s: the artist who has the practice of his art and a hand that


s: trembles. Nevertheless if the fervent Love disposes and imprints


s: the clear Light of the primal Power, complete perfection is


s: acquired here. Thus of old the earth was made worthy of the


s: complete perfection of the living being; thus was the Virgin


s: made impregnate; so that I commend thy opinion that human


s: nature never was, nor will be, what it was in those two persons.


s: The creation of things eternal and things temporal alike is


s: the splendid manifestation of the idea which the triune God, in


s: His love, generated. The living light in the Son, emanating from


s: its lucent source in the Father, in union with the love of the


s: Holy Spirit, the three remaining always one, pours out its


s: radiance through the nine orders of the Angelic Hierarchy, who


s: distribute it by means of the Heavens of which they axe the


s: Through the various movements and conjunctions of the


s: Heavens, the creative light descends to the lowest elements,


s: producing all the varieties of contingent things.


s: The material of contingent or temporal things, and the


s: influences which shape them, are of various sort, so that the


s: splendor of the Divine idea is visible in them in different


s: If the material were always fit to receive the impression.


s: Nature, the second Cause, never transmits the whole of the


s: If, however, the first Cause acts directly,--the fervent


s: Love imprinting the clear Light of the primal Power,--there can


s: be no imperfection in the created thing; it answers to the Divine


s: Thus, by the immediate operation of the Creator, the earth of


s: which Adam was formed was made the perfect material for the f


s: ormation of the creature with a living soul.


s: In like manner, by the direct act of the Creator.


s: "Now, if I should not proceed further, 'Then how was this man


s: without peer?' would thy words begin. But, in order that that


s: which is not apparent may clearly appear, consider who he was,


s: and the occasion which moved him to request, when it was said to


s: him, 'Ask.' I have not so spoken that thou canst not clearly see


s: that he was a king, who asked for wisdom, in order that he might


s: be a worthy king; not to know the number of the motors here on


s: high, or if necesse with a contingent ever made necesse; non


s: si est dare primum motum esse, or if in the semicircle a


s: triangle can be made so that it should not have one right


s: angle. Wherefore if thou notest this and what I said, a


s: kingly prudence is that peerless seeing, on which the arrow of


s: ray intention strikes. And if thou directest clear eyes to the


s: 'has arisen' thou wilt see it has respect only to kings, who are


s: many, and the good are few. With this distinction take thou my


s: saying, and thus it can stand with that which thou believest of


s: the first father, and of our Delight. And let this be ever as


s: lead to thy feet, to make thee move slow as a weary man, both to


s: the YES and to the NO which thou seest not; for he is very low


s: among the fools who affirms or denies without distinction, alike


s: in the one and in the other case: because it happens, that


s: oftentimes the current opinion bends in false direction, and then


s: does he leave the bank, since he returns not such as be sets out,


s: manifest proofs to the world Parmenides, Melissus, Bryson, and


s: many others who went on and knew not whither. So did Sabellius,


s: and Arius, and those fools who were as swords unto the


s: Scriptures in making their straight faces crooked. Let not the


s: people still be too secure in judgment, like him who reckons up


s: the blades in the field ere they are ripe. For I have seen the


s: briar first show itself stiff and wild all winter long, then bear


s: straight and swift across the sea through all its course, to


s: perish at last at entrance of the harbor. Let not dame Bertha and


s: If from two premises, one necessary and one contingent, a


s: "If a prime motion is to be assumed," that is, a motion not


s: He did not ask through idle curiosity to know the number of


s: the Angels; nor for the solution of a logical puzzle, nor for


s: that of a question in metaphysics, or of a problem in geometry.


s: If thou understandest this comment on my former words, to see


s: so much no second has arisen," my meaning will be clear that his


s: vision was unmatched in respect to the wisdom which it behoves a


s: Thus distinguishing, it is apparent that Solomon is not


s: brought into comparison, in respect to perfection of wisdom, with


s: Because he returns not only empty-handed, but with his mind


s: Heathen philosophers who went astray in seeking for the


s: Sabellius denied the Trinity, Arius denied the


s: To understand the mystery of predestination.


s: CANTO XIV. At the prayer of Beatrice, Solomon tells of the


s: glorified body of the blessed after the Last Judgment.--Ascent to


s: of a Cross with the figure of Christ thereon.--Hymn of the


s: From the centre to the rim, and so from the rim to the centre,


s: the water in a round vessel moves, according as it is struck from


s: when the glorious life of Thomas became silent, because of the


s: similitude which was born of his speech and that of Beatrice,


s: whom after him it pleased thus to begin, "This man has need,


s: and he tells it not to you, neither with his voice nor as yet in


s: thought, of going to the root of another truth. Tell him if the


s: light wherewith your substance blossoms will remain with you


s: eternally even as it is now; and if it remain, tell how, after


s: you shall be again made visible, it will be possible that it hurt


s: St. Thomas had spoken from his place in the ring which


s: formed a circle around Beatrice and Dante; Beatrice now was


s: speaking from the centre where she stood.


s: The souls of the blessed are hidden in the light which


s: emanates from them; after the resurrection of the body they will


s: become visible, but then how will the bodily eyes endure such


s: As, when urged and drawn by greater pleasure, those who are


s: dancing in a ring with one accord lift their voice and gladden


s: their motions, so, at that prompt and devout petition, the holy


s: circles showed new joy in their turning and in their marvellous


s: melody. Whoso laments because man dies here in order to live


s: thereabove, has not seen here the refreshment of the eternal


s: That One and Two and Three which ever lives, and ever reigns in


s: Three and Two and One, uncircumscribed, and circumscribing


s: everything, was thrice sung by each of those spirits with such a


s: melody that for every merit it would be a just reward. And I


s: heard in the divinest light of the small circle a modest


s: voice, perhaps such as was that of the Angel to Mary, make


s: answer, "As long as the festival of Paradise shall be, so long


s: will our love radiate around us such a garment. Its brightness


s: follows our ardor, the ardor our vision, and that is great in


s: proportion as it receives of grace above its own worth. When the


s: glorious and sanctified flesh shall be put on us again, our


s: persons will be more pleasing through being all complete;


s: wherefore whatever of gratuitous light the Supreme Good gives us


s: will be increased,--light which enables us to see him; so that


s: our vision needs must increase, our ardor increase which by that


s: is kindled, our radiance increase which comes from this. But even


s: it, so that it defends its own aspect, thus this effulgence,


s: which already encircles us, will be vanquished in appearance by


s: the flesh which all this while the earth covers. Nor will so


s: great a light be able to fatigue us, for the organs of the body


s: will be strong for everything which shall have power to delight


s: us." So sudden and ready both one and the other choir seemed to


s: me in saying "Amen," that truly they showed desire for their dead


s: mothers, for their fathers, and for the others who were dear


s: Probably that of Solomon, who in the tenth Canto is said to


s: be "the light which is the most beautiful among us."


s: The coal is seen glowing through the flame.


s: And lo! round about, of a uniform brightness, arose a lustre,


s: outside that which was there, like an horizon which is growing


s: bright. And even as at rise of early evening new appearances


s: begin in the heavens, so that the sight seems and seems not true,


s: sparkling of the Holy Spirit, how sudden and glowing it became to


s: among those sights which have not followed my memory.


s: Thence my eyes regained power to raise themselves again, and I


s: saw myself alone with my Lady transferred to higher salvation.


s: That I was more uplifted I perceived clearly by the fiery smile


s: of the star, which seemed to me ruddier than its wont. With all


s: my heart and with that speech which is one in all men, I made


s: to God a holocaust such as was befitting to the new grace; and


s: the ardor of the sacrifice was not yet exhausted in my breast


s: when I knew that offering had been accepted and propitious; for


s: with such great glow and such great ruddiness splendors appeared


s: to me within two rays, that I said, "O Helios, who dost so


s: To a higher grade of blessedness, that of the Fifth Heaven.


s: Whether Dante forms this word from the Hebrew Eli (my God),


s: or adopts the Greek {Greek here} (sun), is uncertain.


s: Even as, marked out by less and greater lights, the Galaxy so


s: whitens between the poles of the world that it indeed makes the


s: wise to doubt, thus, constellated in the depth of Mars, those


s: rays made the venerable sign which joinings of quadrants in a


s: circle make. Here my memory overcomes my genius, for that Cross


s: was flashing forth Christ, so that I know not to find worthy


s: comparison. But be who takes his cross and follows Christ will


s: yet excuse me for that which I omit, when in that brightness he


s: "Concerning the GaJaxy philosophers have held different


s: From horn to horn and between the top and the base lights were


s: moving, brightly scintillating as they met together and in their


s: passing by. Thus here are seen, straight and athwart, swift


s: and slow, changing appearance, the atoms of bodies, long and


s: short, moving through the sunbeam, wherewith sometimes the shade


s: is striped which people contrive with skill and art for their


s: protection. And as a viol or harp, strung in harmony of many


s: strings, makes a sweet tinkling to one by whom the tune is not


s: caught, thus from the lights which there appeared to me a melody


s: was gathered through the Cross, which rapt me without


s: understanding of the hymn. Truly was I aware that it was of holy


s: praise, because there came to me "Arise and conquer!" as unto one


s: that until then had not been anything which had fettered me with


s: such sweet bonds. Perchance my word appears too daring, in


s: setting lower the pleasure from the beautiful eyes, gazing into


s: which my desire has repose. But he who considers that the living


s: seals of every beauty have more effect the higher they are,


s: and that I there had not turned round to those eyes, can excuse


s: me for that whereof I accuse myself in order to excuse myself,


s: and see that I speak truth; for the holy pleasure is not here


s: excluded, because it becomes the purer as it mounts.


s: The Heavens, which are "the seal of mortal wax" (Canto


s: Empyrean, so that the joy in each, as it is higher up, is greater


s: equal to that afforded him by this song. But a still greater joy


s: awaited him in the eyes of Beatrice, to which, since he entered


s: the Fifth Heaven, he had not turned, but which there, as


s: elsewhere, were to afford the supreme delight.


s: CANTO XV. Dante is welcomed by his ancestor, Cacciaguida.--


s: Cacciaguida tells of his family, and of the simple life of


s: A benign will, wherein the love which righteously inspires always


s: silence on that sweet lyre, and quieted the holy strings which


s: the right hand of heaven slackens and draws tight. How unto just


s: petitions shall those substances be deaf, who, in order to give


s: me wish to pray unto them, were concordant in silence? Well is it


s: endures not eternally, despoils him of that love.


s: As, through the tranquil and pure evening skies, a sudden fire


s: shoots from time to time, moving the eyes which were at rest, and


s: region where it is kindled nothing is lost, and it lasts short


s: while, so, from the arm which extends on the right, to the foot


s: of that Cross, ran a star of the constellation which is


s: resplendent there. Nor from its ribbon did the gem depart, but


s: through the radial strip it ran along and seemed like fire behind


s: greatest Muse merits belief), when in Elysium he perceived. his


s: "And he (Anchises), when he saw Aeneas advancing to meet him


s: over the grass, stretched forth both hands eagerly, and the tears


s: "O sanguis meus! o superinfusa gratia Dei! sicut tibi, cui bis


s: unquam coeli janua reclusa?" Thus that light; whereat I gave


s: heed to it; then I turned my sight to my Lady, and on this side


s: and that I was wonderstruck; for within her eyes was glowing such


s: "O blood of mine! O grace of God poured from above! To whom,


s: as to thee, was ever the gate of Heaven twice opened?"


s: Then, gladsome to hear and to see, the spirit joined to his


s: beginning things which I understood not, he spoke so profoundly.


s: Nor did he hide himself to me by choice, but by necessity, for


s: his conception was set above the mark of mortals. And when the


s: bow of his ardent affection was so relaxed that his speech


s: descended towards the mark of our understanding, the first thing


s: that was understood by me was, "Blessed be Thou, Trinal, and One


s: who in my offspring art so courteous." And he went on, "Grateful


s: and long hunger, derived from reading in the great vouime where


s: white or dark is never changed, thou hast relieved, my son,


s: within this light in which I speak to thee, thanks to Her who


s: clothed thee with plumes for the lofty flight. Thou believest


s: that thy thought flows to me from that which is first; even as


s: from the unit, if that be known, ray out the five and six. And


s: therefore who I am, and why I appear to thee more joyous than any


s: truth; for the less and the great of this life gaze upon the


s: mirror in which, before thou thinkest, thou dost display thy


s: thought. But in order that the sacred Love, in which I watch with


s: utter the wish, utter the desire, to which my answer is already


s: In the mind of God, in which there is no change.


s: I turned me to Beatrice, and she heard before I spoke, and smiled


s: thus: "When the first Equality appeared to you, the affection


s: and the intelligence became of one weight for each of you;


s: because the Sun which illumined and warmed you is of such


s: equality in its heat and in its light that all similitudes are


s: defective. But will and discourse in mortals, for the reason


s: which is manifest to you, are diversely feathered in their


s: wings. Wherefore I, who am mortal, feel myself in this


s: inequality, and therefore I give not thanks, save with my


s: heart, for thy paternal welcome. Truly I beseech thee, living


s: content with thy name?" "O leaf of mine, in whom, while only


s: awaiting, I took pleasure, I was thy root." Such a beginning he,


s: answering, made to me. Then he said to me: "He from whom thy


s: family is named, and who for a hundred years and more has


s: circled the mountain on the first ledge, was my son and was thy


s: great-grandsire. Truly it behoves that thou shorten for him his


s: long fatigue with thy works. Florence, within the ancient circle


s: wherefrom she still takes both tierce and nones, was abiding


s: in sober and modest peace. She had not necklace nor coronal, nor


s: dames with ornamented shoes, nor girdle which was more to be


s: looked at than the person. Not yet did the daughter at her birth


s: cause fear to the father, for the time and dowry did not evade


s: measure on this side and that. She had not houses void of


s: families; Sardanapalus had not yet arrived there to show


s: what can be done in a chamber. Not yet by your Uccellatoio was


s: Montemalo surpassed, which, as it has been surpassed in its rise,


s: with leather and bone, and his dame come from her mirror


s: without a painted face. And I saw them of the Nerli, and them of


s: the Vecchio, contented with the uncovered skin, and their


s: dames with the spindle and the distaff. O fortunate women! Every


s: one was sure of her burial place; and as yet no one was


s: deserted in her bed for France. One over the cradle kept her


s: careful watch, and, comforting, she used the idiom which first


s: amuses fathers and mothers. Another, drawing the tresses from her


s: would then have been held as great a marvel as Cincinnatus or


s: But will and the discourse of reason, corresponding to


s: affection and intelligence, are unequal in mortals, owing to


s: Which makes it impossible for me to give full expression to


s: Alighiero, from whom, it would appear from his station in


s: Purgatory, Dante inherited the sin of pride, as well as his name.


s: The bell of the church called the Badia, or Abbey, which


s: stood within the old walls of Florence, rang daily the hours for


s: worship, and measured the time for the Florentines. Tierce is the


s: nine; nones, the third, from twelve to three.


s: They were not married so young as now, nor were such great


s: Palaces too large for their occupants, built for ostentation.


s: The luxury and effeminacy of Sardanapalus were proverbial.


s: Not yet was the view from Montemalo, or Monte Mario, of Rome


s: in its splendor surpassed by that of Florence from the height of


s: Uccellatoio; and the fall of Florence shall be greater even than


s: Bellincion Berti was "an honorable citizen of Florence," says


s: Giovanni Villani; "a noble soldier," adds Benvenuto da Imola. He


s: was father of the "good Gualdrada." See Hell, XVI.


s: With a plain leathern belt fastened with a clasp of bone.


s: Clothed in garments of plain dressed skin not covered with


s: Left by her husband seeking fortune in France, or other for.


s: These old tales may be read in the first book of Villani's


s: "Mulier arrogantissima et intolerabilis . . . multum lubrice


s: vixit," says Benvenuto da Imola, who describes Lapo Salterello as


s: "To such a tranquil, to such a beautiful life of citizens, to


s: such a trusty citizenship, to such a sweet inn, Mary, called on


s: with loud cries, gave me; and in your ancient Baptistery I


s: became at once a Christian and Cacciaguida. Moronto was my


s: brother, and Eliseo; my dame came to me from the valley of the


s: Po, and thence was thy surname. Afterward I followed the emperor


s: Conrad. and he belted me of his soldiery, so much by good


s: deeds did I come into his favor. Following him I went against the


s: fault of the shepherd. There by that base folk was I released


s: from the deceitful world, the love of which pollutes many souls,


s: and I came from martyrdom to this peace."


s: The Virgin, called on in the pains of childbirth.


s: Conrad III. of Suabia. In 1143 he joined in the second


s: The Holy Land, by right belonging to the Christians.


s: CANTO XVI. The boast of blood.--Cacciaguida continues his


s: discourse concerning the old and the new Florence.


s: O thou small nobleness of our blood! If thou makest folk glory in


s: mean in Heaven, I myself gloried in thee. Truly art thou a cloak


s: which quickly shortens, so that, if day by day it be not pieced,


s: Time goeth round about it with his shears.


s: With the YOU, which Rome first tolerated, in which her family


s: least perseveres, my words began again. Whereat Beatrice, who


s: was a little withdrawn, smiling, seemed like her who


s: coughed at the first fault that is written of Guenever. I began,


s: "You are my father, you give me all confidence to speak; you lift


s: filled with gladness that it makes of itself a joy, in that it


s: can bear this and not burst. Tell me then, beloved first


s: source of me, who were your ancestors, and what were the years


s: that were numbered in your boyhood. Tell me of the sheepfold of


s: St. John, how large it was then, and who were the people


s: The plural pronoun, used as a mark of respect. This usage was


s: The Romans no longer show respect to those worthy of it.


s: Beatrice stands a little aside, theology having no part in


s: this colloquy. She smiles, not reproachfully, at Dante's


s: The Dame de Malehault, who coughed at seeing the first kiss


s: given by Lancelot to Guenever. The incident is not told in any of


s: found by Mr. Paget Toynbee in several of the manuscripts.


s: Rejoices that it has capacity to endure such great joy.


s: Florence, whose patron saint was St. John the Baptist.


s: As a coal quickens to flame at the blowing of the winds, so I saw


s: became more beautiful to my eyes, so with voice more dulcet and


s: soft, but not with this modern speech, it said to me, "From


s: that clay on which Ave was said, unto the birth in which my


s: mother, who. now is sainted, was lightened of me with whom she


s: was burdened, this fire had come to its Lion five hundred,


s: fifty, and thirty times to reinflame itself beneath his paw.


s: My ancestors and I were born in the place where the last ward is


s: first found by him who runs in your annual game. Let it


s: suffice to hear this of my elders. Who they were, and whence they


s: As he glow'd like a ruddy shield on the Lion's breast.--Maud,


s: part III. The Lion is the sign Leo in the Zodiac, appropriate to


s: Mars by supposed conformity of disposition.


s: Five hundred and eighty revolutions of Mars are accomplished


s: in a little more than ten hundred and ninety years.


s: The place designated was the boundary of the division of the


s: city called that of "the Gate of St. Peter," where the Corso


s: passes by the Mercato Vecchio or Old Market. The races were run


s: along the Corso on the 24th June, the festival of St. John the


s: "All those able to bear arms who at that time were there,


s: between Mars and the Baptist, were the fifth of them who are


s: living. But the citizenship, which is now mixed with Campi and


s: with Certaldo and with Figghine, was to be seen pure in the


s: lowest artisan. Oh, how much better it would be that those folk


s: of whom I speak were neighbors, and to have your confine at


s: Galluzzo and at Trespiano, than to have them within, and to


s: endure the stench of the churl of Aguglione, and of him of


s: Signa, who already has his eye sharp for barratry!


s: Between the Ponte Vecchio, at the head of which stood the


s: statue of Mars, and the Baptistery,--two points marking the


s: Small towns not far from Florence, from which, as from many


s: others, there had been emigration to the thriving city, to the


s: It would have been better to keep these people at a distance,


s: as neighbors, and to have narrow bounds for the territory of the


s: The churl of Aguglione was, according to Benvenuto da


s: Imola, a lawyer named Baldo, "qui fuit magnus canis." He became


s: one of the priors of Florence in 1311. He of Signa is supposed to


s: "If the people which most degenerates in the world had not


s: been as a stepdame unto Caesar, but like a mother benignant to


s: her son, there is one now a Florentine who changes money and


s: traffics, who would have returned to Simifonti, there where his


s: grandsire used to go begging. Montemurlo would still belong to


s: its Counts, the Cerchi would be in the parish of Acone, and


s: perhaps the Buondelmonti in Valdigreve. The confusion of


s: persons has always been the beginning of the harm of the city, as


s: more headlong than the blind lamb; and oftentimes one sword cuts


s: more and better than five. If thou regardest Luni and


s: Urbisaglia, how they have gone, and how Chiusi and Sinigaglia


s: are going their way after them, to hear how families are undone


s: will not appear to thee a strange thing or a bard, since cities


s: have their term. Your things all have their death even as ye;


s: but it is concealed in some that last long, while lives are


s: short. And as the revolution of the heaven of the Moon covers and


s: Florence. Wherefore what I shall tell of the high Florentines,


s: whose fame is hidden by time, should not appear to thee a


s: marvellous thing. I saw the Ughi, and I saw the Catellini,


s: Filippi, Greci, Ormanni, and Alberichi, even in their decline,


s: illustrious citizens; and I saw, as great as they were old, with


s: those of the Sannella, those of the Area, and Soldanieri, and


s: Ardinghi, and Bostiebi. Over the gate which at present is


s: laden with new felony of such weight that soon there will be


s: jettison from the bark, were the Ravignani, from whom the


s: Count Guido is descended, and whosoever since has taken the


s: name of the high Bellincione. He of the Pressa knew already bow


s: one needs to rule, and Galigaio already had in his house the


s: gilded hilt and pummel. Great were already the column of the


s: Galli, and they who blush for the bushel. The stock from


s: which the Calfucci sprang was already great, and already the


s: Sizii. and Arrigucci had been drawn to curule chairs. Oh how


s: great did I see those who have been undone by their pride!


s: and the balls of gold made Florence flourish with all their


s: great deeds. So did the fathers of those who always,when your


s: church is vacant, become fat, staying in consistory. The


s: overweening race which is as a dragon behind him who flies, and


s: to him who shows tooth or purse is gentle as a lamb, already


s: was coming up, but from small folk, so that it pleased not


s: Ubertin Donato that his father-in-law should afterwards make him


s: their relation. Already had Caponsacco descended into the


s: market place down from Fiesole, and already was Giuda a good


s: citizen, and Infangato. I will tell a thing incredible and


s: true: into the little circle one entered by a gate which was


s: named for those of the Pear. Every one who bears the


s: beautiful ensign of the great baron whose name and whose


s: praise the feast of Thomas revives, from him had knighthood


s: and privilege; although to-day he who binds it with a border


s: unites himself with the populace. Already there were


s: Gualterotti and Importuni; and Borgo would now be more


s: quiet, if they had gone hung for new neighbors. The house of


s: which was born your weeping, through its just indignation


s: which has slain you, and put an end to your glad living, was


s: honored, both itself and its consorts. O Buondelmonte, how ill


s: didst thou flee its nuptials through the persuasions of another!


s: Many would be glad who now are sorrowful, if God had


s: conceded thee to the Ema the first time that thou camest to


s: the city. But it behoved that Florence in her last peace should


s: offer a victim to that broken stone which guards the bridge.


s: If the clergy had not quarrelled with the Emperor, bringing


s: about factions and disturbances in the world.


s: "I have not discovered who this is," says Buti.


s: The Conti Guidi had been compelled to sell to the Florentines


s: their stronghold of Montemurlo, because they could not defend it


s: from the Pistoians. The Cerchi and the Buondelmonti had been


s: forced by the Florentine Commune to give up their fortresses and


s: to take up their abode in the city, where they became powerful,


s: and where the bitterness of intestine discord and party strife


s: had been greatly enhanced by their quarrels.


s: Food added to that already in process of digestion.


s: All once great families, but now extinct, or fallen.


s: Above the gate of St. Peter rose the walls of the abode of


s: the Cerchi, the head of the White faction.


s: The casting overboard was the driving out of the leaders of


s: The Count Guido married Gualdrada, the daughter of


s: Symbols of knighthood; the use of gold in their


s: accoutrements being reserved for knights.


s: The family of the Pigli, whose scatcheon was, in heraldic


s: terms, gules, a pale, vair; in other words, a red shield divided


s: longitudinally by a stripe of the heraldic representation of the


s: The Chiaramontesi, one of whom in the old days, being the


s: officer in charge of the sale of salt for the Commune, had


s: cheated both the Commune and the people by using a false measure.


s: The Uberti, the great family of which Farinata was the most


s: The Lamberti, who bore golden balls on their shields.


s: The Visdomini, patrons of the Bishopric of Florence, who,


s: after the death of a bishop, by deferring the appointment of his


s: successor grew fat on the episcopal revenues.


s: The Adimari. Benvenuto da Imola reports that one Boccacino


s: Adimari, after Dante's banishment, got possession of his


s: property, and always afterward was his bitter enemy.


s: Ubertin Donato married a daughter of Bellincion Berti, and


s: was displeased that her sister should afterwards be given to one


s: There seems to be a touch of humor in these three names of


s: The Peruzzi, who bore the pear as a charge upon their


s: scutcheon. The incredible thing may have been that the people


s: were so simple and free from jealousy as to allow a public gate


s: to bear the name of a private family. The "little circle" was the


s: Hugh, imperial vicar of Tuscany in the time of Otho II. and


s: Otho III. He died on St. Thomas's Day, December 21st, 1006, and


s: was buried in the Badia, the foundation of which is ascribed to


s: him; there his monument is still to be seen, and there of old, on


s: delivered. Several families, whose heads were knighted by him,


s: adopted his arms, with some distinctive addlition. His scutcheon


s: Giano della Bella, the great leader of the Florentine


s: commonalty in the latter years of the 13th century. He bore the


s: The Borgo Sant' Apostolo, the quarter of the city in which


s: these families lived, would have been more tranquil if the


s: Buondelmonti had not come to take up their abode in it.


s: The Amidei, who were the source of much of the misery of


s: Florence, through their long and bitter feud with the


s: Buondelmonti, by which the whole city was divided.


s: The quarrel between the Amidei and the Buondelmonti arose


s: from the slighting by Buondelmonto dei Buondelmonti of a daughter


s: the Donati, induced thereto by her mother. This was in 1215.


s: The Ema, a little stream that has to be crossed in coming


s: from Montebuono, the home of the Buondelmonti, to Florence.


s: That victim was Buondelmonte himself, slain by the outraged


s: Amidei, at the foot of the mutilated statue of Mars, which stood


s: "With these families, and with others with them, I saw Florence


s: in such repose that she had no occasion why she should weep. With


s: The banner of Florence had never fallen into the hands of her


s: enemies, to be reversed by them in scoff. Of old it had borne a


s: white lily in a red field, but in 1250, when the Ghibellines


s: were expelled, the Guelphs adopted a red lily in a white field,


s: and this became the ensign of the Commune.


s: CANTO XVII. Dante questions Cacciaguida as to his fortunes.--


s: Cacciaguida replies, foretelling the exile of Dante, and the


s: As he who still makes fathers chary toward their sons came to


s: Clymene, to ascertain concerning that which he had heard against


s: himself; such was I, and such was I perceived to be both by


s: Beatrice, and by the holy lamp which first for my sake had


s: changed its station. Whereon my Lady said to me, "Send forth


s: the flame of thy desire so that it may issue sealed well by the


s: internal stamp; not in order that our knowledge may increase


s: through thy speech, but that thou accustom thyself to tell thy


s: thirst, so that one may give thee drink."


s: Phaethon, son of Clymene by Apollo, having been told that


s: Apollo was not his father, went to his mother to ascertain the


s: "O dear plant of me, who so upliftest thyself that, even as


s: earthly minds see that two obtuse angles are not contained in a


s: triangle, so thou, gazing upon the point to which all times are


s: present, seest contingent things, ere in themselves they are;


s: while I was conjoined with Virgil up over the


s: mountain which cures the souls, and while descending in the world


s: although I feel myself truly four-square against the blows of


s: chance. Wherefore my wish would be content by hearing what sort


s: of fortune is drawing near me; for arrow foreseen comes more


s: slack." Thus said I unto that same light which before had spoken


s: to me, and as Beatrice willed was my wish confessed.


s: Not with ambiguous terms in which the foolish folk erst were


s: entangled, ere yet the Lamb of God which taketh away sins had


s: been slain, but with clear words and with distinct speech that


s: paternal love, hid and apparent by his own proper smile, made


s: answer: "Contingency, which extends not outside the volume of


s: your matter, is all depicted in the eternal aspect. Therefrom,


s: however, it takes not necessity, more than from the eye in which


s: it is mirrored does a ship which descends with the downward


s: current. Thence, even as sweet harmony comes to the ear from an


s: organ, comes to my sight the time that is preparing for thee. As


s: Hippolytus departed from Athens, by reason of his pitiless and


s: perfidious stepmother, so out from Florence thou must needs


s: depart. This is willed, this is already sought for, and soon it


s: shall be brought to pass, by him I who designs it there where


s: every day Christ is bought and sold. The blame will follow the


s: injured party, in outcry, as it is wont; but the vengeance will


s: be testimony to the truth which dispenses it. Thou shalt leave


s: everything beloved most dearly; and this is the arrow which the


s: bow of exile first shoots. Thou shalt prove how the bread of


s: others savors of salt, and how the descending and the mounting of


s: weigh upon thy shoulders will be the evil and foolish company


s: with which into this valley thou shalt fall; which all


s: ungrateful, all senseless, and impious will turn against thee;


s: but short while after, it, not thou, shall have the forehead red


s: therefor. Of its bestiality, its own procedure will give the


s: proof; so that it will be seemly for thee to have made thyself a


s: Not with riddles such as the oracles gave out before they


s: The other Florentine exiles of the party of the Whites.


s: "Thy first refuge and first inn shall be the courtesy of the


s: great Lombard, who upon the ladder bears the holy bird, who


s: will turn such benign regard on thee that, in doing and in


s: asking, between you two, that will be first, which between others


s: impressed, at his birth, by this strong star, that his deeds will


s: young age; for only nine years have these wheels revolved around


s: him. But ere the Gascon cheat the lofty Henry some sparkles of


s: his virtue shall appear, in caring not for silver nor for toils.


s: His magnificences shall hereafter be so known, that his enemies


s: shall not be able to keep their tongues mute about them. Await


s: thou for him, and for his benefits; by him shall many people be


s: transformed, rich and mendicant changing condition. And thou


s: shalt bear hence written of him in thy mind, but thou shalt not


s: tell it;" and he said things incredible to those who shall be


s: present. Then he added, "Son, these are the glosses on what was


s: said to thee; behold the ambushes which are bidden behind few


s: revolutions. Yet would I not that thou bate thy neighbors,


s: because thy life hath a future far beyond the punishment of their


s: bearings were the imperial eagle upon a ladder (scala).


s: Can Grande della Scala, the youngest brother of Bartolommeo,


s: and finally his successor as lord of Verona.


s: Before Pope Clement V., under whom the Papal seat was


s: established at Avignon, shall deceive the Emperor, Henry VIL, by


s: professions of support, while secretly promoting opposition to


s: When by its silence that holy soul showed it had finished


s: putting the woof into that web which I had given it warped, I


s: began, as he who, in doubt, longs for counsel from a person who


s: sees, and uprightly wills, and loves: "I see well, my Father,


s: how the time spurs on toward me to give me such a blow as is


s: heaviest to him who most deserts himself; wherefore it is good


s: that I arm me with foresight, so that if the place most dear be


s: taken from me, I should not lose the others by my songs. Down


s: through the world of endless bitterness, and over the mountain


s: from whose fair summit the eyes of my Lady have lifted me, and


s: afterward through the heavens from light to light, I have learned


s: treasure which I had found there was smiling, first became


s: flashing as a mirror of gold in the sunbeam; then it replied, "A


s: conscience dark, either with its own or with another's shame,


s: will indeed feel thy speech as harsh; but nevertheless, all


s: falsehood laid aside, make thy whole vision manifest, and let the


s: thy voice shall be molestful, afterwards, when it shall be


s: digested, it will leave vital nourishment. This cry of thine


s: shall do as the wind, which heaviest strikes the loftiest


s: summits; and that will be no little argument of honor. Therefore


s: to thee have been shown within these wheels, upon the mountain,


s: and in the woeful valley, only the souls which are known of fame.


s: through an example which has its root unknown and hidden, nor by


s: CANTO XVIII. The Spirits in the Cross of Mars.--Ascent to the


s: Heaven of Jupiter.--Words shaped in light upon the planet by the


s: Spirits.--Denunciation of the avarice of the Popes.


s: Now was that blessed mirror enjoying alone its own word, and I


s: was tasting mine, tempering the bitter with the sweet. and that


s: Lady who to God was leading me said, "Change thy thought; think


s: that I am near to Him who lifts the burden of every wrong." I


s: turned me round at the loving sound of my Comfort, and what love


s: I then saw in the holy eyes, I here leave it; not only because I


s: distrust my own speech, but because of the memory which cannot


s: return so far above itself, unless another guide it. Thus much of


s: affection was free from every other desire.


s: While the eternal pleasure, which was raying directly upon


s: Beatrice, from her fair face was contenting me with its second


s: aspect, vanquishing me with the light of a smile, she said to


s: me, "Turn thee, and listen, for not only in my eyes is Paradise."


s: Its aspect reflected from the eyes of Beatrice.


s: As sometimes here one sees the affection in the countenance, if


s: it be so great that by it the whole soul is occupied, so in the


s: flaming of the holy effulgence to which I turned me, I recognized


s: this fifth threshold of the tree, which lives from its top, and


s: always bears fruit, and never loses leaf, are blessed spirits,


s: who below, before they came to heaven, were of great renown, so


s: that every Muse would be rich with them. Therefore gaze upon the


s: arms of the Cross; he, whom I shall name, will there do that


s: which within a cloud its own swift fire does." At the naming of


s: Joshua, even as he did it, I saw a light drawn over the Cross;


s: nor was the word noted by me before the act. And at the name of


s: the lofty Maccabeus I saw another move revolving, and gladness


s: was the whip of the top. Thus for Charlemagne and for Roland my


s: attentive gaze followed two of them, as the eye follows its


s: falcon as be flies. Afterward William, and Renouard, and the


s: duke Godfrey, and Robert Guiscard drew my sight over that


s: Cross. Then, moving, and mingling among the other lights, the


s: soul which had spoken with me showed me how great an artist it


s: Judas Maccabeus, who " was renowned to the utmost part of the


s: Two heroes of romance, paladins of Charlemagne.


s: Godfrey of Bouillon, the leader of the first crusade.


s: The founder of the Norman kingdom of Naples.


s: I turned me round to my right side to see my duty signified in


s: Beatrice either by speech or by act, and I saw her eyes so clear,


s: wont. And even as, through feeling more delight in doing good, a


s: man from day to day becomes aware that his virtue is advancing,


s: so I became aware that my circling round together with the heaven


s: her countenance is unlading the load of bashfulness, such was


s: there in my eyes, when I had turned, because of the whiteness of


s: the temperate sixth star which had received, me within itself.


s: I saw, within that torch of Jove, the sparkling of the love which


s: from the river-bank, as if rejoicing together over their food,


s: make of themselves a troop now round, now of some other shape, so


s: and made of themselves now D, now I, now L, in their proper


s: shapes. First, singing, they moved to their melody, then


s: becoming one of these characters, they stopped a little, and


s: The change is from the red light of Mars to the white light


s: of Jupiter, a planet called by astrologers the "temperate" star,


s: as lying between the heat of Mars and the coldness of Saturn.


s: The sparkles of the love which was there.


s: The first letters of Diligite, as shortly appears.


s: O divine Pegasea, who makest the wits of men glorious, and


s: renderest them long-lived, as they, through thee, the cities and


s: the kingdoms, illume me with thyself that I may set in relief


s: their shapes, as I have conceived them I let thy power appear in


s: An appellation appropriate to any one of the Muses (whose


s: fountain Hippocrene sprang at the stamp of Pegasus); here


s: probably applied to Urania, already once invoked by the poet


s: They showed themselves then in five times seven vowels and


s: consonants; and I noted the parts as they seemed spoken to me.


s: Diligite justitiam were first verb and noun of all the picture;


s: qui judicatis terram were the last. Then in the M of the fifth


s: word they remained arranged, so that Jove seemed silver patterned


s: of the M was, and become quiet there, singing, I believe, the


s: Good which moves them to itself. Then, as on the striking of


s: burnt logs rise innumerable sparks, wherefrom the foolish are


s: wont to draw auguries, there seemed to rise again thence more


s: than a thousand lights, and mount, one much and one little,


s: according as the Sun which kindles them allotted them; and, each


s: having become quiet in its place, I saw the head and the neck of


s: an eagle represented by that patterned fire. He who paints there,


s: inspired that virtue which is form for the nests. The rest of


s: the blessed spirits, which at first seemed content to be


s: enlilied on the M, with a slight motion followed out the


s: "Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth."--


s: The words are obscure; they may mean that a virtue, or


s: instinct, similar to that which teaches the bird to build its


s: nest, directed the shaping of these letters.


s: Ingigliare, a word invented by Dante, and used only by him.


s: The meaning is that these spirits seemed first to form a lily on


s: O sweet star, how great gems and how many showed to me that our


s: justice is the effect of that heaven which thou ingemmest!


s: Wherefore I pray the Mind, in which thy motion and thy virtue


s: have their source, that It regard whence issues the smoke which


s: spoils thy radiance, so that now a second time It may be wroth at


s: signs and martyrdoms. O soldiery of the Heaven on which I gaze,


s: pray ye for those who are on earth all gone astray after the bad


s: example! Of old it was the wont to make war with swords, but now


s: it is made by taking, now here now there, the bread which the


s: But thou that writest only in order to cancel, bethink thee


s: that Peter and Paul, who died for the vineyard which thou art


s: laying waste, are still alive. Thou mayest indeed say, "I have my


s: was dragged to martyrdom that I know not the Fisherman nor


s: The Pope, who writes censures, excommunications, and the


s: like, only that he may be paid to cancel thorn.


s: The image of St. John Baptist was on the florin, which was


s: CANTO XIX. The voice of the Eagle.--It speaks of the mysteries of


s: The beautiful image, which in its sweet fruition was making


s: joyful the interwoven souls, appeared before me with outspread


s: wings. Each soul appeared a little ruby on which a ray of the sun


s: which it now behoves me to describe, no voice ever reported, nor


s: ink wrote, nor was it ever conceived by the fancy; for I saw,


s: and also heard the beak speaking, and uttering with the voice


s: both I and MY, when in conception it was WE and OUR.


s: An image of the concordant will of the Just, and of the unity


s: And it began, "Through being just and pious am I here exalted


s: to that glory which lets not itself be conquered by desire; and


s: on earth I left my memory such that the evil people there commend


s: felt from many embers, even as from many loves a single sound


s: issued from that image. Wherefore I thereon, "O perpetual flowers


s: only one, deliver me, by your breath, from the great fast which


s: has held me long in hunger, not finding for it any food on earth.


s: its mirror, yours does not apprehend it through a veil. Ye


s: know how intently I address myself to listen; ye know what is


s: that doubt which is so old a fast to me."


s: Here, if anywhere, the Divine Justice is reflected.


s: As a falcon which, issuing from his hood, moves his head, and


s: claps his wings, showing desire, and making himself fine; so I


s: saw this ensign, which was woven of praise of the Divine Grace,


s: become, with songs such as he knows who thereabove rejoices. Then


s: world, and distributed within it so much occult and manifest,


s: could not so imprint His Power on all the universe that His Word


s: should not remain in infinite excess. And this makes certain


s: that the first proud one, who was the top of every creature,


s: through not awaiting light, fell immature. And hence it


s: appears, that every lesser nature is a scant receptacle for that


s: Good which has no end and measures Itself by Itself. Wherefore


s: our vision, which needs must be some ray of the Mind with which


s: all things are full, cannot in its own nature be so potent that


s: it may not discern its origin to be far beyond that which is


s: apparent to it. Therefore the sight which your world


s: receives penetrates into the eternal justice as the eye into


s: the sea; which, though from the shore it can see the bottom, on


s: the ocean sees it not, and nevertheless it is there, but the


s: depth conceals it. There is no light but that which comes from


s: the serene which is never clouded; nay, there is darkness,


s: either shadow of the flesh, or its poison. The hiding place is


s: now open enough to thee, which concealed from thee the living


s: Justice concerning which thou madest such frequent question;


s: for thou saidest,--'A man is born on the bank of the Indus, and


s: no one is there who may speak of Christ, nor who may read, nor


s: who may write; and all his wishes and acts are good so far as


s: human reason sees, without sin in life or in speech. He dies


s: unbaptized, and without faith: where is this Justice which


s: condemns him? where is his sin if he does not believe?' Now who


s: art thou, that wouldst sit upon a bench to judge a thousand miles


s: who subtilizes with me, if the Scripture were not above you,


s: there would be occasion for doubting to a marvel. Oh earthly


s: The Word, that is, the thought or wisdom of God, infinitely


s: exceeds the expression of it in the creation.


s: Lucifer fell through pride, fancying himself, though a


s: created being, equal to his Creator. Had he awaited the full


s: light of Divine grace, he would have recognized his own


s: Our vision is not powerful enough to reach the source from


s: There is no light but that which proceeds from God, the light


s: of Revelation. Lacking this, man is in the darkness of ignorance,


s: The hiding place is the depth of the Divine decrees, which


s: man cannot penetrate, but the justice of which in his self-


s: The Scriptures teach you that "the judgments of God are


s: unsearchable, and His ways past finding out;" why, foolish, do ye


s: "The primal Will, which of Itself is good, never is moved from


s: Itself, which is the Supreme Good. So much is just as is


s: accordant to It; no created good draws It to itself, but It,


s: raying forth, is the cause of that good."


s: As above her nest the stork circles, after she has fed her brood,


s: by so many counsels. Wheeling it sang, and said, "As are my


s: notes to thee who understandest them not, so is the eternal


s: After those shining flames of the Holy Spirit became quiet, still


s: believed in Christ either before or after he was nailed to the


s: tree. But behold, many cry Christ, Christ, who, at the Judgment,


s: shall be far less near to him, than such an one who knew not


s: Christ; and the Ethiop will condemn such Christians when the two


s: companies shall be divided, the one forever rich, and the other


s: poor. What will the Persians be able to say to your kings, when


s: they shall see that volume open in which are written all their


s: dispraises? There among the deeds of Albert shall be seen


s: that which will soon set the pen in motion, by which the kingdom


s: of Prague shall be made desert. There shall be seen the woe


s: which he who shall die by the blow of a wild boar is bringing


s: upon the Seine by falsifying the coin. There shall be seen the


s: pride that quickens thirst, which makes the Scot and the


s: Englishman mad, so that neither can keep within his


s: own bounds. The luxury shall be seen, and the effeminate


s: living of him of Spain, and of him of Bohemia, who never knew


s: valor, nor wished it. The goodness of the Cripple of Jerusalem


s: shall be seen marked with a I, while an M shall mark the


s: contrary. The avarice and the cowardice shall be seen of


s: him who guards the island of the fire, where Anchises ended


s: his long life; and, to give to understand how little worth he is,


s: note much in small space. And to every one shall be apparent the


s: foul deeds of his uncle and of his brother who have dishonored


s: so famous a nation and two crowns. And he of Portugal, and he


s: of Norway shall be known there; and he of Rascia, who, to


s: his harm, has seen the coin of Venice. O happy Hungary, if she


s: allow herself no longer to be maltreated! and happy Navarre, if


s: she would arm herself with the mountains which bind her


s: round! And every one must believe that now, for earnest of


s: this, Nicosia and Famagosta are lamenting and complaining because


s: The Persians, who know not Christ, will rebuke the sins of


s: kings professedly Christians, when the book of life shall be


s: The devastation of Bohemia in 1303, by Albert of Austria (the


s: "German Albert" of the sixth canto of Purgatory), will soon set


s: in motion the pen of the recording angel.


s: After his terrible defeat at Courtray in 1302, Philip the


s: Fair, to provide himself with means, debased. the coin of the


s: realm. He died in 1314 from the effects of a fall from his horse,


s: The wars of Edward I. and Edward II. with the Scotch under


s: Wallace and Bruce were carried on with little intermission during


s: seems to be intended; and by "him of Bohemia," Wenceslaus IV.,


s: "whom luxury and idleness feed." (Purgatory, Canto VII.).


s: The virtues of the lame Charles II. of Apulia, titular king


s: of Jerusalem, shall be marked with one, but his vices with a


s: Frederick of Aragon, King of Sicily, too worthless to have


s: his deeds written out in full. Dante's scorn of Frederick was


s: enhanced by his desertion of the Ghibellines after the death of


s: Rascia, so called from a Slavonic tribe, which occupied a


s: region south of the Danube, embracing a part of the modern Servia


s: kings, Stephen Ouros, who died in 1307, imitated the coin of


s: If she would make the Pyrenees her defence against France,


s: into the hands of whose kings Navarre fell in 1304.


s: The lot of these cities in Cyprus, which are now lamenting


s: under the rule of Henry II. of the Lusignani, a beast who goes


s: along with the rest, is a pledge in advance of what sort of fate


s: falls to those who do not defend themselves.


s: CANTO XX. The Song of the Just.--Princes who have loved


s: righteousness, in the eye of the Eagle.--Spirits, once Pagans, in


s: When he who illumines all the world, descends from our hemisphere


s: many lights, on which one is shining. And this act of the


s: heavens came to my mind when the ensign of the world and of its


s: leaders became silent in its blessed beak; because all those


s: living lights, far more shining, began songs which lapse and fall


s: One, that is, the sun, supposed to be the source of the


s: O sweet love, that cloakest thee with a smile, how ardent didst


s: thou appear in those pipes which had the breath alone of holy


s: After the precious and lucent stones, wherewith I saw the sixth


s: luminary ingemmed, imposed silence on their angelic bells, I


s: seemed to hear the murmur of a stream which falls pellucid down


s: from rock to rock, showing the abundance of its mountain source.


s: And as the sound takes its form at the cithern's neck, and in


s: like manner at the vent of the bagpipe the air which enters it,


s: thus, without pause of waiting, that murmur of the Eagle rose up


s: through its neck, as if it were hollow. There it became voice,


s: and thence it issued through its beak in form of words, such as


s: the heart whereon I wrote them was awaiting.


s: "The part in me which in mortal eagles sees and endures the sun,"


s: fires whereof I make my shape, those wherewith the eye in my head


s: the middle, as the pupil, was the, singer of the Holy Spirit,


s: who, bore about the ark from town to town. Now he knows the


s: merit of his song, so far as it was the effect of his own


s: counsel, by the recompense which is equal to it. Of the five


s: which make a circle for the brow, be who is nearest to my beak


s: consoled the poor widow for her son. Now he knows, by the


s: experience of this sweet life and of the opposite, how dear it


s: costs not to follow Christ. And he who follows along the top of


s: the are in the circumference of which I speak, by true penitence


s: postponed death. Now he knows that the eternal judgment is not


s: altered, when worthy prayer there below makes to-morrow's what is


s: bore bad fruit, by ceding to the Pastor made himself Greek,


s: together with the laws and me. Now he knows how the ill derived


s: from his good action is not hurtful to him, although thereby the


s: world may be destroyed. And he whom thou seest in the down-bent


s: are was William, whom that land deplores which weeps for


s: Charles and Frederick living. Now he knows how heaven is


s: enamoured of a just king, and even by the aspect of his


s: effulgence makes it seen. Who, down in the erring world, would


s: believe that Rhipeus the Trojan was the fifth in this circle


s: of the holy lights? Now he knows much of what the world cannot


s: see of the divine grace, although his sight cannot discern its


s: So far as it proceeded from his own free will, open to the


s: By his so-called "Donation," Constantine was believed to


s: have ceded Rome to the Pope, and by transferring the seat of


s: empire to Constantinople, he made the laws and the eagle Greek.


s: Qui fuit in Teucris et servantissimus aequi.--Aeneid, ii,


s: "Rhipeus, the one justest man, and heedfullest of right among the


s: Like as a little lark that in the air expatiates first singing,


s: and then is silent, content with the last sweetness which


s: satisfies her, such seemed to me the image of the imprint of the


s: Eternal Plea, sure, according to whose desire everything becomes


s: that which it is. And though I was there, in respect to my


s: doubt, like glass to the color which cloaks it; it endured


s: not to await the time in silence, but with the force of its own


s: weight urged from my mouth, "What things are these?" whereat I


s: saw great festival of sparkling. Thereupon, with its eye more


s: enkindled, the blessed ensign answered me , in order not to keep


s: me in wondering suspense: "I see that thou believest these


s: things because I say them, but thou seest not how; so that,


s: although believed in, they are hidden. Thou dost as one who fully


s: another explain it. Regnum coelorum suffers violence from


s: fervent love, and from a living hope which vanquishes the divine


s: will; not in such wise as man overcomes man, but vanquishes it,


s: because it wills to be vanquished, and, vanquished, vanquishes


s: with its own benignity. The first life of the eyebrow and the


s: fifth make thee marvel, because thou seest the region of the


s: Angels painted with them. From their bodies they did not issue


s: Gentiles, as thou believest, but Christians, in firm faith, one


s: in the Feet that were to suffer, one in the Feet that had


s: suffered. For the one from Hell, where there is never return


s: to righteous will, came back to his bones; and that was the


s: reward of living hope; of living hope, which put its power in


s: prayers made to God to raise him up, so that it might be possible


s: returning to the flesh, in which it remained short while,


s: believed in Him who was able to aid it; and in believing was


s: kindled to such fire of true love, that at the second death it


s: was worthy to come to this sport. The other, through grace which


s: distils from a fount so deep that creature never pushed the eye


s: far as its primal wave, there below set all his love on


s: righteousness; wherefore from grace to grace God opened his eye


s: to our future redemption, so that he believed in it, and


s: thenceforth endured no more the stench of paganism,


s: and reproved therefor the perverse folk. More than a thousand


s: years before baptizing, those three ladies whom thou sawest at


s: the right wheel were to him for baptism. O predestination,


s: how remote is thy root from the sight of those who see not the


s: entire First Cause! And ye, mortals, keep yourselves restrained


s: in judging; for we who see God know not yet all the elect. And


s: unto us such want is sweet, for our good is perfected in this


s: good, that what God wills we also will."


s: So, seemed the image (that is, the eagle), satiated with its


s: bliss, whether in the speech or the silence imposed upon it by


s: the Eternal Pleasure, in accordance with which all things fulfil


s: How Trajan and Rhipeus could be in Paradise, since none but


s: those who had believed in Christ were there.


s: The kingdom of Heaven."--Matthew, xi. 12.


s: Rhipeus died before the coming of Christ; Trajan after.


s: According to the legend, St. Gregory the Great prayed that


s: Trajan, because of his great worth, might be restored to life


s: long enough for his will to return to righteousness, and for him


s: Before the divine institution of the rite of baptism his


s: faith, hope, and charity served him in lieu thereof.


s: Of the Chariot of the Church. See Purgatory, Canto XXIX.


s: Thus, to make my short sight clear, sweet medicine was given to


s: me by that divine image. And as a good lutanist makes the


s: vibration of the string accompany a good singer, whereby the song


s: while it spake, I saw the two blessed lights moving their


s: flamelets to the words, just as the winking of the eyes concords.


s: CANTO XXI. Ascent to the Heaven of Saturn.--Spirits of those who


s: had given themselves to devout contemplation.--The Golden


s: Stairway.--St. Peter Damian.--Predestination.--The luxury of


s: Now were my eyes fixed again upon the countenance of my Lady, and


s: and she was not smiling, but, "If I should smile," she began to


s: me, "thou wouldst become such as Semele was when she became


s: ashes; for my beauty, which along the stairs of the eternal


s: palace is kindled the more, as thou hast seen, the higher it


s: ascends, is so resplendent that, if it were not tempered, at its


s: effulgence thy mortal power would be as a bough shattered by


s: thunder. We are lifted to the seventh splendor which beneath the


s: breast of the burning Lion now radiates downward mingled with his


s: mirrors for the shape which in this mirror shall be apparent to


s: The seventh splendor is Saturn, which was in the sign of the


s: Lion, whence its rays fell to earth, mingled with the strong


s: He who should know what was the pasture of my sight in her


s: blessed aspect, when I transferred me to another care, would


s: recognize, by counterposing one side with the other, how pleasing


s: Within the crystal which, circling round the world, bears the


s: name of its shining leader, under whom all wickedness lay


s: dead, I saw, of the color of gold through which a sunbeam is


s: shining, a stairway rising up so high that my eye followed it


s: not. I saw, moreover, so many splendors descending, along the


s: steps, that I thought every light which appears in heaven was


s: And as, according to their natural custom, the rooks, at the


s: beginning of the day, move about together, in order to warm their


s: round to whence they had set forth, and others, circling, make a


s: stay; such fashion it seemed to me was here in that sparkling


s: which came together, so soon as it struck on a certain step; and


s: that which stopped nearest to us became so bright that I said in


s: my thought, "I clearly see the love which thou signifiest to me.


s: But she, from whom I await the how and the when of speech and of


s: silence, stays still; wherefore I, contrary to desire, do well


s: that I ask not." Whereupon she, who saw my silence, in the sight


s: of Him who sees everything, said to me, "Let loose thy warm


s: And I began, "My own merit makes me not worthy of thy answer; but


s: keepest thyself hidden within thine own joy, make known to me the


s: wheel the sweet symphony of Paradise is silent, which below


s: through the others so devoutly sounds." "Thou hast thy hearing


s: mortal, as thy sight," it replied to me; "therefore no song is


s: here for the same reason that Beatrice has no smile. Down along


s: the steps of the holy stairway I have thus far descended, only to


s: mantles me; nor has more love made me to be more ready, for as


s: much and more love is burning here above, even as the flaming


s: manifests to thee; but the high charity, which makes us ready


s: servants to the counsel that governs the world, allots here,


s: even as thou observest." "I see well," said I, "O sacred lamp,


s: how the free will of love suffices in this Court for following


s: the eternal Providence. But this is what seems to me hard to


s: discern, why thou alone wert predestined to this office among thy


s: a centre of its middle, whirling like a swift milestone. Then the


s: me, penetrating through this wherein I embosom me: the virtue of


s: which, conjoined with my vision, lifts me above myself so far


s: that I see the Supreme Essence from which it emanates. Thence


s: comes the joy wherewith I flame, because to my vision, in


s: proportion as it is clear, I match the clearness of my flame. But


s: has his eye most fixed on God, could not satisfy thy demand;


s: because that which thou askest lies so deep within the abyss of


s: the eternal statute, that from every created sight it is cut off.


s: that it may no more presume to move its feet toward such a goal.


s: The mind which shines here, on earth is smoky; wherefore consider


s: So did its words prescribe to me, that I left the question, and


s: drew me back to ask it humbly who it was. "Between the two


s: shores of Italy, and not very distant from thy native land, rise


s: rocks so lofty that the thunders sound far lower down,


s: and they make a height which is called Catria, beneath which a


s: hermitage is consecrated which is wont to be devoted to worship


s: only." Thus it began again to me with its third speech, and


s: then, continuing, it said, "Here in the service of God I became


s: so steadfast, that, with food of olive juice alone, lightly I


s: used to pass the heats and frosts, content in contemplative


s: thoughts. That cloister was wont to render in abundance to these


s: heavens; and now it is become so empty as needs must soon be


s: revealed. In that place I was Peter Damian, and Peter a sinner


s: had I been in the house of Our Lady on the Adriatic shore.


s: Little of mortal life was remaining for me, when I was sought for


s: worse. Cephas came, and the great vessel of the Holy


s: Spirit came, lean and barefoot, taking the food of whatsoever


s: inn. Now the modern pastors require one to hold them up on this


s: side and that, and one to lead them, so heavy are they, and one


s: to support them behind. They cover their palfreys with their


s: mantles, so that two beasts go under one skin. O Patience, that


s: endurest so much!" At this voice I saw more flamelets from step


s: to step descending and revolving, and each revolution made them


s: more beautiful. Round about this one they came, and stopped, and


s: uttered a cry of such deep sound that here could be none like it,


s: Catria is a high offshoot to the east from the chain of the


s: Apennines, between Urbino and Gubbio. Far up on its side lies the


s: A famous doctor of the Church in the eleventh century. He


s: was for many years abbot of the Monastery of Fonte Avellana.


s: These last words are obscure, and have given occasion to much


s: discussion, after which they remain no clearer than before. The


s: house of Our Lady on the Adriatic shore is supposed to be the


s: monastery of Santa Maria in Porto, near Ravenna.


s: He was made cardinal in 1058, and died in 1072.


s: St. Paul. "He is a chosen vessel unto me."--Acts, ix. 15.


s: CANTO XXII. Beatrice reassures Dante.--St. Benedict appears.--He


s: tells of the founding of his Order, and of the falling away of


s: its brethren. Beatrice and Dante ascend to the Starry Heaven.--


s: The constellation of the Twins.--Sight of the Earth.


s: Oppressed with amazement, I turned me to my Guide, like a little


s: child who runs back always thither where he most confides. And


s: she, like a mother who quickly succors her pale and breathless


s: that Heaven is all holy, and whatever is done here comes from


s: good zeal? How the song would have transformed thee, and I by


s: smiling, thou canst now conceive, since the cry has moved thee so


s: would be known to thee the vengeance which thou shalt see before


s: thou diest. The sword of here on high cuts not in haste, nor


s: slow, save to the seeming of him who, desiring, or fearing,


s: awaits it. But turn thee round now toward the others, for many


s: illustrious spirits thou shalt see, if, as I say, thou dost lead


s: As it pleased her I directed my eyes, and saw a hundred little


s: spheres, which together were becoming more beautiful with mutual


s: rays. I was standing as one who within himself represses the


s: point of his desire, and attempts not to ask, he so fears the


s: too-much. And the largest and the most luculent of those pearls


s: came forward to make of its own accord my wish content. Then


s: within it I heard, "If thou couldst see, as I do, the charity


s: which burns among us, thy thoughts would be expressed. But that


s: thou through waiting mayst not delay thy high end, I will make


s: answer to thee, even to the thought concerning which thou art so


s: "That mountain on whose slope Cassino is, was of old


s: frequented on its summit by the deluded and illdisposed people,


s: and I am be who first carried up thither the name of Him


s: who brought to earth the truth which so high exalts us: and such


s: grace shone upon me that I drew away the surrounding villages


s: from the impious worship which seduced the world. These other


s: fires were all contemplative men, kindled by that heat which


s: brings to birth holy flowers and fruits. Here is Macarius,


s: here is Romuald, here are my brothers, who within the


s: cloisters fixed their feet, and held a steadfast heart." And I to


s: and the good semblance which I see and note in all your ardors,


s: have so expanded my confidence as the sun does the rose, when she


s: thee, and do thou, father, assure me if I have power to receive


s: so much grace, that I may see thee with uncovered shape." Whereon


s: sphere, where are fulfilled all others and my own. There perfect,


s: there where it always was: for it is not in space, and hath not


s: poles; and our stairway reaches up to it, wherefore thus from thy


s: and my Rule is remaining as waste of paper. The walls, which used


s: of bad meal. But heavy usury is not gathered in so greatly


s: against the pleasure of God, as that fruit which makes the heart


s: of monks so foolish. For whatsoever the Church guards is all for


s: the folk that ask it in God's name, not for one's kindred, or for


s: beginning suffices not below from the springing of the oak to the


s: silver, and I with prayers and with fasting, and Francis in


s: humility his convent; and if thou lookest at the source of each,


s: and then lookest again whither it has run, thou wilt see dark


s: made of the white. Truly, Jordan turned back, and the sea fleeing


s: Monte Cassino, in the Kingdom of Naples, on which a temple of


s: Apollo had stood, was chosen by St. Benedict (480-543) as his


s: abode, and became the site of the most famous monastery of his


s: The founder of the order of Camaldoli; he died in 1027.


s: Were God now to interpose to correct the evils of the


s: Church, the marvel would be less than that of the miracles of


s: old, and therefore his interposition may be hoped for.


s: Thus he said to me, and then drew back to his company, and the


s: company closed up; then like a whirlwind all gathered itself


s: The sweet Lady urged me behind them, with only a sign, up over


s: that stairway; so did her virtue overcome my nature. But never


s: here below, where one mounts and descends naturally, was there


s: motion so rapid that it could be compared unto my wing. So may I


s: return, Reader, to that devout triumph, for the sake of which I


s: often bewail my sins and beat my breast, thou hadst not so


s: quickly drawn out and put thy finger in the fire as I saw the


s: sign which follows the Bull, and was within it.


s: The sign of the Gemini, or Twins, in the Heaven of the Fixed


s: O glorious stars, O light impregnate with great virtue, from


s: which I acknowledge all my genius, whatever it may be; with you


s: was born and with you was hiding himself he who is father of


s: every mortal life, when I first felt the Tuscan air; and then,


s: when the grace was bestowed on me of entrance within the lofty


s: wheel which turns you, your region was allotted to me. To you my


s: soul now devoutly sighs to acquire virtue for the difficult pass


s: At the time of Dante's birth the sun was in the sign of the


s: "Thou art so near the ultimate salvation," began Beatrice, "that


s: thou oughtest to have thine eyes clear and sharp. And


s: therefore ere thou further enterest it, look back downward, and


s: see how great a world I have already set beneath thy feet, in


s: order that thy heart, so far as it is able, may present itself


s: joyous to the triumphant crowd which comes glad through this


s: round aether." With my sight I returned through each and all the


s: seven spheres, and saw this globe such that I smiled at its mean


s: semblance; and that counsel I approve as best which holds it of


s: least account; and he who thinks of other things may be called


s: truly worthy. I saw the daughter of Latona enkindled without that


s: dense. The aspect of thy son, Hyperion, here I endured, and I saw


s: me the temperateness of Jove, between his father and his son,


s: and then was clear to me the variation which they make in their


s: places. And all the seven were displayed to me,[[how great they


s: are and how swift they are, and how they are in distant houses.


s: While I was revolving with the eternal Twins, the little


s: threshing-floor which makes us so fierce all appeared to me,


s: The mothers of Venus and Mercury, by whose names these


s: Then I turned back my eyes to the beautiful eyes.


s: As the bird, among the beloved leaves, reposing on the nest of


s: her sweet brood through the night which hides things from us,


s: who, in order to see their longed-for looks and to find the food


s: wherewith she may feed them, in which heavy toils are pleasing to


s: affection awaits the sun, fixedly looking till the dawn may


s: break; thus my Lady was standing erect and attentive, turned


s: toward the region beneath which the sun shows least haste; so


s: that I, seeing her rapt and eager, became such as he who in


s: desire should wish for something, and in hope is satisfied. But


s: short while was there between one and the other WHEN: that of my


s: awaiting, I mean, and of my seeing the heavens become brighter


s: and brighter. And Beatrice said, "Behold the hosts of the triumph


s: eyes were so full of joy that I must needs pass it over without


s: By the beneficent influences of the planets.


s: As in the clear skies at the full moon Trivia smiles among


s: the eternal nymphs who paint the heaven through all its depths, I


s: all of them, as ours kindles the supernal shows; and through


s: its living light the lucent Substance shone so bright upon my


s: An appellation of Diana, and hence of the moon.


s: According to the belief, referred to at the opening of the


s: twentieth Canto, that the sun was the source of the light of the


s: She said to me, "That which overcomes thee is a power from


s: which naught defends itself. Here is the Wisdom and the Power


s: that opened the roads between heaven and earth, for which there


s: As fire from a cloud unlocks itself by dilating, so that it is


s: not contained therein, and against its own nature falls down to


s: earth, so my mind, becoming greater amid those feasts, issued


s: from itself; and what it became cannot remember.


s: "Open thine eyes and look at what I am; thou hast seen things


s: such that thou art become able to sustain my smile." I was as one


s: it back again to memory, when I heard this invitation, worthy of


s: such gratitude that it is never effaced from the book which


s: records the past. If now all those tongues which Polyhymnia and


s: her sisters made most fat with their sweetest milk should sound


s: to aid me, one would not come to a thousandth of the truth in


s: singing the holy smile and how it made the holy face resplendent.


s: make a leap, even as one who finds his way cut off. But whoso


s: should consider the ponderous theme and the mortal shoulder which


s: It is no coasting voyage for a little barque, this which the


s: intrepid prow goes cleaving, nor for a pilot who would spare


s: "Why doth my face so enamour thee that thou turnest not to the


s: fair garden which beneath the rays of Christ is blossoming? Here


s: is the rose, in which the Divine Word became flesh: here are


s: the lilies by whose odor the good way was taken." Thus


s: Beatrice, and I, who to her counsel was wholly prompt, again


s: betook me unto the battle of the feeble brows.


s: The Apostles and Saints. The image is derived from St. Paul


s: (2 Corinthians, ii. 14): "Now thanks be unto God, which always


s: causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour


s: of his knowledge by us in every place." In the Vulgate the words


s: are, "odorem notitiae suae manifestat per nos."


s: As my eyes, covered with a shadow, have ere now seen a meadow of


s: flowers in a sunbeam which streamed bright through a rifted


s: cloud, so saw I many throngs of splendors flashed-upon from


s: above with burning rays, without seeing the source of the gleams.


s: exalt thyself to bestow space there for my eyes, which were


s: The eyes of Dante, powerless to endure the sight of the


s: glorified body of Christ, when that is withdrawn on high, are


s: able to look upon those whom the light of Christ illumines.


s: The name of the fair flower which I ever invoke both morning and


s: evening, wholly constrained my mind to gaze upon the greater


s: fire. And when the form and the glory of the living star,


s: which up. there surpasses as here below it surpassed, were


s: depicted in both my eyes, through the mid heavens a torch, formed


s: revolved around it. Whatever melody sounds sweetest here below,


s: and to itself most draws the soul, would seem a cloud which, rent


s: was crowned the beauteous sapphire by which the brightest Heaven


s: is ensapphired. "I am angelic Love, and I circle round the lofty


s: joy which breathes from the bosom which was the hostelry of our


s: desire; and I shall circle, Lady of Heaven, while thou shalt


s: follow thy Son and make the supreme sphere more divine because


s: thou enterest it." Thus the circling melody sealed itself up, and


s: The Virgin,--Rosa mistica,--the brightest of all the host


s: The royal mantle of all the volumes of the world, which is


s: most fervid and most quickened in the breath of God and in His


s: ways, had its inner shore so distant above us that sight of it,


s: there where I was, did not yet appear to me. Therefore my eyes


s: had not the power to follow the incoronate flame, which mounted


s: upward following her own seed. And as a little child which, when


s: it has taken the milk, stretches its arms toward its mother,


s: through the spirit that flames up outwardly, each of these white


s: splendors stretched upward with its summit, so that the deep


s: aflection which they had for Mary was manifest to me. Then they


s: remained there in ray sight, singing "Regina coeli " so sweetly


s: that never has the delight departed from me. Oh how great is the


s: plenty that is heaped up in those most rich chests which were


s: good laborers in sowing here below! Here they live and enjoy the


s: treasure that was acquired while weeping in the exile of Babylon,


s: Son of God and of Mary, in his victory, both with the ancient and


s: Despising the treasures of the world, in the Babylonish exile


s: of this life, they laid up for themselves treasures in Heaven.


s: CANTO XXIV. St. Peter examines Dante concerning Faith, and


s: "O company elect to the great supper of the blessed Lamb, who


s: feeds you so that your desire is always full, since by grace of


s: God this man foretastes of that which falls from your table,


s: before death prescribes the time for him, give heed to his


s: immense longing, and bedew him a little; ye drink ever of the


s: fount whence comes that which he ponders." Thus Beatrice; and


s: those glad souls made themselves spheres upon fixed poles,


s: flaming brightly in manner of comets. And as wheels within the


s: fittings of clocks revolve, so that to him who gives heed the


s: first seems quiet, and the last to fly, so these carols,


s: differently dancing, swift and slow, enabled me to estimate their


s: A carol was a dance with song; here used for the souls who


s: composed the carols, the difference in whose speed gave to Dante


s: the gauge of their respective blessedness.


s: From that which I noted of greatest beauty, I saw issue a fire so


s: times it revolved round Beatrice with a song so divine that my


s: fancy repeats it not to me; therefore the pen makes a leap, and I


s: too vivid color for such folds. "O holy sister mine, who so


s: devoutly prayest to us, by thy ardent affection thou unbindest me


s: fire directed to my Lady its breath, which spoke thus as I have


s: said. And she, "O light eternal of the great man to whom our


s: Lord left the keys, which he bore below, of this marvellous joy,


s: test this man on points light and grave, as pleases thee,


s: concerning the Faith, through which thou didst walk upon the sea.


s: hidden not from thee, for thou hast thy sight there where


s: everything--@is seen depicted. But since this realm has made


s: citizens by the true faith, it is well that to glorify it speech


s: The figure is a little obscure; pieghe, "folds," is a


s: rhyme-word; the meaning seems to be that as folds cannot be


s: painted properly with bright hues, so our imagination and our


s: speech are not delicate enough for conceiving and depicting such


s: The meaning seems to be,--Thou knowest that he has true


s: faith, but because by its means one becomes a citizen of this


s: realm, it is well that he should celebrate it.


s: Even as, until the master propounds the question, the bachelor


s: speaks not, and arms himself in order to adduce the proof, not to


s: "Say thou, good Christian, declare thyself; Faith,--what is it?"


s: Whereon I raised my brow to that light whence this was breathed


s: out. Then I turned to Beatrice, and she made prompt signals to me


s: the Grace," began I, "which grants to me that I confess myself to


s: went on, "As the veracious pen, Father, of thy dear brother (who


s: with thee set Rome on the good track) wrote of it, Faith is the


s: substance of things hoped for, and evidence of things not


s: seen: and this appears to me its essence." Then I heard,


s: "Rightly dost thou think, if thou understandest well why he


s: placed it among the substances, and then among the evidences."


s: And I thereon: "The deep things which grant unto me here the


s: sight of themselves, are so hidden to eyes below that


s: there their existence is in belief alone, upon which the


s: high hope is founded, and therefore it takes the


s: designation of substance; and from this belief we needs


s: must syllogize, without having other sight, wherefore it


s: receives the designation of evidence." Then I heard, "If


s: whatever is acquired below for doctrine, were so


s: understood, the wit of sophist would have no place


s: there." Thus was breathed forth from that enkindled love;


s: then it added, "Very well have the alloy and the weight of


s: this coin been now run through, but tell me if thou hast it


s: in thy purse?" And I, "Yes, I have it so shining and so


s: round that in its stamp nothing is uncertain to me." Then


s: issued from the deep light which was shining there, "This


s: to thee?" And I, "The abundant rain of the Heavenly Spirit, which


s: syllogism which has proved it to me so acutely that in


s: comparison with it every demonstration seems to me obtuse." I


s: heard then, "The Old and the New proposition which are so


s: conclusive to thee,--why dost thou hold them for divine speech?"


s: And I, "The proofs which disclose the truth to me are the


s: works that followed, for which nature never heated iron, nor


s: beat anvil." It was replied to me, "Say, what assures thee that


s: these works were? The very thing itself which requires to be


s: proved, naught else, affirms it to thee." "If the world were


s: converted to Christianity," said I, "without miracles, this alone


s: didst enter poor and fasting into the field to sow the good


s: plant, which once was a vine and now has become a thornbush."


s: May it enable me to express clearly my conceptions.


s: The argument is as follows: The things of the spiritual world


s: having no visible existence upon earth, the hope of blessedness


s: rests only on belief unsupported by material proof; this belief


s: is Faith, and since on it alone are the high hopes founded, it is


s: quality. And since all our reasoning concerning spiritual things


s: must be drawn not from visible things, but from the convictions


s: of Faith, our faith is also properly called evidence.


s: The evidence afforded by the Old and the New Testament that


s: they are inspired by the Holy Spirit, makes their teachings in


s: This ended, the high holy Court resounded through the spheres a


s: "We praise God," in the melody which thereabove is sung.


s: And that Baron who thus from branch to branch, examining, had now


s: began again: "The Grace that dallies with thy mind has opened thy


s: that which has issued forth, but now there is need to express


s: what thou believest, and wbence it has been offered to thy


s: belief." "O holy father, spirit who seest that which thou so


s: believedst that thou, toward the sepulchre, didst outdo younger


s: feet," began I, "thou wishest that I should declare here the


s: form of my ready belief, and also thou inquirest the cause of it.


s: unmoved, moves all the Heavens with love and with desire; and for


s: Moses, through Prophets, and through Psalms, through the Gospel,


s: and through you who wrote after the fiery Spirit made you holy.


s: And I believe in three Eternal Persons, and these I believe one


s: essence, so one and so threefold that it will admit to be


s: conjoined with ARE and IS. Of the profound divine condition on


s: which I touch, the evangelic doctrine ofttimes sets the seal upon


s: afterwards dilates to vivid flame, and like a star in heaven


s: "The other disciple did outrun Peter," but Peter first "went


s: Even as a lord who hears what pleases him, thereon, rejoicing in


s: the news, embraces his servant, soon as he is silent, thus,


s: blessing me as he sang, the apostolic light, at whose command I


s: had spoken, thrice encircled me when I was silent; so had I


s: CANTO XXV. St. James examines Dante concerning Hope.--St. John


s: appears,with a brightness so dazzling as to deprive Dante, for


s: If it ever happen that the sacred poem to which both heaven and


s: earth have set their hand, so that it has made me lean for many


s: years, sbould overcome the cruelty which bars me out of the fair


s: sheep-fold, where a lamb I slept, an enemy to the wolves that


s: give it war, then with other voice, with other fleece, Poet will


s: I return, and on the font of my baptism will I take the crown;


s: because there I entered into the faith which makes the souls


s: known to God, and afterward. Peter, for its sake, thus encircled


s: Then a light moved toward us from that sphere whence the


s: first-fruit which Christ left of His vicars had issued. And my


s: Lady, full of gladness, said to me, "Look, look! behold the Baron


s: It was believed that St. James, the brother of St. John, was


s: buried at Compostella, in the Spanish province of Galicia. His


s: shrine was one of the chief objects of pilgrimage during the


s: Even as when the dove alights near his companion, and one,


s: turning and cooing, displays its affection to the other, so by


s: the one great Prince glorious I saw the other greeted, praising


s: the food which feasts them thereabove. But after their


s: gratulation was completed, silent coram me, each stopped, so


s: ignited that it overcame my sight. Smiling, then Beatrice said,


s: "Illustrious life, by whom the largess of our basilica has been


s: written, do thou make Hope resound upon this height; thou


s: knowest that thou dost represent it as many times as Jesus to the


s: thyself assured; for that which comes up here from the mortal


s: world needs must be ripened in our rays." This comfort from the


s: second fire came to me; whereon I lifted up my eyes unto the


s: mountains which bent them down before with too great weight.


s: "Before me." Here, as sometimes elsewhere, it is not evident


s: The reference is to the Epistle of James, which Dante,


s: falling into a common error, attributes to St. James the Greater.


s: giveth to all men liberally," i. 5; and " Every good gift and


s: every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father


s: Peter, James, and John, were chosen by their Master to be


s: present at the raising of the daughter of Jairus, and to witness


s: his Transfiguration. Peter personifying Faith, John personifying


s: Love, it was natural to take James as the personification of


s: "Since, through grace, our Emperor wills that thou, before thy


s: death, come face to face with his Counts in the most secret hall,


s: therewith confirm in thyself and others the Hope which there


s: below rightly enamours, say what it is, and how thy mind is


s: flowering with it, and say whence it came to thee;" thus further


s: did the second light proceed. And that compassionate one, who


s: guided the feathers of my wings to such high flight, thus in the


s: reply anticipated me. "The Church militant has not any son


s: with more hope, as is written in the Sun which irradiates all our


s: come to Jerusalem to see, ere the warfare be at end for him. The


s: other two points which are asked not for sake of knowing, but


s: that he may report how greatly this virtue is pleasing to thee,


s: to him I leave, for they will not be difficult to him, nor of


s: vainglory, and let him answer to this, and may the grace of God


s: Beatrice answers the question to which the reply, had it been


s: left to Dante, might seem to involve self-praise.


s: As a disciple who follows his teacher, prompt and willing, in


s: that wherein he is expert, so that his worth may be disclosed:


s: said I, "is a sure expectation of future glory, which


s: divine grace produces, and preceding merit. From many stars


s: this light comes to me, but be instilled it first into my heart


s: who was the supreme singer of the supreme Leader. Sperent in


s: te, 'who know thy name,' he says in his Theody, and who


s: knows it not, if he has my faith? Thou afterwards didst instil it


s: and upon others shower down again your rain."


s: These words are taken directly from Peter Lombard (Liber


s: Sententiarum, iii. 26). Love is the merit which precedes Hope.


s: "They will hope in thee." See Psalm ix. 10.


s: While I was speaking, within the living bosom of that burning a


s: flash was trembling, sudden and intense, in the manner of


s: lightning. Then it breathed, "The love wherewith I still glow


s: toward the virtue which followed me far as the palm, and to the


s: issue of the field, wills that breathe anew to thee, that thou


s: delight in it; and it is my pleasure, that thou tell that which


s: Hope promises to thee." And I, "The new and the old Scriptures


s: set up the sign, and it points this out to me. Of the souls whom


s: God hath made his friends, Isaiah says that each shall be clothed


s: sweet life. And thy brother, far more explicitly, there where he


s: treats of the white robes, makes manifest to us this


s: "Therefore in their land they shall possess the double"


s: --(Isaiah, 1xi. 7); the double vesture of the glorified natural


s: And first, close on the end of these words, "Sperent in te" was


s: heard from above us, to which all the carols made answer. Then


s: among them a light became so bright that, if the Crab had one


s: such crystal, winter would have a month of one sole day. And


s: as a glad maiden rises and goes and enters in the dance, only to


s: do honor to the new bride, and not for any fault, so saw I the


s: brightened splendor come to the two who were turning in a wheel,


s: such as was befitting to their ardent love. It set itself there


s: into the song and into the measure, and my Lady kept her gaze


s: upon them, even as a bride, silent and motionless. "This is he


s: who lay upon the breast of our Pelican, and from upon the


s: cross this one was chosen to the great office." Thus my Lady,


s: nor yet moved she her look from its fixed attention after than


s: before these words of hers. As is he who gazes and endeavors to


s: see the sun eclipsed a little, who through seeing becomes


s: sightless, so did I become in respect to that last fire, till it


s: was said, "Why dost thou dazzle thyself in order to see a thing


s: which has no place here? On earth my body is earth; and it


s: will be there with the others until our number corresponds with


s: the eternal purpose. With their two garments in the blessed


s: cloister are those two lights alone which ascended: and this


s: If Cancer, which rises at sunset in early winter, had a star


s: as bright as this, the night would be light as day.


s: A common type of Christ during the Middle Ages, because of


s: the popular belief that the pelican killed its brood, and then


s: "Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!"--John,


s: Dante seeks to see whether St. John is present in body as


s: well as soul; his curiosity having its source in the words of the


s: come, what is that to thee? . . . Then went this saying abroad


s: among the brethren, that that disciple should not die."--John,


s: Till the predestined number of the elect is complete.


s: Jesus and Mary, who had been seen to ascend. See Canto


s: At this word the flaming gyre became quiet, together with the


s: sweet mingling that was made of the sound of the trinal breath,


s: even as, at ceasing of fatigue or danger, the oars, erst driven


s: through the water, all stop at the sound of a whistle.


s: Ah! how greatly was I disturbed in mind, when I turned to see


s: Beatrice, at not being able to see her, although I was near her,


s: CANTO XXVI. St. John examines Dante concerning Love.--Dante's


s: sight restored.--Adam appears, and answers questions put to him


s: While I was apprehensive because of my quenched sight, a breath


s: which made me attentive issued from the effulgent flame that


s: quenched it, saying, "While thou art regaining the sense of


s: sight which thou hast consumed on me, it is well that thou make


s: up for it by discourse. Begin then, and tell whereto thy soul is


s: aimed, and make thy reckoning that sight is in thee bewildered


s: and not dead; because the Lady who conducts thee through this


s: divine region has in her look the virtue which the band of


s: Ananias had." I said, "According to her pleasure, or soon or


s: late, let the cure come to the eyes which were gates when she


s: entered with the fire wherewith I ever burn! The Good which makes


s: reads to me, either low or loud." That same voice which had taken


s: further, and said, "Surely with a finer sieve it behoves thee to


s: it behoves thee to tell who directed thy bow to such a target."


s: "By philosophic arguments and by authority that hence descends,


s: must needs be impressed on me; for the good, so far as it is


s: proportion as it is understood, kindles love; and so much the


s: greater as the more of goodness it includes within itself.


s: Therefore, to the Essence (wherein is such supremacy that every


s: good which is found outside of It is naught else than a beam of


s: Its own radiance), more than to any other, the mind of every one


s: who discerns the truth on which this argument is founded must


s: needs be moved in love. Such truth to my intelligence he makes


s: plain, who demonstrates to me the first love of all the


s: sempiternal substances. The voice of the true Author makes it


s: plain who, speaking of Himself, says to Moses, 'I will make thee


s: see all goodness.' Thou, too, makest it plain to me, beginning


s: the lofty proclamation which there below, above all other trump,


s: declares the secret of this place on high." And I heard, "By


s: human understanding, and by authorities concordant with it, thy


s: sovran love looks unto God; but say, further, if thou feelest


s: other cords draw thee towards Him, so that thou mayest declare


s: with how many teeth this love bites thee."


s: The argument is,--Whatever is good kindles love for itself;


s: the greater the good the greater the love; God is the supreme


s: good and therefore the chief object of love.


s: It is doubtful to whom Dante here refers. The first love of


s: immortal creatures is for their own First Cause.


s: "I will make all my goodness pass before thee."--Exodus,


s: "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God,


s: The holy intention of the Eagle of Christ was not latent to me;


s: rather I perceived whither he wished to lead my profession;


s: began again: "All those bitings which can make the heart turn to


s: been concurrent unto my charity; for the existence of the


s: my own existence, the death that He endured that I may live, and


s: which all the faithful hope even as I do, together with the


s: living knowledge, have drawn me from the sea of perverted love,


s: set me on the shore of the right. The leaves, wherewith all the


s: the Eternal Gardener is enleaved, I love in proportion as good is


s: Have concurred to inspire me with love of God.


s: Soon as I was silent a most sweet song resounded through the


s: heavens, and my Lady said with the rest, "Holy, Holy, Holy."


s: And as at a keen light sleep is broken by the spirit of sight,


s: which runs to the splendor that goes from coat to coat, and he


s: awakes shrinks from what he sees, so confused is his sudden


s: until his judgment comes to his aid; thus Beatrice chased away


s: from my eyes with the radiance of her own, which were resplendent


s: than a thousand miles; so that I then saw better than before;


s: and, as it were amazed, I asked about a fourth light which I saw


s: with us. And my Lady, "Within those rays the first soul which


s: the First Power ever created gazes with joy upon its creator."


s: The spirit of the sight runs to meet the light which flashes


s: through the successive coats of the eye.


s: As the bough that bends its top at passing of the wind, and then


s: lifts itself by its own virtue which raises it, so did I, in


s: amazement, the while she was speaking; and then a desire to


s: speak, wherewith I was burning, gave me again assurance, and I


s: began, "O Apple, that alone wast produced mature, O ancient


s: Father, to whom every bride is daughter and daughter-in-law,


s: devoutly as I can, I supplicate thee that thou speak to me; thou