder than the refluent sea may at God's pleasure work amendment here."

So saying, he drew back to his assembly: and they clustered together into one, then all rolled upward like an eddying wind.

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The sweet lady beckoned me to follow them: and by that influence alone she so prevailed over my nature that no natural motion, ascending or descending here below, had, as I mounted, vied with my pennon.

So, reader, as my hope is to return unto the holy triumph for which I often bewail my sins and smite my breast, You had taken longer to draw out and thrust your finger into the fire than I had before I beheld the sign that follows Taurus and entered its precinct. O glorious stars! O light impregnated with exceeding virtue! To you, whatever genius lifts me above the vulgar, I gratefully refer; with you the parent of all mortal life rose and set when I first inhaled the Tuscan air; and afterward, when grace vouchsafed me entrance to the lofty wheel that impels you in its orb, fate decreed my passage at your clime. To you my soul devoutly sighs, for virtue even now to meet the hard enterprise that draws me on.

"Thou art so near the sum of blessedness," Said Beatrice, "that behooves thy ken Be vigilant and clear. And, to this end, Or even thou advance thee further, hence Look downward, and contemplate, what a world Already stretched under our feet there lies: So as thy heart may, in its blithest mood, Present itself to the triumphal throng, Which through the ethereal concave comes rejoicing."

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I straight obeyed; and with mine eye returned Through all the seven spheres, and saw this globe So pitiful of semblance, that perforce It moved my smiles: and him in truth I hold For wisest, who esteems it least: whose thoughts Elsewhere are fixed, him worthiest call and best. I saw the daughter of Latona shine Without the shadow, whereof late I deemed So dense and rare were the cause. Here I sustained the visage, Hyperion! of thy sun; and marked how near him, with their circle, round move Maia and Dione; here discerned Jove's tempering between his sire and son; and hence their changes and their various aspects distinctly scanned. Nor might I fail to descry of all the seven, how bulky each, how swift; nor of their several distances fail to learn. This petty area (over which we stride so fiercely), as along the eternal twins I wound my way, appeared before me all, stretched forth from the havens unto the hills.

Then to the beauteous eyes my eyes returned.

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CANTO XXIII

Even as the bird, who amidst the leafy bower has, in her nest, sat darkling through the night, With her sweet brood, impatient to catch sight of the looks they long for, and to bring home their food, in her fond quest unconscious of her toil: she, anticipating the time, on the branch that overhangs their nest, with wakeful gaze awaits the sun; nor ever, until dawn, does she remove her eager gaze from the east; so stood the lady erect, and bent her glance wistfully on that region where the sun slows his speed the most; so that, seeing her suspended and wandering, I became like one in whom desire is awakened, and the hope of something new to come fills with delight.

A short space followed; I was not held, I say, long in expectation, when I saw the heavens grow more and more resplendent; and, "Behold," Beatrice cried, "The triumphal hosts of Christ, and all the harvest reaped at last from your ascending into these spheres." It seemed to me that, while she spoke, her image was all ablaze, and in her eyes there was such fullness of joy, and I am fain to pass unconstrued by.

As in the calm full moon, when Trivia smiles, in peerless beauty, amid the eternal nymphs, who paint through all its gulfs the blue profound in bright pre-eminence, so I saw there, above a million lamps, a sun from whom all drew their radiance as from ours the starry train: and through the living light so lustrous glowed the substance that my sight could not endure it.

O Beatrice! sweet and precious guide! Who cheered me with her comforting words! "Against the virtue that overpowers thee, There is no help in resisting. Here is the might, And here the wisdom, which laid open The path that had been yearned for so long, Between heaven and earth." Like the fire That, imprisoned in a cloud, breaks out Expansively, so that from its enlarged womb It falls against nature to the ground; Thus in that heavenly banquet my soul Outgrew herself; and, lost in the transport, She now retains no remembrance of what she was.

"Open thine eyes, and mark me: thou hast seen things that empower thee to sustain my smile."

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I was as one when a forgotten dream Comes over him, and he strives in vain To shape it again in his fantasy, When that gracious boon was offered me, Which may never be erased from the book, wherein the past is written. Now, if all those tongues were to sound that have been fed on the sweetest milk of Polyhymnia and her sisters and fattened on it—not even with all their help could my song shadow forth even the thousandth part of the truth, that saintly smile, or merely what it wrought in her saintly looks. And with such figuring of Paradise the sacred strain must leap, like one who meets a sudden interruption on his road. But he who considers how ponderous the theme is, and that it lies on a mortal shoulder, may pardon it if it trembles under the burden. The track our venturous keel must furrow brooks no unribbed pinnace, no self-sparing pilot.

"Why does my face," said Beatrice, "thus enamour you, that you do not turn to the beautiful garden, blossoming beneath the rays of Christ? Here is the rose in which the divine Word was made incarnate; and here are the lilies, by whose fragrance the way of life was followed." Prompt I heard her bidding, and once again encountered the strife of aching vision. As before, through a glance of sunlight streaming through broken cloud, my eyes have seen a flower-besprinkled meadow, though veiled in shade themselves; so I saw there legions of splendours, on whom burning rays shed lightnings from above, yet I did not see the fountain from which they flowed. O gracious virtue! You, whose broad stamp is on them, higher up You exalted your glory to make room For my overlabored sight: when at the name Of that fair flower, whom I duly invoke Both morn and eve, my soul, with all her might Collected, was fixed on the goodliest ardor.

And, as the bright dimensions of the star Excelling in heaven, as once here on earth Were vividly portrayed in my eyeballs, Lo! from within the sky a cresset fell, Circling in the fashion of a diadem, And girded the star, and hovering round it wheeled.

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Whatever melody sounds sweetest here, And draws the spirit most unto itself, Might seem a rent cloud when it grates the thunder, Compared unto the sounding of that lyre, Wherewith the goodliest sapphire, that inlays The floor of heaven was crowned. "Angelic Love, I am the one who thus with hovering flight encircles the lofty rapture inspired by that womb, where our desire did dwell; and around thee so, Lady of Heaven! will I hover, as long as thou shalt follow thy Son, and diviner joy shall from thy presence gild the highest sphere."

Such was the close of the circling melody: and, as it ended, all the other lights took up the strain, and echoed Mary's name.

The robe that with its regal folds enwraps the world, and with the nearer breath of God doth burn and quiver, held its inner hem and skirting so far retired over us, that yet no glimmer of its majesty had streamed unto me: therefore were my eyes No match for pursuing the crowned flame, which rose and sought the native seed of its fire; and like a baby that stretches out its arms in sheer eagerness toward the breast, after the milk is taken; so the fervent band stretched out their wavy summits, out of zealous love for Mary; then, in view, they halted there and sang "Regina Coeli" so sweetly that the delight has never left me.

O what overflowing abundance is piled up in those rich-laden coffers, which below sowed the good seed, whose harvest they now keep.

Here are the treasures tasted, which with tears were won in the Babylonian exile, when gold had failed them. Here in a high synod of the ancient council convened with the new, under the Son of Mary and of God, he victoriously holds his mighty triumph, To whom the keys of glory were assigned.

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CANTO XXIV

"O ye who, advanced in chosen fellowship to the great supper of the blessed Lamb, whereon whoever feeds has every wish fulfilled! If by God's grace this man is granted a foretaste of that which falls from your table, before death prescribes his fated term, be not heedless of his urgent will; but may some influence of your sacred dews sprinkle him. Of the fount you always drink, whence flows what he most craves." Beatrice spoke, and the rejoicing spirits, like spheres revolving on fixed poles, trailed a blaze of comet splendour; and as wheels that wind their circles in the clock, so work the stated rounds, that to the observant eye The first seemed still, and, as it flew, the last; Even thus, weaving their carols variously, they paced by the measure, swift or slow, and made me reckon the riches of their joy.

From that which I noted as most excelling in beauty I saw issue forth a flame so bright that none more goodly was left there. Thrice it wheeled round Beatrice, with so divine a song that fancy's ear records it not; and the pen moves on and leaves a blank: for our mortal speech, nor even the inward shaping of the brain, has colors fine enough to trace such folds.

"O saintly sister mine! thy devout prayer is urged with so vehement an affection that thou dost unbind me from that beauteous sphere."

Such were the words breathed toward my lady from that blessed ardour, as soon as it had paused: To whom she then said: "O everlasting light of him within whose mighty grasp our Lord left the keys, which of this wondrous bliss he bore below! Test this man, as you will, with lighter or deeper probe, concerning the faith by which you walked upon the waves. Whether he is steadfast in love, in hope, and in belief is not hidden from you: for you have your sight there, where all things are beheld in the most vivid likeness. But since true faith has peopled this fair realm with citizens, it is fitting that, to exalt its glory further, you should discourse of it in his hearing."

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Like the bachelor who arms himself, And does not speak until the master has proposed The question, to approve, and not to end it; So I, in silence, armed myself while she spoke, Summoning up each argument to aid; As was befitting for such a questioner, And such a profession: "As a good Christian ought, Declare to me, What is faith?" At which I raised My forehead to the light from which this had breathed, Then turned to Beatrice, and in her looks Met approval, that from their inmost fount I should unlock the waters. "May the grace, That giveth me the captain of the church For confessor," said I, "vouchsafe to me Apt utterance for my thoughts!" then added: "Sire!

Even as set down by the unerring style Of thy dear brother, who with thee conspired To bring Rome into the way of life, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the proof of things not seen; and herein consists its essence, it seems to me,"—"Rightly have you judged," was the answer: "if you discern well why first he defined it as substance, and then as proof."

"The deep things," I replied, "which here I scan distinctly, are so hidden below from mortal eye that they have their being in belief alone, on which credence sublime hope is built; and therefore it intends substance. And inasmuch as we must needs infer our reasoning from such belief, all respect to other view excluded, hence of proof the intention is derived." Forthwith I heard: "If thus, whatever by learning men attain, If he were understood, the sophist would want room to exercise his wit." So breathed the flame of love; then added: "Current is the coin you utter, both in weight and in alloy. But tell me, if you have it in your purse."

"Even so glittering and so round," said I, "I do not doubt its assay in the least."

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Next issued from the deep-embosomed splendour: "Say, whence the costly jewel, on which every virtue is founded, came to you." "The flood," I answered, "from the Spirit of God rained down on the ancient bond and the new— here is the reasoning that convinces me so feelingly that every other argument seems blunt and forceless in comparison." Then I heard: "Wherefore do you hold that each, the elder proposition and the new, "What persuades you of this is the voice of Heaven."

"The works that followed are evidence of their truth," I answered. "Nature did not forge these things in her fire or mold them on her anvil." "Who vouches to you for the works themselves," came the reply, "that they are truly what they claim to be? No one has sworn this to you."

"That the whole world," I said, "should have turned to Christianity with no miracle wrought would in itself be such a miracle that all the rest would not be a hundredth part so great. Even you went forth in poverty and hunger to plant the goodly vine that, from the vine it once was, has now grown into an unsightly bramble." When he had finished, through the high celestial court all the spheres resounded: "Praise we one God!" in a song of the most unearthly melody. And when that Worthy one had thus, from branch to branch, led me in examination, so that we now approached the topmost bough, he straightway resumed: "The grace that holds sweet dalliance with your soul, So far your lips have scarcely opened, and whatever has passed them, I commend. You must now express what you believe, and on what your belief has grown."

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"O saintly father and spirit!" I began, "who see that which you so firmly believed as to outrun feet younger than your own toward the sepulchre — your will is here that I unfold the tenor of my creed; and you have likewise asked the cause of it. And I reply: I believe in one God, one sole eternal Godhead, by whose love all heaven is moved, while He Himself remains unmoved. Nor does physical demonstration alone, or the more intellectual and abstruse, persuade me to this faith; but from that truth It comes to me rather, which is shed Through Moses, the rapt Prophets, and the Psalms. The Gospel, and that which ye yourselves did write, When ye were gifted of the Holy Ghost.

In three eternal Persons I believe, Essence threefold and one, a mysterious league Of absolute union, which, many a time, The word of gospel lore upon my mind Imprints: and from this germ, this firstling spark, The lively flame dilates, and like heaven's star Doth glitter in me." As the master hears, Well pleased, and then enfoldeth in his arms The servant, who hath joyful tidings brought, And having told the errand keeps his peace; Thus, uttering benediction with song, As soon as I held my peace, compassed me thrice The apostolic radiance, whose command had opened my lips, pleased so well with their answer.

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CANTO XXV

If ever the sacred poem that has made both heaven and earth partners in its labor, and with lean abstinence, through many a year, faded my brow, is destined to prevail over the cruelty that bars me forth from the fair sheepfold where a sleeping lamb the wolves set upon and would gladly have worried, with another voice and fleece of another grain I shall forthwith return, and, standing up at my baptismal font, shall claim the wreath due to the poet's temples: for there I first entered on the faith which makes souls acceptable to God: and, for its sake, Peter had then circled my forehead thus.

Next from the squadron from which had issued forth the first fruit of Christ's vicars on earth, a light moved toward us, at the sight of which my Lady, full of gladness, spoke to me: "Lo! lo! behold the peer of mighty power, who makes Falicia thronged with visitors!"

As when the ring-dove alights by his mate, each circles about the other, and murmuring cooes his fondness; thus I saw one, of the other great and glorious prince, hailed with kindly greeting, both extolling their heavenly banqueting; but when an end was to their gratulation, silent, each, before me they sat down, so burning bright that I could not look on them. Smiling then, Beatrice spoke: "O life shrined in glory!" Who did set down the largess of our kingly court with faithful pen? Let now thy voice resound the praises of hope in this height. For thou, who figur'st them in shapes, as clear, As Jesus stood before thee, well canst thou speak them."

"Lift up thy head, and be strong in trust: For that which arrives here from the mortal world must be ripened in our beam."

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Such cheering accents from the second flame assured me; and I lifted up my eyes to the mountains that had lately bowed themselves under an over-heavy burden. "Since our Liege wills it of his grace that thou, before thy death, in the most secret council, with his lords shouldst be confronted, so that having viewed the glories of our court, thou mayst therewith Yourself, and all who hear, invigorate With hope that leads to a blissful end; declare, What that hope is, how it flourishes in you, And whence you had it." Thus proceeding still, The second light; and she, whose gentle love Escorted my soaring wings in that lofty flight, Anticipating me, replied: Among her sons, not one is fuller of hope Than the church militant; so it is of him Recorded in the sun, whose generous orb Enlightens all our tribe; and before his term Of warfare is complete, he has been permitted to come here From Egypt to Jerusalem, to see.

The other points, both of which you have inquired about, Not for more knowledge, but so that he may tell How dearly you hold the virtue—these to him "Leave to him, for he may answer you with ease, and without boasting, so may God give him grace." Like a scholar practiced in his task, who, wishing to give proof of diligence, gladly seconds his teacher, "Hope," I said, "is a sure expectation of the joy to come, the effect of divine grace and preceding merit. This light visits my heart from many a star, but the first flowed to me from him who sang the songs of the Supreme, himself supreme among his tuneful brethren. 'Let all who have known thy name hope in thee,' so speaks his anthem; and who among those who know my faith does not know that? From thee, the next, distilling from his spring, in thine epistle, the drops fell on me so plenteously that I shower them on others The influence of their dew."

While I spoke, A flashing, as of quick and volleyed lightning, Within the bosom of that mighty sheen, Played tremulous; then these accents breathed: "Love for the virtue that attended me Even to the palm, and issuing from the field, Glows vigorous yet within me, and inspires Me to ask of you, whom it also delights; What promise do you chiefly win from hope?"

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"Both scriptures, new and ancient," I replied; "Propose the mark (which even now I see) For souls beloved of God. Isaiah says,

'That, in their own land, each one must be clad In twofold vesture; and their proper lands this delicious life.' In terms more full, And far clearer, your brother has set forth This revelation to us, in which he speaks Of the white raiment destined for the saints." And as the words were ending, from above, "They hope in thee," we first heard cried; to which All the carols answered. Amidst them next A light of such clear amplitude emerged That winter's month would be but a single day, Were such a crystal in the sign of Cancer.

As a virgin rises up and goes And enters into the mazes of the dance, Though gay, yet innocent of worse intent Than to do fitting honour to the bride; So I beheld the new effulgence come Unto the other two, who in a ring Wheeled, as became their rapture. In the dance And in the song it mingled. And the lady She kept her gaze fixed on them, even as the bride Silent and motionless. "This is he who lay on the breast of our pelican; this is he to whose keeping from the cross the mighty charge was given." Thus she spoke, yet nonetheless she did not remove her sight from observing them, either before her words began or when they ended. Like one who looks intently and strives with searching vision to see the sun in eclipse, and through the desire of seeing loses the power of sight: so I peered at that last radiance while I heard: "Why do you dazzle your eyes seeking that which does not abide here?

Earth is my body, in earth; and it shall be, with the rest, so long, until our number equals the decree Of the Most High. The two who have ascended, In this our blessed cloister, shine alone With the two garments. So report below."

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As when, for ease of labour, or to shun Suspected peril at a whistle's breath, The oars, erstwhile dashed frequent in the wave, All rest; the flaming circle at that voice So rested, and the mingled sound was still, Which from the trinal band soft-breathing rose. I turned, but ah! how trembled in my thought, When, looking at my side again to see Beatrice, I descried her not, although Not distant, on the happy coast she stood.

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CANTO XXVI

With dazzled eyes, while wondering I remained, Forth from the beamy flame which dazzled me Issued a breath, that in attention mute Detained me; and these words it spoke: "'Twere well, That, until thy vision, on my form O'erspent, regains its virtue, with discourse Thou compensate the brief delay. Say then, Beginning, to what point thy soul aspires:"

"And meanwhile rest assured, that sight in thee Is but o'erpowered a space, not wholly quenched: Since thy fair guide and lovely, in her look Hath potency, the like to that which dwelt In Ananias' hand." I answering thus: "Be to mine eyes the remedy or late Or early, at her pleasure; for they were The gates, at which she entered, and did light Her never dying fire. My wishes here Are centered; in this palace is the weal, That Alpha and Omega, is to all The lessons love can read me." Yet again The voice that had dispelled my fear, when, dazed By that excess, I was urged to converse, and spoke: "Thou must sift thy terms more narrowly, And say who aimed thy bow at this target."

"Philosophy," said I, "has arguments, And this place has authority enough To imprint such love in me: for, of necessity, Good, insofar as we perceive the good, Kindles our love, and the more so As it comprises more of goodness in it. The essence then, wherein such advantage lies, So that each good found outside it is nothing else But a beam of its light, must needs attract The soul of each one who loves and who discerns The truth on which this proof is built. Such truth Learn from him who shows me the first love Of all intelligential substances Eternal: from his voice I learn, whose word Is truth, that of himself to Moses saith, 'I will make all my good pass before thee.' Lastly from thee I learn, who chiefly proclaimest, Even at the outset of thy heralding, In mortal ears the mystery of heaven."

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"Through human wisdom, and the authority Agreeing therewith," I heard answered, "keep The choicest of thy love for God. But say, If thou yet feelest other cords within thee That draw thee toward him; so that thou report How many are the fangs with which this love Is grappled to thy soul." I did not miss To what intent the eagle of our Lord He had made his demand clear; indeed, he had noted it well. The confession he had been led to make, and then resumed: "All the binding ties that knit the heart to God, Confederate to secure our clarity. The being of the world, and my own being, The death he endured so that I should live, And that which all the faithful hope for, as I do, Joined to the lively knowledge mentioned before, Have saved my bark from the sea of ill love, And secured it on the coast of the right.

As for the leaves that bloom in the garden, My love for them is great, as is the good Dealt by the eternal hand that tends them all."

I ended, and with that a song most sweet Rang through the spheres; and "Holy, holy, holy," My lady sang in accord with the rest. And as sleep is broken and scattered by the sharp encounter of the nimble light, with the eye's spirit running forth to meet the ray, urged from membrane to membrane; and the startled man loathes what he sees; so, at his sudden waking, he misjudges everything around him, until assurance comes with better judgment: thus the saintly one came and drove the motes from before my eyes with the resplendence of her own, which cast their brightness downward, a thousand miles below. From this point I shall recover my vision more clearly than before; and, well-nigh astounded, I asked about a fourth light that I now saw with us.

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And Beatrice: "The first diving soul, that the first virtue ever formed, marvels Within these rays his Maker." Like the leaf that bows its lithe top till the blast is blown; by its own virtue reared, it then stands aloof; so I, while she spoke, bowed awe-stricken. Then eagerness to speak emboldened me; and I began: "O fruit! that alone was mature when first engendered! Ancient father! who doubly seest in every wedded bride thy daughter by affinity and blood! Devoutly as I may, I pray thee hold converse with me: thou seest my will; and I, to hear thee more speedily, tell it not."

It oft chances that some animal betrays, through the sleek covering of its furry coat, the fondness that stirs in it and conforms its outward seeming to the cheer within: And in like manner was Adam’s spirit moved to a joyous mood, which shone through the covering, transparent, when it spoke to please me: “There is no need for your will to be told, which, untold, I discern better than you discern whatever thing you hold most certain; for I see that will in Him who is the mirror of truth, and Himself a parhelion to all things, and nothing else to him.

This you would hear: how long since God placed me in the high garden, from whose hounds she led me up in this ladder, steep and long; what span my season of delight endured; whence truly sprang the wrath that banished me; and what the language was that I spoke and formed —not that I tasted of the tree, my son, was in itself the cause of that exile, But only my transgressing of the mark Assigned to me. There, whence at your lady's bidding The Mantuan moved him, I was still barred From this council, until the sun had completed, Four thousand three hundred rounds and twice, His annual journey; and, through every light In his broad pathway, I saw him return, A thousand save seventy times, while I dwelt On the earth. The language I used Was worn away before Nimrod's race Began their unaccomplishable work. For nothing that man inclines to was ever lasting, Left by his reason free and variable, As is the sky that sways him.

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That he speaks Is nature's prompting: whether thus or thus, She leaves to you, as you most affect it. Before I descended into the abyss of hell, El was the name on earth of the Chief Good, whose joy enfolds me: then it was called Eli, and so it is fitting: for among mortals, custom is like the leaf on the bough; it falls, and another comes in its place. On the mount most high above the waters, all my life, both innocent and guilty, reached only from the first hour to that which comes next (as the sun changes quarter), to the sixth."

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CANTO XXVII

Then "Glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit," rang out loud throughout all Paradise, so that with the song my spirit reeled, so passing sweet was the strain: and what I saw was equal ecstasy; it seemed one universal smile of all things, Joy beyond compare, gladness unutterable, Imperishable life of peace and love, Inexhaustible riches and immeasurable bliss.

Before my eyes stood the four torches lit; And that one which had come first began to grow Brighter, and in appearance became such As Jove might be if he and Mars were birds And had exchanged their plumage. Silence followed, Imposed upon the blessed choir by Him who here appoints The alternation of ministry; When I heard this: "Do not wonder if my hue Is changed; for while I speak, you shall see these All change in like manner with me. My place He who usurps on earth (my place, yes, mine, Which in the presence of the Son of God Is empty), the same has made my cemetery A common sewer of puddle and of blood: The deeper his fall below his triumph, who from here Fell malignant." Such colour as the sun, At evening or morning, paints an opposing cloud, Then I saw sprinkled over all the sky.

And as the unblemished lady, who in herself Is safe from censure, yet at the mere report Of another's failing shrinks with maiden fear; So Beatrice changed in her appearance: And such an eclipse in heaven, methinks, was seen When the Most Holy suffered. Then the words Proceeded, with a voice altered from itself So completely that the appearance did not alter more. "Not for this end was Christ's spouse fed with my blood, With that of Linus, and of Cletus: That she might serve for the purchase of base gold: But for the purchase of this happy life Did Sextus, Pius, and Callixtus bleed, And Urban, they, whose doom was not without Much weeping sealed.

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No purpose was of ours That on the right hand of our successors Part of the Christian people should be set, And part on their left; nor that the keys, Which were vouchsafed me, should serve as ensign Unto the banners that do levy war On the baptized: nor I, for a seal-mark Set on sold and lying privileges; Which makes me often bicker and turn red. In shepherd's clothing greedy wolves below Range wide o'er all the pastures. Arm of God! Why longer sleepest thou? Caorsines and Gascona Prepare to quaff our blood. O good beginning To what a vile conclusion must you stoop! But the high providence that defended Through Scipio the world's glory for Rome Will not delay its aid; and you, son, Who through your mortal weight shall yet again Return below, open your lips, and do not hide What is not hidden by me."

Like a hood Of frozen vapors streaming down the air, When the she-goat with her sky-borne horn Touches the sun, so I saw there stream wide The vapors that had lingered with us late And with glad triumph decked the ethereal canopy. Onward my sight pursued their semblances; Pursued them so far that the space between Severed them from its reach; whereat the celestial Guide, noticing that I was no longer intent On looking up, he said, "Look down and see what circuit you have traversed." From the hour when I had first cast my gaze below, I saw all the first region overpassed, which winds from the midpoint to the boundary; and onward from there, from Gades, I beheld the unwise voyage of Laertes' son, and toward here the shore where you, Europa, made yourself a joyful burden; and yet more of this dim spot I would have seen, but that the sun, a constellation off and more, had taken his course in the zodiac below.

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Then by the spirit that never leaves its amorous dalliance with my lady's looks, back with redoubled ardour were my eyes led unto her; and from her radiant smiles, When I turned, a pleasure so divine shone upon me that whatever lure or art or nature in human flesh, or in its painted likeness, can combine through greedy eyes to capture the soul withal, was nothing compared to her beauty. Its gracious influence from the fair nest of Leda rapt me away, and bore me into the swiftest heaven.

What place for entry Beatrice chose, I cannot say, so uniform was all, most vivid and most lofty. She divined my secret wish and, with such gladness that God's love seemed to shine from her face, thus began: "Here is the goal from which motion starts upon its race; motionless the centre, and all the rest moved around it. Except the divine soul, No place in this heaven is empty; the divine soul, in which the love that rules over its sphere is kindled, and the power that it sheds, is enclosed by one circle of light and love, just as this sphere encloses the others; and its limit is known only to Him who sets its boundary. Measured by nothing itself, it imparts motion to all things, counted out to them, as you count out ten by five or by half. You see the vessel in which the roots of time are plunged; look elsewhere for the leaves. O mortal lust! You cannot lift your head above the waves that overwhelm and sink you down!

The will in man bears fair blossoms; but its ruddy promise is, by the dripping of perpetual rain, made mere abortion: faith and innocence Are met with but in babes, each taking leave Before their cheeks are sprinkled with down; he who fasts, While still a stammerer, once his tongue is loosed, Devours every food alike with every moon. Another, still a babbler, loves and listens to His mother; but no sooner does he have free use Of speech than he wishes her in her grave. So suddenly does the fair child of him, Whose welcome is the morn and whose parting is the eve, Change her virgin white to negro blackness.

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"Thou, to abate thy wonder, note that none Bears rule on earth, and its frail family Are therefore wanderers. Yet before the date, When through the hundredth in his reckoning drops Pale January must be shored aside From winter's calendar, these heavenly spheres Shall roar so loud that fortune shall be glad To turn the stern to where she now has the prow; So that the fleet runs onward; and true fruit, Long expected, shall at last crown the bloom!"

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CANTO XXVIII

So she who makes my soul a paradise, Had drawn the veil from off our pleasant life And laid bare the truth of poor mortality; When lo! as one who, in a mirror, spies The shining of a torch at his back, Suddenly lit—he deems—by its approach, And turns to resolve whether the glass Has told him true, and sees the record faithful As a note is to its metre; even thus, I well remember, did it befall me, Looking on the beauteous eyes, from which love Had made the leash to capture me. As I turned; And that, which, in their circles, none who spies, Can miss, being in itself apparent, struck On mine; a point I saw, that darted light So sharp that no unclosing eyelid may bear up against it Despite its brightness, the smallest star we see from here would have looked like a moon beside it, as a star beside a star.

And so far away, perhaps, as the halo is from the light Which paints it, when the vapor spreads most dense, Around that point there wheeled a circle of fire, Faster than the motion that first encircles The world. Then, circle after circle, round Each ringed the other, until the seventh reached A circumference so ample that its bow, Within the span of Juno's messenger, could scarcely have been held entire. Beyond the seventh, Two more followed, and each one, the farther it was in number from the first, the slower its motion; and that one glowed with the purest flame which was nearest to the spark of truth, as partaking most, it seems to me, of its reality. My beloved guide saw me suspended in anxious thought, and said: "Heaven and all nature hang upon that point. Observe the circle most closely joined to it; and know that its course is winged to this swiftness by more intense love."

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To him I thus replied: "It would be enough; nor would I seek further, if I had but witnessed order in the world appointed such as is seen in these wheels. But in the sensible world there is such a difference that each sphere shows more divinity, As each is wider from the centre. Hence, If in this wondrous and angelic temple, That hath for confine only light and love, My wish may have completion I must know, Wherefore such disagreement is between Th' exemplar and its copy: for myself, Contemplating, I fail to pierce the cause."

"It is no marvel, if thy fingers foil'd Do leave the knot untied: so hard 't is grown For want of tenting." Thus she said: "But take," She added, "if thou wish thy cure, my words, And entertain them subtly. Every orb Corporeal, doth proportion its extent Unto the virtue through its parts diffus'd. The greater blessedness preserves the more. The greater is the body (if all parts Share equally) the more is to preserve. Therefore the circle, whose swift course enwheels The universal frame, answers to that Which is supreme in knowledge and in love. Thus by the virtue, not the seeming breadth, Of substance, thou shalt see the heavens, measure, Each to the intelligence that rules it, Greater to more, and smaller unto less, Suited in strict and wondrous harmony."

As when the sturdy north wind blows from his cheek A blast that scours the sky, forthwith our air, Cleared of the rack that hung on it before, Glitters; and, with his beauties all unveiled, The firmament looks forth serene and smiles; Such was my cheer, when Beatrice drove With clear reply the shadows back, and truth Was manifested, as a star in heaven. And when the words had ended, not unlike iron in the furnace, every circle shot forth ebullient, scintillating fires: and every sparkle, shivering into new blaze, in number did outmillion the account redoubled on the checkered board. Then I heard echoing on from choir to choir, "Hosanna," to the fixed point that holds, and shall forever hold them in their place, from everlasting, irremovable.

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Musing awhile I stood: and she, who saw my inward meditations, thus began: "In the first circles, those whom you beheld are seraphim and cherubim. Thus swiftly follow their hoops, in likeness to the point, As near as they can, approaching; and they can The more, the loftier their vision. Those, That round them fleet, gazing the Godhead next, Are thrones; in whom the first trine ends. And all Are blessed, even as their sight descends Deeper into the truth, wherein rest is For every mind. Thus happiness hath root In seeing, not in loving, which of sight Is aftergrowth. And of the seeing such The meed, as unto each in due degree Grace and good-will their measure have assign'd. The other trine, that with still opening buds In this eternal springtide blossom fair, Fearless of bruising from the nightly ram, Breathe up in warbled melodies threefold Hosannas blending ever, from the three Transmitted.

Hierarchy of gods, for aye Rejoicing, dominations first, next then Virtues, and powers the third. The next to whom Are princedoms and archangels, with glad round To tread their festal ring; and last the band Angelical, disporting in their sphere. All, as they circle in their orders, look Aloft, and downward with such sway prevail, That all with mutual impulse tend to God. These once a mortal view beheld. Desire In Dionysius so intently wrought, That he, as I have done, ranged them; and named Their orders, marshalled in his thought. From him Dissentient, one refused his sacred read. But soon as in this heaven his doubting eyes Were opened, Gregory at his error smiled Nor marvel that a dweller of earth should scan such secret truth; for he had learned both this and much else about these orbs of ours, from an eyewitness to heaven's mysteries."

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CANTO XXIX

No longer than the time in which Latona's twins, covered by Libra and the fleecy star, together both, girding the horizon, hang in even balance poised from the zenith, until from that verge, each changing hemisphere, they part the fine level; even so brief a space did Beatrice's silence hold. A smile was painted on her cheek; and her fixed gaze was bent on the point at which my vision failed: when, resuming her words, she began: "I speak, and do not ask what you would inquire; for I have marked it, where all time and place Are present. Not for increase to himself Of good, which may not be increas'd, but forth To manifest his glory by its beams, Inhabiting his own eternity, Beyond time's limit or what bound soe'er To circumscribe his being, as he will'd, Into new natures, like unto himself, Eternal Love unfolded. Nor before, As if in dull inaction torpid lay. For not in process of before or aft On these waters mov'd the Spirit of God.

Simple and mix'd, both form and substance, forth To perfect being started, like three darts Shot from a bow three-corded. And as ray In crystal, glass, and amber, shines entire, E'en at the moment of its issuing; thus Did, from the eternal Sovereign, beam entire His threefold operation, at one act Produced coeval. Yet in order each Created knew its due station: those highest, Who were made pure intelligence: mere power The lowest: in the midst, bound with strict league, Intelligence and power, an unsevered bond. Long tract of ages by the angels passed, Ere the creating of another world, Thou hast seen described on Jerome's pages. But that what I disclose to thee is true, Those penmen, whom the Holy Spirit moved In many a passage of their sacred book Attest; as thou by diligent search shalt find And reason in some sort discerns the same, Who scarce would grant the heavenly ministers Out of their perfection's void, so long a space.

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Thus, when and where these spirits of love were made, thou knowest, and how; and in knowing hast quenched thy thirst, which from the triple question rose. Before one had counted twenty, even so soon part of the angels fell; and in their fall confusion came upon your elements. The others kept their station; and this task, on which thou lookest, began with such delight that they never cease, day nor night, their circling. Of that fatal lapse the cause was the cursed pride of him whom thou hast seen pent with the world's encumbrance. Those whom here thou seest were humble enough to acknowledge themselves indebted to his free bounty, who had made them apt for ministries so high; therefore their sight Were by enlightening grace and their own merit Exalted, so that, confirmed in their will, They stand and do not feel the capacity to fall.

For do not doubt That to receive the grace which Heaven vouchsafes Is meritorious, even as the soul With prompt affection welcomes the guest. Now, without further help, if with good heed My words have been treasured by your mind, from now on You may scan this consistory all around And gaze your fill. But since you have on earth Heard vain disputers, reasoners in the schools, Canvas the angelic nature and dispute Its powers of apprehension, memory, and choice, Therefore it is well that you take from me the truth, Pure and without disguise, which those below, Equivocating, darken and perplex.

"Know that, from the first, these substances, Rejoicing in the countenance of God, Have held their gaze unceasingly, intent On the glorious vision, from which Nothing is absent or hidden; where, then, no change Of newness interrupts with succession, No remembrance is needed there to gather up Divided thought and distant images.

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So that men, thus at variance with the truth, Dream, though their eyes be open; some reckless Of error; others well aware they err, To whom more guilt and shame are justly due. Each deserts the known track of sage philosophy And has a byway of his own: So much do the restless eagerness to shine And the love of singularity prevail. Yet this, offensive as it is, provokes Heaven's anger less than when the book of God is forced to yield to man's authority, or is warped from its straightness: no reckoning made of what blood the sowing of it in the world has cost; what favor for himself he wins who meekly clings to it. The aim of all is how to shine: even they whose office is to preach the Gospel let the gospel sleep and pass off their own inventions instead.

One tells how at Christ's suffering the wan moon bent back her steps and shadowed over the sun with an intervening disk as she withdrew: another, how the light shrouded itself within its tabernacle and left dark the Spaniard and the Indian, with the Jew. Such fables Florence hears from her pulpit, bandied about more often than the names of Bindi and of Lapi in her streets. The sheep, meanwhile, poor witless ones, return from pasture, fed on wind; and what avails them as an excuse, that they do not see their harm? Christ did not say to his first congregation, 'Go forth and preach impostures to the world,' but gave them truth to build on; and the sound was mighty on their lips; nor did they need, beside the gospel, any other spear or shield to aid them in their warfare for the faith.

The preacher now provides himself with a store of jests and gibes; and, so long as there is no lack of laughter while he vents them, his big cowl distends, and he has won the prize he sought: Could the vulgar but catch a glimpse in the meantime of that dark bird which nestles in his hood, they would scarcely wait to hear the blessing said, which now the dotards hold in such esteem that every counterfeit who spreads abroad the hands of holy promise finds a throng of credulous fools beneath. Saint Anthony fattens with this his swine, and others worse than swine, who feed at his lazy board, paying with unstamped metal for their fare.

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"But (for we have wandered far) let us seek the forward path again, so that the way may be shortened with the time. No mortal tongue nor thought of man has ever reached so far as to count the tribes of these natures. What Daniel has revealed of their thousands With the infinite, the finite conceals itself. The fountain from whose source these drink their beams, Supplies them with light in as many modes As there are splendours that it shines upon: each According to the virtue it conceives, Differing in love and sweet affection. Look then at how lofty and how vast in breadth The eternal might is, which, broken and dispersed Over such countless mirrors, yet remains Whole in itself and one, as at the first."

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CANTO XXX

Noon's fervid hour perchance six thousand miles From here is distant; and the shadowy cone Almost declines to level with our earth; When from the midmost of this blue abyss By turns some star is lost to our vision. And straightway, as the handmaid of the sun Puts forth her radiant brow, all, light by light, Fades, and the spangled firmament closes in, Even to the loveliest of the glittering throng. Thus there vanished gradually from my sight The triumph, which plays ever round the point, That overcame me, seeming (for it did) Engirt by that it girdeth. Wherefore love, With loss of other object, forced me to bend My eyes on Beatrice once again.

If all that has hitherto been told of her Were gathered into one praise, it would be too weak To furnish out this turn. My eyes did look On beauty such as I believe in sooth, Not merely to exceed our human, but, That save its Maker, none can to the full Enjoy it. At this point, overpowered, I fail, Unequal to my theme, as never bard of buskin or of sock has failed before. For, as the sun does to the feeblest sight, even so the remembrance of that bewitching smile has dispossessed my spirit of itself. Not from that day when on this earth I first beheld her charms, up to that view of them, have I ever ceased with applauding song to follow—but to follow them no more; my course is bounded here, as every artist's is, when it touches the limit of his skill.

She (such as I bequeath her to the clamor of a louder trumpet than mine, which hastens on, urging its arduous matter to the close), resumed her words, in gesture and in voice resembling one accustomed to command: "Forth from the last corporeal are we come Into the heav'n, that is unbodied light, Light intellectual replete with love, Love of true happiness replete with joy, Joy, that transcends all sweetness of delight. Here shalt thou look on either mighty host Of Paradise; and one in that array, Which in the final judgment thou shalt see."

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As when the lightning, in a sudden spleen Unfolded, dashes from the blinding eyes The visive spirits dazzled and bedimm'd; So, round about me, fulminating streams Of living radiance play'd, and left me swath'd And veil'd in dense impenetrable blaze. Such weal is in the love, that stills this heav'n; For its own flame the torch this fitting ever!

No sooner had the brief assurance reached my listening ear than I understood New virtue infused into me, and sight Kindled afresh, with vigour to sustain Excess of light, however pure, I looked upon; and in the likeness of a river I saw light flowing, from whose amber-seeming waves effulgence flashed up as they glided on Between banks on either side, painted with spring, Incredible how fair; and from the tide, ever and again, starting forth, flew sparkles instinct with life; and in the flowers they settled, like rubies chased in gold; then, as if drunk with odors, plunged again into the wondrous flood; from which, as one re-entered, still another rose. "The thirst Of high knowledge, by which thou art inflamed, To search the meaning of what thou here seest, The more it warms thee, the more it pleases me. But first thou must drink of this water, Before that longing be allayed.”

So spake The day-star of mine eyes; then thus he added: “This stream, and these, issuing forth from its gulf, And diving back, each a living topaz, With all this laughter on its blooming shores, Are but a preface, shadowy of the truth They emblem: not that the things, in themselves, Are crude; but on thy part is the defect, For that thy views not yet aspire so high.” Never did babe, that had outslept his wont, Rush, with such eager straining, to the milk, As I toward the water, bending me, To make better mirrors of my eyes In the refining wave; and, as the eaves Of my eyelids drank from it, forthwith It seemed to me to turn from long to round, Then, as a troop of maskers, when they put Their vizors off, look other than before, The counterfeited semblance thrown aside; So into greater jubilee were changed Those flowers and sparkles, and distinctly I saw Before me both courts of heaven displaced.

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O prime enlightener! thou who givest me strength To gaze on the high triumph of thy realm! Grant virtue now to utter what I knew. There is in heaven a light whose goodly shine Makes the Creator visible to all Created, that in seeing him alone Have peace; and in a circle it spreads so far that the circumference would be too loose a zone to girdle the sun. All is one beam, reflected from the summit of the First, which moves, and from there takes its vigor, and like a cliff that from the bottom eyes its image mirrored in the crystal flood, as if to admire its brave apparel of verdure and of flowers: so, round about, eyeing the light, on more than a million thrones, stood, eminent, whatever from our earth has returned to the skies. How wide the leaves extended to their utmost of this rose, whose lowest step embosoms such a space of ample radiance!

Yet neither amplitude nor height impeded, but my view with ease Took in the full dimensions of that joy. Near or far, what avails there, where God Rules directly, and Nature, awed, suspends Her sway? Into the yellow of the rose Perennial, which in bright expansiveness Unfolds its gradual blooming, redolent Of praises to the never-wint'ring sun, As one who fain would speak yet holds his peace, Beatrice led me; and "Behold," she said, "This fair assembly! Stoles of snowy white, How numberless! The city where we dwell, Behold how vast! And these our seats so thronged— Few now are wanting here! In that proud stall On which the crown, already o'er its state Suspended, holds thine eyes—or ere thyself Mayst at the wedding sup—shall rest the soul Of great Harry, he whom the world Augustus hailed, must come to Italy, Before her day is ripe.

But you are sick, And in your peevish wantonness as blind As is the infant that dies of hunger And drives away the nurse. Nor may it be That he who wields authority in the sacred forum, Openly or in secret, shall walk In accord with him: whom God will not endure Long in the holy office, but will thrust him down To Simon Magus, where the priest of Mainz Will sink beneath him: such will be his reward."

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CANTO XXXI

In fashion like a snow-white rose, there lay then Before my view the saintly multitude, Which Christ espoused in his own blood. Meanwhile That other host, which soars aloft to gaze And celebrate his glory, whom they love, hovered around; and, like a troop of bees, alighting now amid the vernal sweets, now clustering where their fragrant labour glows, flew downward to the mighty flower, or rose from the redundant petals, streaming back unto the steadfast dwelling of their joy. Faces they had of flame, and wings of gold; the rest was whiter than the driven snow. And as they flitted down into the flower, from range to range, fanning their plumy loins, they whispered the peace and ardour which they won from that soft winnowing. No shadow did the vast interposition of such numerous flight cast from above upon the flower, nor aught obstruct the view.

For, through the universe, Wherever merited, celestial light glides freely, and no obstacle prevents it.

All there, who reign in safety and in bliss, ages long past or new, on one sole mark fix their love and vision. O trinal beam of individual star, that charms them thus, vouchsafe one glance to gild our storm below!

If the grim brood, from Arctic shores that roamed, (where Helice, forever, as she wheels, sparkles a mother's fondness on her son) stood in mute wonder amid the works of Rome, when to their view the Lateran arose in greatness more than earthly; I, who then from human to divine had passed, from time unto eternity, and out of Florence to justice and to truth, how might I choose But marvel too? Between gladness and amazement, in truth I had no wish to say anything, or to hear. And, like a pilgrim when he rests within the temple of his vow, looks around in breathless awe, and hopes some day to tell of all its goodly state: even so my eyes ranged up and down along the living light, now low, and now aloft, and now around, visiting every step. Looks I beheld, where charity sat in soft persuasion, smiles from within and radiance from above, and in each gesture grace and high honour.

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So my gaze roved, and in its general form surveyed all Paradise: when I turned round with the purpose of asking my lady once more about the things that held my thought in suspense, But I found an answer from one other than I expected; For, Beatrice, when I thought to see you, I saw instead an elder at my side, clothed, like the rest, in glory. A kindly joy glowed in his eyes and spread across his cheeks, with gestures that bespoke a father's love. And straightaway I asked, "Where has she vanished?"

"Summoned by Beatrice," he replied, "I have come to aid your wish. Look up to the third circle from the highest; there behold her on the throne where her merit has placed her." Without answering, I raised my eyes and saw her, seated far aloof, her brow crowned with a wreath reflecting eternal beams. Not so far from the centre of the sea to the region of the highest thunder, As I understood from her; and yet the form Came down through that medium, unmixed and pure,

"O Lady! you in whom my hopes have rest! Who, for my safety, have not scorned, in hell, To leave the traces of your footsteps marked! For all my eyes have seen, I, to your power And goodness, owe virtue and grace. From a slave, You have brought me to freedom; and no means Suited to my deliverance have you left untried. Keep your generous bounty still toward me, So that, when my spirit, which you made whole, Is loosened from this body, it may find Favour with you." So I made my plea: And she, so distant as she appeared, looked down And smiled; then turned toward the eternal fountain.

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And thus the senior, holy and revered: "That thou at length mayst happily conclude Thy voyage (to which end I was dispatch'd, By supplication mov'd and holy love) Let thy upsoaring vision range, at large, This garden through: for so, by ray divine Kindled, thy ken a higher flight shall mount; And from heav'n's queen, whom fervent I adore, All gracious aid befriend us; for that I Am her own faithful Bernard." Like a wight, Who haply from Croatia wends to see Our Veronica, and the while 't is shown, Hangs over it with never-sated gaze, And, all that he hath heard revolving, saith Unto himself in thought: "And didst thou look E'en thus, O Jesus, my true Lord and God? And was this semblance thine?" So gaz'd I then Adoring, for the charity of him, Who, musing, in the world that peace enjoyed, stood lively before me. "Child of grace!"

Thus he began: "You shall not gain knowledge of this glad being, if your eyes are held still in this depth below. But search around the circles, to the furthest, till you spy seated in state the queen who is sovereign of this realm." Straightway I raised my eyes; and bright, as, at the birth of morn, the eastern clime above the horizon, where the sun declines; to my eyes, which upward, as from valley to mountain, sped, at the extreme bound, a part excelled in luster all the front opposed. And as the glow burns ruddiest over the wave, that waits the sloping beam, which Phaeton I knew not how to guide it, and on every part the light diminishes and fades, most intense in the middle; so burned the peaceful oriflamme, and on every side the living flame slackened and decayed. And in that middle, their sportive pennants waved— thousands of angels, each distinct in resplendence and quaint adornment.

At their glee and caroling, the Lovely One of heaven smiled, and that joy was in the eyes of all the blessed.

Had I a tongue as rich in eloquence as is the coloring in fancy's loom, it would be all too poor to utter the least part of that enchantment. When he saw my eyes intent on her who had charmed him, Bernard gazed with such exceeding fondness that it infused ardor into my breast, unfelt before.

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CANTO XXXII

Freely the sage, though wrapped in lofty musings, assumed the teacher's role and gently began: "The wound that Mary closed, she first opened, who sits so beautiful at Mary's feet. The third in order, beneath her—behold! Rachel with Beatrice. Next Sarah, Judith, Rebecca, and the gleaner maid, meek ancestress of him who sang the songs of bitter repentance in his sorrowful mood. All, as I name them, down from leaf to leaf, are enthroned in gradation on the rose. And from the seventh step, successively, down the breathing tresses of the flower the line of Hebrew women still proceeds. For these are a dividing wall, by which the sacred stairs are separated, as the faith In Christ divides them. On this side, where the leaves in full maturity bloom, are placed those who believed in Christ, or before he came. On the other, where an intersected space still shows the semicircle empty, abide all those who looked to Christ already come.

And as Our Lady on her glorious stool, and those who sit on their stools beneath her, make the distinction this way: even so on his side, the mighty Baptist marks the line that way (he who endured the desert and the pains of martyrdom, and for two years of hell, yet still remained holy), and beneath, Augustine, Francis, Benedict, and the rest, thus far from round to round. So Heaven's decree forecasts, to fill this garden equally. With faith in either view, past or to come, Learn too, that downward from the step which cleaves Midway the two compartments, none are there Who obtain a place by merit of their own, But have been advanced through others' merit, On set conditions: spirits all released Before they had the power to choose for themselves. And, if thou mark and listen to them well, Their childish looks and voice declare as much.

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"Here, silent as thou art, I know thy doubt; And gladly will I loose the knot in which Thy subtle thoughts have bound thee. From this realm Excluded, no chalice may find entrance here, Nor shall hunger, thirst, or sorrow have power. An immutable law hath established all; Nor is there aught thou seest that doth not fit, Exactly, as the finger to the ring. It is not therefore without cause that these, Overspeedy comers to immortal life, Are different in their shares of excellence. Our Sovereign Lord—who settles this estate In love and in delight so absolute That wish can dare no further—every soul, Created in his joyous sight to dwell, With grace at pleasure variously endows. And for a proof the effect may well suffice. And it is moreover most expressly marked In holy scripture, where the twins are said To have struggled in the womb. Therefore, as grace Inweaves the coronet, so every brow Wears its proper hue of orient light.

And merely in respect to his prime gift, Not as a reward for meritorious deeds, has each been assigned his particular degree. In early times, with their own innocence, nothing more was needed than the parents' faith to save them; those first ages required that circumcision in the males should imprint the flight of innocent wings; but since the day of grace has come, without baptismal rites accomplished in Christ, innocence herself must still linger below. Now raise your gaze to the face most resembling Christ: for in her splendour alone shall you gain the power to look on him." At once I saw such floods of gladness showered upon her face, from holy spirits winging that profound, that, whatever I had yet beheld, Had not so much suspended me with wonder, Or shown me such similitude of God.

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And he who had descended to her once on earth, now hailed in heaven; and on poised wing "Ave, Maria, Gratia Plena," sang: To whose sweet anthem all the blissful court, answering from all parts, rang: that holier joy brooded over the deep serene. "Revered Father, who deignest, for me, to quit the pleasant place wherein thou sittest, by eternal lot! Say, who that angel is, that with such glee beholds our queen, and so enamoured glows with her high beauty, that all fire he seems." So I again resorted to the lore of my wise teacher, he whom Mary's charms embellished, as the sun the morning star; Who then answered thus: "In him are summed up whatever liveliness and free delight may be found in a spirit or an angel: and so it is fitting, for he bore the palm down to Mary, when the Son of God deigned to clothe him in earthly garments. Now let your eyes attend carefully to my words, and note in this just and pious realm its chief nobles.

Those highest in bliss, the two throned on either side next to our empress, are, as it were, two roots of this rose. He on the left is the parent whose rash taste proves bitter to his seed; and on the right, that ancient father of the holy church, into whose keeping Christ gave the keys of this sweet flower: near him behold the seer, That, before he died, saw all the grievous times of the fair bride who was won with the lance and nails. And near the other rests the leader under whom the ungrateful nation, fickle and perverse, fed on manna. On the other side, facing Peter, behold where Anna sits, so well content to gaze upon her beloved daughter that, with unmoving eye, she sings the loud hosanna; while, set opposite the first father of your mortal kind, is Lucia, at whose bidding your lady hastened when your eye was closing on the edge of ruin.

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“But (for the vision hastens so to its end) here we break off, as the good workman does who shapes the cloak according to the cloth: and to the primal love our sight shall rise; That you may penetrate the brightness, as far As sight can bear you. Yet, alas! in truth Beating your pennons, thinking to advance, You fall backward. Grace must first be gained; Her grace, whose might can help you. In prayer Seek her; and with affection, while I plead, Attend, and yield me all your heart." He said, And thus the saintly prayer began.

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CANTO XXXIII

"O virgin mother, daughter of your Son, All created beings in lowliness Surpassing, as in height, above them all, Term by the eternal counsel preordained, Ennobler of your nature, so advanced In you, that its great Maker did not scorn, Himself, enclosed to dwell within his own work! For in your womb, rekindling, shone the love Revealed, whose genial influence now makes this flower to germinate in eternal peace! Here you are to us, of charity and love, as the noonday torch; and beneath, to mortal men, you are a living spring of hope. So mighty are you, lady! and so great, that he who desires grace and does not come to you for aid would gladly have his desire fly without wings. Nor does your bounty succour only him who asks, but freely often runs ahead of the asking. Whatever may be of excellence in a creature—gentle pity, relenting mercy, abundant munificence— are all combined in you.

Here kneels one who has surveyed the state of all spirits, from the world's lowest gap up to this height. He kneels before you as a suppliant, imploring grace for virtue, and yet more to lift his sight toward the supreme bliss. And I, who never have coveted sight more fondly for myself than now for him, offer my prayers to you, (and pray they are not scant) that you would drive away every cloud of his mortality, so that he may gaze upon the sovereign pleasure. This too I entreat of you, O queen, who can do what you will! that in him you would, after all he has beheld, preserve his affection sound, and quell human passions. See! Where, with Beatrice, many a saint stretches clasped hands, in furtherance of my suit!"

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The eyes, which heaven regards with love and awe, fixed on the suitor, witnessed how benign She gazes upon pious prayers; then they fixed On the everlasting light, in which no eye Of any creature, as may well be thought, can travel so far inward. I, meanwhile, who drew near to the limit where all wishes end, the ardour of my wish (for so it behooved), ended within me. Smiling, the sage beckoned that I should look aloft; but before he bade me, I had already looked aloft of myself; for visual strength, refining more and more, bore me into the authentic ray of sovereign light. From that point on, what I saw was not for words to speak, nor for memory itself to withstand such an outrage on her skill.

As one who, awakened from a dream, immediately forgets all he has seen; yet still retains The impression of feeling in his dream; Even such am I: for all the vision dies, As it were, away; and yet the sense of sweetness, That sprang from it, still trickles in my heart. Thus in the sun-thaw is the snow unsealed; Thus in the winds on flitting leaves was lost The Sibyl's sentence. O eternal beam! (Whose height what reach of mortal thought may soar?) Yield me again some little particle Of what thou then appearedst, give my tongue Power, but to leave one sparkle of thy glory, Unto the race to come, that shall not lose Thy triumph wholly, if thou waken aught Of memory in me, and endure to hear The record sound in this unequal strain.

Such keenness from the living ray I met, That, if my eyes had turned away, I feel, I would have been lost; but, thus emboldened, on I passed, as I recall, until my gaze hovered at the brink of dread infinitude.

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O grace! not grudging your gift! You gave boldness to fix my sight so earnestly on the everlasting splendor, that I looked, while sight was unconsumed, and, in that depth, saw gathered in one volume by love whatever the universe unfolds; all properties of substance and of accident, beheld together, yet one individual light the whole. And of such a bond I feel I saw the universal form: for whenever I so much as speak of it, my soul expands beyond its proper self; and, until I speak, One moment seemed a longer lethargy than five-and-twenty ages had appeared to that enterprise which first made Neptune wonder at Argo's shadow darkening on his flood.

With fixed heed, suspense and motionless, wondering I gazed; and admiration still was kindled as I gazed. It may not be that one who looks on that light can turn to another object willingly his view. For all the good that will may covet is there summed up; and all that is found defective elsewhere is complete. My tongue shall now utter no more even what remembrance keeps than could the babe's that is still moistened at his mother's breast. Not that the semblance of the living light was changed (that ever remained as at first) But that my vision, quickening, in that sole appearance still descried new miracles, and wearied me with the change. In that abyss of radiance, clear and lofty, it seemed to me, three orbs of triple hue were clipped in one bound: and from another, one seemed reflected, as a rainbow is from a rainbow: and the third seemed fire, breathed equally from both.

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O speech How feeble and faint you are to give conception birth! Yet this, compared with what I saw, is less than little. O eternal light! You who dwell alone in yourself; and of yourself alone understood, past, present, or to come! You smiled; upon that circling, which in you seemed as reflected splendour, while I mused; for I therein, methought, in its own hue We beheld our image painted there: steadfastly I therefore pored over the view. Like one versed in geometric lore who would fain measure the circle, and though pondering long and deeply, cannot find the starting point he needs—even so was I, intent to scan the strange new wonder and trace out the form, how it was fitted to the circle, and therein how placed: but the flight was not for my wing; had not a flash darted across my mind and in the spleen unfolded what it sought.

Here vigour failed the soaring fantasy: but yet the will rolled onward, like a wheel in even motion, impelled by the Love that moves the sun in heaven and all the stars.

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