THE LOVE THAT MOVES THE SUN AND OTHER STARS
DIVINE COMEDY:
PARADISO
PARADISO
The Paradise represented by Fáy Dezső presents simple and less populated compositions, but nevertheless with large figures.
Photograph: Lee Scott / Unsplash
Canto II-III
PKL 2014.3.29.
O you who are within your little bark,
eager to listen, following behind
my ship that, singing, crosses to deep seas,
turn back to see your shores again: do not
attempt to sail the seas I sail; you may,
by losing sight of me, be left astray.
The waves I take were never sailed before;
Minerva breathes, Apollo pilots me,
and the nine Muses show to me the Bears.
(Canto II, 1-9)
And she: “You certainly will see that your
belief is deeply sunk in error if
you listen carefully as I rebut it.
The eighth sphere offers many lights to you,
and you can tell that they, in quality
and size, are stars with different visages.
If rarity and density alone
caused this, then all the stars would share one power
distributed in lesser, greater, or
in equal force. But different powers must
be fruits of different formal principles;
were you correct, one only would be left,
(Canto III, 61-72)
Within the world I was a nun, a virgin;
and if your mind attends and recollects,
my greater beauty here will not conceal me,
and you will recognize me as Piccarda,
who, placed here with the other blessed ones,
am blessed within the slowest of the spheres.
(Canto III, 46-51)
O you who are within your little bark,
eager to listen, following behind
my ship that, singing, crosses to deep seas,
turn back to see your shores again: do not
attempt to sail the seas I sail; you may,
by losing sight of me, be left astray.
The waves I take were never sailed before;
Minerva breathes, Apollo pilots me,
and the nine Muses show to me the Bears.
(Canto II, 1-9)
And she: “You certainly will see that your
belief is deeply sunk in error if
you listen carefully as I rebut it.
The eighth sphere offers many lights to you,
and you can tell that they, in quality
and size, are stars with different visages.
If rarity and density alone
caused this, then all the stars would share one power
distributed in lesser, greater, or
in equal force. But different powers must
be fruits of different formal principles;
were you correct, one only would be left,
(Canto III, 61-72)
Within the world I was a nun, a virgin;
and if your mind attends and recollects,
my greater beauty here will not conceal me,
and you will recognize me as Piccarda,
who, placed here with the other blessed ones,
am blessed within the slowest of the spheres.
(Canto III, 46-51)
Canto IV- VI
PIM- PKL'2014.3.30.
And this is why the Bible condescends
to human powers, assigning feet and hands
to God, but meaning something else instead.
And Gabriel and Michael and the angel
who healed the eyes of Tobit are portrayed
by Holy Church with human visages.
(Canto IV, 43-48)
“After Constantine had turned the Eagle
counter to heaven’s course, the course it took
behind the ancient one who wed Lavinia,
one hundred and one hundred years and more,
the bird of God remained near Europe’s borders,
close to the peaks from which it first emerged;
beneath the shadow of the sacred wings,
it ruled the world, from hand to hand, until
that governing—changing—became my task.
Caesar I was and am Justinian,
who, through the will of Primal Love I feel,
removed the vain and needless from the laws.
(Canto VI, 1-12)
As soon as my steps shared the Church’s path,
God, of His grace, inspired my high task
as pleased Him. I was fully drawn to that.
Entrusting to my Belisarius
my arms, I found a sign for me to rest
from war: Heaven’s right hand so favored him.
(Canto VI, 22-27)
And this is why the Bible condescends
to human powers, assigning feet and hands
to God, but meaning something else instead.
And Gabriel and Michael and the angel
who healed the eyes of Tobit are portrayed
by Holy Church with human visages.
(Canto IV, 43-48)
“After Constantine had turned the Eagle
counter to heaven’s course, the course it took
behind the ancient one who wed Lavinia,
one hundred and one hundred years and more,
the bird of God remained near Europe’s borders,
close to the peaks from which it first emerged;
beneath the shadow of the sacred wings,
it ruled the world, from hand to hand, until
that governing—changing—became my task.
Caesar I was and am Justinian,
who, through the will of Primal Love I feel,
removed the vain and needless from the laws.
(Canto VI, 1-12)
As soon as my steps shared the Church’s path,
God, of His grace, inspired my high task
as pleased Him. I was fully drawn to that.
Entrusting to my Belisarius
my arms, I found a sign for me to rest
from war: Heaven’s right hand so favored him.
(Canto VI, 22-27)
Canto VIII- IX
PIM- PKL'2014.3.31.
with whom I have begun this canto, to
the planet that is courted by the sun,
at times behind her and at times in front.
I did not notice my ascent to it,
yet I was sure I was in Venus when
I saw my lady grow more beautiful.
(Canto VIII, 10- 15)
After my eyes had turned with reverence
to see my lady, after her consent
had brought them reassurance and content,
they turned back to the light that promised me
so much; and, Tell me, who are you, I asked
in a voice stamped with loving sentiment.
(Canto VIII, 40-45)
The left bank that the Rhone bathes after it
has mingled with the waters of the Sorgue,
awaited me in due time as its lord,
as did Ausonia’s horn, which south of where
the Tronto and the Verde reach the sea
Catona, Bari, and Gaeta border.
Upon my brow a crown already shone
the crown of that land where the Danube flows
when it has left behind its German shores.
And fair Trinacria, whom ashes (these
result from surging sulphur, not Typhoeus)
cover between Pachynus and Pelorus,
along the gulf that Eurus vexes most,
would still await its rulers born through me
from Charles and Rudolph, if ill sovereignty,
which always hurts the heart of subject peoples,
had not provoked Palermo to cry out:
‘Die! Die!’ And if my brother could foresee
(Canto VIII, 58-75)
Until this point that shade went on, deducing;
then he concluded: Thus, the roots from which
your tasks proceed must needs be different:
so, one is born a Solon, one a Xerxes,
and one a Melchizedek, and another,
he who flew through the air and lost his son.
Revolving nature, serving as a seal
for mortal wax, plies well its art, but it
does not distinguish one house from another.
Thus, even from the seed, Esau takes leave
of Jacob; and because he had a father
so base, they said Quirinus was Mars’ son.
Engendered natures would forever take
the path of those who had engendered them,
did not Divine provision intervene.
(Canto VIII, 121-135)
At which that light, one still unknown to me,
out of the depth from which it sang before,
continued as if it rejoiced in kindness:
In that part of indecent Italy
that lies between Rialto and the springs
from which the Brenta and the Piave stream,
rises a hill of no great height from which
a firebrand descended, and it brought
much injury to all the land about.
Both he and I were born of one same root:
Cunizza was my name, and I shine here
because this planet’s radiance conquered me.
(Canto IX, 22-33)
despite its scourgings; and since it would shun
its duty, at the marsh the Paduans
will stain the river-course that bathes Vicenza;
and where the Sile and Cagnano flow
in company, one lords it, arrogant;
the net to catch him is already set.
(Canto IX, 46-51)
with whom I have begun this canto, to
the planet that is courted by the sun,
at times behind her and at times in front.
I did not notice my ascent to it,
yet I was sure I was in Venus when
I saw my lady grow more beautiful.
(Canto VIII, 10- 15)
After my eyes had turned with reverence
to see my lady, after her consent
had brought them reassurance and content,
they turned back to the light that promised me
so much; and, Tell me, who are you, I asked
in a voice stamped with loving sentiment.
(Canto VIII, 40-45)
The left bank that the Rhone bathes after it
has mingled with the waters of the Sorgue,
awaited me in due time as its lord,
as did Ausonia’s horn, which south of where
the Tronto and the Verde reach the sea
Catona, Bari, and Gaeta border.
Upon my brow a crown already shone
the crown of that land where the Danube flows
when it has left behind its German shores.
And fair Trinacria, whom ashes (these
result from surging sulphur, not Typhoeus)
cover between Pachynus and Pelorus,
along the gulf that Eurus vexes most,
would still await its rulers born through me
from Charles and Rudolph, if ill sovereignty,
which always hurts the heart of subject peoples,
had not provoked Palermo to cry out:
‘Die! Die!’ And if my brother could foresee
(Canto VIII, 58-75)
Until this point that shade went on, deducing;
then he concluded: Thus, the roots from which
your tasks proceed must needs be different:
so, one is born a Solon, one a Xerxes,
and one a Melchizedek, and another,
he who flew through the air and lost his son.
Revolving nature, serving as a seal
for mortal wax, plies well its art, but it
does not distinguish one house from another.
Thus, even from the seed, Esau takes leave
of Jacob; and because he had a father
so base, they said Quirinus was Mars’ son.
Engendered natures would forever take
the path of those who had engendered them,
did not Divine provision intervene.
(Canto VIII, 121-135)
At which that light, one still unknown to me,
out of the depth from which it sang before,
continued as if it rejoiced in kindness:
In that part of indecent Italy
that lies between Rialto and the springs
from which the Brenta and the Piave stream,
rises a hill of no great height from which
a firebrand descended, and it brought
much injury to all the land about.
Both he and I were born of one same root:
Cunizza was my name, and I shine here
because this planet’s radiance conquered me.
(Canto IX, 22-33)
despite its scourgings; and since it would shun
its duty, at the marsh the Paduans
will stain the river-course that bathes Vicenza;
and where the Sile and Cagnano flow
in company, one lords it, arrogant;
the net to catch him is already set.
(Canto IX, 46-51)
Canto X-XI
PIM- PKL'2014.3.32.
And Beatrice began: “Give thanks, give thanks
to Him, the angels’ Sun, who, through His grace,
has lifted you to this embodied sun.”
No mortal heart was ever so disposed
to worship, or so quick to yield itself
to God with all its gratefulness, as I
was when I heard those words, and all my love
was so intent on Him that Beatrice
was then eclipsed within forgetfulness.
And she was not displeased, but smiled at this,
so that the splendor of her smiling eyes
divided my rapt mind between two objects.
And I saw many lights, alive, most bright;
we formed the center, they became a crown,
their voices even sweeter than their splendor:
just so, at times, we see Latona’s daughter
circled when saturated air holds fast
the thread that forms the girdle of her halo.
(Canto X, 52-69)
I was a lamb among the holy flock
that Dominic leads on the path where one
may fatten well if one does not stray off.
He who is nearest on my right was both
my brother and my teacher: from Cologne,
Albert, and I am Thomas of Aquino.
If you would know who all the others are,
then even as I speak let your eyes follow,
making their way around the holy wreath.
(Canto X, 94-102)
One prince was all seraphic in his ardor;
the other, for his wisdom, had possessed
the splendor of cherubic light on earth.
I shall devote my tale to one, because
in praising either prince one praises both:
the labors of the two were toward one goal.
(Canto XI, 37-42)
That sun was not yet very distant from
his rising, when he caused the earth to take
some comfort from his mighty influence;
for even as a youth, he ran to war
against his father, on behalf of her—
the lady unto whom, just as to death,
none willingly unlocks the door; before
his spiritual court et coram patre,
he wed her; day by day he loved her more.
She was bereft of her first husband; scorned,
obscure, for some eleven hundred years,
until that sun came, she had had no suitor.
Nor did it help her when men heard that he
who made earth tremble found her unafraid—
serene, with Amyclas—when he addressed her;
nor did her constancy and courage help
when she, even when Mary stayed below,
suffered with Christ upon the cross. But so
that I not tell my tale too darkly, you
may now take Francis and take Poverty
to be the lovers meant in my recounting.
(Canto XI, 55-75)
And Beatrice began: “Give thanks, give thanks
to Him, the angels’ Sun, who, through His grace,
has lifted you to this embodied sun.”
No mortal heart was ever so disposed
to worship, or so quick to yield itself
to God with all its gratefulness, as I
was when I heard those words, and all my love
was so intent on Him that Beatrice
was then eclipsed within forgetfulness.
And she was not displeased, but smiled at this,
so that the splendor of her smiling eyes
divided my rapt mind between two objects.
And I saw many lights, alive, most bright;
we formed the center, they became a crown,
their voices even sweeter than their splendor:
just so, at times, we see Latona’s daughter
circled when saturated air holds fast
the thread that forms the girdle of her halo.
(Canto X, 52-69)
I was a lamb among the holy flock
that Dominic leads on the path where one
may fatten well if one does not stray off.
He who is nearest on my right was both
my brother and my teacher: from Cologne,
Albert, and I am Thomas of Aquino.
If you would know who all the others are,
then even as I speak let your eyes follow,
making their way around the holy wreath.
(Canto X, 94-102)
One prince was all seraphic in his ardor;
the other, for his wisdom, had possessed
the splendor of cherubic light on earth.
I shall devote my tale to one, because
in praising either prince one praises both:
the labors of the two were toward one goal.
(Canto XI, 37-42)
That sun was not yet very distant from
his rising, when he caused the earth to take
some comfort from his mighty influence;
for even as a youth, he ran to war
against his father, on behalf of her—
the lady unto whom, just as to death,
none willingly unlocks the door; before
his spiritual court et coram patre,
he wed her; day by day he loved her more.
She was bereft of her first husband; scorned,
obscure, for some eleven hundred years,
until that sun came, she had had no suitor.
Nor did it help her when men heard that he
who made earth tremble found her unafraid—
serene, with Amyclas—when he addressed her;
nor did her constancy and courage help
when she, even when Mary stayed below,
suffered with Christ upon the cross. But so
that I not tell my tale too darkly, you
may now take Francis and take Poverty
to be the lovers meant in my recounting.
(Canto XI, 55-75)
Canto XIII-XIV-XV-XVI
PIM- PKL'2014.3.33
So, too, let men not be too confident
in judging—witness those who, in the field,
would count the ears before the corn is ripe;
for I have seen, all winter through, the brier
display itself as stiff and obstinate,
and later, on its summit, bear the rose;
and once I saw a ship sail straight and swift
through all its voyaging across the sea,
then perish at the end, at harbor entry.
(Canto XIII,130-138)
my eyes that, overcome, could not sustain it!
But, smiling, Beatrice then showed to me
such loveliness—it must be left among
the visions that take flight from memory.
From this my eyes regained the strength to look
above again; I saw myself translated
to higher blessedness, alone with my
lady; and I was sure that I had risen
because the smiling star was red as fire—
beyond the customary red of Mars.
(Canto XIV, 78-87)
And here my memory defeats my wit:
Christ’s flaming from that cross was such that I
can find no fit similitude for it.
But he who takes his cross and follows Christ
will pardon me again for my omission—
my seeing Christ flash forth undid my force.
Lights moved along that cross from horn to horn
and from the summit to the base, and as
they met and passed, they sparkled, radiant:
(Canto XIV, 103-111)
then said:”The man who gave your family
its name, who for a century and more
has circled the first ledge of Purgatory,
was son to me and was your great-grandfather;
it is indeed appropriate for you
to shorten his long toil with your good works.
Florence, within her ancient ring of walls—
that ring from which she still draws tierce and nones—
sober and chaste, lived in tranquillity.
(Canto XV, 91-99)
One woman watched with loving care the cradle
and, as she soothed her infant, used the way
of speech with which fathers and mothers play;
another, as she drew threads from the distaff,
would tell, among her household, tales of Trojans,
and tales of Fiesole, and tales of Rome.
(Canto XV, 121-126)
These were the families, and others with them:
the Florence that I saw—in such repose
that there was nothing to have caused her sorrow.
These were the families: with them I saw
her people so acclaimed and just, that on
her staff the lily never was reversed,
nor was it made bloodred by factious hatred.
(Canto XVI, 148-154)
So, too, let men not be too confident
in judging—witness those who, in the field,
would count the ears before the corn is ripe;
for I have seen, all winter through, the brier
display itself as stiff and obstinate,
and later, on its summit, bear the rose;
and once I saw a ship sail straight and swift
through all its voyaging across the sea,
then perish at the end, at harbor entry.
(Canto XIII,130-138)
my eyes that, overcome, could not sustain it!
But, smiling, Beatrice then showed to me
such loveliness—it must be left among
the visions that take flight from memory.
From this my eyes regained the strength to look
above again; I saw myself translated
to higher blessedness, alone with my
lady; and I was sure that I had risen
because the smiling star was red as fire—
beyond the customary red of Mars.
(Canto XIV, 78-87)
And here my memory defeats my wit:
Christ’s flaming from that cross was such that I
can find no fit similitude for it.
But he who takes his cross and follows Christ
will pardon me again for my omission—
my seeing Christ flash forth undid my force.
Lights moved along that cross from horn to horn
and from the summit to the base, and as
they met and passed, they sparkled, radiant:
(Canto XIV, 103-111)
then said:”The man who gave your family
its name, who for a century and more
has circled the first ledge of Purgatory,
was son to me and was your great-grandfather;
it is indeed appropriate for you
to shorten his long toil with your good works.
Florence, within her ancient ring of walls—
that ring from which she still draws tierce and nones—
sober and chaste, lived in tranquillity.
(Canto XV, 91-99)
One woman watched with loving care the cradle
and, as she soothed her infant, used the way
of speech with which fathers and mothers play;
another, as she drew threads from the distaff,
would tell, among her household, tales of Trojans,
and tales of Fiesole, and tales of Rome.
(Canto XV, 121-126)
These were the families, and others with them:
the Florence that I saw—in such repose
that there was nothing to have caused her sorrow.
These were the families: with them I saw
her people so acclaimed and just, that on
her staff the lily never was reversed,
nor was it made bloodred by factious hatred.
(Canto XVI, 148-154)
Canto XVIII-XX
PIM- PKL'2014.3.34.
And just as birds that rise from riverbanks,
as if rejoicing after feeding there,
will form a round flock or another shape,
so, in their lights, the saintly beings sang
and, in their flight, the figures that they spelled
were now a D, now I, and now an L.
First, they moved to the rhythm of their song;
then, after they had finished forming one
letter, they halted for a while, in silence.
(Canto XVIII, 73-81)
Then, having formed the M of the fifth word,
those spirits kept their order; Jupiter’s
silver, at that point, seemed embossed with gold.
And I saw other lights descending on
the apex of the M and, settling, singing—
I think—the Good that draws them to Itself.
Then, as innumerable sparks rise up
when one strikes burning logs (and in those sparks
fools have a way of reading auguries),
from that M seemed to surge more than a thousand
lights; and they climbed, some high, some low, just as
the Sun that kindles them assigned positions.
With each light settled quietly in place,
I saw that the array of fire had shaped
the image of an eagle’s head and neck.
(Canto XVIII, 94-108)
He who gleams in the center, my eye’s pupil—
he was the singer of the Holy Spirit,
who bore the ark from one town to another;
now he has learned the merit will can earn—
his song had not been spurred by grace alone,
but his own will, in part, had urged him on.
Of those five flames that, arching, form my brow,
he who is nearest to my beak is one
who comforted the widow for her son;
now he has learned the price one pays for not
following Christ, through his experience
of this sweet life and of its opposite.
And he whose place is next on the circumference
of which I speak, along the upward arc,
delayed his death through truthful penitence;
now he has learned that the eternal judgment
remains unchanged, though worthy prayer below
makes what falls due today take place tomorrow.
The next who follows—one whose good intention
bore evil fruit—to give place to the Shepherd,
with both the laws and me, made himself Greek;
now he has learned that, even though the world
be ruined by the evil that derives
from his good act, that evil does not harm him.
He whom you see—along the downward arc—
was William, and the land that mourns his death,
for living Charles and Frederick, now laments;
now he has learned how Heaven loves the just
ruler, and he would show this outwardly
as well, so radiantly visible.
(Canto XX, 37-66)
And just as birds that rise from riverbanks,
as if rejoicing after feeding there,
will form a round flock or another shape,
so, in their lights, the saintly beings sang
and, in their flight, the figures that they spelled
were now a D, now I, and now an L.
First, they moved to the rhythm of their song;
then, after they had finished forming one
letter, they halted for a while, in silence.
(Canto XVIII, 73-81)
Then, having formed the M of the fifth word,
those spirits kept their order; Jupiter’s
silver, at that point, seemed embossed with gold.
And I saw other lights descending on
the apex of the M and, settling, singing—
I think—the Good that draws them to Itself.
Then, as innumerable sparks rise up
when one strikes burning logs (and in those sparks
fools have a way of reading auguries),
from that M seemed to surge more than a thousand
lights; and they climbed, some high, some low, just as
the Sun that kindles them assigned positions.
With each light settled quietly in place,
I saw that the array of fire had shaped
the image of an eagle’s head and neck.
(Canto XVIII, 94-108)
He who gleams in the center, my eye’s pupil—
he was the singer of the Holy Spirit,
who bore the ark from one town to another;
now he has learned the merit will can earn—
his song had not been spurred by grace alone,
but his own will, in part, had urged him on.
Of those five flames that, arching, form my brow,
he who is nearest to my beak is one
who comforted the widow for her son;
now he has learned the price one pays for not
following Christ, through his experience
of this sweet life and of its opposite.
And he whose place is next on the circumference
of which I speak, along the upward arc,
delayed his death through truthful penitence;
now he has learned that the eternal judgment
remains unchanged, though worthy prayer below
makes what falls due today take place tomorrow.
The next who follows—one whose good intention
bore evil fruit—to give place to the Shepherd,
with both the laws and me, made himself Greek;
now he has learned that, even though the world
be ruined by the evil that derives
from his good act, that evil does not harm him.
He whom you see—along the downward arc—
was William, and the land that mourns his death,
for living Charles and Frederick, now laments;
now he has learned how Heaven loves the just
ruler, and he would show this outwardly
as well, so radiantly visible.
(Canto XX, 37-66)
Canto XXXI-XXII
PIM- PKL'2014.3.35.
We now are in the seventh splendor; this,
beneath the burning Lion’s breast, transmits
to earth its rays, with which his force is mixed.
Let your mind follow where your eyes have led,
and let your eyes be mirrors for the figure
that will appear to you within this mirror.”
(Canto XXI, 13-18)
“Not far from your homeland, between two shores
of Italy, the stony ridges rise
so high that, far below them, thunder roars.
These ridges form a hump called Catria;
a consecrated hermitage beneath
that peak was once devoted just to worship.”
So his third speech to me began; then he
continued: “There, within that monastery,
in serving God, I gained tenacity:
with food that only olive juice had seasoned,
I could sustain with ease both heat and frost,
content within my contemplative thoughts.
(Canto XXI, 106-117)
But lest, by waiting, you be slow to reach
the high goal of your seeking, I shall answer
what you were thinking when you curbed your speech.
That mountain on whose flank Cassino lies
was once frequented on its summit by
those who were still deluded, still awry;
and I am he who was the first to carry
up to that peak the name of Him who brought
to earth the truth that lifts us to the heights.
(Canto XXII, 34-42)
What once were abbey walls are robbers’ dens;
what once were cowls are sacks of rotten meal.
But even heavy usury does not
offend the will of God as grievously
as the appropriation of that fruit
which makes the hearts of monks go mad with greed;
for all within the keeping of the Church
belongs to those who ask it in God’s name,
and not to relatives or concubines.
The flesh of mortals yields so easily—
on earth a good beginning does not run
from when the oak is born until the acorn.
Peter began with neither gold nor silver,
and I with prayer and fasting, and when Francis
began his fellowship, he did it humbly;
if you observe the starting point of each,
and look again to see where it has strayed,
then you will see how white has gone to gray.
(Canto XXII, 76-93)
We now are in the seventh splendor; this,
beneath the burning Lion’s breast, transmits
to earth its rays, with which his force is mixed.
Let your mind follow where your eyes have led,
and let your eyes be mirrors for the figure
that will appear to you within this mirror.”
(Canto XXI, 13-18)
“Not far from your homeland, between two shores
of Italy, the stony ridges rise
so high that, far below them, thunder roars.
These ridges form a hump called Catria;
a consecrated hermitage beneath
that peak was once devoted just to worship.”
So his third speech to me began; then he
continued: “There, within that monastery,
in serving God, I gained tenacity:
with food that only olive juice had seasoned,
I could sustain with ease both heat and frost,
content within my contemplative thoughts.
(Canto XXI, 106-117)
But lest, by waiting, you be slow to reach
the high goal of your seeking, I shall answer
what you were thinking when you curbed your speech.
That mountain on whose flank Cassino lies
was once frequented on its summit by
those who were still deluded, still awry;
and I am he who was the first to carry
up to that peak the name of Him who brought
to earth the truth that lifts us to the heights.
(Canto XXII, 34-42)
What once were abbey walls are robbers’ dens;
what once were cowls are sacks of rotten meal.
But even heavy usury does not
offend the will of God as grievously
as the appropriation of that fruit
which makes the hearts of monks go mad with greed;
for all within the keeping of the Church
belongs to those who ask it in God’s name,
and not to relatives or concubines.
The flesh of mortals yields so easily—
on earth a good beginning does not run
from when the oak is born until the acorn.
Peter began with neither gold nor silver,
and I with prayer and fasting, and when Francis
began his fellowship, he did it humbly;
if you observe the starting point of each,
and look again to see where it has strayed,
then you will see how white has gone to gray.
(Canto XXII, 76-93)
Canto XXIII
PIM- PKL'2014.3.36.
Like Trivia—at the full moon in clear skies—
smiling among the everlasting nymphs who
decorate all reaches of the sky,
I saw a sun above a thousand lamps;
it kindled all of them as does our sun
kindle the sights above us here on earth;
and through its living light the glowing Substance
appeared to me with such intensity—
my vision lacked the power to sustain it.
(Canto XXIII, 25-33)
“Why are you so enraptured by my face
as to deny your eyes the sight of that
fair garden blossoming beneath Christ’s rays?
The Rose in which the Word of God became
flesh grows within that garden; there the lilies
whose fragrance let men find the righteous way.”
Thus Beatrice, and I—completely ready
to do what she might counsel—once again
took up the battle of my feeble brows.
Under a ray of sun that, limpid, streams
down from a broken cloud, my eyes have seen,
while shade was shielding them, a flowered meadow;
so I saw many troops of splendors here
lit from above by burning rays of light,
but where those rays began was not in sight.
O kindly Power that imprints them thus,
you rose on high to leave space for my eyes—
for where I was, they were too weak to see You!
The name of that fair flower which I always
invoke, at morning and at evening, drew
my mind completely to the greatest flame.
And when, on both my eye-lights, were depicted
the force and nature of the living star
that conquers heaven as it conquered earth,
descending through that sky there came a torch,
forming a ring that seemed as if a crown:
wheeling around her—a revolving garland.
(Canto XXIII, 70-96)
Like Trivia—at the full moon in clear skies—
smiling among the everlasting nymphs who
decorate all reaches of the sky,
I saw a sun above a thousand lamps;
it kindled all of them as does our sun
kindle the sights above us here on earth;
and through its living light the glowing Substance
appeared to me with such intensity—
my vision lacked the power to sustain it.
(Canto XXIII, 25-33)
“Why are you so enraptured by my face
as to deny your eyes the sight of that
fair garden blossoming beneath Christ’s rays?
The Rose in which the Word of God became
flesh grows within that garden; there the lilies
whose fragrance let men find the righteous way.”
Thus Beatrice, and I—completely ready
to do what she might counsel—once again
took up the battle of my feeble brows.
Under a ray of sun that, limpid, streams
down from a broken cloud, my eyes have seen,
while shade was shielding them, a flowered meadow;
so I saw many troops of splendors here
lit from above by burning rays of light,
but where those rays began was not in sight.
O kindly Power that imprints them thus,
you rose on high to leave space for my eyes—
for where I was, they were too weak to see You!
The name of that fair flower which I always
invoke, at morning and at evening, drew
my mind completely to the greatest flame.
And when, on both my eye-lights, were depicted
the force and nature of the living star
that conquers heaven as it conquered earth,
descending through that sky there came a torch,
forming a ring that seemed as if a crown:
wheeling around her—a revolving garland.
(Canto XXIII, 70-96)
Canto XXIV-XXV-XXVI-XXVII
PIM- PKL'2014.3.37.
And just as, in a clock’s machinery,
to one who watches them, the wheels turn so
that, while the first wheel seems to rest, the last
wheel flies; so did those circling dancers—as
they danced to different measures, swift and slow—
make me a judge of what their riches were.
(Canto XXIV, 13-18)
She answered: “O eternal light of that
great man to whom our Lord bequeathed the keys
of this astonishing gladness—the keys
He bore to earth—do test this man concerning
the faith by which you walked upon the sea;
ask him points light and grave, just as you please
(Canto XXIV, 34-39)
Then did a light move toward us from that sphere
from which emerged the first—the dear, the rare—
of those whom Christ had left to be His vicars;
and full of happiness, my lady said
to me: “Look, look—and see the baron whom,
below on earth, they visit in Galicia.”
(Canto XXV, 13-18)
And as a happy maiden rises and
enters the dance to honor the new bride—
and not through vanity or other failing—
so did I see that splendor, brightening,
approach those two flames dancing in a ring
to music suited to their burning love.
And there it joined the singing and the circling,
on which my lady kept her eyes intent,
just like a bride, silent and motionless.
“This soul is he who lay upon the breast
of Christ our Pelican, and he was asked
from on the Cross to serve in the great task.”
(Canto XXV,103-114)
My lady answered: “In those rays there gazes
with love for his Creator the first soul
ever created by the Primal Force.”
(Canto XXVI, 82-84)
The tongue I spoke was all extinct before
the men of Nimrod set their minds upon
the unaccomplishable task; for never
has any thing produced by human reason
been everlasting—following the heavens,
men seek the new, they shift their predilections.
That man should speak at all is nature’s act,
but how you speak—in this tongue or in that—
she leaves to you and to your preference.
(Canto XXVI, 124-132)
Before my eyes, there stood, aflame, the four
torches, and that which had been first to come
began to glow with greater radiance,
and what its image then became was like
what Jupiter’s would be if Mars and he
were birds and had exchanged their plumages.
(Canto XXVII, 10-15)
Canto XXVII-XXVIII
PIM- PKL'2014.3.38.
As, when the horn of heaven’s Goat abuts
the sun, our sky flakes frozen vapors downward,
so did I see that ether there adorned;
for from that sphere, triumphant vapors now
were flaking up to the Empyrean—
returning after dwelling here with us.
(Canto XXVII, 67-72)
Around that point a ring of fire wheeled,
a ring perhaps as far from that point as
a halo from the star that colors it
when mist that forms the halo is most thick.
It wheeled so quickly that it would outstrip
the motion that most swiftly girds the world.
That ring was circled by a second ring,
the second by a third, third by a fourth,
fourth by a fifth, and fifth ring by a sixth.
Beyond, the seventh ring, which followed, was
so wide that all of Juno’s messenger
would be too narrow to contain that circle.
The eighth and ninth were wider still; and each,
even as greater distance lay between
it and the first ring, moved with lesser speed;
and, I believe, the ring with clearest flame
was that which lay least far from the pure spark
because it shares most deeply that point’s truth.
(Canto XXVIII, 22-39)
The second triad—blossoming in this
eternal springtime that the nightly Ram
does not despoil—perpetually sings
‘Hosanna’ with three melodies that sound
in the three ranks of bliss that form this triad;
within this hierarchy there are three
kinds of divinities: first, the Dominions,
and then the Virtues; and the final order
contains the Powers. The two penultimate
groups of rejoicing ones within the next
triad are wheeling Principalities
and the Archangels; last, the playful Angels.
(Canto XXVIII, 115-126)
As, when the horn of heaven’s Goat abuts
the sun, our sky flakes frozen vapors downward,
so did I see that ether there adorned;
for from that sphere, triumphant vapors now
were flaking up to the Empyrean—
returning after dwelling here with us.
(Canto XXVII, 67-72)
Around that point a ring of fire wheeled,
a ring perhaps as far from that point as
a halo from the star that colors it
when mist that forms the halo is most thick.
It wheeled so quickly that it would outstrip
the motion that most swiftly girds the world.
That ring was circled by a second ring,
the second by a third, third by a fourth,
fourth by a fifth, and fifth ring by a sixth.
Beyond, the seventh ring, which followed, was
so wide that all of Juno’s messenger
would be too narrow to contain that circle.
The eighth and ninth were wider still; and each,
even as greater distance lay between
it and the first ring, moved with lesser speed;
and, I believe, the ring with clearest flame
was that which lay least far from the pure spark
because it shares most deeply that point’s truth.
(Canto XXVIII, 22-39)
The second triad—blossoming in this
eternal springtime that the nightly Ram
does not despoil—perpetually sings
‘Hosanna’ with three melodies that sound
in the three ranks of bliss that form this triad;
within this hierarchy there are three
kinds of divinities: first, the Dominions,
and then the Virtues; and the final order
contains the Powers. The two penultimate
groups of rejoicing ones within the next
triad are wheeling Principalities
and the Archangels; last, the playful Angels.
(Canto XXVIII, 115-126)
Canto XXX-XXXI- XXXII
PIM- PKL'2014.3.39.
Into the yellow of the eternal Rose
that slopes and stretches and diffuses fragrance
of praise unto the Sun of endless spring,
now Beatrice drew me as one who, though
he would speak out, is silent. And she said:
“See how great is this council of white robes!
(Canto XXX, 124-129)
you will not come to know this joyous state
if your eyes only look down at the base;
but look upon the circles, look at those
that sit in a position more remote,
until you see upon her seat the Queen
to whom this realm is subject and devoted.”
I lifted up my eyes; and as, at morning,
the eastern side of the horizon shows
more splendor than the side where the sun sets,
so, as if climbing with my eyes from valley
to summit, I saw one part of the farthest
rank of the Rose more bright than all the rest.
(Canto XXXI, 112-123)
began: “The wound that Mary closed and then
anointed was the wound that Eve—so lovely
at Mary’s feet—had opened and had pierced.
Below her, in the seats of the third rank,
Rachel and Beatrice, as you see, sit.
Sarah, Rebecca, Judith, and the one
who was the great-grandmother of the singer
who, as he sorrowed for his sinfulness,
cried, ‘Miserere mei’—these you can see
from rank to rank as I, in moving through
the Rose, from petal unto petal, give
to each her name. And from the seventh rank,
just as they did within the ranks above,
the Hebrew women follow—ranging downward—
dividing all the tresses of the Rose.
They are the wall by which the sacred stairs
divide, depending on the view of Christ
with which their faith aligned. Upon one side,
(Canto XXXII, 4-21)
the one who, on her left, sits closest, is
the father whose presumptuous tasting
caused humankind to taste such bitterness;
and on the right, you see that ancient father
of Holy Church, into whose care the keys
of this fair flower were consigned by Christ.
And he who saw, before he died, all of
the troubled era of the lovely Bride—
whom lance and nails had won—sits at his side;
and at the side of Adam sits that guide
under whose rule the people, thankless, fickle,
and stubborn, lived on manna. Facing Peter,
Anna is seated, so content to see
her daughter that, as Anna sings hosannas,
she does not move her eyes. And opposite
the greatest father of a family,
Lucia sits, she who urged on your lady
when you bent your brows downward, to your ruin.
(Canto XXXII , 121-138)
Into the yellow of the eternal Rose
that slopes and stretches and diffuses fragrance
of praise unto the Sun of endless spring,
now Beatrice drew me as one who, though
he would speak out, is silent. And she said:
“See how great is this council of white robes!
(Canto XXX, 124-129)
you will not come to know this joyous state
if your eyes only look down at the base;
but look upon the circles, look at those
that sit in a position more remote,
until you see upon her seat the Queen
to whom this realm is subject and devoted.”
I lifted up my eyes; and as, at morning,
the eastern side of the horizon shows
more splendor than the side where the sun sets,
so, as if climbing with my eyes from valley
to summit, I saw one part of the farthest
rank of the Rose more bright than all the rest.
(Canto XXXI, 112-123)
began: “The wound that Mary closed and then
anointed was the wound that Eve—so lovely
at Mary’s feet—had opened and had pierced.
Below her, in the seats of the third rank,
Rachel and Beatrice, as you see, sit.
Sarah, Rebecca, Judith, and the one
who was the great-grandmother of the singer
who, as he sorrowed for his sinfulness,
cried, ‘Miserere mei’—these you can see
from rank to rank as I, in moving through
the Rose, from petal unto petal, give
to each her name. And from the seventh rank,
just as they did within the ranks above,
the Hebrew women follow—ranging downward—
dividing all the tresses of the Rose.
They are the wall by which the sacred stairs
divide, depending on the view of Christ
with which their faith aligned. Upon one side,
(Canto XXXII, 4-21)
the one who, on her left, sits closest, is
the father whose presumptuous tasting
caused humankind to taste such bitterness;
and on the right, you see that ancient father
of Holy Church, into whose care the keys
of this fair flower were consigned by Christ.
And he who saw, before he died, all of
the troubled era of the lovely Bride—
whom lance and nails had won—sits at his side;
and at the side of Adam sits that guide
under whose rule the people, thankless, fickle,
and stubborn, lived on manna. Facing Peter,
Anna is seated, so content to see
her daughter that, as Anna sings hosannas,
she does not move her eyes. And opposite
the greatest father of a family,
Lucia sits, she who urged on your lady
when you bent your brows downward, to your ruin.
(Canto XXXII , 121-138)
Canto XXXIII
PIM- PKL'2014.3.40.
Bernard was signaling—he smiled—to me
to turn my eyes on high; but I, already
was doing what he wanted me to do,
because my sight, becoming pure, was able
to penetrate the ray of Light more deeply—
that Light, sublime, which in Itself is true.
From that point on, what I could see was greater
than speech can show: at such a sight, it fails—
and memory fails when faced with such excess.
(Canto XXXIII, 49-57)
So is the snow, beneath the sun, unsealed;
and so, on the light leaves, beneath the wind,
the oracles the Sibyl wrote were lost.
O Highest Light, You, raised so far above
the minds of mortals, to my memory
give back something of Your epiphany,
and make my tongue so powerful that I
may leave to people of the future one
gleam of the glory that is Yours, for by
returning somewhat to my memory
and echoing awhile within these lines,
Your victory will be more understood.
(Canto XXXIII, 64-75)
As the geometer intently seeks
to square the circle, but he cannot reach,
through thought on thought, the principle he needs,
so I searched that strange sight: I wished to see
the way in which our human effigy
suited the circle and found place in it—
and my own wings were far too weak for that.
But then my mind was struck by light that flashed
and, with this light, received what it had asked.
Here force failed my high fantasy; but my
desire and will were moved already—like
a wheel revolving uniformly—by
the Love that moves the sun and the other stars.
(Canto XXXIII, 133-145)
Bernard was signaling—he smiled—to me
to turn my eyes on high; but I, already
was doing what he wanted me to do,
because my sight, becoming pure, was able
to penetrate the ray of Light more deeply—
that Light, sublime, which in Itself is true.
From that point on, what I could see was greater
than speech can show: at such a sight, it fails—
and memory fails when faced with such excess.
(Canto XXXIII, 49-57)
So is the snow, beneath the sun, unsealed;
and so, on the light leaves, beneath the wind,
the oracles the Sibyl wrote were lost.
O Highest Light, You, raised so far above
the minds of mortals, to my memory
give back something of Your epiphany,
and make my tongue so powerful that I
may leave to people of the future one
gleam of the glory that is Yours, for by
returning somewhat to my memory
and echoing awhile within these lines,
Your victory will be more understood.
(Canto XXXIII, 64-75)
As the geometer intently seeks
to square the circle, but he cannot reach,
through thought on thought, the principle he needs,
so I searched that strange sight: I wished to see
the way in which our human effigy
suited the circle and found place in it—
and my own wings were far too weak for that.
But then my mind was struck by light that flashed
and, with this light, received what it had asked.
Here force failed my high fantasy; but my
desire and will were moved already—like
a wheel revolving uniformly—by
the Love that moves the sun and the other stars.
(Canto XXXIII, 133-145)
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