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THE .PARADISE.
OF
DANTE ALIGHIERI
EDITED WITH TRANSLATION AND NOTES BY
ARTHUR JOHN BUTLER
LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
ivdix^f^^^f- '^^^ elvat ovbkv diacp^pcL iv rots didioLS
MACMILLAN AND CO.
AND NEW YORK I 891
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'HEESE
First Edition 1885. Second Edition 1891.
PRELIMINARY NOTE
To understand Dante's conception of Paradise, we must imagine the universe as consisting of nine spheres concentric with the earth, which is fixed at the centre, and surrounded by the spheres of air and fire. The sphere of fire is immediately in contact with that of the Moon, beyond which come in order those of Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the fixed star^. The last of all is the sphere of the First Movement, or Primum Mobile, which governs the general motion of the heavens from east to west, and by which all place and time is ultimately measured. Each of these is under the direction of one of the angelic orders,^ and exercises its special influence on earthly affairs. The three lowest spheres are allotted to the souls of those whose life on earth was marred by yielding to the temptations of the world ; the next four to those whose actions were wholly directed by virtuous motives. The last two have no special tenants assigned to them, but appear to
^ The medieval doctrine on this subject appears to have been largely drawn from Jewish Cabalistic philosophy. See Ueberweg, Hist, of Phil. vol. i. § 97, especially as to the book called Zohar, com- posed in the thirteenth century.
PRELIMINARY NOTE
serve as common places of meeting, the one to saints, the other to angels. Finally, outside of all, comes the Empy- rean heaven, where is neither time nor place, but light only; the special abode of Deity and resting-place of the saints.
The time occupied in the journey through the different heavens is twenty-four hours.
ERRATA
Canto IV. line 42, for ' posci ' read * poscia. ' Canto V. line 24, for * dontate ' 7'ead ' dotate. ' Canto VI. line 2^, for * ci ' read ' d'.' Canto VII. line 100, for ' quando ' read 'quanto.' Canto VIII. line 2.%, for Mietro' read Mentro.' Canto XXII. line ^T,for ' fiio ' read * furo.' Page 335, line 2, for ' proved ' read ' moved.'
7?r
PREFACE
The transition from the ' Purgatory ' to the * Paradise ' will produce, it may be feared, on the minds of many readers the deterrent effect which Dante himself seems to have foreseen. Several of the reasons which, in the preface to the second Cantica, I urged as justifying the claims of that part of the Commedia to special attention no longer apply. The mere fact that the doctrine of the Church respecting the future state would preclude Dante from introducing many of his own contemporaries as already glorified spirits ^ is sufficient, in some measure, to account for a falhng-off in the human interest of the poem. Most of the personages who are introduced are, as it were, the common property of all mankind. They do not owe their very identity to their
^ Of his actual acquaintances, Carlo Martello and Piccarda are the only two who appear ; Albert the Great, Aquinas, Bonaventura, Pope John XXI (Petrus Hispanus), and possibly Cunizza, the only others whose lifetime coincided at all with his. In placing Aquinas and Bonaventura among the saints he only anticipated the Church, but even in their cases he must have stretched a point, so to speak, in order to include them. John XXI indeed (who is the only Pope seen by Dante in Paradise) went very near to be condemned as a heretic. Quinet's notion of ' the old Ghibelline from the height of heaven letting fall his sentence of proscription on all the world ' is as ludicrous as his statement that no one whom Dante had known appears in Paradise is incorrect.
118401
PREFACE
place in the great poem as do Francesca, Farinata, the two Counts of Montefeltro, Forese, and a score of others whom we meet in its first two divisions. Then again it must be remembered that, while physical pain offers an endless choice of possibilities, the only pleasure which is admitted by the dignity of the Christian heaven is in its nature incapable of much variation. From the lowest sphere to the highest, it is in the contemplation of God, and the con- forming of the will to His will, that the souls of the righteous find their perfect consummation and bliss. The bodily senses, which were all available as vehicles of torment, whether for punishment or for chastening, are now reduced to sight and hearing only. From the objects of these alone can images be drawn ; and though Dante's genius is nowhere more conspicuous than in the way he has made use of the means at his disposal, till the reader himself seems almost to hear the changing melodies of Heaven and see around him its * primal, essential, all-pervading light,' we must admit that even his genius is at times overweighted, and, in seeking to avoid monotony, is apt now and again to fall into what verges on the grotesque.
Let no one, however, suppose that the ^ Paradise ' shows any failure in the author's powers. It rather affords a splendid testimony to the richness of their maturity. Where, for example, has he equalled that noble summary of Roman history put into the mouth of Justinian, in which the reader almost hears the rush of the eagle down his triumphant course ? Where has he drawn any picture with clearer and yet with more delicate strokes than in Caccia- guida's description of the old Florentine life, before pride, envy, avarice, and the lusts of the flesh had marred its tranquil purity? Where, in Dante, or indeed in any other poet, shall w^e find dignity pathetic as in the lines — perhaps
PREFACE
the most often quoted of the whole poem — in which his exile is foretold ? or stern as in St. Peter's invective, whereat all heaven grew red, against his unworthy succes- sors ? For pure beauty of devotion what shall we compare with St. Bernard's address to the Blessed Virgin ? Nor are these and the like merely 'purple patches,' as some may deem, inserted in a dull tissue of metaphysics and theology. For the philosophical student, to be sure, those parts will possess the deepest interest over which one who reads solely for literary enjoyment will be inclined to pass most quickly : though even he, if he does not leave them wholly unread, will appreciate the skill which has caused a spring of tender emotion to flow in a desert of metaphysics, and with a word here or an image there drawn the music of Apollo's lute out of harsh and crabbed philosophy. But those who care for such things will know that, dry and futile as the disquisitions of the schoolmen may sometimes appear, and erroneous as we now, with our improved means of observation, can see that their conclusions often were, they represent learning, acuteness, and industry combined in a measure of which the world has rarely seen the like. Between Aristotle and Bacon it would be hard to name any thinker who, for knowledge of all that was knowable in his day, and for force and clearness of reasoning upon the premises that he had, has left such a mark upon human thought as Aquinas had done, when he was cut off at the age of forty-nine. Doubtless he and the rest of the great band of philosophers whom the twelfth and thirteenth cen- turies brought forth spent their time in efforts to solve the insoluble; but are we so very much nearer to success? Will Mr. Herbert Spencer's cast seem to the twenty-fifth century very far beyond the mark of St. Thomas ? This is not the place to consider how that may be; and I only
Vlll PREFACE
wish here to justify myself for having been at some pains in my notes to consult the interests of those who care to trace the history of metaphysical speculation. It has seemed best to give Greek and Latin quotations in the original. Those for whom they are intended will probably prefer them in this form, while others would equally skip them if they were translated. It must, of course, be under- stood that both Dante and St. Thomas read their Aristotle only through the medium of a Latin rendering ; but this appears to have been sufficiently accurate to make it quite possible for us to follow them in the original Greek.
The remarks made in the preface to the ' Purgatory ' in regard to the commentators from whom I have derived most assistance will apply equally to the present instalment. I ought, however, to have spoken with more gratitude of Dr. Scartazzini, though I still think that his work would have been more useful if it were less copious. It is hardly necessary, except perhaps where one is going to differ from the best authorities, to review all the opinions of predeces- sors upon disputed passages, still less to record interpreta- tions which are obviously erroneous. The only edition of importance that has teen added to those which we then possessed is Professor Lubin's ; ^ another comprehensive work, consisting of nearly one thousand closely printed pages. It contains elaborate studies and analyses of the poem, discussions on allegorical points, plans, and tables ; also, along with the text, an ' Ordo,' or rearrangement in a prose form. I cannot profess to have mastered it ; but it is evident that it contains much that will be of service to students, more especially in regard to such matters as the symbolism of certain passages, or the connexion of the orders of the angelic hierarchy respectively with the various 1 Padova : Stabilimento della Ditta L. Penada. 1881.
PREFACE
Spheres of which the heaven is composed, and so with the influences which they exercise upon earthly affairs. He also gives synoptical tables of the three Cantiche, showing in a convenient form the general structure ^ of the poem.
Those who wish to study the * Paradise ' with full com- prehension will find it expedient not only to consult such commentators as those to whom I have referred, but to make themselves familiar with the authorities on whom Dante chiefly relied. I have given in notes such extracts as seemed more directly to illustrate passages under con- sideration; but extracts alone are not enough. The student should read, either in the original or in Grote, Aristotle, De Caelo, Books i. and ii. ; Metaphysica \. Ch. 6 to the end of the book ; and Plato, Timaeus, 27 E — 42 D. I pretermit any reference to Aquinas, both because it is difficult to select any particular parts where the whole system is important, and because, so far as selection is possible, the notes of Philalethes and Scartazzini will be found excellent guides. Of Dante's own works, Conv. ii. 2-6, 14, 15, iii. 5; De Mon. i. 11-13, ii. 2; and, perhaps most of all, the Epistle to Can Grande, form a useful introduction.
We still await the edition of Benvenuto's Commentary, which has been promised from two quarters ; but, as I said before, an unknown hand has copied a great deal of it in a MS. belonging to the University of Cambridge, and of this I have occasionally availed myself.^ He appears to have
^ This will perhaps be the best point for drawing attention to the most notable instance of symmetry in the ' Paradise. ' The three great invectives against the Popes will be found to occur in the 9th, i8th, and 27th Cantos.
^ Through the liberality of Mr. William Warren Vernon, the Com- mentary of Benvenuto is now accessible to all students in its complete form, and a great assistance it is. It will be found that in the present
PREFACE
been the most intelligent of the early commentators. Pietro di Dante, as edited by Lord Vernon, is now and then help- ful ; but, on the whole, one regrets that he did not see more of his father in more senses than one. I must express my thanks to Dr. Moore for information as to MS. readings, and my hope that his labours in this line may soon bear fruit for Dante students at large. ^ To thank Mr. Henry Jackson for help is becoming a 'common form' among Cambridge men in all works w^here references to Greek philosophy have to be made. In the present case his assistance in tracing various passages to their Aristotelian source has been of great service to me.
In editing the text, I have had constantly before me the reprint of the Codex Cassinensis, the MS. I call 'Gg.,' Lord Vernon's reprint of the four first editions, the two Aldines, and Witte's large edition. I do not think that there is any variant of importance which is not to be found in one or other of these. The various readings given at the foot of the pages are of course only a selection ; though I have, as a rule, recorded any which materially affect the sense, or are in some way typical. It must not, therefore, be assumed that where no variant is specified the authori- ties all agree; indeed, it may be taken for granted that wherever, for example, chiaro occurs, somebody reads caro^ and vice versa ; so with affetto and effetto. Wherever it is a question of the omission or insertion of the letter n^ MSS. are practically indeterminate, this letter being usually de- noted only by a line over the preceding vowel. To say more on this point would be trespassing on Dr. Moore's
edition direct references to it have for the most part taken the place of those to ' Comm. Gg.'
^ * Contributions to the Textual Criticism of the Divina Commedia ' (Cambridge University Press) has now appeared. It will be seen that this edition has more than once profited thereby.
PREFACE xi
province ; but I should like here to express my belief that in many cases the difference of reading is due to the author himself, and that as the work proceeded he distributed copies among his friends, admitting modifications here and there as they suggested themselves to him. If this be so, it is clear not only that all search for an ' archetype ' will be fruitless, but that even if we found an undoubted copy in Dante's own hand it would not necessarily embody the readings on which he finally decided.
A few words may perhaps be added in reference to certain forms peculiar to the last part of the Commedia. First among them comes that remarkable series of reflexive verbs compounded with in^ which are usually quite untrans- latable except by a periphrasis. Of these I have counted twenty-six which occur only in this Cantica. That chiarezza, chiarita^ chiarire, should be found here and not elsewhere, is perhaps due to the special need of terms implying bright- ness ; but this is not enough to account for parvente and parvenza^ which occur pretty frequently, though entirely absent from the former parts of the poem, nor for a large proportion of the words given in the Glossary. I am strongly inclined to suspect that an investigation of these forms might give a clue to Dante's most frequent place of residence during the time that he was engaged upon the concluding portion of his work.
November i, 1885.
\27id Edition^ November i^^o.'X
CONTENTS
CANTO |
I |
CANTO |
II |
CANTO |
III |
CANTO |
IV |
CANTO |
V |
CANTO |
VI |
CANTO |
VII |
CANTO |
VIII |
CANTO |
IX |
CANTO |
X |
CANTO |
XI |
CANTO |
XII |
CANTO |
XIII |
CANTO |
XIV |
CANTO |
XV |
CANTO |
XVI |
CANTO |
XVII |
CANTO |
XVIII |
CANTO |
XIX |
CANTO |
XX |
CANTO |
XXI . |
PAGE
I
15 28 38 51 64
79
/ 94
109
126
140
153 168 181 194 207 224
237 249 262 274
XIV |
CONTENTS |
|||||
PAGE CANTO XXII . . . . . . .285 |
||||||
CANTO XXIII |
298 |
|||||
CANTO XXIV. |
309 |
|||||
CANTO XXV . |
321 |
|||||
CANTO XXVI. |
332 |
|||||
CANTO XXVII |
345 |
|||||
CANTO XXVIII |
358 |
|||||
CANTO XXIX. |
370 |
|||||
CANTO XXX . |
386 |
|||||
CANTO XXXI |
397 |
|||||
CANTO XXXII |
409 |
|||||
CANTO XXXIII |
420 |
|||||
GLOSSARY . |
431 |
PARADISE
CANTO I
ARGUMENT
Dante, following the direction of Beatrice's eyes, gazes fixedly at the sun, and presently finds that he is rising on high. He is aston- ished thereat, and Beatrice expounds to him the cause of it.
The glory of Him who moves all things penetrates through the universe, and shines forth in one quarter more, and less in another. In the heaven which receives most of His light was I, and I beheld things which whoso descends thence has neither knowledge nor power to tell again, seeing that
La gloria di Colui che tutto muove, Per r universo penetra, e risplende In una parte piu, e meno altrove.
Nel ciel che piu della sua luce prende Fu' io, e vidi cose che ridire Ne sa n^ pub qual di lassu discende ;
^ che tutto muove. S. T. ii. 2. Q. 104. A. 4: Deus est primus motor omnium qui naturaliter moventur. It will be seen throughout that God is identified with the kipovv oi KLvoifievov of Aristotle, Metaph. X. 7. See note to 1. 76, post.
^' s Cf. 2 Cor. xii. 4.
B
2 PARADISE CANTO
as it draws near to its desire our understanding plunges so deep, that the memory cannot go after it. Howbeit, so much of the holy realm as I could treasure up within my mind shall now be matter for my lay.
O good Apollo, at my latest labour make me a vessel of thy power so fashioned as thou requirest for the gift of the beloved laurel. Up to this point the one peak of Parnassus has sufficed me, but now with both it is meet that I enter on the remaining lists. Enter thou into my breast and
Perch^ appressando se al suo disire, Nostro intelletto si profonda tanto, Che retro la memoria non pub ire.
Veramente quant' io del regno santo lo
Nella mia mente potei far tesoro, Sara ora materia del mio canto.
O buono Apollo, all' ultimo lavoro Fammi del tuo valor si fatto vaso. Come dimandi a dar 1' amato alloro.
Insino a qui T un giogo di Parnaso Assai mi fu, ma or con ambedue M' e uopo entrar nell' aringo rimaso.
Entra nel petto mio, e spira tue.
^ al suo disire : that is to God, to opeKrbv, klvovv ojs epwfievov. S. T. i. Q. 44. A. 3 : Omnia appetunt Deum ut finem. Cf. Conv. iii. 2.
16-18 There is some difficulty as to the two peaks of Parnassus. The mountain was * Bromio Phoeboque sacer,' but it is plain that Dante is referring to his invocations of the Muses, Inf. ii. 7 and Pg. i. 8, and an allusion to Bacchus, though some commentators have been satisfied with it, would be out of place here. Probably, like Landino after him, he confused the * biceps • Parnassus ' with HeHcon and Cithaeron. giogo, as Philalethes notes, probably suggested the other sense of the Lat. Jugum, and so the metaphor of the racecourse.
I PARADISE 3
inspire, in such wise as when thou drewest forth Marsyas from the sheath of his limbs. O power divine, if thou impart thyself to me until I make manifest the image of the blessed realm which is stamped within my head, thou wilt see me come to the tree beloved by thee, and crown myself then with those leaves whereof my matter and thou will make me worthy. So seldom, Father, is aught plucked thereof for the triumphing of either Caesar or poet (a fault
Si come quando Marsia traesti 20
Delia vagina delle membra sue. O divina virtu, se mi ti presti
Tanto che T ombra del beato regno
Segnata nel mio capo io manifesti,^ Venir vedra' mi al tuo diletto legno,^
E coronarmi allor di quelle foglie,^
Che la materia e tu mi farai degno. Si rade volte, Padre, se ne coglie,
Per trionfare o Cesare o poeta
a- capo in. Gg. Aid. ^ Vedrami al pie del t. d. I. Gg,
° Venir ^ e corottarmi delle f. Gg.
20 The reason for the introduction of Marsyas is not clear ; but it may be meant as an indirect warning to those who would sing without inspiration. Cf. the allusion to the Picae in Purg. i. 11. The story of Marsyas is told in Ov. Met. vi. 381 sqq. and Fasti vi. 703 sqq.
2* Some omit io, regarding manifesti as the second person, which gives perhaps even a better sense: 'grant thyself to me until thou bring to light what is now shadowed in my brain.'
^'^ che is a kind of general relative, standing for 'who,' 'whose,' 'where,' 'when,' etc., as the sense requires. See note to Purg. i. 3, and Diez iii. 348 ; also Corticelli, s. v. French que is used even more freely in a similar way. Diez considers that in this use both represent the Lat. quam.
4.
4 PARADISE CANTO
and a reproach of the wills of men) that the leaf of Peneus ought to bring forth joy upon the joyous godhead of Delphi whenever any is athirst for it. A mighty flame follows a little spark ; haply after me will men pray with better words, for Cirrha to make answer.
Through divers passages arises to mortals the lamp of the world ; but from that one which joins four circles with three crosses, it issues with a better course and in conjunc-
(Colpa e vergogna dell' umane voglie), ^30 Che partorir letizia in su la lieta ^ Delfica Deita dovria la fronda, Peneia, quando alcun di se asseta.^ 'oca favilla gran fiamma seconda : Forse diretro a me con miglior voci ^ Si preghera, perche Cirra risponda. Surge ai mortali per diverse foci
La lucerna del mondo ; ma da quella, Che quattro cerchi giugne con tre croci,
d altrui Gg. ® Dietro da sefo7'se Cass. 14; da me 23. Forse retro d. m. W,
^^ Cirrha, on the coast a few miles distant from Delphi, seems to have been by the Latin poets confused with Crissa, the town more immediately connected with the oracle. Pliny (iv. 4), however, dis- tinguishes them. See on the whole subject, Grote, Hist. Gr. Part II. ch. xxviii. Here, of course, Cirra is practically synonymous with Delphi.
37 *Dividitur ista pars, seu tertia cantica, quae Paradisus dicitur, principaliter in duas partes, scilicet in prologum et parte77i executivam. Pars secunda incipit ibi : Surgit mortalibus per diversas fauces. ' Epistle to Can Grande.
38, 39 'pj^g equator, the ecliptic, and the equinoctial colure, or great circle through the equinoxes and the pole of the equator, intersect on the first point of Aries. At sunrise about the spring equinox this point is therefore on the horizon, which makes the fourth circle : the three crosses being made by the others with it. Aristotle (De Gen. et
I PARADISE 5
tion with a better constellation, and more to its own fashion moulds and seals the wax of the world.
The morning on that side and the evening on this had made that passage as it were, and there all that hemisphere was white, and the other part dark, when I saw Beatrice turned round upon the left flank, and gazing at the Sun : never did eagle so fix himself on it. And as a second ray is wont to issue from the first and mount upwards again.
Con mighor corso e con migliore Stella 40
Esce congiunta, e la mondana cera Pill a suo modo tempera e suggella.
Fatto avea di la mane e di qua sera Tal foce quasi, e tutto era la bianco ^ Quello emisperio, e 1' altra parte nera,
Quando Beatrice in sul sinistro fianco Vidi rivolta, e riguardar nel sole : Aquila si non gH s' affisse unquanco.
E SI come secondo raggio suole
Uscir del primo e risalire insuso, 50
^ Tal foce e quasi Gg. Bi.
Corr. ii. 9) holds that the cause of creation and dissolution is the sun's movement in the ecliptic : ovx V irpuirrj (popcL alria earl yev^aeias /cat (pdopds, dX\' 7) KarcL rbv \o^bv ktjkKov . . . opCcfiev yap on irpoffibvTos fxkv Tov rjkiov yiveais iarLv' dindvTos dk (pOiaLS. So Met. X. 5j 6.
43-45 'pj^g time, as we know from Purg. xxxiii. 104, was just mid-day (not, as Philalethes takes it, * the moment of sunrise '), and accordingly the hemisphere in which Dante was, was all illuminated, mane must be understood as the space from sunrise to noon. For fatto, cf. Purg. ix. 8. On this side of the earth the 'evening,' i.e. the time from sunset to midnight, had * made ' the like ' passage ' on the other side. It may be noted that Hell is entered at sunset, Purgatory at sunrise, and Heaven at * high noon. ' quasi, because the time was a few days after the equinox, and therefore the sun's path did not pass exactly through the point named. It seems better to take it thus than to read with Bianchi, * e quasi tutto. '
6 PARADISE CANTO
even like a pilgrim who wills to return ; so of her action, poured through the eyes into my imagination, did mine frame itself, and I fixed my eyes on the Sun beyond our wont.
Much is lawful there which here is not lawful to our powers, thanks to the place made for a property of the human kind. I endured it not much, but not so little that I did not see it sparkle all about, like iron which comes forth seething from the fire. And of a sudden day seemed to be added to day, as though He that has the power had adorned the heaven- with a second sun. Beatrice was standing all fixed with her eyes upon the eternal wheels ;
Pur come peregrin che tornar vuole,
Cos! deir atto suo, per gli occhi infuso Neir immagine mia, il mio si fece, E fissi gli occhi al sole oltre a nostr' uso.^
Molto e licito la, che qui non lece AUe nostre virtu, merce del loco Fatto per proprio dell' umana spece.
lo nol soffersi molto, ne si poco
Ch' io nol vedessi sfavillar dintorno,
Qual ferro che bollente esce del fuoco. 60
E di subito parve giorno a giorno
Essere aggiunto, come Quei che puote Avesse il ciel d' un altro sole adorno.
Beatrice tutta nelF eterne ruote
s volsi il viso al s. Gg,
^7 Cf. Pg. xxviii. 92, 3. So Aquinas, S. T. i. Q. 104. 2 : Para- disus est locus conveniens humanae habitationi secundum primum primae immortalitatis statum.
^^ Cf. Isaiah xxx. 26.
I PARADISE 7
and I, my eyes fixed on her, removed from on high, in her aspect became such inwardly as Glaucus became in the tasting of the herb, which made him a consort in the sea with the other Gods. To signify in words transhumanation were impossible : wherefore let the example suffice him to whom grace is reserving an experience. If I was only that part of me which thou last createdst, O Love who orderest
Fissa con gli occhi stava ; ed io in lei
Le luci fisse, di lassu remote, Nel suo aspetto tal dentro mi fei,
Qual si fe Glauco nel gustar dell' erba,
Che il fe consorto in mar degli altri Dei. Trasumanar significar per verba 70
Non si poria : pero F esempio basti
A cui esperienza grazia serba. S' io era sol di me quel che creasti
Novellamente, Amor, che il ciel governi,
Tu il sai, che col tuo lume mi levasti.
^^ Glaucus tells his own story" in Ov. Met. xiii. 918 sqq. The lines to which reference is here made are 944-7 :
' Vix bene combiberant ignotos guttura sucos Quum subito trepidare intus praecordia sensi, Alteriusque rapi naturae pectus amore. Nee potui restare loco.'
And 956-9 :
' Hactenus acta tibi possum memoranda referre ; Hactenus et memini ; nee mens mea cetera sensit. Quae postquam rediit alium me corpore toto, Ac fueram nuper, nee eundem mente, recepi.'
''^ I.e. *I was in my body': that being the part of man which is last to be created. Cf. 2 Cor. xii. 2, 3.
8 PARADISE CANTO
the heaven, thou knowest, for with thy light thou Hftedst me. When the revolution that thou makest everlasting through desire, brought itself to my attention, with the harmony which thou temperest and distributest, so much of the heaven then appeared to me kindled by the flame of the sun, that rain nor river ever made so widespread a
Quando la rota, che tu sempiterni
Desiderato, a se mi fece atteso
Con r armonia che temperi e discerni,^ Parvemi tanto allor del cielo acceso
Dalla fiamma del Sol, che pioggia o flume 80
Lago non fece mai tanto disteso.^
^ Co7i la rota 145 ; isterni Aid. (i) Land. Dan. ^ L. non fece alcun Gg. 134; loco . . . alcun Cass,
^^' ^ Literally, * which thou, being desired, makest everlasting. ' We are reminded of the language of the Platonic Timaeus : Belcxv apx¥ TJp^aTO dirajjo-Tov /cat ^/mcppopos ^iov irpbs rbv ^viiiravra 'xp^vov (chap. 36) ; but the germ of the doctrine that the movement of the heavens pro- ceeds from the desire which all created things have for God is rather to be sought in Ar. Met. X. 7. (1072 a) : ecW tl 6 ov Kivovfievov Kivel^ didiov Kal ovaia koI hipyeta odaa. Klvcl 8^ tD5e* rb opeKrbv Kal t6 vorjrbp klvcl ov KLvoTJixevov. Cf also de An. iii. 10. In de Caelo, ii. 2, the various movements of the heavens are explained as depending on their nearness to the divine origin. Aquinas (S. T. i. Q. 105. A. 2) translates Aristotle : ' Deus movet sicut desideratum et intellectum. ' See also Q. 70. So again Conv. ii. 4 : per lo ferventissimo appetito che ha ciascuna parte di quello nono cielo . . . d' esser congiunta con ciascuna parte di quello divinissimo cielo quieto in quello si rivolve [sc. il primo mobile] con tanto desiderio che la sua velocita e quasi incompren- sibile.
7^ armonia. It is curious that Dante should have adopted, as he appears here to do, the Pythagorean and Platonic doctrine of a harmony caused by the revolution of the heavenly bodies. Aristotle (de Caelo, ii. 9) discusses it, and decides against it. Aquinas, on Job xxxviii. 37 ('concentum caeli quis dormire faciet '), follows Aristotle, and holds that the * concentus ' must be taken metaphorically ' pro sola con- venientia caelestium motuum qui nunquam dormiunt. '
I PARADISE 9
pool. The strangeness of the sound and the great Hght kindled in me a desire for their cause never before felt with such keenness. Wherefore she who saw me as I see myself, to set at rest my disturbed mind, before I could do it to ask, opened her mouth, and began : * Thou thyself makest thyself gross with false imagining, so that thou seest not that which thou wouldest have seen, if thou hadst shaken it off. Thou art not on the earth as thou deemest : but a thunderbolt flying from its proper abode never sped as thou dost who art returning to the same.' If I was stripped of the first doubt by the few short words which were smiled
La novita del suono e il grande lume Di lor cagion m' accesero un disio Mai non sentito di cotanto acume.
Ond' ella, che vedea me si com' io, A quietarmi 1' animo commosso,^ Pria ch' io a dimandar, la bocca aprio :
E comincio : Tu stesso ti fai grosso Col falso immaginar, si che non vedi Cio che vedresti, se 1' avessi scosso. 90
Tu non se' in terra si come tu credi ; Ma folgore, fuggendo il proprio sito, Non corse come tu ch' ad esso riedi.^
S' io fui del primo dubbio disvestito Per le sorrise parolette brevi,
^ acquetarmi Cass. 1 coriHa Gg»
^2 il proprio sito, i.e. the sphere of fire, in which it is generated and to which it belongs.
^^ corse, in aorist sense. See note to Purg. xxxii. 34.
95 sorrise parolette. Cf. arrisemi tin cemtOj xv. 71, and see Diez iii. 107 for other examples of neuter verbs used transitively with cognate nouns.
10 PARADISE CANTO
/
on m^ inwardly I was more enmeshed in a new ; and I said : ' Already I have rested content from a great wonder- ing ; but now I wonder how I may rise past these light bodies.' Wherefore she, after a kindly sigh, directed her eyes toward me with that countenance which a mother makes over a son whose reason wanders, and began : ' All things whatsoever have an order among themselves ; and this is form, which makes the universe in the likeness of God. Here the created beings on high see the traces of the eternal goodness, which is the end whereunto the rule aforesaid has been made. In that order which I say have
Dentro ad un nuovo piu fui irretito :
E dissi : Gik contento requievi
Di grande ammirazion : ma ora ammiro Com' io trascenda questi corpi lievi.
Ond' ella, appresso d' un pio sospiro, loo
Gli occhi drizzb ver me con quel sembiante, Che madre fa sopra figliuol deliro :
E comincib : le cose tutte quante
Hann' ordine tra loro ; e questo e forma, "^ Che r universe a Dio fa simigliante.
Qui veggion 1' alte creature 1' oriiia Dell' eterno valore, il quale e fine, Al quale e fatta la toccata norma.
Nell' ordine ch' io dico sono accline
"^ questo mforma 5.
^^ Bianchi notes the Lat. form requievi, and compares the audivi of Inf. xxvi. 78.
99 corpi lievi, i.e. air and fire, through the spheres of which he is now passing.
103-111 ggg noi^ at the end of this Canto.
'^^^ r alte creature. Cf. Pg. xi. 3, * i primi effetti di lassii. '
PARADISE
all natures their propension, through divers lots, [as they are] more or less near to their origin : whereby they move to divers ports through the great sea of being, and each with instinct given to it to bear it. This bears away fire towards the moon ; this is tlie motive power in the hearts of men ; this binds the earth together and makes it one. Nor only the creatures which are outside of understanding does this bow shoot forth, but those that have intellect and love. The Providence that settles so much, gives ever that
Tutte nature per diverse sorti, no
Pill al principio loro e men viclne ; Onde si muovono a diversi porti
Per lo gran mar dell' essere, e ciascuna
Con istinto a lei dato che la porti. Questi ne porta il fuoco inver la Luna ;
Questi nei cuor mortali^ permotore;
Questi la terra in se stringe ed aduna. Ne pur le creature, che son fuore . D' intelligenza, quest' arco saetta.
Ma quelle ch' hanno intelletto ed amore. 120 La provvidenza, che cotanto assetta,
Del suo lume fa il ciel sempre quieto,
115 cf. Pg. xviii. 28.
118-20 cf^ s^ X. i. Q. 2. A. 3 : Ea quae non habent cognitionem non tendunt in finem, nisi directa ab aliquo cognoscente et intelligente, sicut sagitta a sagittante ; ergo est aliquid intelligens, a quo omnes res ordinantur ad finem : et hoc dicimus Deum.
121, 122 J g^ ^j^g Empyrean, or fixed heaven, * luogo di quella somma Deit^ che se sola compiutamente vede,' and therefore at rest ; while as to that next within it, as we have seen, ' per lo ferventissimo appetito che ha ciascuna parte di quello nono cielo . . . d' essere congiunta con ciascuna parte di quello Cielo divinissimo quieto in quello si rivolve con tanto desiderio, che la sua velocita e quasi incomprensibile,' Conv. ii. 4. See also note to 1. 76.
12 PARADISE CANTO
heaven rest in His light, within the which turns that one which has greatest speed. And now thither, as to a site appointed, the virtue of that string is bearing us away, which directs to a happy mark whatsoever it shoots forth. True is it that as form many times accords not with the intention of the art, because the matter is deaf to respond, so from this course the creature departs at whiles ; for it has the power, when thus urged, to swerve in another
Nel qual si volge quel ch' ha maggior fretta.
Ed ora 11, com' a sito decreto,
Cen porta la virtu di quella corda,
Che cio che scocca drizza in segno lieto.
Vero e che come forma non s' accorda Molte fiate alia intenzion dell' arte. Perch* a risponder la materia e sorda ;
Cos! da questo corso si diparte 130
Talor la creatura, ch' ha podere Di piegar, cosi pinta, in altra parte,
(E si come veder si pub cadere
125. 126 Aquinas uses the simile again, S. T. i. Q. 23. Art. i : Ad illud ad quod non potest aliquid virtute suae naturae pervenire, oportet quod ab alio transmittatur ; sicut sagitta a sagittante mittitur ad signum : unde, proprie loquendo, rationalis creatura, quae est capax vitae aeternae, perducitur in ipsam, quasi a Deo transmissa ; and again, S. T. ii. I. Q. 4. A. 5 : Voluntas tendit in finalem actum intellectus, qui est beatitudo ; et ideo recta inclinatio voluntatis praeexigitur ad beati- tudinem : sicut rectus motus sagittae ad percussionem signi.
^^ Cf. De Mon. ii. 2 : Perfecto existente artifice, atque optime organo se habente, si contingat peccatum in forma artis, materiae tantum imputandum est; and wS. T. ii. I. Q. 4. Art. 4: Finis com- paratur ad id quod ordinatur ad finem, sicut forma ad materiam, etc.
■^^ I.e. as fire, under certain conditions, may behave in a way con- trary to its nature, so may the natural impulses of the soul. Cf. Purg. xviii. 28-33.
I PARADISE 13
direction (even as fire may be seen to fall from a cloud), if the first impulse brings it to earth, being turned aside by a false pleasure. . Thou oughtest no more to wonder, if I rightly judge, at thy ascent, otherwise than at a river if it falls from a high mountain down to the bottom. It would be a marvel in thee, if being rid of impediment thou hadst sate below, as would be living fire quiet on the ground.' Herewith she turned again towards the heaven her gaze.
Fuoco di nube), se T impeto primo
\J atterra torto da falso piacere.^ Non dei piu ammirar, se bene stimo,
Lo tuo salir, se non come d' un rivo,^
Se d' alto monte scende giuso ad imo. Maraviglia sarebbe in te, se privo
D' impedimento giu ti fossi assiso, 140
Com' a terra quieto fuoco vivo.^ Quinci rivolse inver lo cielo il viso.
"^ Laterra torta delf. p, Gg.; dal^ ; da\2\', laterra a torto da Cass.; A terra ^ torto Aid. Land.
^ satire, non Gg.; per lotuo salir se non Cass.
P aterra quieta il f. v. Gg.; a terra quiete in Cass.; in terra quietc in 3 W.; comniatera quiete in 145 ; come matera quieta in 2.
137 ge non come, lit. *-if not as,' sc. thou wouldst wonder at. So iii. 44, where the use is still more curious, d' un rivo : for the genitive see Diez iii. 151.
1^1 As to the many v. 11. of this line see Moore, * Textual Criticism,' p. 439 sqq.
Note to lines 103 sqq.
This passage, though it is introduced merely as an explanation of the process by which Dante is enabled to rise through a medium lighter than his body, contains in a few lines so perfect a specimen of the method by which the Aristotelian philosophy was fitted to Christian doctrine as to
14 PARADISE CANTO i
deserve comment and illustration. The general drift of it is as follows : The Final Cause {jh o5 eveKa) of created things is eternal happiness, which consists in the sight of God. (S. T. i. Q. 23. Art. i : Finis ad quern res creatae ordinantur a Deo est duplex ; unus ... est vita aeterna, quae in divina visione consistit.) With line 106 we may com- pare the famous passage in Plato, Phaedrus, 247 c : {KaOopg. fjih avrrjv biKaioa^v-qv , Kadopq, 8^ auxppocr^yqv , k.t.X. ). But to this end it is neces- sary that the creature should become like God. (S. T. i. Q. 86. Art. I : Requiritur ad cognoscendum ut similitudo rei cognitae sit in cogno- scente quasi quaedam forma ipsius. So Ar. Met. /3 4 (1000 b) : 'H yvQats Tov ofioiov r(f 6/jLol({}. And cf. i St. John iii. 2.)
Now God being one — iv /cat \6y(i> Kai dpid/iK^ to irpCbrov klvovv dKivrjTOP 6v, Met. X. 8 (1074 a) — likeness to Him can only be obtained in unity which ' pertains to the essence of goodness : as Boethius proves by the fact that as all things desire the good, so they desire unity, with- out which they cannot exist, for everything exists in so far as it is one.' (S. T. i. Q. 103. Art. 3. and cf. Boeth. Cons. Phil. iii. Prosa. 11. So again De Mon. i. 17 : 'In omni genere rerum illud est optimum, quod est maxime unum, ut Philosopho placet, in iis quaede simpliciter ente.') But this unity, and therefore likeness with God, is found in the order of creation. (Met. X. 10. irdvTa 8k avvTeTaKral ttws, dXX' ovx o/jlolujs — per diverse SOrti — Kal TrXwro, /cat TrrTjvd /cat (pvrd. Kat ovx oi/rws ^X€t wcrre /X77 eTvat daTipup irphs ddrepov firjSep, dXX' earl irpbs n. Jlpbs ixkv yap ip dwavra cvvTiraKTaL. S. T. i. Q. 47. Art. 3 : Ipse ordo in rebus a Deo creatis existens unitatem mundi manifestat. Mundus enim iste unus dicitur unitate ordinis, secundum quod quaedam ad alia ordi- nantur. Quaecunque autem sunt a Deo, ordinem habent ad invicem et ad ipsum Deum. ) This order, then, is the Formal Cause, or quiddity (6 X670S TTjS ovalas, rb ri ^v eXvai) of creation ; and it is by virtue of this that all things animate and inanimate have their natural propension, acting more or less strongly according as they are nearer to or farther from their Efficient Cause or dpx^] rrjs KLv-qcreitir; ' TOLa^rrj yap iKdcrrov dpxi o-vtCov 7] <pvaLs iarU (Met. 1. c.)
But God, as we have seen, is the dpxv t^s KLvqaeias both for the universe and for the souls of men ; therefore the same power which makes the heavens move faster as they are nearer to the Emp)n:ean, makes the soul in whom will is rightly directed fly to God with more speed as it draws nearer to Him. S. T. ii. i . Q. 4. A. 4, quoted above, note to 1. 125.
CANTO II
ARGUMENT
They ascend to the first Heaven, of the Moon, and Beatrice corrects an error in which Dante lay respecting the cause of the marks on its face.
O YE who are in a little bark, desirous to listen, having followed behind my skiff which goes singing, return to behold again your own shores, put not forth to sea : for haply, losing me, ye would be left astray. Over the
O Voi, che siete in piccioletta barca,
Desiderosi d' ascoltar, seguiti
Dietro al mio legno che cantando varca, Tornate a riveder i vostri liti ;
Non vi mettete in pelago, che forse
Perdendo me rimarreste smarriti.
1 sqq. YoTC the metaphor compare the opening lines of the Purgatory. Whether the caution contained in this passage has reference to any special persons it is impossible now to say ; but it would seem not improbable that Dante may have begun to find imitators. In the next generation we have Fazio degli Uberti, whose * Dittamondo ' is un- doubtedly modelled on the D.C. The resemblance of the warning to careless hearers and the invitation to those who have qualified them- selves by due study to be his disciples with the end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th chapters of the ist book of the Ethics, to which Dante himself refers in Conv. iv. 15, can hardly be unintentional. In
i6 PARADISE
water which I take none ever sped ; Minerva sends the breeze, and Apollo is my pilot, and nine Muses point me out the Bears. Ye other few who have stretched forth your necks betimes to the angels' bread, whereof one lives here, but comes not away sated, may well set your vessel through the deep sea, keeping my wake in front of the water which comes back smooth again. Those glorious ones who passed
L' acqua ch' io prendo giammai non si corse : Minerva spira, e conducemi Apollo, E nove Muse mi dimostran T Orse.''^
Voi altri pochi, che drizzaste il collo lo
Per tempo al pan degli Angeli, del quale Vivesi qui, ma non sen vien satollo :
Metter potete ben per 1' alto sale Vostro navigio, servando mio solco Dinanzi all' acqua che ritorna eguale.
Quei gloriosi che passaro a Colco,
^ 7move Cass. 3.
Conv. i. I he takes a somewhat different view. ' Oh beati,' he exclaims, * que' pochi che seggono a quella mensa ove il pane degh AngeH si mangia, e miseri quelli che hanno colle pecore comune cibo ! ' But he goes on to say that in common humanity the fonner should impart of their plenty to the latter.
^ Portirelli compares Lucr. iv. i, 'Avia Pieridum peragro loca, nullius ante trita solo : ' but the idea is a commonplace with poets. corse. So Purg. i. i.
^ The question as to nove or imove does not seem to have occurred to any one before Daniello : but since his time commentators have been divided. MSS. are of little help, the two words being so easily miswritten for each other, and mcove being possible to spell with or without the tc. As far as argument goes, it may be said that nove is somewhat frigid ; but on the other hand no one has explained why new Muses should be required, but not a new Minerva or Apollo.
16 sqq. See Ov. Met. vii. 120 : Mirantur Colchi ; Minyae clamoribus implent, adjiciuntque animos. In Ovid it is rather the residents than
II PARADISE 17
to Colchos wondered not as ye shall do, when they saw Jason turned to a ploughman.
The innate and everlasting thirst for the God-formed realm was bearing us off swift as ye see the heaven. Beatrice was gazing upward and I on her ; and perhaps in so long a time as a quarrel settles, and flies, and is loosed from the notch, I saw myself come where a wondrous thing turned aside my sight to itself; and therefore she from whom my care could not be hidden, turning toward me
Non s' ammiraron, come voi farete,
Quando lason vider fatto bifolco. La concreata e perpetua sete
Del deiforme regno cen portava 20
Veloci quasi, come il ciel vedete. Beatrice in suso, ed io in lei guardava :
E forse in tanto, in quanto un quadrel posa,^
E vola, e dalla noce si dischiava, Giunto mi vidi, ove mirabil cosa
Mi torse il viso a se : e perb quella,
Cui non potea mia cura essere ascosa, Volta ver me si lieta, come bella ;
^ in tanto qumito Gg, Cass.
the visitors with whom astonishment is the chief feeling. Here again, as in i. 20, there seems no special propriety in the classical allusion. Is it impertinent to suggest that Dante had just been reading the 6th and 7th Books of the Metamorphoses when he wrote these Cantos ?
^^ I.e. probably 'as swiftly as ye see the heaven move.' But may it not mean ' as quickly as the sight of the heaven reaches you,' that is, with the velocity of light, that is, as far as Dante knew, instantane- ously ?
23, 24 posa, vola, dischiava. Note the inversion of the real order ; perhaps to indicate the all but simultaneous occurrence of each event.
2^ The heaven of the Moon.
C
1 8 PARADISE
joyous as beautiful, said : ' Address thy mind with thanks to God, who has brought us in union with the first star.'
It seemed to me that a cloud covered us, lucid, close, solid and polished, like a diamond which the sun should strike. Within itself the eternal pearl received us, as water receives a ray of light, remaining united. If I was body — and here is not conceived how one extension was patient of another, which must be the case if body enters into
Drizza la mente in Dio grata, mi disse,
Che n' ha congiunti con la prima Stella. 30
Pareva a me, che nube ne coprisse Lucida spessa solida e pulita. Quasi adamante che lo Sol ferisse.^
Per entro se 1' eterna margherita Ne ricevette, com' acqua ricepe Raggio di luce, permanendo unita.
S' io era corpo, e qui non si concepe Com' una dimension altra patio, Ch' esser convien se corpo in corpo repe,
^ in che Gg.; in cui Aid.
35-39 g^ Y. i. Q. 67. Art. 2 : Locus cujuslibet corporis est alius a loco alterius corporis, nee est possibile secundum naturam duo corpora esse simul in eodem loco ; (from which he proves that light is not a body). So iii. Q. 57. Art. 4 : Quamvis de natura corporis non sit, quod possit esse in eodem loco cum alio corpore ; tamen potest hoc Deus facere per miraculum . . . Corpus ergo Christi simul potest esse cum alio corpore in eodem loco, non ex proprietate corporis; sed per divinam virtutem assistentem et hoc operantem. See Suppl. Q. 83. Art. 3 throughout.
^ dimensione usually, as in S. T. Suppl. Q. I.e., represents the Aristotelian fxeyedos, but here it seems to be rather loosely used in the sense of * extended body.' In S. T. iii. Q. 77. Art. 4, it cor- responds with (Tiafia. ' Dimensio idem est quod corpus,' P. di Dante.
II PARADISE 19
body — the desire ought more to inflame us of beholding that Essence in which is seen how our nature and God were united. There will be seen that which we hold by faith, not demonstrated ; but it will be known of itself, in fashion of the primary truth which man believes.
I answered : ' Lady, as devout as I can most be, do I give thanks to Him who has removed me from the mortal world. But tell me, what are the dark marks of this body which below on earth make some tell tales of Cain ? ' ^ She smiled a little, and then : ' If the opinion of mortals
Accender ne dovria piii il disio 40
Di veder quella essenzia, in che si vede,^ Come nostra natura e Dio s' unio.
Li si vedra cio che tenem per fede, Non dimostrato, ma fia per se noto, A guisa del ver primo che T uom crede.
lo risposi : Madonna, si devoto,
Quanf esser posso piu, ringrazio lui,^ Lo qual dal mortal mondo m^ ha rimoto :
Ma ditemi, che sono i segni bui
Di questo corpo, che laggiuso in terra 50
Fan di Cain favoleggiare altrui ?
Ella sorrise alquanto ; e poi : S' egli erra L' opinion, mi disse, dei mortali,
d scienzia Gg. ® Co?ii esser Gg. Cass. 1234.
^ Not intuitively — for Dante, following both Aristotle and Aquinas, would not admit that our knowledge of primary truths was of this kind — but as a direct object of sense, since it is through the senses that we obtain our first beliefs. See Purg. xviii. 55-57 ; Grote, Aristotle, p. 256.
^1 Cain. Cf. Inf. xx. 126 ; altrui, as in Pg. iv. 54.
^'^ egli. See note, Pg. xxviii. 37.
20 PARADISE CANTO
errs,' said she to me, ' where key of sense unlocks not, surely the darts of wonder ought not henceforth to prick thee, since thou seest that in following the senses reason has its wings shortened. But tell me what thou thinkest about it of thyself And I : ' That which appears to us diversified up here, I believe that rare and dense bodies cause.' And she : ^ Thou wilt surely see that thy belief is sunk in falsehood, if thou listen well to the reasoning that
Dove chiave di senso non disserra,
Certo non ti dovrien punger li strali
D' ammirazione omai ; poi, dietro ai sensi ^ Vedi che la ragione ha corte 1' ali.
Ma dimmi quel che tu da te ne pensi. Ed io : Cio che n' appar quassu diverso. Credo che il fanno i corpi rari e densi. 60
Ed ella : Certo assai vedrai sommerso Nel falso il creder tuo, se bene ascolti ^ L' argomentar, ch' io gli faro avverso.
f dentro ai Gg. s U veder Gg.
^^ diverso, perhaps rather 'unusual,' 'strange.'
60 sqq. Conv. ii. 14 : Se la Luna si guarda bene, due cose si veg- gono in essa proprie, che non si veggono nell' altre stelle ; Tuna si e r ombra ch' e in essa, la quale non e altro che rarita del suo corpo, alia quale non possono terminare i raggi del Sole e ripercuotersi cosl come neir altre parti. — He now repeats this theory as to the markings on the moon's disk ; but Beatrice shows that it is untenable, on the following grounds : ( i ) the fixed stars are of various degrees of bright- ness, but we know that this is due to the variety of formal principles (see below), and not to density or rarity ; (2) if the moon's body consist of rare and dense strata, the former must either extend all through, in which case they w^ould allow the sun's light to pass in an eclipse, or must be arranged with the denser parts in layers, lying over them in some places, so that the light in the darker parts is reflected from a surface at some distance below the general level of the planet. (She seems to assume that the * rare ' must be absolutely transparent. ) But an ex-
II PARADISE 21
1 shall make in opposition to it. The eighth sphere shows you many Hghts, the which in quality and magnitude may be remarked to be of different aspects. If rare and dense alone had caused this, there would be in all one sole virtue, more and less distributed, and in proportion. Divers virtues must needs be the fruits of formal principles, and these, all save one, would be as a consequence of thy
La spera ottava vi dimostra molti
Lumi, li quali e nel quale e nel quanto Notar si posson di diversi volti.
Se raro e denso cib facesser tanto, Una sola virtu sarebbe in tutti Pi{i e men distributa, ed altrettanto.
Virtii diverse esser convegnon frutti 70
Di principi formali, e quel, fuor ch' uno, Seguiteriano a tua ragion distrutti.
periment with mirrors will show that the intrinsic brightness of light is not affected by distance. The real cause is to be sought in the virtue which, having its origin in the ninth heaven, or prhnum mobile, is distributed by the next, or heaven of the fixed stars, in various influence throughout the universe. It is to be noticed that the heaven of the Moon is occupied by the souls of those who have failed to keep their vows unbroken, which may be typified by the flaws in the moon's lustre, as their inconstancy is by her changes.
70, 71 That is to say, the various influences of the heavenly bodies are the result of a variety in the original formal causes. See note to Purg. xvi. . 63. Ueberweg quotes Aquinas, Contra Gentiles iii. 24 : Formae quae sunt in materia venerunt a formis quae sunt sine materia, et quantum ad hoc verificatur dictum Platonis, quod formae separatae sunt principia formarum quae sunt in materia, licet posuerit eas per se subsistentes et causantes immediate formas sensibilium, nos vero ponimus eas in intellectu existentes et causantes formas inferiores per motum caeli. — convegnon. It is rare to find convenire used per- sonally in this sense. Corticelli gives an instance from Boccaccio, Day 7, Nov. 7 : Per certo io il convengo vedere.
22 PARADISE CANTO
reasoning destroyed. Further, if rarity were the cause that thou seekest of that dark part, either this planet would be to that extent lacking of its matter, or, just as a body arranges the fat and the lean, so would it change leaves in its volume. If it were the first, it would be manifest in the eclipses of the sun, by the light showing through, as when it is borne into any other rare thing. This is not the case ; and therefore we have to see about the other : and if it befall that I quash the other, thy notion will be proved false. If it be the case that this rare does not pass through, there must needs be a limit, from whence its contrary does not allow it to pass further ; and thence the ray from another body is poured back in such wise as colour returns through
Ancor se raro fosse di quel bruno
Cagion, che tu dimandi, od oltre in parte Fora di sua materia si digiuno
Esto pianeta, o si come comparte
Lo grasso e il magro un corpo, cosi questo Nel suo volume cangerebbe carte.
Se il primo fosse, fora manifesto
Neir eclissi del Sol, per trasparere 80
Lo lume, come in altro raro ingesto.
Questo non e ; perb e da vedere
Dell' altro, e s' egli avvien, ch' io 1' altro cassi, Falsificato fia lo tuo parere.
S' egli e che questo raro non trapassi, Esser conviene un termine, da onde Lo suo contrario piu passar non lassi : •
E indi 1' altrui raggio si rifonde Cosi, come color torna per vetro,
^^ da. For this use see Diez iii. 221.
II PARADISE 23
glass, which has lead hidden behind it. Now thou wilt say that the ray shows itself more discoloured there than in other parts, through being there reflected from a point further back. From this objection experiment may set thee free, if thou ever make trial of it ; which is wont to be the fountain to the streams of your arts. Thou shalt take three mirrors, and remove two of them from thee in the same measure, and let the other, further removed, meet thy eyes between the first two. Turn towards them, and cause a light to be placed behind thy back so as to illuminate
Lo qual diretro a se piombo nasconde. 90
Or dirai tu, che si dimostra tetro
Quivi lo raggio piu che in altre parti.
Per esser li rifratto piu a retro. Da questa instanzia puo diliberarti
Esperienza, se giammai la pruovi,
Ch' esser suol fonte ai rivi di vostre arti. Tre specchi prenderai, e due rimuovi
Da te d' un modo, e T altro piu rimosso
Tr' ambo li primi gli occhi tuoi ritruovi : Rivolto ad essi fa che dopo il dosso ^ 100
Ti stea un lume, che i tre specchi accenda,
^ Rivolti Gg. 14.
^^ The mirror of glass backed with lead is mentioned, Conv. iii. 9.
^^ rifratto, as in Purg. xv. 22.
^ instanzia is the scholastic rendering of Gr. ^vo-raa-is, * an objec- tion,' as in Ar. Rhet. ii. 25. See Grote, Aristotle, chap. vi.
^ arte = rather our ' science, ' as in Purg. iv. 80, etc. It represents Gr. T^x^V' Cf. Metaph. a. I : airo^alvei 5' iina-T'qfjirj Kal t^x^V ^'ct rrjs ifiireipias roh dvdpdoTTOLS.
97 sqq. xhe point is that the intrinsic quality of light is not affected by distance. The light from the further mirror will only be less in proportion to the apparent size of the reflecting surface.
24 PARADISE CANTO
the three mirrors, and return to thee struck back by all. Although m point of magnitude the furthest image is not so much extended, thou wilt there see how it is of equal brightness. Now, as at the strokes of the hot rays, that which lies under the snow remains bare both of the colour and the cold which it had before, thee, thus remaining, I wish to inform in thy intellect with light so living, that it shall glimmer upon thee in its aspect. Within the heaven of the divine peace revolves a body in whose virtue lies the
E torni a te da tutti ripercosso : Benche nel quanto tanto non si stenda
La vista piii lontana, 11 vedrai
Come convien ch' egualmente risplenda. Or come ai colpi degli caldi rai
Delia neve riman nudo il suggetto,
E dal colore e dal freddo primai, Cosi rimaso te nello intelletto ^
Voglio informar di luce si vivace, no
Che ti tremolera nel suo aspetto. Dentro dal ciel della divina pace
Si gira un corpo, nella cui virtute
i rimosso Gg.
^^^ Bianchi is clearly wrong in taking suggetto = 'sostanza.' It is absurd to say that when the snow is gone, its substance or mattei' remains, stripped of its accidents. I have followed Blane and Phila- lethes. * 6 ogni cosa in che si posa la neve. ' Daniello.
^^^ tremoler^. So Purg. i. 117, xii. 90.
112 sqq. Inside of the fixed heaven, or Empyrean, where God abides, revolves \he pri77ium i7iobile (i. 122, 123) in which originate the influences which are distributed by the next heaven, that of the fixed stars (see note to 1. 70), to the various spheres which make up the universe, much as the various organs make up the human frame.
PARADISE 25
being of all that is contained in it. The heaven that follows, which has so many objects of sight, apportions that being through divers essences, distinct from it and contained by it. The other whorls through various differences dispose to their ends the distinctions which they have within them- selves, and the germs thereof. These organs of the world go thus, as thou now seest, from step to step, for they receive from above and act below. Regard me well, how I am going
\J esser di tutto suo contento giace.
Lo ciel seguente, ch' ha tante vedute, Queir esser parte per diverse essenze Da lui distinte e da lui contenute.
Gli altri giron per varie differenze
Le distinzion, che dentro da s^ hanno, Dispongono a lor fini, e lor semenze. 120
Questi organi del mondo cosi vanno, Come tu vedi omai, di grado in grado, Che di su prendono e di sotto fanno.^
Riguarda bene a me si com' io vado ^
^ procedono Gg. ^ be7ie omai Gg. W. Rig. omai a me si Cass.
^2° Looking to Purg. xxx. no, it is, I think, clear that lor semenze is not coupled with lor fini, but with distinzion, and is governed by dispongono, as Bianchi takes it. Daniello's note, * lor fine, che sono gli effetti, e lor semenze, che sono le cause effettive,' does not seem to the purpose, because if that be the meaning here, semenze ought to come first. He reads fine, it will be observed.
^^^ De Mundo, ch. 6 : KivrjO^v yap 'erepov v(f)* eripov, Kal avrd iraXiv iKivTjaeu &X\o (t^v Kdo-fjop. Met. 8. 2 (1013 a. b.) : Sera 5t] KLvriaavTos &\\ov ixera^v ylyveTai rod riXovs . . . diacp^pei dWrjXiov (hs 6vTa rd jul^v 6pyava rd 5' '4pya. S. T. i. Q. 1 06. A. 4 : Dionysius dicit 15 cap. cael. hierarch. quod unaquaeque caelestis essentia intelligentiam sibi a superiore datam inferiori communicat. In Timaeus 41 E and 42 D the planets are called 6pyava xp^^ov.
26 . PARADISE CANTO
through this topic to the truth which thou desirest, so that hereafter thou mayest have knowledge to hold the passage by thyself. The movement and virtue of the holy circles, as from the smith the craft of the hammer, must needs from the blessed movers have their breath. And the heaven which so many lights make fair, from the deep mind of Him who revolves it takes the image, and makes thereof a seal. And as the soul within your dust is diffused through members different and conformed to divers faculties, so the Intelligence unfolds its goodness multiplied through the stars, revolving itself upon its unity. Divers virtue makes*
Per questo loco al ver che tu disiri, .\ \
Si che poi sappi sol tener lo guado. ^ V Q
Lo moto e la virtu dei santi giri, /
Come dal fabbro 1' arte del martello,
Da beati motor convien che spiri. E il ciel, cui tanti lumi fanno bello, 130
Dalla mente profonda che lui volve,
Prende 1' image, e fassene suggello. E come 1' alma dentro a vostra polve.
Per differenti membra, e conformate
A diverse potenzie, si risolve ; Cosi r intelligenza sua bontate
Moltiplicata per le stelle spiega,
Girando se sovra sua unitate.
^^^ That is, the heaven of the fixed stars.
134, 135 Bianchi quotes Boethius iii. Metr. 9 : In triplicis mediam naturae cuncta moventem Connectens animam per consona membra resolvis. potenzie. Cf. Purg. iv. 10, and note at end of that Canto.
136 bontate here and in 1. 148 appears to be nearly equiv. to dper-f]. See note to Purg. iv.
II JPARADISEJ 27
divers alloy with the precious body which it quickens, in which it is bound as life in you. Through the happy nature whence it has its source, the virtue mingled beams through the body, as joy through a living pupil. From this comes that which appears different between light and light, not from dense and rare ; this is the formal principle, which produces in conformity with its goodness, the dull and the bright.'
Virtu diversa fa diversa lega
Col prezioso corpo ch* ell' avviva, 140
Nel qual, si come vita in voi, si lega."^ Per la natura lieta, onde deriva,
La virtu mista per lo corpo luce,
Come letizia per pupilla viva. Da essa vien cib che da luce a luce
Par differente, non da denso e raro ;
Essa e formal principio che produce, Conforme a sua bontk, lo turbo e il chiaro.
^ ill hit Cass. 1234.
^^^ Cf. S. T. i. Q. 115. Art. 3: Actiones corporum caelestium diversimode recipiuntur in inferioribus corporibus, secundum diversam materiae dispositionem.
^^^ Cf. Purg. xviii. 27 ; and see Moore, * Text. Crit.,' as to v. 1. lui.
142 lieta. Cf. Purg. xvi. 89.
^•^ P. di Dante ends his Commentary on this Canto with the follow- ing remark, which deserves quoting for its almost touching nawete : ' Alia per te vide, imo omnia, quia nil vidi, nee intellexi.' It is fair to say that the last seven words are not found in all Codices.
CANTO III
ARGUMENT
Certain souls appear, of those who on earth have taken holy vows, and failed to keep them. Dante speaks with Piccarda, who shows him how in Paradise all are content with their lot ; and he sees Constance the Empress.
That sun, which once scalded my breast with love, had, in proving and refuting, discovered to me the sweet coun- tenance of fair truth ; and I, to confess myself corrected, and certain in such measure as was meet, raised my head^ more erect to utter. But a vision appeared, which held me so straitly to itself by the sight of it, that I did not remember my confession.
Quel Sol, che pria d' amor mi scaldo il petto, Di bella verita m' avea scoverto, Provando e riprovando, il dolce aspetto :
Ed io, per confessar corretto e certo Me stesso, tanto quanto si convenne Levai il capo a profferer piu erto.
Ma visione apparve, che ritenne A se me tanto stretto, per vedersi, Che di mia confession non mi sovenne.
^ provando e riprovando, by showing me wherein I was wrong, and pointing out the true theory.
CANTO III PARADISE 29
As through glasses transparent and polished, or through waters clear and calm, not so deep as to make the bottom dark, the outlines of our visages return so weak that a pearl on a white forehead comes not with less force to our eyes, like this saw I many faces, ready to speak : so that I ran into the contrary error to that which kindled love between the man and the fountain. Soon as I took notice of them, judging them to be mirrored features, I turned aside my eyes, to see whose they were ; and saw nothing and turned
Quali per vetri trasparenti e tersi, 10
O ver per acque nitide e tranquille Non SI profonde che i fondi sien persi,
Tornan dei nostri visi le postille
Debili si, che perla in bianca fronte Non vien men tosto alle nostre pupille : ^
Tali vid' io piu facce a parlar pronte :
Per ch' io dentro all' error contrario corsi A quel ch' accese amor tra 1' uomo e il fonte.
Subito, si com' io di lor m' accorsi,
Quelle estimando specchiati sembianti,^ 20
Per veder di cui fosser, gli occhi torsi,
E nulla vidi, e ritorsili avanti
^ venne forte Gg.; vien men forte 124. ^ spiegati Gg.
^^ persi. Many, perhaps most, comm. take this as here = perduti. There is, however, no other instance in D. C. of this form, so that it seems better on the whole to take it in the usual sense. See note to Purg. ix. 97. The image is one of Dante's best.
^^ postille. Lit. short marginal or interlinear notes, giving the sense of a word or passage.
^'^ Narcissus supposed a reflection to be a real face ; I supposed these faces to be reflections of persons behind me.
30 PARADISE canto
them back straight forward in the light of my sweet guide, who was glowing with a smile in her holy eyes.
'Marvel not though I smile,' she said to me, 'after thy childish thought, since thou dost not yet trust thy foot upon the truth, but turnest round, as the wont is, on vacancy. These that thou seest are true substances, relegated here for failure of a vow. Wherefore talk with them, and hear and believe ; for the light of truth which satisfies them, suffers them not to turn aside their feet from it.'
And I directed myself toward the shade that seemed most fain to converse, and began, like a man from whom excess of willing takes power : ' O spirit created to good
Dritti nel lume della dolce guida, Che sorridendo ardea negli occhi santi.
Non ti maravigliar perch' io sorrida, Mi disse, appresso il tuo pueril coto, Poi sopra il vero ancor lo pie non fida.
Ma te rivolve, come suole, a voto ; Vere sustanzie son cio che tu vedi. Qui rilegate per manco di voto. 30
Perb parla con esse, ed odi e credi,*^ Che la verace luce che le appaga, Da se non lascia lor torcer li piedi.
Ed io air ombra che parea piu vaga Di ragionar, drizza' mi, e cominciai, Quasi com' uom cui troppa voglia smaga :
O ben creato spirito, ch' ai rai
^ pa7'la coil lor Gg. ; cortese 2.
32, 33 Perhaps a reference to Psalm cxix. (Vulg. cxviii.) 105 : Lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum, et lumen semitis meis. ^^ ben creato, so ben nati, Purg. v. 60.
Ill PARADISE 31
who in the rays of eternal Hfe perceivest the sweetness which if not tasted is never understood, it will be gracious to me, if thou content me with thy name and your lot.' Wherefore she, readily and with laughing eyes : ' Our charity locks not doors upon a just wish, any more than that >vhich would have all its court like to itself. I was in the world a virgin Sister ; and if thy mind regards me well, my being more fair will not hide me from thee, but thou wilt recognise that I am Piccarda, who posted here with these other blessed ones, am blessed in the sphere that moves most slowly. Our affections which are inflamed only in the pleasure of the Holy Spirit rejoice, being formed in
Di vita eterna la dolcezza senti,
Che non gustata non s' intende mai ; Grazioso mi fia, se mi contenti 40
Del nome tuo e della vostra sorte.
Ond' ella pronta e con occhi ridenti : La nostra caritk non serra porte
A giusta voglia, se non come quella,
Che vuol simile a s^ tutta sua corte. lo fui nel mondo vergine sorella :
E se la mente tua ben si riguarda,
Non mi ti celera 1' esser piu bella. Ma riconoscerai ch' io son Piccarda,
Che posta qui con questi altri beati, 50
Beata son nella spera piu tarda. Li nostri affetti, che solo infiammati
Son nel piacer dello Spirito Santo,
^^ vostra, i.e. of thyself and those with thee. 44 86 non come. Cf. i. 137. quella = the love of God. 49 Piccarda. See Purg. xxiv. 10-16. She was sister to Corso and Forese Donati.
32 PARADISE
His order. ' And this lot, which appears so low down, is for this reason given to us, because our vows were neglected, and void in some part.' Wherefore I to her: 'In your marvellous aspects shines forth something divine, which transmutes you from the former conception. Wherefore I was not quick to remember ; but now that which thou sayest aids me, so that to recall thy figure is easier to me. But tell me, ye who are happy here, do ye feel the want of a higher place, for the sake of fuller vision, or to make to you more friends?' With those other shades she first
Letizian del suo ordine formati :
E questa sorte, che par giu cotanto, Perb n' e data, perche fur negletti Li nostri voti, e voti in alcun canto.
Ond' io a lei : Nei mirabiH aspetti Vostri risplende non so che divino, Che vi trasmuta dai primi concetti : 60
Perb non fui a rimembrar festino ; Ma or m' aiuta cib che tu mi dici. Si che il raffigurar m' e piu latino. .
Ma dimmi : voi, che siete qui felici, Desiderate voi piu alto loco, Per piu vedere, o per piu farvi amici ?
Con queir altr' ombre pria sorrise un poco :
^ Remember that ordiiie is fo7'ma : i. 104.
^'' Observe the play on voti. See Purg. xxv. 42.
^■6^ Cf. his difficulty at first in recognising her brother Forese, Purg. xxiii. 43. Dante seems to take a certain pleasure in such parallels between members of the same family, as in the case of Guido da Monte- feltro and his son Buonconte, Inf. xxvii. and Purg. v.
6^ latino. So Conv. ii. 3 : A piii latinamente vedere la sentenzia litterale. wScart. quotes a good example from Villani, xi. 20 : assai era latino di dare audienza (of John XXII.) See Glossary.
Ill PARADISE 33
smiled a little ; after that she answered me .with such joy that she appeared to be burning in the prime fire of love : 'Brother, a virtue of charity sets at rest our will, which makes us wish that only which we have, and lets us not thirst for aught else. If we desired to be more on high, our desires would be out of harmony with the will of Him who distributes us here, for which thou wilt see there is no capacity in these circles, if to be in charity is necessary here, and thou regardest well its nature. Rather is it
Da indi mi rispose tanto lieta,
Ch' arder parea d' amor nel primo foco :
Frate, la nostra volonta quieta 70
Virtii di carita, che fa volerne Sol quel ch' avemo, e d' altro non ci asseta.
Se disiassimo esser piu superne, Foran discordi gli nostri disiri Dal voler di colui, che qui ne cerne :
Che vedrai non capere in questi giri ; S' essere in caritate e qui necesse, E se la sua natura ben rimiri :
Anzi e formale ad esso beato esse, '
^^ da indi = precisely Lat. deinde.
^^ Land, and others understand primo foco as the Moon, and take. d' amor directly with arder ; but Vellutello's interpretation seems best : 'cioe nel piu vehemente fuoco d' amore.'
^^ *Nulli beato deest aliquod bonum desiderandum, cum habet ipsum bonum infinitum.' S. T. ii. i. Q. 5. Art. 2.
^^ S. T. ii. I. Q. 19. Art. 10 : Conformatur quantum ad hoc voluntas hominis voluntati divinae quia vult hoc quod Deus vult eum velle. Est et alius modus conformitatis secundum rationem causae formalis, ut scilicet homo velit aliquid ex charitate sicut JDeus vult ; et ista etiam conformitas reducitur ad conformitatem formalem, quae attenditur ex ordine ad ultimum finem : quod est proprium objectum charitatis. . . . Sed in particulari nescimus quod Deus velit ... in statu tamen gloriae omnes videbunt in singulis quae volent ordinem eorum ad id quod Deus
D
34 PARADISE
formal to this blessed existence to hold oneself within the divine will, wherefore our wills themselves become one. So that as we are from threshold to threshold throughout this realm it pleases all the realm as well as the King who makes us will within His will. In His will is our peace ; it is that sea whereunto all nioves, that which it creates and which nature makes.' It was clear to me then how every- where in heaven is paradise, and yet the grace of the highest Good falls not there in one fashion. But as it befalls, if one food satiates, and the appetite for another still remains,
Tenersi dentro alia divina voglia, 80
Per ch' una fansi nostre voglie stesse.
Si che come noi siam di soglia in soglia Per questo regno, a tutto il regno piace. Com' alio re ch' in suo voler ne invoglia. / In la sua volontade e nostra pacej y
Ella e quel mare, al qual tutto si muove Cib ch' ella crea e che natura face.
Chiaro mi fu allor, com' ogni dove In cielo e Paradiso, e si la grazia Del sommo ben d' un modo non vi piove. 90
Ma si com' egli awien, se un cibo sazia, E d' un altro rimane ancor la gola,
d a siio V. Aid. W. e Et la sua v. 124 Aid. W.
^ che tat cibo Gg. 24.
circa hoc vult : et ideo non solum formaliter, sed materialiter in omnibus suam voluntatem Deo conformabunt.
^ invoglia. The use is a little different from that in Purg. xiv. no. There ne (= noi) is the remote, here the immediate object.
^^ God creates the matter, nature makes the form. See S. T. i. Q. ^^^ passim.
88-90 < Dispar est gloria singulorum, sed communis est laetitia omnium,' St. Augustine.
^ e si. Some read e se, some etsi ; but there is no need for this, as e s\, though not derived from etsi (rather it is et sic, * and even so '))
Ill PARADISE 35
that one is asked for and the other refused with thanks, in such wise did I with act and word, to learn from her what was the web whereof she did not draw the shuttle to the end.
* A perfect life and high desert place in a higher heaven,' said she to me, *a dame after whose rule down in your world they wear the robe and veil, so that all through till death, waking and sleeping, they may be with that spouse who accepts every vow which charity conforms to his pleasure. To follow her I fled a young girl from the world, and in her habit I enclosed myself and undertook the way
Che quel si chiede, e di quel si ringrazia,
Cosi fee' io con atto e con parola. Per apprender da lei qual fu la tela, Onde non trasse insino al c6 la spola.
Perfetta vita ed alto merto inciela
Donna piu su, mi disse, alia cui norma Nel vostro mondo giu si veste e vela ;
Perche in fino al morir si vegghi e dorma loo
Con quello sposo, ch' ogni voto accetta, Che caritate a suo piacer conforma.
Dal mondo, per seguirla, giovinetta Fuggimmi, e nel suo abito mi chiusi, E promisi la via della sua setta.
is used in much the same sense. Cf. Petr. Son. clxx., * Ella nonpar che il creda, e si sel vede. '
^^ Daniello's explanation seems the best : * cioe qual si fosse stato il voto ch' ella non havea adempiato.' The objection that Dante must have known it already, would apply to most of the questions that he asks concerning the former life of the persons whom he introduces.
^^ donna. St. Clara was born of a noble family at Assisi, 1194. She attached herself to her fellow-citizen St. Francis, and under his direction founded the order which goes by her name. She died in 1253.
36 PARADISE canto
of her order. Afterwards men more used to ill than to good carried me away forth of the sweet cloister ; God knows of what sort was my life thereafter !
* And this other glory, w^hich is displaying itself to thee on my right side, and which is kindled with all the light of our sphere, that which I say of me understands of herself. She was a Sister, and in this wise from her head was taken the shade of the sacred coif. But after that she was turned back even to the world, against her own will and against good custom, she was in her heart never
Uomini poi a mal piii ch' a bene usi, Fuor mi rapiron della dolce chiostra : Dio lo si sa, qual poi mia vita fusi.
E quest' altro splendor, che ti si mostra
Dalla mia destra parte, e che s' accende no Di tutto il lume della spera nostra,
Cib ch' io dico di me, di se intende : Sorella fu, e cosi le fu tolta Di capo r ombra delle sacre bende.
Ma poi che pur al mondo fu rivolta
Contra suo grado e contra buona usanza,
106 uomini. I.e. her brother Corso, and a band of his satelHtes, who dragged her from the convent, and compelled her to resume the secular life.
109 sqq. Constance, daughter of Roger,' King of Sicily, Apulia, and Calabria, son of Roger, 'the Great Count,' the brother of Robert Guiscard. Her brother William, *the Bad,' put her into a convent, whence she was taken by his son William, 'the Good,' to be married to the Emperor Henry VI, son of Frederick Barbarossa. By him she became the mother of Frederick II, who from her, William having died without children, inherited the kingdoms of Sicily and Apulia. (See Villani iv. 20 and v. 16. He rather mixes up the genealogy of the family. )
Ill PARADISE 37
loosed from the veil. This is the light of the great Constance, who by the second whirlwind of Suabia gave birth to the third, and the last power.'
Thus she talked with me, and then began singing Ave Maria, and singing she vanished as does a heavy body through deep water. My sight, which followed her so long as was possible, after it lost her turned to the mark of greatest desire, and converged wholly upon Beatrice ; but she flashed so in my gaze that at first the sight endured it not ; and that made me more slow at asking.
Non fu dal vel del cuor giammai disciolta. Quest' e la luce della gran Gostanza,
Che del secondo vento di Soave
Generb il terzo, e V ultima possanza. 120
Cosi parlommi : e poi comincio Ave
Maria, cantando ; e cantando vanio,
Come per acqua cupa cosa grave. La vista mia, che tanto la seguio
Quanto possibil fu, poi che la perse,
Volsesi al segno di maggior disio, Ed a Beatrice tutta si converse :
Ma quella folgorb nello mio sguardo
Si che da prima il viso nol sofferse : E cib mi face a dimandar piu tar do. 130
"'' This is the converse of Villani's view : * la quale non volon- tariamente, ma per temenza di morte, quasi come monaca si nutricava in alcuno munistero di monache ; ' and * era del corpo non della mente monaca. '
^^^ ultima. Cf. the often-quoted passage Conv. iv. 3 : Federigo di Soave, ultimo imperadore e re de' Romani (ultimo, dico, per rispetto al tempo presente, non ostante che Ridolfo e Adolfo e Alberto poi eletti sieno . . .)
^^ Observe the return to the image of 1. 11.
CANTO IV
ARGUMENT
Dante falls into doubt concerning two matters : first, how merit can be diminished by acts done under compulsion ; secondly in regard to a certain doctrine of Plato, touching the abode of souls in the stars. Beatrice resolves both questions.
Between two foods, distant and moving in like measure, a man being free would die of hunger, before he should bring one to his teeth. So would a lamb stand between two ravening fierce wolves, fearing equally; so would a hound stand between two does. Wherefore, if I held my
Intra due cibi, distanti e moventi
D' un modo, prima si morria di fame, Che libero uomo 1' un recasse ai denti.^
Si si starebbe un agno intra due brame Di fieri lupi, igualmente temendo : Si si starebbe un cane intra due dame.
a huom^ V un si rec. Aid. La7id.
^■^ The dilemma which Dante here states, and which a little later became known as * the ass of Buridan ' (whence doubtless our familiar phrase is derived), seems to have been a favourite subject of logic in the Middle Ages, and, indeed, down to Spinoza, who makes use of it (Cog. Metaph. part II. ch. xii. § lo) to prove that the soul has a power of choice apart from external causes. It is at least as old as Aristotle, who in De Caelo, ii. 13 speaks of 6 Trept r^s rpixos \6yos ttjs iax^P^^ f^^^
CANTO IV PARADISE 39
peace, I do not blame myself, being urged in one and the same measure by my doubts, since it was necessary, nor do I praise.
I held my peace, but my desire was depicted on my face, and my demand with it in far warmer colours than by distinct speech. So did Beatrice as did Daniel, in easing Nebuchadnezzar of wrath which had made him unjustly cruel j and said : ' I see well how one and another desire draws thee, so that thy care binds its own self in such
Per che s' io mi tacea, me non riprendo, Dalli miei dubbj d' un modo sospinto, Poich' era necessario, ne commendo.
Io mi tacea : ma il mio disir dipinto 10
M' era nel viso, e il dimandar con ello Pill caldo assai, che per parlar distinto.
Fe SI Beatrice, qual fe Daniello,^ Nabucodonosor levando d' ira, Che r avea fatto ingiustamente fello.
E disse : Io veggio ben come ti tira Uno ed altro disio, si che tua cura Se stessa lega si che fuor non spira.
^ Fes si 134 Aid. ; Fe se 2.
oiuLoiws d^ TrdvTr] T€LV0fi^U7)s, 6tl ov 8Lappayri<T€TaL' /cat rod dixf/CovTOS Kal ireivQvTos <T(p6dpa fikv^ ofJLoiojs de Kal tCov idcjdifjuov Kal itotQp laov dxexovTos' Kal yap tovtov TjpejjLeLv dvayKalov. Aquinas, S. T. ii. I. Q. 13. Art. 6, makes the opponent of the orthodox doctrine employ it as an argument against the freedom of the will, so that it may be intentionally introduced here at the beginning of a Canto in which questions con- cerning the will are discussed, moventi, because * voluntas movetur ab appetitu sensitivo.'
•*' ^ brame di lupi, like ' sapientia Laeli. '
^3 I.e. she divined his thought without being told. The allusion is to Dan. ii. 24.
40 PARADISE canto
wise, that it sends not forth breath. Thou debatest ; if the good will endures, by what reason does another's violence diminish the measure of desert in me? Further it gives thee occasion for doubting, that the souls appear to return to the stars, according to the opinion of Plato. These are the questions which are thrusting with equal force in thy will ; and therefore I will first treat of that which has most of gall.
* Of the Seraphim not that one who has most part in
Tu argomenti : Se il buon voler dura.
La violenza altrui per qual ragione 20
Di meritar mi scema la misura ?
Ancor di dubitar ti da cagione, Parer tornarsi 1' anime alle stelle, Secondo la sentenza di Platone.
Queste son le quistion, che nel tuo velle Pontano igualmente ; e perb pria Tratterb quella che piu ha di felle.
Dei Serafin colui che piii s' india,
^"^ See the account of the creation of souls in Timaeus 41, 42 : ^var-qaras 5^ rb irav dielXe ^j/vxas laapiOfMovs rots darpoLS hei/JLc 6' eKdaTrjv irpbs ^Kaa-Tov, koL eyu/StjSdcras ws es 6xvi^o. t7]v tov wavrbs <pij<TLv ^dei^e, vbjuiovs re tovs elixapix^vovs etprjKev avrovs, 3tl yiveais irpurrr] jikv ^(tolto T€TayjjLiv7j jjxcL irdcTLV . . . Kai 6 fiev e5 rbv TrpoarjKovra xP^^ov ^Loi^s ttoXlv els r7]v rod ^vpvofiov iropevSels olk7)(Tlv darpov ^iov evdaifJLOva Kai a-vp-rjdr) ^^oi. Dante's doubt arises, as P. di Dante rightly sees, from the fact that Piccarda having implied that a place in the sphere of the Moon was assigned to her, 'videbatur sequi quod dicit Plato, in quo libro asserit animas ad astra redire, quod est erroneum et reprobatum.' Aquinas distinctly rejects 'opinionem antiquorum Philosophorum, qui posuerunt animas redire ad compares Stellas' (Supp. Q. 97. A. 5.)
^^ She deals first with the question which, as affecting the individual creation of souls and the freedom of the will, involves a theological error rather than one of ethics only.
IV PARADISE 41
God, Moses, Samuel, nor that John, whichever thou wilt take, I say, not Mary, have their stalls in another heaven than those spirits who but now appeared to thee, nor have to their being more years or fewer. But all make the first circle beautiful, and have a life diversely sweet, through feeling more and less the eternal breath. They show themselves here, not because this sphere is allotted to them, but to give a sign of their heavenliness, that it has a
Moise, Samuello, e quel Giovanni
Qual prender vuogli, io dico, non Maria,^ 30
Non hanno in altro cielo i loro scanni, Che quegli spirti che mo t' appariro,^ Ne hanno all' esser lor piu o meno anni.
Ma tutti fanno bello il primo giro, E diiferentemente han dolce vita. Per sentir piii e men 1' eterno spiro.
Qui si mostraro, non perche sortita Sia questa spera lor, ma per far segno Delia celestial ch' han men salita.^
^ Che pr. Gg. Cass. 1 24. ^ ci app. Gg.
e della spiritual Gg. 23.
3^ I.e. the Evangelist or the Baptist. Corticelli notes vuogli as an old form.
31 sqq. All the Blessed have, as will be seen later, their own places in the Empyrean, or highest heaven, and are not fixed in particular spheres, as the Platonic doctrine would make them. Nevertheless, the degree of their blessedness differs (1. 36). This has been from early times the interpretation of such expressions in N. T. as * many mansions ' (*Per quas,' says Aquinas, S. T. ii. i. Q. 5. A. 2, *ut Augustinus dicit, diversae meritorum dignitates intelliguntur in vita aeterna '), * one star differeth from another star in glory,' the end of the * Parable of the Talents,' etc.
42 PARADISE
less ascent. Thus it behoves to speak to your wit, seeing that only from an object of sense does it apprehend that which it afterwards makes meet for intelligence. For this cause the Scripture condescends to your faculty, and attributes feet and hands to God, and understands something else ; and holy Church represents to you with human likeness Gabriel and Michael, and the other who made Tobias whole again. That which Timaeus reasons about the souls is not like to what is seen here, — for it seems that as he says he thinks. He says that the soul returns to its own star, believing that it was cut
Cosi parlar conviensi al vostro ingegno, 40
Perocche solo da sensato apprende Cio che fa posci d' intelletto degno.
Per questo la Scrittura condiscende A vostra facultate, e piedi e mano Attribuisce a Dio, ed altro intende :
E santa Chiesa con aspetto umano Gabbriel e Michel vi rappresenta, E r altro, che Tobbia rifece sano.
Quel che Timeo delF anime argomenta,
Non e simile a cio, che qui si vede, 50
Perb che come dice par che senta.
Dice, che 1' alma alia sua Stella riede, Credendo quella quindi esser decisa,
^ A very explicit statement of the doctrine, * Nihil esse in infellectu quod non prius fuerit in sensu.* See Purg. xviii. 55. St. Thomas modifies it slightly : * intellectus operatio oritur a sensu.' — S. T. i. Q. 78. A. 4.
^ r altro. Raphael. Observe that Dante confuses Tobit with Tobias.
^^ Because he appears to be giving what he intends for a real and not merely a metaphorical account of the origin and destination of the soul.
IV ^ PARADISE 43
thence when nature gave it for form. And haply his own opinion is otherwise than his words sound, and it may be that it is with intent not to be mocked. If he means that to these wheels returns the honour of their influence and the blame, haply his bow strikes upon some truth. This principle ill-understood has already turned aside the whole world almost, so that it has gone astray to give the names of Jove, Mercury and Mars.
Quando natura per forma la diede.
E forse sua sentenzia e d' altra guisa, Che la voce non suona, ed esser puote Con intenzion da non esser derisa.
S' egli intende tornare a queste ruote L' onor dell' influenza e il biasmo, forse In alcun vero suo arco percuote. 60
Questo principio male inteso torse
Gia tutto il mondo quasi, si che Giove Mercurio e Marte a nominar trascorse.
"^ De An. ii. i : dvayKoiop dpa ttjv \^uxV ovalav etvaL cos etdos adofiai OS ^vaiKoO dwdjULei ^wr;;/ ^x^^'^^s. S. T. i. Q. 76. A. 4 : Anima est forma substantialis hominis, etc. Longf. quotes Spenser, Hymne in Honour of Beauty, 1. 133 : ' For soule is forme, and doth the bodie make. '
55-57 This suggestion is rather curious, considering that in an imme- diately preceding passage of the Timaeus (40 D.) Plato very distinctly is speaking otherwise than as he thinks. See Grote ad loc. and Dr. Thompson's note to Archer Butler, vol. ii. p. 23. Eusebius, it appears, has noticed the irony in this latter passage. St. Augustine, De Civ. D. xii. 12, uses very similar language with regard to a different point. Speaking of those who believe the world to have existed from eternity he says, ' Sicut etiam Plato aperte confitetur, quamvis a nonnullis contra quam loquitur sensisse credatur.'
^ che non suona. For the use of no7t in comparative sentences see Diez iii. 394.
^ nominar, * adoravan,' Landino. Scartazzini says * to call, upon,' referring to Genesis iv. 26. There is clearly an allusion to St.
44 PARADISE canto
* The Other doubt which disturbs thee has less venom, inasmuch as its mischief would not be able to lead thee from me elsewhere. That our justice should appear unjust in the eyes of mortals is argument of faith and pertains not to heretic pravity. But seeing that your understanding well can
U altra dubitazion che ti commuove, Ha men velen, pero che sua malizia Non ti poria menar da me altrove.
Parere ingiusta la nostra giustizia
Negli occhi dei mortali, e argomento ^ Di fede, e non d' eretica nequizia.
Ma perche puote vostro accorgimento 70
^ Nel senso Gg.
Augustine, De Civ. Dei, vii. 15: * De stellis quibusdam, quas pagani deorum suorum nominibus nuncupaverunt. ' Philalethes, without much authority, reads 'numinar,' and renders Wergottern.'
67-69 These lines present a good deal of difficulty. Taking them in connection with those that precede and follow, we see clearly their general drift, viz. that no heresy is involved in the question under discussion ; since * nee fides nee opinio potest esse de ipsis visis aut secundum sensum aut secundum intellectum ' (S. T. ii. Q. i. A. 4), while 'haeresis consistit circa ea quae fidei sunt' ( ib. id. Q. 11) ; and human reason is able of itself to see that ' God's ways are not as man's ways.' (See, for instance, Ar. Eth. v. 7. § 3 : rovro 5' [ra 5i/caia KivdGdaC\ ovk ^(TTLV oiJTCtJS ^X^^i ^^^' ^o'Tf't' ws. KatTOt TTttpd ye ToTs deoLS tcojs ovdafjLcas' Trap' ijfxip 5' ^<ttl jxh ri /cat (ptjaei, klvtjtov fxAvroi irav. Cf. too the dictum of Duns Scotus, ' fides non excludit omnem dubitationem, sed dubitationem vincentem.') This is of course the reason why this second doubt *ha men velen,' no theological error being involved in it (1. 66). But how can any doubt on this matter be an * argomento ' of faith? The word has been variously taken as = * evidence of (cf. Heb. xi. I, where faith itself is the argu7?ie7ttti?7z, in the rendering of the Vulg.) ; 'argument in favour of ; 'motive, ground for' ; or 'sub- ject-matter.' The last is excluded by the consideration that the subject- matter of faith is also that of heresy ; while in regard to the others there is the difficulty that if the doubt was an evidence of Dante's own faith.
penetrate to this truth, I will as thou desirest make thee content.. If violence is when he who suffers contributes nothing to him who compels, these souls were not on its account excused ; for will if it wills not, is not brought to nought, but acts as Nature does in fire, if violence wrench it
Ben penetrare a questa veritate,
Come disiri, ti faro contento. Se violenza e quando quel che pate
Niente conferisce a quel che sforza,
Non fur quest' alme per essa scusate ; Che volonta, se non vuol, non s' ammorza.
Ma fa come natura face in foco,
or an argument or motive for faith generally, there was no reason why- it should be said to have any ' gall ' or * venom ' at all. The solution is, I think, to be sought in a phrase of Aquinas, S. T. ii. i. Q. 14. A. 4 : ' ratio inquisitiva, quae dicitur argumentum, est rei dubiae faciens fidem.' The question is one which may be fairly discussed, with the result ot strengthening faith, and with no fear of lapsing into heresy. It seems best then to join d' eretica nequizia directly with b, and interpret 11. 65-72 thus : * There is no offence to theological truth in your doubt as to the justice of the inferior lot assigned to Piccarda and the rest. To find apparent injustice in certain of God's dealings is not a matter of heresy, its discussion is even a possible aid to faith. Bu^ as it is a matter which reason can deal with, I will explain the case before us.'
73 sqq. In order that an action may be blameless it is not sufficient that it should be involuntary, or done under constraint of violence, i.e. that the person undergoing compulsion should refrain from any co-operation with the person compelling : as soon as the pressure is removed, he must return to his original position, or course of action.
73, 74 Word for word from Aristotle, Eth. iii. i (translated by Aquinas, S. T. ii. 2. Q. 175. A. i, but incidentally to a different subject) : Biaiov d^ o5 ij dpxr] ^^ojOeu, TOia^rrf odaa iv rj firjdev avfj,- jSdXXerat 6 irpdrrojv -^ (*or rather') 6 irdax^v.
'^^ S. T. ii. I. Q. 6. Art. 4 : Duplex est actus voluntatis : unus quidem, qui est ejus immediate, velut ab ipsa elicitus, scilicet velle. Alius autem est actus voluntatis a voluntate imperatus et mediante alia potentia exercitus. . . . Quantum igitur ad actus a voluntate imperatos
46 PARADISE canto
a thousand times. Wherefore, if it bends little or much, it follows the force ; and so did these when they might have returned to the sacred place. If their will had remained whole, as it held Laurence on the gridiron and made Mutius stern to his own hand, so it would have hurried them back by the way whence they were dragged, as soon as they were loosed ; but so stout a will is too rare. And by these words, if thou hast gathered them up as thou oughtest, is the argument quashed, which would have annoyed thee many times yet.
Se mille volte violenza il torza.
Per che s' ella si piega assai o poco,
Segue la forza ; e cosi queste fero, 80
Possendo ritornare al santo loco.^
Se fosse stato il lor volere intero.
Come tenne Lorenzo in su la grada, E fece Muzio alia sua man severo,
Cosi r avria ripinte per la strada,
Ond' eran tratte, come furo sciolte : Ma cosi salda voglia e troppo rada.
E per queste parole, se ricolte
L' hai come dei, e 1' argomento casso,
Che t' avria fatto noia ancor piu volte. 90
g rifuggir Gg.
voluntas violentiam pati potest, inquantum per violentiam exteriora [? -orem] membra impediri possunt ne imperium voluntatis exequantur ; sed quantum ad ipsum proprium actum voluntatis, non potest ei violentia inferri. Aquinas takes the example of a stone thrown upwards, its nature being to descend ; Dante, as elsewhere, takes fire forced down- wards. See also Ar. Eth. iii. i, <passi77i. ammorza, lit. ^put to death, ' but always metaph. Inf. xiv. 63 and (in form aimnorta) 90, etc. ^ Dante is fond of referring to the story of Mutius Scaevola : see Conv. iv. 5, De Mon. ii. 5.
IV PARADISE 47
' But now another strait is in the way, before thy eyes, such that by thyself thou wouldest not issue from it, before thou shouldst be weary. I have put it for certain into thy mind that a soul in bliss could not lie, inasmuch as it is ever near to the primal truth. And then it was possible for thee to hear from Piccarda that Constance retained her love for the veil ; so that she appears in this to be at variance with me. Many times already, brother, has it befallen that in order to shun danger, against his will a man has done
Ma or ti s' attraversa un altro passo
Dinanzi agli occhi tal, che per te stesso Non n' usciresti pria saresti lasso.
lo f ho per certo nella mente messo, Ch' alma beata non poria mentire, Perb che sempre al primo vero e presso :^
E poi potesti da Piccarda udire,
Ghe r affezion del vel Gostanza tenne. Si ch' ella par qui meco contraddire.
Molte fiate gia, frate, addivenne loo
Ghe per fuggir periglio, contro a grato
^ Perb cK e . . . appresso Gg. Cass. 12^ W.
^^ piii volte. I. e. you will see other instances of the same apparent inequality. See especially, xix. 67 sqq. where the question of God's justice is again discussed.
91 sqq. Beatrice meets a possible objection : if, as Piccarda has said (iii. 117), Constance was never in heart separated from the religious life, why did she not act in the way above suggested ?
94, 95 ggg jij_ 21 sqq.
100-105 ^j-^ Y.\h. I.e. : "E)fta 5' I'crws ovk '^(ttlv dpayKaadijvaL, dXXa jULoWov airodaver^ov iradovTL rcL detvoTara' /cat yap rbv Bvpiiridov 'AXK/JLaicova yeXoTa (paiverat tcl av ay Kdaavr a fjLrjTpoKTovijaai. See Purg. xii. 50 for the story of Alcmaeon.
48 PARADISE
that which it behoved not to do : like Alcmaeon, who when entreated on that behalf by his father, slew his own mother; not to lack piety, he made himself pitiless. In regard to this point I wish thee to think that the force mingles itself with the will, and they act so that the offences cannot be excused. Will absolute consents not to the wrong, but it does consent to it in so far as it fears if it draws back, to fall into a greater distress. Where- fore, when Piccarda uses that expression, she means
Si fe di quel che far non si convenne : Come Almeone, che di cib pregato
Dal padre suo, la propria madre spense ;
Per non perder pieta si fe spietato. A questo punto voglio che tu pense
Che la forza al voler si mischia, e fanno ^
Si che scusar non si posson F offense. Voglia assoluta non consente al danno :
Ma consente vi intanto, quanto teme no
Se si ritrae, cadere in piu affanno. Perb quando Piccarda quello spreme,
i e 7 voler Gg.
^^^ A reminiscence of Ov. Met. ix. 408 : * facto pius et sceleratus eodem.'
106-111 s^ X. ii. I. Q. 6. A. 6 : Quod per metum fit, simpliciter volun- tarium est, secundum quid autem involuntarium. ... Id enim quod per metum agitur in se consideratum non est voluntarium, sed fit voluntarium in casu, scilicet ad vitandum malum quod timetur ; sed si quis recte con- sideret, magis sunt hujusmodi voluntaria quam involuntaria . . . sicut projectio mercium in mare fit voluntarium tempore tempestatis, propter timorem periculi. And Aristotle, I.e. : aTrXtDs (voglia assoluta) ijJev yap ovdels diro^aXKeTai e/ccbv, eirl acoTrjpiq, 8" avTov /cat tCjv XolttQv diraPTcs ol vovv ^xo^'res. Mi/crat jjlev odv eicrlv al roLavrai wpd^eLSf ioLKaai 5k /MoXkov eKovaiais.
IV PARADISE 49
it of the will absolute, and I of the other, so that we both say true together.'
Such was the rippling of the sacred stream, which issued from the fount whence all truth flows down; such set at rest one and the other desire, 'O love of the primal Lover, O goddess,' said I thereafter, 'whose speak- ing bathes and warms me so that more and more it quickens me, my affection has no such depth that it may suffice to render to you grace for grace; but may He who sees and can, reply to this. I see well that our intellect is never sated, if the True illuminate it not, out- side of whom no truth has space. In that it reposes, as a creature in a den, so soon as it has reached it; and it can reach it — else each desire would be in vain. For
Delia voglia assoluta intende, ed io Deir altra, si che ver diciamo insieme.
Cotal fu r ondeggiar del santo rio,
Ch' usci del fonte, ond' ogni ver deriva : Tal pose in pace uno ed altro disio.
O amanza del primo amante, o diva.
Diss' io appresso, il cui parlar m' innonda
E scalda si che piii e piu m' avviva : 120
Non e r affezion mia tanto profonda,
Che basti a render voi grazia per grazia : Ma quel che vede e puote, a cio risponda.
Io veggio ben, che giammai non si sazia Nostro intelletto, se il ver non Io illustra, Di fuor dal qual nessun vero si spazia.
Posasi in esso come fera in lustra,
Tosto che giunto 1' ha : e giunger puollo, Se non ciascun disio sarebbe/r^/i'/r^.
^^2 grazia has, of course, the two meanings of * thanks ' and * favour.' Cf. Purg. xxxi. 136. ^^^ Cf. Purg. iii. 38 sqq.
E
50 PARADISE canto iv
that reason is born, in fashion of a scion, the doubt at the foot of the truth ; and it is nature which urges us to the summit from ridge to ridge. This invites me, this makes me bold, with reverence. Lady, to ask you of another truth which is obscure to me. I would know if one can so make satisfaction for broken vows with other good deeds, that they shall not be wanting in your balance.'
Beatrice regarded me with her eyes full of love's sparks, so divine that my powers overcome I turned my back, and as it were lost myself with downcast eyes.
Nasce per quello a guisa di rampollo 130
Apple del vero il dubbio : ed e natura, Ch' al sommo pinge noi di collo in collo.^
Questo m' invita, questo m' assicura Con riverenza. Donna, a dimandarvi D' un' altra verita, che m' e oscura.
lo vo' saper se T uom pub satisfarvi Ai voti manchi si con altri beni, Ch' alia vostra stadera non sien parvi.
Beatrice mi guardb con gli occhi pieni
Di faville d' amor, cosi divini,^ 140
Che, vinta mia virtu, diedi le reni,""
E quasi mi perdei con gli occhi chini.
k pinge il ver 145. ^ co7i si div. Gg. 3 Aid. Land.
01 virtute die Cass. 134 Aid. ; virtu diede 2 W.
^^^ The question as to the commutation of a vow is treated of in S. T. ii. 2. Q. 88. A. 10, but only as a subordinate case of the more general one of dispensation.
^^^ diedi le reni. The commentators contend as to the Hteral or figurative application of these words, chiefly, it would appear, on the ground that Dante would not be guilty of the bad manners of turning his back on a lady. Those who take the latter view for the most part read diede^ making virtu the subject of it.
CANTO V
ARGUMENT
Beatrice shows how no other service can compensate for the breach of religious vows, because the freedom of the will is the greatest of God's gifts. Afterwards they rise to the second heaven, of Mercury.
* If I blaze upon thee in the heat of love beyond the fashion which is seen upon earth, so that I surpass the strength of thine eyes, marvel thou not, for this proceeds from perfect vision, which as it apprehends so moves its
S* 10 ti fiammeggio nel caldo d' amore Di \k dal modo che in terra si vede, Si che degli occhi tuoi vinco il valore,
Non ti maravigliar : che cib procede Da perfetto veder, che come apprende,
^'^ As we have seen already (Purg. xvii. 91 sqq., xviii. 19 sqq. , etc.), apprehension or conception gives rise to love, or desire, and this is followed by action in the direction of the desired good. * Bonum est causa amoris per modum objecti ; bonum autem non est objectum appetitus, nisi prout est apprehensum, et ideo amor requirit aliquam apprehensionem boni quod amatur. Et propter hoc Philosophus dicit 9. Ethic, quod visio corporalis est principium amoris sensitivi ; et simi- liter contemplatio spiritualis pulchritudinis vel bonitatis est principium amoris spiritualis. Sic igitur cognitio est causa amoris ea ratione qua et bonum, quod non potest amari nisi cognitum.' S. T. ii. i. Q. 27.
52 PARADISE CANTO
foot towards the apprehended good. I see well how already shines in thy intellect the eternal light, which when . seen, alone ever kindles love ; and if aught else leads your love astray, it is nought but some vestige of that, ill- recognised, which there shines through. Thou wouldst know if with other service one may repay so much for a
Cosi nel bene appreso muove il piede.^ lo veggio ben si come gia risplende Nello intelletto tuo 1' eterna luce, Che vista sola sempre amore accende : ^ E s' altra cosa vestro amor seduce, lo
Non e se non di quella alcun vestigio Mai conosciuto, che quivi trainee. Tu vuoi saper se con altro servigio. Per manco voto si pub render tanto,
^ app7'esso 124 ^. ^ vista {? vi sta) sola e sempre Gg. Cass. 14.
A. 2. (The reference would seem to be to Eth. ix. 12 : roh epCbaL to bpav dyairrjTOTaTov iari.) Thus Beatrice meets Dante's desire for more knowledge with an assurance of her own perfect knowledge, which again gives rise to perfect love.
6 That appreso and not appresso is the right reading, seems clear from Mon. i. 14 : prjmo res apprehenditur, deinde apprehensa bona aut mala judicatur.
^"^ Obviouslj^tended to recall his words in 11. 124-126 of the last Canto.
^ Some take vista sola as = ' only by being seen ' ; but besides the doubt whether the words can bear that meaning, there is the further objection that it will apply equally to all objects of desire. The emphasis is on sempre ; God alone is the one object which is always desired when seen. There is something to be said for the reading which Benv. prefers, * vi sta sola, e sempre.' He says : * i.e. quae lux stat ibi in intellectu tuo sola, sine alia affectione impediente ; quia intellectus auc- toris erat totus depuratus, et datus contemplationi divinorum.'
10-12 Qi^ Ymg, xvi. 91, xvii. 127.
V PARADISE 53
broken vow as may secure the soul from controversy.' So r^atrice began this chant ; and just as one who breaks not up his speech, she thus continued her sacred argument :
^ The greatest gift which God of His bounty made in creating, and the most conformed to His goodness, and that which He most values, was the freedom of the will, wherewith the creatures that have intelligence all, and they only, were and are endowed. Now will
Che r anima sicuri di litigio. Si comincio Beatrice questo canto :
E si com' uom che suo parlar non spezza,
Continub cosi il processo santo. Lo maggior don, che Dio per sua larghezza
Fesse creando, e alia sua bontate 20
Pill conformato, e quel ch' ei piu apprezza, Fu della volonta la libertate,
Di che le creature intelligenti,
E tutte e sole furo e son dontate.
^^ litigio, i.e. with God. The idea is the same as in Micah vi. 2.
18 processo. Cf. the * sic proceditur ' of Aquinas passim.
19 sqq. In almost identical words, De Mon. i. 14, he says : Haec libertas (sc. arbitrii) ... est maximum donum humanae naturae a Deo coUatum ; where, according to Giuliani, some too zealous scribes have added, in certain MSS., 'sicut in Paradiso comediae jam dixi.' See also Purg. xviii. 73. The argument in the following passage, that free- will being the greatest of human possessions, and the monastic vows being the sacrifice of this, no other sacrifice can compensate for the breach of those vows, appears to be Dante's own. No trace of it is to be found in S. T. ii. 2. Q. 88, where the subject of vows is fully dis- cussed, and the orthodox doctrine stated ; though it may have been suggested by some of the expressions in Art. 6, e.g. *suam voluntatem obligavit.'
23, 24 < Solum id quod habet intellectum potest agere judicio libero . . . unde ubicunque est intellectus, ibi est liberum arbitrium.' S. T. i. Q. 59. A. 3, and cf. De Mon. I.e.
54 PARADISE
appear to thee, if thou argue from this, the high worth of the vow, if it is so made that God consent when thou consentest; because, in the confirming of the pact between God and the man, a sacrifice is made of this treasure, being such as I say, and it is made by its own operation. Therefore what can be rendered for recom- pense ? If thou thinkest to make a good use of that which has been offered, thou art desiring to make a good work of a bad gain. Now thou art informed of the chief point; but seeing that holy Church dispenses in this matter — which appears contrary to the truth that I have revealed
Or ti parra, se tu quinci argomenti, \J altro valor del voto, s' e si fatto, Che Dio consenta, quando tu consenti :
Che nel fermar tra Dio e 1' uomo il patto, Vittima fassi di questo tesoro, Tal qual io dico, e fassi col suo atto. 30
Dunque che render puossi per ristoro ? Se credi bene usar quel ch' hai offerto, Di mal tolletto vuoi far buon lavoro.
Tu sei omai del maggior punto certo ; ^ Ma perche santa Chiesa in cib dispensa, Che par contra lo ver ch' io t' ho scoverto,
c del privio p. Gg. 124.
^^ suo. I. e. of the free-will itself.
^ tolletto. More usually tolto. In Inf. xi. 36 we find the form tolletta (according to the best reading). The sense there is, however, somewhat different.
^ maggior punto. I.e. that nothing can wholly atone for the breach of a vow.
^ sqq. Bui; hQ^ i-jjgj^ ^^^j^ tjjg Church dispense ?
V PARADISE 55
to thee — it behoves thee to sit yet a little longer at table, inasmuch as the hard food which thou hast taken yet requires aid to be digested by thee.
* Open thy mind to that which I set forth to thee, and shut it therewithin, for to have heard without retaining, does not make knowledge. Two things combine to the essence of this sacrifice ; the one is that in respect of which it is made ; the other is the agreement. This last is never cancelled, if not kept, and it is about it that my words above are so precise ; for this cause the offering only was made a
Convienti ancor sedere un poco a mensa, Pero che il cibo rigido ch' hai preso, Richiede ancora aiuto a tua dispensa.
Apri la mente a quel ch' io ti paleso, 40
E fermalvi entro : che non fa scienza, Senza lo ritenere avere inteso.
Due cose si convengono all' essenza Di questo sacrificio : T una e quella Di che si fa ; 1' altra e la convenenza.
Quest' ultima giammai non si cancella, Se non servata, ed intorno di lei Si preciso di sopra si favella :
-^i' 42 Cf. Plato, Phaedo 96 B and Menon 98 A.
43 sqq. xhe VOW must be kept, though the matter may be changed ; but this only on condition that what is offered in exchange be of greater value than that originally proposed. In the case of the monastic vows, as explained above, this cannot happen, and therefore, as St. Thomas (S. T. ii. 2. Q. 88. A. 11) also holds, *in voto [sc. continentiae] solennizato per professionem religionis, non potest per ecclesiam dispensari. '
'^^ se non servata. I.e. 'otherwise than by being kept.' se non as in i. 138, etc.
56 PARADISE CANTO
necessity to the Hebrews, albeit some offered thing might be commuted, as thou oughtest to know. The other, which has been explained to thee as the material, can well be of such a nature that no failure should result if it be exchanged with other material. But let not any of his own judgement shift a burden on his shoulder without the turning both of the white key and of the yellow ; and let him deem every exchange foolish if the thing laid aside be not contained in
Pero necessitato fu agli Ebrei ^
Pur r offerire, ancor che alcuna offerta 50
Si permutasse, come saper dei. L' altra, che per materia t' e aperta,
Puote bene esser tal che non si falla,
Se con altra materia si converta. Ma non trasmuti carco alia sua spalla
Per suo arbitrio alcun, senza la volta
E della chiave bianca e della gialla : Ed ogni permutanza credi stolta,
Se la cosa dimessa in la sorpresa.
Come il quattro nel sei, non e raccolta. 60
d necessity Gg. W.
^^ See Leviticus xxvii. for the Mosaic law on vows generally. The offerings that might be commuted were the first-born of unclean beasts and of men ; see also Exodus xiii. 13. The reading necessitd is the more satisfactory from a metrical point of view ; but the weight of authority seems to be against it.
^'^ materia. I.e. 'di che si fa,' 1. 45.
^^ falla. This is undoubtedly a subjunctive ; but if so, it cannot be, as Scartazzini supposes, ixonxfallare (which appears to be used by Dante only in the sense of * to deceive ') ; nor, as Bianchi suggests, from ' the o\<5ifalle7'e,^ which, if it existed, would have the same meaning. There seems no difficulty in taking it as iiom.fallire.
*^7 See note to Pg. ix. 118.
^ I.e. half as great again. In Lev. xxvii. one-fifth is the addition required.
V PARADISE 57
that taken up as four in six. For this cause whatsoever thing weighs so much by its own value that it drags down every balance cannot be redeemed with other expense. Let not mortals take the vow jestingly ; be faithful, and not purblind in doing this, as was Jephthah at his first offering \ whom it behoved rather to say " I did ill " than in keeping his vow to do worse. So too thou mayest find the great leader of the Greeks foolish, wherefore Iphigenia
Perb qualunque cosa tanto pesa
Per suo valor, che tragga ogni bilancia, Soddisfar non si pub con altra spesa.
Non prendano i mortali il voto a ciancia ; Siate fedeli, ed a cib far non bieci, Come lept^ alia sua prima mancia ; ^
Cui piu si convenia dicer : Mai feci, Che servando far peggio : e cosi stolto Ritrovar puoi lo gran duca dei Greci :
Onde pianse Ifigenia il suo bel volto, 70
® comefu 3 Laiid.; fti iepte Aid.
^1' 62 Ecclus. xxiv. 29. Omnis autem ponderatio non est digna con- tinentis animae.
^ The instance of Jephthah is taken from Aquinas, who quotes Jerome : * in vovendo fuit stultus, quia discretionem non habuit ; et in reddendo, impius.' Cf. 3 Hen. VI. Act v. Sc. i :
To keep that oath were more impiety
Than Jephthah's, when he sacrificed his daughter.
prima mancia probably = ' offering of the first thing,' and not (as Post. Gg. has it) ' filiae primogenitae. '
6^ It is quite in Dante's manner to parallel the act of Jephthah with a case from profane history.
'^^ In order to make the line scan we must pronounce the name Ifigenia according to the accent, not the quantity, of 'l(pLy^v€La. This is the usual, if not invariable rule.
58 PARADISE canto
lamented her fair face, and made both fools and wise lament for her, when they heard tell of a rite so ordered. Christians, be you of more weight to be moved; be not like a feather to every wind ; and deem not that every w^ater may wash you. Ye have the old and the new Testament, and the Pastor of the Church who guides you; let this suffice you to your salvation. If evil concupiscence cries aught else to you, be men and not senseless cattle, so that the Jew among you laugh not at you. Do not as a lamb which leaves its mother's milk, and simple and sportive fights with itself at its own pleasure.'
E fe pianger di se i folli e i savi, Ch' udir parlar di cosi fatto colto.
Siate, Cristiani, a muovervi piu gravi : Non siate come penna ad ogni vento, E non crediate ch' ogni acqua vi lavi.
Avete il vecchio e il nuovo Testamento, E il Pastor della Chiesa che vi guida : Questo vi basti a vostro salvamento.
Se mala cupidigia altro vi grida,
Uomini siate, e non pecore matte, 80
Si che il Giudeo tra voi di voi non rida.^
Non fate come agnel, che lascia il latte Delia sua madre, e semplice e lascivo Seco medesmo a suo piacer combatte.
^ di voi tra voi Cass. 1 34 IV.
^^ i folli e i savi. There does not seem to be any special significance in this expression. It is most likely a reminiscence of the Lucretian 'aspectuque suo lacrimas effundere cives.'
"^'■^ colto, probably in allusion to Lucretius's 'Tantum relligio.'
^^ Cf. Purg. X. 121.
^^ The Jew, having only the Old Testament to guide him, yet knows what is right in the matter of vows, and does it.
V PARADISE 59
Thus Beatrice to me, as I write ; then she turned round all full of desire to that quarter where the universe has more life. Her hush and the change of her countenance imposed silence on my craving intellect, which already had new questions before it. And as an arrow, which strikes upon the mark before the bow-string is at rest, so sped we into the second realm. Here I saw my Lady so joyous, as she entered the light of that heaven, that the planet grew more lucent therefrom. And if the star changed itself and smiled,
Cosi Beatrice a me com' io scrivo : Poi si rivolse tutta disiante A quella parte, ove il mondo e piu vivo.
Lo suo tacer, e il tramutar sembiante Poser silenzio al mio cupido ingegno, Che gia nuove quistioni avea davante. 90
E si come saetta, che nel segno
Percuote pria che sia la corda queta, Cosi corremmo nel secondo regno.
Quivi la donna mia vid' io si lieta Come nel lume di quel ciel si mise, Che piu lucente se ne fe il Pianeta.
^'' There is considerable diversity in the interpretation of this line. It is pretty clear that it can neither mean ' towards the equator,' where, as we read in Conv. ii. 4, ' ha piu movimento, e piii vita, e piii forma, ' nor * towards t\iQ. primo mobile ^^ because she could hardly *turn towards ' a circle or a sphere exterior to her position. Some think it = ' towards the east.' Thus an Italian annotator of Gg., probably following Buti, says ' cioe verso la parte orientale.' The regular ^ postillator, ' who copies Benvenuto, says, * melior expositio est, i. e. ad speram mercurii, quae est vivacior spera lunae.' This, which is also Giuliani's view (see note to Conv. I.e.), seems the most reasonable ; only we must understand, not the sphere of Mercury, but the planet itself. In any case it only means ' she looked upwards. ' Cf. i. 64.
^^ They ascend to Mercury.
6o PARADISE canto
what became I who of my very nature am changeable through all fashions !
As in a stew, which is calm and clear, the fish draw to that which from without comes in such a way that they deem it their food ; so did I see, ay, more than a thousand splendours draw toward us, and in each was heard, 'Lo one who will increase our loves.' And as each came to us, one might see that the shade was full of joy in the bright flash which issued from it. Think, reader, if that which is here begun did not advance, how thou wouldst have a tormenting want to know more ; and by thyself thou wilt
E se la Stella si cambib e rise,
Qual mi fee' io, che pur di mia natura Trasmutabile son per tutte guise !
Come in peschiera, ch' e tranquilla e pura, loo
Traggono i pesci a cib che vien di fuori,^ Per modo che lo stimin lor pastura ; ^
Si vid' io ben piu di mille splendori Trarsi ver noi, ed in ciascun s' udia : Ecco chi crescera li nostri amori.
E si come ciascuno a noi venia, Vedeasi 1' ombra piena di letizia Nel folgor chiaro che di lei uscia.
Pensa, Lettor, se quel che qui s' inizia
Non procedesse, come tu avresti no
Di piu savere angosciosa carizia :
? Traggonsi Gg. IV, 2- ^ ckel/o stimi sua Gg.
105 crescere is noted by Corticelli among neuter verbs which are sometimes used actively ; and see Diez iii. 104. Eng. increase is Hke it. This line is explained by Pg. xv. 55-57 and 71 sqq.
V PARADISE 6i
see how I had it in desire to hear from these their con- ditions, so soon as they were manifest to my eyes.
' O born to good, to whom grace is granting to see the thrones of the eternal triumph before that thy warfare is abandoned ; we are kindled with the light which is spread throughout the heaven ; and therefore if thou desire to be enlightened of us, sate thyself at thy pleasure.'
Thus by one of those kind spirits was it said to me ; and by Beatrice : ' Speak, speak in safety, and trust as if in Gods.'
' I see well how thou dost nestle in thy own light, and
E per te vederai, come da questi ^
M' era in disio d' udir lor condizioni, Si come agli occhi mi fur manifesti.
O bene nato, a cui veder li troni Del trionfo eternal concede grazia Prima che la milizia s' abbandoni ;
Del lume, che per tutto il ciel si spazia, Noi semo accesi : e pero se disii Da noi chiarirti, a tuo piacer ti sazia. . 120
Cos! da un di quelli spirti pii
Detto mi fu ; e da Beatrice : Di' di' Sicuramente, e credi come a Dii.
lo veggio ben si come tu t' annidi
Nel proprio lume, e che da gli occhi il traggi,
i E parte 2.
"^ del trionfo eternal : *della Chiesa trionfante,' Bi.
^2*^ There seems about equally good authority for di and da ; *to be enlightened concerning ^ ox ^ by us. '
^^^ Tin. This is the Emperor Justinian.
^^^ proprio. Daniello appears to be right in explaining ' nel tuo proprio splendore,' though another view is that it means 'in that share
62 PARADISE CANTO
that thou drawest it by the eyes, because they sparkle as thou smilest ; but I know not who thou art, nor wherefore thou hast, O worthy soul, the rank of the sphere which veils itself from mortals with another's rays.' This I said directly to the light which before had spoken to me, where- fore it became far more lucent than it had been. As the Sun, which conceals itself through excess of light, when the heat has eaten away the tempering of the thick vapours,
Perche corruscan, si come tu ridi : ^ Ma non so chi tu sei, ne perche aggi,
Anima degna, il grado della spera,
Che si vela a mortal con gli altrui raggi. Questo diss' io diritto alia lumiera, 130
Che pria m' avea parlato : ond' ella fessi
Lucente piu assai di quel ch' ell' era. Si come il sol, che si cela egli stessi
Per troppa luce, quando il caldo ha rose
Le temperanze dei vapori spessi :
k corrtisca Gg. Cass. Aid. ; ei corruscan W. Bi.
of the divine light which is appropriate to your position in heaven.' Landino in his note has primo^ which Vellutello has adopted in his text {1544) ; and there is some MS. authority for it. The difference is only between f)prio and prio. This of course would mean * in the Hght of God.'
1-^ Cf. ii. 144, and the opening lines of this Canto. This seems conclusive in favour of corrtisca7i ; though many read e' (sc. lume) comisca, understanding traggi in the sense of ' send out,' as in Pg. iii. 69.
^-^ Because Mercury is usually invisible from his nearness to the sun.
^^^ Cf. Pg. xvii. 53. stessi ' nel caso retto del minor numero, a somighanza di questi o di quegli, fu usato da Dante.' — Corticelli, quoting this passage. It is no doubt the genuine form, being from iste ipse.
135 Cf. Pg. XXX. 26.
V PARADISE 63
SO for greater joy did the holy figure hide itself from me within its own ray, and thus all shut in it answered me in the manner which the following Chant chants.
Per pill letizia si mi si nascose
Dentro al suo raggio la figura santa, E cosi chiusa chiusa mi rispose
Nel modo che il seguente canto canta.
CANTO VI
ARGUMENT
Justinian the Emperor recounts in brief the history of the Roman Empire, and speaks of the divisions that are troubling it. He tells Dante that in this sphere are the souls of those who have sought honour in the active life.
* After that Constantine turned the eagle back against the course of the heaven, which it followed in the train of the ancient who carried off Lavinia, a hundred and a hundred years and more the bird of God abode on the confines of Europe, near to the hills from which at first it issued ; and
PosciACHE Constantin V aquila volse Contra il corso del ciel, ch' ella seguio ^ Dietro all' antico che Lavina tolse ;
Cento e cent' anni e piu 1' uccel di Dio Nello stremo d' Europa si ritenne Vicino ai monti, dei quai prima uscio ;
^ che la Gg. 2 Aid. W.
1 sqq- Constantine moved the seat of the Roman Empire eastward to Byzantium in 324 a.d. Justinian became emperor in 527.
3 r antico. Aeneas, whom Dante, following Virgil, regards as the founder of the Roman power. De Mon. ii. 3.
6 monti. Those of the Troad, over against Byzantium.
CANTO VI PARADISE ' 65
under the shadow of its holy feathers it governed the world there from hand to hand, and so changing, it came upon mine. Caesar I was ; and I am Justinian, that, by will of the primal Love, whom I feel, drew from among the laws the superfluous and the vain. And before I was intent on the work, I used to deem that one nature was in Christ,
E sotto r ombra delle sacre penne,
Governo il mondo li di mano in mano, E si cangiando in su la mia pervenne.
Cesare fui, e son Giustiniano, 10
Che per voler del primo Amor ch' io sento, D' entro alle leggi trassi il troppo e il vano :
E prima ch' io all' opra fossi attento, Una natura in Cristo esser, non piue.
^ penne. Cf. Psalm xci. 4.
^^ fui — son. The idea is the same as Pg. xix. 137.
^^ With allusion to Justinian's great work, the codification of the Roman law; and the still more * arduous operation,' as Gibbon says, of extracting * the spirit of jurisprudence from the decisions and con- jectures, the questions and disputes, of the Roman civilians' in the Pandects. 'Two thousand treatises,' he continues, 'were comprised in an abridgment of fifty books ; and it has been carefully recorded that three millions of lines or sentences were reduced, in this abstract, to the moderate number of one hundred and fifty thousand ' (Decline and Fall, ch. xliv). See also Justinian's own words in the Preface to the Institutes : ' Cum sacratissimas constitutiones aritea confusas in luculentam ereximus consonantiam, tunc nostram intendimus curam ad immensa veteris prudentiae volumina ; et opus desperatum caelesti favore jam adimplevimus. '
14 sqq. It appears to have been not Justinian, but his wife Theodora, who was attached to the Eutychian, or Monophysite heresy. The Emperor's own orthodoxy seems to have been unimpeachable till quite the end of his life, when he lapsed into erroneous views concerning not the nature but the person of Christ. See Gibbon (chap, xlviii.), who makes no reference to the alleged visit of Agapetus. Dante no doubt
F
66 PARADISE canto
not more; and with such faith I was content. But the blessed Agapetu^, who was the chief shepherd, directed me to the untainted faith with his words. I beheved him, and that which was in his faith I now see clear, just as thou seest that all contradictories are both false and true. So soon as with the Church I moved my feet, it pleased God of His
Credeva, e di tal fede era contento. Ma il benedetto Agabito, che fue
Sommo Pastore, alia fede sincera
Mi dirizzb con le parole sue. lo gli credetti ; e cib che in sua fede era,^
Veggio ora chiaro, si come tu vedi 20
Ogni contraddizione e falsa e vera.^ Tosta che con la Chiesa mossi i piedi,
A Dio per grazia piacque ci inspirarmi
^ che suo dir Aid. ; che in suo dir Giul. Bi. ° Ch^ og7ti contr. Gg.
got the story from the Tresor of Brunetto Latini, who says, Bk. ii. 25 (I quote from the Italian version of 1533 ) : ' E tutto [? fosse] al comincia- mento de li errori de li heretici, al fine riconobe lo suo errore, per lo consiglio di Agabito, che al' hora era apostolico.' He probably followed Paulus Diaconus. Agapetus was only Pope for one year, 535-6, just at the time when the Gothic power in Italy was being destroyed by Belisarius ; and the story is that he was sent by Theodatus, the Gothic king, to make terms with Justinian, and so incidentally discovered and reformed the emperor's heterodox views. Ryd's *Catalog.us' (1540) says : ' Eundem Imperatorem (Justinianum) Agapitus i. ab. Arrianis in- Constantinopolitana Synodo, ubi mortuus est, avertit. '
^^ Notice the Greek accent again in Agabito, from 'AydirrjTos.
^^ I.e. that of every pair of contradictories one must be false and the other true. Ar. Categ. ch. x. : Cbare iirl fxbvwv totjtwv lBlov hv etrf rb del ddrepov ainCbv dXrjdh i) yj/evBos elvac, 6aa ws KardcpaaLS Kal d7r6(pa(TLs dpTLKeLTat.
^ As a matter of fact the work was begun in the first year of his reign.
VI PARADISE 67
grace to inspire in me the lofty task, and I put myself wholly into it. And to my Belisarius I entrusted the wars, to whom the right hand of Heaven was so conjoined as to be a sign that my duty was to stay quiet. Here then my reply to the first question reaches its point ; but its circumstances con- strain me to pursue some addition to it. In order that thou mayest perceive by how clear a proof he moves against the most holy ensign, both who claims it for his own, and who opposes himself to it, see how great virtue hath made it worthy of reverence ; and I begin from the hour when
L' alto lavore, e tutto in lui mi diedi.
E al mio BelHsar commendai F armi, Cui la destra del Ciel fu si congiunta, Che segno fu ch' io dovessi posarmi.
Or qui alia quistion prima s' appunta La mia risposta, ma sua condizione Mi stringe a seguitare alcuna giunta. 30
Perche tu veggi con quanta ragione Si muove contra il sacrosanto segno E chi '1 s' appropria, e chi a lui s' oppone,
Vedi quanta virtu 1' ha fatto degno Di reverenza ; e comincio dall' ora,
'^ quistion prima, i.e. 'chi tu sei,' v. 127.
^^ con quanta ragione. This is usually taken to mean, ' with how much reason ' or ' right,' as in iv. 20. I have preferred to take it as (e.g.) in Inf. xi. 33, because the other rendering assumes what has to be proved, viz. that chi '1 s* appropria (the Ghibeline) is acting against the sanctity of the empire quite as much as chi s' oppone (the Guelf). I have also ventured slightly to alter the usual punctuation, by putting a full stop at giunta, and a comma at oppone. Observe that this passage alone upsets the ordinary notion of Dante as a Ghibeline partisan.
68 PARADISE
Pallas died to give it a kingdom. Thou knowest that it made in Alba its dwelling-place for three hundred years and more, until the end when the three fought the three, for its sake still^/rhou knowest what it did from the wrong of the Sabine women up to the woe of Lucretia, in seven kings, conquering the neighbour folk around. Thou knowest what it did, borne by the illustrious Romans to meet Brennus, to meet Pyrrhus, to meet the other kings and commonwealths ; whence Torquatus and Quinctius
Che Pallante mori per darli regno.
Tu sai ch' ei fece in Alba sua dimora^ Per trecent' anni ed oltre, infino al fine, Che i tre ai tre pugnar per lui ancora.^
Sai quel che fe dal mal delle Sabine 40
Al dolor di Lucrezia in sette regi, Vincendo intorno le genti vicine.
Sai quel che fe, portato dagli egregi
Romani incontro a Brenno, incontro a Pirro, E contro agli altri principi e collegi :
Onde Torquato, e Quintio, che dal cirro
^ sua gran d. Gg. ^ tre a tre Cass. Aid. ; tre e tre Gg. 2.
^ Because the death of Pallas led to that of Turnus (Aen. xii. 948), and so to the possession by Aeneas of Lavinia and the Latin kingdom. See De Mon. ii. 10.
^ ei, i.e. the eagle, *il sacrosanto segno.'
^ The Horatii and Curiatii, Livy i. 25, where the last Horatius is made to say to the last Curiatius, ' duos fratrum manibus dedi, tertium causae belli hujusce, ut Roma7ius Albano imperet^ dabo.' Until this event, Alba represented so to speak the elder branch of the line founded by Aeneas. See again De Mon. ii. 10, the whole of which chapter, together with Con v. iv. 5, forms the best commentary on this Canto. The instances given in the following lines are mostly too well known to require reference or explanation.
VI PARADISE 69
who was named from his neglected locks, and Decii and Fabii had the fame which I with good will embalm. It brought to earth the pride of the Arabs, who in Hannibal's train passed the Alpine cliffs, whence thou, Po, glidest. Under it in their youth triumphed Scipio and Pompey, and to that hill beneath which thou wast born, it appeared harsh. Afterwards, hard upon the time when the heaven wholly willed to bring back the world to its tranquil order, Caesar by the will of Rome bare it ; and what it did from
Negletto fu nomato, e Deci, e Fabi Ebber la fama, che volentier mirro.
Esso atterro T orgoglio degli Arabi,
Che diretro ad Annibale passaro 50
L' alpestre rocce, Pb, di che tu labi.
Sott' esso giovanetti trionfaro
Scipione e Pompeo, ed a quel coUe, Sotto il qual tu nascesti, parve amaro.
Poi presso al tempo, che tutto il Ciel voile Ridur lo mondo a suo modo sereno, Cesare per voler di Roma il toUe :
^^ coUe, i. e. Fiesole, ' quae civitas est prope Florentiam ad quam confugit Catilina pulsus ex urbe propter conjurationem quam fecerat per invadendam rempublicam, qui in agro pistoriensi postea prostratus est cum suis et civitas Fesularum destructa.' — Benvenuto. The de- struction of Faesulae is mentioned by Brunetto, Tresor i. 37, and by Villani i. 37 ; but Cicero and Sallust do not appear to know anything of it.
55, 56 i Poiche esso cielo comincio a girare, in migliore disposizione non fu, che allora quando discese Colui che V ha fatto e che '1 governa . . . e pero pace universale era per tutto.' — Con v. I.e.
^^ toUe must be formed directly from tulit (not, as Scart. suggests, ' da tollere per togliere ') because a perfect is clearly wanted.
70 PARADISE canto
Var even unto Rhine, Isere saw and Saone, and Seine saw, and every dale from which the Rhone is filled. That which it did after he issued from Ravenna and leapt the Rubicon, was of such a flight that neither tongue nor pen would follow it. Toward Spain it turned back its array, then to Dyrrhachium, and smote Pharsalia so that to the hot Nile they were aware of the smart. It saw again Antandros and Simois whence it started, and the place where Hector lies ; and to the hurt of Ptolemy thereafter
E quel che fe da Varo insino al Reno, Isara vide ed Era, e vide Senna, Ed ogni valle onde il Rodano e pieno. 60
Quel che fe poi ch' egli usci di Ravenna, E salto il Rubicon, fu di tal volo, Che nol seguiteria lingua ne penna.
In ver la Spagna rivolse lo stuolo : Poi ver Durazzo e Farsaglia percosse Si ch' al Nil caldo sentissi del duolo.^
Antandro e Simoenta onde si mosse, Rivide, e la dove Ettore si cuba, E mal per Tolommeo poi si riscosse.
f che il Nil Gg,
^ Era, generally taken to mean here the Saone, Araris ; but in M. Villani vii. 4, it is the Loire. These three lines allude, of course, to Caesar's campaigns in Gaul, and either river would serve equally well. ^ Cf. Purg. xviii. 102.
^ That is, the Troad, whence Dante has already said that the Roman eagle took its origin. He is probably thinking of Lucan ix. 961 sqq. * Sigeasque petit famae mirator arenas, Et Simoentis aquas, et Graio nobile busto Rhoetion, et multum debentes vatibus umbras. Circuit exustae nomen venerabile Trojae.
Phryx incola manes
Hectoreos calcare vetat.'
VI PARADISE 71
it aroused itself; whence it came in lightning to Juba; then it turned back into your west, where it heard the Pompeian trumpet. Of what it did in the company of its next bearer, Brutus with. Cassius howls in Hell, and Modena and Perugia were brought to woe. Still weeps for its cause the sad Cleopatra, who flying before it received from the viper her death sudden and dark. With this one it sped even to the Red shore ; with this one it laid the earth in such a peace that Janus had his shrine locked up.
Da onde venne folgorando a Giuba ; 70
Poi si rivolse nel vostro occidente,^
Dove sentia la Pompeiana tuba. Di quel che fe col baiulo seguente,
Bruto con Cassio nello inferno latra,
E Modona e Perugia fu dolente. Piangene ancor la trista Cleopatra,
Che, fuggendogli innanzi, dal colubro
La morte prese subitana ed atra. Con costui corse insino al lito rubro ;
Con costui pose il mondo in tanta pace, 80
Che fu serrato a Giano il suo delubro.
s Onde si volse Gg. 1 24 ; poscia si v. W.
"^^ vostro. Because Justinian, an Eastern emperor, is speaking to the Italian Dante. He alludes to the battle of Munda.
"^^ baiulo seguente. Augustus.
^* Inf. xxxiv. 64 sqq. Some object to this rendering of latra that Brutus is expressly stated * non far motto. ' The older commentators do not appear to have noticed the difficulty, though P. di Dante says * latrant, idest attestantur. ' But it seems simpler to suppose that here, as in Purg. xxii. 113, Dante has forgotten an earlier detail.
7^ lito rubro, i.e. the uttermost parts of Egypt. Probably suggested, as Scartazzini notes, by Aeneid viii. 686 ; though the reference there is to Antony.
72 PARADISE CANTO
But that which the ensign which makes me speak had done before and after was about to do through the mortal realm which is subject to it, becomes in appearance little and obscure, if it be looked at in the third Caesar's hand with clear eye and pure affection; for the living justice which inspires me granted to it, in the hand of him whom I say, the glory of working vengeance for kis wrath. Here then
Ma cib che il segno che parlar mi face, Fatto avea prima, e poi era fatturo Per lo regno mortal ch' a lui soggiace,
Diventa in apparenza poco e scuro, Se in mano al terzo Cesare si mira, Con occhio chiaro e con affetto puro :
Che la viva giustizia che mi spira,
Gli concedette, in mano a quel ch' io dico, Gloria di far vendetta alia sua ira. 90
Or qui t' ammira in cio ch' io ti replico :
^ terzo Cesaxe. Tiberius, under whom Christ was crucified. The argument is that of De Mon. ii. 1 1 : Si romanum imperium de jure non fuit, peccatum Adae in Christo non fuit punitum. ... Si ergo sub ordinario judice Christus passus non fuisset, ilia poena punitio non fuisset ; et judex ordinarius esse non poterat, nisi supra totum humanum genus jurisdictionem habens. . . . Et supra totum humanum genus Tiberius Caesar, cujus vicarius erat Pilatus, jurisdictionem non habuisset, nisi romanum imperium de jure fuisset.
^^ replico. I have followed the usual rendering, which, however, is not quite satisfactory, for Justinian is not repeating anything that he has said. * Unfold' might do; but I am inclined to think that there is a special allusion, appropriate to the speaker, marked by the use of the word here, and here only in the whole poem. In the terms of Roman law the statement of the plaintiff's case as sent by the magistrate to the judge, was intefttio. If the defendant pleaded special circumstances which made the general rule of law under which the case would naturally fall inapplicable, his plea was called exceptio. If the plaintiff answered, this
VI ' PARADISE 73
wonder thou in that which I repeat to thee : afterwards with Titus it sped to work vengeance for the vengeance of the ancient sin.
*And when the Lombard tooth bit the Holy Church, under its wings great Charles conquering succoured her.
*Now then thou canst judge of the men of that sort whom I accused above, and of their faults, which are the
Poscia con Tito a far vendetta corse Delia vendetta del peccato antico.
E quando il dente Longobardo morse La santa Chiesa, sotto alle sue ali Carlo Magno, vincendo, la soccorse.^
Omai puoi giudicar di quei cotali,
Ch' io accusai di sopra, e dei lor falli,
^ Karlo mano 2.
^2l?, replication *quia per earn replicatur et resolvitur jus exceptionis. ' (See Justin. Institutes, ed. Sandars, 1874, pp. Ixvii., 477.) Here we have a pretty close parallel, which is set out more fully in the next Canto, 11. 40-51. God has a controversy with the Jews for the death of Christ. The plea in answer is that this was the appointed atonement for man's fall. The replication enforced by the punishment of the Jews at the hands of Titus, would be that this in no way affected their guilt in crucifying an innocent person.
92, 93 'pjjg destruction of Jerusalem by Titus was the vengeance upon the Jews for the crucifixion of Christ, whereby Adam's sin was avenged.
^ * Morto Telofre, Desiderio suo figliuolo succedette a lui, il quale maggiormente che il padre fu nemico e persecutore di Santa Chiesa. . . . Per la qual cosa Adriano papa che allora governava Santa Chiesa, mando in Francia per Carlo Magno figliuolo di Pipino che veaisse in Italia a difendere la Chiesa dal detto Desiderio e da' suoi seguaci. ' — Villani ii. 13. It is referred to in De Mon. iii. 10.
^ I have rendered Carlo Magno by * Charles the Great ' in deference to established usage. At the same time I have little doubt that originally it was no more than an Italian corruption of * Carloman,' probably
74 PARADISE canto
occasion of all your ills. The one to the public ensign opposes the yellow lilies, and the other appropriates it to a party, so that it is hard to see which errs the most. Let the Ghibelines work, let them work their arts under another ensign, for he ever follows that amiss, who separates justice
Che son cagion di tutti i vostri mali.
L' uno al pubblico segno i gigli gialli loo
Oppone, e T altro appropria quello a parte, Si ch' e forte a veder chi piu si falli.^
Faccian gli Ghibellin, faccian lor arte Sott' altro segno ; che mal segue quello Sempre chi la giustizia e lui diparte :
* forte e veder Gg.; f. av. ^ chi piu f. W.
from a confusion with his brother of that name, if indeed the names were ' differentiated ' thus early. It is to be observed that Villani calls Carloman, son of Louis the Stammerer, equally Carlo Magno. At the same time the notion of ' magnus ' must have come in very early, for King Magnus the Good, from whom the name has become popular in Scandinavia, was named after the emperor, and he was born in 1024. (See St. Olafs Saga, ch. 131, where the king is puzzled by the name ; * that is no name in our family. ' Sighvat the priest says : * I called him after King Karlamagnus ; him I knew for the best man in the world.')
100 i gigli gialli. I.e. the golden yf^wrj de lys of France, or as the note in Gg. has it, ' insignia regis francie et Karoli veteris, quae sunt lilia citrina cum rastello desuper. ' ' The elder Charles ' of this note is of course Charles of Anjou, who, after his coming into Italy, was the mainstay of the Guelf party, so that they are said to oppose the Jleurs de lys to the eagle. Their Regular ensign, however, as Villani tells us (vii. 2), was *il campo bianco con una aguglia vermiglia in su uno serpente verde,' being the arms of Clement IV. To this they added * uno giglietto vermiglio sopra il capo dell' aquila. '
^^^ r altro, the Ghibelines, who turned the imperial eagle into the standard of a party.
VI PARADISE 75
and it. Nor let this new Charles beat it down with his Guelfs, but let him have a fear of the talons that have dragged the hide from a more exalted lion. Many times ere now have the sons wept for the father's sin, and let him not deem that God is changing His arms for his lilies. * This little star is furnished with the good spirits who
E non r abbatta esto Carlo novello Coi Guelfi suoi, ma tema degli artigli, Ch' a pill alto leon trasser lo vello.
Mote fiate gia pianser li figli
Per la colpa del padre : e non si creda, no
Che Dio trasmuti T armi per suoi gigli.
Questa picciola Stella si correda
Dei buoni spirti, che son stati attivi,
106 esto Carlo. Charles II of Apulia, son of Charles of Anjou, who was reigning in 1300. See Purg. xx. 79, and Par. xix. 127. With all deference to Herr Witte there can be no allusion to Charles of Valois, who had not come at the time when Justinian is supposed to be speaking. The word esto alone precludes this idea.
^^^ piu alto leon. Possibly the allusion is only to the various exploits of the eagle mentioned above ; but Dante may have more specially intended to refer to the defeats which Charles of Anjou suffered in his later years, e.g. at the hands of Roger di Loria before Messina in 1282. It is clear that Dante had a great respect for the elder Charles personally.
110 si creda. Witte treats this as impersonal, * let it not be thought ' ; but in that case * suoi ' becomes intolerably harsh, lax as are the modern languages in their use of the reflexive pronoun. There is no difficulty in taking si as pleonastic. I have followed Bianchi and Philalethes.
111 armi is the reading of nearly all MSS., and all the early edd. But Land, and Dan. read arme^ and Witte and Giuliani follow them. The meaning is obviously * armorial bearings,' though Buti and Veil. seem to take it as ^weapons.' Probably the two forms were not dis- tinguished in Dante's time.
76 PARADISE canto
have been active in order that honour and fame might fall to them. And when the desires rest here, thus going astray, it is meet that the rays of the true love should rest there- upon with less of life. But in the proportioning of our wages with our desert, is a portion of our joy, because we see them to be not too small nor too great. Hence the living justice makes our affection sweet within us, so that it can never be wrested to any unrighteousness. Divers voices make sweet notes : thus divers tiers in our life render a sweet harmony among these spheres.
* And within this present pearl shines the light of Romeo,
Perch^ onore e fama gli succeda :
E quando li desiri poggian quivi,
Si disviando, pur convien che i raggi Del vero amore in su poggin men vivi.
Ma nel commensurar dei nostri gaggi Col merto, e parte di nostra letizia, Perche non li vedem minor ne maggi. 120
Quinci addolcisce la viva giustizia In noi r affetto si, che non si puote Torcer giammai ad alcuna nequizia.
Diverse voci fanno dolci note : ^ Cosi diversi scanni in nostra vita Rendon dolce armonia tra queste ruote.'
E dentro alia presente margherita Luce la luce di Romeo, di cui
k fmt diverse n. Gg. 1 {71 queste Gg. 3.
^^^ As elsewhere, the active life is regarded as inferior to the con- templative. See for instance Conv. ii. 5.
^^ maxgherita. So ii. 34.
^'^ Romeo is not strictly a proper name, but merely signifies one who has been on a pilgrimage to Rome, as explained in V. N. § 41.
VI PARADISE 77
whose work, great and fair, was ill-received. But they of Provence who wrought against him have no laughter ; and so he goes an ill road who makes his own hurt from the prospering of another. Four daughters, and each one a queen, had Raymond Berenger ; and this did Romeo for him, a humble person and a stranger. And afterward slanderous words moved him to demand an account from this just man, who assigned to him seven and five for ten. Thence he departed poor and old ; and if the world knew
Fu r opra grande e bella mal gradita.
Ma i Provenzali, che fer contra lui, 130
Non hanno riso : e perb mal cammina, Qual si fa danno del ben far d' altrui.
Quattro figlie ebbe, e ciascuna reina Ramondo Berlinghieri, e cib gli fece Romeo persona umile e peregrina :
E poi il mosser le parole biece
A dimandar ragione a questo giusto, Che gli assegnb sette e cinque per diece.
Indi partissi povero e vetusto :
Thence it seems to have acquired a wider signification, as Villani tells us (vi. 90) that this particular Romeo fell in with Count Raymond on his way from Galicia, i.e. Compostella. It seems very uncertain whether his real name has been preserved, though one account speaks of him as named Romee.
129 Cf. Purg. xvii. 118.
^^ The four daughters of Raymond Berenger IV, Count of Provence, were married to Lewis IX, Henry III of England, his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans, and Charles of Anjou, brother of Lewis, and afterwards King of Apulia. See Purg. xx. 61. Villani, I.e., tells the story of Romeo's share in bringing about these marriages, and his subsequent disgrace through the jealousy of the lords of Provence, in words very similar to Dante's.
78 PARADISE
the heart which he had as he begged his living morsel by morsel — much it praises him — and it would praise him more.'
E se il mondo sapesse il cuor, ch' egli ebbe, 140 Mendicando sua vita a frusto a frusto, Assai lo loda, e piu lo loderebbe.
CANTO VII
ARGUMENT
Dante, moved by certain words of Justinian, is in doubt concerning God's justice, as displayed in the redemption of mankind through the Passion of our Lord Christ. Beatrice resolves this doubt ; and another concerning the dissolution of the elements.
^HosANNA^ sanctus Deus Sabaoth^ supertllus trans claritate tua felices ignes horicm malahoth ! ' So, returning to its song, this substance was seen by me to chant, upon
OsANNA Sanctus Deus Sabaoth,
Superillustrans claritate tua
Felices ignes horum malahoth : ^ Cos! volgendosi alia nota sua
Fu viso a me cantare essa sustanza,
3- malaoth Cass. Gg. 14; inalcaoth 2; malachoth 3; -coth W.
^■^ ' Ilosanna, holy God of hosts, beaming in Thy brightness over the blessed fires of these realms.' Hosanna and Sabaoth are familiar words ; malahoth appears to have been taken by Dante from St. Jerome's preface to the Vulgate, where he says that the 'books of Kings ' are better called * Melachim, id est Regum, quam Malachoth (al. Mamlachoth) id est Regnorum.' See Witte, Dante- Forschungen, vol. ii. p. 43. This makes other interpretations, such as that Dante meant 'works' or 'hosts' (Philal.) or 'angels,' superfluous.
® Literally ' it was seen by me that this substance was chanting. ' For this impersonal use of viso see Diez iii. 182. sustanza, i.e. the soul of Justinian. See note to Purg. xviii. 49.
8o PARADISE canto
which a twofold glory is paired; and it and the others moved to their dance, and like swiftest sparks veiled them- selves from me by sudden retreat. I was in doubt, and began to say *Tell her, tell her,' within myself: *Tell her' I was saying — namely to my Lady who slakes me with her gentle dews ; but that reverence which has the mastery of me wholly, even for B E and for ICE, was swaying me like a man who is going to sleep. A short while Beatrice endured me in that guise; and began,
Sopra la qual doppio lume s' addua : Ed essa e 1' altre mossero a sua danza,^
E quasi velocissime faville.
Mi si velar di subita distanza. Id dubitava, e dicea : Dille dille, lo
Era me, dille, diceva, alia mia donna,
Che mi disseta con le dolci stille : Ma quella reverenza, che s' indonna
Di tutto me, pur per BE e per ICE,
Mi richinava come T uom ch' assonna.^ Poco soiferse me cotal Beatrice,
b mesero Gg. ^ richia7?iava Gg. 134.
^ s* addua. Daniello takes this as merely a reference to v. 132 ; but in that case an imperfect would seem to be required, and it is better to understand it, with most commentators, as an allusion to Justinian's twofold glory of emperor and lawgiver. Scartazzini quotes his own words, from the preface to the Institutes, ' imperatoriam majestatem non solum armis decoratam, sed etiam legibus oportet esse armatam.'
^ The allusion seems to be to Wisd. iii. 7, where the Vulgate has * fiilgebunt justi et tanquam scintillae in arundineto discurrent. '
^2 Is. xlv. 8 : * Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justum . . . et justitia oriatur simul.'
^^ I.e. for every part of the name of Beatrice.
15 assonnare intrans. Cf. Purg. xxxii. 64, 69.
16 poco sofferse. Cf. Purg. xxxi. 10.
VII PARADISE 8i
beaming on me with such a smile that in the fire it would make a man happy :
'According to my unerring judgement how a just vengeance should have been justly punished has set thee on thought. But I will quickly set loose thy mind; and do thou listen, for my words shall make thee a gift of a great doctrine. For not enduring to the faculty that wills
E comincio, raggiandomi d' un riso, Tal che nel fuoco faria 1' uom felice :
Secondo mio infallibile avviso,
Come giusta vendetta giustamente 20
Punita fosse, t' ha in pensier miso ; ^
Ma io ti solverb tosto la mente, E tu ascolta, che le mie parole Di gran sentenzia ti faran presente.
Per non soffrire alia virtu che vuole
^ Vengiata W. (and some MSS.) ; /' hai Aid,
^^ Cf. Purg. xxvii. 52.
20 sqq. Dante's doubt, arising from Justinian's words in vi. 92, 93, is how both the crucifixion of Christ, and the punishment of the Jews for their share in it, could be equally just. Beatrice replies that qud man, Christ suffered justly ; qud God, unjustly. So Aquinas, S. T. iii. Q. 47. A. 4. 2 : Passio Christi fuit sacrificii oblatio, inquantum Christus propria voluntate mortem sustinuit ex charitate. Inquantum autem a per- secutoribus est passus, non fuit sacrificium, sed peccatum gravissimum.
^^ Cf. Purg. xxix. 27. Adam's sin arose from pride (S. T. ii. 2. Q. 163. A. I : Prima inordinatio appetitus humani fuit ex hoc quod aliquod bonum spirituale inordinate appetiit. Non autem inordinate appetiisset, appetendo id secundum suam mensuram ex divina regula praestitutam. Unde relinquitur quod primum peccatum hominis fuit in hoc quod appetiit aHquod spirituale bonum supra suam ; id quod pertinet ad superbiam) ; and it concerned the will, la virtii che vuole (S. T. ii. I. Q. 83. A. 3 : peccatum originale per prius respicit voluntatem . . . quia voluntas est propinquior essentiae animae tanquam superior potentia, primo pervenit ad ipsam infectio originalis peccati).
G
82 PARADISE CANTO
any curb, for its own advantage, that man who was never born, in damning himself, damned all his progeny ; wherefore the human kind lay sick below for many ages, in great error, until it pleased the Word of God to descend where He united to Himself, in person, the nature which had drawn away from its Maker, with the sole act of His eternal love. Now direct thy gaze to the subject of our
Freno a suo prode, quell' uom che non nacque Dannando se, dannb tutta sua prole :
Onde r umana spezie inferma giacque Gill per secoli molti in grande errore. Fin ch' al Verbo di Dio di scender piacque, 30
U' la natura, che dal suo Fattore ^
S' era allungata, unio a se in persona, Con r atto sol del suo eterno amore.
Or drizza il viso a quel che si ragiona ;
e Ella n. Gg.
^■33 S. T. iii. Q. 2. AA. i and 2 contain the doctrine of the union of the Word incarnate ; and whoever wishes thoroughly to understand the doctrine, must be referred to those Articles. For the present purpose it will be sufficient to quote from A. 2 ( i ) : Quia natura humana sic unitur Verbo, ut Verbum in ea subsistat, non autem ut aliquid addatur ei ad rationem suae naturae, vel ut ejus natura in aliud transmutetur ; ideo unio humanae naturae ad Verbum Dei facta est in persona, non in natura. — (It may not be out of place to notice here how 'Verbum,' *Word,' is a very inadequate rendering of the A670S of St. John. The term is clearly derived from the Aristotelian metaphysic. Thus we find the 'formal cause' is 6 X670S r^s oucr^as, which is practically the same as the 'final cause,' rh od 'iveKa ws t^\os^ while the state- ment apxn 0 \6yos suggests the dpxv rrjs KLvrjaecjs, or 'efficient cause,' the ' Motor primo ' of Purg. xxv. 70, and seems to explain the odros 9}u €P dpxv . . . irdpTa 5t' a^rov iyivero in the opening passage of the fourth Gospel.)
VII PARADISE 83
reasoning. This nature, united to its Maker, as it was at its creation was untainted and good. But through itself alone was it banished from Paradise, inasmuch as it turned itself aside from the way of truth and from its life. The penalty then which the cross offered, if it be measured according to the nature assumed, — none ever bit so justly ; and likewise none was of so great injustice, looking to the Person who suffered, in whom such nature was bound up. Wherefore from one act divers things issued ; for to God
Questa natura al suo Fattore unita,
Qual fu creata, fu sincera e buona : ^ Ma per se stessa pur fu ella sbandita ^
Di Paradiso, perrocche si torse
Da via di verita e da sua vita.^ La pena dunque che la croce porse, 40
S' alia natura assunta si misura,
Nulla giammai si giustamente morse : E cosi nulla fu di tanta ingiura,
Guardando alia persona, che sofferse,
In che era contratta tal natura. Perb d' un atto uscir cose diverse ;
Ch' a Dio ed ai Giudei piacque una morte ;
^ perfetta e buona Gg. s stessa fu 3 W.; foe isbandita al.
^ di via . . . di sua 145.
^^ There is something to be said for the reading suggested by Lombardi, da verita, or that found in some MSS. di — di — e dij as pointing more directly to *the Way, the Truth, and the Life.'
'^^ S. T. iii. Q. 47. A. i : Filius Dei humanam naturam integram assumpsit. And see QQ. 5, 6, passim. Observe the distinction between natura and (1. 44) persona. Boet. De Pers. et Nat. iii. : Persona est naturae rationalis individua substantia.
^^ S. T. iii. Q. 47. A. 3 : Pater tradidit Christum ex charitate . . . Judaei autem ex invidia.
84 PARADISE canto
and to the Jews one death was pleasing ; on its account the earth shook and heaven was opened. Henceforward it should no more seem a great thing to thee, when it is said that a just vengeance was afterward avenged by a just tribunal.
*But I see now thy mind restrained, by sequence of thoughts, within a knot of which with great desire a solu- tion is awaited. Thou sayest : I well perceive that which I hear ; but why God willed for our redemption just this
Per lei tremb la terra, e il Ciel s' aperse.
Non ti dee oramai parer piu forte,
Quando si dice, che giusta vendetta 50
Poscia vengiata fu da giusta corte.
Ma io veggi' or la tua mente ristretta
Di pensier in pensier dentro ad un nodo, Del qual con gran disio solver s' aspetta.
Tu dici, Ben discerno cio ch' io odo : Ma perche Dio volesse, m' e occulto,
56 sqq. gt. Thomas, S. T. iii. Q. 46. A A. i, 2, 3, discusses the ques- tions, * Utrum fuit necessarium Christum pati pro liberatione humani generis,' ' Utrum fuerit alius modus possibilis liberationis humanae quam per passionem Christi,' and * Utrum fuerit aliquis modus con- venientior ad liberationem humani generis quam per passionem Christi.' The gist of his decision on the third of these, which is the one more directly handled here, is as follows : Tanto aliquis modus con- venientior est ad assequendum finem quanto per ipsum plura concurrunt quae sunt expedientia fini ; and he goes on to show that this condition was satisfied by the passion of Christ, since from it man obtained a knowledge of the extent of God's love, an example of obedience, humility, constancy, justice, and other virtues, and deliverance from sin, together with justifying grace and the desert of blessedness ; and further, became the more bound to keep himself pure from sin, while human nature gained in dignity. This is somewhat expanded by Beatrice in the present passage. She begins as usual from God's
VII PARADISE 85
method, is hidden from me. This decree, brother, remains buried to the eyes of him whose wit has not grown up in the flame of love. Nevertheless since at this mark one may gaze long and discern little, I will tell why such a method was most worthy. The divine Goodness which
A nostra redenzion pur questo modo.
Questo decreto, frate, sta sepulto
Agli occhi di ciascuno, il cui ingegno
Nella fiamma d' amor non e adulto. 60
Veramente, perb ch' a questo segno Molto si mira e poco si discerne, Dirb perche tal modo fu piu degno.
La divina bonta, che da se sperne
attribute of love, with which, as in Canto V., knowledge is bound up (1. 66). Man's soul, as the immediate creation of God's love, has the special gifts of immortality, liberty, and likeness to God (cf. 2 Cor. v, 5, and iii. 17, 18). Now sin destroys the two last ('Homo peccando . . . decidit a dignitate humana . . . et incidit quodammodo in ser- vitutem bestiarum,' S. T. ii. 2. Q. 64. A. 2; 'Actus peccati facit distantiam a Deo ; quam quidem distantiam sequitur defectus nitoris hoc modo, sicut motus localis facit localem distantiam,' ii. i. Q. 87. A. 2), and therefore also the first. Nor can this be regained, save by a penalty equivalent to the offence. But man was not capable of paying " such a penalty ('quando natura est Integra, per seipsam potest reparari ad id quod est sibi conveniens et proportionatum ;, sed ad id quod excedit suam proportionem reparari non potest sine exteriori auxilio. Sic igitur humana natura defluens per peccatum, quia non manet In- tegra, sed corrumpitur, non potest per seipsam reparari,' S. T. ii. i. Q. 109. A. 7), and free remission was not expedient, as being a less evident manifestation of God's love (see passage quoted above). Thus the incarnation and passion of Christ were necessary.
^' ^^ da s^ sperne ogni livore. Quoted from Boethius, Cons. Phil. iii. Metr. 9, 'insita summi forma boni, livore carens,' which again is from Plato, Timaeus 29 E. : d7a^6s ^v [6 ^wto-rdj], d7a^y hk ovheh Trepl oidevbs oi)5^7rore iyylyverai (pdbvos.
86 PARADISE canto
spurns from Itself all envy, burning in Itself so sparkles that It displays Its eternal beauties. That which from It immediately distils has no end thereafter, because when It seals, Its impress is unmoved. That which from It immedi- ately showers is wholly free, because it is not subject to the power of the new causes. The more conformable it is to It the more pleasing it is therefore ; for the holy heat which irradiates everything, is most lively in that which has most
Ogni livore, ardendo in se sfa villa, ^ Si che dispiega le bellezze eterne.
Cio che da lei senza mezzo distilla,
Non ha poi fine, perche non si muove ^ La sua imprenta, quand' ella sigilla.^
Cio che da essa senza mezzo piove, 70
Libero e tutto, perche non soggiace Alia virtute delle cose nuove.
Pill 1' e conforme, e pero piu le piace : Che r ardor santo, ch' ogni cosa raggia, Nella piu simigliante e piu vivace.
i scintilla W. ^ pitcfine Gg. ; puo fine 2.
1 impronta Gg. 2.
^ Timaeus 41 C. : 5t' kiiov hk (says the Demiurgus) ravra yevdjut^va Kal ^lov /AeTao'x6i'Ta deols lad^oiT^ dp, k. t. X. Cf. Conv. iii. 14 (see note to xiii. 59).
68, 69 Qf pg^ jy^ y . Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine.
72 cose nuove. We must understand cose here in its primary sense of 'causes.' The cose nuove are * second causes,' i.e. the heavenly bodies and the elements. S. T. ii. i. Q. 19. A. 4 : in omnibus causis ordinatis, effectus plus dependet a causa prima, quam a causa secunda ; quia causa secunda non agit nisi in virtute primae causae. These, as being created later, are nuove. Cf. S. T. i. Q. 116. A. 4: Signa sunt quae immediate a Deo fiunt ; cum non subdantur secundis causis, non subduntur fato.
^ e must, I think, be taken as in Purg. iv. 90. This, though not usual in Italian, is common in the cognate languages. Diez iii. 365.
VII PARADISE 87
resemblance. Of all these things the human creature has the advantage ; and if one fails, needs must he fall from his nobility. Sin alone is that which disfranchises him, and makes him unlike to the highest Good, because from Its light he is too little illumined ; and to his own dignity he never comes back, if he does not replenish where sin empties, with just pains against evil enjoyment. Your nature, when it all sinned in its seed, was removed from
Di tutte queste cose s' avvantaggia \] umana creatura, e s' una manca, Di sua nobilita convien che caggia.
Solo il peccato e quel che la disfranca,
E falla dissimile al Sommo Bene, 80
Perche del lume suo poco s' imbianca ;
Ed in sua dignitk mai non riviene, Se non riempie dove colpa vota. Contra mal dilettar con giuste pene.
Vostra natura quando peccb tota Nel seme suo, da queste dignitadi. Come da Paradiso fu remota :
85 sqq. Cf. Scotus Erigen. De Div. Nat. v. 36 : Excepto hiimani- tatis Redemptore omnes homines peccaverunt, quod etiam naturae attribuitur, ej usque peccatum dicitur ; non quod ipsa natura ad imaginem Dei facta illud commiserit, sed quod liberae voluntatis, quae a Deo data est, rationabili bono irrationabilis abusio, et in amorem sensibilium conversio ipsam naturae pulcritudinem . . . dissimulavit, propriamque dignitatem abscondit.
86 seme, i.e. Adam. "Eo-rt 701/3 t6 (nripfia 5ixwy, e^ oi5 re, koI oS* Kol yap d0' oC dTr^X^e, to6tov (nr^pfxa. — Arist. Part. An. i. 6. Cf. Aug. De Civ. D. xiii. 14 : Nondum erat nobis singillatim creata et distributa forma, in qua singuli viveremus ; sed jam natura erat seminalis ex qua propagaremur ; qua propter peccatum vitiata . . . non alterius conditionis homo ex homine nasceretur.
88 PARADISE canto
these dignities as from Paradise ; nor could it recover them, if thou look right subtilly, by any way without passing through some one of these roads; either that God alone of His clemency should have put away, or that man should have made satisfaction for his folly. Fix now thine eye within the abyss of the eternal counsel, applied as straitly to my speech as thou art able. Man could never within his own limits make satisfaction, because he could not descend in humility by subsequent obedience, so far as by disobeying he aimed to rise ; and this is the reason why man was shut off from the power of making satisfaction by
Ne ricovrar poteasi, se tu badi
Ben sottilmente, per alcuna via,
Senza passar per un di questi guadi : ^ 90
O che Dio solo per sua cortesia
Dimesso avesse, o che F uom per se isso
Avesse satisfatto a sua follia. Ficca mo 1' occhio perentro 1' abisso
Deir eterno consiglio, quanto puoi
Al mio parlar distrettamente fisso." - Non potea 1' uomo nei termini suoi
Mai satisfar, per non potere ir giuso
Con umiltate, obbediendo poi, Quando disubbidendo intese ir suso : 100
E questa e la ragion, perche 1' uom fue
Da poter satisfar per se dischiuso.
™ gradi Gg. 1234. ^ discretaniente Aid,
^ Or *be recovered.' We might perhaps x^zA poteansi. ^ If we read discretamente, we must say * with discernment. ' 98-100 i Percioche I'altezza di Dio e infinita ; ma nessuna bassezza si trova che non sia finita.' — Land. The allusion is to Gen. iii. 5.
VII PARADISE 89
himself. Therefore it became God with His own paths to restore man to his perfect life ; I say with one, or indeed with both. But whereas the worker's work is the more acceptable in measure as it represents more of the goodness of the heart whence it has issued, the Divine goodness, which sets Its seal on the world, was well pleased to proceed by all Its methods to raise you on high again ; nor between
Dunque a Dio convenia con le vie sue Riparar T uomo a sua intera vita, Dico con r una, o ver con ambedue.
Ma perche T ovra tanto e piu gradita Deir operante, quanto piu appresenta Delia bontk del cuore ond' e uscita ; °
La divina bonta, che il mondo imprenta,
Di proceder per tutte le sue vie no
A rilevarvi suso fu contenta :
^ ondegle Gg. ; 07tde le 3.
103 yig^ Iq mercy and justice. Ps. xxiv. 10 ,(Vulg.) See also S. T. i. Q. 21. A. 4. Aquinas gives the verse, *Omnes (Vulg. universae) viae Domini misericordia et Veritas.' In a preceding article he has shown that * Veritas ' is equivalent to 'justitia.' It may be noted here that * misericordia ' is coupled thirty or more times with ' Veritas ' or 'justitia' in the Psalms. See Purg. xxix. 109, and explanation in Appendix B.
1°^ S. T. iii. Q. 46. A. i (where the objector is supposed to have quoted Ps. xxiv. lo as against the necessity of Christ's passion) : hominem liberari per passionem Christi conveniens fuit et misericordiae et justitiae ejus. Justitiae quidem ; quia per passionem suam Christus satisfecit pro peccato humani generis. Misericordiae vero ; quia cum homo per se satisfacere non posset pro peccato totius humanae naturae (Q. I. A. i), Deus ei satisfactorem dedit, filium suum.
106-108 Qf Y^ih.. Nic. x. 5 : Swai^^et yap ttju ipipyeiav t) oUeia 7}bovi}' fiaXkov yap ^Kacrra KpivovaL Kal i^aKpi^ovaLV ol fied' ijdovTJs ivepyovvTcs.
^^^ Cf. 1. 69. The repetition of the phrase seems intended to knit the whole argument together.
90 PARADISE canto
the last night and the first day has there been or will there be a procedure so lofty and magnificent either by the one way or by the other. For God was more bountiful to give Himself in making man sufficient to raise himself, than if He had of Himself alone remitted the sin. And all other methods were short in respect of justice, save that the Son of God should be humbled to become incarnate.
* Now, well to fulfil every desire for thee, I return to
Ne tra F ultima notte, e il primo die Si alto e si magnifico processo,^ O per r una, o per T altra fue o fie.^
Che pill largo fu Dio a dar se stesso. In far 1' uom sufificiente a rilevarsi, Che s' egli avesse sol da se dimesso.
E tutti gli altri modi erano scarsi Alia giustizia, se il Figliuol di Dio Non fosse umiliato ad incarnarsi. 120
Or, per empierti bene ogni disio,
P alto 0 SI Gg. Cass. 14 ; ne si 2. ^ hmo . . . laltro Gg. Aid.
113 processo ; probably with a suggestion of the word in its legal sense.
1^* There can hardly be any doubt that this is the correct reading. una and altra are clearly the vie already referred to ; and the six following lines have no appropriateness except on this view. The work of redemption was the greatest possible manifestation of God's mercy, because to enable man to rise, through the sacrifice of Himself, was a greater boon than a free pardon ; of His justice, because nothing but the incarnation of the Son of God could be a full recompense.
118 Comm. Gg. quotes St. Augustin. De Civ. D. xiii. : Sanandae nostrae miseriae convenientior modus alius non fuit quam per Christi passionem.
121 sqq. Beatrice's words in 11. 67-69 have given rise to another doubt. If all that God immediately created is immortal, how is it that the elements and all things compounded of them decay and perish ?
VII PARADISE 91
a certain passage to expound, so that thou mayest see matters there as I do. Thou sayest : I see the air, and I see the fire, the earth and the water and all their combina- tions come to destruction and endure but a little : — and yet these things were creatures : wherefore, if what I have said has been true, they ought to be secure from corruption. The angels, brother, and the incorrupt country in which
Ritorno a dichiarare in alcun loco, ^^-x Perch e tu veggi li cosi com' io.
Tu dici : Io veggio T aere, io veggio il foco, \J acqua, e la terra, e tutte lor misture Venire a corruzione, e durar poco :
E queste cose pur fur creature :
Per che se cio ch' ho detto e stato vero,^ Esser dovrian da corruzion sicure.
Gli Angeli, frate, e il paese sincero 130
^ cih e vero e st. v. Gg.
^^ Taken almost word for word from Arist. De Caelo, ill. 6 : 'A^5ia }xkv odv elvaL [sc. ra crrotxeta] ab()vaTov ' opCofiev yap rb irvp, koL rb vdwp, Ktti '^Kaarov tCjv olttKCov cwixaroiv diaXvofjievov.
^^^ sincero represents Aristotle's elXLKpLvrjs. With him, however, fire and earth were the elXiKpLv^araTa of the elements. (De Gen. et Corr. ii. 3.) Here the paese sincere is, of course, heaven. The argument of this passage is : God created immediately form and matter only. But matter ' is only intelligible as the correlate of form : it can neither exist by itself nor be known by itself.' (Grote, Aristotle, p. 456.) Consequently neither corruptibility nor incorruptibility can be predicated of it. Thus the only things unsusceptible of corruption in virtue of their immediate creation by God are the heavens, the angels, and human, i.e. intellectual, souls ; the first as having a special matter of their own {' non est eadem materia corporis caelestis et elementorum, nisi secundum analogiam,' S. T. i. Q. 66. A. 2) ; the others as being pure forms (Purg. xviii. 49). The soul in its lower aspects, nutritive, vegetative, etc., and all things compounded of the elements consist of matter combined with form (here again virtti is very nearly = iv^pyeia.
92 PARADISE CANTO
thou art, may be said to be created, just as they are, in their entire being ; but the elements which thou hast named and those things wl\ich are made of them, are informed by a created virtue. Created was the matter which they have ; created was the informing virtue in these stars which go round about them. The soul of every brute and of the plants being endued by complexion with potency draws in
Nel qual tu sei, dir si posson creati.
Si come sono in loro essere intero : Ma gli elementi che tu hai nomati,
E quelle cose, che di lor si fanno.
Da creata virtu sono informati. Creata fu la materia ch' egli hanno : ^
Creata fu la virtu informante
In queste stelle che intorno a lor vanno. L' anima d' ogni bruto e delle piante
Di complession potenziata tira 140
8 la natura Gg.
See note to Purg. iv. 1-12), under the influence of the heavenly bodies, which they receive according to the * complexions ' which they have i7i posse. But that which is compounded can be destroyed.
^^ I understand potenziata to agree, not as usually taken, with complession, but with anima ; and di complession potenziata to be a construction like * di sei ali pennuto ' in Purg. xxix. 94. The * com- plexions ' (Brunetto, Tresor ii. 32) are the four elementary properties of matter, heat, cold, moisture, drought ; or rather their combinations, crufeu^ets, from which the * simple bodies, ' earth, air, fire, and water, arise. (Arist. De Gen. et Corr. ii. 2, 3, 4.) According to their 'com- plexions ' all things have their own potentiality of being affected by the movements of the heavenly bodies. ' Actiones corporum caelestium diversimode recipiuntur in inferioribus corporibus, secundum diversam materiae dispositionem,' S. T. i. Q. 105. A. 3. * Esse complexio- natum reperitur in naturalibus,' De Mon. i. 4, and cf. Conv. iii. 3 re- specting plants. Benv. explains : influentia et virtus stellarum elicit omnem animam sensitivam [et] . . . vegetativam quia talis anima
VII PARADISE 93
the ray and the movement of the holy lights. But your life the highest Goodness inspires immediately, and enamours it of Itself, so that ever after it desires It. And hence thou canst further deduce argument for your resurrection, if thou think again how the flesh of man was made at the time when the first parents were both made.'
\. Lo raggio e il moto delle luci sante.
Ma vostra vita senza mezzo spira ^ La somma beninanza, e T innamora Di se, si che poi sempre la disira.
E quinci puoi argomentare ancora Vostra resurrezion, se tu ripensi Come r umana carne fessi allora,
Che li primi parenti intrambo fensi.
* nostra 3 Aid. Bi. Giul.
educitur de potentia materiae, id est simul cum corpore oritur, simul moritur. Non sic est de anima rationali, quia venit ab extra, scilicet a Deo. But it is clear, I think, that lo raggio e il moto must be taken as the object and not the subject of tira. Cf. v. 125.
145-148 i Cum in prima rerum formatione nullum praecesserit humanum corpus, cujus virtute per viam generationis aliud" simile in specie for- maretur ; oportuit primum corpus hominis immediate a Deo formari,' S. T. i. Q. 91. A. 2. The deduction from this of the resurrection of the body appears to be Dante's own even if suggested by Plato (see 1. 67 and note) ; at any rate it is not formulated by Aquinas.
\
CANTO VIII
ARGUMENT
I
They ascend to the third Heaven, of Venus, wherein are the souls of those who on earth were lovers. Dante talks with the King Charles Martel, who reproves his own house, and explains how if Nature be thwarted, a good seed may bring forth evil fruit.
The world to its own peril used to deem that the fair one of Cyprus beamed forth the foolish love, turning in the third epicycle ; wherefore not to her only did they pay honour of sacrifices and of votive shouts, the ancient folk in their ancient error, but they honoured Dione and Cupid, her for her
SoLEA creder lo mondo in suo periclo, Che la bella Ciprigna il folle amore Raggiasse, volta nel terzo epiciclo ;
Per che non pure a lei faceano onore Di sacrifici e di votivo grido Le genti antiche neir antico errore :
Ma Dione onoravano e Cupido,^
^ Majtmone Gg. ; dove 14.
^ suo periclo. * I.e. animarum pernitiem,' Benv.
^ Ciprigna = Cyprigenia, formed, no doubt, after Kvirpoyeveia. il folle amore, as opposed to ' honestus amor conjugalis,' P. di Dante.
^ The epicycle was a contrivance of the Ptolemaic astronomy to account for the 'retrograde' movements of the planets. Each was considered as revolving not immediately in a circle round the earth, but in a smaller circle about a point in the former circle. ' In sul dosso di
CANTO VIII PARADISE 95
mother, him for her son, and said that he sat in Dido's lap ; and from her, from whom I am taking my opening, they took the name of the star with which the Sun daUies, now to rearward, now in front. I was not conscious of my ascent to it ; but of being in it my Lady gave me assurance enough, in that I saw her grown more fair.
And as a spark is seen in a flame, and as voice is dis-
Questa per madre sua, questo per figlio,'' E dicean ch' ei sedette in grembo a Dido :
E da costei, ond' io principio pigho, 10
Pighavano il vocabol della Stella, Che il sol vagheggia or da coppa or da ciglio.
Io non m' accorsi del salire in ella : Ma d' esservi entro mi fece assai fede La donna mia ch' io vidi far piu bella.
E come in fiamma favilla si vede
b Quella W.
questo cerchio e una speretta che per se medesima in esto cielo si volge ; Io cerchio (i.e. the great circle in the plane of the principal orbit) della quale gli astrologi chiamano epiciclo.' — Conv. ii. 4. (Observe how in the following chapter he discusses the same subject as in the latter part of this Canto. )
^ Aeneid i. 657 sqq. and 715-719.
^2\^ I have followed P. di Dante, Benv. , and Landino (who, by the way, reads da poppa) ^ in taking il sol as the subject, and not the object, of vagheggia. The word is usually, if not always, used by Dante of the masculine toward the feminine. The allusion is of course to the fact that Venus, whether preceding or following the sun, is always near him. Da coppa, da ciglio, lit. *on the side of the nape,' 'of the brow ; ' and the metaphor is no doubt taken from playing with a woman's hair.
^2 They pass to the sphere of Venus.
^^ far. ' The infinitive of transitives can in certain cases express a passive sense.' — Diez iii. 189. Strictly speaking, of course, the apparent subject to fare is really the object : * I saw the acta of making her more fair take place. '
96 PARADISE canto
cerned in voice, when one is steady and the other goes and returns, saw I in that light other lamps moving around with more and less speed, in the measure, I believe, of their eternal vision. From a chill cloud never did winds descend, whether visible or not, so swiftly that they would not appear hindered and slow to whosoever had seen these lights divine come towards us, leaving the circling which had been first begun among the Seraphim on high. And within those
E come in voce voce si discerne, Quando una e ferma e T altra va e riede,
Vid' io in essa luce altre lucerne
Muoversi in giro piii e men correnti, 20
Al modo, credo, di lor viste eterne.^
Di fredda nube non disceser venti, O visibili o no, tanto festini, Che non paressero impediti e lenti,
A chi avesse quei lumi divini
Veduto a noi venir, lasciando il giro Pria cominciato in gli alti Serafini : ^
E dietro a quei che piii innanzi appariro,
c mte7'ne Gg. Cass. W, ^ gli altri Cass. 2 Aid.
^^ * Canto fermo ' is the name given by musicians to the form of com- position in which one voice sustains the theme, while the others are singing a more or less florid accompaniment.
2^ Cf. V. 4 sqq.
22 Cf Purg. V. 37. The allusion here is to the cKvecpias (hurricane) of Ar. Meteor, iii. i.
^ Because the seraphim, as the highest order of angels, preside over the movement of the priino 7?iobile, upon which the movements of all the other heavens depend. We learn from Conv. ii. 6 that the order especially charged with directing the movement of Venus are the * Thrones ' ; see ix. 61. (This arrangement, however, differs from that finally adopted by Dante ; see note to xxviii. 130.)
VIII PARADISE 97
which appeared most in front, Hosanna was sounding so that never since have I been without desire of hearing it again. Then one drew nearer to us, and alone began : ^ We are all ready to thy pleasure that thou mayest have joy of us. We revolve with those princes of heaven, in one circle, with one circling, with one longing, to whom thou saidest erewhile in the world, " Ye whose intelligence the third heaven moves ;^'' and we are so full of love that, to
Sonava Osanna, si che unque poi ^
Di riudir non fui senza disiro. 30
Indi si fece 1' un piu presso a noi, E solo incomincib : Tutti sem presti Al tuo piacer, perche di noi ti gioi.
Noi ci volgiam coi Principi celesti
D' un giro e d' un girare e d' una sete, Ai quali tu nel mondo gia dicesti :
Vol, che intendendo il terzo del movete : E sem si pien d' amor, che per piacerti
^ che C071 qnei poi Gg.
^^ un. This is Carlo Martello (not to be confused with the original Charles M artel), eldest son of Charles II of Anjou and Naples. He was born about 1 271, was crowned King of Hungary, on the death, without male issue, of his maternal uncle, Ladislas IV, son of Stephen V, in 1289 — but never ruled there — married Clemence, daughter of Rudolf of Hapsburg, by whom he had a daughter of the same name, married afterwards to Lewis X of France, visited Florence in 1295, and died apparently in that year. See Villani vii. 85, 135, viii. 13, and x. 106. These chapters contain all that is known of this prince, whose early promise so much impressed Dante.
^'^ This is the first line of the Canzone to which Conv. ii. is the commentary, * Corpora caelestia moventur ab aliqua substantia appre- hendente,' S. T. i. Q. 70. A. 3. *In quibusdam libris de Arabico translatis substantiae separatae quas nos angelos dicimus, Intelligentiae vocantur,' Q. 76. A. 10.
H
98 PARADISE canto
please thee, a little rest will not be less sweet.' After that my eyes had been lifted to my Lady in reverence, and she had of her own self made them content and certain, they turned back to the light which had given such promise of itself, and 'Say who ye are' was my utterance, stamped with deep affection. O, in what measure and in what wise did I see it grow more by reason of a new joy which accrued, when I spoke, upon its joys. So fashioned, it said to me : * The world held me below short time ; and if
Non fia men dolce un poco di quiete.
Poscia che gli occhi miei si furo offerti 40
Alia mia donna reverenti, ed essa Fatti gli avea di se contenti e certi,
Rivolsersi alia luce, che promessa Tanto s' avea, e : Di' chi siete, fue ^ La voce mia di grande affetto impressa.
O quanta e quale vid' io lei far piue Per allegrezza nuova, che s' accrebbe, Quand' io parlai, all' allegrezze sue.
Cosi fatta mi disse : il mondo m' ebbe
^ dichi^ alt. to dechi Gg. ; dir chi Land. ; di, Chi s. Veil ; se^ tu al.
^ Di' chi siete ? is the reading which has the weight of authority. There is supposed to be some difficulty about the change from the singular to the plural, though a similar change is found in Purg. xix. 94 ; and for this reason, apparently, some, including Benvenuto and Bianchi, read Deh! chi (with which we may compare Purg. xi. 37), and others, e.g. Veil, and Dan., di ^ Chi siete ?^ a very awkward construction. Gg. has dichi, altered into dechi. Others again adopt a reading suggested by Daniello in his note, Di^ chi se' Hi. But there seems no reason why Dante should not ask, * Tell me, who you in this heaven are?' Of course, siete must not be taken as the plural of reverence.
VIII PARADISE 99
it had been more — much evil will be, that then had not been. My happiness holds me hidden from thee, which beams around me, and covers me like an animal swathed in its own silk. Well didst thou love me, and hadst good reason why : for if I had stayed below, I had shown thee of my love more than the leaves. That left bank which is washed of Rhone after it is mingled with Sorgue, awaited me in due time for its lord ; and that horn of Italy which makes its
Gill poco tempo ; e se piu fosse stato, 50
Molto sara di mal, che non sarebbe.
La mia letizia mi ti tien celato,
Che mi raggia dintorno, e mi nasconde, Quasi animal di sua seta fasciato.
Assai m' amasti, ed avesti bene onde : Che s' io fossi giu stato, io ti mostrava Di mio amor piu oltre che le fronde.
Quella sinistra riva, che si lava
Di Rodano, poich' e misto con Sorga,
Per sVio signore a tempo m' aspettava ; 60
50, 51 Yox the somewhat condensed form of expression, cf. vi. 140, 142.
52 Cf. V. 136.
^* Cf. xxvi. 97, 135. Witte's view, that this is the last sphere in which the spirits appear with their bodily lineaments, seems hardly borne out by the text. It is rather the first in which they do not ; showing themselves as lights only.
5^ I.e. I should have shown fruits as well. We cannot now tell Dante's reasons for the opinion he formed of Carlo Martello. Their acquaintance must have been made on the occasion of the prince's visit to Florence.
58 sqq. J g. < I should, if I had lived, have been Count of Provence' (through his grandmother, daughter of Raymond Berenger), ' King of Apulia, and of Hungary.'
lOO PARADISE CANTO
suburbs of Bari, of Gaeta, and of Catona, from where Tronto and Verde disgorge into the sea. Already was gleaming on my brow the crown of that land which the Danube waters after it leaves its German banks ; and fair Trinacria which grows dark between Pachynum and Pelo-
E quel corno d' Ausonia, che s' imborga Di Bari, di Gaeta, e di Catona,^ Da ove Tronto e Verde in mare sgorga : ^
Fulgeami gia in fronte la corona
Di quella terra che il Danubio riga, Poi che le ripe Tedesche abbandona :
E la bella Trinacria, che caliga
g Crotoiia Aid. Land. Bi. Giul. etc. ^ Da onde 14 ; La ove Cass. ; dove Aid.
^^ s' imborga. This is one of the curious reflexive compounds with in (almost untranslatable) which abound in the * Paradise,' and scarcely appear at all in the other Cantiche. Doubtless they will hereafter serve as arguments for the separate authorship of this portion of the poem.
^^ Catona is a small town in Calabria a little north of Reggio, and almost exactly opposite Messina, for which it seems to have been the point of departure (Vill. vii. 65). Here it is taken to denote the extreme limit of the kingdom of Naples to the south, as the Tronto and Verde (Garigliano) to the north, Bari and Gaeta marking the 'upper' and * lower ' coasts. It may be noted that these two towns are almost exactly in the same latitude. All three being on the farthest boundary of the territory are, as it were, suburbs, borghi. The reading Crotona, which most editors from Landino and Aldus have adopted, has no authority from MSS. or early edd., and the very fact of the comparative obscurity in later times of Catona, which Blanc regards as a reason for preferring it (Diz. Dant. s. v. Crotona), is in truth a strong argument against it.
^^ Landino, following Buti, has a curious variant : ' La ove tronco el verde mare sgorga,' apparently suggested by Purg. xiv. 32. Verde. See Purg. iii. 131. Here it must clearly denote some stream marking the limit of the ' kingdom ' on the opposite coast to the Tronto, its N. E. boundary ; and this can hardly be any other than the Garigliano.
PARADISE
rum, above the gulf which receives from Eurus greatest disturbance (not on account of Typhoeus, but of nascent sulphur), had still awaited its kings sprung through me of Charles and Rudolf; if ill -government which ever puts
Tra Pachino e Peloro sopra il golfo, Che riceve da Euro maggior briga,
Non per Tifeo, ma per nascente solfo, 70
Attesi avrebbe li suoi regi ancora ^ Nati per me di Carlo e di Ridolfo, — — - -
Se mala signoria, che sempre accora
i Accesi , . . raggi Gg.
68 golfo. That of Catania, which is open to the east.
''^ Explanatory of course of caliga. As a matter of fact, it was not Typhoeus, but Enceladus whom the ancients fabled to have been buried under Aetna. See Aeneid iii. 578.
''^ ' My descendants would have ruled in Sicily, if misgovernment had not caused the massacre of the French. ' Alluding of course to the ' Sicilian Vespers,' or rising of the Sicilians against the House of Anjou, and expulsion pf the French army and officials to the cry of ' Muoiano i Francesi ! ' March 30, 1282. See Villani vii. 61. Through this the crown of Sicily passed to the House of Aragon, who represented (in the female line) that of Swabia. It may not be out of place to quote Amari's estimate of this passage : * Que' tre versi,' he says (1st. Sic. p. 300), * resteranno per sempre come la piu forte, precisa e fedele dipintura, che ingegno d' uomo far potesse del vespro siciliano. '
^^ See note to line 31. Observe that in his descendants the con- tending factions would have been united, Rudolf being as Emperor the head of the Ghibelines, and Charles the great champion of the Guelfs. Charles himself seems to have foreseen something of this kind. See Villani vii. 55 : ' Lo re Carlo- il (sc. Ridolfo) temette forte ; e per essere bene di hn, diede a Carlo Martello figliuolo del figHuolo, la figliuola del detto re Ridolfo per moglie.' We may, perhaps, see here the reason of Dante's great interest in him.
'^ accora. Usually, as in Purg. v. 57, x. 84, 'to touch the heart.' Here, however. Diet. Cruse, following Buti, seems right in rendering ' animos addere. '
PARADISE
heart in the subject -peoples had not moved Palermo to cry, " Die, die." And if my brother had foreseen this he would ere now be flying the greedy poverty of Catalonia, that it harm him not ; for verily it needs that provision be made either by him or by another, so that on his laden bark more load be not put. His nature which of a lavish
Li popoli suggetti, non avesse
Mosso Palermo a gridar : Mora, mora.
E se mio frate questo antivedesse, \J avara poverta di Catalogna Gia fuggiria, perche non gli offendesse :
Che veramente provveder bisogna
Per lui o per altrui, si ch' a sua barca 80
Carcata piu di carco non si pogna.^
La sua natura, che di larga parca
k Carica Aid,
7^ mio frate. Robert, Duke of Calabria, third son of Charles II, with two of his brothers, was detained in exchange for his father (see Purg. XX. 79) by the King of Aragon from 1288 till 1295. James of Aragon (grandson of Manfred) and Charles were reconciled in that year ; and in the following year James and his great Admiral Roger di Loria made their submission to the Pope, Boniface VIII. Afterwards James and Charles in alliance attacked Don Frederick, who had retained Sicily (see note, Purg. vii. 119). We find Robert on more than one occasion after this in command of Aragonese or Catalan forces, whence, no doubt, the allusion in the next line.
79-81 j|- j^a,y be noticed that the war between Charles and James on the one side and Frederick on the other was mainly carried on at sea, and that Robert and Loria, being on their way to provision Catania and other captured fortresses in Sicily, were wrecked off Cape Pachinum in the summer of 1301. This may have suggested the metaphor of these lines.
^- The ^ larghezza' of Charles II is mentioned by Villani ; see the passage quoted to Purg. vii. 119 ; it is indeed the one virtue which
VIII PARADISE 103
one is the niggardly offspring, would have need of such soldiery as should not care to put into coffer.' * Because I believe that the high joy which thy speech infuses into me, my lord, in a place where all good has its end and beginning, is seen by thee as I see it, it is the more grateful to me ; and this too I hold dear, that thou discernest it in gazing upon God. Thou hast made me joyful; and so make me clear, since in speaking thou hast moved me to doubt how from sweet seed bitter can be.' This I to him ; and he to me : * If I am able to demonstrate to thee
Discese, avria mestier di tal milizia, Che non curasse di mettere in area.
Pero ch' io credo che F alta letizia,
Che il tuo parlar m' infonde, signor mio. La Ve ogni ben si termina e s' inizia,^
Per te si veggia, come la vegg' io ;
Grata m' e piu, e anche questo ho caro, Perche il discerni rimirando in Dio. 90
Fatto m' hai lieto : e cosi mi fa chiaro, Poiche parlando a dubitar m' hai mosso, Come esser pub di dolce seme amaro."^
Questo io a lui : ed egli a me : S' io posso
1 Dove 3 ; Ove Aid. ^ uscir Aid. W. Bi. Giul
Dante (xix. 128) allows him. The historian also, while approving, as do other contemporaries, the general character of Robert, says (xii. 10): * poi che comincio a invecchiare, 1' avarizia il guastava. ' Some suggest that he learnt this during his compulsory stay in Spain.
^^ perch^, as in Purg. vi. %%. The transition from * because ' to ' that ' is easy. Cf. the late Latin use of quia.
92, 93 With reference to the remark in 1. 82. dubitar is used in its technical sense = the Greek diropeiv.
I04 PARADISE canto
one truth, towards that which thou askest thou wilt hold thy face as thou dost hold thy back. The Good which sets in revolution and contents all the realm which thou art scaling, makes its foresight to be virtue in these great bodies. And not only the natures are foreseen in the mind which is of itself perfect, but they together with their pre- servation. Wherefore whatsoever this bow discharges falls disposed to a foreseen end, just as a thing aimed right upon its mark. If this were not so, the heaven where thou
Mostrarti un vero, a quel che tu dimandi Terrai il viso, come tieni il dosso.
Lo ben, che tutto il regno che tu scandi Volge e contenta, fa esser virtute Sua providenza in questi corpi grandi :
E non pur le nature provvedute loo
Son nella mente ch' e da se perfetta. Ma esse insieme con la lor salute.
Per che quahtunque questo arco saetta, Disposto cade a provveduto fine, Si come cosa in suo sesrno diretta.
^^ un vero. I.e. the doctrine that God's providence, acting through the heavenly bodies (cf. Purg. xxx. 109 sqq.), overrules all other causes, disposes all things to their ends, and arranges the order of nature with a view to its preservation.
98, 99 s^ T. ii. 2. Q. 96. A. 2 : ' Virtutes naturales corporum natu- ralium consequuntur eorum formas substantiales, quas sortiuntur ea impressione caelestium corporum.'
103-105 Therefore nothing happens by chance. For the metaphor cf. i. 126 ; and see note at end of that Canto.
^^^ All authority seems in favour of the reading cosa; though a better sense is given by cocca. This denotes properly the notch of the arrow (Inf. xii. 77); but it is used, Inf. xvii. 136, for the arrow itself.
PARADISE 105
journeyest would so produce its effects that they would not be an artist's works, but ruins. And this cannot be, if the intellects which move these stars are not maimed, and maimed the First, in that He has not perfected them. Wilt thou that this truth dawn more upon thee?' And I : ' No longer, because I see it is impossible for Nature, in that which is necessary, to fail.' Wherefore he again : '■ Say now, would it be the worse for a man on earth if he were not a citizen?' 'Yes,' answered I, 'and here I seek
Se cio non fosse, il ciel che tu cammine Producerebbe si li suoi effetti, Che non sarebbero arti, ma ruine :
E cib esser non pub, se gli intelletti
Che muovon queste stelle non son manchi, no E manco il primo, che non gli ha perfetti.
Vuoi tu che questo ver piu ti s' imbianchi ? Ed io : Non gia ; perche impossibil veggio Che la Natura, in quel ch' e uopo, stanchi.
Ond' egli ancora : Or di', sarebbe il peggio Per r uomo in terra, se non fosse cive ? Sij rispos' io, e qui ragion non cheggio.
106-111 jf things did happen by chance, all would be in confusion, which would argue imperfection both in the Mover of the heavens, and in the Prime Mover. See also De Mon. i. 3, 4, where the line of argu- ment is not unlike that followed here; and Conv. ii. 5 and iii. 15: Avr-ebbe anche la natura fatto indarno, perocche non sarebbe ad alcuno fine ordinato.
113, 114 The argument from the law that Nature does nothing in vain, is also used in De Mon. ii. 7 ; and there, as here, is obviously borrowed from Arist. Pol. i. 2 : &v dp lottos ^ijaei iroKiTLKhv ^Qov . . . ovdkv yhp i] (pTucns fiaTrjv iroieT, \6yov 5^ fji,6vou dpdpojTTos ^x^' '^^'' t^^^'
115-117 ]\Jq^- ^^^ cannot fully attain his end unless he lives in society. Arist. Eth. i. 7 : (pijaet TroXiTiKbs dvdpcoiros. (ix. 9) ttoKltlkov 6 dvOpojiros Koi (Tv^riv ire^vKds, So Pol. I.e. and iii. 6.
io6 PARADISE canto
no argument.' * And can he be, if one lives not diversely below, by means of divers functions ? No, if your master well writes on that point/ So he came in deduction thus far ; afterward he concluded : ^ Then it behoves that divers must be the roots of the effects in you ; wherefore one is born Solon and another Xerxes, another Melchisedec, and another, he who flying through the air lost his son. The
E puo egli esser, se giu non si vive ^ Diversamente per diversi ufici ? No, se il maestro vostro ben vi scrive. 120
Si venne deducendo insino a quici ;
Poscia conchiuse : Dunque esser diverse Convien dei vostri effetti le radici :
Per che un nasce Solone ed altro Serse,^ Altro Melchisedech, ed altro quello Che volando per F aere il figlio perse.
^ segui 4 ; se qui Gg. o as sal one 145.
118-120 ^^^ jj^ ^^^^ ^^gg there must be- a diversity of functions. The particular passage of Aristotle which Dante has in mind would seem to be Pol. ii. 2 : Ov ixbvov 8' iK TrXeidvcou dpOpuircou eariv tj irdXts, dXXa Kal i^ etdcL dLa</)ep6pTU)v' ov yap yiveraL ttoXls i^ bfioiwv . . . 01 jxkv yap &pxov(nu, ol 5' dpxovrai irapoL fxipo^, (bairep hv 6XKol yevbixevoL. ^bv atrrbv 5t] Tpbirov dpxbvrwp '^repot erepas &pxov(nv dpxds. See also Conv. iv. 4.
^^^ If all things are disposed by providence, through the influence of the heavenly bodies, to their proper ends, and if differences are seen in the ends to which men's various dispositions fit them, it follows that the different dispositions of men must be the result of different influences.
^-^ quello : Daedalus. One man is a law -giver, another a tyrant, another a priest (or a good king), another a craftsman. In the last there may be a suggestion of the difference between son and father. Daedalus flew, Icarus fell.
VIII PARADISE 107
nature of the spheres, which is seal to the mortal wax, does well its art, but it does not distinguish the one from the other habitation. Hence it happens that Esau is divided in his begetting from Jacob, and Quirinus comes from so mean a father that he is referred to Mars. A nature begotten would always make its course like its begetters if the divine foresight were not stronger. Now that which was behind thee is before ; but that thou mayest know that I have joy of thee, I will that thou clothe thee with a corollary. Nature, if it finds fortune at odds with it, like every other seed out of its
La circular natura, ch' e suggello p Alia cera mortal, fa ben su' arte. Ma non distingue T un dalF altro ostello.
Quinci adivien, ch' Esau si diparte 130
Per seme da Jacob ; e vien Quirino Da si vil padre, che si rende a Marte.
Natura generata il suo cammino Simil farebbe sempre ai generanti, Se non vincesse il provveder divino.
Or quel che t' era dietro t' e davanti. Ma perche sappi che di te mi giova, Un corollario voglio che t' ammanti.
Sempre natura se fortuna truova
Discorde a se, come ogni altra semente,"^ 140
P Larticular 124; Larticiila 5. ^ conmog7zaltra 14; coiiognaltra 5.
127, 128 suggello . . . cera. The favourite image ; as in i. 41 and elsewhere.
133-135 cf Ymg. vii. 123.
136 See 1. 96.
138 corollario. Cf. Purg. xxviii. 136. ammanti: put on as a cloak, the last garment.
140. 141 ^Yg ^j.g again reminded of Purg. xxx, 11 8- 120.
io8 PARADISE canto viii
own country, always makes ill sample. And if the world below laid its mind to the foundation which nature lays, following her, it would have its folk good. But ye wrest to religion such an one as shall have been born to be girt with the sword, and ye make him a king who is a man of sermons ; wherefore your track is outside of the road.'
Fuor di sua region, fa mala pruova.
E se il mondo laggiu ponesse mente Al fondamento che natura pone, Seguendo lui, avria buona la gente.
Ma voi torcete alia religione
Tal che fia nato a cingersi la spada,^ E fate Re di tal ch' e da sermone :
Onde la traccia vostra e fuor di strada.
^ chefu Aid.
^^ If people were brought up in accordance with their innate dispositions.
^^'^ * Et videtur hoc dicere pro rege Roberto, qui bene sermocina- batur. . . . Etiam poeta caute fingit Carolum dicere ista, quod voluisset potius Robertum fieri fratrem minorem quam regem, ut regnum pervenisset ad heredem suum.' — Benv. In the previous line Scartazzini sees, perhaps rightly, an allusion to Charles's eldest sur- viving brother, Lewis, who became a monk and Archbishop of Toulouse, and was canonised in 131 1 (Vill. vii. 95, ix. 23).
CANTO IX
ARGUMENT
Dante talks with Cunizza ; and with Folco the troubadour and bishop, who shows him the soul of Rahab.
After that thy Charles, O fair Clemence, had enlightened me, he recounted to me the treasons which his seed should undergo ; but he said : ' Keep silence, and let the years go
Dapoiche Carlo tuo, bella Clemenza, M' ebbe chiarito, mi narro gl' inganni Che ricever dovea la sua semenza.
Ma disse : Taci, e lascia volger gli anni : ^
^ passar gli a. Gg. ; imiove?- 45.
^ Scartazzini devotes a long note to the question whether it is Charles's wife or his daughter that is here apostrophised ; taking him- self the latter view. The objection to the former is that the elder Clemenza died in 1301, that is long before the ' Paradise ' was written. On the other hand Carlo tuo is an unusual way of speaking of a father to his daughter : and so much so, that in spite of the consensus of the ItaHan commentators, at all events from Landino downwards, we must, I think, agree with Witte in understanding the elder Clemenza to be the one indicated. For this view we have the support of P. di Dante (which would be more weighty if he did not call her ' filia Albertixegis,' perhaps confusing her with the wife of Charles, son of Robert) and Comm. Gg., that is, Benvenuto, whom Scartazzini, led astray by the defective Italian version of his commentary, deems to be on the other side. His words are * fuit uxor Karoli ad quam dirigit sermonem. '
no PARADISE canto
round,' so that I may not tell, save that a just lamentation will come behind your injuries.
And by this the life of that holy light had turned back to the Sun which replenishes* it, as being that Good, which is to everything in due quantity. Ah, souls deceived and creatures impious, who wrest your hearts from a Good so fashioned, directing the thoughts of your heads unto vanity.
And lo, another of those splendours made towards me, and began to signify in its outward brightening its will to
Si ch' io non posso dir, se non che pianto Giusto verra diretro ai vostri danni.
E gia la vita di quel lume santo ^ Rivolta s' era al Sol che la riempie, Come quel ben, ch' a ogni cosa e tanto."^
Ahi anime ingannate, e fatture impie,^ lo
Che da si fatto ben torcete i cuori, Drizzando in vanita le vostre tempie !
Ed ecco un' altro di quegli splendori Ver me si fece, e il suo voler piacermi Significava nel chiarir di fuori.
^ la vista Cass. 1234. ^ Come a quel Cass. Bi, Giul.
^ fatue ed empie Bi. Giul. etc.
^ danni. I.e. the supersession of Charles's son Carlo Roberto in the kingdom of Naples by his uncle Robert. It is hard to say whether Dante had any actual events in view, or was only prophesying according to his own wishes. Robert's misfortunes, to which some of the older comm. somewhat naively refer, e.g. the death of his only son in 1328, and two narrow escapes from assassination, did not befall him till Dante had been many years dead. At this time he was prosperous enough.
^ la vita. I.e. the soul which was within the light. The reading vista is tempting, but lacks authority.
10 Cf. Purg. X. 121.
^^ So V. 132 and elsewhere.
PARADISE
please me. The eyes of Beatrice which were fixed upon me as before, certified me of a dear assent to my desire. ' Put, I pray, quick recompense to my wish, blessed spirit,' I said, ^ and give me a proof that there is power in thee to reflect that which I think.' Wherefore the light which yet was new to me, from its depth, whence it before was sing- ing, continued, as to one whom it is pleasing to benefit : ' In that part of the misguided land of Italy which lies
GH occhi di Beatrice, ch' eran fermi Sovra me come pria, di caro assenso Al mio disio certificato fermi.^
Deh metti al mio voler tosto compenso,
Beato spirto, dissi, e fammi pruova 20
Ch' e possa in te refletter quel ch' io penso.^
Onde la luce che m' era ancor nuova,
Del suo profondo, ond' ella pria cantava, Seguette, come a cui di ben far giova :
In quella parte della terra prava
® al mio disio Gg. Cass. 14. ^ Chi possa Cass.; Ch^ io possa 23 ^. Bi. GiuL; Ch^ i Aid.
17 pria. viii. 42. t^'^^'^
-1 With much diffidence I venture to modify the usually accepted reading of this line, which appears to contain an error in grammar, and not to give the required meaning. If possa be taken as a verb, there is nothing to account for the subjunctive ; and further, it is not Dante who reflects his own thought, but the spirit who reflects it back to him. (There does not seem to be any question here of the reflexion of thoughts in the Divine mind as in xv. 61 ; nor is 1. 61 of the same Canto, which some comm. quote, at all to the point.) The reading che possa is found in Gg. i and 4 ; while Philalethes's rendering, * gieb Beweis mir dass sich in Dir abspiegle was ich denke,' looks as if he had read che puossi, for which, however, I find no authority. The infin. without a preposition after h possa is justified by such phrases as ' e uopo aprirmi,' Inf. ii. 81.
-^ in quella parte. I.e. the district of Treviso, which is bounded.
112 PARADISE CANTO
between Rialto and the streams of Brenta and Piave, there lifts itself a hill, and rises not very high, the whence descended on a time a little spark which mightily assailed the region round about; Of one root both I and it were born ; Cunizza was I called, and here I shine, because the
Italica, che siede intra Rialto
E le fontane di Brenta e di Piava, Si leva un colle, e non surge molt' alto,
La onde scese gia una facella,
Che fece alia contrada grande assalto ; 30
D' una radice nacqui ed io ed ella ;
Cunizza fui chiamata, e qui refulgo
roughly speaking, by the rivers Brenta and Piave, and extends to the territory of Venice.
^'' fontane seems here to mean the streams themselves, for the sources of both rivers are far from Trevisan territory ; unless we are to hold with Philalethes that Dante means to indicate the position of Ezzelino's patrimony about the middle point of a triangle formed by the sources of Piave and Brenta, and. the town of Venice. There is, how- ever, some uncertainty about the position of Romano. Lubin under- stands Dante to refer to a point at or near the junction of the territories of Padua, Treviso, and Venice. No trace of it seems now to exist ; and the view of Philalethes, who with other commentators puts it near Bassano, may arise from a confusion of it with the fortress founded by Ezzelino which still stands in that town.
^ facella. Pietro di Dante, who not improbably died at Treviso, mentions a legend that Ezzelino's mother, shortly before his birth, dreamt that she was brought to bed of a lighted firebrand. His history is too well known to need repetition. Dante places him among the tyrants in hell, Inf. xii. no. He died in 1260. See Villani vi. 72.
22 Cunizza was, as here appears, sister to Ezzelino. ' Fuit soror ezelini de romano recte filia veneris semper amorosa et vaga de qua vide purg. c. vi. qualiter habebat rem cum sordello mantuano, erat tamen pia benigna et misericors compatiens miseris quos frater affligebat.' So Comm. Gg. after Benv., and this is about all that is known of her, except that her brother seems to have given her in marriage more than once to suit the political exigencies of the moment.
IX PARADISE 113
light of this star had the mastery of me. But gladly I allow to myself the occasion of my lot, and it gives me no annoy, which haply would seem a great thing to your common herd. Of this shining and precious jewel of our heaven which is near to me, a great fame has remained, and before it die, this hundredth year has yet to grow five-fold. See if man has need to make himself excellent, so that the first life may leave a second behind. And this the present crowd considers not, which Tagliamento and Adige hem in ;
Perche mi vinse il lume d' esta Stella.
Ma lietamente a me medesma indulgo La cagion di mia sorte, e non mi noia : ^ Che forse parria forte al vostro vulgo.
Di questa luculenta e cara gioia
Del nostro cielo, che piu m' h propinqua, Grande fama rimase, e pria che muoia
Questo centesim' anno ancor s' incinqua ; 40
Vedi se far si dee T uomo eccellente. Si ch' altra vita la prima relinqua.
E cib non pensa la turba presente, Che Tagliamento ed Adice richiude,
K Ch^ I cagion Gg,
^indulgo. *I.e. remitto,' Benvenuto. Landino's explanation is perhaps better : ' io sommamente mi contento haver havuto tal' in- fluentia, percioche essendo beata non puo dolersi de' peccati commessi. ' Cf. Purg. xxxiii. 91 sqq. So Aquinas, S. T. Suppl. Q. 87. A. I : Sancti in patria erunt ita perfusi gaudio, quod dolor in eis locum habere non poterit ; et ideo de peccatis non dolebunt, sed potius gaudebunt de divina misericordia, qua eis peccata suni relaxata.
^' *2 Dante appears here to attach more importance to posthumous fame than he allows to it in Purg. xi. 103 sqq.
43 ci6 non pensa : takes no thought for its reputation, pensa has nearly its original sense * weighs. '
*^ The district enclosed by these rivers contains the greater part of I
114 PARADISE CANTO
nor for being smitten, does it yet repent. But soon will it come to pass that Padua will discolour at the marsh the water which washes Vicenza, through its folk being unripe for their duty. And where Sile and Cagnano join company,
Ne per esser battuta ancor si pente.
Ma tosto fia che Padova al palude
Cangerk T acqua che Vincenza bagna. Per essere al dover le genti crude.
E dove Sile e Cagnan s' accompagna,
the modern province of Venetia, and includes the towns of Verona Vicenza, Padua, Belluno, Treviso, and Venice. Philalethes is pro- bably right in his view that it is indicated here merely as the scene of Ezzelino's achievements, and the region in which the speaker's life was chiefly spent. Cf. Purg. xvi. 115.
46-48 Vicenza, owing to its position between the two powerful cities of Padua and Verona, which were Guelf and Ghibeline respectively, was much tossed about in these times. After the death of Ezzelino the Ghibeline cause was for a time under a cloud, and Vicenza became subject to Padua. In 1297, however, it returned for a while to its for- mer allegiance ; but the Paduans seem to have got it back, for in 131 1 we find the Vicentines treating with the Emperor Henry VII for their independence. Henry was not on the best terms with the Paduans ; indeed in the next year they turned out his vicar, and massacred the Ghibelines ; see Villani ix. 36. To this allusion is made in 1. 48 ; with which cf. Purg. vi. 91. Accordingly Can Grande was appointed imperial vicar of Vicenza, and a war began, which ended in the defeat of the Paduans in 13 14. The fighting was chiefly near the Bacchiglione, the river on which Vicenza and Padua stand, and which in those days formed a marsh in the low ground between the Monti Berici and Euganei. Philalethes with some probability identifies the fight here referred to with one that took place in June 1312.
^^■^^ Sile and Cagnano are two streams which meet at Treviso : Conv. iv. 14. .jRichard of Cammino (son of the * good Gerard' of Purg. xvi. 124), being lord of that city, was treacherously murdered while playing chess, by an assassin acting under the orders of some mem- bers of his own family. So Comm. Gg. Ottimo says tliat Can Grande
IX PARADISE 115
such an one is lording it and going with his head high, that already the web to catch him is in making. Feltro will yet bewail the default of its unholy pastor, which shall be so shameful that none ever entered into Malta for the like. Right broad would be the vat which should receive the Ferrarese blood, and weary he who should weigh it ounce by ounce, which this courteous priest will give to prove him- self of a party ; and such gifts will be conformable to the
Tal signoreggia e va con la testa alta, 50
Che gi^ per lui carpir si fa la ragna.
Piangera Feltro ancora la diffalta
Deir empio suo pastor, che sark sconcia Si che per simil non s' entrb in Malta.
Troppo sarebbe larga la bigoncia, Che ricevesse il sangue Ferrarese, E stanco chi il pesasse ad oncia ad oncia,
Che donera questo prete cortese.
Per mostrarsi di parte ; e cotai doni
Conformi fieno al viver del paese. 60
was the instigator ; others that it was a nobleman whose wife Richard had dishonoured. The date was 1312. tal — che. Cf. Purg. xviii. 121.
52 sqq. In 1 3 14 the Bishop of Feltro surrendered to \hQ Qvi€ii podestd. of Ferrara certain Ghibelines of the house of Fontana, who having failed in a conspiracy, had fled to his city for refuge. They and their companions, to the number of thirty, were executed at Ferrara. After this Feltro passed under the rule of the family of Cammino, and the Bishop is said to have been beaten to death with sandbags.
^ Malta or Marta was a fortress near Montefiascone, on the lake of Bolsena, used as a prison for clerical delinquents. So say all the early commentators. Daniello, however, says Mt is a tower of Cittadella, a castle in the Paduan country, built by Azzolino, the speaker's brother ; ' but Ezzelino's victims were not as a rule criminals. Scartazzini finds mention in an early chronicler of a tower called Malta, at Viterbo, and assumes this to be referred to here ; but in a matter of this kind the fourteenth century commentators are'most likely to be right.
ii6 PARADISE CANTO
living of the country. On high are mirrors, ye call them Thrones, whence God in His judgements so beams on us that these words seem to us good.' Here she was silent, and made me semblance as though she had turned to another matter, by the wheeling in which she placed herself as she was before.
The other joyful one, who already had been marked by me, became a brilliant object in my view, like a fine ruby whereon the Sun should strike. Through rejoicing is bright- ness gained there on high, as laughter here ; but below the shadow is dark outwardly even as the mind is sad.
Su sono specchi, voi dicete Troni,^ Onde rifulge a noi Dio giudicante, Si che questi parlar ne paion buoni.
Qui si tacette, e fecemi sembiante Che fosse ad altro volta, per la rota In che si mise com' era davante.
L' altra letizia, che m' era gia nota, Preclara cosa mi si fece in vista, ^ Qual iin balascio in che lo Sol percuota.
Per letiziar lassu fulgor s' acquista, 70
Si come riso qui ; ma giu s' abbuia L' ombra di fuor, come la mente e trista.
^ sp. e voi Gg. ^ Per car a Gg. Cass. ; Per chiara 3.
^^ See xxviii. 98 sqq. as to the angelic hierarchy. The Thrones are the third order. * Throni dicuntur secundum Gregorium per quos Deus sua judicia exercet,' S. T. i. Q. 106. A. 6. All the angels are * mirrors,* reflecting the Divine mind to lower intelligences. Cf. xiii. 59.
^^ Purg. XX. 94.
^ nota, as having been already pointed out by Cunizza, 1. 37.
^^ giii. There is a question whether this means * in hell,' or * on earth. ' The symmetry of the passage seems to require the former : but no mention is found of any such phenomenon as the darkening of
IX PARADISE 117
* God sees all, and thy vision is in Him/ said I, * blessed spirit, so that no wish can steal itself away from thee. Thy voice then, which ever charms the heaven with the song of those kindly fires which of six wings made their cowl, why gives it not satisfaction to my desires ? No longer should I wait for thy request, if I were in thee as thou art within me.' * The greatest vale in which the water spreads itself,'
Dio vede tutto, e tuo veder s' inluia. Diss' io, beato spirto, si che nulla Voglia di se a te puote esser fuia.
Dunque la voce tua, che il Ciel trastulla Sempre col canto di quel fuochi pii, Che di sei ale facean la cuculla,^
Perche non satisface ai miei disii ?
Gik non attenderei io tua dimanda, 80
S' io m' intuassi, come tu t' immii.
La maggior valle in che 1' acqua si spanda,
^ fannosi cue. Aid. W. Bi. Giul. etc.
a shade to indicate an access of grief. Benvenuto has * in isto mundo,' and explains further by saying that while human and heavenly joy are alike in that they are displayed here by laughter, there by increase of brightness, there is the difference that the faces of the blessed are always joyful, but the faces of men are sometimes sad. But this involves the necessity of taking ombra di fuor to mean * the outward appearance' ('i.e. apparenter,' says Comm. Gg.), for which there seems no authority. Perhaps there is an allusion to S. T. Suppl. Q. 97. A. 4 : in inferno hoc modo debet esse locus dispositus ad videndum, secundum lucem et tenebras, ut nihil ibi perspicue videatur, sed solumn^odo sub quadam umbrositate videantur ea quae afflictionem cordi ingerere possunt. In this view the contrast would be between the varying brightness of heaven and the unchanging gloom of hell.
''^ I.e. the Seraphim. Isaiah vi. 2. See viii. 27.
^^ If I could read in thy mind, as thou canst in mine.
S2 The Mediterranean Sea. The speaker is Folco or Folquet of
Ii8 PARADISE CANTO
began then his words, * apart from that sea which wreathes the earth about, between discordant shores takes its way against the sun so far that it makes meridian in that place where the horizon is wont to be at first. On that valley's shore I was a dweller, between Ebro and Macra, which in a short course parts the Genoese from the Tuscan. With one sunset almost and one sunrise Buggea lies and the land
Incominciaro allor le sue parole,
Fuor di quel mar che la terra inghirlanda,
Tra discordanti liti contra il Sole Tanto sen va, che fa meridiano Lk dove r orizzonte pria far suole.
Di quella valle fu' io littorano
Tra Ebro e Macra, che per cammin corto Parte lo Genovese dal Toscano.^ 90
Ad un occaso quasi e ad un orto
1 Lo Gett. parte 3 Aid. W. Giul. etc.
Marseilles, a famous troubadour. Why he is placed here does not clearly appear ; for he does not seem to have been so remarkable for amorous adventures as many of his brethren, Arnald Daniel for example. Possibly Dante (who quotes him, Vulg. El. ii. 6) knew more of his history than has been preserved. He paid his court to Adelais, wife of Barral, Viscount of Marseilles ; but after her death, and that of his own wife, he became a Cistercian, and finally Bishop of Toulouse ; in which capacity he was distinguished as a persecutor of the Albigenses. He died in 1231.
84 The Ocean.
^ discordanti : * hinc enim sunt christiani hinc saraceni ; hie frigus, ibi calor.' Benvenuto.
^' ^ As we have seen, Purg. xxvii. i sqq., the geography of Dante's time regarded the Mediterranean as occupying ninety degrees of longitude.
8^ Ebro e Macra. The longitude of Marseilles will be found to be nearly midway between those of the two rivers mentioned ; the latter of which flows into the sea near the Gulf of Spezia.
PARADISE
119
whereof I was, which erewhile made its port hot with its blood. Folco that people called me to whom my name was known, and this heaven is stamped with me, as was I with it. For the daughter of Belus, who caused hurt both to Sicheus and to Creusa, burned not more than I, so long as it beseemed my hairs ; nor that maid of Rhodope, who was deceived by Demophoon, nor Alcides when he had lole shut
Buggea siede, e la terra ond' io fui,"" Che fe del sangue suo gia caldo il porto.
Folco mi disse quella gente a cui
Fu noto il nome mio ; e questo cielo Di me s' imprenta, com* io fei di lui :
Chb piu non arse la figlia di Belo, Noiando ed a Sicheo ed a Creusa, Di me, infin che si convenne al pelo.
Nb quella Rodopea, che delusa 100
Fu da Demofoonte, ne Alcide,
m Brigea Gg.
^^ Buggea, called by the French Bougie, in Algeria, lies almost exactly on the meridian of Marseilles, and consequently has its sunrise and sunset at the same time, allowing for the difference of latitude.
^^ The allusion is to the defeat inflicted by D. Brutus, in command of Caesar's fleet, upon the Pompeians under L. Nasidius aided by the Massilians, off Marseilles, B.C. 49. (See Bell. Civ. ii. 3-7.) Lucan has described it at great length in the third book of the Pharsalia, which Dante evidently had in mind.
^ imprenta. Cf. 1. 117; and see iv. 22 sqq. — fei, sc. 7n^ imprentai,
^7 figlia di Belo : Dido. The instances, as Philalethes points out, are all of persons who suffered for love ; and all, it may be added, from the * Heroides ' of Ovid.
^ I.e. until my hair grew grey.
'^^ quella Rodopea : Phyllis. See Ov. Her. Ep. ii.
101 Id. Ep. ix. 25, 26 :
Quem non mille ferae, quem non Stheneleius hostis, Non potuit Juno vincere, vincit Amor.
I20 PARADISE CANTO
in his heart. Here, however, one repents not, but smiles ; not for the fault, which returns not to the mind, but for the goodness which ordered and foresaw. Here one gazes into the art which makes beautiful with so great affection, and the good is discerned whereby the world on high turns that below. But in order that thou mayest bear away thy wishes all fulfilled which have been born in this sphere, it behoves me to proceed yet further. Thou wouldst know who is in this light, that next to me so sparkles as a ray of sunlight on pure water. Know then that therein Rahab is at peace,
Quando lole nel cuore ebbe richiusa.
Non perb qui si pente, ma si ride,
Non della colpa, ch' a mente non torna. Ma del valore ch' ordinb e provvide.
Qui si rimira nell' arte ch' adorna
Con tanto affetto, e discernesi il bene," Per che il mondo di su quel di giu torna. °
Ma perche le tue voglie tutte piene
Ten porti, che son nate in questa spera, no
Procedere ancor oltre mi conviene.
Tu vuoi saper chi e in questa lumiera, Che qui appresso me cosi scintilla Come raggio di Sole in acqua mera.
Or sappi, che la entro si tranquilla Raab, ed a nostr' ordine congiunta,
^ Cotanto effetto Gg. Cass. W. Bi. ; Con t. eff. 124 Land.; Cot. aff. 3. o Perch' al m. Aid. La7id.
i<>3 See note, 1. 34. 106-108 See note at end of this Canto.
^^^ The introduction of Rahab is curious. If, as from considerations of symmetry is not improbable, the invective against the court of Rome
IX PARADISE 121
and being joined to our order has its seal set upon her in the highest rank. By this heaven, in which comes to a point the shadow that your world makes, she was taken up before any other soul in Christ's triumph. Right fitting it was to leave her in any heaven for a palm of the high victory which was gained with the one and the other hand, seeing that she favoured the first glory of Joshua upon the
Di lui nel sommo grado si sigilla.
Da questo cielo, in cui F ombra s' appunta Che il vostro mondo face, pria ch' altr' alma Del trionfo di Cristo fu assunta. 120
Ben si convenne lei lasciar per palma In alcun cielo dell' alta vittoria, Che s' acquisto con 1' una e F altra palma : ^
Perch' ella favorb la prima gloria Di Josue in su la terra santa,
P Ch^ esso acq. Gg. 134 ; Che sa acquista 2.
which follows is supposed to be uttered just over Babylon (those in Cantos xviii. and xxvii. being over Jerusalem and Rome respectively), Dante may have wished to give a clue to this, through Psalm Ixxxvii. 3 (Eng. version.)
"^ si sigilla. I.e. 'Ejus imago apparet in summo gradu istius spherae cujus influentia ipsa impressa fuit,' Benvenuto. Gg. reads dilui, which I have followed. This seems to give a simpler sense than the usual lei^ and to avoid the harsh * nominativus pendens ' of congiunta, which that reading involves. Cf. 1. 96 ; and, for Rahab, Heb. xi. 31.
^^^ The shadow of the earth was believed to extend as far as the sphere of Venus. The allegorical meaning, as Philalethes points out, is that in the three lower divisions of Paradise are found souls who have been prevented from attaining a higher degree of blessedness by the earthly failings of inconstancy, ambition, and unregulated love.
^2^ r una e 1' altra palma. I.e. the two hands of Christ nailed to the Cross. This is the explanation given by Benv., and generally adopted by subsequent commentators ; and some support is given to it by the fact that Origen in his homilies on Joshua makes a great point
122 PARADISE CANTO
Holy Land, whereof the memory little touches the Pope. Thy city, which is a plant of him who first turned his back upon his Maker, and whose envy has been so greatly be- wailed, brings forth and spreads abroad the accursed flower which has led astray the sheep and the lambs, be-
Che poco tocca al Papa la memoria. La tua citta, che di colui \ pianta,
Che pria volse le spalle al suo fattore,
E di cui e la invidia tanto pianta,*^ Produce e spande il maladetto fiore, 130
Ch' ha disviate le pecore e gli agni,
^ inv, tutta quanta 145.
of the bearing of Joshua's conquests on the scheme of redemption. The drift of the whole passage will be : Rahab, having contributed to Joshua's success, was a fit trophy of Christ's victory, to which that success led up.
126 Qj.^ < which little touches the Pope's memory ' ; but it seems better to take memoria objectively, understanding che as the universal rela- tive which it so often is.
126 sqq. Compare this digression with that at Purg. vi. 76, and ob- serve that a similar reason, covetousness, is assigned for the neglect of their duty by both Emperor and Pope. The capture of Acre, in 1291, had driven the Christians from their last foothold in Palestine, and though both Nicolas IV, who was then Pope, and afterwards Boniface VIII, had used some slight efforts to stir up the princes of Christendom to recover it, no serious attempt was ever again made. By the end of the century, indeed, the Pope's attention was fiiUy occupied with the affairs of Italy and Sicily.
^27 It seems hardly necessary to suppose, with Scartazzini, that Dante intends to identify Mars, as the patron of Florence, with the devil. She is said to be his planting merely because she is given over to envy and avarice. Compare with this whole passage, De Mon. iii. 3.
^2^ Cf. Inf. i. Ill, and observe that it is the *lupa' (see note to Purg. XX. 10) who is there associated with envy.
130 ftore. The lily of Florence, stamped on Xhejloj-in.
IX PARADISE 123
cause it has made a wolf of the shepherd For this the Gospel and the great Doctors are deserted, and study is given to the Decretals alone, as appears on their margins. To this the Pope and the Cardinals give attention ; their thoughts go not to Nazareth, the place where Gabriel opened his wings. But Vatican and the other chosen parts of Rome, which have been a burying-place to the soldiery that followed Peter, shall soon be free from the adultery.'
Pero che fatto ha lupo del pastore. Per questo 1' Evangelio e i Dottor magni
Son derelitti, e solo ai DecretaH
Si studia si che pare ai lor vivagni. A questo intende il Papa e i Cardinali :
Non vanno i lor pensieri a Nazzarette,
La dove Gabbriello aperse 1' ali. Ma Vaticano e 1' altre parti elette
Di Roma, che son state cimitero 140
Alia milizia che Pietro seguette, Tosto libere fien dell' adultero.
^^2 lupo. See above.
133 Dottor. Cf. the Epistle to the ItaHan Cardinals : Jacet Gregorius in telis aranearum ; jacet Ambrosius in neglectis clericorum lati bulls ; jacet Augustinus ; abjectus Dionysius, Damascenus et Beda ; et nescio quod Speculum, Innocentium et Ostiensem declamant. The last two names are those of commentators on the Decretals, or constitutions and traditions of the Papal See.
^35 ai lor vivagni : either by the thumbing of them, or the anno- tations.
1^^ tosto; i.e. by the removal to Avignon in 1305. adultero for adulterioy as cimitero two lines above. The word recalls Purg. xxxii. 160. The last seven lines of this Canto were required by the Spanish Inquisition to be struck out in all copies of the poem introduced within its jurisdiction. A similar compliment was paid to Inf. xi. 8, 9, and xix. 106- 118.
124 PARADISE
Note to lines 106-108.
There is a good deal of uncertainty about the reading, and conse- quently about the rendering of these lines. With regard to the reading, opinions are nearly equally divided between cotanto effetto . . . il 7?iondo, and con ta7ito affetto . . . al mondo. Gg. Lomb., Witte, Bianchi, Lubin, take the former; Aid., Land., Dan., Bieg., Phil., Scart., the latter. Vellutello holds with the first group, reading 77iodo. Giuliani has con tanto aff. but il m. Of the four early edd., 124 have con tanto effetto^ and 3 cota7ito affetto, all with il 7no7ido. The objection to effetto, as Philalethes points out, is that * to adorn an effect ' is an expression not easy to understand ; and it may be added that it has little connec- tion with the general drift of Folco's words, which are clearly an amplification of what Cunizza has said in 11. 34, 35. This some of the early comm. plainly understood. Thus Benvenuto, apparently taking
* il valor ' as the subject of adoma, explains arte as the law of repro- duction ('per solam viam generationis mundus inferior corruptibilis continuo labilis et caducus semper renovatur . . . et sic fit coaeternus mundo superiori per istam restaurationem '), and to the next line has,
* i.e. tantam afifectionem quanta est in amore decorat tarn mirabili affectu,' while the Italian annotator in Gg. interprets discemesi il bene, etc. , by ' cioe quando lomo e namorato nel mondo di vano amore, poi che torna [did he read poi che for perche .?] a dio tutto quel amor mundano si converte a dio.' The latter part, which implies the reading al 77io7ido, can hardly be right, for it is a well-known law of verse that the same word must not rhyme to itself in the same sense ; so that we must seek another meaning for torna. Here the Ottimo is better : * gaudesi del valore, che virtu d' amore accese nel cuore degli amanti ; e gaudesi quando rimiriamo nell' arte del Cielo, che adorno la nostra affezione ; e gaudesi, perche discerniamo il bene, per lo quale il mondo di sopra torna, gira, e governa il mondo di sotto. ' There is no need to take the objection of Philalethes that tornare in an active sense is unusual. The Ottimo appears to recognise it : ' il m. di sopra torna, gira e governa il m. di sotto ; ' and even if there were no extant examples of it in Italian, the derivation of the word, and its use in the cognate languages, are sufficient to show that it must be capable of possessing all the senses of the English * turn.' Thus we are led to prefer the reading of Giuliani, 'con tanto affetto,' with 'il mondo.' The only fault that can be found with this is the absence of an expressed object to adoma ; and this can easily be supplied by a slight rearrange- ment of line 106, * qui si rimira 1' arte che n' adoma.' With or without this the thought of the passage becomes as clear as it is beautiful. * We
PARADISE 125
feel no repentance for our fault, which indeed we have forgotten : but we contemplate with joy the wonderful order of God's providence, which makes that love wherein we formerly erred an honour to us ; and we discern this same love In its highest manifestation, namely, as the power by means of which the whole course of the world is governed.' The * mondo di su ' is clearly the Kdo-fMos of the Platonic Timaeus ; and prob- ably the use of torna is to be ascribed to the influence of such passages as (e.g.) 47 B, C, of that dialogue. There does not seem to be any re- erence to the rotation of the earth, of which Dante knew nothing.
CANTO X
ARGUMENT
They enter the fourth Heaven, of the Sun. Here are the souls of Doctors and others learned in theology, among them St. Thomas Aquinas, who points out and names such as are at hand.
Looking upon His Son, with the Love that the one and the other eternally breathe forth, the first and unspeakable Goodness made all that revolves in mind or in place with
GuARDANDO uel suo Figlio, con V Amore Che 1' uno e 1' altro eternalmente spira, Lo primo ed ineffabile valore,
Quanto per mente o per loco si gira,^
^ 0 per occhio Aid. Land. Giul. etc,
^■^ S. T. i. Q. 56. A. 6 : Deus pater operatus est creaturam per suum Verbum, quod est filius ; et per suum Amorem, qui est spiritus sanctus. lb. Q. 37. A. 2 : Pater et Filius dicuntur diligentes Spiritu sancto, vel amore procedente, et se et nos.
^ Nearly all MSS. and the first 5 edd. read loco, * all that can be conceived in the mind, or that has a local existence.' I have there- fore followed Witte and Scartazzini in adopting this reading ; though Land., Aid., Dan., and nearly all subsequent editors have occhio^ 'all things visible.' One cannot help suspecting that the true reading is * per tempo o per loco,' mente having slipped in from some early gloss of localniente or the like. Cf. xxvii. 109-120. Thus Augustine on Genesis, quoted S. T. i. Q. 9.' A. I : Spiritus Creator movet se, nee per tempus, nee per locum.
CANTO X PARADISE 127
such order that he who observes this cannot be without tasting of Him. Lift then, reader, thy view with me to the wheels on high, straight to that region where the one motion strikes upon the other, and there begin to look with love upon the art of that Master who in Himself loves it so that He never takes His eye away from it. See how thence branches off the oblique circle which bears the planets, to
■ / ■ • ■■
Con tanto ordine fe, ch' esser non puote ^ Senza gustar di lui, chi cio rimira.
Leva dunque, Lettore, all' alte ruote Meco la vista dritto a quella parte. Dove r un moto all/ altro si percuote : ^
E 11 comincia a vaghe^giar nelF arte 10
Di quel maestro, che dentro a se 1' ama Tanto che mai da jlei T occhio non parte.
Vedi come da indi si jdirama
L' obbliquo cerchib che i pianeti porta,
i ■ I
b Cotanto Gg. ^ e T dltro Gg. 1235 W,; V altre 4.
^ ordine. Cf. i. 103. \
^ alte ruote ; so superne r. Purg. viii. 18 ; r. magnet xix. 63 ; eterne r. Par. i. 64. ,, .
^ I.e. where the diurnal motion from east to west meets the motion of the heavenly bodies in the Ecliptic from west to east, viz. where the Ecliptic crosses the Equator ; that is the Equinox, near to which, as we know, the Sun now was.
^^■^^ See Arist. de Gen, et Corr. ii. 9 : Oi^x ^ irpcbTTj (popaaiTia earl . yep^aeojs Kai <f>dopds, dXX' i] Kara rhv Xo^bv k6k\ov, and the whole chapter. The ascription of great importance to the obliquity of the ecliptic as a regulator of human affairs seems to have been based upon the fact that the seasons depend upon it, and that growth and decay follow the seasons ; from which it naturally followed that all processes of change were influenced by the same cause. See note to i. 38. .
128 PARADISE CANTO
satisfy the world which calls upon them. And if their road had not been bent, much virtue in the heaven had been in vain, and well-nigh every potency here below dead. And if from the right line the departure had been more or less far, much of the order of the world had been lacking both below and above. Now stay thee, reader, on thy bench, setting thy thoughts after that" whereof a foretaste is given, if thou wilt be right glad before thou art weary.
Per satisfare al mondo, che gli chiama : E se la strada lor non fosse torta,*^
Molta virtu nel Ciel sarebbe invano,
E quasi ogni potenzia quaggiu morta. E se dal dritto piu o men lontano ^
Fosse il partire, assai sarebbe manco 20
E gill e su deir ordine mondano. Or ti riman, Lettor, sovra il tuo banco,
Dietro pensando a cio che si preliba,
S' esser vuoi lieto assai prima che stanco.
d Che se la str, di lor {non added) Gg. e da dritto 3 W. ; da dietro 145 ; da drieto Cass,
15 chiama, as in 1. 43. * Qui indiget necessario tali motu,' Benv.
1^' 18 Conv. ii. 15 : Se la revoluzione di questo [il cielo cristallino] non ordinasse cio, poco di loro virtu quaggiu verrebbe, o di loro vista. . . . . Di vero non sarebbe quaggiu generazione ne vita d' animale e di piante .... e '1 movimento degli astri sarebbe indarno. virtil, potenzia. Observe that heaven is the seat of form, elSos, and earth of matter, vki]. But, as we learn from De Anima, ii. 2, elSos is ei/reX^Xeia, vKt] is diJvafJLLS. It is clear therefore that in this passage, as elsewhere in Dante, virtil comes very near in meaning to Aristotle's ivipyeiay and must not be confounded with the virtus =jpotentia of the schoolmen. See note to Purg. iv. 1-6.
^^ Cf. Conv. iii. 5 : A chi ha nobile ingegno e bello un poco di fatica lasciare ; and Arist. Met. a. 2 (982 a) : eira [I'TroXa/i/Sdj'Oyue^] rhv
X PARADISE 129
I have set before thee : henceforth feed of thyself; since that matter whereof I am made a scribe wrests to itself all my care.
The greatest minister of nature, that stamps the world with the goodness of heaven, and with his light measures our time for us, in conjunction with that region which is mentioned above was turning through the coils in which he presents himself ever sooner ; and I was with him, but of the ascent I was not aware otherwise than a man is aware before his first thought, of its coming.
Beatrice is she who thus escorts from good to better so
Messo t' ho innanzi ; omai per te ti ciba : Che a se ritorce tutta la mia cura Quella materia ond' io son fatto scriba.
Lo ministro maggior della natura,
Che del valor del Cielo il mondo imprenta
E col suo lume il tempo ne misura, 30
Con quella parte che su si rammenta, Congiunto si girava per le spire, In che pill tosto ognora s' appresenta ;
Ed io era con lui ; ma del salire
Non m' accors' io, se non com' uom s' accorge,^ Anzi il primo pensier, del suo venire.
E Beatrice quella che si scorge ^
^ come j' ace. Gg. g O Beatrice Gg. Cass. 12345.
TCL xaXeTra yvQiVdi dwdfievov /cat fir] p(j.5La dvOpdoirip yLvdb<TK€LV, tovtov <jo<f>6v.
2^ Cf. Purg. xvii. 139.
^^ The Sun, into whose sphere they now ascend.
31-33 That is, the Sun was at the equinox (1. 9), and the vernal equinox, when he rises earlier every day. Cf. Conv. iii. 5.
^^' ^^ I have followed all the modern editors in reading d, and placing a full stop at sporge ; but the older reading given by Aid., Land., etc.,
K
I30 PARADISE canto
quickly that her action is not spread over time. How bright must needs be of itself that which was within the Sun, where I entered, being apparent not by colour but by light, though I called upon my wit and my art and my wont I could not say so that it could ever be imagined : but one can believe it, and let him long to see it. And if our fancies are low beside so great a height, it is no marvel, for above the Sun never was eye that might go.
Such was there the fourth household of the Father on high who ever satisfies them, showing how He breathes
Di bene in meglio si sub'itamente,
Che r atto suo per tempo non si sporge.
Quant' esser convenia da se lucente 40
Quel ch' era dentro al Sol dov' io entra' mi, Non per color, ma per lume parvente.
Perch' io lo ingegno e 1' arte e 1' uso chiami. Si nol direi, che mai s' immaginasse ; Ma creder puossi, e di veder si brami.
E se le fantasie nostre son basse
A tanta altezza, non e maraviglia ; ^
Che sovra il sol non fu occhio ch' andasse.
Tal era quivi la quarta famiglia
Deir alto padre che sempre la sazia, 50
Mostrando come spira e come figlia.
^ non c* e vi. Gg.
et . . . sporge, . . . lucente ! does not give an unsatisfactory sense, and is perhaps more in Dante's manner.
^■^ quel: i.e. the spirits who were bright enough to be apparent in the Sun. They are the spirits of theologians and teachers.
^^ perch^, as in Purg. v. 58, etc.
^^ The allusion is to the doctrine of the Trinity, which, as the central subject of Christian theology, is here made plain to those who
X PARADISE 131
forth and how He begets. And Beatrice began : * Give thanks, give thanks to the Sun of the angels, who has through his grace raised thee to this which sense perceives.' Heart of man was never so prepared for devotion and for giving itself to God with all its desire so ready as at those words I became ; and all my love so set itself on Him that it eclipsed Beatrice in oblivion. It displeased her not; but she smiled thereat so that the splenddur of her smiling eyes divided my mind, which was at one, between many
E Beatrice comincio : Ringrazia,
Ringrazia il Sol degli Angeli, ch' a questo Sensibil t' ha levato per sua grazia.
Cuor di mortal non fu mai si digesto A divozione, ed a rendersi a Dio ^ Con tutto il suo gradir cotanto presto.
Com' a quelle parole mi fee' io :
E si tutto il mio amore in lui si mise,
Che Beatrice ecHsso nell' obblio. 60
Non le dispiacque : ma si se ne rise,
Che lo splendor degli occhi suoi ridenti Mia mente unita in piu cose divise.
i di rend, Gg,
have most deeply studied. Observe the connection with the opening lines of the Canto.
^3' 5^ Cf. Conv. iii. 12 : Siccome nella litterale sposizione si parla cominciando dal Sole corporale e sensibile ; cosi ora e da ragionare per lo Sole spirituale e intelligibile, ch' e Iddio. Nullo sensibile in tutto '1 mondo e piu degno di farsi esempio di Dio, che '1 Sole, etc. Tliis and the subsequent chapters will explain why the sphere of the Sun is the appropriate abode for the theologians.
^1 se ne rise. For the reflexive use cf. Purg. v. 135, ix. 36. It is of course quite diff'erent from the passive impersonal si ride in 1. 103 of the last Canto.
132 PARADISE CANTO
things. I saw many living and victorious splendours make of us a centre and of themselves a ring, more sweet yet in voice than brilliant in appearance. Thus girt we see at times the daughter of Latona, when the air is so teeming that it retains the thread which makes her zone. In the court of heaven whence I return are found many jewels so dear and fair that they cannot be taken out of the realm, and the song of those lights was of them ; he that does not plume himself so that he may fly there on high, from the dumb let him look for news from thence. Then, singing thus, those blazing Suns whirled round about us three times, like stars close to motionless poles. They seemed
lo vidi pill fulgor vivi e vincenti
Far di noi centro, e di se far corona, Piu dolci in voce, che in vista lucenti.^
Cosi cinger la figlia di Latona
Vedem tal volta, quando 1' aere e pregno. Si che ritenga il fil che fa la zona.
Nella corte del Ciel ond' io rivegno, 70
Si trovan molte gioie care e belle Tanto che non si posson trar del regno.
E il canto di quei lumi era di quelle : Chi non s' impenna si che lassu voli, Dal muto aspetti quindi le novelle.
Poi si cantando quegli ardenti Soli Si fur girati intorno a noi tre volte, Come stelle vicine a fermi poli. k ^ ijista Gg.
^^ It seems most simple to take vincenti as a mere epithet.
^''■^^ So Purg. XXV. 91, xxix. 78. The halo appears when the air is full of vapour.
^2 trar del regno : * cioe, non puo ingegno humano comprenderlo se non e in cielo.' — Land.
PARADISE 133
to me dames not loosed from the dance, but who should halt silently, listening until they have caught the new notes ; and within one I heard begin : * Since the ray of grace, whereat true love is kindled, and which afterward grows by loving, shines forth in thee so multiplied that it leads thee up by that stair where none descends without mounting again ; he who should deny thee the wine of his cup for thy thirst would not be in a state of liberty otherwise than as water which should not fall to the sea. Thou wouldst know from what plants this garland is enflowered, which all
Donne mi parver non da ballo sciolte.
Ma che s' arrestin tacite, ascoltando 80
Fin che le nuove note hanno ricolte : ^
E dentro all' un sentii cominciar : Quando Lo raggio della grazia, onde s' accende "^ Verace amore, e che poi cresce amando,
Multiplicato in te tanto risplende, Che ti conduce su per quella scala, U' senza risalir nessun discende :
Qual ti negasse il vin della sua fiala Per la tua sete, in liberta non fora, Se non com' acqua, ch' al mar non si cala. 90
Tu vuoi saper di quai piante s' infiora Questa ghirlanda, che intorno vagheggia
1 rote 145. 1^ m che s' ace. Gg. ; ondel s' ace. 14 ; onde saprende 3,
^^ The image is that of dancers who pause for a moment as the measure changes, in order to ^ pick up,' as we should say, the new time.
82 un. St. Thomas Aquinas, see 1. 99. Quando, in a causal sense, is not very common in Italian ; see Diez iii. 324. But cf. Purg. xxxi. 67. For the idea expressed in the following lines cf. Purg. xiv. 79, 80 ; xvi. 40 sqq.
^'^ Cf. Purg. ii. 91. There may be an allusion to Eph. iv. 9, 10.
134 PARADISE canto
around is looking with love on the fair Lady who strengthens thee for heaven. I was of the lambs of the holy flock which Dominic leads upon the way, where one fattens aright if one turns not to vanities. This who is my neighbour on the right was brother and master to me, and he is Albert of Cologne, and I Thomas of Aquino. If thou wouldst so be
La bella donna ch' al Ciel t' avvalora.
lo fui degli agni della santa greggia, Che Domenico mena per cammino, U' ben s' impingua, se non si vaneggia."
Questi che m' e a destra piu vicino,
Frate e maestro fummi ; ed esso Alberto E di Cologna, ed io Thomas d' Aquino.
"^ Due ben Gg. ; Du ben 134.
92, 93 Beatrice in her allegorical sense is Philosophy, which, as Dante understood it, was identical with Theology. Therefore the circle of theologians (whom St. Thomas is about to name one by one) are rightly described as looking with love upon her.
^ ' I.e. in qua regula impinguatur animae pinguedo non carnis,' and * i.e. si non vacatur vanitati mundanae, sunt enim praedicatores totaliter gloriosi, vacantes honori.' — Comm. Gg. after Benv.
^^ Albert the Great, the 'Universal Doctor,' was born in 1193 at Lauingen on the upper Danube. He joined the Dominican order, studied at Padua, taught at Paris and Cologne, was for a short time Bishop of Ratisbon, and died at Cologne in 1280. He appears to have been the first of the schoolmen who brought the Aristotelian and Christian philosophy into harmony ; and it is to him originally that Dante owes his doctrine of free-will as the basis of Ethics.
^ Thomas, the 'Angelical Doctor,' and the greatest of all scholastic philosophers, was born in 1225, the son of a Count of Aquino, and on his mother's side of Norman blood. He studied first at Monte Cassino, afterwards at Cologne under Albert, and at Paris. For his death, see note to Purg. xx. 69. In all matters of ethical and metaphysical doctrine, Dante is his disciple. His ' Summa Theologica ' marks the highest point attained by philosophy in the Middle Age. He was canonised in 1323, by Pope John XXII. (Villani ix. 218.)
PARADISE 135
informed of all the others, come thy way with thy glance after my speech, turning upward through the wreath of the blessed. That other flaming issues from the smile of Gratian, who so aided one and the other court, that he gives pleasure in Paradise. The other who next adorns our choir was that Peter who with the poor woman offered his treasure to Holy Church. The fifth light, which is most beautiful among us, breathes of such love that all the world
Se si di tutti gli altri esser vuoi certo,° 100
Diretro al mio parlar ten vien col viso,
Girando su per lo beato serto. Queir altro fiammeggiare esce del riso
Di Grazian, che 1' uno e 1' altro foro
Aiuto SI, che place in Paradiso.^ L' altro ch' appresso adorna il nostro coro.
Quel Pietro fu, che con la poverella
Offerse a santa Chiesa il suo Tesoro. La quinta luce, ch' e tra noi piu bella,
Spira di tale amor, che tutto il mondo no
o Se tu Aid. Bi. Ghd. P che pare in P. Cg.
^^^ Gratian of Bologna ' published about the year 11 40 his Decretum, or general collection of canons, Papal epistles, and sentences of fathers, in imitation of the Pandects.' — Hallam, Middle Ages. His work seems to have been the great mediaeval authority on canon law. * Com- posuit decretum ad utrumque forum canonicum et civilem respiciens.' —P. di Dante.
^^^ Peter, born near Novara, and hence called * the Lombard, ' was a pupil of Abelard. From the title of his chief work, he is known as * the Master of the Sentences. ' He became Archbishop of Paris, and died in 1164. The allusion is to a phrase in his preface, *cupientes aliquid de tenuitate nostra cum paupercula in gazophylacium Domini mittere. '
^°^ la quinta luce : Solomon ; as to whose ultimate salvation there was in the Middle Age much controversy, the pictorial representation of which will be familiar to every one who has visited the Campo Santo
136 • PARADISE CANTO
below is greedy to know news of it. Within is the lofty mind where wisdom so profound was put, that if the truth is true, to a like vision no second has arisen. Next behold the light of that taper which, below in flesh, saw most inwardly the nature of angels and their office. In the other little light rejoices that advocate of the Christian times, of whose
Laggiu ne gola di saper novella. Entro v' e T alta mente, u' si profondo ^
Saver fu messo, che se il vero e vero,
A veder tanto non surse il secondo. Appresso vedi il lume di quel cero,
Che giuso in carne piu addentro vide
L' angelica natura e il ministero. Neir altra piccioletta luce ride
Quel avvocato dei tempi cristiani,^
^ t alta luce Gg. Aid. Land. ; nelalta mente un si p7'of. 3 ; nel altra m. tm 14. 1' templi 14 Aid.
of Pisa. According to Philalethes, Hugh of St. Victor found in the three works ascribed to Solomon affinities with the three branches of speculative science, as then understood ; Ethics in Proverbs, Physics in Ecclesiastes, Theology in Canticles.
113 il vero : probably meaning God's word. See i Kings iii. 12.
^^^ Dionysius the Areopagite, to whom works on the Celestial Hierarchy (see xxviii. 130), on the Names of God, on Symbolical and on Mystic Theology, all belonging probably to the latter half of the fifth century (see Ueberweg), were ascribed.
^^^ There is some controversy as to the person intended here, but there can be little doubt that Paulus Orosius, the historian, is meant. His * History against the Pagans ' was written at the suggestion of St. Augustine in order to contradict the view that the introduction of Christianity had been mischievous to mankind, and thus to be sub- sidiary to Augustine's ' De Civitate Dei ; ' and the phrase * Christiana tempora' occurs frequently in it, notably in the concluding chapter, where he commends the completed work to Augustine. Dante praises
X PARADISE 137
Latin Augustin furnished himself Now if thou drawest the eye of thy mind from light to light after my praises, thou art by this time staying with a thirst for the eighth. There- within rejoices for the vision of all good the holy soul which makes clear the deceitful world to whoso hearkens well to it. The body whence it was chased lies down in Cieldauro, and it from torture and exile came to this peace. Beyond see flaming the ardent spirit of Isidore, of Bede,
Del cui latino Agostin si provvide. 120
Or se tu r occhio della mente trani
Di luce in luce dietro alle mie lode,
Gia deir ottava con sete rimani : Per veder ogni ben dentro vi gode
U anima santa, che il mondo fallace
Fa manifesto a chi di lei ben ode : Lo corpo ond' ella fu cacciata giace
Giuso in Cieldauro, ed essa da martiro
E da esiglio venne a questa pace. Vedi oltre fiammeggiar 1' ardente spiro 130
his style, Vulg. El. ii. 6. His * light ' is smaller than that of the great theologians.
^2^ Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, statesman and philosopher, was born a.d. 470. (This appears to have the best authority, though some put his birth in 455. But the chronology of his life is somewhat confused.) He studied at Athens, translated or commented on Euclid, Plato, Aristotle, Porphyry, etc., and was consul in 520. Later he fell under the displeasure of Theodoric, and was imprisoned at Pavia, where he wrote his best - known work, ' The Consolation of Philo- sophy,' a book which had a very high reputation in the Middle Age. Aquinas and Dante constantly refer to it, and King Alfred translated (or rather paraphrased) it into English. He was put to death, by torture, in 524 ; and was buried in the church (now desecrated) called St. Peter's of the Golden Ceiling. (See, for a full account of him, Gibbon, chap, xxxix. )
138 PARADISE CANTO
and of Richard who in contemplation was more than man. This one, from whom thy gaze returns to me, is the hght of a spirit to whom in his weighty thoughts to die seemed to come slowly. That is the eternal light of Sigier, who
D' Isidoro, di Beda, e di Riccardo,
Che a considerar fu piu che viro. Questi onde a me ritorna il tuo riguardo,
fe il lume d' uno spirto, che in pensieri
Gravi a morir gli parve venir tardo.^ Essa e la luce eterna di Sigieri,
s morire g. p. esser Land. Aid.
^^^ Isidore, Bishop of Seville (died in 636), followed Boethius in his treatment of logic, as Bede ('the Venerable,' 673-735) followed Isidore. It is, of course, rather as eminent theologians that both have their place here. Richard, Prior from 1164 to 11 73 of the Monastery of St. Victor, near Paris, from which several famous theo- logians took their name (see Canto xii. 133), maintained the mystical, as opposed to the dialectical, treatment of the science. Hence probably the allusion in 1. 132. According to Bianchi, he was a Scotsman.
134, 135 qJjq — g^ _ < ^^2 ' ; or ' tale ' may be understood before che. a morir, like the a rigiiardar of Purg. iv. 54. The reading esser, which seems to have been adopted by all editors (with the exception of Vellutello) from 1480 till recent times, is probably an importation from xi. 81.
■^^ Sigier, known as ' da Cortraco ' (probably from Kortryk, or Courtrai, a small place in Brabant), or ' of Brabant,' lectured on logic in Paris towards the end of the thirteenth century. He appears to have been tried for heresy in 1278, in consequence of an offer to defend, among other *impossibilia,' a thesis of the non-existence of God. Unless, however, we may take veri to mean merely * proofs,' 1. 138 can hardly refer to this. He is believed to have been executed for heresy at Orvieto, towards the end of the 13th century. But there is much uncertainty about him. See Ozanam, Dante, p. 437 ; also a letter from Mr. Paget Toynbee in the * Academy' of May 8, 1886. Some think that Dante may himself have heard Sigier lecture.
X PARADISE 139
lecturing in the street of straw deduced truths which brought him envy.'
Then, like a clock, which calls us at the hour when the bride of God arises to sing matins to her spouse, that he may love her, where the one part draws and drives* the other, sounding ^ ting ting'' with so sweet a note, that the spirit well-disposed swells with love, so saw I the glorious wheel move itself, and return voice to voice in harmony and in sweetness that cannot be known save in that place where joy is everlasting.
Che leggendo nel vico degli strami, Sillogizzo invidiosi veri.
Indi come orologio, che ne chiami
Neir ora che la sposa di Dio surge 140
A mattinar lo sposo, perche 1' ami ;
Che r una parte T altra tira ed urge,^ Tin tin sonando con si dolce nota, Che il ben disposto spirto d' amor turge :
Cosi vid' io la gloriosa ruota
Muoversi e render voce a voce in tempra Ed in dolcezza, ch' esser non puo nota,
Se non cola dove il gioir s' insempra.
* parte e V altra 134 Aid.
^^^ degli strami. The Rue du Fouarre.
138 invidiosi. Some, e.g. Benv., take this in a good sense, as 'enviable.' Land, thinks it means that his rivals envied him. But invidia in Dante always has a bad sense. Possibly Dante accepted the tale of Sigier's early heresies and subsequent conversion.
139 orologio, an image doubtless suggested by the twelve spirits who have been pointed out, though the comparison is not to the face but to the wheels of a clock, and especially to those which form the striking machinery.
^^^ Each wheel seems to draw round the one behind it, and push on the one in front.
's^
CANTO XI
ARGUMENT
St. Thomas proceeds to narrate the holy life of St. Francis ; and then shows how his own successors in the Order of St. Dominic have gone astray from the right path.
O SENSELESS care of mortals ! how faulty syllogisms are they which make thee beat thy wings in downward course ! One w^as going his way after law, and another after aphorisms, and another following a priesthood, and one to reign by force or sophisms, and another to rob, and another at business of state, another wrapped up in the delight of the flesh was
O INSENSATA cura dei mortali, Quanto son difettivi sillogismi Quei che ti fanno in basso batter V ali !
Chi dietro a jura, e chi ad aforismi Sen giva, e chi seguendo sacerdozio, E chi regnar per forza e per sofismi,
E chi rubare, e chi civil negozio ; Chi nel diletto della carne involto
"* aforismi. The * Aphorisms ' of Hippocrates were among the great medical authorities of the time. In this and the following line, therefore, the three * learned professions, ' Law, Physic, Divinity, are alluded to.
PARADISE 141
growing weary, and another was giving himself to ease ; when I, set loose from all these things, was with Beatrice being welcomed with so great glory in heaven above.
After that each had returned to the ^oint of the circle in which he was before, he stayed, as in a candlestick a candle. And I was aware that within that light which first had spoken to me, smiling he began, as it grew more clear : ' Like as I am inflamed at its ray, so, gazing on the eternal light, I learn whence thou takest occasion for thy thoughts. Thou doubtest, and hast desire that my word be sifted again for thee in language so open and so drawn out that
S' affaticava, e chi si dava all' ozio : Quand' io da tutte queste cose sciolto, 10
Con Beatrice m' era suso in cielo
Cotanto gloriosamente accolto. Poiche ciascuno fu tornato ne lo
Punto del cerchio in che avanti s' era,
Fermossi come a candelier candelo.^ Ed io senti' dentro a quella lumiera,
Che pria m' avea parlato, sorridendo
Incominciar, facendosi piu mera : Cosi com' io del suo raggio m' accendo.
Si riguardando nella luce eterna 20
Li tuoi pensieri, onde cagioni, apprendo ; ^ Tu dubbi, ed hai voler che si ricerna *^
In SI aperta e si distesa lingua
^ Fermarsi Gg. ^ cagion Gg. Cass. ; cagione 1234 ; io cagione Land. ^ c discerna 124 W. ; discerna 3.
11, 14 Notice the reflexive forms m* era, s' era. The first may have the sense of the middle voice, * was getting myself welcomed. '
^^ ricerna. * Cernere e ricernere diconsi del grano.' — Lomb. It is obviously the right word here.
142 PARADISE CANTO
it may be levelled to thy understanding, where I said before "Where one fattens well" and where I said "The second has not arisen" ; and here it is needful that a clear distinction be made. The foresight which guides the world with that counsel in which every created sight is overcome before it reach the depths, in order that to her beloved
Lo dicer mio, ch' al tuo sentir si sterna : Ove dinanzi dissi : U^ ben s^ impingua^^ E la, u' dissi : Non surse il secondo : ^ E qui c' e uopo che ben si distingua. La provvidenza che governa il mondo
Con quel consiglio, nel qual ogni aspetto Creato e vinto, pria che vada al fondo ; 30
Perb che andasse ver lo suo diletto ^
^ 0 hen Gg. ; un ben 124. 6 non nacqtie 1234 Aid. Land. {a7id most MSS.) ^ Pe7'0 chi Gg,
25 U' ben s* impingua. L. 96 of the last Canto. It is difficult to see why these words should have given rise to any doubt in Dante's mind. Their meaning is clear enough ; and probably St. Thomas is made to refer to them only in order to give occasion for the magnificent eulogy of St. Francis which follows. Observe that while he, a Dominican, is made to recite the praises of St. Francis, a similar duty in regard to St. Dominic is discharged in the next Canto by the Franciscan Bonaventura.
2^ Non surse il secondo. L. 114 of the last Canto. The solution will be found in Canto xiii. As to the reading, see Moore, Text. Crit. It is hardly possible to accept th^ reading nacque, though the MS. authority for it is as five to one for surse. The case is not exactly parallel to the use of ebbe in xiii. 47, for there St. Thomas is only referring to his former saying ; here he is quoting it. So that if Dante really wrote nacque it can only have been through a momentary forget- fulness of the word he had used before. This we have a right to correct, no less than (e.g.) an obviously unintentional blunder in spelling in a recent author. But *i.e. nacque'' is just such a gloss as early annotators rejoiced in, and the reading may have arisen thus.
-'' I have followed Gg. in reading c' ^, to avoid the awkward con- junction of open vowels.
PARADISE 143
might go the spouse of Him who to loud cries espoused her with His blessed blood, secure in herself and in Him more confident, ordained two Princes in her favour to be on one side and on the other a guide to her. The one was all seraphic in ardour, the other for wisdom was upon earth a splendour of cherubic light. I will speak of one, because both are spoken of in praising one, whichever a man takes, since to one end were their works.
La sposa di colui, ch' ad alte grida Disposb lei col sangue benedetto.
In se sicura e anco a lui piu fida ; Due principi ordino in suo favore, Che quinci e quindi le fosser per guida.
\J un fu tutto serafico in ardore, L' altro per sapienza in terra fue Di cherubica luce uno splendore.
Deir un diro, pero che d' ambedue 40
Si dice 1' un pregiando, qual ch' uom prende,^ Perche ad un fine fur 1' opere sue.
g Ihuom pregiando 2 ; qual horn pr. Gg. ; qual coitiprende Cass.
32 sposa : the Church, ad alte grida : on the Cross.
37-39 He indicates here the distinctive characters of each of the two great Orders, which they have more or less maintained ever since. The Franciscans have attended more to good works, the Dominicans to doctrine. The parallel with the two orders of angels is based on the interpretation which was then current. See S. T. i. Q. 63. A. 7 : Cherubim interpretatur plenitudo scientiae ; Seraphim autem inter- pretatur ardentes . . . ab ardore charitatis. And Q. 103. A. 5 : Cherubim habent excellentiam scientiae, Seraphim vero excellentiam ardoris. See too Villani v. 25 : La Chiesa di Dio cadea per molti errori, e per molti dissoluti peccati, non temendo Iddio ; e '1 beato Domenico per la sua santa scienza e predicazione li corresse . . . ; e '1 beato Francesco per la sua umilita e vita apostolica e di penitenzia corresse la vita lascibile, etc.
4bL
144 PARADISE CANTO
^ Between Tupino and the water that descends from the hill chosen by the blessed Ubaldo, a fertile slope hangs from a lofty mountain, whence Perugia feels cold and heat on the side of Porta Sole, and behind it Nocera and Gualdo
Intra Tupino e 1' acqua che discende Del colle eletto dal beato Ubaldo,^ Fertile costa d' alto monte pende,
Onde Perugia sente freddo e caldo Da Porta Sole, e diretro le piange Per greve giogo Nocera con Gualdo.
^ collo Gg.
43 sqq. The career of St. Francis is here described. For the histor}^, Sir James Stephen's essay and the note of Philalethes may be read with advantage ; also the chapter on him in ' L'ltalie Mystique ' by M. Emile Gebhart (Paris, 1890), the statements in which, however, some- times want verifying. Francis (so named, apparently, because his father was frequently absent in France ; at all events he seems to have been the first person who bore the name as a Christian name) was born in 1 182 at Assisi in Umbria. His father, Peter Bernardone, w^as a well-to- do merchant, and Francis was brought up as a young, man of fashion, and took part in deeds of arms. He was about twenty-five when he devoted himself to religion. In 1209 he went to Rome ; and Innocent III, who seems at first to have treated him coldly, soon perceived his value as a champion of the Church at a time when she was hard pressed by the power of the Empire, and the growing tendency to free-thought. Francis and his companions were recognised as preachers ; but it was left for Honorius III, in 1223, to establish the Order formally. In 1226 St. Francis died. Assisi stands on the S.W. slope of Monte Subasio, which lies between the streams Tupino and Chiassi ; the latter coming down from the neighbourhood of Gubbio, of which St. Ubaldo was Bishop.
46. 47 Porta Sole is the gate of Perugia on the side of Assisi. The mountain makes it hot in summer and cold in winter.
^ Nocera (not to be confounded with N. in Apulia) and Gualdo Tadino are in the upper valley of the Tupino, on the E. side of the ridge of Monte Subasio. Some — e.g. Comm. Gg. (*i.e. montem '), Pietro di Dante, and Veil. — take the greve giogo to be this ridge, and understand the allusion as being to their inhospitable position. But it
XI PARADISE 145
bewail for a grievous yoke. Of that slope, at the point where it most breaks its steepness, was born to the world a Sun, as this one is at whiles of Ganges^ So that whoso talks of that place, let him not say Ascesi, which would tell a brief tale, but Orient, if he would say it aright. He was not yet very far from his rising when he began to make the earth feel some strengthening from his great virtue, since for such lady's sake a youth he ran upon his father's
Di quella costa la dov' ella frange
Pill sua rattezza, nacque al mondo un Sole, 50 Come fa questo tal volta di Gauge.
Perb chi d' esso loco fa parole,
Non dica Ascesi, che direbbe corto,^ Ma Oriente, se proprio dir vuole.
Non era ancor molto lontan dall' orto, Ch^ comincio a far sentir la terra Delia sua gran virtude alcun conforto ;
Che per tal donna giovinetto in guerra
i torto Gg. (alt. from co7'to) Cass,
is more likely that it refers to their political subjection to the Guelfs of Perugia. (They could not have fallen into the power of Robert till later than this. J
^^ questo : that in whose sphere they now are. Scartazzini makes a difficulty as to tal volta, on the ground that the sun always rises from the Ganges (!), and has a long note on the subject. It is, however, quite enough to refer to such passages as xii. 51, xiv. 116, to see Dante's use of tal volta in regard to natural phenomena, which recur regularly, but are not always happening.
^^ Ascesi. The old pronunciation of Assisi ; of course with a play on ascesi, ' I rose. '
^^ donna : Poverty ; see 1. 74. St. Francis, in his first essays of the ascetic Hfe, had to face the strenuous opposition of his father, who had formed ambitious plans for his career, and who seems to have gone so far as to prosecute his son before the Bishop for squandering his money in charity. Francis gave up all that he had, even to his clothing,
L
146 PARADISE canto
enmity, that to her, as to death, none unlocks the gate of pleasure : and in presence of his spiritual court et co7'am patre he became united to her ; afterward from day to day he loved her more strongly. She, bereaved of her first husband, eleven hundred years and more despised and obscure, until his time remained without wooing; nor did it avail to hear that he who made all the world afraid found her in safety with Amyclas at the sound of his voice ; nor did it avail to have been constant and brave, so that where
Del padre corse, a cui, com' alia morte,
La porta del piacer nessun disserra : 60
E dinanzi alia sua spirital corte, Et coram patre le si fece unito, Poscia di di in di T amb piu forte.
Questa, privata del primo marito,
Mille e cent' anni e piu dispetta e scura Fino a costui si stette senza invito :
Nb valse udir, che la trovb sicura
Con Amiclate, al suon della sua voce, Colui ch' a tutto il mondo fe paura :
Ne valse esser costante ne feroce, 70
which the Bishop was compelled to replace from his own robes. Hence
the allusion in 1. 61.
^ primo marito. Christ.
^ See the description in Lucan, Phars. v. 504 sqq., of Caesar's visit
to the hut of the fisherman Amyclas ; and especially 11. 526-531 : Securus belli, praedam civilibus armis wScit non esse casas. O vitae tuta facultas Pauperis, angustique lares ! o munera nondum Intellecta deum ! Quibus hoc contingere templis Aut potuit muris, nullo trepidare tumultu, Caesarea pulsante manu ?
It is interesting to observe how 11. 527, 528, evidently suggested the
form of 1. 82 of this Canto. See Conv. iv. 13, where the same passage
is quoted.
XI PARADISE 147
Mary remained below, she with Christ wept upon the cross. But that I may not proceed too darkly, from this time take in my diffuse speech Francis and Poverty for these lovers. Their concord and th'eir joyous visages made love and wonder and sweet looks to be the occasion of holy thoughts : so that the venerable Bernard first unshod himself, and hastened after so great peace, and hastening thought it was too slow. O unknown riches, O fertile good ! Egidius
Si che dove Maria rimase giuso, -»/M .
Ella con Cristo pianse in su la croce.^
Ma perch' io non proceda troppo chiuso ; Francesco e Poverta per questi amanti ^ Prendi oramai nel mio parlar diffuso.
La lor Concordia e i lor lieti sembianti Amore e maraviglia e dolce sguardo Faceano esser cagion dei pensier santi :
Tanto che il venerabile Bernardo
Si scalzo prima, e dietro a tanta pace 80
Corse, e correndo gli parv' esser tardo.
O igriota ricchezza, o ben ferace ! ^ Scalzasi Egidio e scalzasi Silvestro "
k salse in su Aid. Land. Bi. Giul. etc.
1 di questi Gg. ^ verace 14. Aid. Land. Bi. Giul.
^ Scalzossi — scalzossi Cass.; om. e Gg. Cass. W.
71. 72 These appear to be almost the exact words of St. Francis him- self. See Gebhart, op. cit. p. 102.
'''' Earthly love and its outward manifestations. 9^ ''^ Bernard of Quintavalle was the first disciple of St. Francis. He was a wealthy man, who having at first distrusted the saint, when con- vinced of his sincerity, put himself under his direction, sold his posses- sions, and embraced the rule of poverty. After the founder's death he became the head of the Order. ^^ Cf. x. 135.
^^ Egidius, another wealthy man, and Sylvester, a priest, were also among the earliest followers of the new brotherhood.
148 PARADISE canto
unshoes himself, and Silvester, following the bridegroom; so pleasing is the bride. Then that father and master went on his way, with his Lady, and with that family which already the halter of humility tied ; nor did cowardice of heart weigh down his brow, for being son of Peter Bernardone, nor for seeming wondrously despised But in royal wise he disclosed his stern intention to Innocent, and from him had a first seal to his Order. After that the poor humble folk had increased, following him, whose wondrous life was better to be chanted to the glory of heaven, the holy desire
Dietro alio sposo, si la sposa place. Indi sen va quel padre e quel maestro
Con la sua donna, e con quella famiglia
Che gia legava T umile capestro : Ne gli gravb vilta di cuor le ciglia,
Per esser fi' di Pietro Bernardone,®
Ne per parer dispetto a maraviglia. 90
Ma regalmente sua dura intenzione
Ad Innocenzio aperse, e da lui ebbe
Primo sigillo a sua religione. Poi che la gente poverella crebbe
Dietro a costui, la cui mirabil vita
Meglio in gloria del ciel si canterebbe ; ^
^ fig^io ^ Gg. P om. nieglio Gg.
^ The cord about the waist was, and is, the distinctive mark of the Franciscans, whence they are also called Cordeliers. Cf. Inf. xxvii.
92, 93.
^ This allusion is explained by a passage in Bonaventura's Life of St. Francis, ch. vi. i. : Cum populi merita sanctitatis in eo extollerent, praecipiebat alicui fratri, ut in contrarium verba ipsum vilificantia pro- ferret, cumque frater ille licet invitus eum rusticum et mercenarium et inutilem diceret, respondebat : Benedicat tibi Dominus, fili carissime, quia tu verissima loqueris, et talia filium Petri Bernardonis decet audire.
^ religione, much as in Purg. xxi. 41.
XI PARADISE 149
of this head shepherd of his flock was crowned with a second diadem by the eternal spirit through Honorius^ And after that, in his thirst for martyrdom, he had preached Christ and the rest who followed Him, in the proud presence of the Sultan, and through finding the folk too unripe for conversion, and not to stand in vain, had betaken himself back to the harvest of the Italian crop ; on the raw rock, between Tiber and Arno, he received from Christ the last seal,
Di seconda corona redimita ^ . , Fu per Onorio dair eterno spiro La santa voglia d' esto archimandrita :
E poi che per la sete del martiro, 100
Nella presenza del Soldan superba Predicb Cristo, e gli altri che il seguiro ;
E per trovare a conversione acerba
Troppo la gente, e per non stare indarno, Reddissi al frutto dell' Italica erba \ ^
Nel crudo sasso intra Tevere ed Arno
^ Re7idesst Gg. ; Rendesi Cass. ; Reddtissi 4.
100 In 1 2 19 St. Francis joined the crusading army before Damietta, and after their defeat (which he foretold) succeeded in making his way into the camp of the Saracens, where he was courteously received by the Sultan, and sent back uninjured.
^^2 gli altri che il seguiro. The form of the sentence would seem to require these words to be taken, as they usually have been, together with Cristo, in the sense of * Christ and His followers,' though it is hard to believe that Dante would have spoken of preaching \h^ followers of Christ. If we take it as part of the subject to predicd, there is the difficulty that St. Francis seems to have had only one follower on this occasion : but Dante may have confused the details with those of his visit to Spain a few years previously, when he was certainly accom- panied by several brethren.
103 acerba. Cf. crude in ix. 48.
106 sqq. xhe legend of St. Francis's reception of the stigmata is too well known to need repetition. It is said to have occurred in 1224 on
ISO PARADISE CANTO
which his members carried for two years. When it pleased Him who allotted him to so great good to draw him on high to the reward which he earned in making himself of small stature, to his brethren as to just heirs he com- mended his dearest Lady, and commanded that they should love her faithfully ; and from her bosom he wished to send forth his illustrious soul, returning to its own kingdom ; and to his body he would no other bier. Think now of what sort was he, who was a worthy colleague to hold the bark of Peter on the high sea for a mark right ahead \ and
Da Cristo prese 1' ultimo sigillo,
Che le sue membra du' anni portarno. Quando a Colui ch' a tanto ben sortillo,
Piacque di trarlo suso alia mercede, no
Che meritb nel suo farsi pusillo ; Ai frati suoi, si com' a giuste erede,
Raccomandb la donna sua piu cara,^
E comandb che 1' amassero a fede : E del suo grembo 1' anima preclara
Muover si voile, tornando al suo regno ;
Ed al suo corpo non voile altra bara. Pensa, oramai qual fu colui che degno "^
Collega fu a mantener la barca.
Di Pietro in alto mar per dritto segno : 120
r sua donna Aid. W. Bi. Giul. s chifu Gg.
Monte Alvernia in the Casentino, near the (still existing) monastery which the saint himself had founded.
^^^ ultimo : with reference to 11. 93, 97.
109 sqq. Visitors to Assisi will remember how this and other subjects from the history of St. Francis have been treated by Giotto in his famous series of frescoes, some of which are said to have been suggested by Dante,
118 colui = St.' Dominic, to whose Order St. Thomas belonged.
XI PARADISE 151
this our patriarch was ; wherefore whoso follows him as he , commands, thou canst perceive that he ships good mer- chandise. But his flock has grown so greedy of new food that it cannot but be scattered over many walks ; and the further his sheep go remote and astray from him, the emptier of milk they return to the fold. There are indeed of them some who fear the loss, and hold fast to the shepherd ; but they are so few that a little cloth furnishes their cowls. Now, if my words are not indistinct, if thy hearing has been attentive, if thou recallest to thy mind that which I have said, thy wish will be in part satisfied, because thou wilt see the plant whence the piece is split,
E questi fu il nostro Patriarca ;
Perche qual segue lui, com' ei comanda, Discerner puoi, che buone merce carca.^
Ma il suo peculio di nuova vivanda fe fatto ghiotto si ch' esser non puote, Che per diversi salti non si spanda :
E quanto le sue pecore rimote E vagabonde piu da esso vanno, Pill tornano all' ovil di latte vote.
Ben son di quelle, che temono il danno, 130
E stringonsi al pastor : ma son si poche, Che le cappe fornisce poco panno.
Or se le mie parole non son fioche, Se la tua audienza e stata attenta, ^- Se cio ch' ho detto alia mente rivoche,"
In parte fia la tua voglia contenta :
Perche vedrai la pianta onde si scheggia,
t btwna Aid, Bi. Giul, ^ cib ch' I Gg. 124.
125, 126 esser non puote che non : cf. Gr. oi^K iad' Hirws 01).
152 PARADISE CANTO xi
and thou wilt see how the wearer of the thong reasons, " Where one fattens well, if one turns not to vanities." '
E vedrai il correggier, che argomenta : ^ U' ben s' impingua, se non si vaneggia.^
^ Vederai il coregere che sargomenta Gg. ; correggiar chaig. Cass. ^ O ben Gg. ; Un hen 125.
^^ There is much uncertainty about this line ; but the best in- terpretation seems to be that which takes correggier as a substantive, and sees an allusion to the leather thong worn by the Dominicans as a girdle, in contradistinction to the cord of the Franciscans. Others taking r(7;'r(?^(?r = ' Corrigere ' understand either * correction,' with Benv.,
* distinctionem meam, quae corrigit praecedens dictum,' or as Daniello appears to do, in the sense of * qualification ' ; or with Philalethes,
* censure. '
CANTO XII
ARGUMENT
St. Thomas having ceased, St. Bonaventura relates the life of St. Dominic ; and names another twelve who are present.
So soon as the blessed flame had taken up its parable to speak for the last time, the holy mill began to revolve, and in its wheeling it had not turned wholly round before a second enclosed it with a circle, and took movement by its movement, chant by its chant ; chant which so far surpasses our Muses, our Sirens, in those sweet pipes, as does a primary light that which it gives by reflection. As
Si tosto come V ultima parola
La benedetta fiamma per dir tolse, A rotar comincib la santa mola :
E nel suo giro tutta non si volse
Prima ch' un' altra di cerchio la chiuse,^ E moto a moto, e canto a canto colse ; ' Canto, che tanto vince nostre Muse, Nostre Sirene, in quelle dolci tube, Quanto primo splendor quel ch' ei rifuse.
^ d' tin cerchio 3 Aid. Laiid, Bi.
"^ Cf. Purg. xxxii. 61, 62. ^ rifuse : aorist, as prese, Purg. xxxii. 34.
154 PARADISE canto
through a soft cloud are turned two arches parallel and of like hue, when Juno gives command to her handmaid, the outer taking birth from the inner after the fashion of the speech of that wandering one whom love consumed as the Sun does mists ; and make folk here to be weatherwise, through the covenant which God laid down with Noah, concerning the w^orld, how it never more is flooded : thus of those everlasting roses the two garlands were turning around us, and thus did the outer correspond to the inner. After
Come si volgon per tenera nube lo
Due archi paralleli e concolori,^ Quando Giunone a sua ancella iube,
Nascendo di quel d' entro quel di fuori, A guisa del parlar di quella vaga, Ch' amor consunse, come Sol vapori :
E fanno qui la gente esser presaga Per lo patto, che Dio con Noe pose Del mondo, che giammai piu non s' allaga ;
Cosi di quelle sempiterne rose
Volgeansi circa noi le due ghirlande, 20
E si r estrema all' ultima rispose.^
^ parevelli 14 ; pararelli Cass. c intima Aid. (2) Bi. Giul. etc.
^^ ancella : Iris. P. di Dante refers to Aen. iv. 700, and Scartazzini to ib. 694, and v. 606.
^* quella vaga : Echo ; Ov. Met. iii. 356-401. vaga may have its more common meaning of * enamoured ' ; but it seems better here to take it, with Landino, in its primary sense.
^^ come Sol. Attention has been called to the three similes, one within another, of which this is the third ; see 11. 10 and 14. The arrangement is curious, but not ineffective.
^^'^^ Genesis ix. 13- 17*
XII ^ PARADISE 155
that the dance and all the great pageant both of the singing and of the blazing of light with light, joyous and gentle, had become still, together in point of time and in volition, just as the eyes whose property it is at the desire which moves them to close and raise themselves together, from the heart of one of the new lights came a voice which made me seem, in turning to its position, the needle to. the star. And it began : ' The love that makes me fair draws me to discourse of the other leader, for whose sake there is here so good speech concerning mine. Meet is it
Poich^ 11 tripudio e 1' altra festa grande,^ Si del cantare, e si del fiammeggiarsi, Luce con luce gaudiose e blande,
Insieme a punto e a voler quetarsi ;
Pur come gli occhi, ch' al piacer che i muove Conviene insieme chiudere e levarsi \ ^
Del cuor dell' una delle luci nuove Si mosse voce, che T ago alia stella Parer mi fece in volgermi al suo dove ; 30
E comincib : L' amor, che mi fa bella.
Mi tragge a ragionar deir altro duca, p Per cui del mio si ben ci si favella.
d alta Gg. 14. IV. e chiudersi Gg. 14.
-^ r ago. The knowledge of the magnetic needle seems to have come into Europe from Arabia before the end of the twelfth century. Humboldt quotes an allusion to it from the * Siete Partidas ' of Alfonso the Wise, King of Castile, 1252- 1284. Fazio degli Uberti in the ' Dittamondo ' (about 1360) has ' Quel gran disio, che mi traeva addietro, come ago a calamita ' (iii. 2).
^^ The speaker is St. Bonaventura. See note, 1. 127. He, as a Franciscan, recounts the praises of St. Dominic.
156 PARADISE CANTO
that where the one is the other should be brought in, so that as they served in one warfare, so their glory should shine together. The army of Christ, which it cost so dear to equip again, was moving slowly after the ensign, dubious and in loose array, when the Emperor who reigns for ever made provision for His soldiery which was in doubtful plight, through His grace alone, and not through its deserving; and as has been said, succoured His bride with two champions, to whose deed, to whose word, the people rallied which had gone astray. In that region where
Degno e, che dov' e 1' un, T altro s' induca ; ^
Si che com' elli ad una militaro,
Cosi la gloria loro insieme luca. L' esercito di Cristo, che si caro
Costb a riarmar, dietro alia insegna
Si movea tardo, sospeccioso e raro ; Quando lo imperador, che sempre regna, 40
Provvide alia milizia, ch' era in forse.
Per sola grazia, non per esser degna : E com' e detto, a sua sposa soccorse
Con duo campioni, al cui fare, al cui dire
Lo popol disviato si raccorse. In quella parte, ove surge ad aprire
' che r U7t dove P altro Gg.
^ I have followed the ordinary rendering of s' induca ; but it seems very likely, from the analogy of the other reflexive compounds with in, that we ought to understand it as meaning * should hold a general's rank.' This would suit the image of the following lines.
^ raccorse. Usually taken as if from raccorgere, * bethought itself again,' 'emendavit se,' as Comm. Gg. puts it ; but it seems better to take it from raccorrere, 'ran up again,' continuing the image of tardo and raro in 1. 39. The reflexive form need give no difficulty. Landino's view that it is for raccolse, * gathered together,' is hardly satisfactory.
XII PARADISE 157
sweet Zephyrus arises to open the new leaves,/ wherewith Europe is seen to reclothe herself, not very far from the beating of the waves behind which at times the Sun for his long heat hides himself from all men, stands the fortunate Callaroga, under the protection of the great shield whereon the lion is subject and subjugates. Therein was born the amorous fere of the Christian faith, the holy athlete,
Zeffiro dolce le novelle fronde, ^
Di che si vede Europa rivestire ; Non molto lungi al percuoter dell' onde,
Dietro a le quali per la lunga foga 50
Lo Sol tal volta ad ogni uom si nasconde,^ Siede la fortunata Callaroga,
Sotto la protezion del grande scudo.
In che soggiace il Leone e soggioga. Dentro vi nacque T amoroso drudo
Delia fede Cristiana, il santo atleta,
^ ad ogni si n. Gg.
^^ per la lunga foga. foga may mean only * course,' but I am inclined to think that the idea of heat comes in. See Gloss. Purg. s. v. ' Cioe quando la sua corsa e piu lunga e focosa, nel solstizio estivo. ' — Bianchi. So too P. di Dante. This agrees pretty well with the situa- tion of Calahorra, a little north of the latitude of Rome. There are three places of the name in Spain ; this one, the ancient Calaguris, is on the border of Castile and Navarre.
^^ tal volta: cf. xi. 51.
^^ Callaroga : Calaguris. Observe the exchange of consonants, char- acteristic of Spanish. In the modern Calahorra it has disappeared again.
^■^ In the arms of Castile and Leon the lion is above the castle on one side of the shield and below it on the other.
^^ St. Dominic was born in 11 70. After studying theology, and joining the Chapter of the Cathedral of Osma, he accompanied his Bishop to Rome. He never returned to Spain, but stayed for some years in the neighbourhood of Toulouse, where he took part in the conflicts with the Albigenses. In spite of the bad reputation in regard
158 PARADISE canto
benign to his friends and stern to his foes ; and from its creation his mind was so fulfilled of living virtue that in his mother it made her prophetic. After that the espousals were completed at the holy font between him and the faith where they dowered each other with mutual salvation, the lady who gave the assent for him saw in her sleep the
Benigno ai suoi, ed ai nimici crudo : E come fu creata, fu repleta
Si la sua mente di viva virtute,^
Che nella madre lei fece profeta. 60
Poich^ le sponsalizie fur compiute
AI sacro fonte intra lui e la fede,
U' si dotar di mutua salute ; La donna che per lui T assenso diede,
^ divina 1345 ; indivina 2.
to persecution which his Order has since obtained, there seems no reason to believe that he was connected with the severer measures which were employed against those unfortunate schismatics. His preaching, how- ever, appears to have been effective. In 12 15 he accompanied Folco (see Canto IX) to the Lateran Council. On his return to Toulouse he founded the first monastery of his Order ; and obtained its formal recog- nition as ' Preaching Friars ' from Honorius III on a third visit to Rome in 121 7. From this time he remained chiefly at Rome; and in 1 22 1 died at Bologna. He is described as a well-built man, of delicate complexion, with reddish hair and beard, a countenance at once imposing and attractive, long and beautiful hands. — Philalethes.
^7 ^apelav ixOpois /cat (plXoKTiv evfievT). — Eur. Med. 809. But how did Dante get hold of the line ?
^ come fu creata: see Purg. xxv. 68-75. come, like Or. e7ret = *irom the time when.' So Purg. vi. 25, and elsewhere.
^ His mother is said to have dreamt, before his birth, that she had borne a black and white dog, with a lighted torch in its mouth. The play on Do??iimca7zi, Do??imi canes, will be familiar to all who have seen the fresco of Simon Memmi in Santa Maria Novella at Florence.
^2 Observe that Faith is said to be the bride of St. Dominic, as Poverty — taken as the symbol of good works — was of St. Francis.
XII PARADISE 159
wonderful fruit that was to issue from him an^ from his heirs : and that he might be in interpretation what he was, from hence a spirit set forth to name him with the possessive of Him whose he was wholly. Dominic was he called ; and I speak of him as of the husbandman whom Christ chose to His garden, to aid Him. Right well did he appear a messenger and a familiar of Christ, for the first desire which was manifest in him was toward the first counsel which Christ gave. Oftentimes was he found silent
Vide nel sonno il mirabile frutto,
Ch' uscir dovea di lui e delle rede : E perche fosse quale era in costrutto,
Quinci si mosse spirito a nomarlo
Del possessivo di cui era tutto. Domenico fu detto : ed io ne parlo, 70
Si come dell' agricola, che Cristo
Elesse all' orto suo per aiutarlo. Ben parve messo e famigliar di Cristo,
Che il primo amor, che in lui fu manifesto,
Fu al primo consiglio che die Cristo. Spesse fiate fu tacito e desto
^ The legend, as given by P. di Dante, is that his godmother saw him in a dream with a star on his forehead, which illumined the whole world.
^'' in costrutto: *i.e. loquela, nomine.' — Comm. Gg. Looking to Purg. xxviii. 147, this seems the best explanation ; though some, e.g. Daniello, take it as = 2>2 effetto. Land. ' perche egli havea ad esser tutto del suo signor Iddio. '
^ quinci : from heaven.
6^ Aquinas, S. T. iii. Q. 16. A. 3, ' dominicus dicitur denominative a Domino' (where he is discussing whether Christ can be called * dominicus ').
'^^ primo consiglio : * sell all that thou hast and give to the poor. ' Various stories are told of St. Dominic's obedience to this precept.
i60 PARADISE CANTO
and awake on the earth by his nurse, as though he said : "To this end am I come." O FeHx in very truth his father ! O Joan in very truth his mother ! if being inter- preted it means as they say. Not for the world, for whose sake now men weary themselves, following him of Ostia and Thaddaeus, but for love of the true manna, in a little time he became a great doctor, such that he betook himself to going round the vine which soon grows white if the vine-
Trovato in terra dalla sua nutrice, Come dicesse : lo son venuto a questo.
O padre suo veramente Felice !
O madre sua veramente Giovanna ^ 80
Se interpretata val come si dice !
Non per lo mondo, per cui mo s' affanna Diretro ad Ostiense ed a Taddeo, Ma per amor della verace manna.
In picciol tempo gran dottor si feo, Tal che si mise a circuir la vigna, Che tosto imbianca, se il vignaio e reo :
^ E ?nadre Gg.
^^ Giovanna being the feminine of John, which means * the grace of God ' or 'Jehovah has been gracious.' Dante of course was ignorant of Hebrew, and so had to trust to hearsay evidence.
82 sqq. He did not acquire learning for the sake of worldly fame, but in order to know Christ. (St. John vi. 31, 32.)
®^ Henry of Susa, Archbishop of Embrun and Cardinal of Ostia, wrote a commentary on the Decretals. He died in 1271. Taddeo : probably Taddeo Alderotti of Bologna, *il quale,' says Villani (viii. 65), 'fii sommo fisiziano sopra tutti quegli de' cristiani.' He made an Italian version of the Ethics ; and is thought to be the person alluded to in an uncomplimentary fashion in Conv. i. 10. Blanc appositely compares with this line the ^jura ed aforismi ' of xi. 4 ; and see note to 1. 93 below. According to Villani, Taddeo died in 1303.
XII PARADISE i6i
dresser is in fault; and at the seat which was formerly kinder to the righteous poor, not by reason of itself, but of him who sits and goes astray, he craved, not to dispense two or three for six, not the fortune of a next vacancy, no7i decimas quae sunt paupericm Dei; but leave to. fight
Ed alia sedia, che fu gia benigna
Pill ai poveri giusti, non per lei.
Ma per colui che siede, e che traligna,^ 90
Non dispensare o due o tre per sei,
Non la fortuna di prima vacante,
Non decimas^ quae sunt pauperum JDei,
k che siede che 3 Aid. W.
^ sedia : the Papal See.
^* non per lei : as if he had said, * which is no longer kind. '
^ colui : Boniface.
^^ I.e. not the power of dispensing people from the chief part of their duties. Cf. v. 35, 6b. Others understand * to distribute less than the due amount. '
^^ *Not the tithes, which belong to God's poor.' With this and 1. 83, cf Conv. iv. 27 : Potrebbe dire alcuno medico o legista : dunque portero io il mio consiglio e darollo eziandio che non mi sia chiesto, e dalla mia arte non avro frutto ? Rispondo ; siccome dice nostro Signore : A grado ricevete, a grado date. Dico adunque, messer Io legista, che quelli consigU che non hanno rispetto alia tua arte, e che procedono solo di quel buono senno che Iddio ti diede, tu nol dei vendere a' figliuoli di Colui che te 1' ha dato ; quelli che hanno rispetto all' arte, la quale hai comperata, vender puoi ; ma non si, che non si convengano alcuna volta decimare e dare a Dio, cioe a quelli miseri, a cui solo il grado divino e rimaso. S. T. ii. 2. Q. %"], A. 3 : In nova lege decimae dantur clericis, non solum propter sui sustenta- tionem, sed etiam ut ex eis subveniant pauperibus. With pauperum Dei, cf. * pauperum Christi,' De Mon. ii. 10 (11). It may be noted that one of Philip IV's conditions for promoting the election of Pope Clement V was that he should receive five years' tithes from the French clergy.
M
i62 PARADISE CANTO
against the erring world for the sake of the seed whereof twenty -four plants are girding thee. Then with doctrine and with good will together he set out with his apos- tolical office, like a torrent which a deep vein presses out ', and his attack smote upon the heretical stocks in more lively wise in those places where the resistance was most stout. From him were made thereafter divers streams, whence the catholic garden is watered so that its bushes stand more alive.
* If of such sort was one wheel of the chariot whereon the Holy Church defended herself, and won in the field her
Addimandb, ma contra il mondo errante Licenzia di combatter per lo seme, Del qual ti fascian ventiquattro piante.^
Poi con dottrina, e con volere insieme, Con r uficio apostolico si mosse, Quasi torrente, ch' alta vena preme :
E negli sterpi eretici percosse loo
L' impeto suo piu vivamente quivi, Dove le resistenze eran piu grosse.
Di lui si fecer poi diversi rivi, Onde r orto cattolico si riga, Si che i suoi arbuscelli stan piu vivi.
Se tal fu r una ruota della biga. In che la santa Chiesa si difese, E vinse in campo la sua civil briga,
1 si fascia Gg. ; sifasciafi Aid.
^ Twenty-four spirits, in two circles, are now surrounding them.
^^^ quivi : i.e. where heresy was most rife. See note to 1. 55.
198 civil briga : the struggle with heresy being to the Church what civil war is to a State. The corresponding efforts of St. Francis were rather towards the conversion of those who were outside the Church.
XII PARADISE 163
civil strife, right clear ought to be to thee the excellence of the other concerning whom Thomas was before my coming so courteous. But the track which the highest part of its circumference made, has been deserted ; so that the mould is where the crust was. His household which set out aright with its feet in his footsteps, has so turned round that it casts him who is in front upon him who is behind ; and soon will it be seen from the ingathering of the ill crop, when the tare shall lament that the store-chest is taken from it. Doubtless I say whoso should search our volume leaf by leaf would still find a page where he would
Ben ti dovrebbe assai esser palese
L' eccellenza dell' altra, di cui Tomma no
Dinanzi al mio venir fu si cortese. •
Ma r orbita, che fe la parte somma Di sua circonferenza, e derelitta. Si ch' e la muffa dov' era la gromma.
La sua famiglia, che si mosse dritta, Coi piedi alle su' orme, e tanto volta, Che quel dinanzi a quel diretro gitta :
E tosto si vedra della ricolta ^
Delia mala coltura, quando il loglio
Si lagnera che 1' area gli sia tolta. 120
Ben dico, chi cercasse foglio a foglio Nostro volume, ancor troveria carta,"
™ s' avvedra Aid. Bi. ^ trovare Gg.
112 sqq. St^ Bonaventura, like St. Thomas in the last Canto, reproves the degeneracy of his own Order. The metaphor in 11. 112-114 is some- what confused ; and the allusion to the founder of the Order as the highest point of the wheel is awkward.
^^■* Good wine makes a crust, bad wine mould, in the cask.
119. 120 -y^ith allusion to the parable.
l64 PARADISE canto
read * I am what I am wont ' ; but it will not be from Casale nor from Acquasparta; where they come to the scripture in such sort that one flies from it and another contracts it.
' I am the life of Bonaventura of Bagnoregio, who in my
U' leggerebbe : I' mi son quel, ch' io soglio. Ma non fia da Casal, ne d' Acquasparta,
La onde vegnon tali alia scrittura,
Ch' uno la fugge, e T altro la coarta.° Io son la vita di Bonaventura
Da Bagnoregio, che nei grandi ufici
o Che r un IV,; ed altro 2 Aid,
124-126 'pjjg allusion is to the sects, which soon after the death of St. Francis arose within the Order. The one party, of whom Matthew of Acquasparta, General in 1289, was the leader, construed the founder's rule (scrittura) in a somewhat liberal sense, while the others, with the encouragement of successive Popes, adopted a narrower and more literal interpretation. The most vigorous champion of this view was Ubertino of Casale. Pope Clement V did his best to reconcile the factions ; and Philalethes notes Dante's implied approval of this course as an instance of his freedom from party spirit, seeing that Clement found, as we know, little favour with him on general grounds.
■^^^ vita : i.e. the soul. Bonaventura is the name by which posterity has known John da Fidanza of Bagnoreggio or Bagnorea near Orvieto. He was born in 1221, and was brought as a child by his mother to St. Francis, who performed a miraculous cure on him. He joined the Order in 1243, studied under Alexander of Hales (himself a Franciscan) at Paris, and afterwards lectured there. In 1256 he became General of the Order, and afterwards Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He died in 1276. In his case, as also in that of St. Thomas, Dante has anticipated the decision of the Church, for he was not canonised till 1482. The philosophy of the ' Seraphic Doctor,' as he is called, was strongly leavened with mysticism, and differs from that of Aquinas (whose mind was altogether of a far more masculine stamp) in having more affinity with Plato than with Aristotle.
XII PARADISE 165
great offices ever set last the care of the left hand. Illuminato and Augustin are here, who were of the first unshod poor ones that in the rope-girdle became friends to God. Hugh of Saint Victor is here with them, Peter
Sempre posposi la sinistra cura. Illuminato ed Agostin son quici, 130
Che fur dei primi scalzi poverelli,
Che nel capestro a Dio si fero amici. Ugo da Sanvittore e qui con elli,
E Pietro Mangiadore, e Pietro Ispano,
^^^ sinistra. The allusion seems to be to Prov. iii. 16 : 'In her left hand are riches and honour.' See also S. T. i. 2. Q. 104. A. 4. § 6. Benv. thinks that it means care for things of this world, ' which lead to death,' and refers to the way through Hell going to the left.
^^^ Illuminato of Rieti and Augustin were among the first followers of St. Francis ; the former was his companion on his expedition to Egypt.
1^2 capestro : cf. xi. '^'],
133 Hugh of St. Victor, called 'alter Augustinus,' was born in 1097. He was a German by birth, and afterwards joined the famous monastery of St. Victor. Peter Lombard and Richard (x. 107, 131) were his pupils. He too was a mystic, but, according to Philalethes, with a strong tendency to practical moral doctrine. He died in 1141.
^^ Petrus Comestor was Dean of Troyes, and afterwards Chancellor of the University of Paris. His chief work was a History of the Church, founded on the Old and New Testaments. He died at St. Victor, 1 1 79. Petrus Hispanus was a physician and theologian at Lisbon. He took orders, and became in 1273 Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum. In 1276 he was elected Pope, and reigned for eight months as John XXI. In May 1277, he was killed by the fall of a roof at Viterbo (Villani vii. 50). His work, ' Summulae Logicales ' (in which, says Philalethes, the famous ' Barbara, celarent ' first appear), had a great reputation. Only seven treatises are mentioned in Ueberweg. The number twelve appears to be made up by reckon- ing the six books of which the seventh is composed, as separate treatises.
i66 PARADISE
the Eater, and Peter of Spain, who on earth shines through twelve treatises ; Nathan the prophet and the metropoHtan Chrysostom, and Anselm, and that Donatus who deigned to put his hand to the prime art ; Raban is there, and beside me shines the Calabrian Abbot Joachim, endowed with
Lo qual giii luce in dodici libelli : Natan Profeta, e il Metropolitano
Crisostomo, ed Anselmo, e quel Donato,
Ch' alia prim' arte degnb poner mano ; Rabano e quivi, e lucemi da lato
II Calavrese abate Giovacchino 140
^^ St. John Chrysostom (347-407), the famous patriarch of Constan- tinople, is probably, as Philalethes suggests, coupled with Nathan, on account of their similar boldness in rebuking the sins of kings. It may be noted also that both he and Pope John XXI censured the idle and vicious lives of many of the monks of their time, which perhaps accounts partly for their appearance here. Anselm of Aosta was born in 1033. He entered the Abbey of Bee, in Normandy, became Prior in 1063, and Abbot in 1078. In 1093 he was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, and died in 1 109. His chief title to fame as a theologian rests on his ' Proslogium,' in which he seeks to prove God's existence by a method not unlike that of Descartes ; and his ' Cur Deus Homo,' which treats of the Atonement. Aelius Donatus was a famous gram- marian of the fourth century. St. Jerome is said to have been his pupil. In the Middle Age his name became a synonym for Grammar (much as ' Euclid ' for Geometry), and his treatise was printed probably before any book except the Bible.
^^^ prim* arte. Grammar is the first of the seven liberal arts, the others being Logic, Rhetoric, Music, Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy.
^^^ Rabanus Maurus, born at Mainz in 766 (or 780), was a monk at Fulda ; became Abbot in 822, Archbishop of Mainz 847, died 856. He was a voluminous writer. One of his works, *De Laudibus S. Crucis,' contains curious figures in which rows of letters are cut by out- lines of stars, crosses, and the like, so as to mark out words and sentences. Did Dante borrow from this his image in Canto xviii. ?
^^^ Joachim, born near Cosenza in 1132, was Abbot of the Cistercian monastery at Curazzo, and subsequently founded a community at Flora,
PARADISE 167
prophetic spirit. To vie with so mighty a paladin has the enkindled courtesy of Brother Thomas moved me, and his discerning speech, and it has moved with me this company.'
Di spirito profetico dotato.
Ad inveggiar cotanto paladino Mi mosse la infiammata cortesia Di fra Tommaso, e il discreto latino,^
E mosse meco questa compagnia.
P Tommaso il d. Gg. 3 ; T. d, 145.
among the mountains of Calabria. He wrote a Commentary on the Apocalypse, and seems to have enjoyed in his own day and long after- wards a reputation for prophetic power. 'Joachim, the Abbot of Calabria, foretold all the Popes that should ensue, together with their names and shapes.' — Montaigne, Trans. Florio, Bk. i., Ch. 2. He is also said to have foretold that Antichrist would sit in the chair of Peter ; and Philalethes suggests that Dante may have seen the fulfilment of this in Boniface VIII.
^^ These words, M. Gebhart says (op. cit. p. 50), are taken verbatim from the anthem which is still chanted on St. Joachim's festival in the churches of Calabria.
^^^ It seems best to understand (with Blanc) paladino of St. Thomas. If, following the usual interpretation, we take it of St. Dominic, it is hard to extract any satisfactory meaning from inveggiar.
^^ latino : cf. iii. d^.
CANTO XIII
ARGUMENT
St. Thomas speaks again, and explains how it was rightly said by him of Solomon, that no second had arisen like to him ; stating incidentally certain truths concerning God's operation as Creator, and reprehending false reasoners.
Let him imagine, who wishes duly to understand that which I then saw — and let him keep the image, while I am telling, like a fixed rock — fifteen stars which in divers regions quicken the heaven with such pure ray that it over- comes every trammel of the air ; let him imagine that wain to which the bosom of our sky suffices both night and day,
Immagini chi bene intender cupe
Quel ch' io or vidi, e ritegna 1' image, Mentre ch' io dico, come ferma rupe,
Quindici stelle, che in diverse plage Lo cielo awivan di tanto sereno, Che soverchia dell' acre ogni compage ;
Immagini quel Carro, a cui il seno
Basta del nostro cielo e notte e giorno,
^'^^ The meaning of this elaborate figure is merely that the reader is to imagine twenty-four bright stars revolving in two concentric circles.
UlMlVtlKSITY
OF
CANTO XIII FA RA DISE^^ 169
SO that it disappears not in the turning of its pole ; let him imagine the mouth of that horn that begins on the point of the axle about which the prime rotation goes, to have made of themselves two signs in heaven such as the daughter of Minos made, what time she felt the chill of death ; and the one to have its rays within the other and both to whirl in such manner that the one went first and the other after ; and he will have as it were the shadow of the true constellation, and of the twofold dance which was circling the point where I was ; since it is so much beyond
Si ch' al volger del temo non vien meno ;
Immagini la bocca di quel corno, 10
Che si comincia in punta dello stelo, A cui la prima ruota va dintorno.
Aver fatti di se duo segni in cielo,^ Qual fece la figliuola di Minoi Allora che senti di morte il gielo :
E r un neir altro aver gli raggi suoi,^ Ed ambedue girarsi per maniera, Che r uno andasse al prima e V altro al poi :
Ed avrk quasi 1' ombra della vera
Costellazione, e della doppia danza 20
Che circulava il punto, dov' io era :
Poich' e tanto di \k da nostra usanza,
^fatto Gg. W. Bi. b /' ^j^o ^IV altro Gg.; e V altro 2.
^^ The Little Bear is conceived as a horn, the * mouth ' being of course formed by the two stars furthest from the pole. It is called in Spanish bocina, ' the horn. '
^^ The constellation of the Crown was the garland which Bacchus took from the head of Ariadne, and placed among the stars. Ov. Met. viii. 178. It is the ' Gnosia corona ' of Georg. i. 222.
^^ al prima — al poi : i. e. one followed the movement of the other.
170 PARADISE • CANTO
our wont as beyond the movement of the Chiana is moved the heaven which outstrips all the rest. There was chanted not Bacchus, not Paean, but three Persons in a divine nature, and in one person that and the hiiman.
The chanting and the turning fulfilled ks measure, and those holy lights gave their heed to us, from task to task gladdening themselves. Thereafter among the concordant powers that light broke the silence, in which a wondrous life of God's poor man had been narrated to me, and it said : * Since one straw has been threshed, since its seed
Quanto di la dal muover della Chiana Si muove il ciel che tutti gli altri avanza.
Li si canto non Bacco, non Peana, Ma tre Persone in divina natura, Ed in una persona essa e V umana.*^
Compie il cantare e il volger sua misura, E attesersi a noi quel santi lumi, Felicitando se di cura in cura. 30
Ruppe il silenzio nei concordi numi Poscia la luce, in che mirabil vita Del poverel di Dio narrata fumi :
E disse : Quando 1' una paglia e trita,
° tina sustanzia Cass. Aid.
^ The Chiana is a sluggish and marshy river (now canalised), which flows from Arezzo, past Chiusi to Orvieto (Inf. xxix. 47).
2^' ^ I.e. the mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation. — essa, sc. la divina.
^ From the task of dancing to that of instructing.
31 sqq. St. Thomas resumes, and proceeds to explain the other point as to which Dante is perplexed, viz. how it could rightly be said that no second to Solomon had arisen, whereas both in Adam when created (11. 37-39), and in Christ (40-42), human nature had existed in its most perfect form, and with perfect knowledge.
XIII PARADISE 171
has already been stored up, a kindly love summons me to thresh the second. Thou deemest that in the breast whence the rib was drawn to form the fair face whose appetite is costly to the whole world, and in that which pierced by the lance, both after and before made so great satisfaction that it won the balance over all sin, as much soever as it is allowed to human nature to have of light had been all infused by that Goodness which made both the one and the other ; and therefore thou wonderest at what I said above, when I related that the good which is enclosed in the fifth light had no second. Now open thine eyes to
Quando la sua semenza e gia riposta, A batter 1' altra dolce amor m' invita.
Tu credi, che nel petto onde la costa Si trasse, per formar la bella guancia, II cui palato a tutto il mondo costa,
Ed in quel, che forato dalla lancia 40
E poscia e prima tanto soddisfece, Che d' ogni colpa vinse la bilancia,
Quantunque alia natura umana lece Aver di lume, tutto fosse infuso Da quel valor che T uno e T altro fece :
E perb ammiri cib ch' io dissi suso, Quando narrai, che non ebbe secondo Lo ben che nella quinta luce e chiuso.
Ora apri gli occhi a quel ch' io ti rispondo,
^^ Cf. Purg. xxix. 24.
^ vinse la bilancia, like vince hitto^ Purg. xvi. 78.
^^ fosse. Credo in the present, when no negative is involved, and the object of belief is past or present, usually takes the indicative, as Inf. xiii. 25 ; but the subjunctive is also found, e.g. Inf. xxix. 20. See Diez iii. 366.
172 ' PARADISE
that which I answer thee, and thou wilt see that thy beUef and my word are set in the truth as its centre in a circle. That which dies not and that which can die are nought but the brightness of that Idea which our Lord in His love brings to birth ; for that living Light which so goes forth from its source that it is not disunited from Him, nor from the Love which in them is made the third, of its bounty unites its radiance,- as though mirrored, in nine subsistences,
E vedrai il tuo credere e il mio dire 50
Nel vero farsi, come centro in tondo.
Cio che non muore, e cio che pub morire, Non e se non splendor di quella idea, Che partorisce, amando, il nostro Sire :
Che quella viva luce, che si mea ^ Dal suo lucente, che non si disuna Da lui, ne dall' amor che in lor s' intrea,
Per sua bontate il suo raggiare aduna. Quasi specchiato in nove sussistenze,
^ vera luce Gg.; simmea Gg. 134.
^^' ^^ I. e. thy belief and my words coincide at the same point of the truth. Bianchi suggests that the metaphor is taken from Boethius iii. Pr. II : Ipsam mediae veritatis notam mente fixisti.
^2 Embracing both the classes referred to in vii. 67 sqq.
^^ splendor. Probably with allusion to Heb. i. 3 : splendor gloriae ' et figura substantiae ejus. — idea. S. T. i. Q. 15. A. i : Idea Graece, Latine forma dicitur. Unde per ideas intelliguntur formae aliquarum rerum praeter ipsas res existentes. A. 3 : Ideae sunt rationes in mente divina existentes. Sed omnium, quae cognoscit Deus, habet proprias rationes. Ergo omnium, quae cognoscit, habet ideam.
^^■^7 Here, as in x. 1-3, the three persons of the Trinity are indicated. — luce : cf. St. John i. 7-9.
^^ nove sussistenze, the nine heavenly spheres. See Ep. to Can Grande ; and Conv. iii. 14 : E da sapere che '1 primo agente, cioe Dio, pinge la sua virtu in cose per modo di diritto raggio (vii. 67), e in
XIII PARADISE 173
eternally remaining itself one. Hence it descends to the ultimate potentialities, from operation to operation, coming down so far that it makes further only brief contingencies ; and these contingencies I understand to be the things generated, which the heaven in its motion produces with seed and without seed. The wax of these and that which
Eternalmente rimanendosi una. 60
Quindi discende all' ultime potenze Gill d' atto in atto tanto divenendo,^ Che piu non fa che brevi contingenze :
E queste contingenze essere intendo Le cose generate, che produce Con seme e senza seme il ciel movendo.
® dividendo Gg, ; 7)ene discendeitdo 2.
cose per modo di splendore riverberato ; onde nelle intelligenze raggia la divina luce sanza mezzo, nell' altre si ripercuote da queste intelligenze prima illuminato. S. T. i. Q. 56. A. 3 : ipsa natura angelica est quoddam speculum divinam similitudinem repraesentans.
61 sqq. The creative energy passes from one stage of being to another, until it reaches the lowest point at which it is able to operate. Here it produces merely accidental or fortuitous effects, personal peculiarities, and the like. contingenze here represents not rk evbexofieva, but rd /card avfJL^e^TjKos, of which Aristotle makes tj r^xv /^ct' "^o avrbfiarov to be the cause. (Phys. ii. 5, 197a.) Dante, however, makes these, as well as all else, due to God's providence, working through the heavenly movers. So St. Thomas, Summa contra Gentiles, iii. 72 : Ex causis auteii proximis aliqui effectus dicuntur necessarii vel contingentes ; non autem ex remotis causis. Nam fructificatio plantae est effectus contingens propter causam proximam, quae est vis germinativa quae potest impediri ac deficere . . . non omnes effectus qui providentiae subduntur erunt necessarii sed plurimi sunt contingentes. (See 11. 70-72.) Cf. S. T. i. Q. 54. A. 3: Accidens vero quod est individui non consequens totam speciem, consequitur materiam, quae est indi- viduationis principium.
65, 66 Met. ^ 7 (1032a) : TovTcov de {tQv iroi-qaewv) tlpcs yiyvovTai /cat d7r6 TavTOfxdrov Kal dirb t^xV^ irapaTrXrjcrioJS (bairep ev tols dirb (pvcreajs yiyvo/JL^OLS' hia ydip kclkcI ravTCL Kal iK (nr^pfiaros yiyverai Kal dvev
174 PARADISE canto
moulds it stand not in one manner, and therefore under the seal of the Idea more and less thereafter shines through ; whence it comes to pass that a tree the same in respect of species bears better and worse fruit, and you are born with divers wit. If the wax were moulded perfectly, and the heaven were in its highest virtue, the whole light of the seal would appear. But nature gives it always lacking,
La cera di costoro, e chi la duce,
Non sta d' un modo, e perb sotto il segno Ideale poi piu e men trainee :
Ond' egli awien, ch' un medesimo legno 70
Secondo specie, meglio e peggio frutta, E voi nascete con diverso ingegno.
Se fosse appunto la cera dedutta,
E fosse il cielo in sua virtu suprema. La luce del suggel parrebbe tutta.
Ma la natura la da sempre scema,
(Tir^PfjLaTos. And Chap. 10 (1034b) : 6'cra 5^ dirb TavTOfidTov (sc. yiyverat) ibairep e/cet {ev ry Tex^v) yiyverai.^ 6<twv tj vXtj drjvaraL (potenze) Kal v<f>' avrrjs KLveicrdai ravTrju ttjv Kiv7}(TLv t^v to (nr^piia Kivel. See also e 2 passim^ and the reference to it in S. T. i. Q. 115. A. 6 ; where St. Thomas adds : Corpora caelestia sunt causa inferiorum effectuum mediantibus causis particularibus inferioribus, quae deficere possunt in minori parte . . . Virtus corporis caelestis non est infinita ; unde requirit determinatam dispositionem in materia ad inducendum suum effectum.
67 sqq. ggg vjij, J27 sqq. with which all this passage should be com- pared ; also i. 127-29 and Inf. vii. 73 sqq.
^^ Ar. Probl. x. 44 : ofJiOLws d^ Kal i) (pvacs (pavXa jxev irdvra ttolcI, (nrovddia 8^ iXdrro). Phys. ii. 8 : dfjcapTLa 8^ yiyveraL ev rots Kard T^XV7]v' ^ypa(p€ yap ovk opdCos 6 ypafXjxaTLKbs, Kal iirdTLaev ovk opdQs 6 larpbs rb (pdpfJLaKoV uare dijXou on ivd^x^'''^'' i^^^ ^^ '^^^^ Kard (pv<nv. €L dj] '4(TTLV Hvia Kara t^x^V^ ^^ oh rb opdCos evcKa tov, iv bk rols d/j.apTavo/j.€voLS eVe/ca fi^v tlvos einx'^LpeLTaL dW dirorvyxdveraL, b/moicos CLP ^xot Kal iv ToTs (pvatKoh.
XIII PARADISE 175
operating in like manner to the artist, who has the habit of his art, but a hand which trembles. But if the burning love disposes and stamps the clear view of the prime virtue, all perfection is there acquired. Thus was the earth once made worthy of all the perfection of living things : thus was the Virgin made to be with child. So that I commend thy opinion ; for human nature never has been nor will be such as it was in those two persons. Now, if I went not further forward, " How then was this one without equal ? " would thy words begin. But that that which appears not may duly appear, think who he was, and the occasion which
Similemente operando alF artista,
Ch' ha r abito delF arte e man che trema. Perb se il caldo Amor la chiara vista
Delia prima virtu dispone e segna, 80
Tutta la perfezion quivi s' acquista. Cosi fu fatta g\k la terra degna
Di tutta 1' animal perfezione :
Cosi fu fatta la Vergine pregna. Si ch' io commendo tua opinione :
Che r umana natura mai non fue,
Ne iia, qual fu in quelle due persone. Or s' io ixon procedessi avanti piue,
Dunque come costui fu senza pare ?
Comincerebber le parole tue. 90
Ma perche paia ben cio che non pare,
Pensa chi era, e la cagion che il mosse,
79-81 (^f^ yjj^ ^^ gqq "YYiQ meaning is, where God acts directly, as in the Creation, and in the Incarnation of Christ, a perfect result follows. Amor, vista, virtu, correspond with the amando, idea, Sire, of 11. 53, 54; and cf. again x. 1-3.
^"^ due persone ; Adam and Christ.
176 PARADISE CANTO
moved him, when it was said " Ask,'' to make his request. I have not so spoken that thou canst not well see that he was a king who asked wisdom, to the end that he might be a competent king : not to know the number in which are the movers here on high, or if necessary with contingent ever made necessary ; not si est dare primum motum esse, or if in the semicircle a triangle can be made so as not to have a right angle. Wherefore, if thou note what I said, and
Quando fu detto, Chiedi, a dimandare. Non ho parlato si che tu non posse ^
Ben veder, ch' ei fu Re, che chiese senno,
Acciocche Re sufficiente fosse ; Non per saper lo numero in che enno
Li motor di quassu, o se necesse
Con contingente mai necesse fenno : Non si est dare prifniim motum esse, loo
O se nel mezzo cerchio far si puote
Triangol, si ch' un retto non avesse. Onde, se cib ch' io dissi e questo note,
^ non e p. Gg.
^^ I Kings iii. 5 sqq.
^'^ This question is discussed by Plato, Timaeus 40 ; by Aristotle, Met. X. 8 ; and by Dante himself, Con v. ii. 5 — enno : Purg. xvi. 121.
98, 99 Aj.. An. Pr. i. 16 : ^6Xlv rh fxh a ivdexeo-Oco iravrl ry /3, rb 5k ]8 iravrl rep 7 virapx^TU) e^ dvdyKrjs' ^araL drj (rvWoyLa/aSs, otl to a iravrl r(} 7 ivdexeraL virapxeiv, dXV ovx on virdpxeL. Benvenuto observes that in these and the three following lines examples are given of problems in Logic, Physics, and Geometry.
^^ fenno : two words coupled by con are not uncommonly followed by a plural verb ; and two coupled by ^ by a singular.
^^^ ' If it must be granted that a First Moved exist,' i.e. that Motion had a beginning. Ar. Phys. viii. 1-3.
1^1 Euclid iii. 31. The ordinary reading, del m. c. must, I think, be a slip of copyists. The meaning of the whole passage is that Solomon asked not for speculative but for practical wisdom.
XIII PARADISE 177
this, royal prudence is that unmatched vision, whereon the shaft of my intention strikes. And if thou direct thine eyes clearly to the " has arisen," thou wilt see that it has respect only to kings, who are many, and the good are few. With this distinction take my saying ; and thus may stand what thou believest concerning the first father and con- cerning our Delight. And let this be always as lead to thy feet, to make thee move slow as a weary man both to the
Regal prudenza e quel vedere imparl, ^ In che lo stral di mia intenzion percuote.
E se al Surse drizzi gli occhi chiari, Vedrai aver solamente rispetto Ai regi, che son molti, e i buon son rari.
Con questa distinzion prendi il mio detto :
E cosi puote star con quel che credi no
Del primo padre e del nostro diletto.
E questo ti fia sempre piombo ai piedi. Per farti muover lento, com' uom lasso,
g et quel Cass. 124 Aid. W.
104 -pj^ig lij^g jjg^g given rise to some difficulty. Most, if not all of the MSS. and early edd. read et quel ved., and those who follow- that take imparl 2js>=^imparerai (for if it be apodosis, a future is clearly required). But this will hardly do. Benvenuto has *si est verum quod dixi, et si consideras regalem sensum qui fuit in isto (as if he read se ^ ver cK io dissi, e in questo 7iote r. p. ), et si apprehendis de quo videre ego loquor quando dixi supra cha veder tmtto^^ etc. This will give a good enough sense if we put a comma at percuote, so as to read se note . . . e imparl . . . e se drizzi . . . vedrai — ' if what I have said is true, and thou notest his royal prudence, and learnest the meaning of that vision of which I am thinking, and lookest at the Surse y thou wilt see,' etc. But it seems scarcely possible not to recognise in imparl a reference to the senza pare of 1. 89, and I have therefore preferred to follow Lombardi, Philalethes, and Bianchi. For the form imparl, cf. dispart, Purg. xiii. 120.
N
178 PARADISE canto
yes and to the no that thou seest not ; for he is very low down among the fools who affirms or denies without dis- tinction, in the one no less than in the other pass : since it occurs that oftentimes the current opinion swerves in a false direction, and afterwards the desire binds the under- standing. Far more than in vain does he cast loose from the shore, because he returns not the same as he sets out, who fishes for the truth and has not the art ; and of this are to the world open proofs Parmenides, Melissus and
Ed al si ed al no, che tu non vedi :
Che quegli e tra gli stolti bene abbasso, Che senza distinzion afferma e nega,^ Cos! nell' un, come nelF altro passo :
Perch' egl' incontra che piu volte piega \J opinion corrente in falsa parte, E poi r affetto lo intelletto lega. 120
Vie pill che indarno da riva si parte,^ Perche non torna tal quaF ei si muove, Chi pesca per lo vero e non ha F arte :
E di cib sono al mondo aperte pruove Parmenide Melisso e Brisso e molti,
ii aff. 0. n. 2 Aid. W. i Via Gg. Cass.
^^^ egli ; see note, Purg. xxviii. 37.
^-^ Ar. Met. X. 7 (1072a) : opeybixeOa 5l6tl Sokc? fiaXkop ij doKCL didrt dpeydfieda ; the contrary to Dante's view, which, however, expresses more accurately the usual conditions of human opinion.
121-123 I Q ^^Q jj^^j^ ^jjQ seeks for truth without having mastered the art of reasoning does worse than return empty-handed, for his mind becomes prejudiced.
^^^ Parmenides of Elea and Mehssus of Samos are constantly coupled by Aristotle as examples of bad reasoners ; e.g. Phys. i. 3 : xpevdrj Xajm^dvovcrLf /cat aavWoyLcrTol elai, or, according "to the rendering adopted by Dante, De Mon. iii. 4 : Qui falsa recipiunt et non
PARADISE 179
Bryson, and many who used to go, and knew not where. So did Sabellius and Arius and those fools who were as swords to the Scriptures in making crooked the faces that were straight. Let not the folk be yet too secure at judging, like him who values the corn in a field before it is ripe ; for
Li quali andavan, e non sapean dove. Si fe Sabellio ed Arrio, e quegli^ stolti,^
Che furon come spade alle scritture,
In render torti li diritti volti. Non sien le genti ancor troppo sicure 130
A giudicar, si come quel che stima
Le biade in campo pria che sien mature :
k Sabello Gg. Cass. 2 Aid.
syllogisantes sunt. See also Met. a. 5 ; and de Caelo iii. i, where he says that ol irepl M^Xiaaov re /cat Ilapp.evibr}v went astray 5ia to fJLrjdev dWo irapa t7]v tCov alcrdrjrCjv ovcriav viroka^eiv eXvai. This is perhaps the passage which Dante had in his mind. It is curious to note that Parmenides expresses himself almost as strongly as Dante about the worthlessness of human opinion, ^poroou do^as rats ovk '4vl ttIo-tls dXrjdrjs. But, of course, Dante only knew of him through Aristotle's criticism. Bryson is mentioned, Soph. Elench. 11, as not only a circle- squarer, but a dishonest one, who tried to solve the problem by non- geometrical methods. He may, therefore, be regarded as a specially good instance of the state of mind indicated in 11. 120-123.
^-^ Sabellius, who confounded the first two Persons of the Trinity, and Arius, who divided the substance, are famous names in the history of the early heresies.
^'^^ spade. Benvenuto and Landino seem to give the right interpreta- tion of this metaphor. The latter has : perche come chi specchia nella spada, vi vede il suo volto torto, cosi chi guarda ne' libri de gli heretici vi vede il senso delle scritture torto. So Daniello : chi si mira nello specchio, vede in quelle il suo volto diritto, ma chi si mira nella spada, lo vede torto. Blanc, however, s.v. spada^ * rejects this absolutely,' and prefers to follow Lombardi, who takes it to mean that the heretics distort the Scriptures, as a blow from a sword would a face.
i8o PARADISE canto xiii
I have seen all winter long the plum-tree at first show itself rigid and stern, "and afterward bear blossoms on its top ; and I saw on a time a craft trim and swift to sail the sea for its whole course, perish at the last in the entering of the sound. Let not Dame Bertha and Master Martin deem, for seeing one steal, another make offerings, that they are seeing them within the Divine counsel ; for that one may be exalted and this may fall.'
Ch' io ho veduto tutto il verno prima II prun mostrarsi rigido e feroce, Poscia portar la rosa in su la cima :
E legno vidi gia dritto e veloce
Correr lo mar per tutto suo cammino, Perire al fine all' entrar della foce.
Non creda monna Berta, e ser Martino,
Per vedere un furare, altro offerere, 140
Vedergli dentro al consiglio divino :
Che quel pub surger, e quel pub cadere.
^39 Cf. Conv. i. 8 : onde suole dire Martino.
CANTO XIV
ARGUMENT
At the prayer of Beatrice, Solomon speaks, resolving a doubt in Dante's mind touching the glorified body. After this they pass to the fifth Heaven, of Mars ; and see there a great Cross, and Christ thereon, and souls passing to and fro upon it, of such as were in this life Christian warriors.
From the centre to the circumference, and likewise from the circumference to the centre moves the water in a round vessel, according as it is struck within and without. Into my mind fell suddenly this which I say, so soon as the glorious life of Thomas was silent, through the similitude to
Dal centro al cerchio, e si dal cerchio al centro Muovesi r acqua in un ritondo vaso, Secondo ch' e percossa fuori o dentro.
Nella mia mente fe subito caso
Questo ch' io dico, si come si tacque La gloriosa vita di Tommaso,
Per la similitudine che nacque
^ sqq- Dante and Beatrice are standing at the centre of the circle formed by the spirits. When St. Thomas ceases, Beatrice takes up the discourse ; and so the wave of sound first moves inward to the centre, and then back to the circumference.
^ fe caso : cf. piovve nella fantasia^ Purg. xvii. 25.
^ vita : cf. xii. 127.
1 82 PARADISE
which his speech gave birth, and that of Beatrice, whom it pleased thus to begin after him : ' For this man it is expedient, and he tells it you not with his voice, nor in thought as yet, to go to the root of another truth. Tell him if the light wherewith your substance is enflowered will remain eternally with you as it is now; and if it remains, tell him how, after that ye have been anew made
Del suo parlare e di quel di Beatrice,
A cui si cominciar, dopo lui, piacque : ^ A costui fa mestieri, e nol vi dice, lo
Ne coUa voce, ne pensando ancora,
D' un altro vero andare alia radice. Diteli se la luce, onde s' infiora
Vostra sustanzia, rimarra con voi
Eternalmente, si com' ella e ora : E se rimane, dite come poi
Che sarete visibili rifatti,
^ di com. Gg.
^^ The questions concerning the glorified body are discussed in S. T. Suppl. Q. 72-75. They are of course based on such passages as Wisdom iii. 7, Matt. xiii. 43, i Cor. xv. 40-43. The first of the two cLTropiaL which Beatrice puts on Dante's behalf is settled in Q. 75. A. i : ' Utrum corporibus gloriosis conveniet claritas ' ; the conclusion being: Ex scripturae verissimum auctoritate habetur, corpora sanctorum post resurrectionem lucida fore ; quae claritas a gloria animae in corpus redundabit. The other point (11. 16-18) does not seem to be definitely propounded by Aquinas, but may have been suggested by Q. 85. A. 2 : ' Utrum claritas ilia videri poterit ab oculo non glorioso,' and by some expressions in Q. 82. A. 4 : ' Utrum in beatis post resurrectionem sint omnes sensus in actu.' Compare, for the contrary state of the damned, Inf. vi. 103 sqq., and xiii. 103 sqq.
^^ visibili : because at present only the light which surrounds the souls of the blessed can be seen. It will have been observed that in no case has Dante represented himself as able to discern any form or features, except possibly in that of Piccarda.
PARADISE 183
visible, it shall be possible for the sight of it not to hurt you.'
As urged and drawn on by more delight all at once those who are going in a circle lift their voice and re- quicken their movements, so at her prayer ready and devout the holy circles showed a new joy in their turning and in their wondrous note. He who laments for that here one dies to live there on high, sees not the refresh- ment there of the eternal rain. That One and Two and Three which ever lives and ever reigns in Three and Two and One, not circumscribed, and circumscribes all things,
Esser potra ch' al veder non vi noi. Come da piu letizia pinti e tratti
Alia fiata quel, che vanno a rota,^ 20
Levan la voce, e rallegrano gli atti : ^ Cosi air orazion pronta e devota
Li santi cerchi mostrar nuova gioia,
Nel torneare, e nella mira nota. Qual si lamenta, perche qui si muoia.
Per viver colassu, non vide quive
Lo refrigerio dell' eterna ploia.^ Queir uno e due e tre, che sempre vive,
E regna sempre in tre e due ed uno,
Non circoscritto, e tutto circonscrive, 30
Tre volte era cantato da ciascuno
t> Alcimaf. Bi. GiuL ^ Muovon la v. Aid. ^ de la santa p. Gg.
^^ al veder. Probably this should be written a '1 v., the construction being exactly like a rigiiardar in Purg. iv. 54.
^^ pinti e tratti. Cf. x. 142.
-^ The reading alia fiata { = Yy. a lafois) is obviously the correct one ; fiata being a trisyllable, rota seems to have been the name for a particular kind of dance (Benv.).
30 non circoscritto : cf. Purg. xi. 2.
i84 PARADISE canto
was chanted thrice over by each of those spirits with a, melody such that to every desert it would be a just reward. And I heard in the brightest light of the lesser circle a modest voice, such as haply was the angel's to Mary, answer : * For so long as shall be the festival of Paradise, will our love
Di quelli spirti con tal melodia,
Ch' ad ogni merto saria giusto muno.
Ed io udii nella luce piu dia ^
Del minor cerchio una voce modesta,* Forse qual fu dell' Angelo a Maria,
Risponder : quanto fia lunga la festa Di Paradiso, tanto il nostro amore
^ nella voce Gg. ^ ttna luce Gg.
^ Cf. X. 109, from which it appears that the speaker is Solomon. He is probably selected as being the presumed writer of the Book of Wisdom. Cf. also his function in Purg. xxx. 10 sqq. Landino con- siders that the speaker is Peter Lombard ; but only on the ground that he discusses the same question. — Benvenuto renders dia by Mivina,' but see xxiii. 107, and xxvi. 10. In the former passage the word must mean 'bright,' in the latter it has almost certainly the same meaning.
37 sqq. Dante's questions are : ( i ) Will the glory which now surrounds the souls of the blessed remain after the general resurrection, when they have again received their bodies ? and (2) If so, how will the bodily organs be able to tolerate the brightness? The answer given by Solomon is to this effect. The glory will continue eternally, being proportionate to the ardour of our love (cf. Purg. xv. 69 sqq. and Par. xxviii. 109), which is proportionate to our sight of God, which again is proportionate to His free grace. (Observe the connection of grazia, gratuito, and grato ; and cf. S. T. ii. i. Q. no. A. i : Secundum communem modum loquendi, tripliciter gratia accipi consuevit. Uno modo, pro dilectione alicujus, sicut consuevimus dicere, quod iste miles habet gratiam regis, id est, rex habet eum gratum. Secundo, sumitur pro aliquo dono gratis dato, sicut consuevimus dicere. Hanc gratiam facio tibi. Tertio modo, sumitur pro recompensatione beneficii gratis dati, secundum quod dicimur agere gratias beneficiorum. So Q. in. A. I : Duplex est gratia. Una quidem, per quam ipse homo Deo
XIV PARADISE 185
radiate around itself such a robe. Its brightness follows our ardour, our ardour our sight, and that is great in proportion as it has grace above its worth. When our flesh has been put on again glorious and holy, our personality will be
Si raggera dintorno cotal vesta. La sua chiarezza seguita 1' ardore,^ 40
L' ardor la visione, e quella e tanta,
Quanta ha di grazia sopra suo valore. Come la carne gloriosa e santa
Fia rivestita, la nostra persona
g seguird. Cass. W.
conjungitur, quae vocatur gratia gratum faciens. Alia vero, per quam unus homo cooperatur alteri ad hoc quod ad Deum reducatur. Hujusmodi autem donum vocatur gratia gratis data. ) When we have our bodies, we shall be more acceptable to God, as being more perfect (S. T. ii. I. Q. 4. A. 6 : Cum naturale sit animae corpori uniri, non potest esse quod perfectio animae naturalem ejus perfectionem excludat. Et ideo dicendum est, quod ad beatitudinem omnibus modis perfectam requiritur perfecta dispositio corporis et antecedenter et consequenter) ; and thus our sight of God will increase, and therefore our ardour, and our glory in proportion. (It is to be observed that ardour secondarily denotes love, and glory, joy.) But the glorified body will be visible through the glory which surrounds it ; and it will cause us no annoy- ance, because our organs will be adapted to receive the highest pleasure. (S. T. Suppl. Q. 82. A. 4.) Dante's language seems to be borrowed from Peter Lombard, Sentences iv. 45, 49 : Cum facta fuerit resurrectio, bonorum gaudium amplius erit. . . . Majus erit gaudium sanctorum in resurrectione et post,'" quam fuerit ante ; et quod diversa receptacula habebunt animae sanctorum. Sine omni scrupulo creden- dum est sanctos habituros major em gloriam post judicium quam ante. (He adds a remark which is so characteristic of the freedom with which the Schoolmen sometimes treated theological points as to deserve quotation : Si quem movet quid opus sit spiritibus defunctorum corpora sua in resurrectione recipere, si eis potest sine corporibus summa beatitudo praeberi, difficilis quaestio est, nee potest a nobis perfecte definiri. )
40-42 Q^ p Lombard again : Par gaudium omnes habebunt, etsi disparem cognitionis claritatem, quia per charitatem quae in singulis
1 86 PARADISE canto
more acceptable for being complete. Wherefore that which the highest Good gives us of unearned light will be in- creased ; light which qualifies us to see Him ; whence it is meet that our sight should grow, that the ardour should grow which of that is kindled, that the ray should grow which comes from that. But like as a coal which gives out flame, and through living glow surpasses that so that its appearance is preserved ; so this brightness which already encircles us will be overcome in apparency by the flesh which all this
Pill grata fia per esser tutta quanta : Perche s' accrescera cib che ne dona
Di gratuito lume il sommo Bene ;
Lume, ch' a lui veder ne condiziona. Onde la vision crescer conviene,
Crescer 1' ardor che di quella s' accende,^ 50
Crescer lo raggio che da esso viene.^ Ma si come carbon che fiamma rende,
E per vivo candor quella soverchia,
Si che la sua parvenza si difende, Cosi questo fulgor, che gia ne cerchia,
Fia vinto in apparenza dalla carne,
^ /' ardore che di quella scende Gg, ; . . . s* accende Cass. i da qtiella v. Gg. ; da essa 23.
erit perfecta tantum quisque gaudebit de bono alterius quantum gauderet si in seipso haberet. See also S. T. i. Q. 12. A. 6 : Intellectus plus participans de lumine gloriae perfectius Deum videbit. Plus autem participabit de lumine gloriae, qui plus habet de charitate. . . . Unde qui plus habebit de charitate perfectius Deum videbit, et beatior erit.
•^■■^ The question whether the glory of the blessed would increase after the judgment was finally settled, as we learn from Villani xi. 47, arKl decided in the affirmative by Benedict XII in Consistory at Avignon, Jan. 28, I33f. His predecessor John XXII had got into some trouble with theologians for maintaining a similar view as to their happiness (ib. X. 229).
PARADISE 187
while the earth covers ; nor will so great light have power to weary us, for the organs of the body shall be strong towards all that which can give us delight.' So quick and attentive appeared to me both one and the other choir to say *Amen,' that they plainly showed a desire of their dead bodies : haply not only for themselves, but for their mothers, for their fathers, and for the others who were dear to them, before they were flames everlasting. And behold all around a lustre of like brightness arise, upon that ►which was there, in fashion of an horizon that grows bright again. And as at the rising of early evening new appear- ances begin about the heaven, so that the sight seems and seems not true; meseemed I there began to see new sub- Che tutto di la terra ricoperchia : ^ Ne potra tanta luce affaticarne,
Che gli organi del corpo saran forti A tutto cio che potra dilettarne. 60
Tanto mi parver subiti ed accorti
E r uno e 1' altro coro a dicere Amme, Che ben mostrar disio dei corpi morti : Forse non pur per lor, ma per le mamme, Per li padri, e per gli altri che fur cari, Anzi che fosser sempiterne fiamme. Ed ecco intorno di chiarezza pari
Nascer un lustro sopra quel che v' era, A guisa d' orizzonte che rischiari. E si come al salir di prima sera 70
Comincian per lo ciel nuove parvenze. Si che la vista pare e non par vera ; ^
k la came ric. 145. ^ la cosa p. Aid. Land.
^^ ecco with infin. : cf. Inf. iii. 82. See Diez iii. 174.
1 88 PARADISE canto
Stances, and that they made a circle outside of the other two circumferences. O true sparkHng of the Holy Spirit, how sudden and glowing did it become to my eyes, so that overcome they endured it not. But Beatrice showed herself to me so fair and smiling, that it must be left among those sights which have not followed my mind.
Therefrom my eyes again took faculty of raising them- selves, and I saw myself translated alone with my Lady to a more lofty salvation. Well observed I that I had been lifted higher, through the fiery smile of the star, which*
Parvemi li novelle sussistenze
Cominciare a vedere, e fare un giro Di fuor dair altre due circonferenze.
O vero sfavillar del santo spiro, Come si fece subito e candente Agli occhi miei, che vinti nol soffriro !
Ma Beatrice si bella e si ridente ^
Mi si mostro, che tra quelle vedute " 80
Si vuol lasciar che non seguir la mente.
Quindi ripreser gli occhi miei virtute A rilevarsi, e vidimi translato Sol con mia Donna in piu alta salute.
Ben m' accors' io ch' i' era piu levato. Per r affocato riso della Stella,
"^ e ridente 3 Aid. W. ^ tra V altre Benv. Aid. Bi.
^ I have followed Gg. Cass, and three of the four edd. in repeating si, which seems required to make the Hne scan ; Beatrice being almost invariably a trisyllable.
^^ quelle appears to be the reading of the great majority of MSS. and of all edd. before the Aldine.
81 Cf. i. 9.
8^ They ascend to the sphere of Mars.
XIV PARADISE 189
appeared to me more ruddy than its wont. With all my heart, and with that speech which is one in all men, I made a whole burnt-offering to God, such as beseemed the new- favour ; and not yet was exhausted from my breast the heat of the sacrifice, when I knew that that offering was accepted and propitious : for with so great a lustre and so ruddy appeared to me splendours within two rays, that I said : ' O Elios, who dost so deck them ! '
As, stippled with greater and lesser lights, the Galaxy
Che mi parea piu roggio che 1' usato.
Con tutto il cuore, e con quella favella Ch' e una in tutti, a Dio feci olocausto, Qual conveniasi alia grazia novella : 90
E non er' anco del mio petto esausto L' ardor del sacrificio, ch' io conobbi Esso litare stato accetto e fausto :
Che con tanto lucore, e tanto robbi
M' apparvero splendor dentro a due raggi, Ch' io dissi : O Elios, che si gli addobbi.
Come distinta da minori e maggi °
^ distinti Gg. 1234; min. a maggi Cass.; i maggi 145; in 7n. 2 Aid.; i magi 3.
^ favella. *Namlich mit der Stimme des Herzens.' — Philal.
8^ olocausto. S. T. ii. 2. Q. 186. A. i : Religiosi dicuntur illi qui se totaliter mancipant divino servitio, quasi holocaustum Deo offerentes. A. 3 : Qui nihil sibi reservant, offerunt holocaustum, quod est majus sacrificio. The appropriateness of the term here is seen from the pre- vious part of the same article ; e.g. voluntaria paupertas est efficax exercitium perveniendi ad perfectam charitatem ; ideo multum valet ad caelestem beatitudinem consequendam.
^^ Eli6s ; probably 7/Xtos in the first instance. Though Dante did not know Greek, we have evidence that he knew a few Greek words, and such a word as f|\tos would be as likely as any to be familiar. At the same time it is quite possible that he identified it with the Hebrew - ^Eli,' just as he did ' Giove ' with * Jehovah.'
^"^ distinta, ' pricked out. '
I90 PARADISE canto
gleams white between the poles of the world, so that it makes very sages to doubt ; thus constellated in the depths of Mars those rays were making the venerable sign which the junctures of quadrants in a circle form. Here my memory outdoes my wit; for so upon that Cross Christ was flashing, that I can find no meet similitude. But whoso takes up his cross and follows Christ, will still excuse me for that which I leave unsaid, when in that dawn he sees Christ lightening. From horn to horn, and between the summit and the base, lights were moving, sparkling strongly at their
Lumi biancheggia tra i poli del mondo Galassia si che fa dubbiar ben saggi,
Si costellati facean nel profondo loo
Marte quei raggi il venerabil segno, Che fan giunture di quadranti in tondo.^
Qui vince la memoria mia lo ingegno :
Che in quella Croce lampeggiava Cristo, Si ch' io non so trovare esempio degno."^
Ma chi prende sua croce e segue Cristo, Ancor mi scusera di quel ch' io lasso, Vedendo in quell' albor balenar Cristo.''
Di corno in corno, e tra la cima e il basso.
Si movean lumi, scintillando forte no
P virtute 145. ^ so veder Aid. ^ albero Gg,
^ See Ar. Meteor, i. 8, for early theories about the Galaxy.
^^ Perhaps suggested by the phenomenon, whatever it may have been, to which he refers, Conv. ii. 14 : In Fiorenza, nel principio di sua distruzione, veduta fu nell' acre, in figura d' una Croce, grande quantita di questi vapori seguaci della stella di Marte. Possibly this was the comet mentioned by Villani, viii. 48, as having appeared in September 1301.
^^ Observe that in the four passages where Dante uses the word Cristo at the end of a line, he never allows any other word to rhyme to it.
XIV PARADISE 191
meeting together and at their passing. Thus are seen here, straight and twisted, swift and slow, changing appearance, the particles of bodies, long and short, to move through the ray wherewith at times the shade is bordered which folk acquire with art and wit for their protection. And as viol and harp in a tense tempering of many strings make a sweet tinkling to one by whom the tune is not heard, so from the lights which there appeared to me, there was gathering through the Cross a melody which ravished me without hearing the hymn. Well I perceived that it was of high
Nel congiungersi insieme e nel trapasso :
Cosi si veggion qui diritte e torte, Veloci e tarde, rinnovando vista, Le minuzie dei corpi lunghe e corte,
Muoversi per lo raggio, onde si lista Tal volta 1' ombra, che per sua difesa La gente con ingegno ed arte acquista.
E come giga ed arpa in tempra tesa Di molte corde, fan dolce tintinno A tal, da cui la nota non e intesa, 120
Cosi dai lumi che li m' apparinno,
S' accogliea per la Croce una melode, Che mi rapiva senza intender T inno.
Ben m' accors' io ch' ella era d' alte lode,
112 sqq. £yi(jgnt_ly suggested by Lucr. ii. 115 sqq. Cf. especially 11. 116, 117:
* Multa nimuta modis multis per inane videbis Corpora misceri radioruin lumine in ipso. '
117 ingegno ed arte. See note to Purg. xxvii. 130. 120 nota : the melody or air ; as in x. 81 ; xix. 98. (In the last passage it seems to include the words ; much as here. )
192 PARADISE CANTO
praises, because to me came ' Arise and conquer ', as to him who understands not, and hears. So enamoured I thereof became, that up to then there was nothing that had bound me with withes so sweet. Perhaps my word appears too bold, in placing after it the pleasure of the fair eyes, gazing whereon my longing has repose. But he who con- siders that the living seals of all beauty being more on high
Perocche a me venia : Risurgi, e vinci, Com' a colui, che non intende, ed ode.
lo m' innamorava tanto quinci,
Che in fino a li non fu alcuna cosa, Che mi legasse con si dolci vinci.
Forse la mia parola par tropp' osa, 130
Posponendo il piacer degli occhi belli, Nei quai mirando mio disio ha posa.^
Ma chi s' avvede che i vivi suggelli ' D' ogni bellezza piu fanno piu suso,^
s Nel qual Gg.; ne iqnal 3. t qin savede chen v. 145. ^ Ogni b. Gg.
^-^ Risurgi e vinci. These words are addressed by the blessed to Christ. It is possible that Witte is right in taking them as in the indicative mood, ' Thou dost arise and conquer ' ; but the imperative is more in the style of such passages as Dante may be supposed to have had in his mind.
330 sqq. Daniello is probably right in interpreting these lines to mean merely that as Dante had not looked at Beatrice since they entered the heaven of Mars, he had not yet seen the latest development of the beauty of her eyes, and so was free to say that the chant of the blessed gave him the highest pleasure which he had yet received. For the effect when he does perceive it, see 11. 34-36 of the next Canto. Some take dischiuso as in vii. 102, in the sense of * excluded ' ; the idea apparently being that while the pleasure arising from the sight of the eyes of Beatrice is the highest joy in each ascending circle, it is sur- passed in any given circle by the other joys of the next higher.
XIV PARADISE 193
have more effect, and that in that place I had not turned me to them, can excuse me for that whereof I accuse myself for my excuse, and can see that I say true : for the holy pleasure has not been here disclosed, because as one mounts up, it grows more pure.
E ch' io non m' era li rivolto a quelli ; Iscusar puommi di quel ch' io m' accuso
Per iscusarmi, e vedermi dir vero ;
Che il piacer santo non e qui dischiuso, Perche si fa, montando, piu sincero.
CANTO XV
ARGUMENT
Dante is greeted by his forefather Cacciaguida, who tells him of the simple and tranquil state of Florence in past time ; and of his family.
A BENIGN will, into which is dissolved always the love which inspires righteously, as evil concupiscence is into the unjust will, laid a silence on that sweet lyre, and set at rest the holy strings which the right hand of heaven
Benigna volontade, in che si liqua ^ Sempre 1' amor che drittamente spira. Come cupidita fa nell' iniqua,
Silenzio pose a quella dolce lira, E fece quietar le sante corde, Che la destra del cielo allenta e tira.
^ /;/ cui Aid. W.
^ si liqua. There can be little doubt that this represents, as Blanc says, the Latin liquatur and not, as most of the old commentators deem, liquet. Not only is the form of the word against the latter view ; but it is improbable that liquet could have got a transitive sense. Dante was probably thinking of St. Thomas's phrase (S. T. ii. i. Q. 19. A. 8) : Quia etiam ipsa intentio quodammodo pertinet ad actum voluntatis, inquantum scilicet est ratio ejus ; propter hoc redundat quantitas bonae intentionis in voluntatem. With this the reading in che agrees better than in cui.
^ fa, here as frequently, is simply used to avoid repeating the verb.
CANTO XV PARADISE 195
slackens and draws up. How shall they be deaf to just prayers, those substances who to give me will to pray them were of one accord to hold their peace ? Meet is it that he suffer without end who for the sake of a thing that endures not, strips him eternally of that love.
As through the skies of night, tranquil and pure, a sudden fire now and then speeds away, causing the eyes to move which were still and careless, and seems a star
Come saranno ai giusti prieghi sorde Quelle sustanze, che per darmi voglia Ch' io le pregassi a tacer fur Concorde ?
Ben e che senza termine si doglia Chi per amor di cosa che non duri, Eternalmente quell' amor si spoglia.
Quale per li seren tranquilli e puri Discorre ad ora ad or subito fuoco, Movendo gli occhi che stavan sicuri,
E pare Stella che tramuti loco,
10-12 Eternal punishment is due to those who have preferred tem- poral pleasure to eternal love. There is a difference of opinion as to whether eternalmente qualifies duri or si spoglia. Either view involves a certain pleonasm. I have followed Witte ; understanding eternal- mente to be suggested by wS. T. Suppl. Q. 99. A. 1 (where the eternity of future punishment is discussed) : Alia ratio est quia homo in suo aeterno peccavit. Unde Gregorius dicit, Ad magnam justitiam judi- cantis pertinet, ut nunquam careant supplicio, qui in hac vita nunquam voluerunt carere peccato. See also in a former part of the same article : pro peccato mortali quod est contrarium charitati, aliquis in aeternum a societate sanctorum exclusus, aeternae poenae addicitur. So Benvenuto : Quia quantum in ipso est peccat eternaliter.
^^ Sereno is constantly used of the sky at night, possibly by a false derivation from sei-a. See note to Purg. vii. 73. Scartazzini quotes appositely Ov. Met. ii. 321 : ut interdum de caelo stella sereno Etsi non cecidit, potuit cecidisse videri. Cf. also Purg. v. 37, 38.
196 PARADISE canto
changing place, save that in the quarter whence it is kindled no one is lost, and itself lasts but a little ; such, from the horn that extends to the right, to the foot of that cross, ran a star of the constellation which beams there ; nor did the gem depart from its riband, but traversed the band that was the radius, that it seemed fire behind ala- baster. So kind the shade of Anchises showed himself, if our greatest Muse deserves belief, when in Elysium he was aware of his son.
' O sanguis meus, o super infusa gratia Dei ; sicut tibi,
Se non che dalla parte, onde s' accende, Nulla sen perde ed esso dura poco ;
Tale dal corno, che in destro si stende,
Al pie di quella Croce corse un astro 20
Delia costellazion che li risplende ;
Nb si parti la gemma dal suo nastro ; Ma per la lista radial trascorse, Che parve fuoco dietro ad alabastro :
Si pia r ombra d' Anchise si porse, (Se fede merta nostra maggior Musa) Quando in Elisio del figliuol s' accorse.
O sanguis meus, 0 super infusa Gratia Dei ; sii.ut tibi^ cui
-^ The allusion is to Aen. vi. 684 sqq. . 2^ ' O my offspring, O grace of God shed over thee ! to whom was ever the gate of heaven, as to thee, twice opened ? ' The speaker is Caccia- guida, Dante's great-great-grandfather, said to have been born in 1106, died in 1147. Nothing is known with any certainty of him except what may be gathered from this and the following Cantos, even his surname being doubtful, though often given as ' degli Elisei.' He married one of the Aldighieri.of Parma or Ferrara, who seems to have given her name to the family (see line 138).
XV PARADISE 197
cui bis umquani caeli janua rechisa 1 ' Thus that light ; wherefore I gave heed to it ; then I turned back to my Lady my gaze, and on this side and on that was astounded ; for within her eyes was glowing a smile such that I thought with mine to be touching the depth of the grace given to me and of my Paradise. Then, joyful to hear and to see, the spirit joined to his beginning things which I com- prehended not, so deep was his speech. Nor through choice did he make concealment from me, but through necessity, because his conception was placed higher than the mark of mortals. And when the bow of his ardent affection was so slackened that his speech descended towards the mark of our understanding, the first thing
Bis umquam caeli janua recliisa ? ^ 30
Cosi quel lume ; ond' io m' attesi a lui : Poscia rivolsi alia mia Donna il viso, E quinci e quindi stupefatto fui ;
Che dentro agli occhi suoi ardeva un riso Tal, ch' io pensai coi miei toccar lo fondo Delia mia grazia e del mio Paradiso.
Indi ad udire ed a veder giocondo
Giunse lo spirito al suo principio cose, Ch' io non intesi, si parlb profondo :
Ne per elezion mi si nascose, 40
Ma per necessita ; che il suo concetto Al segno del mortal si soprappose.
E quando 1' arco dell' ardente affetto Fu si sfogato, che il parlar discese Inver lo segno del nostro intelletto ;
La prima cosa che per me s' intese,
^ nunquam Gg. Cass. 3.
198 PARADISE
that was by me understood was, ' Blessed be Thou, three- fold and one, who in my seed showest so great kindness.' And he pursued: *A grateful and long -lasting hunger, contracted by reading in the great volume where white and black are never changed, hast thou loosed, my son, within this light in which I speak to thee, thanks to her who clad thee with the feathers for thy lofty flight. Thou deemest that thy thought travels to me from that which is first, just as from unity radiate, if one knows it, five and six. And therefore who I am and wherefore I appear to thee more
Benedetto sie Tu, fu, trino ed uno, Che nel mio seme sei tanto cortese.
E seguito : Grato e lontan digiuno
Tratto leggendo nel magno volume,^ 50
U' non si muta mai bianco ne bruno,
Soluto hai, figlio, dentro a questo lume. In ch' io ti parlo, merc^ di colei, Ch' air alto volo ti vesti le piume.
Tu credi, che a me tuo pensier mei Da quel ch' b primo, cosi come raia Dair un, se si conosce, il cinque e il sei.
E pero ch' io mi sia, e perch' io paia ^
^ maggior v. Gg. Aid. ^ e chio mi paia Gg. ; e pero chio mi 2.
^^ volume : i.e. the mind of God, which, as we have already seen, is revealed immediately to the spirits of the blessed.
•^1 I.e. wherein that which is written is never effaced. Possibly there is an allusion to Rev. xxii. 18, 19.
^ Observe the repetition of this metaphor in 11. 72, 81. It seems not unlikely to have been suggested by the resemblance of voler and volar.
^' ®^ Cf. Met. iJL. 6 (1080a) : 6 fxadtjixaTiKos apid ixeTraL yuerd to iv duo, TTpbs T(^ ^fiirpoadev ivl dWo ev, Kal ret rpia trpbs rois 8val tovtols aWo €P.
PARADISE 199
joyous than any other in this blithe crowd, thou inquirest not. Thou deemest what is true, for less and great of this life gaze upon the mirror, in which before that thou thinkest, thou displayest thy thought. But in order that the holy love, w^herein I watch with perpetual vision, and which makes me thirsty with a sweet desire, may be the better fulfilled, let thy voice secure, bold, and joyful, sound forth thy will, sound forth thy desire, to which my response is already decreed.'
I turned round to Beatrice, and she heard before I spoke, and smiled on me a sign, which made the wings to my will grow \ then I began thus : ' The affection and
Pill gaudioso a te, non mi dimandi,
Che alcun altro in questa turba gaia. 60
Tu credi il vero ; che minori e grandi Di questa vita miran nello speglio, In che, prima che pensi, il pensier pandi.
Ma perche il sacro amore, in che io veglio Con perpetua vista, e che m' asseta Di dolce disiar, s' adempia meglio ;
La voce tua sicura balda e lieta Suoni la volontk, suoni il desio, A che la mia risposta e gia decreta.
I' mi volsi a Beatrice : e quella udio 70
Pria ch' io parlassi, e arrisemi un cenno,^ Che fece crescer 1' ali al voler mio :
E cominciai cosi : L' affetto e il senno
® arrosemi 14 Aid. W. ; arrossemi 3.
"^ arrisemi un cenno. See note i. 95.
73 sqq. The general drift of this passage is clear enough, namely, that as the blessed have immediate sight of God, in whom all attributes exist in equality, their wish to know and their power of knowing are equal ;
PARADISE
the thought, when as the first Equahty appeared to you, became of one weight for each of you : seeing that to the Sun which illumined and warmed you with heat and with His hght, they are so equal that all resemblances fall short. But will and expression in mortals, through the cause
Come la prima egualita v' apparse,
D' un peso per ciascun di voi si fenno :
Perb che al Sol, che v' allumo ed arse ^ Col caldo e con la luce, en si iguali,° Che tutte simiglianze sono scarse.
Ma voglia ed argomento nei mortali,
^ il sol Gg, W, ; chel sole Cass. 1234; nalhwio 14. g e si iguali Gg, W, 23 ; luce si Cass. ; et si 14.
whereas in mortals the one outstrips the other. It is, however, difficult to believe that Dante had not in his mind the phraseology of certain passages from the exposition of the doctrine of the Trinity in S. T. i. Take for instance Q. 28. Art. 4 : In his in quibus differt intellectus et intellectum, volens et voHtum, potest esse reaHs relatio, et scientiae ad rem scitum, et volentis ad rem voHtum : sed in Deo est idem omnino intellectus et intellectum, . . . et eadem ratione voluntas et volitum. Unde in Deo hujusmodi relationes non sunt reales . . . sed tamen relatio ad Verbum est realis ; quia verbum intelligitur ut procedens per actionem intelligibilem, non autem ut res intellecta. And below : Aequalitas et similitudo in Deo non sunt relationes reales, sed rationis tantum. And cf. Q. 42. Art. 4, where the equality of the Son with the Father is discussed. This passage would thus seem to be one of the many in this part of the poem, beginning with Canto X, in which the doctrine of the Trinity is more or less directly stated or suggested.
^^ come, as in xii. 58 = *' from the time that ' ; Gr. eTrel.
"^ voglia ed argomento in mortals are the equivalents of affetto e senno among the blessed. The latter words are never used by Dante in a bad sense, whereas the former may be bad or good, argomento here implies not merely the conception, as in Inf. xxxi. 55, but also the power of expressing it ; language being the instrument (in which sense we have ajgomento, e.g. Purg. ii. 31) of thought. So P. di Dante: argumentum, i.e. possibilitas, non correspondet voluntati.
PARADISE
which to you is manifest, are diversely endued with feathers on their wings. Whence I, who am mortal, feel myself in this inenuality, and therefore I give not thanks save with the heart for the fatherly greeting. Truly I implore thee, living topaz who dost ingem this precious jewel, that thou wouldst make me satisfied with thy name.'
* O leaf of mine, in whom, waiting only, I took delight, I was thy root ' ; such beginning in answer made he me. Afterward he said to me : ' He from whom thy family is called, and who a hundred years and more has circled the mountain, upon its first cornice, was my son and thy great- grandfather : right meet is it that thou shorten for him
Per la cagion ch' a voi e manifesta, 80
Diversamente son pennuti in ali.
Ond' io, che son mortal, mi sento in questa Disagguaglianza, e pero non ringrazio, Se non col cuore, alia paterna festa.
Ben supplico io a te, vivo topazio, Che questa gioia preziosa ingemmi, Perche mi facci del tuo nome sazio.
O fronda mia, in che io compiacemmi. Pure aspettando, io fui la tua radice : Cotal principio, rispondendo, femmi. 90
Poscia mi disse : Quel, da cui si dice Tua cognazione, e che cent' anni e piue Girato ha il monte in la prima cornice,^
Mio figlio fu, e tuo bisavo fue :
Ben si convien, che la lunga fatica ^ Tu gli raccorci con T opere tue.
^ Girato al monte la p. Gg\ ^ la prima f. Gg.
^^ quel: i.e. Alighiero. As to Dante's family, see Bartoli, Lettera- tura Italiana, vol. v. ch. i.
202 PARADISE CANTO
his long weariness with thy works. Florence, within the ancient circle whence still she takes both tierce and nones, was standing at peace, sober and chaste. She had not chain nor coronet, nor dames in rich attire, nor girdle more to be looked at than the wearer. She made not yet the daughter at her birth a fear to her father, for time and the dowry fled not their due measure on this side and on
Fiorenza dentro dalla cerchia antica,^ Ond' ella toglie ancora e terza e nona, Si stava in pace sobria e pudica.
Non avea catenella, non corona,^ ico
Non donne contigiate, non cintura,"^ Che fosse a veder piu che la persona.
Non faceva nascendo ancor paura
La figlia al padre, che il tempo e la dote Non fuggian quinci e quindi la misura."
k dalle ?nura Gg. ^ e non Gg, ™ contessate e non Gg. ^ fu gia Gg.
^7 cerchia antica, the old wall, which passed close to the Benedictine ' monastery now called the Badia. This is opposite the Bargello, where the famous portrait of Dante is preserved. Its chimes seem to have been notable for the accuracy with which they kept time. With the whole of this cf. Villani vi. 69 : Nota, che al tempo del detto popolo, e in prima, i cittadini di Firenze viveano sobrii, e di grosse vivande, e con piccole spese, etc. Scartazzini quotes the entire passage. Chaps. i.-xiv. of Villani's fourth book should also be read in conjunction with this and the following Canto.
^ in pace. Villani v. 9: Nel detto medesimo anno (1177) si comincio in Firenze dissensione e guerra grande tra' cittadini, che mai non era piii stata in Firenze. He adds what is significant, ' e cio fu per troppa grassezza e riposo.^
^^^ It is necessary, in order to preserve the balance of the sentences from 1. 100 to 1. 108, that we should take Fiorenza and not figlia as the subject of faceva.
^^^ I.e. 'lest the daughter should be too old, or the dowry too small.' The commentators note that when luxury and corruption had
PARADISE 203
that. She had no houses void of a household ; Sarda- napalus was not yet come there, to show what can be done in chamber. Not yet was Montemalo surpassed by your Uccellatoio, which as it has been surpassed in its rise shall so be in, its fall. I have seen BeUincione Berti go girt in leather and in bone, and his dame come from the
Non avea case di famiglia vote ;
Non v' era giunto ancor Sardanapalo
A mostrar cio che in camera si puote. ^^
Non era vinto ancora Montemalo
Dal vostro Uccellatoio, che com' e vinto no Nel montar su, cosi sara nel calo.
Bellincion Berti vid' io andar cinto
Di cuoio e d' osso, e venir dallo specchio La donna sua, senza il viso dipinto : "^
o senza avere il v. 2 ; volto W.
set in, it was usual for girls to marry very early. But I should prefer to understand the words as meaning * lest she should have passed the flower of her age, before he could offer a sufficient dowry.'
^^ Small families then, as now, were characteristic of a profligate and luxurious society. There may be, as Bianchi thinks, an allusion to the vices hinted at in Ephesians v. 11, 12.
^^'' P. di Dante is doubtless right in understanding the allusion as being to Juv. x. 362 : et Venere, et cenis, et pluma Sardanapali.
^^^ in camera : cf. Eng. 'chambering.'
109, no Montemalo, or Monte Mario, on the road from Viterbo, is the point whence a traveller from the north first catches sight of Rome. The hill called Uccellatoio, on the road from Bologna, stands similarly with regard to Florence. The meaning thus is that Florence did not then, as in the fourteenth century, surpass Rome in the splendour of its buildings.
^^^ * BeUincione Berti de' Rovignani, onorevole cittadino di Firenze,' is mentioned by Villani iv. i. He was the father of Gualdrada (Inf. xvi. 37), from whom sprang the famous house of the Conti Guidi (Vill. V. 37).
"^ di cuoio e d' osso : in leather belt with bone buttons.
204 PARADISE
mirror without her face painted ; and I have seen De' Nerli and Del Vecchio be contented in their uncovered skin-coats, and their dames at the spindle and the distaff. O fortunate ones ! and each was certain of her sepulture, and as yet none was deserted in her bed by reason of France. One would watch in care of the cradle, and comforting would use the dialect which first makes pastime for fathers and mothers ; the other drawing the thread upon the distaff
E vidi quel dei Nerli, e quel del Vecchio ^ Esser contenti alia pelle scoverta, E le sue donne al fuso ed al pennecchio.
O fortunate ! e ciascuna era certa Delia sua sepoltura, ed ancor nulla Era per Francia nel letto deserta. 120
L' una vegghiava a studio della culla, E consolando usava 1' idioma, Che pria li padri e le madri trastulla :
L' altra traendo alia rocca la chioma,
P da N. Gg.; di N. Cass. 14.
^^^ The Nerli and Vecchietti were noble Guelf families. They appear frequently in early Florentine history, and seem to have shared the same fortunes. Both were banished in 1260, and both in 1300 were divided between the Black and White parties.
^^^ sepoltura. Looking to Purg. viii. 79, this would seem to mean that a wife would know whose arms would be on her tomb, i. e. would be sure of not marrying a second time.
^20 Lubin quotes Villani vi. 85 : Si dice per molti antichi che r uscita dei guelfi di Firenze fu cagione di loro ricchezza ; perciocche molti Fiorentini usciti n' andarono oltremonti in Francia a guadagnare, che prima non erano mai usati, onde poi molte ricchezze ne reddiro in Firenze ; and with this the interpretation of the older commentators agrees. But it would seem almost better to understand the allusion to be to the banishment of the White party by the Blacks, leagued with Charles of Valois, in 1302 (Villani viii. 49).
XV PARADISE 205
would tell tales with her household of the Trojans, and of Fiesole, and of Rome. Then would have been held as great a marvel a Cianghella or a Lapo Salterello as now would be Cincinnatus or Cornelia. To so tranquil, to so fair a life of citizens, to so trusty a citizenship, to so sweet a sojourn, Mary gave me, summoned in loud cries : and in your ancient Baptistery I became at once a Christian and Cacciaguida. Moronto was my brother and Eliseo : my wife came to me from Vale of Po, and thence thy sur-
Favoleggiava con la sua famiglia Dei Troiani e di Fiesole e di Roma.
Saria tenuta allor tal maraviglia
Una Cianghella, un Lapo Salterello, Qual or saria Cincinnato e Corniglia.
A cosi riposato, a cosi bello 130
Viver di cittadini, a cosi iida Cittadinanza, a cosi dolce ostello,
Maria mi di^, chiamata in alte grida ; E neir antico vostro Batisteo Insieme fui Cristiano e Cacciaguida.
Moronto fu mio frate ed Eliseo :
Mia donna venne a me di Val di Pado,
^^ I.e. of the cities whence Florence was descended.
^^ Cianghella de' Tosinghi was, according to Benvenuto (a country- man of whom she married), a lady of Florence, notorious for her light conduct. Of Lapo Salterello he says : Iste fuit jurista, vir litigiosus et linguosus, multum infestus autori tempore sui exilii. At the same time Lapo is said to have belonged to Dante's own party, the White Guelfs, and even in the course of his Priorate (he was in office two months before Dante) to have taken a very active part in the prosecution of some persons who were intriguing M'ith the Pope. Dante's objection to him must therefore have been of a personal kind.
^^^ Maria: cf. Purg. xx. 19-21.
2o6 PARADISE canto xv
name arose. Then I followed the Emperor Conrad, and he belted me of his soldiery, so high in his favour did I come through good work. After him I went against the iniquity of that law whose people usurps, through the Pastor's fault, your jurisdiction. There was I at the hands of that foul folk unwrapped from the deceitful world, the love of which defiles many souls ; and I came from the martyrdom to this peace.'
E quindi il soprannome tuo si feo.
Poi seguitai lo imperador Corrado,
Ed ei mi cinse della sua milizia, 140
Tanto per bene oprar gli venni in grado.
Dietro gli andai incontro alia nequizia Di quella legge, il cui popolo usurpa, Per colpa del Pastor, vostra giustizia.^
Quivi fu' io da quella gente turpa Disviluppato dal mondo fallace, II cui amor molte anime deturpa,
E venni dal martirio a questa pace.
^ di pastor Gg. Cass. 14 ; de pastori 2 ; rt'.f 3 ; del W.
^^ Conrad III. the first of the Hohenstauffen, was emperor 1138- 1152. In 1 147, moved by the preaching of St. Bernard, he undertook the disastrous second Crusade, in company with Lewis VII of France.
^^ quella legge : Islam.
1" Cf. ix. 125, 126.
^^^ As having died for the faith, he passed at once to heaven.
CANTO XVI
ARGUMENT
Cacciaguida pursues his discourse of Florence ; showing what houses were formerly great, and notes the troubles which have fallen on the city.
0 SMALL nobility of blood that is ours, if thou makest folk to boast of thee here below where our affection is feeble, never will it be a wondrous thing to me ; for there, where appetite goes not awry, I mean in heaven, I boasted me thereof. Surely thou art a cloak which quickly grows
O poco nostra nobiltk di sangue,
Se gloriar di te la gente fai
Quaggiu, dove 1' affetto nostro langue, Mirabil cosa non mi sara mai :
Che la, dove appetito non si torce,
Dico nel Cielo, io me ne gloriai. Ben sei tu manto che tosto raccorce,
^ If even in Heaven, where no false object can attract the desires,
1 could be touched by family pride, what wonder if we feel it on earth ?
^ langue : cf. Purg. xvi. 91.
"^'^ In order that he may not seem to have rated too highly the credit of possessing a noble ancestry, he hastens to explain that unless succeeding generations act so as to maintain their inherited honour, it quickly perishes. See Conv. iv. 7 : E cosl quelli che dal padre o da
2o8 PARADISE canto
too short, so that if one adds not from day to day, time goes round about with his shears.
With the *You' that Rome was the first to endure, wherein her family httle perseveres, began again my words. Wherefore Beatrice, who was a httle apart, smiling, seemed like her who coughed at the first fault that is written of Guinivere.
Si che se non s' appon di die in die,
Lo tempo va dintorno con le force. Dal voi, che prima Roma sofferie,* lo
In che la sua famiglia men persevra,
Rincominciaron le parole mie : Onde Beatrice, ch' era un poco scevra,
Ridendo, parve quella che tossio
Al primo fallo scritto di Ginevra.
^ Dal huom 145.
alcuno suo maggiore di schiatta e nobilitato, e non persevera in quella, non solamente e vile, ma vilissimo.
^^ voi. See Diez iii. 50. He says that the use of the second person plural to indicate respect came in originally as the converse of the imperial *nos.' Cf. Purg. xxx. 73.
^^ The commentators state that at this time the Romans were peculiar in the universal use of tti. See Landino ad loc.
■^^ un poco scevra : generally understood as symbolical of the absence of theology from the present conversation. Ben v. , however, has ' i.e. separata ab auctore, quia modicum trahebatur a vento gloriae et sic modicum recesserat a beatrice.'
14, 15 'pjjg incident here alluded to is found in a French version of the Lancelot romance of which sundry copies exist. Mr. Paget Toynbee has given the entire story (from a 13th century MS. in Brit. Mus.) in the P'ifth Annual Report of the American Dante Society. Galle- hault has brought about a meeting between Lancelot and Guinivere, other ladies being present. The queen has obtained from Lancelot a confession of his love. Then ' a ces paroles que la reine li disoit avint que la dame de Maloaut sestosci tot a escient. . . . Et li chevaliers lentendi maintenant car mainte fois lavoit oie.' None of the older com-
XVI PARADISE 209
I began : 'You are my father, you g\y^ me all boldness to speak, you lift me so that I am more than I. Through so many streams is filled with gladness my mind, that it takes of itself joy for that it can endure so that it , breaks not in pieces. Tell me therefore, dear my origin, who were your ancestors, and what were the years that were
lo cominciai : Voi siete il padre mio ; Voi mi date a parlar tutta baldezza ; ^ Voi mi levate si, ch' io son piu ch' io.
Per tanti rivi s' empie d' allegrezza
La mente mia, che di se fa letizia 20
Perche puo sostener che non si spezza.
Ditemi dunque, cara mia primizia,
Quai fur gli vostri antichi, e quai fur gli anni,^ Che si segnaro in vostra puerizia ?
^ tanta b. Gg. ° Qtiai son Aid. (l) ; antichi vosh'i Gg.
mentators except perhaps Benv. seem to know more of the story than may be inferred from the context. Thus Ottimo : tossio in segno che avveduta s'era del fallo della reina. Comm. Cass. : tuxivit videndo reginam Gineveram obsculari a Lancialotto ; which is not strictly correct, as no kissing took place till a later point of the interview. Ben- venuto, again, with more detail : cum Lancialottus pervenisset ad col- loquium cum regina Genevra opera principis Galeotti, nee audebat prae nimio pudore pandere flammam amoris sui, princeps Galeottus inter- posuit se et fecit illos pervenire ad osculum : tunc quaedam domina nomine Damma socia reginae perpendens de actu tussivit et spuit q. d. te video. Ita in proposito Beatrix risit nunc q. dicens bene audio te, ut tu bene audires cave quid dicas. Even with this expansion the fitness of the allusion is not very obvious. Benv. has perhaps the best explana- tion that there was a little tendency toward family pride in Dante's manner of addressing his ancestor (cf. Purg. xxviii. 146). Landino and others suggest that the cough, and so Beatrice's smile, were meant for encouragement. It may be noted that Malory, while he knows nothing of this story, mentions a somewhat similar occurrence, in which the cougher is Guinivere herself. See King Arthur, Part III. chap. viii.
P
PARADISE
noted in your boyhood. Tell me of the sheepfold of St. John, how large it then was, and who were the folk within it worthy of highest seats.'
As a coal quickens at the breathing of the winds into flame, so saw I that light shine in answer to my per- suasions. And as to my eyes it became more fair, so with a voice more soft and sweet, but not with this modern speech it said to me : * From that day that Ave was said, to the birth in which my mother who now is a saint was delivered of me, with whom she was great, five hundred and fifty-three times came this fire to its Lion, to re-enflame
Ditemi dell' ovil di san Giovanni,
Quant' era allora, e chi eran le genti Tra esso degne di piu alti scanni ?
Come s' avviva alio spirar dei venti Carbone in fiamma, cosi vidi quella Luce risplendere ai miei blandimenti : 30
E come agli occhi miei si fe piu bella, Cosi con voce piu dolce e soave. Ma non con questa moderna favella,
Dissemi : Da quel di, che fu detto ave
Al parto, in che mia madre, ch' e or santo, S' allevio di me ond' era grave,
Al suo Leon cinquecento cinquanta E tre fiate venne questo fuoco ^
"^ trenta Gg. 12345 Aid. W.
^^ ovil ; cf. XXV. 5. So Villani iv. 10 : la porta del Duomo che fu il prime ovile e stazzo della rifatta Firenze.
37-39 jf ^Q j.Q^^ ^j,g fiate, and put the period of Mars at two years, which from a comparison of Conv. ii. 15 may be taken to have been Dante's estimate, we shall get 1106 as the date of Cacciaguida's birth. Those, and they are the majority, who read trenta^ suppose Dante to have taken the correct period (of which he may have been aware, as it
XVI PARADISE 211
itself beneath his feet. My ancestors and I were born in the place where the last sextary is first attained by him who runs in your yearly sport. Let it suffice to hear this
A rinfiammarsi sotto la sua pianta.
Gli antichi miei ed io nacqui nel loco, 40
Dove si trova pria T ultimo sesto Da quel, che corre il vostro annual giuoco.
Basti dei miei maggiori udirne questo :
is given by Ptolemy), viz. 687 days approximately, which will give 1091 as the year in question. The objections to this are (i) that fiate is hardly ever a dissyllable, if indeed the few passages in which it appears to be so used do not all need emendation ; (2) that it makes Cacciaguida rather old to have gone on the Crusade ; (3) that if Dante had meant to be strictly accurate, he would probably have also taken into account the fact that the planet retrogrades during about one- eleventh of its circuit through the signs, and consequently visits the Lion (and every other sign) eleven times in ten circuits, so that both 553 and 580 would give much too early a date. I have therefore pre- ferred to follow P. di Dante (who says : licet reperiatur scriptum corrupte 30 vicibus, ubi debet dicere tribus vicibus) ; and the older of the Cassinese commentators. Bianchi and Giuliani, it may be added, take the same view. The weight of authority on the other side is somewhat diminished by the fact that several of those who read trenta, e.g. Land, and Dan. calmly take 1160 to be the date indicated, making Cacciaguida to have been born nearly twenty years after his own death, while Benv. takes it as 1054, making him go crusading at 93.
suo Leon. According to Philalethes, the astrologers of the period divided the signs into four triplets. One of these consisted of Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius, and its ' lords ' were the Sun, Mars, and Jupiter. In this sense the Lion is regarded as specially belonging to Mars. Mars being also the old patron of Florence (Inf. xiii. 144), this eulogy of the old times of the city is appropriately pronounced in the planet's sphere. It may be further noted that Mars was in Leo at the time when the action of the Commedia is represented as taking place. Villani, viii. 48, mentions that Saturn and Mars were in conjunction in that sign in January of this year, and again in May.
v.40t42 'pjjg house of the Elisei stood just where the Mercato and the Corso join ; and here was the boundary of the district known later (for
212 PARADISE CANTO
of my elders ; who they were, and whence they came thither, it is more seemly to be silent than to narrate. All those who at that time were there, between Mars and the Baptist, of strength for arms, were the fifth of those who are alive. But the citizenship, which now is mixed with Campi and with Certaldo and with Figghine, was seen pure in the lowest artisan. O how much had it been better
Chi ei si furo, ed onde venner quivi,*^ Pill ^ il tacer, che il ragionare, onesto.
Tutti color ch' a quel tempo eran ivi Da poter arme tra Marte e il Batista,^ Erano il quinto di quei che son vivi :
Ma la cittadinanza, ch' e or mista
Di Campi, e di Certaldo, e di Figghine, 50
Pura vedeasi nelF ultimo artista.
^ Chi sifossero e donde ei venner vivi (alt. to ivi) Gg. f portar^ 3.
in Cacciaguida's day there were but four divisions, 'quartieri,') as 'sestiere di Porta San Piero' (see Villani iv. 11). This appears to have been the last of the *sestieri' to be traversed by the competitors in the annual horse-race which took place' on St. John's Day, and as they entered it at this point, they must have come through the Mercato, having started probably at the Porta S. Pancrazio, near where the Strozzi Palace now stands, and presumably finished in the Corso. The word ' sextary ' is found in Howell's ' Venice ' (1651).
^^ Again a warning against the pride of lineage.
^'^ I.e. between the Ponte Vecchio, where the statue of Mars used to stand (Vill. iii. i), and the Baptistery: that is approximately the north and south limits of the city in those days. For all this Canto the notes of Philalethes and Longfellow should be consulted.
^^ Campi, Certaldo (the birthplace or home of Boccaccio), and Figghine, are all in the neighbourhood of Florence, the first quite close, the others a little further. Figghine is the modern Figline, on the way to Arezzo (see Vill. iv. 8). It was captured and destroyed by the Florentines in 1252 (Vill. vi. 4, 61). Persons from each of these places seem to have been discreditably conspicuous in Dante's time at Florence.
PARADISE 213
that those people of whom I speak should be neighbours, and to have your frontier at Galluzzo and at Trespiano, than to have them within it, and to endure the stink of the peasant of Aguglione, of him of Signa, who already has his eye sharp for barratry. If the folk that in the world goes most awry had not been to Caesar a stepmother, but as a mother to her son, benign, such an one is become a
O quanto fora meglio esser vicine
Quelle genti ch' io dico, ed al Galluzzo E a Trespiano aver vostro confine,
Che averle dentro, e sostener lo puzzo Del villan d' Aguglion, di quel da Signa, Che gia per barattare ha T occhio aguzzo !
Se la gente, ch' al mondo piu traligna, Non fosse stata a Cesare noverca, Ma come madre a suo figliuol benigna, 60
^^' ^^ Galluzzo is about two miles from Porta Romana, to the south of Florence ; Trespiano about three from P. San Gallo, to the north.
5^ Aguglione and Signa, a castle, now destroyed (Scart.), and village near Florence. The villan is probably Baldo d' Aguglione ; see Purg. xii. 105. He appears to have been the mover of the decree of perpetual banishment passed against the Uberti in 131 1. There is more doubt as to quel da Signa ; but most take him to have been one Bonifazio of that place, a lawyer. According to Witte, he belonged to the Black faction, and held several high offices about this time.
^ gente : the clergy, as in Purg. vi. 91 ; traligna, cf xii. 90. The point seems to be that it was the hostile attitude of the Church to the Empire which had brought about the universal state of feud, and so led to the extension of their boundaries in self-defence by the various cities, and the consequent introduction, as citizens, of persons not belonging to the old burgher families. There seems to be no satisfactory evidence to show who is specially alluded to here ; but the words Gambia e merca indicate that he belonged to the class of merchants. Cf. note to Purg. xx. 10.
214 PARADISE
Florentine, and barters and trades, that would have turned him back to Simifonti, the place where his grandfather used to go a-quest; Montemurlo would still be the Counts', the Cerchi would be in the parish of Acone, and haply the Buondelmonti in Val di Grieve. Ever was the confusion of persons the origin of the city's ill, as of the body's is food which is added. And a blind bull falls more headlong than
Tal fatto e Fiorentino, e cambia, e merca, Che si sarebbe volto a Simifonti,^ La dove andava 1' avolo alia cerca.
Sariesi Montemurlo ancor dei Conti : Sarieno i Cerchi nel pivier d' Acone,^ E forse in Valdigrieve i Buondelmonti.
Sempre la confusion delle persone Principio fu del mal della cittade, Come del corpo il cibo che s' appone/
E cieco toro piu avaccio cade, 70
Che cieco agnello ; e molte volte taglia
s starebbe Gg.
"^ i cerchi del piovier de Cone Gg. ; Sariansi Aid. W. ^ del cibo vostro chel s ap. Gg. ; del vostro il c. Cass. 2 ; del vostro c. 145 ; soppone 12345.
*'^ tal; so ix. 50, and Purg. xviii. 121. Of course the construction in these lines is inverted ; 61-63 i'^ sense precede 58-60.
^ Simifonti and other places here named are all near Florence.
® alia cerca seems best understood as ' begging for his livelihood. '
** Conti : the Guidi. They sold their castle of Montemurlo in 1209 to the Florentines, in order to keep it out of the hands of the men of Pistoia (Vill. v. 31).
^'^ The destruction in 1 135 by the Florentines of Montebuono, the castle of the Buondelmonti, is noted by Villani (iv. 36) as one of the first steps in the expansion of Florence.
^"^ che s' appone : sc. to food already in course of digestion.
PARADISE 215
a blind lamb, and oftentimes one sword cuts sharper and better than five. If thou regardest how Luni and Urbi- sagha are gone, and how Chiusi and Sinigagha are going their way after them, to hear how the famiUes are undone will not appear to thee a new thing nor a hard, since the cities have an ending. All your affairs have their death, just as you do ; but it is concealed in any which endures long ; and lives are short. And as the revolution of the
Pill e meglio una che le cinque spade.
Se tu riguardi Luni ed Urbisaglia, Come son ite, e come se ne vanno Diretro ad esse Chiusi e Sinigaglia :
Udir come le schiatte si disfanno, Non ti parra nuova cosa ne forte, Poscia che le cittadi termine hanno.
Le vostre cose tutte hanno lor morte,
Si come voi ; ma celasi in alcuna 80
Che dura molto, e le vite son corte.
E come il volger del ciel della luna ^
k del cielo e della Gg.
^- le cinque : cf. 1. 48. Bianchi notes the use of the definite article as a Florentine idiom.
'^^''^•^ Luni (Luna) and Chiusi (Clusium) were once powerful Tuscan cities ; Urbisaglia and Sinigaglia are in the March of Ancona.
76-78 Qf^ the well-known letter of Servius Sulpicius to Cicero (Ad Fam. iv. 3) : nos homunculi indignamur, si quis nostrum interiit aut occisus est, quorum vita brevior esse debet, quum uno loco tot oppidum cadavera projecta jacent.
®2 This allusion to the tides is curious in a dweller by the Medi- terranean ; but, of course, the phenomenon had been well-known to scientific men ever since the first Greek mariners sailed through the straits of Gibraltar, and it is perceptible enough even at Venice ; nor could its connection in point of time with the apparent motion of the moon have escaped notice. In De Aq. et Ter. § 7, Dante himself refers to it : Aqua videtur maxime sequi motum Lunae, ut patet in
2i6 PARADISE CANTO
moon's heaven covers and uncovers the shores without rest, so does Fortune with Florence. Wherefore it ought not to seem a marvellous thing, what I shall say about the exalted Florentines, of whom the fame is hidden in past time. I saw the Ughi, and I saw the Catellini, Filippi,
Cuopre ed iscuopre i liti senza posa,
Cosi fa di Fiorenza la fortuna ; Perch^ non dee parer mirabil cosa
Cio ch' io dirb degli alti Fiorentini,^
Dei quai la fama nel tempo e nascosa. Io vidi gli Ughi, e vidi i Catellini,
I altri F. 2 ; atti Aid.
accessu et recessu maris. It must not be supposed that he had any idea of the real action of the moon in producing the tides (though he is evidently nearer the mark than Brunetto, who supposes \}^^ phases of the moon to affect the sea) ; his view doubtless was that of Aquinas, who says, S. T. i. Q. 105. A. 6 — a passage which incidentally illustrates what has been said in the note to i. 103 sqq. — Cum aliquid contingit in rebus naturalibus praeter naturam inditam, hoc potest . . . contingere . . . per actionem illius agentis a quo dependet actio naturalis . . . ut patet in fluxu et refluxu maris. . . . Est enim ex impressione caelestis corporis, a quo dependet naturalis inclinatio inferiorum corporum. He again alludes to it, Q. no. A. 3: fluxus et refluxus maris non con- sequitur formam substantialem aquae, sed virtutem lunae.
^ alti ; evidently with reference to 1. 27, the question in which he is how going to answer.
^ The names mentioned in this and the following lines are all found in the list of the old families given by Villani, iv. 10-13. A translation of these chapters is given by Longfellow, and the passages more immediately illustrating Dante are referred to in the following notes. It may be observed that of the houses named or alluded to by Dante, the majority belonged to the Guelf party. The following are in Villani's list (v. 38) as Ghibelines : Barucci, Guidi, Galigari, Giuochi, Caponsacchi, Pigli (in part), Lamberti, Soldanieri, Fifanti, Galli, Infangati, Uberti, and Amidei ; though some, he says, afterwards turned Guelfs. Of the rest, the Alberighi, Rovignani, Ughi, dell' Area, Catellini, Greci, della Pera, Filippi, were extinct in Villani's, that is in Dante's day ; the remainder were Guelfs.
PARADISE 217
Greci, Ormanni, and Alberichi, already in their decline, illustrious citizens ; and I saw, as great as they were ancient, him of Area, with him of Sannella, and Soldanieri and Ardinghi and Bostichi. Over the gate which at the pre- sent is laden with new felony of such a weight that soon there will be a lightening of the ship, were the Ravignani, whence is descended the Count Guido, and whoever has since shared in the name of high BeUincione. He of Pressa already knew how government should be, and
Filippi, Greci, Ormanni, e Alberichi,
Gia nel calare, illustri cittadini : 90
E vidi cosi grandi come antichi.
Con quel della Sannella quel dell' Area, E Soldanieri, ed Ardinghi, e Bostichi.
Sopra la porta, che al presente e carca ^ Di nuova fellonia di tanto peso, Che tosto fia jattura della barca,
Erano i Ravignani, ond' e disceso
II Conte Guido, e qualunque del nome Deir alto BeUincione ha poscia preso."
Quel de la Pressa sapeva gia come ° 100
Regger si vuole, ed avea Galigaio
^ la poppa Aid. ^ e poscia Gg. ^ della pei-a Gg.
^^ The Ormanni ' chiamansi oggi Foraboschi,' says Villani.
94 sqq. ' I Rovignani furono molto grandi, e abitavano in sulla porta vSan Piero, che furono poi le case de' conti Guidi, e poi de' Cerchi, e di loro per donna nacquero tutti i conti Guidi, come addietro e fatta menzione (see note to xv. 112), della figliuola del buono messere BeUincione Berti.' It is probably to the Cerchi, who as the leaders of the White party were largely responsible for the intestine disorders of Dante's time, and who with their chief followers, including Dante him- self, were turned out in 1302, that allusion is made in 11. 95, 96.
2i8 PARADISE CANTO
Galigaio had the hilt and the pommel gilt in his house. Great was already the column of miniver, Sacchetti, Giuochi, F'ifanti, and Barucci and Galli, and they who blush for the bushel. The stock from which the Calfucci were born was already great, and already were Sizi and Arrigucci drawn to the chairs of state. O, in what state saw I those who have been undone through their pride ! and the balls of gold
were as flowers to Florence in all her great deeds. Thus
I
Dorata in casa sua gia 1' elsa e il pome.^ Grande era gik la colonna del vaio,
Sacchetti^ Giuochi, Fifanti, e Barucci,
E GaUi, e quei ch' arrossan per lo staio. Lo ceppo di che nacquero i Calfucci,
Era gia grande, e gia erano tratti
AUe curule Sizi ed Arrigucci. O quali vidi quei che son disfatti
Per lor superbia ! e le palle dell' oro no
Fiorian Fiorenza in tutti suoi gran fatti.
P Dorato . . . V elzo Gg.
^^2 I.e. had the symbols of knightly rank.
^^ The Pigli bore on their shield a column bordered with ermine.
i<>5 quei : the Chiaramontesi. See note to Purg, xii. 105.
106 I J Donati ovvero Calfucci, che tutto furono uno legnaggio ; ma i Cafiicci vennono meno. ' — Vill. iv. 1 1 .
108 'Allora (in 1197) era consolo in Firenze Compagno degli Arrigucci.' — Vill. v. 22. We learn from other sources that two of the Sizii held the same office about the same time (Philal.), but no con- temporary record of any members of these families having held it in Cacciaguida's day appears to exist.
109-111 -pj^e q1(J commentators mostly agree in supposing the families indicated in these lines to be the Uberti and Lamberti. Both these seem to have been originally, as their names suggest, of German descent, and to have come to Florence with the Emperor Otto I. ; though Villani (iv. i) has his doubts on this point.
PARADISE
219
did the fathers of those men who all the while that your church is vacant make themselves fat, standing' in con- sistory. The overweening brood, which plays the dragon behind him who flies, and to whoso shows his teeth, ay, or his purse, is placable as a lamb, was already coming up, l)ut of small folk, so that it pleased not Ubertin Donato that
Cosi facien i padri di coloro,
Che, sempre che la vostra chiesa vaca, Si fanno grassi, stando a consistoro.
L' oltracotata schiatta, che s' indraca ^
Dietro a chi fugge ed a chi mostra il dente, O ver la borsa, com' agnel si placa,
Gia venia su, ma di piccola gente,
Si che non piacque ad Ubertin Donato,
^ Laltra scontiata Gg. ; oltj-e contanta 2 ; stracutata 3.
112-114 jijg Tosinghi and Bisdomini, two allied families, were patrons of the Bishopric of Florence, and while the see was vacant enjoyed its revenues. One of the Tosinghi, Messer Lottieri, was Bishop in 1303, and took a prominent part in the tumults of the time.
115-120 Here again there seems to be a general agreement as to the family intended. The Adimari were Dante's near neighbours in Florence, and were notoriously hostile to him. This was especially: the case with the branch known as the Cavicciuli. Several anecdotes related by Sacchetti and Boccaccio, show that the family had a reputa- tion for overbearing manners. The savage-tempered braggart, Filippo Argenti, of Inf. viii. 61, belonged to the house ; and one Boccaccio de' Cavicciuli, who appears to have been prominent among the swash- bucklers of the day (see e.g. Vill. viii. 74, 96), is said by Landino to have been in possession of Dante's goods when the owner was in exile.
^^^ Vill. iv. II : II legnaggio degli Adimari . . . bene che sieno oggi il maggiore legnaggio di quello sesto e di Firenze, non furono pero in quelli tempi de' piu antichi.
119, 120 Ubertino Donati is said to have married a daughter of Bellin- cione Berti, and to have objected to the marriage of another daughter with one of the Adimari. In later times a branch of the Adimari bore
220 PARADISE CANTO
his father-in-law should thereafter make him their relation. Already had the Caponsacco come down into the Market from Fiesole, and already was Giuda a good burgher, and Infangato. I will tell a thing incredible but true : into the little circuit one used to enter by a gate which had its name from them of the house of Pera. Each one that
Che poi il suocero il fe loro parente/ 120
Gia era il Caponsacco nel mercato Disceso gill da Fiesole, e gia era Buon cittadino Giuda ed Infangato.
lo diro cosa incredibile e vera :
Nel picciol cerchio s' entrava per porta, ^ Che si nomava da quei della Pera.
Ciascun, che della bella insegna porta
^ che il s. ilfacesse lor Bi. ^ In picciol Gg.
the name of Bellincione (whence perhaps the allusion in 1. 99) ; and we find the Adimari and Donati at feud (Vill. vii. 56).
1-1 * In quello luogo (Mercato Vecchio) abitayano i Caponsacchi, che furono grandi Fiesolani.' — Vill. iv. 11.
124-126 i Dietro a San Piero Scheraggio, ove sono oggi le casa de' figliuoli Petri, furono quelli della Pera ovvero Peruzza, e per loro nome la postieria che ivi era si chiamava porta Peruzza.' — Vill. iv. 13. Some think that the incredible point was the small size of the city when this was an external gate ; but the better view seems to be that it was the absence of jealousy, which allowed a gate to be named after a private family.
127 sqq. Marquis Hugh of Brandenburg ('the only marquisate in Germany') came to Florence with Otto III, and settled there: * Mori nella citta di Firenze il di di Santo Tommaso gli anni di Cristo 1006, e a grande onore fu soppellito alia badia di Firenze. E vivendo il detto marchese Ugo, fece in Firenze molti cavalieri della schiatta de' Gian- donati, de' Pulci, de' Nerli, de conti da Gangalandi, e di quelli della Bella, i quali tutti per suo amore ritennero e portarono 1' arme sua addogata rossa e bianca con diverse intrassegne. ' — Vill. iv. 2.
1^'' della : so del nome, 1. 98.
XVI PARADISE 221
bears a share of the fair ensign of the great Baron, whose name and whose honour the feast of Thomas confirms anew, had from him knighthood and privilege ; albeit with the commons is united to-day he who binds it with the fringe. Already were there Gualterotti and Importuni ;
Del gran Barone, il cui nome e il cui pregio f*^^a festa di Tommaso riconforta, / Da esso ebbe milizia e privilegio ; 130
I Avvegna che col popol si rauni
^*^ Oggi colui che la fascia col fregio. Gia eran Gualterotti ed Importuni : Ed ancor saria Borgo piu quieto,
132 colui : Giano della Bella, the great law - maker and champion of the commons against the nobles. He was banished in 1295. See Vill. viii. 8, and Machiavelli, 1st. Fior. Bk. ii. — The arms of Delia Bella were the same as those of Marquis Hugh, but with a border of gold.
133 sqq. ' In borgo Santo Apostolo erano grandi Gualterotti, e Im- portuni, che oggi sono popolani ; i Bondelmonti erano nobili e antichi cittadini in contado, e Montebuoni fu loro castello, e piii altri in Valdigreve (1. 66) ; prima si puosono Oltrarno, e poi tornarono in Borgo.' — Vill. iv. 13. The Buondelmonti came into Florence in 1 135 ; and it was from the wrong done in 1215 by One of that family to a lady of the Amidei, whom he had promised to marry, and deserted for one of the Donati, that the feuds which prevailed in Florence for a century afterwards were held by contemporaries to have arisen. On the Easter Day following, says Villani (v. 38), * vegnendo d' Oltrarno il detto messere Bondelmonte vestito nobilmente di nuovo di roba tutta bianca, e in su uno palafreno bianco, giugnendo appie del ponte Vecchio del lato di 'qua, appunto lappie del pilastro ov' era la 'nsegna di Marti (1. 145), il detto messere Bondelmonte fu atterrato del cavallo per lo Schiatta degli Uberti, e per lo Mosca Lamberti (the chief instigator of the murder ; see Inf. xxviii. 106) e Lambertuccio degli Amidei assalito e fedito, e per Oderigo Fifanti gli furono sedate le vene e tratto a fine ; e ebbevi con loro uno de' conti da Gangalandi.' There were already political parties in Florence, as elsewhere, perhaps even more bitter than elsewhere, a fact which Villani attributes to the
222 PARADISE CANTO
and yet would Borgo be more tranquil if they had lacked new neighbours. The house from which your sorrow arose, through the righteous wTath which has slain you and put an end to your joyous living, was honoured, it and its consorts. O Buondelmonte, how ill didst thou flee its nuptials through the abetting of another ! Many would be blithe " that are sad if God had yielded thee to Ema the first time that thou camest to town. But it was meet that Florence in
Se di nuovi vicin fosser digiuni. La casa di che nacque il vostro fleto,
Per lo giusto disdegno che v' ha morti,
E pose fine al vostro viver lieto,' Era onorata ed essa e suoi consorti."
O Buondelmonte, quanto mal fuggisti 140
Le nozze sue per gli altrui conforti ! Molti sarebber lieti che son tristi,
Se Dio t' avesse conceduto ad Ema
La prima volta ch' a citta venisti. Ma conveniasi a quella pietra scema
^ posto Aid. W. Bi. ^ hon. e se ei suoi Gg. ; hoii. essa e Cass. 1234 Aid.
mixture in one city of the Roman stock with the famiHes from Fiesole ; but this family quarrel imported the peculiar savagery which distin- guished them and made good government impossible. The Buon- delmonti from this time headed the Guelf party, and the Uberti the Ghibelines.
^^7 ' Si presono (sc. gli Amidei) il maladetto isdegno, onde la citta di Firenze fu guasta e partita.' — Vill. 1. c.
^^ Ema : a small stream which flows into the Greve, and is crossed near Galluzzo by the road from Valdigreve to Florence, along which the Buondelmonti would have come on their original migration.
^^ ' Bene mostra che '1 nemico dell' umana generazione per le peccata de' Fiorentini avesse podere nell' idolo di Marti, ch' e Fiorentini pagani anticamente adoravano, che apple di sua figura si commise si fatto micidio, onde tanto male e seguito alia citta di Firenze.' — Vill. 1. c.
XVI PARADISE 223
the end of her peace should give a victim to that clipped stone that guards the bridge.
' With these houses, and others with them, I saw Florence in a repose of such sort that she had no occasion whereof to weep. With those houses saw I her commons so glorious and righteous, that the lily had never at the spear's point been put to retreat, nor through divisions grown vermilion.'
Che guarda il ponte, che Fiorenza fesse Vittima nella sua pace postrema.
Con queste genti, e con altre con esse, _^^
Vid' io Fiorenza in si fatto riposo, Che non avea cagione onde piangesse. 150
Con queste genti vid' io glorioso,
E giusto il popol suo tanto, che il giglio Non era ad asta mai posto a ritroso,
Ne per division fatto vermiglio.
152-154 In July, 1251, 'cacciati i caporali de' ghibellini di Firenze, il popolo e gli guelfi che dimoraro alia signoria di Firenze, si mutaro r arme del comune di Firenze ; e dove anticamente si portava il campo rosso e '1 giglio bianco, si feciono per contrario il campo bianco e '1 giglio rosso, e' ghibellini si ritennero la prima insegna.' — Vill. vi. 43.
CANTO XVII
ARGUMENT
Cacciaguida prophesies to Dante concerning that which shall befall him in exile ; and exhorts him to be of good courage, and bold in reproof of wickedness in high places.
As in coming to Clymene, to certify himself concerning that which he had heard against himself, was he who still makes fathers niggardly to their sons, such was I, and such was perceived both by Beatrice and by the holy Lamp which before had for my sake changed its place. Wherefore my
QuAL venne a Climene per accertarsi Di cib ch' aveva incontro a se udito, Quel ch' ancor fa li padri ai figli scarsi,
Tale era io, e tale era sentito
E da Beatrice, e dalla santa lampa, Che pria per me avea mutato sito.
^ See Ov. Met. i. fin. where Phaethon goes to his mother Clymene, to learn if he is really the son of Phoebus, Epaphus having insinuated that he is not. The result is that he induces his father to let him drive his chariot, with the consequences that are known. The fable, as I have noted to Purg. iv. 72, seems to be one of those that had an attraction for Dante. Here he probably compares himself with Phaethon in respect of his uncertainty as to what he should hear about his own fate ; though some, e.g. Comm. Cass., understand it as merely * cum filiali audacia et fiducia. '
CANTO XVII PARADISE 225
Lady said to me : ^ Send forth the flame of thy desire so that it may issue well sealed with the inward stamp ; not in order that our knowledge may increase through thy speak- ing, but that thou mayest use thyself to tell thy thirst, so that one may mingle for thee.'
* O dear plant of me (who art so set on high that, as earthly minds see that there is not room in a triangle for two obtuse angles, so thou seest contingent things, before they exist in themselves, gazing on the point to which all
Per che mia Donna : Manda fuor la vampa Del tuo disio, mi disse, si ch' ell' esca Segnata bene dell' interna stampa : ^
Non perche nostra conoscenza cresca ^ 10
Per tuo parlare, ma perchb t' ausi A dir la sete, si che 1' uom ti mesca.
O cara pianta mia, che si t' insusi ^ Che, come veggion le terrene menti Non capere in triangol due ottusi,
Cosi vedi le cose contingenti
Anzi che sieno in s^, mirando il punto A cui tutti li tempi son presenti.
^ segn. lieve Cass. 12 ; da ia interna 2 ; della eterna 145. b conscientia Gg. ^ piota Cass. 2 W.; pieta 1345 ; om. mia Gg.
10 sqq. Cf. XV. 55-69.
^3 There seems to be some authority for the reading piota ; but the objection is that /zW^ is only founds pianta in the sense of 'the sole of the foot,' as Inf. xix. 120. It should, however, be said that P. di Dante explains *o piota mea, idest pianta pedis.' But it is hard to see in what sense Cacciaguida can have been * pianta pedis ' to Dante.
^^■^^ Seest contingent things as plainly as men apprehend the truths of geometry ; than which there can be no higher degree of certainty. ' La geometria,' he says in Conv. ii. 14, *e sanza macula d' errore, e certissima per se.'
Q
226 PARADISE
times are present), whiles that I was joined with Virgil up over the mountain which cures the souls, and when descend- ing in the dead world, there were said to me concerning my future life heavy words, albeit I feel myself right four- square to all the blows of chance. Wherefore my will would be satisfied to learn what sort of fortune is drawing near me; for an arrow foreseen comes more slowly.' So said I to that selfsame light which before had spoken to me, and as Beatrice would was my wish confessed. Nor through riddles, in which the foolish folk used once to be
Mentre ch' io era a Virgilio congiunto
Su per lo monte che T anime cura, 20
E discendendo nel mondo defunto,
Dette mi fur di mia vita futura
Parole gravi ; avvegna ch' io mi senta Ben tetragono ai colpi di ventura.
Per che la voglia mia saria contenta
D' intender qual fortuna mi s' appressa ; Che saetta previsa vien piu lenta.
Cosi diss' io a quella luce stessa
Che pria m' avea parlato, e come voile Beatrice, fu la mia voglia confessa. 30
Ne per ambage, in che la gente folle ^
^ Non per Gg.
'■^^ See especially Inf. x. 79, xv. 61 ; Purg. viii. 133, xi. 140.
-^ The idea is of course borrowed from Eth. Nic. i. 10 : ray rvx'o.'i OL<T€L KciWiara Kal Travrr} TrdPTOJS efXfieXuJs 6 y ws dXrjOCos dyadbs Kai rerpdyoivos dvev xpoyov. Comm. Cass., it may be noted, considers the metaphor to be Irom the tetrahedron, which stands firmly however it is thrown.
^'' Daniello quotes a line which he ascribes to Ovid, but which is not to be found in Ovid's works : ' Nam praevisa minus laedere tela solent.' It is probably medieval.
31-33 Dante follows the old legend, .that the oracles ceased at the
XVII PARADISE 227
limed before was slain the Lamb of God that takes away sins, but through clear words and with precise speech, answered that fatherly love, enclosed and made manifest by his own smile :
'Contingency, which extends not beyond the quire of your matter, is all depicted in the eternal view. It
Gia s^ invescava pria che fosse anciso L' Agnel di Dio che le peccata tolle :
Ma per chiare parole, e con preciso Latin rispose quell' amor paterno, Chiuso e parvente del suo proprio riso :
La contingenza, che fuor del quaderno Delia vostra materia non si stende, Tutta e dipinta nel cospetto eterno.
moment of Christ's crucifixion. Milton, in referring it to the Nativity, slightly modifies the tradition.
35 Latin : possibly only as in xii. 144, but it may be meant to imply that Cacciaguida used throughout the same language as in his opening words.
^ sqq- Contingency (here = T6 ipdex^/^evov) belongs to matter only (' est unumquodque contingens ex parte materiae, quia contingens est quod potest esse et non esse.' — S. T. i. Q. 86. A. 3), and involves the idea of succession in time ; and thus has no place in the eternal world. (Ar. Phys. iii. 4 : ivd^x^trOai yap ^ elvai ovbkv diatp^pei ev rots didiois. Metaph. 9 10 (1051 b) : <pdv€pov 5^ Kai 6tl irepl tQv dKivfjTwv ovk ^(ttiv dirdTT) Kard to ttotL See also An. Pr. i. 13.) Thus God sees all things that will happen, not as we do, in order of time, but in eternity (S. T. i. Q. 14. A. 13) ; and the blessed see them reflected from Him. Then comes in parenthetically the question familiar to theo- logians, how the foreknowledge of God is consistent with freewill ; or as Boethius (v. Pr. 3) puts it, ' nimium adversari ac repugnare videtur, praenoscere universa Deum, et esse ullum libertatis arbitrium.' The beautiful image by which Dante endeavours to suggest a solution of the problem appears to be entirely his own ; but the germ of the notion involved in it maybe found in Ar. Metaph. 9 10 (shortly before the passage quoted above) : oi) ydp did rb rjfxds oteadai dXrfdCjs a^ XevKov
228 PARADISE CANTO
takes not, however, necessity from thence, otherwise than from the sight in which it is mirrored does a vessel which is going downwards with a current. From thence, as comes to the ear a sw^eet harmony from an organ, comes to my view the time which is being prepared for thee. As Hippolytus departed from Athens through his unkind and treacherous stepmother, such from Florence it behoves that thou depart. This is desired, and this already is being
Necessita perb quindi non prende 40
Se non come dal viso, in che si specchia (^ »^> Nave che per corrente giu discende.^ s/ KV^Da indi, si come viene ad orecchia
Dolce armonia da organo, mi viene A vista il tempo, che ti s' apparecchia.
Qual si parti Ipolito d' Atene
Per la spietata e perfida noverca, Tal di Fiorenza partir ti con viene.
Questo si vuole, e questo gia si cerca,
® tor rente Gg. Cass. Aid.
elvaL el ai) XevKos, dXXa 3ia to ak eXvai XevKov TjfieTs oi <f>dvT€s tovto aXrjdetjofMev. — quademo. Properly a sheet of paper folded four times (see for example the end of any small Aldine edition) ; hence a little book, as in Purg. xii. 105. The metaphor, a bold one, is much like those in ii. 78 and xii. 122. The word appears to be the origin of our qzure, Fr. cahier.
^^'^ It seems unnecessary to suppose that Dante means to press the parallel between himself and Hippolytus any further than the point of both having been driven from their homes by calumnious accusations.
49-51 Just before this time Vieri de' Cerchi went to Rome, sum- moned by Boniface VIII, who wished to consult him as to the estab- lishment of peace between the two contending factions, the Blacks and the Whites, in Florence ; he being the head of the latter party. Vieri — unwisely, as Villani thinks — professed that he had no quaiTel with any one, and, so to speak, snubbed the Pope, who *rimase molto
XVII PARADISE 229
sought, and soon will come to fulfilment at the hands of him who is meditating this in the place where Christ all day long is made merchandise. The blame shall follow the fallen party, in outcry, as it is wont ; but the vengeance shall be a testimony to the True who dispenses it. Thou shalt leave
E tosto verra fatto, a chi cio pensa 50
La dove Cristo tutto di si merca.
La colpa seguirk la parte offensa^
In grido, come suol ; ma la vendetta Fia testimonio al ver che la dispensa.
Tu lascerai ogni cosa diletta
sdegnato contro a lui e contro a sua parte ' (Vill. viii. 39). He prob- ably had good reasons for distrusting the White party. At all events, a few months later he sent Cardinal Matteo d'Acquasparta to Florence with no better success ; for the Whites ' per tenia d' essere ingannato dal papa e dal legato . . . non vollono ubbidire ; ' so the Cardinal laid the city under an interdict and departed. The Donati and others of the Black party then began to intrigue with the Pope with a view to introducing Charles of Valois into Florence. This being discovered, they were, by order of the Signoria, among whom Dante then was, and, Machiavelli says, by his advice, fined and banished ; and at once betook themselves to Rome. On All Saints' Day, 1 301, Charles entered Florence, and the Blacks returned imme- diately. After some fighting, and another fiitile attempt on the part of Cardinal d'Acquasparta to readjust matters, the White party, including Dante, were banished, in March, i3o|. From this time the bulk of the party made common cause with the Ghibelines.
^^offensa: Cf Inf. vi. 65, and see note to Purg. xxxi. 12. The meaning here seems to be * stumbled,' 'overthrown.'
52,53 £ g_ Villani viii. 49: E per questo modo fu abbattuta e cacciata di Firenze 1' ingrata e superba parte de' bianchi. Cf. Conv. i. 3 : La piaga della fortuna, che suole ingiustamente al piagato molte volte essere imputato. And Boethius i. Pr. 4 : Hoc tantum dixerim ; ulti- mam esse adversae fortunae sarcinam, quod dum miseris aliquod crimen affingitur, quae perferunt meruisse creduntur.
^ It seems better to understand il ver of God, rather than, as most do, take it to mean * the truth ' ; for it is hard to see how the truth can be said to dispense or allot vengeance.
230 PARADISE canto
everything beloved most dearly ; and this is that shaft which the bow of exile first shoots forth. Thou shalt prove how tastes of salt another's bread, and how it is a hard path to go down and up over another's stairs. And that which shall most burthen thy shoulders shall be the evil and foolish company with whom thou shalt fall into this vale ; for all ungrateful, all mad and impious they shall take thy contrary part ; but a little later they and not thou shall have their foreheads red. Of their beastliness their procedure shall make the proof: so that to thee it shall be honourable to have made thee a party for thyself. Thy first refuge and
Pill caramente ; e questo e quello strale,^ Che r arco dell' esilio pria saetta.
Tu proverai si come sa di sale
Lo pane altrui, e com' e duro calle
Lo scendere e il salir per 1' altrui scale. 60
E quel che piu ti gravera le spalle,
Sara la compagnia malvagia e scempia. Con la qual tu cadrai in questa valle :
Che tutta ingrata, tutta matta ed empia Si fara contra te ; ma poco appresso Ella, non tu, n' avra rossa la tempia.
Di sua bestialitate il suo processo Fara la pruova, si ch' a te fia bello Averti fatta parte per te stesso.
' pienamente 1 245.
6isqq. It is impossible now to discover the full meaning ol this allusion. All that is certain is that Dante appears to have kept very much aloof from his fellow - exiles in their subsequent unsuccessful attempts to return ; and that among them were many persons, e.g. Lapo Salterello (xv. 128), with whom he could have had little sympathy. From many passages also it is clear that the union with the Ghibelines was distasteful to him.
XVII PARADISE - 231
first sojourn shall be the courtesy of the great Lombard, who bears the holy bird over the ladder. For he shall have toward thee so kindly observance that of the action and the request, between you two, that one shall be first which among others is last. In his company shalt thou see him who at his birth was so stamped by this. mighty
Lo primo tuo rifugio e il primo ostello, 70
Sara la cortesia del gran Lombardo, Che in su la Scala porta il santo uccello : ^
Che in te avra si benigno riguardo,
Che del fare e del chieder tra voi due,
Fia primo quel che tra gli altri e piu tardo.^'
Con lui vedrai colui che impresso fue,^ Nascendo, si da questa Stella forte,
s el grande tic cello Gg. ^ pri77ia 2 Aid, W,
i iffipregio Gg. ; cJun preso 3.
"^ There is some little difficulty as to this line, arising chiefly from the doubt whether Bartolommeo della Scala, whom all the old com- mentators (including P. di Dante, who ought to have known) take to be the person referred to, ever was entitled to bear the eagle of the Empire above the ladder which was the badge of the family. His brother and successor, Alboin, was the first to be created Imperial Vicar, by Henry VH, in 131 1 ; but he is excluded by the fact that Dante's opinion of him, as appears from Conv. iv. 16, was very low. There seems no reason why Bartolommeo should not have taken the eagle as a sign of devotion to the Imperial cause ; and Dante's first visit to Verona was almost certainly during his rule. He died March, 1 3o|. y^^ colui : Can Francesco della Scala, called Can Grande. He was born 1 29 1. 'Fu Principe bello di faccia, grande di persona, prudente, bellicoso, e di principal valore tra tutti i Principi d' Italia di suo tempo.' — Tinto, Nobilta di Verona. He succeeded on the death of Alboin, 131 1, and died in 1328. His position both in regard to the general history of the time, and in connection with Dante, is too well known to need further notice. It will be sufficient to recall the facts that he is usually considered to be the Veltro of Inf. i. loi ; and that the Paradise was dedicated to him.
232 PARADISE CANTO
Star, that his works shall be notable. Of him have the people as yet not taken heed, through his young age, for only nine years have these wheels been turned round about him. But ere that the Gascon cheats high Henry shall sparks appear of his prowess, in caring not for silver nor for toils. His magnificences shall yet be so known that his foes shall not be able thereof to hold their tongues silent. Wait upon him and upon his benefits : through him shall much people be transmuted, rich and poor ex- Che notabili fien 1' opere sue.^ Non se ne sono ancor le genti accorte
Per la novella eta, che pur nove anni 80
Son queste ruote intorno di lui torte. Ma pria che il Guasco 1' alto Arrigo inganni, Parran faville della sua virtute. In non curar d' argento ne d' affanni. Le sue magnificenze conosciute
Saranno ancora si, che i suoi nimici Non ne potran tener le hngue mute. A lui t' aspetta e ed ai suoi benefici : Per lui fia trasmutata molta gente,
^ niirabili Gg.
^^ The Emperor Henry VII was ostensibly supported by Pope Clement V (Bertrand de Goth) ; but nevertheless he encountered a strong opposition from King Robert of Naples (who even prevented his coronation in St. Peter's) and the Guelf party generally. He was crowned in St. John Lateran, in June 13 12, and died at Bonconvento, near Siena, not without suspicion of poison, in August of the following year. Dante means to imply that the Pope, while professing to be on his side, really favoured the opposition. Henry received much help from Can Grande while passing through Lombardy, and suppressing the Guelfs of that part on his way to Rome (see Villani ix. 14, 32).
XVII PARADISE 233
changing their condition. And thou shalt beai; away a writing in thy mind concerning him, but thou shalt not tell it,' — and he said things incredible to those who shall be present at them. Then he added : * My son, these are the interpretations of what was said to thee ; lo, here the treacheries which are hidden behind a few revolving years. I will not, however, that thou be envious against thy neigh- bours, because thy life is set in the future far beyond the punishment of their perfidies.'
After that by its silence the holy soul showed itself to be released from putting the woof into that web which I had presented to it set in frame, I began, as he that craves
Cambiando condizion ricchi e mendici. 90
E porteraine scritto nella mente Di lui, e nol dirai : e disse cose ^ Incredibili a quel che fien presente."^
Poi giunse : Figlio, queste son le chiose \ Di quel^ che ti fu detto ; ecco 1' insidie, Che dietro a pochi giri son nascose.
Non vo' pero, ch' ai tuoi vicini invidie, Poscia che s' infutura la tua vita. Via pill la, che il punir di lor perfidie. •
Poiche tacendo si mostrb spedita 100
L' anima santa di metter la trama In quella tela, ch^ io le porsi ordita,
lo cominciai, come colui che brama,
1 ma nol W. Bi. "^ che son pr. 1245 ; fia Aid. (i) Bi. ; fian Aid. (2).
•'^ If, with the best authorities, we are to read fien, we must suppose that presente is written for presenti to have the rhyme. A similar change of ^ to e is not uncommon. Thus peiise iox pensi. Inf. v. in. Purg. xxxi. 10.
98, 99 That is, thou wilt long outlive the punishment.
^^- Cf. iii. 95, and Purg. xxxiii. 140.
^^
234 PARADISE CANTO
in his doubt counsel from a person who sees and wills uprightly, and loves : * I see well, father mine, how time is spurring towards me, to give me a blow of such sort as is heaviest on whoso most yields himself; wherefore it is good that I arm myself with foresight so that if a place that is most dear is taken from me, I lose not the others through my songs. Down through the world that is bitter without end, and over the mountain from whose fair summit the eyes of my Lady lifted me ; and afterward through the heaven from light to light have I learnt that which if I repeat it will be to many a savour of strong bitterness ; and
Dubitando, consiglio da persona
Che vede, e vuol dirittamente, ed ama :
Ben veggio, padre mio, si come sprona Lo tempo verso me per colpo darmi ^ Tal ch' e piu grave a chi piu s' abbandona : "
Per che di provedenza h buon ch' io m' armi.
Si che se luogo m' e tolto piu caro, no
Io non perdessi gli altri per miei carmi.
Gill per lo mondo senza fine amaro, E per lo monte, del cui bel cacume Gli occhi della mia Donna mi levaro,
E poscia per lo ciel di lume in lume. Ho io appreso quel, che s' io ridico, A molti fia savor di forte agrume :
^ grave che Gg. ; grave et che Cass. 1234.
1*^^ Understanding, good will, love, are the necessary preliminaries to good action.
106 sqq. Dante is in doubt whether to incur the enmity of living men by revealing all that he has heard, or to lose his fame with posterity by concealing it. Cacciaguida, in language which recalls some parts of the prophecies of Ezekiel and Daniel, bids him tell everything.
PARADISE 235
if I am a timid friend to the truth, I fear to lose Hfe among those who will call this time ancient.' The light wherein was smiling my treasure, whom I found there, first became sparkling like a mirror of gold in the sun's ray; then he answered : ' A conscience dark either from its own or from another's shame, alone will feel thy word rough. But nevertheless, all falsehood laid aside, make manifest all thou hast seen, and just let the scratching be where the itch is : for if thy voice shall be irksome in the first tasting, it shall
E si' io al vero son timido amico, Temo di perder viver tra coloro,° Che questo tempo chiameranno antico. 120
La luce in che rideva il mio tesoro, Ch' io trovai li, si fe prima corrusca,^ Quale a raggio di Sole specchio d' oro :
Indi rispose : Coscienza fusca,
O della propria, o dell' altrui vergogna. Pur sentira la tua parola brusca.
Ma nondimen, rimossa ogni menzogna, Tutta tua vision fa manifesta, E lascia pur grattar dov' e la rogna :
Che se la voce tua sara molesta 130
Nel primo gusto, vital nutrimento
0 vita tra Aid, W. Bi. P sifecepria Gg.
129 This is perhaps the most remarkable instance of a characteristic feature of the Paradise ; namely, the introduction of vulgar and even coarse images in the midst of the most elevated passages. Cf. xii. 114 ; xiii. 139; and xxxii. 140 (where St. Bernard, in the very highest Heaven, talks of cutting the coat according to the cloth). It is as if the writer's mind, overwrought by the fervour of his own imagination, sought a certain relief in these trivialities. Hamlet's * let the galled jade wince ' conveys the same idea in a somewhat more dignified image.
236 PARADISE CANTO XVII
leave behind when it shall be digested, nourishment to hfe. This thy cry shall do as the wind, which strikes most the loftiest tops ; and this makes no small proof of honour. Wherefore there have been shown to thee in these spheres, on the mount, and in the dolorous vale only the souls w^hich are known of fame ; for the mind of him who hears, rests not nor confirms belief by reason of an example which has its root unknown and hidden, nor for any other proof that is not apparent.'
Lascera poi quando sara digesta.
Questo tuo grido fara come il vento, Che le pill alte cime piu percuote : E cib non fa d' onor poco argomento.*^
Perb ti son mostrate in queste ruote, Nel monte e nella valle dolorosa Pur r anime che son di fama note : ^
Che r animo di quel ch' ode, non posa,
Ne ferma fede per esempio, ch' haia, 140
La sua radice incognita e nascosa,
Ne per altro argomento che non paia.
<l nonjia Aid. W. J" perfa??ia W.
^'^ Cf. Hor. Od. ii. 10 :
Saepius ventis agitatur ingens Pinus, et celsae graviore casu Decidunt turres, feriuntque summos Fiilgura montes.
CANTO XVIII
^ ARGUMENT
/^ '
Cacciaguida having pointed out the souls of other warriors, returns to his place. Dante and Beatrice ascend to the sixth Heaven, of Jupiter, where the souls of just men form certain words, and lastly the figure of the Imperial Eagle.
Already was that blessed mirror joying by himself in his own word, and I was tasting mine, tempering the sweet with the bitter; and that Lady who was bringing me to
GiA si godeva solo del suo verbo
Quello specchio beato, ed io gustava
Lo mio, temprando il dolce con V acerbo ; ^
E quella Donna, ch' a Dio mi menava,
a cold, r ac. 124 W.
^ Witte understands * was joying only ' ; sc. * while I was feeling both joy and pain ' : but this seems rather far-fetched. He is, how- ever, probably right in understanding verbo to mean merely the words just spoken. Benv. takes the same view. Tt seems unnecessary to hold, with some of the moderns, that the scholastic sense of * mental concept' (S. T. i. Q. 28. A. 4 and Q. 34. A. i), and hence * thought,' is intended, Scartazzini thinks that this rendering involves a difficulty in Lo mio (1. 3) ; but surely it is clear enough that that, as Daniello says, means ' such part of his speech as referred to me. ' It may be noticed that verbo does not often occur in Dante ; probably only once elsewhere, Inf xxv. 16, in its literal sense.
^ specchio seems the only reading which has any authority. The variant spirto is evidently a gloss, first imported into the text in the
238 PARADISE CANTO
God, said : * Change thy thoughts, think that I am near to Him who undoes the burthen of every wrong/
I turned round at the loving sound of my comfort ; and what love I then saw in her holy eyes, I here pass over ; not because I mistrust my speech only, but because the mind cannot return upon itself so far, if another guide it not. So much only can I tell again of that moment, that as I gazed at her, my affection w^as free from all other desire.
While the eternal pleasure, which beamed directly upon Beatrice, was satisfying me with its second aspect
Disse : Muta pensier, pensa ch' io sono Presso a colui ch' ogni torto disgrava. Io mi rivolsi air amoroso suono :^5l^^a_s>Del mio conforto ; e quale io allor vidi
Negli occhi santi amor, qui 1' abbandono : Non perch' io pur del mio parlar diffidi, '10
^ Ma per la mente che non puo reddire '^'*^' Sopra s^ tanto, s' altri non la guidi. Tanto poss' io di quel punto ridire, V YJ Che, rimirando lei, Io mio affetto
|i Libero fu da ogni altro disire.
Fin che il piacere eterno, che diretto 5^,.,^ Raggiava in Beatrice, dal bel viso Mi contentava col secondo aspetto,
Nidobeatine, then into the Aldine, which subsequent edd. have mostly followed. There is probably a reference to 1. 123 of the last Canto ; but the notion of the saints and angels as mirrors of the Divine thought is common enough: e.g. ix. 61, and 11. 16-18 below. Benv., reading spirto, goes on : ' idest ille Cacciaguida quem vocavit speculum aureum. '
^^ Cf. i. 7 sqq. For the 'tmesis' oi perche cf. Purg. xxv. 16.
^^ Fin che : as Inf xix. iii, Purg. xii. 69. See Diez iii. 321.
^^ secondo aspetto : i.e. the sight of it as reflected in her.
XVIII PARADISE \ 239
from the fair face, overcoming me with the light of a smile, she said to me : ' Turn thee and listen, for not only in my eyes is Paradise/ As here is seen sometimes the emotion in the countenance, if it is so great that all the mind is taken up by it, so in the flaming of the holy blaze to which I turned, I recognised the desire in him to
Vincendo me col lume d' un sorriso,
Ella mi disse : Volgiti ed ascolta, • 20
Che non pur nei miei occhi e Paradise.
Come si vede qui alcuna volta
L' affetto nella vista, s' ello e tanto, Che da lui sia tutta 1' anima tolta ;
Cosi nel fiammeggiar del fulgor santo A cui mi volsi, conobbi la voglia
-^ Benv. no doubt gives correctly the symbolical meaning : quia felicitas non solum consistit in contemplatione sacrae scripturae, sed saepe etiam consistit in exempio virorum illustrium, qui licet seculariter vixerunt in mundo tamen fecerunt opera praeclara accendentia animam viri Xtiani ad amorem fidei, etc. Similarly Post. Caet. quoted by Bianchi and others : Quia non solum in contemplatione Theologiae est felicitas et beatitudo, sed etiam in exemplis valentium virorum. Perhaps it would be even nearer the mark to say, ' perfection cannot be attained by contemplation alone without action.' There is, however, an obvious allusion to a passage in the Canzone which precedes Conv. iii. : Cose appariscon nello suo aspetto, Che mostran de' piacer di Paradiso ; Dico negli occhi e nel suo dolce riso, Che le vi reca Amor com' a suo loco ; and to the commentary in ch. 8 : dico che nel suo aspetto appariscono cose le quali dimostrano de' piaceri e intra gli altri di que' di Paradiso. Lo piu nobile, e quello ch' e scritto e fine di tutti gli altri, si e contentarsi . . . e questo piacere e veramente . . . nell' aspetto di costei, che guardando costei la gente si contenta . . . ma per altro modo che per lo contentare che in Paradiso e perpetuo, non puo ad alcuno essere questo. If the reading of the- last sentence is correct, as to which there are doubts, the present passage would seem to be another instance of a partial recantation of opinions expressed in the Convito. Cf ii. 60.
240 PARADISE canto
speak with me yet somewhat. And he began : ' In this fifth stage of the tree which has life from its top, and bears fruit ever, and never sheds leaves, there are blessed spirits who on earth, before they came to heaven, were of great renown, so that every muse would be rich thereof. There- fore look upon the arms of the Cross ; he whom I now shall name will there perform the action which its swift fire does in a cloud.' I saw over the Cross a light drawn at the naming of Joshua, when he did so ; nor was the speech perceived by me before the act. And at the name of the high Maccabee I saw another move, rotating ; and
. r% ' ''^^■. " In lui di ragionarmi ancora alquanto.
E comincib : In questa quinta soglia'^'^Ml^ Deir albero che vive della cima, ^
E frutta sempre e mai non perde foglia, 30
Spirit! son beati, che giii prima
Che venissero al Ciel, fur di gran voce. Si ch' ogni Musa ne sarebbe opima.
Perb mira nei corni della Croce :
Quel ch' io or nomerb li fara 1' atto,^ Che fa in nube il suo fuoco veloce.
Io vidi per la Croce un lume tratto, Dal nomar Josue, com' ei si feo, Ne mi fu noto il dir prima che il fatto.^
Ed al nome dell' alto Maccabeo 40
Vidi muoversi un altro roteando : .
b ch^ io nom. Gg. Cass. 4 W. ; io ti n. 12$. ^ pria il dir che Gg.
28 sqq. xhc * tree ' is of course Heaven, in which Mars is the fifth sphere.
^^ frutta : cf. Purg. xxxii. 74. There is probably an aUusion to Rev. xxii. 2.
\PA
'ARADISE 241
gladness was whip to the top. So for Charles the Great and for Roland my intent look followed two of them, as an eye follows its falcon in his flight. Afterward William, and Rinoard, and the duke Godfrey drew my sight over that Cross, and Robert Guiscard. Then moved and mingled among the other lights the soul which had talked to me showed me what a craftsman he was among the singers of the heaven.
I turned round on my right side to see in Beatrice
E letizia era ferza del paleo.
Cosi per Carlo Magno e per Orlando 'Due ne segui lo mio attento sguardo. Com' occhio segue suo falcon volando.
Poscia trasse Guiglielmo, e Rinoardo, E il duca Gottifredi la mia vista Per quella Croce, e Roberto Guiscardo.
Indi tra 1' altre luci mota e mista
Mostrommi 1' alma, che m' avea parlato, 50
Qual' era tra i cantor del Cielo artista.
lo mi rivolsi dal mio destro lato,
^^ Guiglielmo : All the commentators seem agreed that this is an Qp.rly Count of Orange. Philalethes refers to an early epic poem, recounting his prowess against the Saracens, who in the loth century harried the South-east of France from their stronghold at Fraxinetum, and even penetrated to the Alps ; and considers that he is confused with William called Courtnez, who was appointed by Charlemagne to be tutor to his son Lewis (afterwards ' the Pious ') in the government of Aquitaine. Renouard is another personage in the same poem, who though a Saracen by birth was afterwards William's friend and ally. One is rather tempted to read ' a Guiglielmo ed a Ricciardo,' and to sup- pose that some of the many Norman Williams and Richards are alluded to. It may be noticed that Landino in his note reads Riccardo.
■^'^ Gottifredi : Godfrey of Bouillon. The other heroes mentioned are well known. It may be observed that all these are named as having been champions of the true faith against the infidel.
R
242 PARADISE CANTO
my duty signified either by words or by gesture, and I saw her eyes so clear, so joyous, that her semblance sur- passed her other, and her last wont. And as through , feeling more delight in working well a man from day to day is aware that his excellence is advancing, so was I aware that my circling round together with the heaven was having its arc increased, when I saw that Wonder more adorned. And as is the transformation in a little passage of time, in a pale lady when her countenance is discharging its freight of shamefastness, such was there in my eyes, when
Per vedere in Beatrice il mio dovere, O per parlare, o per atto segnato ; ^
E vidi le sue luci tanto mere,
Tanto gioconde, che la sua sembianza Vinceva gli altri e 1' ultimo solere.
E come per sentir piu dilettanza.
Bene operando F uom, di giorno in giorno
S' accorge che la sua virtute avanza ; 60
Si m' accors' io che il mio girare intorno Col cielo insieme, avea cresciuto T arco, Veggendo quel miracol piu adorno.
E quale e il trasmutare in picciol varco
Di tempo in bianca donna, quando il volto Suo si discarchi di vergogna il carco ;
Tal fu negli occhi miei, quando fu volto,
d parole Aid,
59, 60 ^j,^ YjC[).. ii. I : Tds 5' aperas Xafi^dpo/uLev evepyqa-avres irpSrepov. lb. 6 : 7] Tov dvdpwTTov dpeTT) eirj hv e^ts d0' ^s dyadbs dvdpwTros yiyveraL /cat d0' ^s ed to iavrov ^pyov diroddoaei.
^^ They ascend into the sphere of Jupiter.
63 miracolo : cf. V. N. xxi. : * Si e nuovo miracolo gentile. '
XVIII PARADISE 243
I had turned, through the whiteness of the temperate sixth star, which had received me within itself. I beheld in that torch of Jove the sparkling of the love which was there signify to my eyes our speech. And as the birds risen from a river -bank, as though rejoicing together at their feeding, make of themselves a troop, now round, now otherwise, so within the lights holy beings were singing as they flitted, and were making now a D, now an I, now an L, in their own shapes. At first as they sang they kept moving to their note; afterwards, as they became one of these characters,, they halted a little and were silent.
Per lo candor della temprata stella Sesta, che dentro a se m' avea ricolto.
lo vidi in quella giovial facella 70
Lo sfavillar dell' amor che li era, Segnare agli occhi miei nostra favella.
E come augelli surti di riviera,
Quasi congratulando a lor pasture, Fanno di se or tonda, or altra schiera,^
Si dentro ai lumi sante creature Volitando cantavano, e faciensi Or D, or I, or L in sue figure.
Prima cantando a sua nota moviensi :
Poi, diventando F un di questi segni, 80
Un poco s' arrestavano e taciensi.
® or t. or lunga W. Bi, or lunga or tonda Gg.
''2 By grouping themselves so as to form words.
'^^ altra is the reading which has the vast preponderance of MS. authority arid of the early edd. ; and lunga is far more likely to have been a gloss on it than vice versd.
244 PARADISE canto
O goddess of the fountain, who makest men's wits glorious, and renderest them long-lived, as they with thy aid do cities and realms, illustrate me with thyself so that I may carve out the forms of them as I have conceived them : let thy power appear in these short verses. They showed themselves then in five times seven vowels and consonants ; and I noted the pa-rts as they appeared spoken to me. Diligite justitiam were first verb and noun of the whole picture ; Qui judicatis terra7n were last. Then
O diva Pegasea, che gl' ingegni
Fai gloriosi, e rendigli longevi,
Ed essi teco le cittadi e i regni, Illustrami di te, si ch' io rilevi
Le lor figure, com' io 1' ho concette :
Paia tua possa in questi versi brevi. Mostrarsi dunque in cinque volte sette
Vocali e consonanti ; ed io notai ^
Le parti si come mi parver dette. 90
Diligite justitiam^ primai
Fur verbo e nome di tutto il dipinto :
Qui judicatis terrain^ fur sezzai.
f ond' io Gg.
^^ diva Pegasea : the Muse in general, probably. Dante invokes more than one by name, e.g. Calliope in Purg. i. 9, and Urania, ib. xxix. 41 ; but there is no reason for trying to identify any one in particular here. He was probably thinking of Persius, Prol. 1. 14. The fountain is of course Hippocrene, made by the hoof of Pegasus.
91-93 Diiigitg, justitiam qui judicatis terrain are the opening words of the Book of Wisdom. They are appropriate to this sphere, which con- tains the spirits of kings and chieftains renowned for justice ; and serve to introduce what may be called an apotheosis of the personified empire : cf. de Mon. i. 13. It is clear that the letters of the sentence are to be conceived as being formed one by one, by the whole number of spirits ; not all at once. When the final M is reached, they pause for a short
XVIII PARADISE 245
they remained arranged in the M of the fifth word, so that Jupiter appeared silver studded there with gold. And I saw other lights descend where the head of the M was, and rest there, singing I think the Good which moves them to itself. Afterwards, as in the striking of burnt logs innumerable sparks rise up, whence the simple are wont to take auguries, there appeared to arise again from thence more than a thousand lights, and mount up one much and another little, according as the Sun which kindles them,
Poscia neir M del vocabol quinto Rimaser ordinate, si che Giove Pareva argento li d' oro distinto.
E vidi scendere altre luci, dove Era il colmo dell' M, e li quetarsi Cantando, credo, il ben ch' a se le muove.
Poi come nel percuoter dei ciocchi arsi 100
Surgono innumerabili faville, Onde gli stolti sogliono agurarsi,
Risurger parver quindi piu di mille Luci, e salir qual assai e qual poco. Si come il Sol, che 1' accende, sortille : ^
g accende e sort. Gg. Cass. 1234 W.
time, and then the letter, by an easy metamorphosis, passes first into the lily of Florence with an eagle's head and neck, and lastly into the full shape of the imperial eagle.
^^ Conv. ii. 14 : intra tutte le stelle bianca si mostra [sc. la stella di Giove], quasi i^rgentata. (Whence he goes on to show that Jupiter corresponds to the science of geometry, which can have no blemish of error. )
1^2 The commentators tell us that the country-folk were wont to strike two lighted sticks together, and divine from the resulting shower of sparks the number of gold pieces, years of life, and the like, which might be in store for them.
246 PARADISE
allotted them; and, each resting in its place, I saw that studded fire represent the head and neck of an eagle. He who depicts there has none to guide Him, but Himself is guide, and from Him is had in mind that virtue which is the formative power for the nests. The other blessedness, which appeared at first content to be enlilied on the M, with a little movement followed out the imprint. O sweet star, what manner and what number of what gems showed
E quietata ciascuna in suo loco,
La testa e il collo d' un' aquila vidi Rappresentare a quel distinto foco.
Quei che dipinge li, non ha chi il guidi ;
Ma esso guida, e da lui si rammenta no
Quella virtu ch* e forma per li nidi.
L' altra beatitudo, che contenta
Pareva in prima d' ingigliarsi all' emme. Con poco moto, seguito la imprenta.
O dolce Stella, quali e quante gemme Mi dimostraron, che nostra giustizia
107, 108 yi(ji rappresentare a . . . : Construction as Purg. viii. 106, etc., where see note. It is curious how even Italian commentators seem to have puzzled themselves over this common idiom. Observe that as yet we have only the head and neck of the eagle ; the whole bird with open wings is not complete. At present the M. has taken the form of a fleur-de-lys (1. 115) surmounted by the eagle's head. See the late Duke of Sermoneta's explanation with diagrams, given at length by Scartazzini.
"^ Philalethes is no doubt right in explaining this to mean that the same formative power which shapes the young bird in the egg, is here displayed in the formation of the eagle's shape.
^^^ L' altra beatitudo : the rest of the blessed spirits, other than those forming the head and neck.
^^^ Those who are familiar with the mediaeval shape of the imperial eagle will see that it can be formed by a slight modification from the lily.
PARADISE 247
me that our justice is an effect of the heaven wherein thou art set ! Wherefore I pray the Mind wherein thy motion and thy virtue have their origin, that He look whence issues the smoke that spoils thy ray ; so that another time hereafter He may be wroth at the buying and selling within the temple, whose walls were built with signs and martyr- doms. O soldiery of the heaven on whom I gaze, pray for them who are on earth all gone astray after the bad ex- ample. Once were they wont to make war with their swords ; but now it is waged by taking away now here now
Effetto sia del cielo che tu ingemme !
Per ch' io prego la mente, in che s' inizia Tuo moto e tua virtute, che rimiri Ond' esce il fummo, che il tuo raggio vizia : 120
Si ch' unValtra fiata omai s' adiri
Del comperare e vender dentro al templo, Che si murb di segni e di martiri.^
O milizia del Ciel, cu' io contemplo, Adora per color, che sono in terra Tutti sviati dietro al malo esemplo.
Gia si solea con le spade far guerra ; Ma or si fa togliendo or qui or quivi
h di sangue Gg. 3 Aid.
117 Effetto : as in viii. 107.
123 There is much support for the reading sangue, which most of the early commentators adopt ; but where both give a good sense, it seems best to take the reading that has the preponderance of authority. The phrase near the end of Conv. iii. 7, ' principaHssimo fondo della fede nostra siano i miracoli fatti per colui che fu crocifisso,' are quite enough to make segJti a priori probable. See Moore, Text. Crit.
12^ So caelestis militia, of the angels at the Nativity, De Mon. i. 5 (quoted from Luke i. 13).
126 Q{^ Purg. xvi. 100 sqq.
248 PARADISE CANTO XVIII
there the bread which the Father of pity locks up from no man. But thou who writest only to cancel, bethink thee that Peter and Paul who died for the vine that thou art laying waste, are yet alive. Well canst thou say : ^ I have my desire so fixed on him who willed to live solitary, and who was brought by means of dancing to martyrdom, that I know not the Fisherman nor Paul.'
Lo pan, che il pio padre a nessun serra.
Ma tu, che sol per cancellare scrivi, 130
Pensa che Pietro e Paolo, che moriro ^ Per la vigna che guasti, ancor son vivi.
Ben puoi tu dire : lo ho fermo il disiro Si a colui che voile viver solo, E che per salti fu tratto a martiro,
Ch' io non conosco il Pescator, ne Polo.
i Polo W. ; Paulo G^, Cass. 2. a <
^^ The allusion is to the notorious vacillations of Clement V. See note to xvii. 82. P. di Dante seems to understand the meaning to be that he excommunicated in order to profit by cancelling the excom- munication. The word may, as in Vill. vii. 94, mean simply 'waver,' Fr. chanceler.
134 colui : St. John Baptist, whose image was stamped upon the florin, and who thus is regarded as the special object of Clement's devotion.
136 il Pescator. So Purg. xxii. ^t^. Scartazzini thinks that the term is meant to be contemptuous here, and that the use of the vulgar form Polo indicates the same.
CANTO XIX
ARGUMENT
The Eagle speaks, and shows that God's justice is not as man's justice ; and reprehends the evil deeds of certain kings.
Before me appeared with its wings outspread the beauteous Image, which in the sweet fruition was making joyous the en- twined souls. Each one seemed a Httle ruby whereon a ray of the sun's light should burn with such a flame as to reflect him into my eyes. And that which it behoves me this time
Parea dinanzi a me con V ali aperte, La bella image, che nel dolce frui Liete faceva 1' anime conserte.
Parea ciascuna rubinetto, in cui Raggio di Sole ardesse si acceso, Che nei miei occhi rifrangesse lui.
E quel che mi convien ritrar testeso,
•^ It would be perhaps better to read facevan : ' the image which the entwined souls in their joy were making.' There is practically no difference in many MSS. between the singular and the plural, except what a line over the a gives. Dr. Moore tells me that of the MSS. examined by him 79 have faceva, 55 facevan, and 39 facendo. The last involves a comma instead of a stop at the end of the line.
' Cf. ii. 33.
^ rifrangesse : see note to Purg. xv. 20.
250 PARADISE CANTO
to portray, voice has never borne nor ink written, nor has it been by fancy ever comprehended; for I saw, and eke I heard the beak talk, and / and My sound in the voice, when in the conception it was We and Our, And it began : ' Through being righteous and good am I here exalted to this glory, which allows not desire to surpass it; and on earth I left my memory of such sort, that the evil folk there commend it, but follow not its story.' Thus does of many coals one single heat make itself felt, as of many loves issued singly one sound from that image. Wherefore I thereafter : * O perpetual flowers of the everlasting joy,
Non porto voce mai, ne scrisse inchiostro,^ Ne fu per fantasia giammai compreso ;
Ch' io vidi, ed anche udii parlar lo rostro, 10
E sonar nella voce ed Io e Mio, Quand' era nel concetto Noi e Nostro.
E comincib : Per esser giusto e pio Son io qui esaltato a quella gloria, Che non si lascia vincer a disio :
Ed in terra lasciai la mia memoria Si fatta, che le genti li malvage Commendan lei, ma non seguon la storia.
Cosi un sol calor di molte brage
Si fa sentir, come di molti amori 20
Usciva solo un suon di quella image.
Ond' io appresso : O perpetui fiori
^ oncostro Gg. Cass.
^•^ Another rendering is that preferred by Philalethes : ' Which suffers not itself to be won by wishing.' But this appears somewhat frigid, and also less idiomatic. See Diez iii. 123. The only question is whether we ought not, with the Berlin and the Caetani MSB. to read al desio.
XIX PARADISE 251
which as one only make all your odours manifest to me, loose for me by your breath the great fast which has kept me a long time in hunger, not finding for it on earth any food. Well know I that if in heaven the divine justice makes another realm its mirror, yours apprehends it not with a veil. Ye know how intent I make me ready to listen ; ye know what is that doubt, which is to me a fast of so old standing.' As a falcon which issues from the hood moves its head
Deir eterna letizia, che per uno Parer mi fate tutti i vostri odori,^
Solvetemi, spirando, il gran digiuno, Che lungamente m' ha tenuto in fame, Non trovandoli in terra cibo alcuno.
Ben so io, che se in cielo altro reame La divina giustizia fa suo specchio, Che il vostro non V apprende con velame. 30
Sapete, come attento io m' apparecchio Ad ascoltar : sapete quale e quello Dubbio, che m' e digiun cotanto vecchio.
Quasi falcone ch' esce di cappello,^
^ Sentir Aid. Bi. ; p. mi. fece Cass.
c Quar ilf. uscendo W. ; Quasi f. che tiscendo Bi.
23. 24 cf. Purg. vii. 80, 81.
'^ se — altro. The allusion seems to be to the fact that another sphere, viz. that of Saturn, which was moved by the order of * Thrones,' was more specially connected with God's justice. See ix. 61. Benv., however, takes se altro as equivalent to Lat. si quern alium ; and this certainly seems better to suit Dante's conception of this sphere.
33 The nature of the doubt is sufficiently explained in the reply. It is one which has perplexed many pious souls before and since Dante's time ; nor has theology gone, on its own premises, any nearer to giving a satisfactory answer.
3* For the metaphor, cf. Purg. xix. 64. As has often been remarked, Dante is extremely fond of images taken from the falcon.
252 PARADISE CANTO
and claps with its wings, showing its wish, and making itself fair, saw I that sign behave, which was woven out of praise of the divine grace, with chants such as he knows who rejoices on high. Then it began : ' He who turned the compasses about the end of the world, and within it set out so much occult and manifest, could not make His
Muove la testa e con 1' ali si plaude, Voglia mostrando e facendosi bello,
Vid' io farsi quel segno, che di laude Delia divina grazia era contesto. Con canti, quai si sa chi lassu gaude.
Poi comincio : Colui, che volse il sesto 40
Alio stremo del mondo, e dentro ad esso Distinse tanto occulto e manifesto,
Non poteo suo valor si fare impresso
^ Scart. quotes appositely Milton P. L. vii. 224 : In his hand He took the golden compasses, prepared In God's eternal store, to circumscribe This universe, and all created things. There is probably an allusion to Prov. viii. 27. It may be noticed that Diet. Cruse, s.v. Sesto considers the word to be used not exactly as equivalent to * compasses,' but as an architectural term, denoting * the curvature of an arch or vault. '
^"*^ Cf. S. T. i. Q. 25. A. 2 : Potentia activa invenitur in Deo secundum quod ipse actu est. Esse autem ejus est infinitum, inquantum non est limitatum per aliquid recipiens ..... Unde necesse est quod activa potentia Dei sit infinita. In omnibus enim agentibus hoc invenitur, quod quanto aliquid agens perfectius habet formam qua agit, tanto est major ejus potentia in agendo. Sicut quanto aliquid est magis calidum tanto habet major em potentiam ad calefaciendum : et haberet utique potentiam infinitum ad calefaciendum si ejus calor esset infinitus. Unde, cum ipsa essentia divina sit infinita, sequitur quod ejus potentia est infinita. (' Potentia ' here is of course simply ' power,' not ' potenti- ality.') verbo is not so much the conception, or wisdom, of God (Bianchi, Scartazzini) as the creative power : St. John i. 3. It may,
XIX PARADISE 253
goodness so imprinted on all the universe that His word should not remain in infinite superabundance. And it proves this, that the first proud one, who was the crown of every, creature, through not awaiting light, dropped un- ripe. Hence it appears that every lesser nature is too scant a receptacle for that good which has no end, and measures itself with itself. Our sight then, which must
In tutto r universo, che il suo verbo Non rimanesse in infinito eccesso.
E cio fa certo, che il primo superbo, Che fu la somma d' ogni creatura, Per non aspettar lume cadde acerbo.
E quinci appar, ch' ogni minor natura
IE corto recettacolo a quel bene, 50
Ch' e senza fine, e se con se misura.^
Dunque nostra veduta, che conviene
d j^ 2;^ si Aid. Bi.
however, have been suggested by St. Luke i. 37 : * quia non erit im- possibile apud Deum omne verbum.'
^ il primo superbo : Lucifer. Cf. Purg. xii. 25. * The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall' (Bacon). S. T. i. Q. 67,. A. 3 : Angelus absque omni dubio peccavit appetendo esse ut Deus .... Et hoc modo diabolus appetiit esse ut Deus, non ut ei assimilaretur quantum ad hoc quod est nulli subesse simpliciter .... sed in hoc appetiit indebite esse similis Deo, quia appetiit ut finem ultimam beati- tudinis id ad quod virtute suae naturae poterat pervenire, avertens suum appetitum a beatitudine supernaturah, quae est ex gratia Dei. A similar fault, he implies, is committed by those who try to measure the Divine justice by their own reason.
52-57 < Our knowledge, which is itself but a portion of God's know- ledge, cannot fail to perceive that its source lies far beyond aught of which it is cognisant by the senses. ' The last three lines are very involved, and seem as if the writer had confused two expressions : ' our knowledge has not power to discern its origin,' and ' the origin of our knowledge lies far beyond the intimations of sense. ' Bianchi's
254 PARADISE canto
needs be one of the rays of the mind whereof all things are full, cannot of its nature be so potent as not to discern that its origin is far beyond that which is apparent to it. Where- fore into the everlasting justice the view which your world receives enters within as eyesight through the sea, which, albeit it sees the bottom from the shore, on the high sea sees it not ; and nevertheless it exists ; but its being deep conceals it. Light is there none, unless it comes from the serene which is never troubled, rather is it darkness, or the shadow of the flesh, or its venom. Now is laid open enough
Essere alcun dei raggi della mente, Di che tutte le cose son ripiene,
Non pub di sua natura esser possente Tanto, che suo principio non discerna ^ Molto di la da quel che gli e parvente.
Perb nella giustizia sempiterna
La vista che riceve il vostro mondo,
Com' occhio per lo mar, entro s' interna : 60
Che benche dalla proda veggia il fondo,^ In pelago non vede ; e nondimeno Egli e, ma cela lui 1' esser profondo.
Lume non e, se non vien dal sereno, Che non si turba mai, anzi e tenebra,^ Od ombra della carne, o suo veleno.
e si discerna 145. ^ della p7'oda Gg. Cass. 124. s si muta 145.
interpretation of di 1^ as lontano will hardly do ; and Giuliani's sug- gestion of di qttdj though ingenious, and simplifying, wholly lacks authority. There is a curious anticipation of Spinoza in the lines 52-54.
61-63 ^vith the metaphor cf. Purg. viii. 69 : Non gli e guado.
^ sereno : evidently with allusion to its common meaning, ' the clear sky.'
^ ^ 07nbra riguarda I'intelletto, veleizo la volonta.' — Scart.
XIX PARADISE 255
to thee the hiding-place which hid from thee the living justice whereof thou wast wont to make so frequent ques- tion : for thou saidest : A man is born on the bank of the Indus, and none is there to talk of Christ, nor to read, nor to write ; and all his volitions and acts are good, so far as human reason sees, without sin in life or in converse. He dies unbaptized and without faith; where is this justice which condemns him ? where is his fault, if he believes not ? Now who art thou, who wilt sit in chancery to judge at a thousand miles away with thy sight shortened to a span ?
Assai t' e mo aperta la latebra,
Che t' ascondeva la giustizia viva, Di che facei quistion cotanto crebra ;
Che tu dicevi : Un uom nasce alia riva 70
Deir Indo, e quivi non e chi ragioni Di Cristo, ne chi legga, n^ chi scriva :
E tutti suoi voleri ed atti buoni
Sono, quanto ragione umana vede, Senza peccato in vita od in sermoni :
Mupre non battezzato e senza fede ;
Ov' e questa giustizia, che il condanna ? Ov' e la colpa sua, s' egli non crede ? ^
Or tu chi sei, che vuoi sedere a scranna ^
Per giudicar da lungi mille miglia, 80
Con la yeduta corta d' una spanna ?
h QuaT ^ Aid. ^ a scanna Gg. Cass. 124.
70. sqq. ^f, De Mon. ii. 8 : Quaedam autem sunt Dei judicia, ad quae humana ratio, etsi ex propriis pertingere nequit, elevatur tamen ad ilia cum adjutorio fidei et eorum quae in sacris Uteris nobis dicta sunt ; sicut ad hoc : quod nemo, quantumcunque moralibus et intellectualibus virtutibus, et secundum habitum et secundum operationem perfectus, absque fide salvari potest ; dato quod nunquam de Christo audiverit.
''^ Cf. iv. 67.
256 PARADISE
Of a surety he who sets himself to be subtle with me, if the Scripture were not above you, would to a marvel have whereof to doubt. O earthly animals, O gross minds ! The primary Will which is of itself good, never has moved from itself, that is the highest Good. In such measure is It just, as with It is consonant ; no created good draws It to itself, but Itself, radiating, occasions it.'
As right above her nest wheels round the stork after she has fed her young, and as the one who has been fed looks back at her, so became, while I so raised my eyes, the blessed image, which was moving its wings, impelled by so high counsels. Rotating it began to sing and said : * As are my notes to thee who understandest them not, such .is the eternal judgement to you mortals.'
Certo a colui che meco s' assottiglia, Se la scrittura sovra voi non fosse, Da dubitar sarebbe a maraviglia.
O terreni animali, o menti grosse,
La prima Volonta ch' e per se buona,
Da se, ch' e sommo ben, mai non si mosse.
Cotanto e giusto, quanto a lei consuona : NuUo creato bene a se la tira, Ma essa, radiando, lui cagiona. 90
Quale sovresso il nido si rigira,
Poi ch' ha pasciuti la cicogna i figli, E come quel ch' e pasto la rimira,
Cotal si fece, e si levai li cigli.
La benedetta immagine, che 1' ali Movea sospinta da tanti consigli.
Roteando cantava, e dicea : Quali
Son le mie note a te, che non le intendi, Tal e il giudicio eterno a voi mortaU.
XIX PARADISE 257
After those bright beacons of the Holy Spirit were at rest, still in the sign which made the Romans to be revered by the world, it began again : ^ To this realm never has ascended one who believed not in Christ, either before or after He was nailed to the tree. But behold, many cry, Christ, Christ, who in the judgement shall be far less near to Him than such an one that knew not Christ ; and such Christians shall the Ethiop condemn, when the two com- panies shall be sundered, the one rich to everlasting, and the other destitute. What will the men of Persia be able to say to your kings, when they shall see that volume opened
Poi si quetaron quei lucenti incendi ^ 100
Dello Spirito Santo ancor nel segno, Che fe i Romani al mondo reverendi,
Esso ricomincio : A questo regno
Non sail mai chi non credette in Cristo, Ne pria ne poi che il si chiavasse al legno.^
Ma ve'di, molti gridan Cristo Cristo,"" Che saranno in giudicio assai vaenprope A lui, che tal che non conobbe Cristo :
E tai Cristian dannera 1' Etiope, Quando si partiranno i due collegi, U uno in eterno ricco, e V altro inope.
Che potran dir li Persi ai vostri regi, Com' ei vedranno quel volume aperto,
k Poi seguitando Cass.; seguitaro 124.
1 et pria et pci Cass. ; el . . el . . i {et el) 45 ; Vel . . vel Aid.
^ gridar alt. to gridan Gg.
^^2 Cf. Canto vi. passim.
i<^5 Cf. XX. 105. ^ "^
106 sqq. Cf. St. Matt. viii. 1 1, and xii. 41.
S
258 PARADISE
in which are written all the dispraises of them? There shall be seen among the deeds of Albert that which soon will set the pen in movement, through which the kingdom of Prague shall become desert. There shall be seen the woe which upon Seine is bringing, through debasing the money, he who shall die by stroke of boar. There shall be
Nel qual si scrivon tutti suoi dispregi ? " Li si vedra tra 1' opere d' Alberto
Quella che tosto movera la penna,
Perch^ il regno di Praga fia deserto. Li si vedra il duol, che sopra Senna
Induce, falseggiando la moneta.
Quel che morra di colpo di cotenna. 120
Li si vedra la superbia ch' asseta,
^ servioii 15.
^^^ Observe the structure of this and the following tercets ; and cf. Purg. xii. 25 sqq. From this point to the end of the Canto the notes of Philalethes will be found of great service. I have taken so much as is required to make the allusions intelligible. — Alberto. Albert of Hapsburg (Purg. vi. 97) in 1304 invaded and devastated Bohemia, with the object of forcing Wenceslaus IV to consent to the substitution of Charles Robert, son of Charles Martel (viii. 31), for his own son, Wenceslaus, on the throne of Hungary. See 1. 142.
116 penna : that wherewith events are written in the book of God.
118-120 'pj^g debasement of the coinage by Philip the Fair was notorious among' the misdeeds of his reign. He died in 13 14 from the effects of a fall from his horse, caused by the charge of a wild boar. ' Essendo a sua caccia, uno porco salvatico gli s' attraverso tra le gambe del cavallo in su che era, e fecelne cadere, e poco appresso mori.' Vill. ix. 66. — cotenna : lit. * a boar's hide.'
121-123 xjje allusion is to the contests of Edward I. with the Scotch which had raged till just before this time. The raids of either side across the border seem to have especially struck the Italian imagination. See ViU. viii. 67.
XIX PARADISE 259
seen the pride that causes thirst, which is making the Scot and the Englishman so mad that each cannot endure within his own boundary. Seen shall be the luxury and the delicate living of him of Spain and of him of Bohemia, that never knew goodness nor willed it. Seen shall be the lame man of Jerusalem to have his good quality marked with an I, while an M shall mark the contrary. Seen shall be the avarice and the baseness of him who keeps the Island of the fire, where Anchises ended his long life. And, to give to understand how paltry he is, the writing of
Che fa lo Scotto e T Inghilese folle
Si che non pub soffrir dentro a sua meta.
Vedrassi la lussuria, e il viver molle
Di quel di Spagna, e di quel di Buemme, Che mai valor non conobbe n^ voile.
Vedrassi al Ciotto di Gerusalemme Segnata con un I la sua bontate, Quando il contrario segnera un' emme.
Vedrassi T avarizia e la viltate 130
Di quel che guarda 1' isola del fuoco. Dove Anchise fini la lunga etate :
E a dare ad intender quanto e poco,
1-^ quel di Spagna is Ferdinand IV of Castile (1295-1312); obviously not Alfonso X, for Dante is speaking only of princes actually reigning at the time. — quel di Buemme : Wenceslaus IV, the prince commemorated in Purg. vii. loi.
1^ il Ciotto di Gerusalemme : Charles II of Apulia and Naples, a crown which carried the title of King of Jerusalem. * Fu sciancato alquanto,' Vill. vii. I. See note to Purg. vii. 126. The words of Villani there quoted sufficiently explain the two next lines.
^^^ Frederick of Aragon, king of Sicily ; Purg. vii. 119.
133-136 xhese lines are somewhat obscure, and the comments hardly less so. Benv. says : ' per contrarium quod multa mala possunt dici de eo in paucis verbis,' as if poco referred to the amount of writing required ; and to mozze he has : 'i.e. singulae
26o PARADISE canto
him shall be maimed letters, which shall note much in small space. And to all men shall appear the filthy works of his uncle and of his brother, who have made so famous a nation and two crowns dishonoured. x\nd those of Portugal and of Norway shall there be known, and he of
La sua scrittura fien lettere mozze, Che noteranno molto in parvo loco.°
E parranno a ciascun 1' opere sozze
Del barba, e del fratel, che tanto egregia Nazione e due corone han fatte bozze.
E quei di Portogallo e di Norvegia
o Che non terraiino Cass. 3.
pro partibus.' Perhaps the best explanation is that which understands the lettere mozze to be abbreviations, such as were common in the writing of the time, in order to save space. The meaning then must be, not that Frederick's crimes were so many that there would be lack of space to record them (which would make the use of such a word as poco very awkward), but that he was too contemptible to be worth more than a rapid and abbreviated record. The Aldine reads qttanto e poco la sua scrittU7'a ; fien I, ??i. It is not impossible th^t fie ^71 may be better.
'^^ il barba : James of Aragon, brother of Peter, and king of Majorca. — il fratel : James, son of Peter, king of Aragon : Purg. vii. 119.
^^ Denis, king of Portugal, 1279- 1325. He seems to have had a good report among his contemporaries, and to have governed well, extending especially the commerce of his country. Philalethes suggests, upon a hint given by the Ottimo, that this may have been his fault in Dante's eyes. It is, however, remarkable that all the sovereigns of the Spanish peninsula come in for a share in this invective, that about this time there was a pause in the process of expelling the Mussulmans from that country, and that nearly all the others named are rulers of terri- tories on the outskirts of Christendom. It looks almost as if Dante intended this list as a kind of counterpart to the roll of champions of the faith given in the last Canto. Observe that in xv. 144 it is * vostra ghistizia ' which the infidel usurps. There is probably a further charge implied, that the modern kings were too much occupied in fighting among themselves, to be able to attend to internal good government. —
PARADISE 261
Rascia who to his own hurt saw the coin of Venice. O happy Hungary, if none is allowed any more to maltreat it ! and happy Navarre, if it should fortify itself with the mountain that wraps it round ! And each man must be- lieve that already, for earnest of this, Nicosia and Famagosta are lamenting themselves and clamouring by reason of their beast, which separates not itselLfrom the side of the others.
Li si conosceranno, e quel di Rascia, 140
Che male ha visto il conio di Vinegia.P
O beata Ungaria, se non si lascia Pill malmenare ! e beata Navarra, Se s' armasse del monte che la fascia !
E creder dee ciascun, che gia per arra Di questo, Nicosia e Famagosta Per la lor bestia si lamenti e garra,
Che dal fianco delP altre non si scosta.
P adiusto Aid. ; aggiusto Bi. Giul.
Norvegia : Hakon the Longlegged (1299- 13 19) passed his reign in wars with Denmark.
140, 141 Stephen Ouros, king of Rascia (the modern Illyria and Dal- matia), seems to have struck coins of debased metal more or less in imitation of the Venetian ducat. * Iste falsificavit ducatum Venetorum,' says Benv. These were excluded by decree from the Venetian territory. — mal, as in Purg. iv. 72. He appears also to have first defrauded and then gone to war with the Republic of Ragusa. See Sir G. Wilkinson, Dalmatia, vol. i. p. 310.
1^2 The kingdom of Hungary had just passed into the hands of Charles Robert of Anjou, son of Charles Martel (Canto viii.) Dante's words may be ironical ; but possibly he hoped for good things from the son of the only member of the house of Anjou whom he admired.
^^ Joan of Navarre married Philip the Fair, but continued to rule the kingdom herself. At her death in 1304 the crowns of Navarre and France were for a while united in Louis Hutin and his brothers.
^^ Cyprus was being misgoverned at this time by Henry II of the house of Lusignan and his brother Almeric, Prince of Tyre.
CANTO XX
ARGUMENT
The Eagle speaks further, showing who are the souls whereof his eye is composed, and how it comes to pass that certain pagans are among them.
When he who illumines all the world is so 'descending from our hemisphere, that the day is melting away on every hand, the heaven which before is kindled with him only suddenly becomes again apparent by reason of many lights, on which a single one beams. And this fashion of
QuANDO colui che tutto il mondo alluma,
Deir emisperio nostro si discende, ^^jjjjX'^^ Che il giorno d' ogni parte si consuma,^ ^^v'^'^'^^''
Lo ciel che sol di lui prima s' accende,^ i^
Subitamente si rifa parvente ^ \^^^-^>^^ Per molte luci, in che una risplende. '- '- ^' *
^ E H giorno Aid. Bi. ^ semprende Gg.
"* I have followed the usual reading and rendering, which, however, is not satisfactory, on account of the awkwardness of the present accende, where a past tense is obviously requiied. May we not read with at least one MS. prima, ' the heaven which is the first to be kindled with his sole light,' i.e. the eastern heaven ? It is here of course that the light of the rising sun first puts out all others, and here that the stars begin to reappear at sunset.
^ una : because in Dante's time it was held that all the stars shone by the sun's reflected light. See Conv. ii. 14 : del suo lume tutte le
CANTO XX PARADISE /) s 263
the heaven came to my mind, when the ensign of the world and of its leaders was silent in its sacred beak ; seeing that all those living lights shining far more, began songs which from my memory have slipped and fallen.
O sweet love, who cloakest thyself with a smile, how ardent didst thou appear amid those pipes which have their breath only of holy thoughts !
After that the costly and lucid stones wherewith I saw the sixth light ingemmed had imposed silence on their
E quest' atto del ciel mi venne a mente, ^ iJAj IU.LAA Come il segno del mondo, e dei suoi duci, CA ^^^'^^^:^^ Nel benedetto rostro fu tacente : i^ Perb che tutte quelle vive luci, 10
^'''^^ Vie piu lucendo, comiijcigdron canti ^
Da mia memoria'Tabm^e caduci. O dolce Amor, che di riso t' ammanti,^ < Quanto parevi ardente in quei flailli,^ Wpt>^ Ch' aveano spirto sol di pensier santi ! Poscia che i cari e lucidi lapilli,.T^ /i v Ond' io vidi ingemmato il sesto lume,
c lucenti Gg. W. ^ di luce f am. Gg.
® Jlavilli Gg. J favilli Aid.
altre stelle s' informano ; and iii. 12 : il sole, lo quale di sensibile luce se prima e poi tutti i corpi celestiali e elementali allumina.
7 sqq. As when the sun is gone, the stars come out, so when the eagle ceased speaking, the various voices were heard in their song.
1* flailli seems to be the reading with most authority. The word does not occur elsewhere, but it may well be formed from the old Fr. flajol, mod. flageolet. The next hne is hardly intelligible unless some kind of musical instrument is intended. Scartazzini suggests/^?7/2 = old ^' Fr. faille, from facula. But this is already represented by fiaccola, and the change of gender would alone be an almost insurmountable objection.
264 PARADISE CANTO
angelic chime, methought I heard a murmuring of a stream which descends clear, down from rock to rock, showing the abundance of its head. And as a sound takes its form at the neck of the lute, and as at thCoFifice of the shawm the wind which passes through, so, delay of expectation removed, that murmuring of the eagle rose up through his neck, as it had been hollow. There it became voice, and thence it issued through his beak in form of words, such as was awaiting the heart wherein I wrote them down. <^
*The part in me which sees and endures the sun vc^ mortal eagles,' it began to. me, *now would be gazed on
Poser sileiftio agli angelici squilli, ^
Udir mi parve un mormorar di fiume,^
Che scende chiaro giu di pietra in pietr;a, 20
Mostrando V uberta del suo cacume. - ■«" ' *^' / E come suono al collo della cetra IX'- ^^ y Prende sua forma, e si come al pertugio t^^ Delia sampogna vento che penetra ; Cosi rimosso d' aspettare indugio
Quel mormorar dell' aquila'salissi,^
Su per lo collo, come fosse bugio. Fecesi voce quivi, e quindi uscissi
Per lo suo becco in forma di parole,
Quali aspettava il cuore, ov' io le scrissi. 30
La parte in me, che vede, e pate il sole
Neir aguglie mortali, incominciommi.
Or fisamente riguardar si vuole :
^ Adzr 145. g J>er V aqiiila Gg. ; per lagttglia 3.
^^ We should rather expect scenda ; but cf. xxi. 26, and see Purg. xxii. 67.
^ The note is the form, the sound is the material.
PARADISE ^-'^ 265
/^^^
fixedly; because, of the fires whereof I make my shape those wherewith the eye in my head sparkles, they are highest of all in their grades. He who shines in the midst for pupil was the singer of the Holy Spirit, who transferred the ark from town to town. Now knows he the merit of his chant in so far as it was the effect of his counsel, through the recompense which is equally great. Of the five, who make me a circle for eyelid, he who is closest beside my beak, consoled the poor widow for her son.
Perche dei fuochi, ond' io figura fommi, Quelli, onde 1' occhio in testa mi scintiUi Pi tutti in loro gradi son li sommi : ^j^o/ AJ^ i<^ Colui che luce in mezzo per pupilla, <5ywt»-'^^-'*o * ^
Fu il cantor dello Spirito Santo, Che r area traslato di villa in villa : ^ Ora conosce il merto del suo canto, 40 ^s
In quanto effetto fu del suo consiglio,^^^'^^^'^-*-'!*.''^-*'*^
( * l> Pfer lo remunerar, ch' e altrettanto. jj •m
cy^f Dei cinque che mi fan cerchio per ciglio, ^^^U^^^^^^-*"*-"'^ ^>y^ Colui che piu al becco mi s' accosta, ^^
La vedovella consolo del figlio :
^ tras77ttith Gg. ^ affetto Aid.
'^ It seems most simple to read in loro gradi ; and with this the note in Cass, agrees : ' illi spiritus qui construunt oculos istius aquilae omnium aliorum construentium dictam Aquilam sunt summiores {sic) et venerabiliores. ' — gradi may easily have been attracted into the plural. Observe that only one eye of the eagle is seen, showing that it is imagined in profile, as on the imperial shield.
'^ David ; with allusion to 2 Sam. vi.
■'<^ Ora conosce : note again the structure of the passage to 1. 72.
^^ This does not appear to mean more than * in so far as it was due to his own design, and not to direct inspiration.' Consilium, says Aquinas (S. T. ii. i. Q. 14), relates to means, not ends.
^^ Trajan. See Purg. x. 75.
266 PARADISE
Now knows he how dear it costs not to follow Christ, by the experience of this sweet life and of the opposite. And he who follows in the circumference of which I speak, along the ascending arc, delayed death by true penitence. Now knows he that the eternal decree is not shifted, when a worthy prayer makes to-morrow's on earth of to-day's. The second who follows, with the laws and with me, under a good intention which bore ill fruit, to give way to the Pastor, made himself a Greek. Now knows he how the ill, deduced from his good work, is not harmful to him, albeit that the world be thereby destroyed. And he whom
Ora conosce quanto caro costa u^ Non seguir Cristo, per 1' esperienza Di questa dolce vita e dell' opposta.
E quel che segue in la circonferenza,
Di che ragiono, per 1' arco superno, 50
Morte indugio per vera penitenza.
Ora conosce che il giudicio eterno
Non si trasmuta, quando degno preco ^ Fa crastino laggiu dell' odierno.
L' altro, che segue, con le leggi e meco, Sotto buona intenzion, che fe mal frutto. Per cedere al pastor si fece Greco.
Ora conosce come il mal dedutto
Dal suo bene operar non gli e nocivo, Avvegna che sia il mondo indi distrutto. 60
k per che degno Aid. Bi.
^1 Hezekiah. 2 Kings xx., etc.
52 sqq. Qf, Purg. vi. 37 sqq. So S. T. ii. 2. Q. %i. A. 2 : Oratio nostra non ordinatur ad immutationem divinae dispositionis, sed iit obtineatur nostris precibus quod Deus disposuit.
^•^ Constantine the Great.— meco : cf. vi. i.
^ Purg. xxxii. 138. ^^ Inf. xix. 115.
XX PARADISE 267
thou seest on the downward arc was WilHam, whom that land mourns which laments living Charles and Frederick. Now knows he how the heaven is enamoured of the just king, and in the semblance of his brightness he still makes it seen. Who would believe down in the erring world that Rhipeus of Troy should be in this round the fifth of the holy lights? Now knows he enough of that which the world cannot see of the divine grace, albeit his view
E quel che vedi nelF arco declivo, Guiglielmo fu, cui quella terra plora, Che piange Carlo e Federigo vivo.
Ora conosce come s' innamora
Lo Ciel del giusto rege, ed al sembiante Del suo fulgore il fa vedere ancora.
Chi crederebbe giu nel mondo errante, Che Rif^o Troiano in questo tondo Fosse la quinta delle luci sante ?
Ora conosce assai di quel che il mondo 70
Veder non pub della divina grazia ;
^^ William II 'the Good,' king of Sicily and Apulia, 1166-1189. He was third and last in direct descent from Roger de Hauteville, ' the Great Count.' He married the daughter of Henry II of England, and on his death, without children, the crown passed, not uncontested, to his aunt Constance (iii. 118). ' The Sicilians in later times looked back to the rule of this admirable prince, just as our oppressed forefathers talked of the good laws of Edward the Confessor.' — (Kington-Oliphant, Hist, of Frederick II, vol. i. p. 22.) It may be observed that Villani (iv. 20) makes terrible confusion of the history of the Norman kings of Sicily.
^ Carlo e Federigo : xix. 127 sqq.
^ Aen. ii. 426 :
Cadit et Rhipeus, justissimus unus Qui fuit in Teucris, et servantissimus aequi : Dis aliter visum. Did the last three words give the hint for 11. 70-72 ?
268 PARADISE canto
discerns not the depth.' Like a lark which goes abroad in air, singing first, and then holds her peace content with the last sweetness which sates her ; such seemed to me the image of the imprint of the eternal pleasure, according to its desire for which each thing becomes of what sort it is. And albeit in that place I was in regard to my doubting as
Benche sua vista non discerna il fondo.
Quale allodetta, che in aere si spazia ^ Prima cantando, e poi tace contenta Deir ultima dolcezza che la sazia,
Tal mi sembio 1' imago della imprenta Deir eterno piacere, al cui disio Ciascuna cosa, quale ell' e, diventa.
E awegna ch' io fossi al dubbiar mio
1 adoletta Gg. ; lodoletta Bi.
^^ The symmetry of the passage, Scartazzini holds, requires that contenta be understood before della imprenta. We must not take it as a genitive after imago. On this interpretation ' the imprint of the eternal pleasure' must correspond with the ultima dolcezza, and must thus refer to the last words which the eagle has spoken, and the ' pleasure ' must therefore be] the contemplation of the * depth of the riches of the wisdom of God.' This would be satisfactory, were there not an obvious parallelismTwith xviii. 109- 114. — quale ell' h must mean * in its form ' ; and the repetition of impre^ita points the allusion. The eagle, as the symbol of the Empire, is the image of the eternal pleasure, the desire for which is the formal cause of all things : i. 102 sqq. Se also De Mon. i. 10. We must not, with some com- mentators, understand disio of God's will ; for St. Thomas distinctly states (S. T. i. Q. 20. Art. i) that *desiderium est boni non habiti,' and denotes imperfection ; and consequently cannot be predicated of God.
^ eterno piacere : cf. xviii. 16.
"^ dubbiar : how the presence of Rhipeus and Trajan is to be reconciled with what was said at 1. 103 of the last Canto.
XX PARADISE 269
glass to the colour which covers it, it did not suffer me to \yait a while in silence, but with the force of its weight it urged from my mouth, * What things are these ? ' Where- fore of sparkling I beheld great festival. Thereafter with its eye more kindled, the blessed ensign responded to me, not to keep me suspense in wondering : * I see that thou believest these things because I say them, but seest not how ; so that if they are believed they are concealed. Thou dost as he who well apprehends the thing by name, but its quiddity he cannot see, if another sets it not forth. Regnuni
Li, quasi vetro alio color, che il veste ; 80
Tempo aspettar tacendo non patio :
Ma della bocca : Che cose son queste ? Mi pinse con la forza del suo peso ; Per ch' io di corruscar vidi gran feste.
Poi appresso con T occhio piu acceso Lo benedetto segno mi rispose. Per non tenermi in ammirar sospeso :
Io veggio che tu credi queste cose, Perch' io le dico, ma non vedi come : Si che se son credute, sono ascose. 90
Fai come quei che la cosa per nome Apprende ben ; ma la sua quiditate Veder non puote, s' altri non la prome.
Regnum caeloricm violenzia pate
^^ It may here be noted that until the fifteenth century only * ruby ' glass was 'coated,' i.e. made with a film of colour on one side, the rest being clear, whence the force of the metaphor. All other glass was * pot metal ' ; that is, coloured throughout.
^ It will be remembered that an increase of brightness in the blessed spirits is the equivalent of a smile. See v, 126.
^^ Matt. xi. 12/ where the Greek has ^id^erai, not exactly rendered either by the 'vim patitur' of the Vulgate, and still less by our
270 PARADISE canto
caelorimi suffereth violence of warm love and of lively hope, which overcomes the divine will, not in such wise as man has the mastery over man, but overcomes it, because it wills to be overcome, and being overcome, overcomes with its own goodness. The first life in the eyelid and the fifth make thee marvel because with them thou seest the angels' domain adorned. They issued not from their bodies as thou deemest Gentiles, but Christians, in firm faith, he of the Feet that should suffer, he of them having suffered. For the one from Hell, whence never has any come back
Da caldo amore e da viva speranza,
Che vince la divina volontate, Non a guisa che T uomo all' uom sobranza,
Ma vince lei perche vuole esser vinta,
E vinta vince con sua beninanza. La prima vita del ciglio e la quinta loo
Ti fa maravigliar, perche ne vedi
La region degli Angeli dipinta. Dei corpi suoi non uscir, come credi,
Gentili, ma Cristiani, in ferma fede,
Quel dei passuri, e quel dei passi piedi : Che r una dello inferno, u' non si riede
Giammai a buon voler, tornb all' ossa,
' suffereth violence. ' Dante evidently, however, understood the meaning correctly.
^^ Observe how the three virtues of faith, hope, and love are worked in throughout this exposition. We have them (i) in this line and 104; (2) in 109, 114, 116; (3) 121, 123, 124; and all together in 127.
^^^ Because one died before Christ, the other after.
^^^ In Hell there is no repentance.
i<^ tomo air ossa : the case of Trajan (who was recalled to life, according to the legend, by the prayers of St. Gregory the Great, in order that he might have room for repentance) is cited by Aquinas,
XX PARADISE 271
to a good will, returned to his bones, and this was a reward of a lively hope ; of a lively hope, which put its power into the prayers made to God to raise him up, in such wise that His will could be moved. The glorious soul, whereof my speech is, having come back into its flesh, in which it was a short time, believed in Him who had the power to aid it ; and believing was kindled into such a fire of true love, that at its second death, it was worthy to come to this mirth. / The other, through grace which trickles from a fountain so deep that never creature has urged its sight
E cio di viva speme fu mercede ; ^
Di viva speme, che mise la possa ^
Nei prieghi fatti a Dio per suscitarla, no
Si che potesse sua voglia esser mossa.
L' anima gloriosa onde si parla,
Tornata nella carne, in che fu poco, Credette in lui che poteva aiutarla.
E credendo s' accese in tanto fuoco
Di vero amor, ch' alia morte seconda " Fu degna di venire a questo giuoco.°
\J altra, per grazia, che da si profonda Fontana stilla, che mai creatura
^ ^ divina speme Gg. 2, 14 {divine in second line). ^ che la morta Gg.;-e 1245. o loco Gg.
Suppl. Q, 75. A. 5. He has evidently some difficulty in reconciling it with the orthodox doctrine that prayer is of no avail for those in Hell.
^^^ speme : that of St. Gregory.
^^'^ The idea of placing Rhipeus among the saved seems to be Dante's own. He would probably justify it by the doctrine of Aquinas, S. T. iii. Q. 66. A. 1 1 : Aliquis per virtutem Spiritus sancti . consequitur effectum baptismi ; non solum sine baptismo aquae sed etiam sine baptismo sanguinis ; inquantum scilicet alicujus cor per Spiritum sanctum movetur ad credendum et diligendum Deum, et poenitendum de peccatis ; unde etiam dicitur baptismus poenitentiae.
272 PARADISE
to the first wave, placed all his love below on righteousness, wherefore from grace to grace God opened his eye to our future redemption ; whence he believed in that and endured not thenceforth any more the stink of paganism, and re- proved thereof the perverse folk. Those three dames were to him for baptism whom thou sawest by the right wheel, more than a thousand years before the baptizing. O pre- destination, how remote is thy root from those sights which see not the first cause in its wholeness ! And you, mortals, hold yourselves strictly in judging; for we who see God, know not yet all the elect. And a stint of such sort is dear
Non pinse 1' occhio insino alia prim' onda, 120
Tutto suo amor laggiu pose a drittura :
Perche di grazia in grazia Iddio gli aperse L' occhio alia nostra redenzion futura :
Onde credette in quella, e non sofferse Da indi il puzzo piu del paganesmo, E riprendeane le genti perverse.
Quelle tre donne gli fur per battesmo, Che tu vedesti dalla destra ruota, Dinanzi al battezzar piu d' un millesmo.
O predestinazion, quanto rimota 130
E la radice tua da quegli aspetti, Che la prima cagion non veggion tota !
E voi mortali tenetevi stretti
A giudicar ; che noi, che Dio vedemo, Non conosciamo ancor tutti gli eletti :
128 purg. xxix. 121.
^^ S. T. i. Q. 23. A. 7 : Soli Deo est cognitus niimerus electorum in superna felicitate locandus ; and Suppl. Q. 92. A. 3 : Sancti in paradiso videntes Deum non omnia videbunt quae Deus videt.
XX . PARADISE 273
to us, because our good is refined in this good, that what God wills we will also.'
In such wise by that divine image, to make clear my short sight in me, was a sweet medicine given me. And as with a good singer a good harpist makes the thrill of the string go along, whereby the song acquires more pleasant- ness, so, while it spoke, it remembers me that I saw the two blessed lights, just as a closing of eyes is made in con- cord, move their flamelets together with the words.
Ed enne dolce cosi fatto scemo :
Perch^ il ben nostro in questo ben s' affina, Che quel che vuole Iddio, e noi volemo.
Cosi da quella immagine divina.
Per farmi chiara la mia corta vista, 140
Data mi fu soave medicina.
E come a buon cantor buon citarista Fa seguitar lo guizzo della corda, In che pill di piacer lo canto acquista.
Si mentre che parlossi, mi ricorda^ Ch' io vidi le due luci benedette, Pur come batter d' occhi si concorda,
Con le parole muover le fiammette.
"^ par lb, si mi Cass. IV. 1245 ; parlb, 7?ii si Aid.
^^^ I have followed the reading of Gg. and the Mantuan edition ; which last, it may here be remarked, is much the most carefully edited of the four which Lord Vernon reproduced.
147 Cf. xii. 26.
^^
v/'
it f'
/!At^''-' CANTO XXI ^
■ y''^^ ARGUMENT
^ Beatrice smiles no longer, as they ascend to the seventh Heaven, of
Saturn, wherein is Jacob's ladder, reaching upwards out of sight. The soul of St. Peter Damian explains the reason why the song of the blessed is not heard there, and shows that God's counsels are hidden. Then he speaks of his own life, and the backsliding of the clergy.
Already were my eyes fixed again upon the countenance of my Lady, and my mind with them, and from every other attention it had withdrawn itself; and she was not smihng; but, ' If I smiled,' she began to me, * thou wouldst become what Semele was, when she became of ashes ; for my beauty, which through the stairs of the eternal palace is more kindled, as thou hast observed, in proportion as one
GiA eran gli occhi miei rifissi al volto Delia mia Donna, e 1' animo con essi, E da ogni altro intento s' era tolto ;
E quella non ridea, ma, S' io ridessi. Mi comincio, tu ti faresti quale Fu Semele, quando di cener fessi :
Che la bellezza mia, che per le scale Deir eterno palazzo piu s' accende^ Com' hai veduto, quanto piu si sale,
^■^ There is a certain similarity of structure between these lines and the opening of Purg. xxxii.
CANTO XXI PARADISE 275
more ascends, if it were not tempered, is of such splendour that thy mortal power would at its effulgence be as a leaf which a thunderbolt rends apart. We have been raised to the seventh splendour, which beneath the breast of the burning Lion is now beaming down, mingled with his might. Fix thy mind after thine eyes, and make of those mirrors to the figure, which in that mirror shall be apparent to thee.'
He who should know what was the feasting of my eyes on the blessed countenance, when I transferred myself to
Se non si temperasse, tanto splende, to
Che il tuo mortal podere al suo fulgore Sarebbe fronda, che tuono scoscende.^
Noi sem levati al settimo splendore, Che sotto il petto del Leone ardente Raggia mo misto giu del suo valore.
Ficca dirietro agli occhi tuoi la mente, E fa di quelli specchi alia figura,^ Che in questo specchio ti sara parvente.
Qual sapesse qual era la pastura
Del viso mio nell' aspetto beato, 20
Quand' io mi trasmutai ad altra cura,
^ Parrebbe Gg. Aid. ; tro7io Gg. Cass, 124. ^ specchio Aid. Bi.
^^ The sphere of Saturn.
^^ In the spring of 1300 Saturn was in the constellation Leo. See note xvi. 37.
^^ The force of misto will be understood when we remember that Saturn was regarded as a cold planet, while the Lion has a hot influence. Others, e.g. P. di Dante, read mesto (which that commentator explains by saying that Saturn would be unhappy in a sign of such opposite qualities to his own !).
^^ specchio : primarily the planet, as shining by reflected light (see note, Purg. iv. 62). But it is also applied to the celestial intelligences by whom the influence of the planet is directed, as in ix. 61.
276 PARADISE canto
other care, would recognise how much it was for my pleasure to obey my heavenly escort, counterpoising the one side with the other. Within the crystal which bears the name, as it circles the world, of the world's illustrious chief, under whom all iniquity lay dead, of the colour of gold wherein a ray shines through, I saw a ladder raised on high so far that my eye followed it not. I saw more- over descend downwards by its steps so many splendours that I thought every light which appears in the heaven
Conoscerebbe quanto m' era a grato Ubbidire alia mia celeste scorta, Contrappesando F un con T altro lato.^
Dentro al cristallo, che il vocabol porta,
Cerchiando il mondo, del suo chiaro duce,^ Sotto cui giacque ogni malizia morta,
Di color d' oro in che raggio traluce, Vid' io uno scaleo eretto in suso, Tanto che nol seguiva la mia luce. 30
Vidi anche per li gradi scender giuso ^
Tanti splendor, ch' io pensai ch' ogni lume Che par nel ciel quindi fosse diffuso.
c co7ttrapensa7tdo Gg. 24. ^ Cercando Gg. ; caro Aid, Bi.
^ ancho 3 Aid. ; anco W.
^ That under the sway of Saturn peace and justice flourished in the world is of course a commonplace of the classical poets. It will suffice to recall for instance Virg. Eel. iv. 6, and Georg. ii. 538.
'^ traluce : see note to xx. 20. He seems to imagine tratisparent gold.
2^ ' Quae scala figurat excelsitudinem graduum sanctae religionis, per quam ad Deum ascendimus.' — P. di Dante. So too, substantially, Comm. Cass. It is hard to believe, however, that there was not a secondary intention of paying a magnificent compliment to Can Grande, whose ladder is made to play a similar part in Saturn to the imperial eagle in Jupiter.
XXI PARADISE 277
thence had been diffused. And as by their natural custom the daws altogether, at the beginning of the day, bestir themselves to warm their chilly plumes ; then some go away without return; others turn them back to whence they started, and others wheeling make a stay; such fashion seemed to me to be there in that sparkling which came together, so soon as it smote upon a certain step; and that one which halted nearest to us became so bright that I said in my thoughts, ^ I see well the love that thou dost signal to me.' But she from whom I await the how and the when of speech and silence, stands still ; wherefore I do well, against my wish, in that I ask not. Wherefore she who saw my silence in the sight of Him who sees all, said to me : *Set free thy burning desire.'
E come per lo natural costume
Le pole insieme al cominciar del giorno Si muovono a scaldar le fredde piume ;
Poi altre vanno via senza ritorno ; Altre rivolgon s^ onde son mosse, Ed altre roteando fan soggiorno ;
Tal modo parve a me, che quivi fosse 40
In quello sfavillar, che insieme venne, Si come in certo grado si percosse :
E quel che presso piu ci si ritenne.
Si fe si chiaro, ch' io dicea pensando : lo veggio ben 1' amor che tu m' accenne.
Ma quella, ond' io aspetto il come e il quando Del dire e del tacer, si sta ; ond' io ^ Contra il disio fo ben ch' io non dimando.
Per ch' ella che vedeva il tacer mio
Nel veder di colui che tutto vede, »5o
Mi disse : Solvi il tuo caldo disio. ^ si fa Gg.
278 PARADISE
And I began : ' My service makes not me worthy of thy response, but through her who grants me leave to ask. O blessed life, who standest hidden within thy own joy, make known to me the occasion which has placed thee so near me ; and tell me wherefore in this circle is silent the sweet symphony of Paradise, which below through the others sounds so devout.' 'Thou hast thy hearing mortal, as thy sight,' he answered me ; ' wherefore here is no chant, for the same cause that Beatrice has no smile. Down through the steps of the holy stair have I descended thus far, only to give thee greeting with my speech and with the light which enwraps me ; nor has more love made me to be
Ed io incominciai : La mia mercede Non mi fa degno della tua risposta, Ma per colei che il chieder mi concede,
Vita beata, che ti stai nascosta
Dentro alia tua letizia, fammi nota
La cagion che si presso mi t' ha posta : ^
E di' perche si tace in questa ruota La dolce sinfonia di Paradiso, Che gill per 1' altre suona si devota. 60
Tu hai r udir mortal si come il viso,
Rispose a me : onde qui non si canta ^ Per quel che Beatrice non ha riso.
Gill per li gradi della scala santa Discesi tanto sol per farti festa Col dire e con la luce che mi ammanta :
Ne pill amor mi fece esser piii presta :
8 itii f accosta Aid. Bi. ^ perb qui Aid. Bi.
•55 Cf. V. 136.
^ The feminine presta, though a man is speaking, is probably due to Dante's having used vita in addressing the spirit.
^'^2 The spirit, in answer to the question in 1. 57, explains that it
PARADISE 279
more alert, for as much love and more is fervent from hence on high, even as the flaming makes manifest to thee. But the high charity which makes us ready servants to the counsel which guides the w^orld casts the lot here, as thou dost observe.' ' I see well,' said I, ^ O holy lamp, how free love in this court suffices to execute the eternal provi- dence ; but this is that which seems to me hard to discern, why thoa alone wast predestined to this office among thy consorts.' I had not come to the last word before the light made of its middle a centre, whirling itself like a swift millstone. Then the love that was therewithin made
Che piu e tanto amor quinci su ferve,
Si come il fiammeggiar ti manifesta. Ma r altra carita, che ci fa serve 70
Pronte al consiglio, che il mondo governa,
Sorteggia qui, si come tu osserve. lo veggio ben, diss' io, sacra lucerna,^
Come libero amore in questa Corte
Basta a seguir la providenza eterna. Ma questo b quel ch' a cerner mi par forte,
Perche predestinata fosti sola
A questo ufficio tra le tue consorte. Non venni prima all' ultima parola,
Che del suo mezzo fece il lume centro, 80
Girando se come veloce mola. Poi rispose l' amor che v' era dentro :
i sancta I. Gg. ; cava Cass.
was not any superiority to the others in point of charity that caused him to approach Dante, but solely the fact that this duty had been allotted to him, in fulfilment of the eternal counsel, which is itself moved by love.
^^ libero amor=free-ze'z7/; the will of the blessed being directed by love only.
X
28o PARADISE canto
answer : ' A divine light is concentrated upon me, pene- trating through this, whereof I am in the womb, the virtue of which, in conjunction with my vision, lifts me above myself so far that I see the Supreme Essence, from which it is expressed. Hence comes the gladness wherewith I am aflame, because to my view, in proportion as it is clear, I match the clearness of my flame. But that soul in heaven which is most purified, that seraph who most has his eye fixed on God, will not satisfy thy demand, seeing that what thou seekest is so far removed in the abyss of the
Luce divina sovra me s' appunta, Penetrando per questa, ond' io m' inventro ;
La cui virtu col mio veder congiunta Mi leva sovra me tanto, ch' io veggio La somma essenzia della quale e munta.
Quinci vien 1' allegrezza ond' io fiammeggio, Perche alia vista mia, quant' ella e chiara,^ La chiarita della fiamma pareggio.^ 90
Ma quell' alma nel ciel che piu si schiara.
Quel Serafin, che in Dio piu 1' occhio ha fisso. Alia dimanda tua non soddisfara :
Perocche si s' inholtra nell' abisso
k Perch}: la Gg. Cass. 1234 W. 1 cariici 3 Aid. Bi.
^ questa: sc. luce.
89, 90 Q^ xiv. 40 sqq. alia seems an almost indispensable emendation for the la of MSS. Perhaps, however, we might better read in la. In line 90 the reading caritd, has much to be said for it. We shall see hereafter, xxviii. 1 1 1 , that love is proportioned to vision.
^2 Cf. iv. 28.
^^ soddisfara for -faria, say Bianchi and Scartazzini ; but neither Diez nor Corticelli recognises the form, while Lombardi understands it as the future. The future is just as intelligible here as the conditional.
PARADISE 281
eternal law that it is cut off from all created sight And to the mortal world, when thou returnest, report this, so that it presume not to move its feet toward so high a goal. The mind which here is bright, on earth is smoky ; wherefore consider how it can do there below that which it cannot albeit the heaven takes it up.'
So did his words give me injunction that I left the question and drew back to ask him humbly who he was. * Between the two shores of Italy rise rocks, and that not
'Deir eterno statuto quel che chiedi, Che da ogni creata vista e scisso.
Ed al mondo mortal quando tu riedi, Questo rapporta, si che non presumma A tanto segno piu muover li piedi.
La mente che qui luce, in terra fumma : 100
Onde riguarda, come puo laggiue Quel che non puote, perche il ciel 1' assumma.
Si mi prescrisser le parole sue,
Ch' io lasciai la quistione, e mi ritrassi
A dimandarla umilmente chi fue."^ ^
Trai due liti d' Italia surgon sassi,
"^ ditnandar Gg. Aid.
^ Cf. Purg. vi. 123.
100, 101 Even here it is not possible to see into the counsels of God ; how much less then on earth.
^^ perch^, as in Purg. v. 58.
^^ The speaker is St. Peter Damian. He was born at Ravenna towards the end of the tenth century, apparently of a poor family ; and being brought up by the kindness of his brother (from whom he called himself * Petrus Damiani ') he joined the monastery ©f Fonte Avellana, on the side of Monte Catria, one of the highest peaks of the Apennines, near Gubbio. Pope Stephen IX made him, much against his own wish, Bishop of Ostia and Cardinal in 1057. He seems to have been a zealous supporter of Gregory VH in his efforts to reform Church
282 PARADISE
very distant from thy country, so high that the thunders sound full far below ; and make a boss which is called Catria, beneath which has been consecrated a hermitage, which is wont to be set apart for worship only.' Thus he recommenced his discourse to me for the third time ; and then continuing said : ' There to the service of God I became so constant, that only with meats of the olives' juice I hghtly used to pass both heats and frosts, content in my contemplative thoughts. That cloister was wont to
E non molto distanti alia tua patria, Tanto che i tuoni assai suonan piu bassi :
E fanno un gibbo, che si chiama Catria,
Disotto al quale b consecrato un ermo, no
Che suol' esser disposto a sola latria.
Cosi ricominciommi il terzo sermo : E poi continuando disse : Quivi Al servigio di Dio mi fei si fermo,
Che pur con cibi di liquor d' ulivi Lievemente passava e caldi e geli, Contento nei pensier contemplativi.
Render solea quel chiostro a questi cieli
discipline, and to have made journeys with that object into France and Germany. He died at Faenza in 1072.
^'^'^ Note this touch. wSome have seen in it a suggestion that this part of the poem was written at the time when an offer was made to Dante and other exiles of readmission to Florence on the performance of certain acts of submission. There is also a tradition, not of very good authority, that he himself passed some time at the monastery of Avellana, after his departure from Verona in 13 18. See Balbo, Vita di D. bk. ii. ch. 14; Symonds, 'Study of Dante,' p. 79.
^^^ latria. Xarpeia is a technical word for the service of God, even as early as Plato. Observe that the quantity does not here follow the Greek accent ; probably because the word had got quite naturalised in Latin.
PARADISE 283
contribute abundantly to these heavens, and now it is grown so useless as needs must soon be revealed. In that place was I, Peter Damian (but Peter the Sinner was in the house of our Lady upon the Adriatic shore). Little re- mained to me of mortal life when I was sought and drawn to that hat which is being handed down only from bad to worse. Cephas came, and the great vessel of the Holy Spirit came, lean and unshod, taking the food of any
Fertilemente : ed ora ^ fatto vano,
Si che tosto convien che si riveli. 120
In quel loco fu' io Pier Damiano : E Pietro peccator fu nella casa " Di Nostra Donna in sul lito Adriano.
Poca vita mortal m' era rimasa,
Quando fui chiesto e tratto a quel cappello,"^ Che pur di male in peggio si travasa.
Venne Cephas, e venne il gran vasello Dello Spirito Santo, magri e scalzi
^ piscator 145 ; pescator Aid. ^ al gran cappello Gg. ; et quel c. Aid.
^2^ Balbo observes that two centuries and a half later Pius V turned out the then monks from Avellana, and gave the monastery to the Camaldolese.
121-123 There is some controversy about these lines. That the read- ings of the MSS. in the second of them vary between /^^2 and/^/ does not go for much, because whichever is right, the other was almost certain to be written as often as not. But if we readme//, we are met by the difficulty that the monastery of Sta. Maria di Porto fuori at Ravenna to which the allusion must be, did not exist, so far as is known, till 1096, when it was founded by Bishop Peter degli Onesti, known as Petrus Peccator. Some think that Dante confused the two. On the other hand, those who read fu, think that it is intended, by a paren- thetical statement, to correct the popular confusion. This is no doubt a little awkward, but in the face of the objection that Peter Damian probably was never at Sta. Maria, it seems the best view to adopt. E has not uncommonly a disjunctive force, as, e.g., xvi. 124.
284 PARADISE CANTO XXI
hostelry. Now will the modern pastors one to prop them on this hand and on that, and one to lead them, so weighty are they, and one to support them behind. They cover their palfreys with their mantles, so that two beasts go under one skin. O patience, that sufferest so much ! ' At this word I beheld more flamelets descend from step to step and whirl around, and every whirl made them more beautiful. They came around this one, and halted, and gave a cry of so high sound that it would not be possible here to find its like : nor did I understand it, so overcame me the thunder.
Prendendo il cibo di qualunque ostello. Or voglion quinci e quindi chi rincalzi 130
Gli moderni pastori, e chi gli meni,
Tanto son gravi, e chi dirietro gli alzi. Cuopron dei manti loro i palafreni.
Si che due bestie van sott' una pelle,
O pazienza, che tanto sostieni ! A questa voce vid' io piu fiammelle
Di grado in grado scendere e girarsi,
Ed ogni giro le facea piu belle.^ Dintorno a questa vennero, e fermarsi
E fero un grido di si alto suono, 140
Che non potrebbe qui assomigliarsi : Ne io lo intesi, si mi vinse il tuono.
P si facea Gg.
129 Luke X. 7, 8.
'^^ rincalzi: as Purg. ix. 72; but there is clearly a play on the scalzi of two lines above.
1^2 gravi : heavy with luxurious living ; but again, wath a bitter irony, he chooses a word capable of a double meaning.
1^ due bestie : the palfrey and its rider.
CANTO XXII
ARGUMENT
St. Benedict shows how in the seventh Heaven are the souls of those who lived in contemplation of sacred things, and further laments the falling away of his brethren through covetousness. Dante and Beatrice mount by the ladder into the eighth, or starry Heaven, and enter it in the sign of the Twins. Thence he looks back upon the universe.
Overwhelmed with astonishment I turned me to my guide, as a child who runs back ever thither where he has most confidence ; and she like a mother who succours at once her pale and panting boy with her voice, which is wont to dispose him aright, said to me : * Knowest thou not that thou art in heaven? and knowest thou not that heaven is all holy, and that which comes to pass with us
Oppresso di stupore alia mia guida Mi volsi, come parvol che ricorre Sempre cola, dove piu si confida.
E quella come madre, che soccorre Subito al figlio pallido ed anelo. Con la sua voce, che il suol ben disporre,
Mi disse : non sai tu che tu sei in Cielo, E non sai tu che il Cielo e tutto santo,
2 sqq. C£ Purg. XXX. 43.
286 PARADISE
comes of a good zeal ? How the chant would have trans- formed thee, and I by smiling, thou canst now judge, since the shout has moved thee so much ; in the which, if thou hadst understood its prayers, by now would the vengeance be known to thee, which thou shalt see before thou diest. The sword of this high place cuts not in haste, nor slow, save to the seeming of him who is awaiting it either in desire or fear. But turn thee back now toward another, for thou shalt see illustrious spirits enough, if as I say thou guidest back thy view.' As was her pleasure I directed
E cio che ci si fa, vien da buon zelo ? ^
Come t' avrebbe trasmutato il canto, lo
Ed io ridendo, mo pensar lo puoi," Poscia che il grido t' ha mosso cotanto ;
Nel qual se inteso avessi i prieghi suoi, Gia ti sarebbe nota la vendetta, Che tu vedrai innanzi che tu muoi.^
La spada di quassu non taglia in fretta, Ne tardo, ma che al parer di colui,^ Che desiando o temendo T aspetta.
Ma rivolgiti omai inverso altrui :
Ch' assai illustri spiriti vedrai, 20
Se com' io dico la vista ridui.
a Che cih Gg. ^ La qual v. Aid. Bi.
^ Ne tardo mai,chal piacer die. Gg. ; maialp. Cass. 1345; col placer 2.
^ I.e. that nothing is done here in order to hurt another.
^'' ma che : i.e. 7nag2S quam. So Purg. xviii. 53 ; and see Diez iii.
379.
^^ The order is inverted. Of course to him who desires it, it seems slow ; to him who fears it, quick. The whole passage, from 1. 14, recalls Purg. xx. 94-96.
^^ * ridui e dell' antiq. riduire o riduere. ' — Bianchi.
XXII PARADISE 287
«
my eyes, and saw a hundred little spheres, which at once were growing more fair with mutual rays. I stood like him who represses in himself the prick of his desire, and attempts not asking, in such fear is he of excess. And the largest and brightest of those pearls set itself in front, to make of itself my wish content. Then within it I heard : * If thou sawest as I do the charity which burns among us, thy conceptions would be expressed : but in order that thou by waiting mayest not delay thy lofty end, I will make thee an answer only to th'e thought concerning which thou art so circumspect. That hill which has Cassino on its
Com' a lei piacque, gli occhi dirizzai,^ E vidi cento sperule, che insieme Pill s' abbellivan con mutui rai.
lo stava come quel che in se ripreme La punta del disio, e non s' attenta Del dimandar, si del troppo si teme : ^
E la maggiore, e la piii luculenta Di quelle margherite innanzi fessi. Per far di s^ la mia voglia contenta. 30
Poi dentro a lei udi' : se tu vedessi, Com' io, la carita che tra noi arde, Li tuoi concetti sarebbero espressi ;
Ma perch^ tu aspettando non tarde AlF alto fine, io ti faro risposta Pure al pensier, di che si ti riguarde.
Quel monte a cui Cassino e nella costa,
^ gli occhi ritornai Gg. ^ Di dim. Gg. 1234.
^^ The speaker is St. Benedict (480-543), by whom the famous monastery of Monte Cassino, near Naples, was founded.
^ riguardarsi has almost the meaning of * hesitate.' See Diet. Cruse.
288 PARADISE
side was already frequented on its top by the folk who were deceived and ill-disposed, and I am he who first carried up there the name of Him who brought upon earth the truth that raises us so high ; and so great grace shone upon me that I withdrew the villages round about from the impious worship that seduced the world. These other fires were all men of contemplation, kindled with that heat which brings to birth the holy flowers and fruits. Here is Macarius, here is Romuald; here are my brothers who
Fu frequentato gia in su la cima Dalla gente ingannata e mal disposta.
E quel son io che su vi portai prima 40
Lo nome di colui, che in terra addusse La verita che tanto ci sublima :
E tanta grazia sovra me rilusse, Ch' io ritrassi le ville circostanti Dair empio colto, che il mondo sedusse.
Questi altri fuochi tutti contemplanti Uomini fuo, accesi di quel caldo, Che fa nascere i fiori e i frutti santi.
Qui e Maccario, qui e Romoaldo,
^^ Macarius was the name of at least three of the Egyptian hermits of the fourth century. One was a disciple of St. Anthony, and the other two, known as M. of Egypt and of Alexandria respectively, were the heroes of sundry legends. Dante has very probably combined them into one person (Philalethes). The hermit in Orcagna's fresco at Pisa, who calls the attention of the hunting-party to the corpses, is said to be St. Macarius. — Romoaldo. St. Romuald was born at Ravenna about 960. In 1009 he founded the famous monastery of Camaldoli, in the Casentino, the ' Ermo ' of Purg. v. 96. He is said to have seen in a vision a ladder reaching to heaven, on which his brethren were ascending; and this possibly suggested the image of the ladder to Dante.
.XXII PARADISE 289
within their cloisters stayed their feet and kept the heart sound.' And I to him : ' The love which thou showest in talking with me, and the good semblance which I see and note in all your fires have spread wide my trust in like manner as the Sun does the rose, when she becomes as widely opened as she has the power to be. Wherefore I pray thee, and do thou, father, assure me, if I have power to receive . such grace that I may see thee with uncovered form.' Wherefore he : \ Brother, thy high desire shall be fulfilled up in the last sphere, where are fulfilled all others, and mine. There each longing is perfect, ripe, and whole ; in that only is every part there where it always was ; because
Qui son li frati miei, che dentro ai chiostri 50 Fermar li piedi, e tennero il cuor saldo.
Ed io a lui : T affetto che dimostri
Meco parlando, e la buona sembianza
Ch' io veggio e noto in tutti gli ardor vostri,
Cosi m' ha dilatata mia fidanza,
Come il sol fa la rosa, quando aperta Tanto divien, quant' ell' ha di possanza.
Perb ti prego, e tu, padre, m' accerta, S' io posso prender tanta grazia, ch' io Ti veggia con immagine scoverta. 60
Ond' egli : Frate, il tuo alto disio S' adempiera in su 1' ultima spera, Ove s' adempion tutti gli altri e il mio.
Ive ^ perfetta matura ed intera Ciascuna disianza ; in quella sola
^^ In the highest heaven the spirits are seen in bodily form, no longer surrounded with light. ' Caelum empyreum habet claritatem gloriae, quae non est conformis cum claritate naturali.' — S. T. i. Q. 66. A. 3.— Cf. XXX. 44, 45.
U
290 PARADISE canto
it is not in place, nor is it set on poles, and our ladder goes even to it, wherefore it is so stolen from thy sight. Up to that place on high did the patriarch Jacob see it extend its topmost part, when it appeared to him so charged with angels. But to ascend it no one now parts his feet from earth, and my rule has remained below for the spoiling of paper." The walls that used to be an abbey are become dens of thieves, and the cowls are sacks full of flour of sin. But heavy usury is not levied so much against the pleasure
E ogni parte la, dove sempr' era : ^ Perche non e in luogo, e non s' impola :
E nostra scala infino ad essa varca ;
Onde cosi dal viso ti s' invola. Infin lassu la vide il Patriarca 70
Jacobbe sporger la superna parte,^
Quando glir apparve d' Angeli si carca. Ma per salirla mo nessun diparte
Da terra i piedi ; e la regola mia
Rimasa e giu per danno delle carte. Le mura che soleano esser badia,
Fatte sono spelonche, e le cocolle
Sacca son piene di farina ria. Ma grave usura tanto non si tolle
^ Che ogni Gg. ; Et ogni Cass. 124. s Jacob isporger Aid. Bi. ; porgere Gg. W. ; porger 1234.
^ non s' impola : because it does not revolve. Cf. Con v. ii. 6 : E da sapere che ciascuno cielo, di sotto al cristallino, ha due poli fermi quanto a se ; e lo nono gli ha fermi e fissi e non mutabili, secondo alcuno rispetto. Of the motionless Empyrean, or tenth heaven, he says just before : esso non e in luogo, ma formato fu solo nella prima Mente.
'^^ Sacca : plural formed like mura, etc.
"^^ si tolle : not, I think, 'exalts itself,' as most comm. seem to take it. Togliere is quite a recognised word for the levying of tribute
xxii PARADISE 291
of God, as that fruit which makes the heart of the monks so foohsh. For whatsoever the Church guards belongs all to the folk who ask in God's name, not to a parent, nor to another more foul. The flesh of mortals is so soft, that on earth a good beginning suffices not from the birth of the oak till the making of the acorn. Peter began without gold and without silver, and I with prayer and with fasting, and Francis began his convent in humility. And if thou lookest at the beginning of each one, then lookest again
Contra il piacer di Dio quanto quel frutto, 80 Che fa il cuor dei monaci si folle.
Che quantunque la Chiesa guarda, tutto fe della gente, che per Dio dimanda, , Non di parente ne d' altro piu brutto.
La carne dei mortali ^ tanto blanda,
Che gill non basta buon cominciamento, Dal nascer della quercia al far la ghianda.
Pier comincib sanz' oro e sanza argento, Ed io con orazione e con digiuno, E Francesco umilmente il suo convento. 90
E se guardi il principio di ciascuno, Poscia riguardi la dov' ^ trascorso,^
^ rig. iljin dove Gg.
or interest. For the sin of usury, see Inf. xi. ; where (in 1. 36) toilette would seem to be the right reading.
^^ frutto : the revenues of Church property, which after payment of the necessary expenses of the Church and its ministers, ought to go to the poor ; see xii. 93.
^^ guarda: 'holds in trust,' not owns.
^ piii brutto : concubines and the like.
^^ I. e. cannot bring forth fruit.
^ In spite of Benvenuto, who says that leter Damian is intended, and cautions us against understanding the Apostle, it is hardly possible to doubt the allusion to Acts iii. 6.
292 PARADISE CANTO
where it has migrated, thou shalt see brown made from the white. But in truth Jordan driven back and that the sea should flee when God willed, was more wondrous to behold, than succour here.'
Thus he said to me, and then drew back to his com- pany, and his company closed up ; then like a whirlwind, all gathered itself on high.
The sweet Lady urged nve after them with only a sign, up over that ladder, so did the virtue in her overcome my nature. Nor ever here below where one mounts and falls was motion naturally so rapid that it could be equalled to
Tu vederai del bianco fatto bruno. Veramente Giordan volto retrorso '
Pill fu, e 11 mar fuggir, quando Dio volse,'^
Mirabile a veder, che qui il soccorso. Cosi mi disse : ed indi si ricolse
Al suo collegio, e il collegio si strinse ;
Poi come turbo in su tutto s' accolse.' La dolce Donna dietro a lor mi pinse loo
Con un sol cenno su per quella scala,
Si sua virtu la mia natura vinse : Ne mai quaggiu, dove si monta e cala,
Naturalmente fu si ratto moto,
Ch' agguagliar si potesse alia mia ala.
i volto e retrorso 3 Aid. W. ^ fu il mar 23 Aid, W,
1 s* avvolse Gg,
^^ The original brightness tarnished.
94-96 There is some variety of readings, but the sense is clearly, * Gcd has in time past wrought even greater miracles than the reformation of the monastic orders would be. ' The allusion to Psalm cxiv. is obvious. For the change of construction from the participle to the infinitive cf. i. 46, 47.
XXII PARADISE 293
my flight. As I hope to return once more, reader, to that devout triumph, for the sake whereof I often bewail my sins and smite my breast, thou hadst not put thy finger into the fire and withdrawn it in such time as I saw the sign which follows the Bull and was within it. O glorious stars, O light impregnate with great virtue, from which I acknowledge all my wit, whatever it be ; with you was springing up and with you was hiding himself he who is
S' io torni mai, lettore, a quel devoto Trionfo, per lo quale io piango spesso Le mie peccata, e il petto mi percuoto,
Tu non avresti in tanto tratto e messo
Nel fuoco il dito, in quanto io vidi il segno no Che segue il Tauro, e fui dentro da esso.
O gloriose stelle, o lume pregno
Di gran virtu, dal quale io riconosco Tutto qual che si sia il mio ingegno :
Con voi nasceva, e s' ascondeva vosco Quegli ch' e padre d' ogni mortal vita,
10^ tratto e messo : iiarepov irpbrepov, as in ii. 23, 24. Possibly in both passages the inversion may be intended to give a notion of extreme rapidity ; the actions taking place so quickly that they are, so to speak, ended before they are begun.
^^1 They ascend to the sphere of the fixed stars, striking it in the sign, or constellation (for Dante probably does not here take account of precession) of the Twins. The sun enters this sign towards May 20, so that Dante's birthday must have been in the month following that date. Philalethes says that learned men, poets, and prophets were under the influence of the Twins.
"6 Quegli : the Sun. Ar. Metaph. X. 5 : dvOpuirov atTiov rd re (TTOLX^ia . . . Kai to l8lov el8os, Kal et ti dWo ^^w . . . Kal irapd ravra 6 ijXLos Kai 6 Xo^bs k^kXos (the ecliptic, as De Gen. et Corr. ii. 9, quoted above, note to x. 14). Phys. ii. 2 (ad fin.) : dvOpcoiros yap dvOpwtrov y€vva Kal rjXios.
294 PARADISE
the father of all mortal life, when I felt for the first time the Tuscan air ; and afterward, when grace was bestowed on me to enter the circle on high which whirls you round, your region was allotted to me. To you now devoutly sighs my soul, that she may acquire strength for the difficult pass which is drawing her towards itself.
' Thou art so near to the last salvation,' began Beatrice,, 'that thou needest to have thine eyes clear and sharp. And therefore before thou enterest further into it, look back downwards and see how great a world I have put already under thy feet; so that thy heart, as far as it is able, may present itself joyous before the triumphant band who
Quand' io senti* da prima 1' aer Tosco : E poi quando mi fu grazia largita
D' entrar nell' alta ruota che vi gira,
La vostra region mi fu sortita. 120
A voi divotamente ora sospira
U anima mia, per acquistar virtute
Al passo forte che a se la tira. Tu sei si presso all' ultima salute,
Comincio Beatrice, che tu dei
Aver le luci tue chiare ed acute. E perb prima che tu piu t' inlei,
Rimira in giu, e vedi quanto mondo
Sotto li piedi gia esser ti fei ; Si che il tuo cuor, quantunque pub, giocondo 130
S' appresenti alia turba trionfante,
^^^ passo forte : most commentators take this to mean the con- cluding part of the poem ; but this is rather pedestrian, and VeUutello is probably right in saying, ' Intendendo del passo, per lo qual ella (sc. r anima) si debba divider dal corpo. ' Blanc takes the same view. Cf. Purg. xxxiii. 54.
^^^ See Canto xxiii.
PARADISE 295
come blithe through this round aether.' With my sight I turned back through all the seven spheres, and saw this globe such that I smiled at its mean semblance ; and I approve that counsel for best which holds it for least, and whoso thinks on other matters may be called truly righteous. I saw the daughter of Latona illumined without that shadow which was the cause why I once deemed her rare and dense. The aspect of thy son, Hyperion, I there endured.
Che lieta vien per questo etera tondo."^ Col viso ritornai per tutte quante "
Le sette spere, e vidi questo globo
Tal, ch' io sorrisi del suo vil sembiante : E quel consiglio per migliore approbo,
Che r ha per meno ; e chi ad altro pensa,
Chiamar si puote veramente probo.^ Vidi la figlia di Latona incensa
Senza quell' ombra, che mi fu cagione, 140
Perch^ gia la credetti rara e densa. L' aspetto del tuo nato, Iperione,
"^ questo chera Gg. ^ a tutte Gg.
o puh verace7nente W. ; improbo Gg.
^^^ altro : other than things of the earth. There is another reading in the next line, improbo. This would require us to understand altro to mean ' any other theory. '
i"*^ See ii. 60. It is not clear why he should have seen the moon on the farther side free from its shadowy markings. Probably the simplest explanation, as Philalethes says, is the right one, viz. that Dante was aware that the same face of the moon was always turned to the earth, and that therefore the markings that we see would not be seen on the other side.
142 nato : the Sun.
296 PARADISE CANTO
and saw how he moves around, and Maia and Dione near to him. Then appeared to me the tempering of Jove between his father and his son, and then was clear to me the varia- tion which they make of their place ; and all seven showed me themselves, of what size they are, and of what speed, and how they are in separate dweUing-places. The little floor
Quivi sostenni, e vidi com' si muove Circa, e vicino a lui Maia e Dione.^
Quindi m' apparve il temperar di Giove
Tra il padre e il iiglio ; e quindi mi fu chiaro '^ II variar che fanno di lor dove ;
E tutti e sette mi si dimostraro
Quanto son grandi e quanto son veloci,
E come sono in distante riparo. 150
L' aiuola che ci fa tanto feroci,
P vigilia a lui 145. *l quivi W.; euro Aid. (i).
^^* Circa must not be taken as governing lui, for Dante had no notion that Mercury and Venus went round the sun. It may mean ' thereabouts. ' But I am inclined to suspect corruption in this and the preceding line : com' for come is very questionable ; and though Venus is not uncommonly called Dione (really her mother's name) by Ovid, it is certain that Mercury could not be called Maia. Both in this triplet, and in those which precede and follow, the planets are indicated by the relationships of the deities whose names they bear.
1^ ' Nam Jupiter temperat frigiditatem Saturni sui patris et calidi- tatem Martis ejus filii.' Comm. Cass. (Note the indifferent use oi sui and ejus. )
^^^ aiuola : generally taken to mean the inhabited hemisphere. But the whole of this would not have been visible. The sun was in Aries, two signs in advance of Dante's position, and therefore, if we suppose him to be over the central point, a good deal of the east would be in darkness. That he would not overlook this fact is sho\yn by his noticing it in a similar case farther on, xxvii. 85-87 (where aiuola as areola mortalium in De Mon. iii. 15 seems rather to require the wider inter- pretation). If, on the other hand, the sun is over that point, he will be
XXII PARADISE 297
which makes us so fierce, as I revolved with the eternal Twins, appeared wholly to me from its hills to its river- mouths ; then I turned my eyes back to the beauteous eyes.
Volgendom' io con gli eterni Gemelli, Tutta m' apparve dai colli alle foci : Poscia rivolsi gli occhi agli occhi belli.
east of it, and will not see the west part of the hemisphere. I prefer to . understand it as the region around the Mediterranean, or Western Asia and Europe. It could hardly be said that any regions farther east affected the men of that time in any way ; and wherever we conceive his position, though other considerations make it probable that he is just over Jerusalem, he would see the whole of the region indicated. It may be further noted that on this view of his position, the sun being two signs in advance, it would be 4 P. M. at Jerusalem ; and as he entered Paradise at jioon of Purgatory = midnight of Jerusalem, he has come half round the world in sixteen hours.
f
CANTO XXIII
ARGUMENT
As they gaze upwards, Christ appears in glory, surrounded by saints. He presently returns whence He came, and His Mother follows. The saints remain.
As the bird among her beloved leaves, perched at the nest of her sweet offspring through the night which hides things from us, who to behold the forms for which she yearns, and to find the food wherewith to feedJ;hem (wherein heavy toils are acceptable to her) prevents the hour upon the- open bough, and with ardent love awaits the Sun, gazing fixedly, so only that the dawn arise; thus my Lady was standing erect and intent turned back towards that region
Come V augello intra 1' amate fronde, Posato al nido dei suoi dolci nati, La notte che le cose ci nasconde,
Che per veder gli aspetti desiati,
E per trovar lo cibo onde gli pasca, In che i gravi labor gli sono aggrati,
Previene il tempo in su 1' aperta frasca, E con ardente afifetto il sole aspetta, Fiso guardando, pur che 1' alba nasca ; ^
Cosi la Donna mia si stava eretta, lo
a eke laere n. 145.
CANTO XXIII PARADISE 299
beneath which the Sun shows least haste, so that seeing her in suspense and longing, I became such as is he who desiring would wish somewhat more, and appeases himself in hoping. But little was there betwixt one *when' and another — of my waiting, I mean, and of seeing the heaven grow more and more in brightening. And Beatrice said : * Lo the squadrons of Christ's triumph, and all the fruit garnered from the revolution of these spheres.' It
Ed attenta rivolta inver la plaga, Sotto la quale il sol mostra men fretta :
Si che veggendola io sospesa e vaga, Fecemi quale e quei, che disiando Altro vorria, e sperando s' appaga.
Ma poco fu tra uno ed altro quando, Del mio attender dico, e del vedere Lo ciel venir piu e piu rischiarando,
E Beatrice disse : Ecco le schiere
Del trionfo di Cristo, e tutto il frutto 20
Ricolto del girar di queste spere.
"' ^^ Beatrice having gazed down towards the earth, has now turned round, and is looking in the opposite direction, i.e. towards that part of the heavens which, as seen from Jerusalem, would be in the meridian, or, rather, in the zenith. There can be little doubt, from a comparison with Purg. xxxiii. 102, 103, that this is meant by the region where the sun moves most slowly (though P. di Dante understands the east) ; but it is a little curious that Dante should have overlooked the fact that as they were outside of the sun there could, strictly speaking, be no meridian. It is to be noticed, however, that in the theology of the time it was held that Christ's second coming would be upon the place whence He had ascended, viz. the Mount of Olives (S. T. Suppl. Q. 88. A. 4), and this is sufficient to fix the meaning.
^^ quando ; so perchl, dove, quia, etc. , used as substantives.
2^ Because by the motions of the spheres the course of the world is governed. See Purg. xx. 12 ; xxxiii. 41, etc. The 'fruit' is of course the saints.
300 PARADISE canto
seemed to me that her face was all on fire ; and she had her eyes so full of gladness, that needs must I pass by with- out interpretation. As in the clear skies at the full moon Trivia smiles among the eternal nymphs who illustrate the heaven through all its gulfs, I saw above thousands of lights a Sun which was kindling them every one, as ours does our upturned countenances; and through the living light appeared the shining Substance so clear that my gaze
Pareami che il suo viso ardesse tutto : E gli occhi avea di letizia si pieni, Che passar mi convien senza costrutto.^'
Quale nei plenilunii sereni ^ Trivia ride tra le Ninfe eterne, Che dipingono il ciel per tutti i seni,
Vid' io sopra migliaia di lucerne,
Un Sol che tutte quante T accendea,
Come fa il nostro le viste superne : 30
E per la viva luce trasparea
La lucente sustanzia tanto chiara,
^ mel convien W. ^ pleni luni et s. 14 ; ^ ne s. 23.
^ It is hardly possible here to doubt that Dante knew, and was imitating, the famous passage, Iliad 9, 555 sqq.
ojs 5' 6t' €V ovpav(^ darpa (paeiurjv ajxtpl 'ZeXrjprjv <pa£v€T dpLirpex^a, 6t€ t' ^wXcto vTrjvejJios aWrjp'
. . . o{)pav66ev 5' dp' inreppdyT] daireros aidrjp, xdvra 8i r' etderai darpa.
'^^ Longfellow compares Purg. xxxi. io6.
^^ viste superne: usually taken as 'the things seen on high,' sc. the stars, which, in the astronomy of the time, were all supposed to shine by reflected light. I understand ms^e as in xxxii. 99, and Purg. xviii. 3 ; and superne as ' raised on high,' perhaps confused with supine. This seems to give a better image.
^^ sustanzia : the glorified body of Christ. Cf. xiv. 52.
(
XXIII PARADISE 30I
endured it not. O Beatrice, gentle guide and dear ! She said to me : ^ That which overcomes thee is virtue from which nought shelters itself. Here is the wisdom and the power which opened the roads between heaven and earth, whereof there was so long desire.' As fire is unlocked from a cloud, through being spread out so that there is not space for it, and out of its nature falls down to earth, so my mind amid that banquet grown too large issued from itself, and what it became, skills not to remember.
^ Open thine eyes, and see of what sort I am : thou hast beheld things such that thou art grown able to endure
Nel viso mio che non la sostenea. O Beatrice dolce guida e cara ! ^
Ella mi disse : Quel che ti sobranza
E virtii, da cui nulla si ripara, Quivi b la sapienza e la possanza,
Ch' apri le strade tra il cielo e la terra,
Onde fu gia si lunga disianza. Come fuoco di nube si disserra 40
Per dilatarsi, si che non vi cape,
E fuor di sua natura in giu s' atterra,^ Cosi la mente mia tra quelle dape
Fatta pill grande, di s^ stessa uscio,
E che si fesse, rimembrar non sape. Apri gli occhi, e riguarda qual son io ;
Tu hai vedute cose, che possente
Sei fatto a sostener lo riso mio.
d guida mia c. Gg. e _y^^ matera 1245.
^ fuor di sua natura : because the nature of fire is to ascend, /cara <l)'u(jLV hk 6aa toijtols vTroLpx^i ficd' aurA, oiov t<$ irvpl (p^peadai dvu. — Ar. Phys. ii. I. Cf. Canto i. 141.
'^^ di sb stessa uscio : cf. Purg. viii. 1 5.
^ See xxi. 4.
302 PARADISE
my smile.' I was like him who bethinks him again of a forgotten dream, and uses his wit in vain to bring it back to his mind, when I heard this offer, worthy of such accept- ance as never may be wiped from the book that notes up the past. If now should sound all those tongues which Polyhymnia with her sisters have made most fat on their sweetest milk, in aid of me, the thousandth part of the truth would not be reached in singing of the holy smile, and how it made the holy countenance clear. And thus in figuring Paradise, needs must the sacred poem leap like him who finds his path cut away. But whoso should weigh the ponderous theme, and the mortal shoulder that is
lo era come quei che si risente
Di visione obblita, e che s' ingegna 50
Indarno di ridurlasi alia mente, Quando io udi' questa profferta, degna
Di tanto grado, che mai non si stingue
Del libro che il preterito rassegna. Se mo sonasser tutte quelle lingue, % Che Polinnia con le sue suore fero ^
Del latte lor dolcissimo piii pingue. Per aiutarmi, al millesmo del vero
Non si verria, cantando il santo riso,
E quanto il santo aspetto facea mero. 60
E cosi figurando il Paradiso
Convien saltar il sagrato poema.
Come chi trova suo cammin reciso.^ Ma chi pensasse il ponderoso tema,^
E r omero mortal che se ne carca,
^ om. sue Cass. 1234 W. Bi. ; Le qual FoHmnia 2. g Com' uom chi tr. 3. ^ poderoso W.
^ Scartazzini quotes the opening words of V.N. : In quella parte del libro della mia memoria.
XXIII PARADISE 303
charged therewith, would not blame it, if beneath that it trembles. No roadstead for a little bark is this that my daring prow goes cleaving, nor for a helmsman who spares himself.
'Wherefore does my face so enamour thee, that thou turnest not round to the fair garden, which under Christ's beams is flowering? Here is the Rose, wherein the Word of God was made flesh; here are' the lilies, to whose odour the good road was taken.' Thus Beatrice ; and I who to her counsels was all prompt, gave myself up again to the
Nol biasmerebbe, se sott' esso trema.
Non e pareggio da picciola barca ^
Quel che fendendo va 1' ardita prora,^ Ne da nocchier ch' a se medesmo parca.
Perche la faccia mia si t' innamora, 70
Che tu non ti rivolgi al bel giardino, Che sotto i raggi di Cristo s' in flora ?
Quivi e la rosa, in che il Verbo divino Carne si fece ; quivi son li gigli, Al cui odor si prese il buon cammino.
Cosi Beatrice ; ed io, ch' ai suoi consigli
Tutto era pronto, ancora mi rendei
^ pileggio 1245 W.; peleggio Aid. k che quel f. Gg,
•'^ Of the two readings which have any weight of authority, pareggio and pileggio (or peleggio)^ the former seems to be preferable, if only on the ground that pileggio, according to its use by Boccaccio and Fazio degli Uberti, appears to mean only ' a journey ' : e.g. Dittamondo Bk. i. Canto X. 87 : Le qual vedrai se farem quel peleggio. It might here be used for pelago, but there seems to be no authority for this. It is more likely that the reading arose from a gloss pelago. Pareggio, Fr. parage, is the reading, among others, of Gg. (which has the gloss, i.e. mare) and Cass, and is adopted by Bianchi and Giuliani. With this passage compare the opening of Canto ii. Benv. ' sicut est opus magno ligno et forti nauta ad transeundum mare magnum.^
73, 74 j,Qgg^ . j.j^g Virgin, gigli : the Apostles.
304 PARADISE
Strife with my feeble eyelids. As in a ray of sunlight, coming pure through a broken cloud, ere now my eyes covered with shade have beheld a field of flowers, so saw I many bands of splendours flashed upon from above by burning rays, without seeing a source of flashing. O kindly power that so impressest them, thou didst raise thyself on high, to grant me space there for my eyes, for that they were powerless ! The name of the fair flower which I ever call upon both morn and even, bound all my mind to give heed to the greater flame. And as the fashion and great- ness of that star, which excels there on high, as it excelled
Alia battaglia dei debili cigli. Come a raggio di sol, che puro mei
Per fratta nube, gia prate di fiori 80
Vider coperti d' ombra gli occhi miei, Vid' io cosi piu turbe di splendori
Fulgurati di su di raggi ardenti,
Sanza veder principle di fulgori. O benigna virtu che si gl' imprenti,
Su t' esaltasti per largirmi loco
Agli occhi li, che non eran possenti.* II nome del bel fior ch' io sempre invoco
E mane e sera, tutto mi ristrinse
L' animo ad avvisar Io maggior foco. 90
E, come ambo le luci mi dipinse
II quale e il quanto della viva stella,
1 non f eran Gg. Cass, 1245.
® The idea seems to be that at first the splendour of Christ among the saints prevents him from seeing them ; afterwards Christ rises on high, and he is able to see them, illumined by the divine splendour.
^ Is there a suggestion here of Sta. Maria del Fiore ? Dante would be likely to invoke the patroness of his own cathedral with a remem- brance of its name.
XXIII PARADISE 305
here below, made a picture in both my eyes, through the midst of heaven descended a little flame, formed in circle in fashion of a crown, and girt her, and revolved around her. Whatever melody sounds sweetest here below, and most draws the soul to itself would appear as a cloud which being rent thunders, compared to the sound of that lyre, by which was being crowned the fair sapphire, wherewith the brightest heaven is jewelled. ' 1 am angelic love, who revolve about the high gladness that breathes from the womb, which was the shelter of our Desire ; and I shall re- volve. Lady of heaven, while thou shalt follow thy Son, and make more bright the highest sphere, because thou enterest
;e thou entere
Che lassu vince, come quaggiii vinse,
Perentro il cielo scese una facella,
Formata in cerchio a guisa di corona, E cinsela, e girossi intorno ad ella.
Qualunque melodia piii dolce suona Quaggiu, ed a se piu 1' anima tira Parrebbe nube, che squarciata tuona,
Comparata al sonar di quella lira, 100
Onde si coronava il bel zaffiro, Del quale il ciel piu chiaro s' inzaffira.
lo sono amore angelico, che giro L' alta letizia, che spira del ventre Che fu albergo del nostro disiro :
E girerommi. Donna del ciel, mentre Che seguirai tuo figlio, e farai dia Piu la spera suprema, perche gli entre.
^ facella : the archangel Gabriel.
i*^! zafliro : cf. topazio, xv. 85 ; margherita, xxii. 29. There may be, as Philalethes thinks, a special propriety in the application of the term to the Virgin, who is pictorially represented in a blue robe.
X
3o6 PARADISE canto
into it.' Thus the cirding melody sealed itself, and all the other lights made resound the name of Mary.
The royal mantle of all the rolls of the world, which is most fervent and most quickened in the breath of God and in His ways, had its inner shore above us so distant that its similitude in the place where I was appeared not yet to me. Wherefore my eyes had not potency to pursue the crowned flame, which mounted up following her offspring.
Cosi la circulata melodia
Si sigillava, e tutti gli altri lumi no
Facean sonar il nome di Maria. Lo real manto di tutti i volumi
Del mondo, che piu ferve e piu s' avviva ^
Neir alito di Dio e nei costumi," Avea sovra di noi T interna riva
Tanto distante, che la sua parvenza,
La dov' io era, ancor non m' appariva : Perb non ebber gli occhi miei potenza
Di seguitar la coronata fiamma,
Che si levb appresso a sua semenza. 120
ni saliva 3. ^ ^^7/5 abito Gg, Aid,; Via 7ieir atto 3.
^^^ si sigillava : i. e. concluded its words.
■^■^^ That is, the pri7num mobile^ ninth or outermost of the revolving spheres, volumi has probably its original meaning of 'things rolled,' but with a play on the derived meaning, ' volumes. ' So Conv. ii. 4 : Questo e il sovrano edificio del Mondo, nel quale tutto il mondo s' in- chiude.
^^^ piu ferve. ^o ferventissimo, Conv. 1. c.
^^^ Bianchi can hardly be right in taking interna to mean the farther side of the ninth heaven. Dante surely wishes only to say that the distance between the eighth heaven, in which he is, and the ninth, to which Mary also now ascends, was too great to be traversed by human sight.
XXIII PARADISE 307
And as a child which reaches its arms towards its mother after it has taken her milk, through the mind which is in- flamed even outwardly, each of those lustres extended itself upward with its point, so that the deep -love which they had to Mary was evident to me. Then they remained there within my view, chanting Regina caeli so sweetly that the delight has never departed from me. O how great is the abundance which is sustained in those richest arks, who here on earth were good tilth for sowing ! Here is life, and joy of the treasure which was earned by weeping in
E come fantolin, che inver la mamma Tende le braccia, poi che il latte prese, Per F animo che in fin di fuor s' infiamma,
Ciascun di quei candori in su si stese Con la sua cima, si che 1' alto affetto ° Ch' egli avieno a Maria mi fu palese.
Indi rimaser li nel mio cospetto, Regina caeli cantando si dolce, Ch' mai da me non si parti il diletto.
Oh quanta e F uberta, che si soffolce 130
In quelF arche ricchissime, che foro A seminar quaggiu buone bobolce !
Quivi si vive, e gode del tesoro,
Che s' acquistb piangendo nelF esilio
^ Con la suafia7nma 1234 W.
^^^ Cf. Purg. XXX. 44.
^2^ Regina caeli : the Easter Antiphon in the Compline service.
■^^^ bobolce. This is usually taken as = Lat. bubulci, drivers of oxen, hence ploughmen ; as bifolco in ii. 18. The chief objections are the feminine termination, and the fact that bifolco seems rather to be the form known to Dante. Also the mixture of metaphors, in any case awkward, is rendered ahnost intolerable by the change from
3o8 PARADISE canto xxiii
the exile of Babylon, where the gold was left behind. Here triumphs, under the high Son of God, and of Mary, for his victory, together with the ancient and with the new council, he who holds the keys of such glory.
Di Babilon, ove si lascio 1' oro ; ^
Quivi trionfa sotto T alto Filio
Di Dio e di Maria, di sua vittoria, E con r antico e col nuovo concilio
Colui che tien le chiavi di tal gloria.
P ov' egli Gg. Cass. 3 ; lascia 4 ; ove HI. 125.
storehouses to sowers. There appears to be a word bubtika, contracted from bubtdcata = \.h.Q ploughing of an ox, our 'acre' (see Diet. Cruse.) ; and this on the whole gives the better sense, so I have ventured to adopt it, therein following Scartazzini.
^^ Babylon as usual denotes the world. The treasure of Paradise is gained by the rejection of earthly wealth. Those who read ov^ egli lascib understand these three lines as well as the next four, of St. Peter ; and, looking to xxii. 2>^, there is something to be said for this interpretation.
CANTO XXIV
ARGUMENT
St. Peter comes forth from the throng of saints, and proceeds to exa- mine Dante concerning the nature and matter of faith ; commend- ing him for his answer.
' O COMPANY elect to the great supper of the blessed Lamb, who feeds you so that your wish is ever fulfilled, if through the grace of God this man has a foretaste of that which falls from your table, before that death appoints a time to him, give heed to his boundless desire, and shower upon
O SoDALizio eletto alia gran cena
Del benedetto Agnello, il qual vi ciba Si che la vostra voglia e sempre plena ;
Se per grazia di Dio questi preliba
Di quel, che cade della vostra mensa, Anzi che morte tempo gli prescriba,
Ponete mente all' affezione immensa,^
^ alia sua voglia Aid. Bi.
^ Sodalizio : * quasi simul sedentes ad mensam cum Christo ; et sic :
In bello socii, comites in calle feruntur ;
Officium coUega facit, discusque sodalem.' — P. di Dante.
Here again there seems to be an allusion to an Easter hymn, viz. ^ Ad cenam Agni providi.'
310 PARADISE canto
him somewhat ; ye drink ever of the fount whence comes that which he is meditating.' Thus Beatrice; and those joyful souls made themselves spheres upon fixed poles, flaming mightily in fashion of comets. And as circles in the fitting of clocks revolve so that the first, to whoso gives heed, seems at rest, and the last to fly, so those choirs, dancing variously, swift and slow, made me judge them in respect of their riches.
From that one w^hich I marked of most beauty, I saw issue a fire so blissful that none there outstripped it for
E roratelo alquanto : voi bevete
Sempre del fonte, onde vien quel ch' ei pensa.
Cosi Beatrice ; e quelle anime liete lo
Si fero spere sopra fissi poli, Fiammando forte, a guisa di comete.
E come cerchi in tempra d' oriuoli
Si giran, si che il primo, a chi pon mente, Quieto pare, e F ultimo che voli,
Cosi quelle carole differente-
mente danzando, della sua ricchezza Mi si facean stimar veloci e lente.^
Di quella, ch' io notai di piu bellezza,*^
Vid' io uscire un fuoco si felice, 20
Che nuUo vi lascio di piu chiarezza ; ^
b mifaceano Gg. Cass. 1234. ^ pi^ chiarezza Gg. ^ carezza Gg.
^^ oriuoli: cf. x. 139. Clocks appear to have been still somewhat of a novelty at this time. The Sultan sent one in the form of a globe, worked by weights and wheels, to Frederick II in 1232. A clock was put up at Westminster in 1288. {Encycl. Brit. s.v. * Clock.')
17 ricchezza: i.e. the degree of glory to which they had attained. The saints who are here present are gathered from all the spheres. See
V. 34-39.
20 un fuoco : St. Peter.
XXIV PARADISE 311
greater brightness ; and three times around Beatrice did it turn with a chant so divine that my fancy repeats it not to me; wherefore my pen skips, and I write it not, for our imagination, far more our speech, is too lively a pigment for such draperies.
' O holy sister mine, who prayest us so devoutly, through thy burning affection thou settest me loose from that fair sphere;' halted thereafter, the blessed fire directed toward my Lady its breath, which shaped its words in such
E tre fiate intorno di Beatrice
Si volse con un canto tanto divo, Che la mia fantasia nol mi ridice ;
Pero salta la penna, e non lo scrivo,
Che r immagine nostro a cotai pieghe,^ Non che il parlare, e troppo color vivo.
O santa suora mia, che si ne preghe, Devota, per lo tuo ardente affetto. Da quella bella spera mi disleghe : 30
Poscia fermato il fuoco benedetto, Alia mia Donna dirizzo lo spiro, Che favello cosi com' io ho detto.
® immaginar Aid. W. Bi.
^ salta : cf. xxiii. 62.
26, 27 A somewhat obscure metaphor. The meaning seems to be that human language is too coarse a medium for the adequate repre- sentation of the divine melody. Thus Benvenuto : sicut pictor non potest figurare replicationes vestium colore vivo, ita nee autor imagi- natione sua vivaci non potest repraesentare nee explicare melodiam et harmoniam illius cantus. Post. Cass, has, however, to pieghe, *i.e. rotationes. '
^^ spera, as in 1. 11, appears to mean the band of blessed spirits who would be clustered like (e.g.) a swarm of bees. Giuliani proposes to read schiera, which is tempting, but wholly lacks authority.
312 PARADISE CANTO
wise as I have said. And she : ' O eternal Hght of the great man to whom our Lord left the keys, which He bore below, of this wondrous joy, try this man concerning points easy and hard, as pleases thee, about the Faith, by which thou didst go upon the sea. If he loves aright, and hopes aright, and believes, it is not hidden from thee, seeing that thou hast thy view there where everything is seen depicted. But because this realm has made citizens by the true faith, to its glory, it is good that thou approach him to speak about it.'
Even as the bachelor equips him, and speaks not
Ed ella : O luce eterna del gran viro, A cui nostro Signor lascio le chiavi, Ch' ei porto giii, di questo gaudio miro,
Tenta costui dei punti lievi e gravi. Come ti piace, intorno della Fede, Per la qual tu su per lo mare andavi.
S' egli ama bene, e bene spera, e crede, 40
Non t' e occulto, perche il viso hai quivi, Ov' ogni cosa dipinta si vede.
Ma perche questo regno ha fatto civi Per la verace fede, a gloriarla, Di lei parlare e buon ch' a lui arrivi.
Si come il baccellier s' arma, e non parla
^^ See De Mon. iii. 9, where this is given as an example among others of St. Peter's faith.
42 Cf. XV. 62 ; xvii. 39, 43-45.
^^ I have followed Daniello in taking arrivi as the second person. Many, however, understand it as impersonal, ' that it occur to him : ' but though Fr. arriver has this meaning commonly — at all events since the seventeenth century — I cannot find any authority for it in early Italian.
46 sqq. The allusion is to the practice, surviving in some faculties even to our time, by which the Bachelor, before proceeding to the
XXIV PARADISE 313
until the master propounds the question, for proof thereof not for determination, so was I arming myself with every argument while she was speaking, to be ready for such a questioner and for such a profession. ' Say, good Christian ; make thyself manifest ; what is Faith ? ' Wherefore I raised my face toward that- light whence this breathed. Then J turned to Beatrice, and she gave me quick looks, that I should spread forth the water of my inward fount. * May the grace which grants me to make my avowal,' I began, ' to the high captain, cause my conceptions to be ex- Fin che il maestro la quistion propone. Per approvarla non per terminarla, Cosi m' armava io d' ogni ragione,
Mentre ch' ella dicea, per esser presto 50
A tal querente, e a tal professione. Di', buon Cristiano ; fatti manifesto ; Fede che e ? ond' io levai la fronte In quella luce, onde spirava questo. Poi mi volsi a Beatrice, ed essa pronte Sembianze femmi, perche io spandessi \J acqua di fuor del mio interno fonte. La grazia, che mi da ch' io mi confessi, Comincia' io, dall' alto primipilo,^ Faccia li miei concetti essere espressi : ^ 60
f dair altro Cass. 1245 Aid. s cone, bene espr. Gg. 1245.
Doctorate, had to 'keep an Act,' i.e. maintain a thesis, in the presence of a Master. In the. case conceived by Dante, which was probably the usual one, the Master propounds the subject. This of course would usually be some well-known proposition, already decided ; so that the candidate would only have to show that he was acquainted with the established proof.
^'' 'Confessio est actus fidei.' — S. T. ii. 2. Q. 3. A. i.
^^ primipilo : strictly the 'centurio primi pili,' or centurion of the front rank of the Triarii or Pilani^ the senior centurion in the Legion.
314 PARADISE canto
pressed' And I pursued: 'As the true pen, father, of thy dear brother has written thereof, who with thee set Rome in the good Hne, faith is substance of things hoped for and evidence of those which do not appear ; and this appears to me its quiddity.' Then I heard: *Thou hast a right opinion, if thou well understandest wherefore he placed it among the substances, and then among the.
E seguitai : come il verace stilo,
Ne scrisse, padre, del tuo caro frate, Che mise Roma teco nel buon filo,
Fede e sustanzia di cose sperate, Ed argomento delle non parventi ; E questa pare a me sua quiditate.^
Allora udii : Direttamente senti, Se bene intendi perche la ripose ^ Tra le sustanze, e poi tra gli argomenti.
h questo Cass. W, ^ rispose Gg. 1234; resptiose Cass.
^ Hebrews xi. i.
68, 69 xhis question embodies one of the objections to St. Paul's definition of faith, stated in the article on the subject in S. T. ii. 2. Q. 4. St. Thomas solves the difficulty by saying : Substantia solet dici prima inchoatio cujuscunque rei ; et maxime quando res sequens con- tinetur virtute in primo principio. . . . Per hunc ergo modum dicitur fides esse substantia rerum sperandarum : quia scilicet prima inchoatio rerum sperandarum in nobis est per assensum fidei, quae virtute continet omnes res sperandas. Dante's answer is perhaps more neatly ex- pressed, and appears to follow Peter Lombard rather than Aquinas. The words of the former are : Fides dicitur substantia rerum sperandarum quia sperandis substat. He also quotes Augustin : Credere quod est actus fidei naturaliter praecedit sperare, quod est actus spei. As to 'argumentum,' St. Thomas continues: Sumitur argumentum pro argumenti effectu. Per argumentum enim inducitur intellectus ad inhaerendum alicui vero ; unde ipsa firma adhaesio intellectus ad veritatem fidei non apparentem, vocatur hie argumentum. With refer-
XXIV PARADISE 315
proofs/ And I thereupon: 'The deep things which be- stow on me here their apparency, to the eyes of the world below are so hidden, that their essence is there in belief only, upon which is founded the high hope, and therefore it takes the purport, of a substance; and from this belief it behoves us to syllogise without having other sight, and therefore it has the purport of an argument.' Then I heard : ' If whatever is acquired below for doctrine was in this wise understood, the sophist's wit would there have no place.' So came the breath from that inflamed love ; then he subjoined : ' Full well has already the alloy and the weight of this money been gone through ; but tell me if
Ed io appresso : Le profonde cose, 70
Che mi largiscon qui la lor parvenza, Agli occhi di laggiu son si nascose,
Che r esser loro v' e in sola credenza, Sovra la qual si fonda 1' alta spene ; ^ E pero di sustanzia prende intenza :
E da questa credenza ci conviene Sillogizzar senza avere altra vista ; E pero intenza d' argomento tiene.
AUora udii : Se quantunque s' acquista
Gill per dottrina, fosse cosi inteso, 80
Non gli avria luogo ingegno di sofista :
Cosi spiro da quell' amore acceso ;
Indi soggiunse : Assai bene e trascorsa D' esta moneta gia la lega e il peso :
^ siferma Gg.
ence to this it may be noted that the gifts of the Spirit which correspond to the virtue of faith are scientia and intelledus.
^ lega e peso : the form and the matter. (Philal.)
3i6 PARADISE canto
thou hast it in thy purse.' And I: *Yes, I have it so bright and so round, that of its coinage nought makes doubt in me.' Thereupon issued from the depth of the light that there was shining : ' This precious jewel whereon every virtue is founded, whence came it to thee ? ' And I : 'The plenteous rain of the Holy Spirit, which is shed abroad upon the old and the new scrolls, is a syllogism which has concluded it for me so sharply that in respect of
Ma dimmi se tu T hai nella tua borsa. Ed io : Si, ho si lucida e si tonda,^ Che nel suo conio nulla mi s' inforsa.
Appresso usci della luce profonda, Che li splendeva : Questa cara gioia, Sovra la quale ogni virtu si fonda, 90
Onde ti venne ? ed io : La larga ploia Dello Spirito Santo, ch' e diffusa In su le vecchie e in su le nuove cuoia,
E sillogismo, che la mi ha conchiusa Acutamente, si che in verso d' ella
1 07ide uscio 2 ; si V ho Bi.
^^ S. T. ii. 2. Q. 4. A. 7 : Per se quidem inter omnes virtutes prima est fides. Cum enim in agibilibus, finis sit principium (this is after Ar. Phys. ii. 7 '' "^0 y^kv yap tI ian Kal rb od eVe/ca eari, rb 5' 66€v i] Kivrjais irpCoTov Tip eXdet ravrb toijtols) — necesse est virtutes theologicas quarum objectum est ultimus finis esse priores ceteris virtutibus. Ipse autem ultimus finis oportet quod prius sit in intellectu quam in voluntate . . . Unde cum ultimus finis sit quidem in voluntate per spem et charitatem, in intellectu autem per fidem, necesse est quod fides sit prima inter omnes virtutes.
^^ cuoia: lit. 'skins,' 'parchments.'
^^ sillogismo. The fact that a certain doctrine is contained in Scripture forms the minor premiss of a syllogism to which faith stands as the major; and from this we conclude to the truth of the doctrine. (Philal.) See 1. 77. The argument here seems to run somewhat in a circle.
XXIV PARADISE 317
that every demonstration seems to me obtyse.' I heard then : ' The old and the new proposition^" which has this conclusion for thee, wherefore holdest thou it for the word of God ? ' And I : ' The proof that discloses the truth to me are the works which followed, for which nature never heated iron nor beat anvil.' It was answered to me : * Say, what assures thee that these works were Y That same one that would prove itself, and none other, swears it to thee.' *If the world turned to Christianity,' said I, ' without miracles, this only is such, that the others are not the hundredth part ; for thou didst enter poor and fasting
Ogni dimostrazion mi pare ottusa.
lo udii poi : L' antica e la novella Proposizione, che si ti conchiude, Perche 1' hai tu per divina favella ?
Ed io : La pruova che il ver mi dischiude, 100
Son r opere seguite, a che natura Non scaldo ferro mai, ne batte ancude.
Risposto fummi : Di', chi t' assicura
Che queir opere fosser ? quel medesmo Che vuol provarsi, non altri, il ti giura.""
Se il mondo si rivolse al Cristianesmo, Diss' io, senza miracoli, quest' uno fe tal, che gli altri non sono il centesmo :
Che tu entrasti povero e digiuno
"1 ne altri Gg.
101, 102 i^ e^ |.jjg miracles ; of which the conversion Of the world to Christianity (106-108) was the greatest. This argument is as old as St. Augustine : hoc nobis unum grande miraculum sufficit, quod eis terrarum orbis sine miraculis credidit.
3i8 PARADISE canto
into the field to sow the good plant, which was once a vine, and now is grown a bramble.'
This ended, the holy Court on high resounded through the spheres a ' Praise we God,' in the melody which up there is chanted. And that lord who so from branch to branch had already drawn me in examination that we were drawing near to the last leaves, recommenced : ' The grace which is mistress with thy mind has opened thy mouth thus far as it ought to open ; so that I approve that which has come forth. But now it is meet to express what thou believest, and whence it has been offered to thy belief.' ' O holy father, O spirit who seest that which thou so believedst, that thou didst outdo younger feet toward the sepulchre,' I
In campo a seminar la buona pianta, no
Che fu gia vite, ed ora e fatta pruno.
Finito questo, 1' alta Corte santa
Risono per le spere un Dio laudamo, Nella melode che lassu si canta.
E quel baron, che si di ramo in ramo Esaminando gia tratto m' avea, Che air ultime fronde appressavamo,
Ricomincio : La grazia, che donnea Con la tua mente, la bocca t' aperse Insino a qui, com' aprir si dovea ; 120
Si ch' io approvo cio che fuori emerse : Ma or conviene esprimer quel che credi, Ed onde alia credenza tua s' offerse.
O santo padre, o spirito, che vedi Cio che credesti, si che tu vincesti Ver lo sepolcro piu giovani piedi,
125, 126 ]\Jq^ Strictly correct, for * the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.' But probably Dante refers to the
XXIV PARADISE 319
began, 'thou wilt that I declare here the form of my ready believing, and also the cause of it hast thou inquired. And I reply : I believe in one God sole and eternal, who unmoved moves all the heaven^ with love and with desire ; and for such creed I have not only proofs physical and metaphysical, but the truth gives it also to me, which showers from hence through Moses, through prophets and through psalms, through the Gospel, and through you who wrote since the fire of the Spirit made you fertile thereto ; and I believe in three eternal Persons, and these I believe an essence so one and so threefold that in con-
Comincia' io : tu vuoi ch' io manifesti La forma qui del pronto creder mio, Ed anche la cagion di lui chiedesti.
Ed io rispondo : Io credo in uno Dio 130
Solo ed eterno, che tutto il ciel muove Non moto, con amore e con disio :
Ed a tal creder non ho io pur pruove Fisice e metafisice, ma dalmi Anche la verita che quinci piove,
Per Moise, per profeti, e per salmi.
Per r evangelio, e per voi che scriveste, Poiche r ardente spirto vi fece almi.
E credo in tre persone eterne, e queste
Credo una essenza si una e si trina, 140
fact of St. Peter having been the first actually to enter. See again De Mon. iii. 9 : Dicit etiam Johannes, ipsum (sc. Petrum) introivisse subito, cum venit in monumentum, videns alium Discipulum cunctantem ad ostium.
131, 132 (^f^ again Metaph. X. 7 : ^<jri tl 8 oi klvotuixevov KiveC, k.t.X.
^^^ fisice e metafisice : no doubt witH allusion to the works of Aristotle so called.
320 PARADISE canto xxiv
junction it admits of sunt and est. AVith the profound condition of Deity which I now touch, the teaching of the Gospel oftentimes stamps my mind. This is the beginning, this is the spark which broadens into a flame afterward Hvely, and as a star in heaven, sparkles in me.'
As the master who listens to that which pleases him, thereafter embraces his servant, rejoicing for the news, as soon as he is silent, thus blessing me in his chant, thrice girt me, as I held my peace, the apostolic light at whose command I had spoken ; so in my speaking pleased I him.
Che soffera congiunto sunt et esteJ"
Delia profonda condizion divina,
Ch' io tocco mo, la.mente mi sigilla° Pill volte r evangelica dottrina.
Quest' e il principio ; quest' e la favilla, Che si dilata in fiamma poi vivace,^ E come Stella in cielo in me scintilla.
Come il signor, ch' ascolta quel che piace. Da indi abbraccia il servo, gratulando Per la novella, tosto ch' ei si tace ; 150
Cosi benedicendomi cantando,
Tre volte cinse me, si com' io tacqui, L' apostolico lume, al cui comando
Io avea detto ; si nel dir gli piacqui.
^ soffero a c. Gg. ; soffrara congiunte 2 ; congiunta Cass. : sono Gg. Cass. 1234 W.
o tocco ^ nella mente i^ Aid. W, P piu viv. Gg. 124.
i-*! este : metri gratia for est. In spite of the great MS. authority for so7io^ sunt must, I think, be right. The Athanasian Creed, it may be noticed, avoids the use of simt.
^^ Piii volte : i. e. * in sundry places. '
CANTO XXV
ARGUMENT
St. James puts certain questions concerning hope. Afterwards St. John joins them, in a light so shining that Dante is thereby deprived for a while of sight.
If ever it befall that the sacred poem to which both heaven and earth have set a hand, so that it has made me lean for many years, overcome the cruelty which locks me out of the fair fold where as a lamb I slumbered, an enemy to the wolves who give it war ; with other fame thenceforth, with
Se mai continga che il poema sacro,
Al quale ha posto mano e cielo e terra, Si che m' ha fatto per piu anni macro, ^
Vinca la crudelta, che fuor mi serra Del bello ovile, ov' io dormii agnello Nimico ai lupi che gli danno guerra ;
Con altra voce omai, con altro vello
3- per molti a. Gg. 124.
2 cielo e terra. The force of this expression may be understood from a comparison with De Mon. ii. I : Veritas autem quaestionis patere potest non solum lumine rationis humanae, sed et radio divinae authoritatis. Quae duo cum simul ad unum concurrunt, caelum et terram simul assentire necesse est.
^ lupi : cf. Purg. xiv. 50.
"^ It seems best to take voce as in xviii. 32. Cf. Purg. xi. 103 (v. 1.), and xxvi. 121. It may, however, mean ' with a voice other than
Y
322 PARADISE CANTO
other fleece I shall return a poet, and over the font of my baptism shall take the chaplet ; since into the Faith which trains the souls to God, I there entered, and afterward Peter for its sake so circled my brow.
Then a light set out towards us from that sphere whence issued the first-fruit which Christ left of His vicars. And my Lady full of gladness said to me : ' Look, look ! lo the chief for whose sake on earth they visit GaUicia.' As when the pigeon settles near its companion, the one, turning and
Ritornerb poeta, ed in sul fonte
Del mio battesmo prenderb il cappello : Perb chb nella fede, che fa conte lo
L' anime a Dio, quiv' entra' io, e poi
Pietro per lei si mi giro la fronte. Indi si mosse un lume verso noi
Di quella spera, ond' usci la primizia ^
Che lascib Cristo dei vicari suoi. E la mia Donna plena di letizia
Mi disse : Mira, mira ; ecco il barone.
Per cui laggiu si visita Galizia. Si come quando il Colombo si pone
Presso al compagno, 1' uno all' altro pande,^ 20
^ schiera Cass. 3. ^ e r mto W.; /' uno e V altro Gg. 12^4 A /d.; e V uno e V altro Cass.
that with which I sang in my younger days : ' i. e. as the poet of faith, no longer of earthly love.
^ cappello : probably the poet's crown of laurel.
13 lume : St. James.
^^ spera; so xxiv. 11, 30.
^^ barone: cf. xxiv. 115.
^^ Galizia : the Spanish province in which is the shrine of Compos- tella, where St. James is said to have been buried. See V.N. § 41.
^^ No one who has watched the ways of pigeons can doubt the reading here. It is only the male bird who *gira e mormora.' The masculine altro follows the gender of compagno.
XXV PARADISE 323
cooing, displays to the other its affection ; so saw I the one great prince of glory received by the other, praising the food whereon they feast on high. But after that their greeting was discharged, silent coram me each one fixed himself, so on fire that it overcame my countenance. Smiling then ' Beatrice said : * Renowned life, through whom the largess of our palace was written, make Hope to resound on this height; thou knowest that thou dost figure it so many
Girando e mormorando, F affezione ;
Cosi vid' io 1' un dalF altro grande Principe glorioso essere accolto, Laudando il cibo, che lassu si prande.
Ma poi che il gratular si fu assolto, Tacito, coram me, ciascun s' affisse, Ignito SI, che vinceva il mio volto.
Ridendo allora Beatrice disse : Inclita vita, per cui la larghezza ^ Delia nostra basilica si scrisse, 30
Fa risonar la speme in questa altezza ; Tu sai che tante volte la figuri,^
d /' allegrezza 12345 ^- ® tante fiate Gg. Cass. 134.
^ The allusion seems to be to St. James i. 5 (or perhaps 17). Others (e.g. Witte) reading allegrezza, understand it as referring to i. 2. It may be noticed that Dante appears to confuse the two Apostles of the name : for the Epistle is ascribed to St. James * the Less ' ; while the patron of Spain, and the one who appears on special occasions joined with St. Peter and St. John, is St. James ' the Greater. ' Dr. Moore points out that Brunetto (Tresor, ii. 8) has made the same mistake.
^^ basilica : heaven ; so aula in 1. 42.
^^ There appears to be no reason for connecting St. James specially with the virtue of Hope ; beyond the fact that Faith has already been assigned to St. Peter, while Love must of course be reserved for St. John. The association seems to be found in early mystical theology.
324 . PARADISE canto
times as Jesus granted more clearness to the three.' ^ Lift ^ thy head, and see that thou assure thyself; for that which comes up hither from your world, must needs be ripened at our rays.' This comfort came to me from the second flame ; wherefore I lifted my eyes to the hills, which before bowed them down with excess of weight. ' Since through grace our Emperor wills that thou show thy face before thy death, in His most secret hall, with His Counts, so that the truth of this Court having been seen, the Hope that on earth causes to love aright, thou mayest confirm in thyself and in
Quante Gesu ai tre fe piu chiarezza.^
Leva la testa, e fa che t' assicuri ;
Che cib, che vien quassu dal mortal mondo, Convien ch' ai nostri raggi si maturi.
Questo conforto del fuoco secondo ^
Mi venne, ond' io levai gli occhi ai monti, Che gl' incurvaron pria col troppo pondo.
Poiche per grazia vuol che tu t' affronti 40
Lo nostro Imperadore, anzi la morte, Neir aula, pill segreta, coi suoi conti,^
Si che veduto il ver di questa corte, La speme, che laggiu bene innamora, In te ed in altrui di cib conforte :
f Quant 0 Gg. Cass. 23 Aid. W.; carezza Gg. 124. g fielf. Gg.; dal W. ^ da suoi 1245.
^ Psalm cxxi. i. ' Montes ' is interpreted as denoting the Apostles, by comparison with Psalm Ixxxvii. i.
^' ^ Christ being the Emperor, the Apostles are fitly spoken of as Counts and Barons.
45, 46 The questions correspond with those in 11. 53, 85, 91, of the last Canto. Beatrice answers the second for him, leaving him to reply to the first and third.
XXV PARADISE 325
Others ; say what it is, and how thy mind blossoms therewith, and say whence it came to thee : ' thus- further pursued the second light. And that kindly one, who guided the feathers of my wings to so lofty a flight, thus prevented me in the reply : ' The Church militant has not any son with more hope, as is written in the Sun who beams on all our host ; wherefore to him it is permitted that from •Egypt to Jeru- salem he come to behold, before his term of service be prescribed for him. The other two points, which are not demanded for the sake of knowledge, but that he may report how much thou hast this virtue in delight, I leave to him, for they will not be hard to him, nor ground of boast-
Di' quel che elP e, e come se ne infiora La mente tua, e di' onde a te venne : Cosi segui il secondo lume ancora.
E quella pia, che guidb le penne
Delle mie ali a cosi alto volo, 50
Alia risposta cosi mi prevenne :
La Chiesa militante alcun figliuolo
Non ha con piu speranza, com' e scritto Nel Sol che raggia tutto nostro stuolo :
Perb gli e conceduto, che d' Egitto Vegna in Gerusalemme per vedere, Anzi che il militar gli sia prescritto.
Gli altri due punti, che non per sapere Son dimandati, ma perch' ei rapporti Quanto questa virtu t' e in piacere, 60
A lui lasc' io ; che non gli saran forti,'
^ A lui li lascio Gg.; il lascio Cass.; la I. 1245.
^^ Cf. Plato Phaedrus 246 D : UicpvKev ij irTepov diJvafjLLS rb ifi^pidh dycLV dvo) fxerewpi^ovaa, y rh rQ)v OeCbv yivos oiKei.
^^ non per sapere : cf. 'non per terminarla,' xxiv. 48.
326 PARADISE canto
ing ; and let him answer to this ; and may the grace of God bear with him in this.'
As a learner, who follows a teacher readily and willingly in that wherein he is expert, so that his excellence may be discovered, 'Hope,' said I, 'is a sure expectation of the glory that shall be, which grace divine produces and fore- going merit. From many stars comes this light to me ; but he first distilled it into my heart, who was the supreme singer of the supreme Leader. " Let them hope in Thee," he says in his Theody, " who know Thy name ; " and who
Ne di jattanzia ; ed elli a cib risponda, E la grazia di Dio cib gli comporti.
Come discente, ch' a dottor seconda
Pronto e libente in quel ch' egli e esperto, Perche la sua bonta si disasconda ;
Speme, diss' io, e uno attender certo Delia gloria futura, che produce Grazia divina e precedente merto.
Da molte stelle mi vien questa luce ; 70
Ma quei la distillb nel mio cor pria, Che fu sommo cantor del sommo duce.
Sperino in te, nella sua Teodia ^
Dice, color che sanno il nome tuo :
k Sperent W.; nella hta 1234 Aid.; nelV alt a Bi. Giul.
^^ di jattanzia : as his possession of the virtue might be.
67-69 Here again Dante follows Peter Lombard. His words are : ' Est enim spes certa expectatio futurae beatitudinis veniens ex Dei gratia et meritis praecedentibus. ' — Sent. iii. 26. See also note to xxix. d-^,
''^ Psalm ix. 1 1, where the Vulgate has : ' Sperent in te qui noverunt nomen tuum.' The word Teodia seems to have puzzled the early commentators. Thus P. di Dante has : ' Et tu, Jacobe, in tuis Epistolis et Theodia, ita dicta a theos quod est Deus, et dia quod est duo^ quasi verba formata a Deo et prolata ab homine ' (!) From some blunder of
XXV PARADISE 327
knows it not, if he has my faith ? Thou didst instil it into me with his instilling in the Epistle thereafter, so that I am full of it, and shed in turn your rain upon other.' While I was speaking, within the living bosom of that blaze quivered a flash sudden and close, in fashion of lightning. Then came the breath : ' The love wherewith I glow yet towards the virtue which followed me even to the palm, and to my issue from the field, wills that I breathe again to thee who makest thy delight of it ; and it is for my pleasure that thou tell that which thy hope promises thee.' And I : ' The
E chi nol sa, s' egli ha la fede mia ?
Tu mi stillasti con lo stillar suo,
Nella pistola poi, si ch' io son pieno, Ed in altrui vostra pioggia ripluo.
Mentr' io diceva, dentro al vivo seno
Di quello incendio tremolava un lampo 80
Subito e spesso, a guisa di baleno :
Indi spiro : L' amore, ond' io avvampo Ancor ver la virtu, che mi seguette Infin la palma, ed all' uscir del campo,
Vuol ch' io respiri a te, che ti dilette Di lei ; ed etami a grato, che tu diche Quello che la speranza ti promette.
this kind no doubt sprang the reading nella tua, and this was corrected into nelV alta^ which modern editors have adopted without authority.
^^ Thus faith is the ground of hope ; xxiv. 90. S. T. ii. 2. Q. 17. A. 7 : Fides absolute praecedit spem ... In diffinitione fidei (Heb. xi. i) proponitur res speranda, quia proprium objectum fidei non est apparens secundum seipsum. Unde fuit necessarium ut quadam cir- cumlocutione designaretur per id quod sequitur ad fidem.
^^ The passage in St. James's Epistle specially alluded to (if any) would seem to be v. 7.
^^ spesso seems to mean * dense,' 'compact' ; not as some take it, ' frequent, ' a meaning in which, except adverbially, Dante does not use the word.
328 PARADISE canto
new and the old Scriptures set the mark, and this points it out to me, of the souls which God has made friends to Him. Isaiah says that each one shall be clad in its own land with a twofold raiment; and its own land is this sweet life. And thy brother with far more of ripeness, in that place where he treats of the white robes, makes mani- fest this revelation to us.'
And first, hard upon the end of these words Sperent in
Ed io : Le nuove e le scritture antiche Pongono il segno, ed esso lo m' addita, Deir anime, che Dio s' ha fatte amiche. 90
Dice Isaia, che ciascuna vestita ' Nella sua terra fia di doppia vesta, E la sua terra e questa dolce vita.
E il tuo fratello assai vie piu digesta. La dove tratta delle bianche stole, Questa rivelazion ci manifesta.
E prima, presso il fin d' este parole,
^ So xxiv. 93.
^^ Others, taking segno as = *aim,' read ed esso: Lo m' addita; understanding the words as a parenthesis, indicating a remark interjected by St. James. But this makes the structure of the passage unnecessarily disjointed, besides that it is not in Dante's manner. The meaning would seem to be : ' Scripture tells me the mark by which the souls pleasing to God will be known, and the promises of Hope point it out to me ' : esso referring to quello, and lo to segno. He then goes on to state in the words of the Old and the New Testament what the object of his hope is, viz. everlasting blessedness. Another reading, which Bianchi adopts, puts a full stop at addita, and a comma at amiche ; * Isaiah says of the souls,' etc.
^^ The allusion is to Isaiah Ixi. 7 : propter hoc in sua terra duplicia possidebunt ; the idea of raiment being taken from v. 10 : quia induit me vestimentis salutis.
^ fratello : St. John, in Rev. vii. 9.
^ Cf. xxiv. 112.
XXV PARADISE 329
te was heard above us, to which all the choirs responded ; then among them a light brightened, so that if the Crab possessed such a gem the winter would have one month of a single day. And as a joyous maiden rises and goes and enters a dance only to do honour to the new bride and not for any fault, so saw I the glory that had shone forth come to the two who were turning in such a wheel as beseemed their burning love. It put itself there into the chant and into the music, and my Lady held her gaze on them, just like a bride silent and unmoved. 'This is he who lay
Sperent in te, disopra noi s' udi,^ A che risposer tutte le carole :
Poscia tra esse un lume si schiari, 100
Si che, se il Cancro avesse un tal cristallo, L' inverno avrebbe un mese d' un sol di.
E come surge, e va, ed entra in ballo • Vergine lieta, sol per fare onore Alia novizia, e non per alcun fallo,
Cosi vid' io lo schiarato splendore
Venire ai due, che si volgeano a rota, Qual conveniasi al loro ardente amore.
Misesi li nel canto e nella nota ;
E la mia Donna in lor tenea V aspetto,"' no Pur come sposa tacita ed immota.
Questi e colui, che giacque sopra il petto
1 in te Domine sopra Gg. ^ tetine Cass. 1234 Aid. W. Bi.
^^ See note to xxvi. 69.
1^0 lume : that of St. John the Divine.
^^^ During the middle month of the winter, when the sun is in Capricorn, Cancer, being exactly opposite to it, is up throughout the night. The meaning of course is that the spirit of St. John shone with a brightness equal to the sun.
105 pgj, alcun fallo : i. e. from vanity or wantonness.
330 PARADISE canto
upon the breast of our Pelican, and this one was from upon the cross chosen to the great office.' Thus my Lady; nor for all that did her words move her sight from staying intent afterwards more than before. As he is who looks and prepares himself to see the sun eclipsed a little, that through seeing he becomes sightless, so I grew at this latest fire, until it was said to me : ' Why dost thou dazzle thyself to behold a thing which here has no place? On earth, earth is my body, and it will be there with the others so long as our number is being made equal with the eternal
Del nostro Pellicano ; e questi fue
D' in su la croce al grande uficio eletto.
La Donna mia cosi, ne perb piue Mosser la vista sua di stare attenta, Poscia che prima le parole sue.
Quale e colui, che adocchia e s' argomenta Di veder eclissar lo Sole un poco, Che per veder non vedente diventa, 120
Tal mi fee' io a quell' ultimo fuoco,
Mentreche detto fu : Perche t' abbagli Per veder cosa, che qui non ha loco ?
In terra e terra il mio corpo, e saragli
Tanto con gli altri, che il numero nostro Con r eterno proposito s' agguagli.
113 Pellicano. The pelican, fabled to feed its young with its own blood, was a favourite emblem of Christ. Thus in the well-known Eucharistic hymn of St. Thomas, *Adoro te devote,' we find the expression, ' Pie Pelicane, Jesu Domine.'
■^^■* al grande uficio : the care of the Mother of the Lord.
^^1 Dante gazes at St. John in the expectation of seeing his earthly body, misled, like the early Christians, by the words of John xxi. 22. Aquinas, S. T. Suppl. Q. "]*]. A. i, does not wholly reject this 'pious belief. '
XXV PARADISE 331
purpose. With the two garments in the blessed cloister are the two lights only who went up : and this thou shalt report to your world/ At this voice the flaming circle was still, together with the sweet blending which was made of the sound of the threefold breath ; just as through the ceasing of toil or risk the oars, till then beaten again and again in the water, all pause at the sound of a whistle. Ah ! how was I moved in my mind, when I turned to see Beatrice, through being unable to see her, albeit I was near to her, and in the world of bliss !
Con le due stole nel beato chiostro Son le due luci sole, che saliro : E questo apporterai nel mondo vostro.
A questa voce 1' infiammato giro 130
Si quietb, con esso il dolce mischio, Che si facea del suon nel trino spiro ;
Si come per cessar fatica o rischio, Gli remi pria nell' acqua ripercossi, Tutti si posano al sonar d' un fischio.
Ahi quanto nella mente mi commossi, Quando mi volsi per veder Beatrice, Per non poter vedere, ben ch' io fossi ^
Presso di lei, e nel mondo felice !
^ veder la Aid. Bi.; ben veder cK io Cass. 3.
^^^ due stole : the earthly and the heavenly bodies. ^^^ luci : Christ and the Virgin. It is somewhat curious, as Scartaz- zini notes, that Dante should have ignored Enoch and Elijah. ^^^ Imitated from Stat. Theb. vi. 799 sqq. :
Sic ubi longa vagos lassarunt aequora nautas, Et signo de puppe dato posuere parumper Bracchia.
CANTO XXVI
ARGUMENT
St. John examines Dante concerning love, and especially love towards God. Afterwards Adam comes, and resolves certain doubts respecting the first state of man.
While I was doubting by reason of my quenched vision, from the effulgent flame that quenched it issued a breath which made me attentive, saying : ' Whiles thou art regain- ing sense of the sight which thou hast consumed upon me, it is well that thou make up for it in converse. Begin then, and say where thy soul is centred, and reckon that the sight in thee is bewildered and not defunct ; because the Lady,
Mentr' io dubbiava per lo viso spento, Delia fulgida fiamma che lo spense, Usci un spiro che mi fece attento,^
Dicendo : In tanto che tu ti risense Delia vista, che hai in me consunta, Ben' e che ragionando la compense.
Comincia dunque, e di' ove s' appunta L' anima tua, e fa ragion che sia La vista in te smarrita e non defunta ;
^ Gitmse un sph'ito Gg.
^ hai consunta : like avea co7iquiso in Purg. xxiii. 45. ^ s' appunta : cf. Purg. xv. 49.
^CANt>p ^^y PARADISE 333
who is guiding thee through this bright region, has in her glance the virtue which the hand of Ananias had.' I said : ' At her pleasure, whether soon or late, let healing come to the eyes which were doors when she entered with the fire wherewith I ever burn. The Good which makes content this Court is Alpha and Omega of whatever scripture reads Love to me either gently or in strength.' That same voice which had taken away from me fear of the sudden dazzling, set me yet further in desire of talking, and said : ' Surely with a closer sieve behoves it thee to make clear; it be- hoves thee to say who directed thy bow to such a mark.'
Perche la Donna, che per questa dia lo
Regione ti conduce, ha nello sguardo La virtii ch' ebbe la man d' Anania.
lo dissi : Al suo piacere e tosto e tardo Vegna remedio agli occhi che fur porte, Quand' ella entrb col fuoco ond' io sempr' ardo.
Lo ben che fa contenta questa Corte, Alfa ed Omega e di quanta scrittura' Mi legge amore o lievemente o forte.
Quella medesma voce, che paura ^
Tolta m' avea del subito abbarbaglio, 20
Di ragionare ancor mi mise in cura :
E disse : Certo a piu angusto vaglio Ti conviene schiarar ; dicer convienti, Chi drizzo 1' arco tuo a tal berzaglio.^
^ medes7?ia luce 07ide Gg. ^ V occhio—parzaglio Gg.
^2 Acts ix.
18 lievemente o forte : ' light or loud,' says Philalethes, interpreting ' through reason or revelation ' ; see 11. 25, 26. I have followed Daniello in understanding amore as the object of legge, which here must have almost the meaning of * teaches. '
334 PARADISE canto
And I : ' Through arguments of philosophy, and through authority which descends hence, must such love on me needs be stamped ; for the good, in so far as it is good, as it is understood, so kindles love, and so much greater in proportion as it comprehends in itself more of goodness. Therefore to the Being, wherein is so great pre-eminence that every good which is found outside of It is nought else
Ed io : Per filosofici argomenti, E per autorita, che quinci scende, Cotale amor convien che in me s' imprenti :
Ch^ il bene, in quanto ben, come s' intende, Cos! accende amore, e tanto maggio Quanto piu di bontade in se comprende. 30
Dunque all' essenza, ov' e tanto avvantaggio, Che ciascun ben che fuor di lei si truova
23 sqq. j^ ^jn ^g observed that the form of the questions is different in the present case from what it has been in regard to the two first virtues. With each of these the catechism took this form : What is it ? Do you possess it ? Whence did you obtain it ? But since Love is, on Dante's theory of morals, the basis of all conduct, it is clear that the form of interrogation must be modified. Love is self-evident, and so incapable of definition ; universal, so that there can be no question of his possess- ing it. The questions which St. John asks are therefore : What is the ultimate object of Love? How did you ascertain what it was? (I put the points, for clearness' sake, in the baldest form. ) Dante replies : God is the beginning and end of whatsoever teaches me to love ; and I have learnt this both from revelation (1. 26) and from philosophy. For good, qua good, causes desire as soon as it is apprehended (S. T. ii. I. Q. 27. A. 2 : bonum cum non nisi apprehensum sit objectum et causa appetitivi motus, necesse est apprehensionem et cognitionem causam amoris in unoquoque esse), and in proportion to its goodness. But all goodness is derived firom God (S. T. i. Q. 6. A. 3 : Cum Deus solus absolutam perfectionem habeat, cujus esse est sua essentia . . . ipse solus per essentiam bonus est ; and A. 4 : unumquodque dicitur bonum bonitate divina, sicut primo principio exemplari) ; and therefore God is the prime object of love — as before, rdyadbv od ttclvt' i^ierat.
XXVI PARADISE 335
than a light from Its beam, more than towards any other, must needs be proved in loving the mind of each one who discerns the truth whereon this proof is founded. Such truth to my intellect he lays down who demonstrates to me the first love of all the eternal substances. The voice of the true Author lays it down, who says to Moses, speaking of Himself: I will make thee to see all goodness. Thou layest it down to me further, beginning the high heralding,
Altro non e ch' un lume di suo raggio,^ Piu che in altra conviene, che si muova
La mente, amando, di ciascun che cerne
Lo verOj in che si fonda questa pruova. Tal vero alio intelletto mio sterne
Colui, che mi dimostra il primo amore
Di tutte le sustanze sempiterne. Sternel la voce del verace autore, 40
Che dice a Moisb, di se parlando :
lo ti faro vedere ogni valore: Sternilmi tu ancora, incominciando
d che luce Gg.; che di suo lume un raggi Aid. Bi.
^ Colui. There is some difference of opinion as to who is meant ; but we can hardly doubt that the allusion is to Aristotle. See Metaph. X. 8 : eTrel 5^ to KLvovfjLevov dvayK-q virb tlvos KLveTadac, koI to irpCoTOV KLVovv OLKiv-qTov eXvai Ka6' avTd, [klvcT d^ Cos epibfievov. Chap, vii.] /cat T7]v didiOP KLvrjaLV vtto didiov Ktveiadat Kai ttjv jxlav v(f) evds, opCo/jLev d^ wapd TTjv Tov iravTos ttju CLTrXyju (popdu, f)v klv€lv (pafxkv ttjv irpcbTTjv ovalav Kai dKivrjTOv, dWas (popds oijaas rds tCjp irXavrjTiav dLdiovs, dvdyKT) Kal TouTiov €KdoT7)v tCjv cf>opQ)v utt' dKLVTjTov T€ KLveladai Kad' avTb Kal didiov ovaias' 7j T€ ydp tCjv daTpivu (p^ais didios ovaia tls odaa, Kal Tb klvovv dibiov Kal irpbTepov tov KivovfjL^vov Kal Tb irpbTcpov ovaias omiav dvdyKT) elvai. See xxiv. 131.
*^ Exodus xxxiii. 18.
43-45 y^Q ^^-^ hardly be wrong in understanding the reference to be to I John iv. ; though some suppose the opening of the Gospel to be
J
336 PARADISE canto
which cries on earth the secret of this place above all other proclamation.'
And I heard : ' By reason of human intellect, and of authority concordant to it, of thy loves keep the sovereign towards God. But say further if thou feel other cords draw thee towards Him, so that thou utter with how many teeth this love bites thee.' The holy intention of Christ's eagle was not in concealment, rather I was aware whither he would lead my profession. Wherefore I recommenced : ^ All those bites, which can make the heart turn to God, have concurred in my charity ; for the existence of the
L' alto preconio, che grida T arcano
Di qui laggiu, sovra ad ogni altro bando.
Ed io udii : Per intelletto umano, E per autoritade a lui concorde, Dei tuoi amori a Dio guarda il sovrano.
Ma di' ancor se tu senti altre corde
Tirarti verso lui, si che tu suone 50
Con quanti denti questo amor ti morde.
Non fu latente la santa intenzione
Dell' aguglia di Cristo, anzi m' accorsi, Ove menar volea mia professione ;
Pero ricominciai : Tutti quel morsi, Che posson far lo cor volgere a Dio, Alia mia caritate son concorsi :
Che r essere del mondo, e 1' esser mio,
indicated, others (misled probably by 1. 17) the Apocalypse. But in neither of these is anything said about love, the subject at present under consideration. >
^^"^^ I.e. creation, redemption, sanctification. The passage of Aquinas which Philalethes and Scartazzini quote (S. T. ii. 2. Q. 27. A. 3 : Utrum Deus sit propter se ipsum ex charitate diligendus) hardly seems to the point. %
PARADISE 337
world and my own existence, the death which He endured that I may Hve, and that which every faithful man hopes, as I do, together with the aforesaid lively knowledge, have drawn me from the sea of the wrong love, and have set me on the shore of the right. The leaves wherewith is leafy all the garden of the eternal Gardener I love in proportion to the amount of good which from Him is borne to them/
So soon as I held my peace, a chant most sweet re- sounded through heaven, and my Lady was saying with the others: * Holy, Holy, Holy.' And as at a keen light sleep departs through the spirit of sight which speeds back
La morte ch' ei sostenne, perch' io viva,
E quel che spera ogni fedel, com' io, 60
Con la predetta conoscenza viva,
Tratto m' hanno del mar dell' amor torto, E del diritto m' han posto alia riva.
Le frondi, onde s' infronda tutto 1' orto Deir ortolano eterno, am' io cotanto, Quanto da lui a lor di bene e porto.
Si com' io tacqui, un dolcissimo canto Risono per Io Cielo, e la mia Donna ^ Dicea con gli altri, Santo, Santo, Santo.
E come a lume acuto si disonna 70
Per Io spirto visivo, che ricorre
® per lor cielo Gg.
^^ amor torto : cf. Purg. xvii. icxd sqq.
^^ Cf xxiv. 113, XXV. 98. (Ought we not, in the second of these, to read speravi in te ? This would refer the chant of the saints in each case to the ' Te Deum ').
'''^ spirto visivo. The physiology of the time held that sensation and motion were caused by the movements of what were called the 'spirits.' See for example V.N. §§ 3 and 14. (In the latter of these the * spirits of sight' desert their organs, leaving their place to be
Z
338 PARADISE
at the brightness which goes from coat to coat [of the eye], and the awakened man shrinks from that which he sees, so ignorant is his sudden awaking as long as the judging faculty comes not to his aid ; thus from my eyes Beatrice chased every mote with the ray of hers which flashed to more than a thousand miles ; wherefore I saw thereafter better than before, and as though stupefied I inquired con-
Allo splendor, che va di gonna in gonna,
E lo svegliato cio che vede abborre. Si nescia e la sua subita vigilia. Fin che la stimativa nol soccorre ;
Cosi degli occhi miei ogni quisquilia Fugb Beatrice col raggio dei suoi, Che rifulgean da piu di mille milia ;
Onde, me' che dinanzi, vidi poi,
E quasi stupefatto dimandai 80
taken by Love.) The theor}^, whatever it may exactly have been. seems to have been developed from Aristotle's notion of a irvevixa (TijfJupvTov, or ^fKpiTov, which entered into the composition^of all animal bodies, giving them their vital heat, and connected them with the universe (Gen. An. ii. 3, and cf. Virg. Aen. vi. 724 sqq.), its seat being the heart. Aristotle himself does not seem to have referred any sensa- tions to it directly but those of smell and hearing (Gen. An. ii. 6 : ij 8' 6<j<Ppy)aLS Kai i] ukot], Trdpoi (TwdirTOVTes irpds rbv auipa rbv d^padeu, TrXrjpeLS (jvix<f>vTov trvevfULTos) ; but as he makes ' every faculty of the soul ' par- take of it, the rest naturally follow. See also De Part. An. Dr. Ogle's translation, p. 183. It may be noted that our common expression ' animal spirits ' is nothing but a survival, like so many others, from Aristotle's terminology.
"- gonna seems meant to render the scientific tunica.
"^ stimativa is the faculty by which the mind interprets the evidence given by the senses ; e.g. perceives, in the words of Aristotle, De An. ii. 6, that ' the white object is the son of Diares.' * Ad apprehendendum intentiones quae per sensum non accipiuntur, ordinatur vis aestimativa. . . . Alia animalia percipiunt hujusmodi intentiones solum natural i
PARADISE 339
cerning a fourth light which I beheld with us. And my Lady: 'Within those rays looks with love upon its Maker the first soul which the prime Virtue ever created.' As the leaf which bends its top in the passing of the wind and then lifts itself through its proper virtue which draws it on high, did I in measure as she was speaking, in astonishment ; and then a desire of speaking wherewith I was on fire made me secure again, and I began : ' O apple that wast alone pro- duced ripe, O ancient father to whom every bride is daughter and daughter-in-law, with all the devotion in my power I supplicate thee that thou talk to me ; thou seest my wish, and in order to hear thee quickly, I say it not.'
D' un quarto lume, ch' io vidi con noi. E la mia Donna : Dentro da quei rai
Vagheggia il suo fattor 1' anima prima,
Che la prima virtu creasse mai. Come la fronda, che flette la cima
Nel transito del vento, e poi si leva
Per la propria virtd che la sublima. Fee' io in tanto quanto ella diceva,
Stupendo, e poi mi rifece sicuro
Un disio di parlare ond' io ardeva : 90
E cominciai : O pomo che maturo
Solo prodotto fosti, o padre antico,
A cui ciascuna sposa e figlia e nuro, Devoto, quanto posso, a te supplico,
Perche mi parli ; tu vedi mia voglia ;
E, per udirti tosto, non la dico.
quodam instinctu ; homo autem per quandam collationem. Et ideo quae in aliis animalibus dicitur aestimativa naturalis, in homine dicitur cogitativa.' — S. T. i. Q. 78. A. 4. Aristotle does not appear to name it as a distinct ' potentia ' of the soul ; this was first done by Avicenna. ®^ quaxto lume : Adam, who has now joined the three Apostles.
340 PARADISE canto
At times an animal, being covered up, so wriggles that its desire must needs appear by reason of the movement after it which its wrapper makes ; and in like manner the first-created soul caused to appear to me through its covering how joyously it came to do me pleasure. Then it breathed forth : * Without its being set forth to me by thee, I better discern thy will than thou whatever thing is to thee most certain ; because I see it in the truthful mirror which makes
Tal volta un animal coverto broglia. Si che r affetto convien che si paia Per lo seguir che face a lui la invoglia :
E similmente T anima primaia loo
Mi facea trasparer per la coverta. Quant' ella a compiacermi venia gaia.
Indi spirb : Senz' essermi profferta Da te, la voglia tua discerno meglio,^ Che tu qualunque cosa t' e piu certa :
Perch' io la veggio nel verace speglio, Che fa di se pareglio 1' altre cose,^
^ Dante Gg. (al. da te) Cass. 1235 W. ; Dame 4.
g pareglio alT altre 1245 W. Giul. ; pareglie t altre 3 Aid. Bi.
^"^ This simile, in which the soul of Adam within its encircling glory is likened to an animal struggling under a cloth, has much scandaHsed some of the commentators ; but see note to xvii. 129.
^^* Da te. It is impossible to believe that Dante can be the right reading, though it is found in many respectable MSS., endorsed by P. di Dante (*vocando Adam ipsum auctorem per nomen proprium, ad ostendendum quod a Deo in perfecta scientia fiiit ipse Adam creatus, quod omnia nomina taha sunt ei nota '), and adopted by Landino among ancient, and Witte among modern editors. The varia* is as old as Benvenuto ; but, as he sees, the introduction of the name would be a violation of the rule implied in Purg. xxx. 63 (see note ante, 1. 55) ; and the absence of da te would quite destroy the balance of the sentence.
^^^ pareglio. The meaning of this is doubtful, and the readings
PARADISE 341
Other things a copy of Itself, and nought makes It of itself a copy. Thou wouldst hear how long it is since God placed me in the high garden where this lady set thee in order for so long a climb ; and how long delight my eyes had, and the proper cause of the great displeasure, and the idiom which I used and which I made. Now, my son, not the tasting of the tree was of itself the cause of so great banish- ment, but only the passing beyond the mark. From that
E nulla face lui di se pareglio. Tu vuoi udir quant' b che Dio mi pose^
Neir eccelso giardino, ove costei no
A cosi lunga scala ti dispose : E quanto fu diletto agli occhi miei,
E la propria cagion del gran disdegno,
E r idioma ch^ io usai e fei. Or, figliuol mio, non il gustar del legno
Fu per se la cagion di tanto esilio.
Ma solamente il trapassar del segno.
^ Tu vuoi super W.
vary, chiefly between /' altre and cuV cdtre. The chief objection to the latter is that we do not find a lui in the following line, as symmetry would require (besides that Dante would surely have written 'nulla fa di se a lui ') ; so that we must take di s^ as depending on pareglio and not on fa. It is further to be observed that the lines are meant to be explanatory of the term speglio as applied to God. Now God is called * a mirror, ' in the sense that all events are reflected in His mind ; but while the reflection in a mirror is the secondary appearance, God's knowledge precedes the event. Thus pareglio must mean something like 'copy' or 'likeness.' It will thus be probably the same word as parigliOf whiSh originally denotes ' a pair ' in the dice. The interpre- tation of it as ' parhelion ' may be dismissed as far-fetched.
115-117 s_ X. ii. 2. Q. 163. A. I : Primum primi hominis peccatum fuit superbia, in quam primus parens, similitudinem divinam arroganter, et supra suae naturae modulu7n expetendo prolapsus est.
342 PARADISE canto
place whence thy Lady moved Virgil, for four thousand three hundred and two revolutions of the sun did I long for this assembly, and I saw him return to all the stars of his road nine hundred and thirty times whiles that I was upon earth. The language which I spoke was all extinct before that the folk of Nimrod gave heed to the work that was not to be consummated; since never yet was any result of reason for the sake of human pleasure, which renews in pursuance of the stars, everlasting. That man speaks is
Quindi onde mosse tua Donna Virgilio, Quattromila trecento e due volumi Di Sol desiderai questo conciHo : 120
E vidi lui tornare a tutti i lumi Delia sua strada novecento trenta Fiate, mentre ch' io in Terra fumi.
La lingua ch' io parlai fu tutta spenta, Innanzi che all' ovra inconsumabile * Fosse la gente di Nembrotte attenta :
Che nullo effetto mai razionabile, Per Io piacere uman, che rinnovella Seguendo il cielo, sempre fu durabile. , Opera naturale e ch' uom favella : 130
* Innanzi assai che W.
118 See Inf. iv. 55.
11^ This follows the calculation which reckons 5232 years from the Creation to the Crucifixion. — volumi has here its literal meaning. Elsewhere Dante uses it simply as = * volume' (xv. 50); and some- times, as xxiii. 112, xxviii. 14, with a kind of play on both meanings.
12* This statement contradicts what Dante says in Vulg. El. i. 6, where he holds that Adam spoke Hebrew. It is useless to try, as Giuliani has done, to reconcile the two statements ; and it is better to suppose that Dante here, as elsewhere (e.g. with regard to the markings on the moon, in Canto ii. ), has taken an opportunity of retracting an opinion which, for whatever reason, he had come to think erroneous.
130 jj- ^ju \yQ seen that Dante's view of the origin of language
XXVI PARADISE 343
work of nature ; but thus or thus, nature leaves then to you to do according as it pleases you. Before' that I descended to the weariness of hell the highest Good was on earth called /, from whom comes the joy which swathes me. Afterwards He was called El ; and this is meet; for the usage of mortals is as leaf on branch, which goes away, and another
Ma cosi o cosi, natura lascia
Poi fare a voi, secondo che v' abbella.
Pria ch' io scendessi alia infernale ambascia, I s' appellava in Terra il sommo Bene,^ Onde vien la letizia che mi fascia :
EL si chiamb da poi ; e cib conviene '} Che r uso dei mortali ^ come fronda In ramo, che sen va, ed altra viene.
k Un i app. Gg. 12345 Aid. ; L s' app. W.
^ L si chiamhpoi Cass. ; El si chiamb poi Gg. 1 245 ; Etel^,', EH A Id, Bi.
corresponds to that which he expresses in Purg. xviii. 55 sqq. as to the origin of morals. Man was made with the potentiality of speech, as with the capacity of feeling desire ; but the subsequent direction of these powers is a matter for his choice, subject more or less to the influence of the heavenly bodies.
133 1' infernale ambascia : cf. Purg. xvi. 39.
13'* The MSS. seem to vary only between / and Un ; the latter aris- ing, no doubt, from a misunderstanding of the former. The reading Z, which Witte oddly adopts from Cod. Caet., can hardly be more than a writer's slip. Benv., followed by Daniello and many modern editors, gives El, which may be thought to have some support from Vulg. El. i. 4. But it is reasonable to suppose that here again Dante is correcting an earlier opinion. (It is curious to notice, by the way, how in this passage he repeats phrases from the earlier chapters of Vulg. El. Thus we have Speculum, of God, in chap, ii., rationabile in chap. iv. etc.) There can be little doubt that Dante was thinking of Exod. vi. 3, and meant by / (if indeed we should not read la) to indicate the name Jehovah, which, he would imply, was older than Elohim. On the whole question see Moore, Text. Crit.
137, 138 Obviously with allusion to Horace, A. P. 60 and 71.
344 PARADISE canto xxvi
comes. On the mount which rises highest from the wave was I, with pure hfe and dishonoured, from the first hour to that which as the sun changes quadrants, is next after the sixth hour.' ^
Nel monte, che si leva piu dall' onda,
Fu' io con vita pura e disonesta 140
Dalla prim' ora, a quella ch' b seconda,
Come il Sol muta quadra, all' ora sesta.
^^^ The duration of Adam's stay in Paradise was a favourite subject of discussion wdth the early theologians. Dante, it will be seen, con- siders it to have extended over little more than six hours.
^^ The sun passes into a fresh quadrant at every sixth hour.
CANTO XXVII
ARGUMENT
St. Peter vehemently rebukes the wickedness of the Bishops of Rome ; and the saints ascend again on high. Dante and Beatrice mount to the ninth Heaven, of the First Movement, beyond which is neither time nor place.
' To the Father, to the Son, to the Holy Ghost, glory,' the whole of Paradise began, so that the sweet chant inebriated me. That which I was beholding seemed to me one smile of the universe, wherefore my intoxication entered through the hearing and through the sight. O joy ! O ineffable blitheness ! O life complete of love and of peace ! O riches without craving secure 1 Before my eyes the four
Al Padre, al Figlio, alio Spirito Santo Comincib gloria tutto il Paradiso, Si che m' inebbriava il dolce canto.
Cib ch' io vedeva, mi sembrava un riso Deir universo : perchb mia ebbrezza Entrava per 1' udire e per lo viso.
O gioia ! o ineffabile allegrezza ! O vita intera d' amore e di pace ! O senza brama sicura ricchezza !
Dinanzi agli occhi miei le quattro face
346 PARADISE canto
torches were standing kindled, and that which came first began to grow more lively, and became such in its sem- blance as Jove would become if he and Mars were birds and exchanged plumage. The providence which here apportions turn and office had made silence in the blessed choir on every hand, when I heard : ' If I change my hue, marvel thou not ; for as I speak thou wilt see all these change hue. He that usurps on earth my place, my place, my place which is vacant in the sight of the Son of God, has of my burying-place made a draught of the blood and of the filth, wherewith the perverse one who fell from this place on high, down there is appeased.'
Stavano accese, e quella che pria venne, Incomincib a farsi piu vivace ;
E tal nella sembianza sua divenne,
Qual diverrebbe Giove, s' egli e Marte Fossero augelH, e cambiassersi penne.
La provedenza, che quivi comparte Vice ed ufficio nel beato coro, Silenzio posto avea da ogni parte,
Quand' io udi': Se io mi trascoloro,
Non ti maravigliar ; chb, dicend' io, 20
Vedrai trascolorar tutti costoro.
Quegli, ch' usurpa in terra il luogo mio, II luogo mio, il luogo mio, che vaca Nella presenza del figliuol di Dio,
Fatto ha del cimiterio mio cloaca
Del sangue e della puzza, onde il perverso, Che cadde di quassu, laggiu si placa.
" quella: St. Peter.
^^'^^ A rather cumbrous way of saying that St. Peter's light grew red. ^ vaca. Daniello takes the meaning to be that while Celestine lived, Boniface could not be lawfully Pope.
XXVII PARADISE 347
With that colour which by reason of the sun over against it paints a cloud at even or at morn, I beheld then the whole heaven overspread ; and as an honourable dame who remains of herself secure, but for the fault of another, only hearing, grows affrighted ; so Beatrice changed favour ; and such eclipse I believe that there was in heaven when the highest* Power suffered. Then his words proceeded with a voice so much altered that not more was his countenance changed : * The Bride of Christ was not nurtured on my blood, on that of Linus, on that of Cletus, to be used for gain of gold : but for gain of this joyful Hfe Sixtus and Pius and Calixtus and Urban shed their blood after much
Di quel color, che, per lo Sole avverso,
Nube dipinge da sera e da mane,
Vid' io allora tutto il ciel cosperso. 30
E come donna onesta che permane
Di se sicura, e per T altrui fallanza,
Pure ascoltando timida si fane, Cosi Beatrice trasmutb sembianza :
E tale eclissi credo, che in ciel fue,
Quando pati la suprema Possanza. Poi procedetter le parole sue.
Con voce tanto da se trasmutata
Che la sembianza non si muto piue : Non fu la Sposa di Cristo allevata 40
Del sangue mio, di Lin, di quel di Cleto,
Per essere ad acquisto d' oro usata : Ma per acquisto d' esto viver lieto
E Sisto e Pio Calisto ed Urbano
^1- *^ Linus (a. d. 67) is commonly held to have been St. Peter's immediate successor ; Cletus, or Anacletus, was the next, or next but one. Sixtus I. and Pius I. were Bishops of Rome in the second century ; Calixtus I. and Urban I. in the third.
348 PARADISE canto
weeping. It was not our intention that on the right hand of our successors should sit part, on the other hand part, of the Christian folk ; nor that the keys which were granted to me should* become a device on a banner to fight against men baptized ; nor that I should be a figure on a seal set to trafficked and lying privileges, whereof I often blush and glow. In shepherd's clothing ravening wolves are seen from here above throughout the pastures ; O defence of God, why dost thou but slumber ! Of our blood men from Cahors and Gascony are making ready to drink : O good
Sparser lo sangue dopo molto fleto. Non fu nostra intenzion, ch' a destra mano
Dei nostri successor parte sedesse,
Parte dall' altra del popol cristiano : Ne che le chiavi, che mi fur concesse,
Divenisser segnacolo in vessillo, 50
Che contra i battezzati combattesse : Ne ch' io fossi figura di sigillo
Ai privilegi venduti e mendaci,
Ond' io sovente arrosso e disfavillo. In veste di pastor lupi rapaci
Si veggion di quassu per tutti i paschi.
O difesa di Dio, perche pur giaci ! Del sangue nostro Caorsini e Guaschi
S' apparecchian di here : o buon principio.
47, 48 'j'j^g allusion is of course to Guelfs and Ghibellines.
^ Cf. Inf. xxvii. 85.
°^ lupi, as usual with allusion to the Guelfs ; though here there is no doubt a suggestion of Matt. vii. 15.
^ Clement V (see xvii. 82), and his successor, John XXII (1316), 'nato di Caorsa di basso afifare ' (Villani ix. 81). This allusion fixes the date of this part of the poem.
XXVII PARADISE 349
beginning, to what vile end must thou needs fall 1 But the providence on high, which with Scipio guarded for Rome the glory of the world, will soon come to aid, as I deem.
*And thou my son, who for thy mortal load wilt yet return below, open thy mouth, and hide not that which I do not hide from thee.'
As with frozen vapours flakes downwards our air, when the horn of the heavenly goat is in contact with the sun, upwards saw I thus the aether grow adorned, and flake with vapours triumphing, which had made sojourn there with us. My sight began to follow their lineaments, and followed, until
A che vil fine convien che tu caschi ! 60
Ma r alta providenza, che con Scipio Difese a Roma la gloria del mondo, Soccorra tosto, si com' io concipio.
E tu figliuol, che per lo mortal pondo Ancor giu tornerai, apri la bocca, E non asconder quel ch' io non ascondo.
Si come di vapor gelati fiocca
In giuso r aer nostro, quando il corno Delia Capra del ciel col Sol si tocca ;
In su vidi io cosi Y etera adorno 70
Farsi, e fioccar di vapor trionfanti, Che fatto avean con noi quivi soggiorno.
Lo viso mio seguiva i suoi sembianti, E segui fin che il mezzo, per lo molto,
^^ Conv. iv. 5 : Non pose Iddio le mani quando per la guerra d' Annibale . . . li Romani vollero abbandonare la terra, se quello benedetto Scipione giovane non avesse impresa 1' andata in Africa per la sua franchezza ?
68, 69 'pjjg g^jj^ enters Capricorn at the winter solstice.
'^^ vapor: i.e. spirits. Cf. Purg. xi. 6.
74 mezzo, as in Purg. xxix. 45.
350 PARADISE canto
the interval, by its greatness, took from it the penetration into what was farther. Wherefore my Lady who saw me released from gazing upwards, said to me : ' Lower thy view, and look how thou hast revolved.'
Since the hour when I had first looked I saw that I had moved through the whole arc which the first clime
Gil tolse il trapassar del piu avanti : Onde la Donna, che mi vide assolto Deir attendere in su, mi disse : Adima II viso, e guarda come tu sei volto. Dair era, ch' io avea guardato prima,
lo vidi mosso me per tutto T arco, 80
Che fa dal mezzo al fine il primo clima,
^1 Although no variant of this line appears to exist, I can hardly doubt that the usual reading, or at least the usual interpretation, is not quite correct. In the following lines Dante says that he could see nearly as far as the coast of Phoenicia, and that he could have seen farther, but that the sun was more than a whole sign in advance of him ; implying that all east of that point was in darkness. The sun must therefore have been, as the * illustrious astronomer ' quoted by Bianchi perceives, about 90 degrees to the westward, i. e. according to the geography of the time, just beyond the meridian of Gibraltar. (The common interpretation, that Dante himself was in this position, having gone six hours to the westward since he last looked down — xxii. 133 — will not do, because in that case he would not, under any circum- stances, have been able to see beyond the Phoenician coast, which would have been then his horizon.) But the sun was at this time somewhere near the middle of Aries ; i.e. about 45 degrees in front of Dante's position. Dante must therefore have been a little past the meridian of Rome, which we know the geography of his time placed midway between Jerusalem, the centre, and the western limit of the inhabited world. See, for example, the Mappa Mundi^ made by a contemporary of Dante, which is preserved in Hereford Cathedral. Incidentally it may be noted that St. Peter's invective gains much in force if we can suppose it to be delivered from a point in the heavens corresponding with the position of Rome on earth. But how then are
XXVII PARADISE 351
makes from the middle to the end ; so that I saw beyond Gades the rash track of Ulysses, and on this side hard by the shore on which Europa became a sweet burthen. And further had the site of this little floor been disclosed to me; but the sun was preceding beneath my feet a sign and more away. My enamoured soul which takes its pleasure always with my Lady, was burning more than ever to guide my eyes back to her. And if nature or art has
Si ch' io vedea di la da Gade il varco Folle d' Ulisse, e di qua presso il lito, Nel qual si fece Europa dolce carco.
E pill mi fora discoverto il sito
Di questa aiuola ; ma il sol procedea, Sotto i miei piedi un segno e piii partito.
La mente innamorata, che donnea Con la mia Donna sempre, di ridure Ad essa gli occhi piu che mai ardea. 90
we to understand 1. 81 ? On any hypothesis, the primo clima, or first zone, cannot extend beyond the tropic of Cancer, or according to Dante's reckoning, about 23 degrees, so that from its middle to its end would only be about iij degrees. (I put aside the interpretations which take mezzo and fine to be the middle and end of the arc described in the course of a day, both for the reason given above, and also be- cause there would be no special appropriateness in Xhe^rst clime, since this would be the same for all. ) In Conv. iii. 5, Dante speaks of la mezza terra^ or as some MSS. read, il mezzo della terra, in the sense of the middle part of the inhabited earth ; and of the equator as run- ning 'quasi per tutta /' estremitct del primo Climate.'* The distance between these is of course 45 degrees, or just what we want here. Ought we not then to read, Che va dal mezzo al Jin del primo clima ? This would make all clear.
®2' ®^ See Inf. xxvi. 100 sqq. and cf. ihe folio volo of line 125 with varco folle.
^ Europa. Ov. Met. ii. 833 to end.
^ aiuola : the same word as he uses in xxii. 151.
88 donnea seems here to have a converse sense to that in xxiv. 118.
352 PARADISE canto
made food to catch the eyes, so as to take the mind, in flesh of man, or in her paintings, all united would appear nought to the divine pleasure which beamed again on me when I turned me to her smiling countenance. And the virtue which the look bestowed on me, rent me away from the fair nest of Leda, and impelled me into the swiftest heaven.
Its parts, most living and lofty, are so of one form that I have not lore to tell what Beatrice selected for a place
E se natura 6 arte fe pasture
Da pigliare occhi per aver la mente, In carne umana o nelle sue pinture,
Tutte adunate parrebber niente, Ver lo piacer divin che mi rifulse, Quando mi volsi al suo viso ridente.
E la virtu, che lo sguardo m' indulse, Del bel nido di Leda mi divelse, E nel ciel velocissimo m' impulse.
Le parti sue vivissime ed eccelse ^ loo
Si uniformi son, ch' io non so dire Qual Beatrice per luogo mi scelse.
^ vicissime Cass. 234 W.; dicissivie 15.
^^ natura 0 arte : cf. Purg. xxxi. 49, 50.
^ nido di Leda : i.e. the Twins, Castor and Pollux.
^ They rise to the ninth heaven, or primo mobile^ which, as being nearest to God, moves the fastest. See Conv. ii. 4, quoted in note, i. 76.
1^ Many MSS. and most of the earliest edd. read vicissime^ a vox nikilif which Scartazzini defends, alone among modern editors ; for Witte, though he puts it in his text, translates * lebensvoll. ' It is said to stand for vicinissime^ which hardly seems possible ; nor would this be a natural counterpart (as it must be taken) to eccelse. The usual rule, to prefer the less obvious of two readings, is modified here by the probability that the -cissime has slipt in from velocissi??io just above.
XXVII PARADISE 353
for me. But she, who saw my desire, began smihng, in such joy that God seemed to rejoice in her face : * The nature of the world, that holds the centre quiet, and moves all else around, begins hence as from its starting-point. And this heaven has no other Where than the mind of God,
Ma ella che vedeva il mio disire, Incomincio, ridendo, tanto lieta Che Dio parea nel suo volto gioire ;
La natura del mondo, che quieta^
II mezzo, e tutto F altro intorno muove, Quinci comincia come da sua meta.
E questo cielo non ha altro dove
b moto Aid. Bi.
106-120 When the last sphere of visible bodies is passed, place and time cannot be said to have any existence. See De Caelo, i. 9 : "Ej/tt [Jukv odv rpbirov oi>pavbv \4yoixev, ttjv omiav t7]v ttJs iaxoiTTjs tov iravrbs irepLcpopds' 7) aQfia cpvaLKOV rb ev rrj eaxdrri irepLcpopq, tov iravrSs' eldoOapLev yap to eaxd-rov Kal &VU3 ^tdXtora Koketv ovpavov €v y t6 delov irav idpvadai (pafxev , . . ^avephv Toivvv e/c tGjv elprj/JL^vicv, OTL o{}t€ iffTlp ^^0}, ovT 67x^^6? jeviadaL cruifxaTos 6yKOV ovdevds . . . "AfjLOL 8k drjXov 6tl ovde Tdiros, ov8k Kevbv, ov8e XP^^^^ eaTlv ^^oj tov ovpavov, €v airavTL yap Toirtp dvvaTov virdp^ai <Tui/Jia . . . Xpbvos 3' iaHv dpLdfjibs KLvrjcreias (See Phys. iv. lO, ll) . . . (pavepbv dpa, 6tl oijTe TOTTOS oijT€ KEvbv oijTE xP<^^os eaTLV ^^(xjdeu ' dtoTrep oUt^ iv tSttcp TaKet 7ri(f>vK€v, o\}t€ xP^^os avTCi iroLel yqpdaKeiv. It will be observed, how- ever, that the idea of a sphere intermediate between the outside of the heaven properly so called, and the eternal abode of Deity, does not seem to have occurred to Aristotle, or at least to have been directly formulated by him. It was probably developed from such passages as Phys. iv. 14: eTret 5' €(7tI irpdoT-r} (sc. tCov KLvrjaewv) rj <popd Kal TavTrj^ 7] kijkX^}, dpL0fjL€LTaL 5' ^KaaTov hi tlvl avyyevei, /xovddes fxovddi, 'iiriroL ^ 5' iTTTrip, oijTCO Kal 6 xpoi'os XP^^V '^^^'^ CipLajxiv'^, ixeTpelTai 5' ibcnrep etirofxev 6 re XP^^^^ KLvqcet Kal 17 KLvqcns XP^^Vt tovto 8' €(TtIv, 6tl virb T7]s (hpLCTfJLivrjs KLv/jo-ecjs XP^^V P^^Tpe^TaL TTJs T€ KLvrjaecos Tb irbaov kol TOV xpovoV d oSv Tb irpuTov /JL^Tpov irdvTCxiv tCov crvyyevCoVf t] KVK\o<popla
2 A
354 PARADISE canto
in which is kindled the love that turns it and the virtue that it showers down. Light and love comprehend it with one circle, as it does the rest ; and of that girth He only who girt it is the intelligence. Its movement is not marked out by any other, but the others are measured by it, as ten by a half and a fifth. And how time has in such vessel its roots and in the others its leaves, can now be clear to thee.
Che la mente divina, in che s' accende no
L' amor che il volge, e la virtu ch' ei piove.
Luce ed amor d' un cerchio lui comprende Si come questo gli altri, e quel precinto Colui che il cinge, solamente intende.
Non e suo moto per altro distinto ; Ma gli altri son misurati da questo. Si come diece da mezzo e da quinto.
E come il tempo tenga in cotal testo Le sue radici, e negli altri le fronde, Omai a te puot' esser manifesto. 120
T] 6/JLa\r}s (uniforme) fx^rpov fidXia-ra, otl 6 dpidfjibs 6 ra^rris yvajpi/jub- TUTos' dWoicoats fiev odv oi)5' aij^rjcns ov8^ yiveais ouk elalv ofjiakeis, (popd 3' iariv' 810 Kal 8oK€t 6 XP^^^^ elvai i] ttjs (T<paipas Klvv,<ns, 6tl ravrr) fji€Tpodi/TaL at (iXXat Kivrjcreis (cf. 1. 1 16) /cat 6 xp6;'os ravrrj t-q KLvrjcreL.
^^^ la mente divina. Here again we can hardly trace an im- mediate Aristotelian origin for the idea. It is perhaps more like the Timaeus ; but we find somewhat the same notion in Met. a. 3 (984b) : vovv drj TLS eiTTUv ew/at, Kaddirep iv rots ^ojots, /cat iv ttj <pv(T€L rbv a'lTLOv Tov k6(T/j.ov /cat rijs rd^ecjs Trdcrrjs, olov vr)(pcov ecpdvr} irap^ eUy Xeyovras tovs irpbrepov. Cf. Boethius, Cons. Phil. iii. Metr. 9 ; pulcrum pulcerrimus ipse Mundum mente gerens. See also Conv. iii. 2 ad fin.
^^^ Luce ed amor : i. e. the highest or empyrean heaven : of which God Himself is the ' intelligence ' as the angelic orders are of the lower spheres.
^^* intende : as in viii. 37.
XXVII PARADISE 355
O covetousness, which dost so whelm mortals under thee that none has power to draw his eyes forth of thy waves ! Well flowers in men their will ; but the rain when unbroken turns to sloes the true plums. Faith and innocence are found only in children : then each takes flight, before the cheeks are covered. One, while he yet lisps, fasts, who afterward devours, with his tongue set free, any food in any
O cupidigia, che i mortali aflbnde Si sotto te, che nessuno ha podere Di trarre gli occhi fuor delle tue onde !
Ben fiorisce negli uomini '1 volere : Ma la pioggia continua converte In bozzacchioni le susine vere.
Fede ed innocenzia sono reperte Solo nei pargoletti : poi ciascuna Pria fugge, che le guancie sien coperte.
Tale, balbuziendo ancor, digiuna, 130
Che poi divora con la lingua sciolta
121 sqq. xhe connection of this with what has gone before will be seen if we consider that in Dante's view cupidity (in which he appears to include all ill-regulated desire) was the origin of all the ills, political and social, from which the world was suffering. There is a very similar train of thought in De Mon. i. 11, 12, 13 : and the close re- semblance between the two passages extends even to details. The well-known dictum of Aristotle (Phys. ii. 2), dvOpojiros EvOpwirov yevvq, Kai tjXlos, which is here alluded to (11. 137, 138), is there quoted. This again carries us to Metaph. \. 5 (1071 a) : dvdpihirov ultlov ... 6 tjXlos Kol 6 Xo^bs kijkXoSj and we observe that De Mon. i. 12 ends with a quotation of the closing words of that book : tcl 'dvra oi) /SoiyXerat iroXtTeijeadaL /caAcws* ovk dyadbv TroXvKOLpavLr}' ets Koipavos. Now the movements of the heavens govern the order of the world ; and thus, as in Purg. xx. 10-15, ^^Y reflection on the one naturally suggests the other.
^^^ volere. Metaph. X. 7 (1072 a): iindvfjLrjTbv fxh to (paivdfjievov KaXbv, ^ovXrjTbf 8^ irpGjrov rb 6v KaXbv.
356 PARADISE canto
month. And one while he Hsps, loves, and listens to his mother, who with speech perfect thereafter longs to see her buried. So grows dark, at the first glance of him who brings morning and leaves evening, the fair skin of his beauteous daughter. Thou, that thou make not marvel to thyself, deem that on earth there is none to govern; wherefore the human family is gone astray. But before that January is wholly out of winter, by reason of the hundredth part that on earth is neglected, these circles on high shall so
Qualunque cibo, per qualunque luna. E tal balbuziendo ama ed ascolta
La madre sua, che con loquela intera
Disia poi di vederla sepolta. Cos! si fa la pelle bianca nera,
Nel primo aspetto, della bella figlia,
Di quel che apporta mane e lascia sera. Tu, perch^ non ti facci maraviglia,
Pensa che in terra non e chi governi : ^ 140
Onde si svia F umana famiglia. Ma prima che Gennaio tutto si sverni,
Per la centesma ch' e laggiii negletta,
Ruggeran si questi cerchi superni,
^ Sappi 3, and some edd. before 1500.
^^ figlia : human nature. See above, note to 1. 121.
140. 141 cf^ pui-g^ xvi. 103.
142, 143 The Julian Calendar put the length of the year at 365J days, and made every fourth year a leap-year. This was, however, too long by somewhat less than the hundredth part of a day, so that in Dante's time the error was above ten days, and January had been pushed by this amount nearer to the end of winter. Vellutello, writing about 1544, implores Paul III to put things right, by ordaining that for the next fifteen years January, or some other of the longer months, shall have thirty days only, and that one leap-year shall be missed in a cen-
XXVII PARADISE 357
roar that the tempest which is awaited thus long shall turn the poops where the prows are, so that the fleet shall speed aright : and true fruit shall come after the flower.'
Che la fortuna, che tanto s' aspetta, Le poppe volgera u' son le prore,^ Si che la classe correra diretta :
E vero frutto verra dopo il fiore.
^ in stdle prove Cass. 134 W.; u su Gg.
tury. As is well known, however, it was reserved for Gregory XIII to correct the error in 1582, by ordering that three out of every four hundredth years should be ordinary years. The Greek Church testifies its independence of Rome by keeping the old style.
^^^ I have followed Bianchi in taking fortuna in its technical sense ; as (e.g.) Purg. xxxii. 116. Benvenuto, and most of the early commen- tators, however, understand merely ' fortune ' ; but this does not give nearly so forcible an image, or one so suited to the stormy character of the prophecy. Also it may be doubted whether we have not here a foreboding of greater, vaguer, and more distant changes than those indicated in the * veltro ' and * DXV ' passages, with which it is usual to compare this. At any rate, with this passage the prophecies of the poem may be said to end.
^^ A recurrence of the metaphor of 1. 126.
CANTO XXVIII
ARGUMENT
X)ante sees a point of exceeding brightness, and revolving around it nine circles, which are the nine Orders of Angels. Beatrice en- lightens him concerning these Orders.
After that, counter to the present life of wretched mortals she had disclosed the truth who makes paradise about my mind, as sees in a mirror the flame of a candle he who is lighted therewith in rear, before having it in sight or in thought, and turns him about to see if the glass tells him the truth, and sees that that agrees with this as note with its measure : so my memory recalls that I did, gazing into the
PosciA che incontro alia vita presente Dei miseri mortali aperse il vero Quella, che imparadisa la mia mente :
Come in ispecchio fiamma di doppiero Vede colui che se n' alluma dietro, Prima che 1' abbia in vista od in pensiero,
E se rivolve, per veder se il vetro
Li dice il vero, e vede ch' el s' accorda Con esso, come nota con suo metro,^
Cos! la mia memoria si ricorda, lo
^ come corda Gg. ^ I.e. as the tune with the words, or rather, their rhythm.
CANTO XXVIII PARADISE 359
fair eyes, whence Love made the cord to take me. And as I turned me about, and my own were touched by what appears in that roll, whenever the eye is rightly bent upon its w^hirl, I saw a point which radiated light so keen, that the sight which it fires must needs close itself, for the great keenness ; and whatever star here appears smallest would seem a moon when placed with it as star is placed in con- junction with star. Perhaps, as near as a halo appears to
Ch' io feci, riguardando nei begli occhi, Onde a pigliarmi fece Amor la corda.
E com' io mi rivolsi, e furon tocchi
Li miei da cib che pare in quel volume, Quandunque nel suo giro ben s' adocchi,
Un punto vidi che raggiava lume Acuto si, che il viso, ch' egli affoca, Chiuder conviensi per Io forte acume.
E quale Stella par quinci piu poca,
Parrebbe Luna locata con esso " 20
Come Stella con stella si colloca.
Forse cotanto, quanto pare appresso Alo cinger la luce che il dipigne,°
^ Halo al ci7tger la I. Cass.; al cinger de la I. 134 ; alo cinger delta I, 2 ; alio c. I. I, 5.
^^ He sees Beatrice's eyes brighten, and turning round, perceives that the highest, or empyrean, Heaven is coming into view.
^^ Cf. Purg. xxxi. 117.
^* volume. See note, xxvi. 119.
16 sqq. xhe point symboHses the unity and indivisibility of the God- head ; * fiiyedos ovbh ej/S^xerat '^x^*-^ ravrrju Tr]v ovaiaVj dX\' dfieprjs Kal ddLaipeTos eariv.^ Met. X. 7 (1073 a). About it revolve nine circles, representing the orders of angels, so that the smallest corre- sponds to the * Intelligence ' which moves the outermost of the heavenly spheres.
23, 24 ^1q^ Aristotle, Meteor, iii. 2-5, discusses the causes of haloes
36o PARADISE
surround the light which gives it colour when the vapour which bears it is most dense, at so great distance around the point a circle of fire was whirling so swift that it would have surpassed that motion which most quickly girdles the world ; and this was girt about by a second, and that by the third, and the third then by the fourth, the fourth by the fifth, and then the fifth by the sixth. Beyond followed the seventh, spread now so far in breadth, that Juno's messenger complete would be too narrow to contain it. So the eighth and the ninth : and each moved more slowly according as its number was farther removed from unity. And that one had its flame most unsullied which
Quando il vapor che il porta piu e spesso,^ Distante intorno al punto un cerchio d' igne
Si girava si ratto, ch' avria vinto
Quel moto che piu tosto il mondo eigne : E questo era d' un altro circuncinto,
E quel dal terzo, e il terzo poi dal quarto,
Dal quinto il quarto, e poi dal sesto il quinto. 30 Sovra seguiva il settimo si sparto
Gia di larghezza, che il messo di Juno ^ Intero a contenerlo sarebbe arto :
Cosi r ottavo, e il nono : e ciascheduno
Piu tardo si movea, secondo ch' era
In numero distante piu dall' uno :
c Quanto 1 2345 Aid.
and rainbows. In ch. 3 he says : Vi'^vera.i i} dvcLKXaaLS rrjs ^rj/ew, avvL(TTafj^vov tov aipos /cat ttjs aTfiidos els v^(pos, iav ojuloKos Kal fiiKpofJiepTjs avviaTafJievT) t^xV-
^^ Intero. Aristotle observes that the entire rainbow is never seen : rrjs tpidos o^divore yiyverat /ci'/cXos, ovde fxei^ov tjjjllkvkXLov Tfirjfxa.
PARADISE 361
was least distant from the pure spark ; I think because it has most truth of it.
My Lady, who beheld me in my care mightily in sus- pense, said : . ' From that point depends the heaven and all nature. Look at that circle which is most in conjunction with it, and know that its movement is so fast through the enflamed love whereby it is goaded.' And I to her : ' If the world were placed with the order which I see in these wheels, that which is set before me would have sated me. But in the world of sense one can see the revolutions so much the more godlike, as they are more remote from the centre. Wherefore, if my desire is
E quello avea la fiamma piu sincera, Cui men distava la favilla pura. Credo perb che piu di lei s' invera.
La Donna mia, che mi vedeva in cura 40
Forte sospeso, disse : Da quel punto Depende il cielo e tutta la natura.
Mira quel cerchio che piii gli e congiunto, E sappi, che il suo muovere e si tosto, Per r affocato amore ond' egli e punto.
Ed io a lei : Se il mondo fosse posto
Con r ordine ch' io veggio in quelle ruote, Sazio m' avrebbe cio che m' e proposto.
Ma nel mondo sensibile si puote
Veder le volte tanto piu divine,^ 50
Quant' elle son dal centro piii remote.^
^ le cose Cass. 1234. ® dal cerchio I4.
^^ in cura : because of the reversed order in which the circles appear ; that which is nearest to the centre moving most rapidly.
^'^ Ar. Met. X. 7 (1072 b) : 'Exel 5' '4(ttl tl klvovv avrb dKivrjrop 3v, TOVTO ovK ivd^x^rai dWcos ^x^*^ ovdafjiw. . . . iK TOLa^Trjs &pa dpXTJs ijpTTjraL 6 oiLipavbs Kcd i) (pvais.
362 PARADISE canto
to have an end in this wondrous and angelic temple, which has only love and light for boundaries, it is meet that I hear further how the copy and the pattern go not after one fashion, since I by myself meditate on that in vain.' ' If thy fingers are not sufficient to so great a knot, it is no marvel; so hard has it grow^n for want of trying.' Thus my Lady ; then she said : * Take that w^hich I shall say to thee, if thou wouldest be satisfied, and about it sharpen thy wits. The circles of the bodies are wide and narrow,
Onde se il mio disio dee aver fine In questo miro ed angelico templo, Che solo amore e luce ha per confine ;
Udir conviemmi ancor come T esemplo ^ E r esemplare non vanno d' un modo : Che io per me indarno a cib contemplo.
Se li tuoi diti non sono a tal nodo Sufficienti, non e maraviglia, Tanto per non tentare e fatto sodo : 60
Cosi la Donna mia, poi disse : Piglia Quel ch' io ti dicerb, se vuoi saziarti, Ed intorno da esso t' assottiglia.
Li cerchi corporai sono ampi ed arti,
' perche t es. IV.
^^ Cf. xxvii. 112.
^' ^ S. T. i. Q. 18. A. 4 : Exemplata oportet conformari exemplari secundum rationem formae, non autem secundum modum essendi ; nam alterius modi esse habet forma quandoque in exemplari, et in exem- plato. Sicut forma domus in mente artificis habet esse immateriale et intelligibile ; in domo autem habet esse materiale et sensibile. Unde et rationes rerum quae in seipsis non vivunt, in mente divina sunt vita ; quia in mente divina habent esse divinum. It is clear, from the phraseology of these lines and of 49, 50, that Dante had this passage in his mind.
64-69 Yhe spheres in which the heavenly bodies revolve are greater in proportion to the degree of virtue {apeT-f}) possessed by those who
XXVIII PARADISE 363
according to the more and the less of the virtue which is spread through all their parts. A greater excellence requires a greater salvation : a greater salvation takes a greater body, if that has its parts uniformly filled. So this which sweeps all the rest of the universe along with it, corresponds to the circle which has most love and most wisdom. Wherefore if thou lay thy measure about the virtue, not the seeming of the substances which appear to thee rounded, thou wilt see
Secondo il piu e il men della virtute, Che si distende per tutte lor parti.
Maggior bontate vuol maggior salute ; ^ Maggior salute maggior corpo cape, S' egli ha le parti ugualmente compiute.
Dunque costui, che tutto quanto rape 70
L' altro universo seco, corrisponde ^ Al cerchio che piu ama e che piu sape.
Per che se tu alia virtu circonde La tua misura, non alia parvenza Delle sustanze che t' appaion tonde,
g bontd, vuol far Cass. 1234 Aid. W. Bi. Gitil. ^ Z' alto Aid. Bi.
occupy them. I understand virtute and bontate to mean very nearly the same thing here ; and salute to have the sense which it has in xiv. 84 and xxii. 124. (The use of it may have been suggested by that of (TcoTTjpia in Met. v. 4 (1091 b), and the connection with bontate got from Eth. vii. 8, 17 ap^Ti] . . . (rc6^et). It will be seen that I have taken a reading of 1. 67 which has the authority of a few MSS. only ; but I cannot help thinking that the ordinary version is founded on a mis- understanding. So too I have departed from the usual rendering in taking salute in 1. 68 as the subject, corpo as the object of cape. But the symmetry of the passage seems to demand this ; and there is no difficulty in understanding cape in a sense in which we use ' to take ' ; , very nearly equivalent to the more common form, * capere in.'
"^^ I.e., the outermost sphere, or Primum Mobile, corresponds with the order of Seraphim, denoted by the innermost ring, which is most perfect in love and knowledge.
364 PARADISE CANTO
a marvellous agreement, of greater to more and of smaller to less, in each heaven to its own Intelligence.'
As splendid and serene remains the hemisphere of the air, when Boreas blows from that cheek, whence he is most gentle, w^hereby the fog which before troubled it is purged and broken up, so that the heaven smiles therefore with the beauties of its every region ; so did I, after that my Lady furnished me with her clear response, and as a star in
Tu vederai mirabil conseguenza^
Di maggio a piu, e di minore a meno, In ciascun cielo, a sua intelligenza.
Come rimane splendido e sereno
\J emisperio dell' aere, quando soffia 80
Borea dalla guancia ond' e piu leno ;
Perche si purga e risolve la roffia
Che pria turbava, si che il ciel ne ride, Con le bellezze d' ogni sua paroffia ;
Cosi fee' io, poi che mi provvide
La Donna mia del suo risponder chiaro,^ E come Stella in cielo il ver si vide.
i co7tvene?iza Aid. Bi, ^ 7iel stio Gg.
81 leno='lenis' (as ^m/^=*tristis'). It is clearly the N.E. wind that is meant (see Brunetto, Tresor, ii. 37), the ' veris comites, animae Thraciae ' of Horace. Cf. Boethius, i. Metr. 3":
Tunc me discussa liquerunt nocte tenebrae,
Luminibusque prior rediit vigor ;
Ut cum praecipiti glomerantur sidera Coro,
Nimbosisque polus stetit imbribus ; .
Sol latet, ac nondum caelo venientibus astris,
Desuper in terram nox funditur,
Hanc si Threicio Boreas emissus ab antro
Verberet, et clausum reseret diem,
Emicat et subito vibratus lumine Phoebus
Mirantes oculos radiis ferit.
XXVIII PARADISE 365
heaven, the truth was seen. And after that her speech had stayed, not otherwise does iron sparkle which is seething, than the circles sparkled. Every spark followed their burn- ing; and they were so many that the number of them is more in thousands than the doubhng of the chess. I heard Hosanna sung from choir to choir, even to the fixed point which holds them and will hold them ever to the ubi in which they have ever been ; and she who saw the doubtful thoughts in my mind, said : ' The first circles
E poi che le parole sue ristaro,
Non altrimenti ferro disfavilla
Che bolle, come i cerchi sfavillaro. 90
Lo incendio lor seguiva ogni scintilla :
Ed eran tante, che il numero loro.
Pill che il doppiar degli scacchi s' immilla. lo sentiva osannar di coro in coro
Al punto fisso che gli tiene all' ubi}
E terra sempre, nel qual sempre foro."^ E quella, che vedeva i pensier dubi
Nella mia mente, disse : I cerchi primi
1 alii mH Gg. ; aliubi Cass. 134. ^ nei quai Gg. Cass. 12345.
89 Cf. i. 60.
9^ An allusion to the story of the reward asked by the inventor of the game of chess : one grain of corn for the first square, two for the second, four for the third, and so on in geometrical progression. The total runs into trillions. The Aldine rather absurdly reads sciocchi^ which Daniello adopts, quoting Petrarch, Trionfo del Tempo, 84 : infinita e la schiera degli sciocchi ; and Eccles. i. 15 : stultorum infinitus est numerus, which is hardly to the point here. ^^ 98 Beatrice explains the arrangement of the angelic hierarchies. The medieval doctrine on this subject was based mainly on the work ascribed to Dionysius the Areopagite, but really belonging in all probability to the end of the fifth century, and on a sermon of St. Gregory the Great ; but its original source is no doubt to be sought in
366 PARADISE
have shown to thee Seraphim and Cherubim. So swift do they follow their bonds, to liken themselves to the centre all they can ; and they can in proportion as in beholding they are exalted. Those other loves, who go around them, are called Thrones of the aspect of God, wherefore they are the boundary of the first triplet. And thou must know that all have delight in proportion as their view fathoms the
T' hanno mostrato Serafi e Cherubi.
Cosi veloci seguono i suoi vimi, loo
Per somigliarsi al punto quanto ponno, E posson quanto a veder son sublimi.
Quegli altri amor, che dintorno gli vonno. Si chiaman Troni del divino aspetto, Perche il primo ternaro terminonno.
E dei saper che tutti hanno diletto, Quanto la sua veduta si profonda
four passages of St. Paul's Epistles. These are Rom. viii. 38 (angeli, principatus, virtutes, &yy ekoL, dpxal, dvpoL/meis) ; Eph. i. 21 (princi- patum, et potestatem, et virtutem, et dominationem, a-pxVj e^ovo-i'a, dvvafjLLs, KvpLOTTjs) ; Col. I. 16 (throni, dominationes, principatus, potestates); ib. ii. 15 (principatus et potestates). I have quoted the last, because a reference to it will show that the terms as used by St. Paul had not the meaning which was afterwards read into them. For our present purpose it is enough to observe that, with the addition of Seraphim, Cherubim, and Archangels, they were subsequently used to denote three groups of Angelic beings, each containing three orders. Dionysius takes them thus r Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones — Domina- tions, Virtues, Powers — Principalities, Archangels, Angels. St. Thomas (S. T. i. Q. 108) has a good deal to say on the subject ; and Philalethes has a long note on this passage, which may be consulted by any who wish for more information.
^^ Troni ; see ix. 61.
106-114 ^j^ expansion of the theory stated in xiv. 40 sqq. The following passages from S. T. will serve to illustrate it : ii. i. Q. 3. A. 4:
PARADISE 367
True, in whom all understanding is set at rest. Hence it may be seen how the essence of blessedness is founded on the act which sees, not on that which loves, which follows after : and of the seeing desert is the measure, which grace and good will bring forth ; in this wise is the advance from grade to grade.
' The next triplet, which thus burgeons in this eternal
Nel vero in che si queta ogni intelletto. Quinci si pub veder come si fonda
L' esser beato nell' atto che vede, no
Non in quel ch' ama, che poscia seconda : E del vedere e misura mercede,
Che grazia partorisce e buona voglia ;
Cosi di grado in grado si procede. L' altro ternaro, che cosi germoglia
In questa primavera sempiterna,
Essentia beatitudinis in actu intellectus consistit. Sed ad voluntatem pertinet delectatio beatitudinem consequens, secundum quod Augustinus dicit (Conf. x. 23) quod beatitudo est gaudium de veritate. A. 8 : Ultima et perfecta beatitudo non potest esse nisi in visione divinae essentiae. Q. 4. A. i : Ex hoc ipso quod merces alicui redditur, voluntas merentis quiescit, quod est delectari ; unde in ipsa ratione mercedis redditae delectatio includitur. A. 2 : Charitas non quaerit bonum dilectum propter delectationem ; sed hoc est ei consequens, ut delectetur in bono adepto quod amat : et sic delectatio non respondet ei ut finis, sed magis visio per quam primo finis fit ei praesens. A. 3 : Sed delectatio in praesentia consequitur dilectionem : et ideo necesse est ista tria concurrere, scilicet visionem, quae est cognitio perfecta intelligibilis finis, comprehensionem, quae importat praesentiam finis, delectationem vel fruitionem, quae importat quietationem rei amantis in amato.
no Word for word from Ar. Eth. x. 8 : 'H reXeia eidaifiovia Qie(j}pr)TLK7} TLs iarlv iu^pyeta.
^^^ S. T. ii. 2. Q. 8. A. 4. : In omnibus habentibus gratiam necesse est esse rectitudinem voluntatis ; quia per gratiam praeparatur voluntas hominis ad bonum.
368 PARADISE canto
spring, which no Ram seen by night despoils, keeps its Hosanna perpetually free from winter, with three melodies, which resound in three orders of joy wherein it is made threefold. In this hierarchy are the three Divinities, first Dominations and next Virtues ; the third order is of Powers. Lastly, in the two dances before the end, whirl Princedoms and Archangels ; the last is wholly of Angelic sports. These orders gaze all on high, and beneath have such mastery that towards God all are drawn and all draw. And
Che notturno Ariete non dispoglia, Perpetualemente Osanna sverna,"
Con tre melode, che suonano in tree
Ordini di letizia onde s' interna. 120
In essa gerarchia son le tre Dee,°
Prima Dominazioni, e poi Virtudi ;
\J ordine terzo di Podestadi ee. Poscia nei duo penultimi tripudi
Principati ed Arcangeli si girano ;
L' ultimo e tutto d' Angelici ludi. Questi ordini di su tutti rimirano,P
E di giu vincon si che verso Iddio
Tutti tirati sono e tutti tirano.
^ esterna Gg.; sberna Cass.; isberna 14. ^ sono tre Gg. ; son V altre Cass. 23 Aid. P tutti s* ammh'ano Gg. Cass. 145.
^^^ The Ram is visible throughout the night when the Sun is in the Scales ; i.e. after the autumnal equinox, when the leaves fall.
121 Dee : cf. Inf. viii. 87. But Dante's use of the word, as applied to the Heavenly movers, seems to be suggested by a notion that it is akin to Idee. See Conv. ii. 5, where the ' intelligences of the heavens ' are identified with the Platonic Ideas; which, he adds, ' li Gentili chiam»- vano Dei e Dee. '
^^ Cf. ii. 123 : di su and di giu strictly mean 'on the upper side' and * on the lower side. '
XXVIII PARADISE 369
Dionysius with so great desire set himself to contemplate these orders, that he named and distinguished them as I do. But Gregory afterward separated from him ; where- fore, so soon as he opened his eyes on this heaven, he laughed at himself. And if a mortal set forth so great a secret on earth, I will not that thou marvel ; for he who beheld it here on high discovered it to him, with much else of the truth of these circles.'
E Dionisio con tanto disio, ^"^ 130
A contemplar questi ordini si mise, Che li nomo e distinse com' io.
Ma Gregorio da lui poi si divise :
Onde si tosto come gli occhi aperse ^ In questo ciel, di se medesmo rise.
E se tanto segreto ver profferse ^
Mortale in terra, non voglio ch' ammiri ; Che chi il vide quassu gliel discoverse,
Con altro assai del ver di questi giri.
<i /' occhio Cass. 134 ^. ^ tanto di se vero 1245.
^^ St. Gregory transposed the Principalities and the Virtues in his arrangement. Dante himself, in Conv. ii. 6 (q. v. ), adopts yet a third, putting Powers in the highest Order, Principalities in the second, and Thrones in the lowest. Here, as elsewhere, he seems to recant an earlier opinion.
^■^^ Because Dionysius was regarded as the pupil of St. Paul, who had himself been ' caught up into heaven. '
2 B
CANTO XXIX
ARGUMENT
Beatrice expounds certain matters regarding the nature of angels ; and reproves the foolishness of preachers.
When both the children of Latona, brooded over by the Ram and the Scales, together make of the horizon a belt, as much as there is from the moment which holds them balanced, until the one and the other lose their balance from that circuit, by changing hemispheres, so long, with her face tinted by a smile, was Beatrice silent, gazing
QuANDO ambedue li figli di Latona Coperti del Montone e della Libra, Fanno delF orizzonte insieme zona,
Quant' e dal punto che li tiene in libra,^ Infin che 1' uno e 1' altro da quel cinto Cambiando 1' emisperio si dilibra ;
Tanto, col volto di riso dipinto. Si tacque Beatrice, riguardando
^ Quanta del prhno 3 ; ptinto che il zenit hilihra Gg. VV. ; z. i libra Bi.
^^ This means merely, for so long a time as the sun and moon, being opposite to each other at the equinox, and on the horizon, take, the one to rise wholly, the other to set.
* See note at end of the Canto.
CANTO XXIX PARADISE 371
fixedly on the point which had overcome me. Then she began : * I say, and inquire not, that which thou wouldest hear, because I have seen it where all ubi and all qiiando are concentrated. Not to have acquisition of good to Him- self, which cannot be, but in order that His brightness might in shining again say, I subsist; in His own eternity, out-
Fiso nel punto, che m' aveva vinto : Poi comincib : lo dico, e non dimando 10
Quel che tu vuoi udir, perch' io 1' ho visto, Ove s' appunta ogni ubi ed ogni qiiando. Non per avere a se di bene acquisto ^
Ch' esser non pub, ma perche suo splendore Potesse risplendendo dir : Sussisto ; In sua eternita, di tempo fuore,
b di ben a se Gg.
^^ The chief points on which Dante wishes for enlightenment are, as appears from Beatrice's explanation, the following : Why, when, where, and how were the angels created? How soon and why did some of them fall ? In what sense can they be said to possess intelli- gence, memory, and will? Is their number {a) great, {b) finite? The answers are very clearly given, and will need little elucidation ; but references to the passages in Aquinas, Augustin, and Peter Lombard, which Dante follows, may be interesting. Naturally, Aristotle will not be found of much help.
13-15 g^ ^ i_ Q^ 26. A. 4 : Divina beatitudo complectitur omnem beatitudinem. S. c. G. ii. 46 (quoted by Scartazzini) : Ad productionem creaturarum nihil aliud movit Deum nisi sua bonitas, quam rebus aliis communicare voluit. splendore — sussisto : cf. xiii. 53, 59.
^^ In sua eternity : not from eternity, but in eternity, i.e. before time, which had no existence previous to the creation of sensible things. The creation of angels, according to Aquinas, S. T. i. Q. 60. A. 3, was ' probabilius ' a part of the general creation of the universe, but the first part. Opinions on this point seem, however, to have differed. vSee below, 11. 37-39.
372 PARADISE canto
side of time, outside of all other comprehension, as pleased Him, the eternal Love revealed Himself in new loves. Nor before did He lie as if in torpor; for neither before nor after preceded the moving abroad of God over these waters. Form and matter in conjunction and in purity came forth to an existence which had no erring, as from a three-stringed
Fuor d' ogni altro comprender, come i piacque, S' aperse in nuovi amor T eterno amore.*^
Ne prima quasi torpente si giacque :
Che ne prima ne poscia precedette ^ 20
Lo discorrer di Dio sopra quest' acque.
Forma e materia congiunte e purette Usciro ad esser che non avea fallo,^
^ in nove amori Cass.; in miovo Amor 3. ^ procedette Gg. Cass. \2i\ Aid. W. ^ ad atto Aid. Bi.
^^ comprender: i.e. local, not mental; as 'incomprehensible' in the Athanasian Creed.
1® The reading nove^ which has some authority, is rather prosaic. No doubt it came in from xiii. 59.
2^ S. T. i. Q. 10. A. 5 : Aeternitas non habet prius et posterius. This seems almost conclusive in favour of the reading precedette, which nevertheless has little MS. authority. But the difference between pro and pre in MS. is so slight that authority is here of less weight than usual.
21 Gen. i. 2.
22 The angels are pure form ; form conjoined with matter appears in the visible creation ; pure matter is not perceivable by the senses, but must be held to exist, and to have been created (S. T. i. Q. 46. A. 2).
23 esser is clearly the right reading, though most modern edd. prefer alto. The use of this, however, in any but its strict meta- physical sense would be out of place here, and in that sense it must be reserved for 1. 32 sqq. I feel less confident about ad, from which, how- ever, there seems to be no variant. To say that in the existence of
XXIX PARADISE 373
bow three arrows ; and as in glass in amber or in crystal a ray so shines that from its coming to its being complete there is no interval, so the threefold effect from its Lord flashed all at once into its being, without distinction in its beginning. Order and structure were concreate in the sub- Come d' arco tricorde tre saette : E come in vetro in ambra od in cristallo Raggio risplende, si che dal venire Air esser tutto non e intervallo, Cosi il triforme effetto dal suo sire Neir esser suo raggio insieme tutto, Senza distinzion nell' esordire/ 30
Concreato fu ordine e costrutto
^ distensione 4 ; i7t esord. Gg. 145.
created things there was no fault appears to conflict with Dante's view as to the imperfection of nature, expressed in xiii. 76 and elsewhere. Ought we not to read Uscir da esser ^ i. e. from the perfect existence of God ? (The form of expression would resemble the da esser verace of Purg. xviii. 22.)
^■^^ The act of creation was instantaneous. Dante follows P. Lom- bard, who supports his view by the words of Ecclus. xviii. i : Qui vivit in aeternum, creavit omnia simul. The contradiction with the account given in Genesis i. is of course only apparent. ' Creation ' means merely the creation of form and matter, not the arrangement of their combinations in the sensible world. ' Creata materia corporalis creaturae, omnia quodammodo sunt creata.' — S. T. i. Q. 61. A. 3.
^1 costrutto must, I think, be a substantive here, as almost always in the D. C. Concreato e costrutto a, for con^ would be a rather awk- ward turn of phrase, nor does it appear that the prefix has retained its meaning in costrtiire, any more than in the English co7istruct. More- over, it is hard to find any meaning for costrutto, if it is a participle, which would not form a tautology with concreato. The idea seems to be, ' The substances were not only simultaneously created, but also simultaneously put in their places.'
374 PARADISE
stances ; and those were the pinnacle of the world, in which pure act was brought forth. Pure potency held the lowest place ; in the midst clasped potency with act such a withe as never is untwisted. Jerome has described for you a long tract of ages, of the angels created before the rest of the world was made : but the truth about this has been written in many
AUe sustanzie, e quelle furon cima
Del mondo, in che puro atto fu produtto.^
Pura potenzia tenne la parte ima ; Nel mezzo strinse potenzia con atto Tal vime, che giammai non si divima.
Jeronimo vi scrisse lungo tratto Dei secoli degli Angeli creati Anzi che 1' altro mondo fosse fatto.
Ma questo vero e scritto in molti lati 40
g Nel 1)1. Gg. Cass. 123 Aid.
^- quelle : the angels. According to Aquinas, S. T. i. Q. 50. A. 2, ' Deus solus est purus actus,' while 'in angelo est actus et potentia.' Dante seems to keep more closely to the Aristotelian doctrine, as ex- pressed in De An. ii. 2 : rpLX^Jos yap Xeyofxhrjs rijs ovaias . . . ihv to jxh eWos, TO 8e vXt}, to 8^ i^ afxtpolv ' tovtojv 5' i) jx^v vXt] dvfa/JLLS Tb be eldos ivTeX^x^*-^ '^- '^' ^' The angels, as we know, are/ormae separatae^ and thus are purely evTeX^x^'-^ or cpepyeta.
^ Pura potenzia, by parity of reasoning, is matter pure and simple. Cf. ihQ ultime poteiize oi x\\\. 6i.
^ potenzia con atto = the visible creation.
^ St. Jerome, commenting on Titus i. 2, incidentally remarks : Ante haec mundi tempora aeternitatem quandam saeculorum fuisse credendum est, quibus semper cum Filio et Spiritu Sancto fuerit Pater, et ut ita dicam unum tempus Dei est omnis aeternitas, imo innumera- bilia tempora sunt cum infinitus sit ipse qui ante tempora omne tempus excedit. Sex millia necdum nostri orbis implentur anni, et quantas prius aeternitates quanta tempora quantas saeculorum origines fuisse arbitrandum est ; in quibus Angeli Throni Dominationes ceteraeque virtutes servierint Deo et absque temporum vicibus absque mensuris Deo jubente substiterint. Referring to this passage St. Thomas says
XXIX PARADISE 375
quarters by the writers of the Holy Spirit ; and thou wilt see it if thou look aright for it ; and also the reason sees it in some measure, for it would not allow that the movers could be so long without their perfect work. Now thou knowest where and when these loves were created, and how ; so that already three flames in thy desire are extinguished.
Dagli scrittor dello Spirito Santo ;
E tu lo vederai, se bene agguati : Ed anche la ragion il vede alquanto,
Che non concederebbe che i motori
Saiiza sua perfezion fosser cotanto.^ Or sai tu dove e quando questi amori
Furon creati, e come ; si che spenti '
Nel tuo disio gia sono tre ardori.
^ fesser Cass. Aid. ^ Furon eletti Cass. 12.'^,^ W.
(S. T. i. Q. 6i. A. 3) : Circa hoc invenitur duplex sanctorum doctorum sententia ; ilia tamen probabilior videtur, quod angeli simul cum creatura corporea sunt creati. Angeli enim sunt quaedam pars uni- versi ; non ejiim constituunt per se unum universum, sed tarn ipsi quam creatura corporea in constitutionem unius universi conveniunt. Quod apparet ex ordine unius creaturae ad aliam. Ordo enim rerum adin- vicem est bonum universi ; nulla autem pars perfecta est a suo toto separata. Hugh of St. Victor took the same view, relying on Ecclus. xviii. I, quoted above. (Lubin. )
44, 45 jf j-j^g angels had been created before the heavens they could not have performed their function of moving these, which is necessary to their perfection. (A similar argument used to prove that the angels were few in number is referred to, but set aside in Conv. ii. 5. ) — per- fezion seems to represent ivreX^x^i-oL here. Dante may have borrowed the term from the passage quoted above ; but this development of the argument seems to be his own.
■^'> dove. As a matter of fact she has said nothing about the place in which the angels were created, except what may be implied in 1. 32. Aquinas, S. T. i. Q. 61. A. 4, holds that it must have been 'in supremo corpore . . . sive id dicatur caelum empyreum, sive qualitercunque nominetur. '
376 PARADISE canto
' Nor would one come, in counting, to twenty, so quickly as did one part of the angels trouble the nethermost of your elements. The other remained, and began this art that thou discernest, with such delight, that never from its circling does it depart. The beginning of the fall was the accursed pride of him whom thou* sawest straitened by all the weights of the world. Those whom thou seest here were modest to call to mind the goodness which had made them ready for so great intelligence ; wherefore their vision was
Ne giugneriesi numerando al venti
Si tosto, come degli Angeli parte 50
Turbo il suggetto dei vostri elementi.^
L' altra rimase, e comincio quest' arte Che tu discerni, con tanto diletto, Che mai dal circuir non si diparte.
Principio del cader fu il maladetto Superbir di colui, che tu vedesti Da tutti i pesi del mondo costretto.
Quelli che vedi qui furon modesti A riconoscer se della bontate, Che gli avea fatti a tanto intender presti : 60
Per che le viste lor furo esaltate
k alimenti Gg.
49-51 g^ 'Y. i. Q. 63. A. 6 : Probabilior opinio, et sanctorum dictis magis consonans, est quod statim post primum instans suae creationis diabolus peccaverit. — suggetto : the earth. Cf. Inf. xxxiv. 122 sqq.
^' ^ Cf. Purg. xii. 25. S. T. i. Q. 63. A. 2 : Peccatum primum angeli non potest esse aliud quam superbia.
56, 57 jj^f^ xxxiv. III.
^^ Philalethes and Witte seem to understand this as meaning *to recognise that they had their origin in the goodness ' ; but it is difficult to see how this is to be got out of the words.
^^ intender; with its special meaning, as in viii. '^'j, xxvii. 114.
PARADISE ^^^s^i^^
exalted with ilium inant grace and wifh their merit so that they have a complete and steadfast will. And I will that thou doubt not, but be certain, that to receive grace is meritorious, in proportion as the desire is laid open to it. Henceforth thou canst contemplate thy fill concerning this
Con grazia illuminante e con lor merto, Si ch' hanno piena e ferma volontate.
E non voglio che dubbi, ma sie certo, Che ricever la grazia e meritorio, Secondo che T affetto gli e aperto.
Qmai dintorno a questo consistorio Puoi contemplare assai, se le parole
^^ S. T. i. Q. 64. A. 2 : Voluntas angeli adhaeret fixe et immo- biliter. The phraseology of these lines seems to be suggested by a passage of vSt. Augustine, De Correptione et Gratia, § 32 : Angeli sancti, cadentibus aliis per liberum arbitrium, per idem steterunt ipsi, et hujus permansionis mercedem recipere meruerunt, tantam scilicet beatitudinis plenitudinem qua eis certissimum sit semper se in ilia esse mansuros. Cf. also Peter Lombard, Sent. ii. 5 : Illi quidem conversi sunt et illuminati a Deo gratia apposita.
64-66 jj^ these lines an answer is given to a question which seems to have occurred to more than one of the early theologians — what had the angels done to deserve their blessedness? Thus Peter Lombard, Sent. loc. cit. : Quaeri solet utrum in ipsa confirmatione beati fuerint Angeli an ipsam beatitudinem aliquo modo meruerint. He inclines to the view that so far as the reward was on account of ' obsequia nobis exhibita ex Dei obedientia et reverentia ' it preceded the service which earned it. Aquinas merely says (S. T. i. Q. 62. A. 4) : dicendum est quod gratiam habuit angelus antequam esset beatus, per quam beati- tudinem meruit . . . angelus meruit beatitudinem conversione chari- tatis, quae est per gratiam. Dante seems to have taken this view, and somewhat expanded it. His affetto of course represents the charitas of Aquinas. The difficulty has clearly been to avoid any expression which might seem to countenance the Pelagian doctrine, ' gratiam Dei secundum merita dari,' and yet not to fall into a vicious circle. The general question of freewill, merit, and grace, will be found discussed in S. T. ii. i. Q. 114.
378 PARADISE
assembly, if my words have been gathered up, without other aid. But whereas on earth through your schools it is taught that the angelic nature is such as understands and remembers and wills, I will say further, in order that thou mayest see in its purity the truth that is there below con- fused, by an equivocation in teaching of such fashion. These
Mie son ricolte, senz' altro aiutorio.^ Ma perche in terra per le vostre scuole 70
Si legge, che V angelica natura
E tal che intende e si ricorda e vuole ; Ancor dirb, perche tu veggi pura
La verita che laggiu si confonde,
Equivocando in si fatta lettura.
1 altro lavoro Aid.
70-81 'pjjg question in what manner angels can be said to possess memory, understanding, and will is considered in S. T. i. QQ. 54" 59- The following extracts will serve to show the view taken by Aquinas, and to illustrate Dante's statement of it. I have given them at some length, as they throw light on sundry points of the scholastic philosophy. Q. 54. A. 4 (where the opponent maintains the thesis. ' quod sit in angelo intellectus agens et possibihs ') : Respondeo dicendum quod necessitas ponendi intellectum possibilem in nobis fuit propter hoc quod nos invenimur quandoque intelligentes in potentia et non in actu. Unde oportet esse quandam virtutem quae sit in potentia ad intelligi- bilia ante ipsum intelligere ; sed educitur in actum eorum cum sit sciens, et ulterius cum sit considerans. Et haec virtus vocatur intellectus possibilis. Necessitas autem ponendi intellectum agentem fuit quia naturae rerum materialium quae nos intelligimus . . . sunt solum intelligibiles in potentia, extra animam existentes. Et ideo oportuit esse aliquam virtutem quae faceret illas naturas intelligibiles actu. Et haec virtus dicitur intellectus agens in nobis. Utraque autem neces- sitas deest in angelis, quia neque sunt quandoque intelligentes in potentia tantum . . . sed in actu ; intelligunt enim primo et princi- paliter res immateriales. Et ideo non potest in eis esse intellectus agens et possibilis nisi aequivoce. Q. 55. A. 2 : Substantiae superiores, idest angeli, sunt a corporibus totaliter absolutae, immaterialiter et in
PARADISE 379
substances, since they have had joy of God's countenance, have not turned their sight from it, wherefrom nought is hidden : therefore they have not a vision interrupted by a new object, and therefore no need to remember by means of an abstract concept. So that below there people are dream- ing awake, believing and not believing that they say true ;
Queste sustanze, poiche fur gioconde Delia faccia di Dio, non volser viso Da essa da cui nulla si nasconde :
Perb non hanno vedere interciso ^
Da nuovo obbietto, e perb non bisogna 80
Rimemorar per concetto diviso.
Si che laggiu non dormendo si sogna, Credendo e non credendo dicer vero :
"^ vole7'e intejxiso Gg.
esse intelligibili subsistentes ; et ideo suam perfectionem intelligibilem consequuntur per intelligibilem effluxum, quo a Deo species rerum cognitarum acceperunt simul cum intellectuali natura ; and below : Intellectus angelicus, dato quod posset abstrahere species intelligibiles a rebus materialibus, non tamen abstraheret, quia non indigeret eis, cum habeat species intelligibiles. Q. 57. A. 2 : Angeli per species a Deo inditas res cognoscunt non solum quantum ad naturam universalem, sed etiam secundum earum singularitatem. In Q. 58. AA. 4, 5, he shows that • angeli quaecunque cognoscunt, sine discursu ' (see note to Purg. xxix. 49) 'apprehenduntj' and that 'angeli non cognoscunt componendo et dividendo.' He only touches the question of memory incidentally, allowing that it may be ascribed to them in so far as it resides in the mind ; but not as a part of the sensitive soul (Q. 54. A. 5). Albert appears to have treated it more fully.
^' ^^ The best interpretation of these rather obscure lines seems to be that of the teachers of false doctrine some were less to blame, as being really persuaded by their own arguments. Others, e.g. Witte, think that the distinction is drawn between those who overrate the faculties of the angels, and those who deny to them powers which men have ; the pi^i colpa being with the latter. But this is rather weak ; and it
38o PARADISE canto
but in the one there is more sin and more shame. You go not on earth by one path in your philosophising ; so much does the love of the appearance and the thought of it transport you. And yet this is borne here on high with less indignation than when the divine Scripture is put aside, or when it is wrested. None thinks there how much blood it costs to sow it in the world, and how much he pleases who humbly sets himself by its side. For appearance each one uses his wit and makes his inventions, and those are hastened over by the preachers, and the Gospel is silent. One says that the Moon turned itself back in the Passion of Christ, and put
Ma neir uno e piu colpa e piii vergogna.
Voi non andate giu per un sentiero, Filosofando ; tanto vi trasporta L' amor dell' apparenza e il suo pensiero.
Ed ancor questo quassu si comporta
Con men disdegno, che quando e posposta
La divina Scrittura, o quando ^ torta. 90
Non vi si pensa quanto sangue costa Seminarla nel mondo, e quanto piace Chi umilmente con essa s' accosta.
Per apparer ciascun s' ingegna, e face Sue invenzioni, e quelle son trascorse Dai predicant!, e il Vangelio si tace.
Un dice che la Luna si ritorse
Nella passion di Cristo, e s' interpose,
can hardly be doubted that Dante was thinking of Aristotle's distinction, in Soph. Elench. 11, between honest and dishonest false reasoners. He is, in fact, about to repeat, with a slight variation, the warning already given in the latter part of Canto xiii. The allusion in 1. 90 to 11. 128, 129 of that Canto is obvious.
97 sqq. See for a discussion of the various theories as to the cause of the ' darkness over all the earth ' at the Crucifixion, S. T. iii. Q. 44.
PARADISE 381
itself in the way, whereby the hght of the Sun extended not down ; and another, that the light hid itself of itself: where- fore to the Spaniards and the Indians, as to the Jews, such eclipse corresponded. Florence has not so many Lapos and Bindos as there are fables of this sort cried hither and thither in pulpit; so that the sheep who have no know- ledge return from the pasture fed on wind, and it does not
Per che il lume del Sol giu non si porse : Ed altri che la luce si nascose " 100
Da se ; perb agl' Ispani e agl' Indi, Com' ai Giudei, tale eclissi rispose. Non ha Firenze tanti Lapi e Bindi, Quante si fatte favole per anno In pergamo si gridan quinci e quindi ; Si che le pecorelle, che non sanno, Tornan dal pasco pasciute di vento,
^ E mente Gg.; mentre Cass. 1234.
A. 2. St. Thomas himself incHnes to the view that it was a miraculous eclipse at the time of full moon, following herein the so-called 'Dionysius,' who in a letter to Polycarp avers that he himself observed it in Egypt. This, as wScartazzini points out, makes the reading E nie^tte in 1. 100 impossible, for though the word appears to be used by Petrus Comestor in reference to this theory, Dante would surely never have applied such a term to any opinion maintained by the Angelic Doctor, even though he might think that the question was not one of sufficient importance to be a matter of controversy, or a theme for sermons.
^^ altri : St. Jerome. See S. T. loc. cit. It is curious that Aquinas should have thought that the objection indicated in the next two lines, viz. the absence of universal observation, applied rather to the theory of an eclipse, or to Origen's notion, that the darkness was due to clouds, than, as Dante rightly sees it did, to the supposition that the sun with- drew its light.
^^^ Lapo and Bindo were popular abbreviations of Jacopo and Aldo- brando.
382 PARADISE CANTO
excuse them that they see not their loss. Christ said not to His first company, Go and preach to the world idle tales ; but gave them a foundation of truth ; and that sounded so mightily in their mouths that to fight for kindling of the Faith, they made of the Gospel shields and lances. Now men go with jests and with railleries to preach, and so long as there is a good laugh,, the cowl puffs out, and no more is asked. But a bird is nesting in the hood, such that if the crowd saw it, they would see the pardoning wherein they trust ; through which, so great folly has increased upon
E non le scusa non veder lo danno.°
Non disse Cristo al suo primo convento,
Andate e predicate al mondo ciance, no
Ma diede lor verace fondamento :
E quel tanto sonb nelle sue guance Si che a pugnar, per accender la fede, Deir Evangelic fero scudi e lance.
Ora si va con motti e con iscede A predicare, e pur che ben si rida, Gonfia il cappuccio, e piii non si richiede.
Ma tale uccel nel becchetto s' annida, Che se il volgo il vedesse, vederebbe La perdonanza, di che si confida : p 120
Per cui tanta stoltezza in terra crebbe,
o il non veder Gg. ; lor dantto Aid. P di che 'I SI conf. Gg. Cass. 12345.
118 uccel : the devil. — becchetto : the tail of the hood, which was thrown over the shoulder. It is a familiar feature in the early Florentine costume.
121 sqq. Compare the story of Frate Cipolla in the Decameron, Day vi. Nov. 10. The somewhat ribald stories of Boccaccio and Sacchetti offer many interesting parallels to Dante's graver denunciations. It may be noted that Cipolla is a ' frate di santo Antonio. '
PARADISE 383
earth, that without proof of any testimony they would flock to every promise. By this grows fat the pig pf St. Anthony, and others in plenty who are still more of pigs, paying in money without a stamp.
' But seeing that we have digressed enough, turn back thine eyes now towards the direct road, so that the way may be shortened with the time. This nature is so graded in
Che sanza pruova d' alcun testimonio Ad ogni promession si converrebbe.
Di questo ingrassa il porco Sant' Antonio, ' Ed altri assai che son ancor piu porci,^ Pagando di moneta sanza conio.
Ma perche siam digressi assai, ritorci Gli occhi oramai verso la dritta strada. Si che la via col tempo si raccorci.
Questa natura si oltre s' ingrada 130
^ ancor che son assai Cass. 3 W. Aid. ; assai che son peggio che p. 124 Bi.
^'^^ It seems better to take ingrassa as intransitive (like inibruna, Purg. iv. 21), rather than with Benv. and others to render ' St. Anthony fattens his pig,' which, as Blanc points out, would be hardly respectful to the saint. The omission of the mark of the genitive before a proper name is less common in Italian than in French ; but it is not unexampled (see Diez iii. 129). P. di Dante has ' Unde porcus sancti Antonii, etc' This St. Anthony is of course not he of Padua, but the famous hermit of Egypt. The reason of the pig as his attribute is somewhat obscure, but it may be from the power ascribed to him of warding off diseases from cattle. (Philalethes.)
^^ I.e. promising unauthorised indulgences.
130 sqq. speculations as to the number of the angels seem to have been common, as may be inferred from the allusion in xiii. 98. Aquinas discusses the question, S. T. i. Q. 50. A. 3, concluding that ' Angeli cum longe perfectiores sint corporalibus creaturis, in quadam maxima multitudine sunt omnem materialem multitudinem excedentes. ' The germ of the whole doctrine of angels is to be found in Met. \. 8, where
384 PARADISE CANTO
number onward that never was speech nor mortal concep- tion which should go so far. And if thou regard that which is revealed through Daniel, thou wilt see that in his thou- sands a determinate number is hidden. The primal light which irradiates it all is received into it in modes as mani- fold as the splendours to which it is mated. Wherefore, since the affection follows on the act which conceives, the sw^eetness of love has warmth and fervour diversely in it. Thou seest henceforth the height and the breadth of the
In numero, che mai non fu loquela, Ne concetto mortal, che tanto vada.
E se tu guardi quel che si rivela
Per Daniel, vedrai che in sue migliaia Determinato numero si cela.
La prima luce, che tutta la raia. Per tanti modi in essa si ricepe, Quanti son gli splendori a che s' appaia.
Onde, perb che all' atto che concepe
Segue r affetto, d' amor la dolcezza ^ 140
Diversamente in essa ferve e tepe.^
Vedi r eccelso omai, e la larghezza
^ d' amar Gg. 1234. ^ {71 esse si concepe AId.{\).
Aristotle discusses the question, what is the number of the movers of the heavenly bodies ? These were in course of time identified with the Divine messengers of Holy Scripture.
■^^ wSee Dan. vii. 10 : Millia millium ministrabant ei, et decies millies centena millia assistebant ei.
^^^ si cela : i.e. is not revealed.
^36 la, : sc. 7iatura.
138 ^g Philalethes points out, Aquinas has proved (S. T. i. Q. 50. A. 4) that angels, not being compounded of form and matter, must differ from each other in species ; it being as impossible to have two angels of the same species as to have two whitenesses or two humanities.
XXIX PARADISE 385
eternal Goodness, since it has made for itself so many mirrors wherein it is broken up, remaining in itself one as heretofore.'
Deir eterno valor, poscia che tanti Speculi fatti s' ha in che si spezza, Uno manendo in se come davanti.
144 g^ r^ .^ Q^ ^^^ p^ ^. jpg^ angelica natura est quoddam speculum divinam similitudinem repraesentans : (quoted above, xiii. 59).
NOTE TO LINE 4.
A little explanation seems to be called for of my reasons for differ- ing from most modern editors in preferring ' che li tiene in libra ' to 'che il zenit inlibra.' The MSS., as Dr. Moore informs us, are (most appropriately) exactly balanced between the two readings ; so that we have only to consider on which side is the greater probability of altera- tion. Now it seems very possible that if Dante wrote ' Quant' e dal punto che li tiene in libra,' some annotators, not seeing that punto referred to time, not to place, and perhaps wishing to display their knowledge of astronomical terms, should have noted, 'i.e. zenit' — as, indeed, the Cassinese postillator has done. Or, again, some one writing his notes in Latin, may have got tenet over tiene ; and looking to the similarity in form of t and c on one hand, and z and c on the other, the alteration may have crept in so. But if ' che il zenit in- libra ' be the right reading, there is first the difiiculty of inlibra being intransitive, verbs of this form, when compounded with substantives, being always, so far as I know, transitive ; secondly, if it be transitive, that of finding its object ; che is excluded, since to speak of the zenith, a local point, keeping 2, point of time balanced, is surely a greater strain than language will bear ; and thirdly, that of supposing that any one could have failed to see this, and so noted to inlibra^ *i.e. tenet in- libratum,' or the like, from which tiene could have been introduced. Bianchi's i libra has little authority.
CANTO XXX
ARGUMENT
They rise to the highest or Empyrean heaven, where a great brightness surrounds them. Paradise appears, first as a river of light ; then, as Dante sees more clearly, in the form of a rose, whose leaves are the seats of the blessed.
Perhaps six thousand miles away from us the sixth hour is seething, and this world is already inclining its shadow almost to the level plane, when to us the midst of heaven in its depth begins to grow such that some star loses its appearance at the distance of this base ; and as the brightest
FoRSE semilia miglia di lontano
Ci ferve 1' ora sesta, e questo mondo China gia 1' ombra, quasi al letto piano,^
Quando il mezzo del cielo a noi profondo Comincia a farsi tal, che alcuna Stella Perde il parere infino a questo fondo :
E come vien la chiarissima ancella
3- Chinava Gg.
^'^ As we learn from Conv. iii. 5 and iii. 8, Dante took the circum- ference of the earth to be 20,400 miles. Therefore when it is noon (r ora sesta) 6000 miles away, it is just before sunrise where we are, and the shadow of the earth lies almost along the plane passing through the sun and our point of view, while the stars begin to vanish in the dawn.
'^ ancella : the dawn.
CANTO XXX PARADISE 387
handmaid of the sun advances, so the heaven closes from view to view, even unto the fairest. Not otherwise the triumph which ever plays around the point which overcame me, seeming enclosed by that which it encloses, little by little was extinguished to my sight ; so that to return with my eyes to Beatrice lack of seeing and love constrained me. If whatsoever up to this point is said of her should all be concluded in one praise, it would be too little to furnish forth this occasion. The beauty which I beheld is beyond measure ; not beyond us only, but I think of a truth that its Maker alone enjoys it in its fulness. , By this passage I
Del Sol pill oltre, cosi il ciel si chiude Di vista in vista in fino alia piu bella ;
Non altrimenti '1 trionfo che lude 10
Sempre dintorno al punto che mi vinse, Parendo inchiuso da quel ch' egl' inchiude,
A poco a poco al mio veder si stinse : ^ Per che tornar con gli occhi a Beatrice Nulla vedere ed amor mi costrinse.
Se quanto infino a qui di lei si dice, Fosse conchiuso tutto in una loda, Poco sarebbe a fornir questa vice.
La bellezza ch' io vidi si trasmoda,
Non pur di la da noi, ma certo io credo 20
Che solo il suo fattor tutta la goda.
^ il fnio V. Cass. 1234.
^ vista: of the stars. So vedute, ii. 115. (See note, xxiii. 30.)
^^ punto : xxviii, 16, xxix. 9.
^2 Because, as we have seen, the point represents God, in whom all things are contained.
16 sqq. Here, on the threshold of the highest heaven, the human mind must abandon the attempt to keep jDace any longer with the study of Divine things. Cf. i. 7-9.
21 Conv. ii. 4 : Questo quieto e pacifico cielo e Io luogo di quella somma Deita che s^ sola co7?ipmta?nente vede.
388 PARADISE canto
own myself conquered, more than ever comedian or tra- gedian was overcome by a point of his subject. For as does the sun to the sight that trembles most, so the re- membrance of the sweet smile cuts my mind from itself. From the first day that I saw her countenance in this life, until this view, my song has not had its pursuit cut short ; but now my pursuit must needs leave off from further fol- lowing her beauty in verse, as in regard to his end must every craftsman.
Da questo passo vinto mi concedo
Pill che giammai da punto di suo tema Soprato fosse comico, o tragedo.
Che, come Sole in viso che piu trema,^ Cos! lo rimembrar del dolce riso La mente mia da se medesma scema.^
Dal primo giorno, ch' io vidi '1 suo viso In questa vita, insino a questa vista, Non e il seguire al mio cantar preciso : 30
Ma or convien, che il mio seguir desista Piu dietro a sua bellezza poetando,^ Come air ultimo suo ciascuno artista.
c come in S. il v. Cass.; come S. il v. Aid. Bi. ^ da me medesma Gg. Cass. ® Piit dejttro Gg.
22 vinto : so Inf. v. 132.
28-30 ^g Philalethes points out, he seems here to overlook the various occasions (xiv. 79-81 ; xviii. 9-12 ; xxiii. 24, and 49-60) on which he has professed himself unable to describe the increasing beauty of Beatrice and her smile. However, in each case he has hitherto found some means of indicating his meaning, and has passed on to yet higher developments ; now, he would say, the highest point is reached, and his powers of expression must finally stop short of the thing to be expressed. Piu must, I think, certainly be taken with poetando, not, as the arrange- ment of the words seems at first to suggest, with dietro.
^ A friend draws my attention to a very similar thought in Cicero,
PARADISE 389
Such as I leave her to a mightier proclaiming than that of my trumpet, which is drawing out to a limit its arduous matter, with gesture and voice of a leader freed from his task she began again : ' We are issued forth from the greatest body to the heaven which is pure light; light of understanding full of love, love of true good full of joy, joy that surpasses every sweetness. Here thou shalt see the one and the other soldiery of Paradise, and the one
Cotal, qual' io la lascio a maggior bando Che quel della mia tuba, che deduce L' ardua sua materia terminando,
Con atto e voce di spedito duce
Ricomincio : Noi semo usciti fuore ^
Del maggior corpo al ciel ch' e pura luce : ^
Luce intellettual piena d' amore, 40
Amor di vero ben pien di letizia, Letizia che trascende ogni dolzore.
Qui vederai 1' una e 1' altra milizia
Di Paradiso, e 1' una in quegli aspetti,
^ noi stiamo Gg. s vera hice Gg. 124.
Orator 8 : Sed ego sic statuo, nihil esse in uUo genere tarn pulcrum, quo non pulcrius id sit, unde illud lit ex ore aliquo quasi imago ex- primatur, quod neque oculis neque auribus neque ullo sensu percipi potest, cogitatione tantum et mente complectimur. He goes on, as Dante does, to illustrate by the case of the artist.
^^ spedito : as in xvii. icx>.
^^ I.e. from the Primum Mobile — the largest of the heavenly bodies — to the Empyrean heaven. S. T. i. Q. (i(). A. 3 : Potest dici quod habet lucem caelum empyreum non condensatam ut radios emittat, sicut corpus solis, sed magis subtilem ; vel habet claritatem gloriae, quae non est conformis cum claritate naturali.
40, 42 Light, love, joy, are the complements of faith, love, hope.
^ r una e 1* altra milizia : ' the spirits of just men made perfect,' and * the innumerable company of angels. '
390 PARADISE canto
in those aspects which thou wilt behold at the last judge- ment'
As a sudden flash which breaks up the visual spirits so that it deprives the eye of operation in regard to objects of much strength, so did a living light shine around me, and left me swathed in such a veil of its brightness, that naught was apparent to me. 'Ever the Love which keeps the heaven in peace, receives into itself with a salutation in such sort, to make the torch disposed for its flame.' No sooner had these brief words entered within me, than I
Che tu vedrai all' ultima giustizia.
Come subito lampo, che discetti Gli spiriti visivi, si che priva Deir atto r occhio di piu forti obbietti ; ^
Cos! mi circonfulse luce viva,
E lasciommi fasciato di tal velo 50
Del suo fulgor, che nulla m' appariva.
Sempre 1' amore che quieta il cielo,^ Accoglie in se con si fatta salute,^ Per far disposto a sua fiamma il candelo.
Non fur piu tosto dentro a me venute Queste parole brevi, ch' io compresi
^ de'i piu Gg. 3. ^ amor chi queta qtiesto c. 124 Bi.
k costf. I Aid. W. (In MSS. indistinguishable.)
^^ ^ I.e. the blessed are seen no longer as lights, but in bodily shape. Cf. xiv. 37 sqq. ; xxii. 60 sqq.
^^ spiriti visivi : see xxvi. 71.
^ pi^ as in Inf. v. 130 and elsewhere ; without comparative force.
^^ quieta : see note, 1. 21. — The reading queta questo is certainly, as Scartazzini says, much the more satisfactory ; but authority is against it. We must understand Dante to be using il cielo in the first of the three meanings which Aristotle, de Caelo i. 9, ascribes to ovpavds, viz. to ^(Txo-Tou /cat dvco /xaXttrTa iv ^ to detov irav IdpvaOai (pa/Jiev.
^^ salute : as in V. N. § II.
XXX PARADISE 391
understood that I was rising above my own virtue \ and I was rekindled with fresh vision, such that no light is so pure but my eyes would have resisted it. And I beheld a light in form of a river, resplendent with splendours, between two banks painted with a wondrous spring. From such stream were issuing living sparks, and on all sides were settling on the flowers like rubies which gold encircles. Then, as though inebriate with the odours they would plunge again in the wondrous torrent; and if one was entering another would issue forth. ' The high desire which now enflames thee and urges thee to have knowledge of that
Me sormontar di sopra a mia virtute ; E di novella vista mi raccesi
Tale, che nulla luce e tanto mera,^
Che gli occhi miei non si fosser difesi ; 60
E vidi lume in forma di riviera
Fulgido di fulgori, intra due rive,"^
Dipinte di mirabil primavera. Di tal fiumana uscian faville vive,
E d' ogni parte si mettean nei fiori,
Quasi rubini che oro circonscrive. Poi, come inebriate dagli odori,
Riprofondavan s^ nel miro gurge,
E s' una entrava, un' altra n' uscia fuori. \J alto disio, che mo t' infiamma ed urge 70
D' aver notizia di cib che tu vei,
1 Tanto che Gg, ^ Fluido Bi.; Fulvido Cass. 3 Aid.; Fhivido 124.
^^ If we take the residing /tilv/do, we must understand * tawny,' i.e. * golden. ' But though we have * fulvum aurum ' more than once in Virgil, there is no such word in Latin as ^fulvidus,' nor is it, I think, a possible form ; the termination -z'dzis always implying a verb.
^ Cf. xxviii. 116.
392 PARADISE
which thou seest, pleases me the more as it more swells. Out of this water it behoves that thou drink before so great a thirst is sated in thee ; ' thus said to me the Sun of my eyes. She added moreover : ^ The river, and the topazes which enter and come out, and the smiling of the herbs, are preludes bearing a shadow of their truth ; not that these things are of themselves unripe, but it is a defect on thy part, that thou hast not powers of sight yet so exalted.' There is no babe that flies so quickly with his countenance toward the milk, if he aw^ake belated much beyond his wont, as did I, to make yet better mirrors of my eyes, bow-
Tanto mi place piu, quanto piu turge. Ma di quest' acqua convien, che tu bei
Prima che tanta sete in te si sazii :
Cosi mi disse il Sol degli occhi miei. Anche, soggiunse : II flume, e li topazii,
Ch' entran ed escon, e il rider dell' erbe
Son di lor vero ombriferi prefazii : ^ Non che da se sien queste cose acerbe ;
Ma e difetto dalla parte tua, 80
Che non hai viste ancor tanto superbe. Non e fantin che si subito rua
Col volto verso il latte, se si svegli
Molto tardato dall' usanza sua, Come fee' io, per far migliori spegli
Ancor degli occhi, chinandomi all' onda,
^ iibriferi Gg. 1234; uberiferi Cass.
"^ Because, as presently appears, what he takes for a river is a lake of light, the jewel-like sparks are angels, and the flowers are blessed spirits.
^^ Cf. Purg. XXX. 44. All this passage is evidently intended to recall, and contrast with, the description of the terrestrial Paradise.
PARADISE 393
ing me to the wave which flows down that one may enter into better things thereat. And whenas the eaves of my eyelashes drank of it, right so it appeared to me from its length to have become round. Then as folk who have been beneath masks, that appear other than before, if they strip off the likeness not their own wherein they disap- peared; in such wise were changed for me into greater rejoicings the flowers and the sparks, so that I beheld both the cohorts of heaven manifest.
O splendour of God, through whom I beheld the high triumph of the realm of truth, grant me virtue to tell how I beheld it. Light is there on high, which makes visible the Creator to that creation which only in seeing Him has its
Che si deriva perche vi s' immegli.
E si come di lei bevve la gronda ° Delle palpebre mie, cosi mi parve Di sua lunghezza divenuta tonda. 90
Poi come gente stata sotto larve,
Che pare altro che prima, se si sveste La sembianza non sua in che disparve;
Cosi mi si cambiaro in maggior feste Li fiori e le faville, si ch' io vidi Ambo le corti del ciel manifeste.
O isplendor di Dio, per cu' io vidi L' alto trionfo del regno verace, Dammi virtu a dir com' io Io vidi.
Lume e lassu, che visibile face 100
Lo Creatore a quella creatura, Che solo in lui vedere ha la sua pace :
^ hever Gg.
^ Cf. again Purg. xxxi. 139. Observe the repetition of vidi, as though to emphasise the beatific vision upon which he is now entering.
394 PARADISE
peace ; and is spread forth in a circular figure so far that its circumference would be too wide a girdle for the sun. All that appears of it is made of a ray reflected upon the summit of the First Moved, which takes thence life and potency. And as a hill in water at its base mirrors itself as though to see itself in its adornment, how rich it is in greenery and in flowers ; so standing over the light around and about I saw mirrored more than a thousand thrones, all of us that have returned on high. And if the lowest degree embraces within itself so great a light, what is the breadth of this rose in its outermost leaves ? In the breadth and in the height my view was not lost, but took in wholly
E si distende in circular figura
In tanto, che la sua circonferenza Sarebbe al sol troppo larga cintura.
Fassi di raggio tutta sua parvenza,
Reflesso al sommo del mobile primo, Che prende quindi vivere e potenza.
E come clivo in acqua di suo imo
Si specchia quasi per vedersi adorno, no
Quanto e nel verde e nei fioretti opinio.
Si soprastando al lume intorno intorno Vidi specchiarsi in piu di mille soglie, Quanto da noi lassu fatto ha ritorno.
E se r infimo grado in se raccogHe Si grande lume, quant' e la larghezza Di questa rosa nell' estreme foglie ?
La vista mia nell' ampio e nell' altezza Non si smarriva, ma tutto prendeva
^^ How there can be a highest point where place does not exist, is a difficulty which does not seem to have occurred to Dante.
PARADISE 395
the degree and the kind of that bUtheness. Near and far there neither adds nor takes awayj seeing that where God governs without means, the natural law has no relevancy.
Into the yellow of the everlasting rose, which spreads itself, rises in steps, and sends forth a sweet odour of praise to the Sun who is ever in spring, did Beatrice draw me, like one who is silent and would speak ; and said : * Look how great is the assembly of the white garments. Behold our city, how great is its circuit : behold there our stalls so full, that few folk hereafter are awaited. In that great seat on which thou hast thine eyes, by reason of the crown which already is placed over it, ere thou shalt sup at this wedding-feast, will sit the soul, which on earth shall be imperial, of the
II quanto e 11 quale di quella allegrezza. 120
Presso e lontano li ne pon ne leva ; Che dove Dio senza mezzo governa. La legge natural nulla rilieva.
Nel giallo della rosa sempiterna, Che si dilata, digrada e ridole Odor di lode al Sol che sempre verna,
QuaF e colui che tace e dicer vuole. Mi trasse Beatrice, e disse : Mira Quanto e il convento delle bianche stole,
Vedi nostra citta, quanto ella gira ! 130
Vedi li nostri scanni si ripieni, Che poca gente omai ci si disira.^
In quel gran seggio, a che tu gli occhi tieni,^ Per la corona che gia v' e su posta, Prima che tu a queste nozze ceni,
Sedera T alma, che fia giu agosta,
P gente piu cisi Gg. ^ E (or et) quel Gg. Cass. 12345 ; segno Gg.
396 PARADISE canto xxx
high Henry who will come to set Italy straight before that she shall be ready. The blind covetousness which be- witches you has made you like the child who is dying of hunger and drives away his nurse. And there shall be as president in God's court at that time such an one that openly and in secret shall not go with him on one road. But short while thereafter shall he be suffered by God in his holy office : for he shall be thrust down to that place where Simon Magus is for his deserts, and he shall make the man of Alagna go down lower.'
Deir alto Arrigo, ch' a drizzare Italia Verra in prima ch' ella sia disposta.
La cieca cupidigia, che v' ammalia,
Simili fatti v' ha al fantolino, 140
Che muor di fame e caccia via la balia \
E fia Prefetto nel foro divino Allora tal, che palese e coverto Non andera con lui per un cammino.
Ma poco poi sara da Dio sofferto
Nel santo uficio ; ch' ei sark detruso La dove Simon mago e per suo merto,
E fara quel d' Alagna andar piu giuso.'*
^ esser p. g. Gg. Cass. Aid. W.; mtrar 1245 Viitd.
'^'•^'^ See note, xvii. 82, which also explains the allusion in 11. 143, 144.
1^^ As usual, e.g. xxvii. 121, he makes covetousness, especially in the rulers of the Church, the root of all evils.
■^^ See Inf. xix. 84, and throughout. — Alagna or Anagni was the birthplace and frequent residence of Boniface VIII. With this bitter denunciation of him and Clement, Beatrice resigns her charge of Dante. As will be seen in the next Canto, she now resumes her place among the blessed.
CANTO XXXI
ARGUMENT
The company of saints appears in the figure of a white rose, about which the angels fly. Beatrice returns to her own place among them ; and St. Bernard takes up the office of guide, first drawing Dante's attention to the point where sits the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In form then of a white rose was displayed to me the soldiery of saints, which in His own blood Christ espoused. But the other which in flying beholds and sings the glory of Him who fills it with love, and the goodness which made it of so great number, like a swarm of bees which one
In forma dunque di Candida rosa
Mi si mostrava la milizia santa,
Che nel suo sangue Cristo fece sposa. Ma 1' altra, che volando vede e canta
La gloria di colui che 1' innamora,
E la bonta che la fece cotanta ; Si come schiera d' api, che s' infiora
^ P. di Dante quotes Aen. i. 430 sqq., but a better parallel is vi. 707 sqq. of the souls on the bank of Lethe :
Ac velut in pratis ubi apes aestate serena Floribus insidunt variis, et Candida circum Lilia funduntur, strepit omnis murmure campus. Horrescit visu subito, causasque requirit Inscius Aeneas, quae sint ea flumina porro, Quive viri tanto complerint agmine ripas.
398 PARADISE canto
while is within the flowers, and one while returns to the place where its work grows savourous, was descending into the great flower which is adorned with such leaves, and thence was rising again there where its love ever sojourns. All had their faces of living flame and their wings of gold, and the rest so white that no snow reaches that limit. When they lit on the flower, from bench to bench they dispense(J of the peace and of the ardour, which they had gained as they fanned their flanks. Nor did the interposition between the summit and the flower of so great a plenitude in flight
Una fiata, ed una si ritorna ^ La dove suo lavoro s' insapora,
Nel gran fior discendeva, che s'. adorna lo
Di tante foglie, e quindi risaliva La dove il suo amor sempre soggiorna.
Le facce tutte avean di fiamma viva, E r ali d' oro, e T altro tanto bianco, Che nulla neve a quel termine arriva :
Quando scendean nel fior di banco in banco Porgevan della pace e dell' ardore, Ch' elli acquistavan ventilando il fianco.
Ne r interporsi tra il disopra e il fiore
Di tanta plenitudine volante ^ 20
^ alii^a si r. Gg. Cass. ^ moltitudiiie Gg. Cass.
10-12 Philalethes sees in this an allusion to the ' illumination ' of the lower orders of angels by the higher (S. T. i. Q. 106), which he would extend to the spirits of the blessed. But it hardly seems necessary to go beyond Dante's own thought, expressed in 1. 17, that the function of the angels is to communicate the peace and love of God.
13-15 < Rubedo in facie figurat ardorem charitatis : deauratio in alis figurat sapientiam : dorsum album, potentiam : et sic ad Trinitatem.' — P. di D. Compare the colours of the mystical Grifon in Purg. xxix.
^^ The use of plenitudine, not common in this sense, is perhaps in- tended to recall * pleni sunt caeli et terra. '
XXXI PARADISE 399
hinder the view and the splendour, for the light of God is penetrant through the universe according as it is worthy, so that naught can be a hindrance to it.
This secure and joyous realm, thick-peopled with folk of old time and new, held sight and love all towards one mark. O threefold light, which in a single star sparkling on their view dost so give them peace, look hither down upon our tempest ! If the Barbarians coming from such region as every day is covered by the Bear, revolving with her son of
Impediva la vista e lo splendore :
Che la luce divina e penetrante
Per r universo, secondo ch' e degno, Si che nulla le puote essere ostante.
Questo sicuro e gaudioso regno
Frequente in gente antica ed.in novella, Viso ed amore avea tutto ad un segno.
O trina luce, che in unica Stella
Scintillando a lor vista si gli appaga,
Guarda quaggiuso alia nostra procella. 30
Se i Barbari, venendo da tal plaga,
Che ciascun giorno d' Elice si cuopra, Rotante col suo figlio, ond' ella e vaga,
22. 23 cf. i. 1-3.
2^ appaga. This seems to be a solitary example of what must have been an earlier form of the second person.
32, 33 Helice is the Great Bear (Ov. Fast. iii. 108), and so is identified both here and in Purg. xxv. 131, with Callisto, the nymph who became the mother of Areas by Jupiter. She was metamorphosed into a bear by Juno, and then into the constellation by Jupiter ; her son becoming Arctophylax, the bearward — called Bootes when the Bear is regarded as a plough or wain. North of lat. 70° or thereabouts both these con- stellations are always above the horizon. Dante, however, probably does not intend to indicate quite so high a latitude ; but merely northern regions generally.
400 PARADISE canto
whom she is fain, when they saw Rome and its high works were astounded, what time Lateran took precedence of mortal affairs, I, who to the divine from the human, to the eternal from time was come, and from Florence to a people righteous and sane, with what astonishment must I needs have been filled ! Surely this and my joy together made it well-pleasing to me to hear not and to stand mute. And like a pilgrim
Veggendo Roma e 1' ardua sua opra
Stupefacensi, quando Laterano
Alle cose mortali andb di sopra ; lo, che al divino dalF umano.
Air eterno dal tempo era venuto,
E di Fiorenza in popol giusto e sano, Di che stupor dovea esser compiuto ! 40
Certo tra esso e il gaudio mi facea
Libito non udire e starmi muto. E quasi peregrin, che si ricrea
^''^^ I.e. at the Jubilee in 1300; when, as Villani (viii. 36) tells us, 'avea in Roma, oltre al popolo romano, duecentomila pellegrini.' This at least seems the more probable explanation, for if, with Buti, Landino, Philalethes, and others, we understand the meaning to be ' when Rome was at the head of the world,' it is hard to see why the Lateran should be introduced. In the other case, it has a special pro- priety here, as being at that time the papal residence. Lubin under- stands the meaning to be * in the days when the Popes cared nothing for worldly affairs,' and the allusion to be to the original barbarian invaders.
^ Bianchi remarks on the effect of deliberation produced by the dissyllable io and the unelided che. Cf. 1. 47.
^^ This one bitter line, the last allusion to Florence in the poem, carries the reader back to the sarcasms of Purg. vi. 127 sqq.
^^ tra esso e il gaudio. For this curious use of ira - e, cf. Purg. vii. 70, xxiv, 13. It is found even with a second preposition, as *tra con parole e con atti,' ' tra per 1' una cosa e per 1' altra.' — Corticelli.
^^ Observe how the allusion to the pilgrims is kept up ; and see note to 1. 103.
XXXI PARADISE 401
who is refreshed gazing around in the temple of his vow, and hopes yet to report how that stands, so as I took my way through the living light, I passed my eyes over the rows, now up, now down, and now circling again. I beheld countenances persuading to charity, adorned with another's light and with their own smile, and gestures ornate with every dignity.
The general form of Paradise my gaze had already comprehended in its whole, as yet stayed fixedly on no part, and I was turning with rekindled will to ask my Lady of things whereof my mind was in suspense. One thing was my intention, and another replied to me; I thought
Nel tempio del suo voto riguardando,'^
E spera gia ridir com' egli stea. Si per la viva luce passeggiando,
Menava io gli occhi per li gradi
Mo su, mo gill, e mo ricirculando.*^ Vedeva a carita visi suadi
D' altrui lume fregiati e del suo riso, 50
Ed atti ornati di tutte onestadi. La forma general di Paradiso
Gia tutta mio sguardo avea compresa.
In nulla parte ancor fermato fiso ; ^ E volgeami con voglia riaccesa
Per dimandar la mia Donna di cose
Di che la mente mia era sospesa. Uno intendeva, ed altro mi rispose ;
c tempo Gg. (alt. fr. tempio) 14. ^ Or — or — or 3 Bi.
® al fiso parte gid, Cass.; E in fzulla 2 W.; viso Cass. 1234 Aid.; il viso W.
51 Cf. Purg. iii. II. 2D
402 PARADISE canto
to see Beatrice, and I saw an Elder clad like the folk in glory. He was overspread in the eyes and in the cheeks with a benign joy, in gesture kind as befits a tender father. And * Where is she?' quickly said I. Where- fore he : ' To put an end to thy desire did Beatrice move
Credea veder Beatrice, e vidi un sene
Vestito con le genti gloriose. 60
Diffuso era per gli occhi e per le gene Di benigna letizia, in atto pio. Quale a tenero padre si conviene.
Ed, Ov' e ella ? di subito diss' io : ^ Ond' egli : A terminar lo tuo disiro, Mosse Beatrice me del luogo mio :
f Ed: Ella ov' e? Aid. W, Bi.
^^ sene. This is St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux. He was born at Fontaines in Burgundy, 1091. At the age of twenty-two he joined the then newly-founded community of Clteaux, and two years later was selected by the Abbot, St. Stephen Harding, to be the head of the branch which it was proposed to estabhsh at Clairvaux. From this time till his death in 11 53 he is one of the most ptominent figures in the history of his time. The counsellor, and, on occasion, the fearless upbraider of Popes ; the defender of the see of Peter against schismatic intruders ; the preacher of a great crusade ; the champion of what was then held to be the orthodox philosophy against such able innovators as Gilbert de la Porree and Abelard ; 'probably,' says Archbishop Trench, * no man during his lifetime exercised a pe7'S07ial influence in Christendom equal to his. . . . He seems to have exercised a well-nigh magical influence upon all those with whom he was brought into con- tact. ' For the details of his career, see the late Mr. Morison's * Life and Times of St. Bernard.'
^ Vestito con : so (according to the common reading) Purg. xxix.
145.
61, 62 'pj^g following description of St. Bernard is given by Alan, Bishop of Auxerre : Apparebat in came ejus gratia quaedam, spiritualis tamen potius quam carnalis ; in vultu claritas praefulgebat, non terrena
XXXI PARADISE 403
me from my place ; and if thou lookest up to the third circle from the highest step, thou wilt see her again in the throne which her deserts have gained for her by lot.' Without answering I raised my eyes, . and I beheld how she made for herself a crown, reflecting from herself the eternal rays. From that region where the thunder is highest, no mortal eye is so far distant, into whatsoever sea it is let go deepest, as was Beatrice there from my view ; but it mattered naught to me, for her likeness came not down to me diluted by intervening space. 'O Lady, in whom my hope is strong, and who didst endure for
E se riguardi sli nel terzo giro Dal sommo grado, tu la rivedrai Nel trono che i suoi merti le sortiro.
Senza risponder gli occhi su levai, 70
E vidi lei che si facea corona, Riflettendo da sb gli eterni rai.
Da quella region che piu su tuona,
Occhio mortale alcun tanto non dista, Qualunque in mare piu giu s' abbandona,
Quanto li da Beatrice la mia vista : Ma nulla mi facea ; che sua effige Non discendeva a me per mezzo mista.
O Donna, in cui la mia speranza vige,
E che soffristi per la mia salute, 80
utique, sed caelestis ; in oculis angelica quaedam puritas et columbina simplicitas radiabat. Ipsa etiani subtilissima cutis in genis modice rubens, etc. So in the case of Matilda, who performs in Purgatory a similar office to that of St. Bernard here, we have, in the ridea of Purg. xxviii. d"]^ an allusion to a personal characteristic ; for the smile of the great Countess is specially mentioned by her biographer. '^^ mezzo : as in Purg. xxix. 45.
404 PARADISE canto
my salvation to leave thy footprints in Hell, of all the things that I have seen by thy might and by thy good- ness I own the grace and the power. Thou hast from a slave drawn me to liberty through all those ways, through all the modes which had the power to do that. Preserve the great work that thou hast wrought in me, so that my soul which thou hast healed may be unloosed from the body well-pleasing to thee.' Thus I prayed; and she, so far away as it appeared, smiled and looked upon me; then she turned back to the eternal fountain. And the holy Elder said : ' To the end that thou mayest accomplish perfectly thy journey, whereto prayer and holy love com-
In Inferno lasciar le tue vestige ; Di tante cose, quante io ho vedute,
Dal tuo podere e dalla tua bontate
Riconosco la grazia e la virtute. Tu m' hai di servo tratto a libertate
Per tutte quelle vie, per tutt' i modi,
Che di cib fare avean la potestate.^ La tua magnificenza in me custodi.
Si che r anima mia, che fatta hai sana,
Piacente a te dal corpo si disnodi. 90
Cos! orai ; e quella si lontana,
Come parea, sorrise, e riguardommi ;
Poi si tornb all' eterna fontana. E il santo Sene : Acciocche tu assommi
Perfettamente, disse, il tuo cammino,
A che priego ed amor santo mandommi,
g avei Cass, 1234 W,
81 See Inf. ii. 52 sqq. ^^ Cf. Purg. I 71.
^^ Cf. the concluding words of the Vita Nuova.
XXXI PARADISE 405
missioned me, flit with thine eyes over this garden; for to behold it will set thy gaze in more order to mount up through the divine ray. And the Queen of Heaven, for whom I am wholly on fire with love, will do us every favour, because I am her faithful Bernard.'
As is he, who haply from Croatia comes to see our True Image, that for its ancient fame he is not sated, but says in his thought, until it is shown : * My Lord Jesu Christ, very
Vola con gli occhi per questo giardino : Che vederlui t' acconciera lo sguardo^ Pill al montar per lo raggio divino.^
E la Regina del cielo, ond' io ardo 100
Tutto d' amor, ne fara ogni grazia, Pero ch' io sono il suo fedel Bernardo.
Quale e colui, che forse di Croazia Viene a veder la Veronica nostra, Che per 1' antica fama non si sazia,^
Ma dice nel pensier, fin che si mostra, Signor mio Gesu Cristo, Dio verace,
^ /' accovera Aid. ; f acciiera Dan.; f accenderd, Bi. Ghil. ^ ver lo raggio Cass. ^ sen sazia Gg.
^^ St. Bernard's special devotion to the Virgin appears in his early Homilies on the Annunciation, and in his work ' De Laudibus Mariae,' composed some years later. William of St. Thierry relates a story of his having been cured by her in a vision of one of his many sicknesses. A picture by Filippino Lippi in the Badia at Florence represents her appearance to him.
103-108 jj^ i-j^ig beautiful simile there is again another obvious allusion to the Jubilee ; when, as Villani (loc. cit. ) tells us, * per consolazione de' cristiani pellegrini, si mostrava in San Piero la Veronica del sudario di Cristo.' The legend of Veronica is too well known to need repeti- tion. It appears to have sprung from a curious fancy that the name, which is merely another form of Berenice, was in some way derived from vera icon^ ' a true image. '
4o6 PARADISE
God, was then your likeness so fashioned?' such was I when looking on the lively charity of him who in this world by contemplation tasted of that peace. * Son of grace, this joyous existence/ he began, ' will not be known to thee by holding thine eyes downward only to the ground ; but regard the circles even to the most remote, until thou see the Queen sitting, to whom this' realm is subject and devoted.' I raised my eyes ; and as at morning the eastern quarter of the horizon surpasses that where the sun sets, so, going as
Or fu SI fatta la sembianza vostra ?
Tale era io mirando la vivace
Caritk di colui, che in questo mondo no
Contemplando gusto di quella pace.
Figliuol di grazia, questo esser giocondo, Comincib egli, non ti sara noto Tenendo gli occhi pur quaggiuso al fondo ;
Ma guarda i cerchi fino al piu rimoto, Tanto che veggi seder la Regina, Cui questo regno e suddito e divoto.
Io levai gli occhi ; e come da mattina La parte oriental dell' orizzonte Soverchia quella, dove il sol declina, 120
^^^ The peculiar fitness of St. Bernard for the task here assigned to him, of leading the author through the highest heaven, to the point where he obtains an intuition of the central mystery of the Catholic faith, appears well from a passage of his writings (which P. di Dante quotes in a somewhat garbled form) : Patremi namque et Filium cognos- cere, vita est aeterna, beatitudo perfecta, summa voluptas. . . . Ita in mente mea quandam imaginem illius summae Trinitatis invenio : ad quam summam Trinitatem recolendam inspiciendam et diligendam, ut ejus recorder, ea delecter, et eam complectar et contempler, totum id quod vivo, debeo referre. (I quote from the note in Lord Vernon's edition of P. di D.)
XXXI PARADISE 407
it were from vale to mountain with my eyes, I saw a part in the farthest distance outdo in Hght all the rest in front of me. And as in that place where is awaited the pole of the car which Phaethon guided ill, the flame is greater, and on this side and that the light dwindles, so that peaceful oriflamme was quickened in the middle, and equally on every hand slackened its flame. And at that middle with their wings outspread I saw more than a thousand Angels making festival, each distinct both in lustre and in office. I beheld
Cosi quasi di valle andando a monte Con gli occhi, vidi parte nello stremo Vincer di lume tutta 1' altra fronte.
E come quivi, ove s' aspetta il temo
Che mal guidb Fetonte, piii s' infiamma, E quinci e quindi il lume si fa scemo ; ^
Cosi quella pacifica oriafiamma
Nel mezzo s' avvivava ; e d' ogni parte Per igual modo allentava la fiamma.
Ed a quel mezzo con le penne sparte 130
Vidi pill di mille Angeli festanti, Ciascun distinto e di fulgore e d' arte.
1 efatto scemo 3 Aid. W.
^24 quivi : i.e. where the sun is about to rise.
125 Cf. Purg. iv. 72.
127 It is clear that we must not, with Philalethes, Bianchi, and others, take oriafiamma as appHed to the Virgin. She is at the point about which whatever is denoted by the word is seen to be brightest, and this is obviously the whole body of flying angels. The oriflamme, originally the standard of the Vexin (the district about the Seine, from near Paris to below Rouen), was a red banner on a gold spear. After the acquisi- tion of the Vexin by Philip Augustus, it became the battle-ensign of the French kings ; whence the special force of the epithet pacifica here. The word is no doubt used to recall 11. 13, 14.
4o8 PARADISE canto xxxi
there upon their sports and upon their chants a beauty smile, which was joy in the eyes of all the other saints. And if I had in telling so great wealth as in imagining, I should not dare to attempt the least of her sweetness. Bernard, when he saw my eyes fixed and intent on her warm glow, turned his with such affection towards her that he made mine burn more to gaze anew.
Vidi quivi ai lor giviochi ed ai lor canti Ridere una bellezza, che letizia Era negli occhi a tutti gli altri santi.
E s' io avessi in dir tanta divizia Quanto ad immaginar, non ardirei Lo minimo tentar di sua delizia.
Bernardo, come vide gli occhi miei
Nel caldo suo calor fissi ed attenti,"^ 140
Gli suoi con tanto affetto volse a lei,
Che i miei di rimirar fe piu ardenti.
n^ caler Gg.
CANTO XXXII
ARGUMENT
St. Bernard points out the stations of various saints, and explains generally the manner of their ordering. He also solves a doubt respecting the salvation of infants.
With affection set on his Delight that contemplant took on him freely the office of teacher, and began these holy words : * The wound which Mary closed again and anointed, she who at her feet is so fair is the one that opened it and that pierced it. In the rank which
Affetto al suo piacer quel contemplante,^
Libero officio di dottore assunse,
E comincio queste parole sante : La piaga, che Maria richiuse ed unse,
Quella ch' e tanto bella da suoi piedi,
E colei che 1' aperse e che la punse. Neir ordine che fanno i terzi sedi,
a V effetto Gg. Cass. 124 ; V affetto 3.
^ There is another reading, Refetto, which would be satisfactory, but has hardly enough authority. Benv. reading Z' effetto^ gives an extra- ordinarily laboured construction. He makes contemplante a participle, and explains : * Ille Bernardus contemplans . . . qualiter ego eram factus,' etc.
^ Quella : Eve. The commentators quote St. Augustine : Ilia percussit, ista sanavit.
4IO PARADISE canto
the third seats make sits Rachel beneath her with Beatrice, as thou seest. Sarah, Rebekah, Judith, and her who was great -grandmother to the singer, that through sorrow for his fault said Miserere mei^ mayest thou see in this wise from throne to throne go in steps downward, as I do who at the fitting name descend over the rose from petal to petal. And from the seventh step downward, as down to it, succeed Hebrew women, dividing all the leaves of the flower ; because according to the direction in which faith gazed at Christ, these are the wall whereof the sacred ladder is partitioned. On this side, where the flower is
Siede Rachel, di sotto da costei
Con Beatrice, si come tu vedi. Sarra, Rebecca, Judit, e colei lo
Che fu bisava al Cantor che per doglia
Del fallo disse. Miserere mei^ Puoi tu veder cosi di soglia in soglia
Gill digradar, com' io ch' a proprio nome
Vo per la rosa giu di foglia in foglia. E dal settimo grado in giu, si come
Insino ad esso, succedono Ebree,^
Dirimendo del fior tutte le chiome ; Perche, secondo lo sguardo che fee
La fede in Cristo, queste sono il muro, 20
A che si parton le sacre scalee. Da questa parte, onde il fiore e maturo
^ succedendo Gg. 14.
^' ^ Inf. ii. 102. For the symbolical identity of Beatrice and Rachel, see Purg. Appendix A.
10 colei : Ruth. She is probably introduced as the representative of the Gentiles, being only a Hebrew by marriage ; while Judith is the type here of the active life.
XXXII PARADISE 4"
mature in all its petals, are seated those who believed in Christ to come. On the other side, where the semicircles are intersected b)^ void spaces, have their station those who held their faces towards Christ come. And as on this hand the glorious bench of the Lady of heaven and the other benches beneath it make so important a partition ; thus opposite does that of the great John, who ever holy endured the desert and the martyrdom, and then hell by the space of two years; and beneath him in this wise have Francis, Benedict, and Augustin drawn the lot to separate, and
Di tutte le sue foglie, sono assisi Quel che credettero in Cristo venturo.
Dair altra parte, onde sono intercisi Di voti i semicircoli, si stanno ^ Quel ch' a Cristo venuto ebber li visi.
E come quinci il glorioso scanno
Delia Donna del Cielo, e gH altri scanni
Di sotto lui cotanta cerna fanno, 30
Cosi di contra quel del gran Giovanni, Che sempre santo il diserto e il martiro Sofferse, e poi 1' inferno da due anni :
E sotto lui cosi cerner sortiro
Francesco, Benedetto, e Agostino,
^ Devoti Cass, (but post. i.e. de vacuo) 124 ; Divoti 3 ; voto Bi.; in seinic. Gg. Cass. 1234 W.
2^ The reading in semicircoli has most authority ; but i and in are practically indistinguishable in MSS., so that it seems best to take the reading which gives the best sense. As Scartazzini points out, if we read in it is not easy to see what is the subject to sono intercisi.
^1 St. John the Baptist has this place of course in agreement with Matt. xi. II.
^ r inferno : i.e. the li77ibus patruni ; from his death until that of Christ.
412 PARADISE CANTO
Others down to this point from circle to circle. Now look on the high foresight of God ; for the one and the other aspect of the faith shall fill up this garden equally. And know that downward from that rank which strikes the two divisions in mid space, they sit for no merit of their own, but for another's, upon sure conditions : for all these are spirits set free before that they had true power of choice. Well mayest thou be aware thereof through their faces,
Ed altri sin quaggiii di giro in giro. Or mira 1' alto provveder divino :
Che r uno e 1' altro aspetto della fede
Igualmente empiera questo giardino. E sappi, che dal grado in giu, che fiede 40
A mezzo il tratto le due discrezioni,'^
Per nullo proprio merito si siede, Ma per 1' altrui, con certe condizioni :
Che tutti questi sono spirti assolti
Prima ch' avesser vere elezioni. Ben te ne puoi accorger per li volti,
<i distinzio7ti Cass.
38, 39 jsj-Q trace of this doctrine, that the number of the elect will be divided equally between the old and the new dispensation, is to be found in S. T. , and Philalethes says that he is unable to discover it in the schoolmen elsewhere. Dante's delight in symmetry may have led him to invent it. (I had written this before observing that Scartazzini has come to the same conclusion, and expressed it in almost identical words. )
^^ S. T. iii. Q. 34. A. 3 : Est autem duplex sanctificatio ; una quidem adultorum, qui secundum proprium actum sanctificantur. Alia autem puerorum, qui non sanctificantur secundum proprium actum fidei, sed secundum fidem parentum vel Ecclesiae. Prima autem sanctificatio est perfectior quam secunda, sicut actus est perfectior quam habitus, et quod est per se eo quod est per aliud. — condizioni : see 1. 'j^ sqq.
PARADISE 413
and also through their childish voices, if thou look aright, and if thou listen to them. Now thou doubtest, and in thy doubt art silent ; but I will loosen for thee the strong band wherein thy subtile thoughts constrain thee. Within the amplitude of this realm, a point of chance cannot have position any other wise than sorrow, or thirst, or hunger; for by eternal law is so estajDlished whatever thou seest, that justly is there correspondence here from the ring to the finger. And therefore this folk, hastened to true life, is not sine causa more and less excellent here among itself. The
Ed anche per le voci puerili,
Se tu gli guardi bene e se gli ascolti. Or dubbi tu, e dubitando sili ;
Ma io ti solvero il forte legame,^ 50
In che ti stringon li pensier sottih. Dentro all' ampiezza di questo reame
Casual punto non puote aver sito,^
Se non come tristizia o sete o fame : Che per eterna legge e stabilito
Quantunque vedi, si che giustamente
Ci si risponde dal' anello al dito. E pero questa festinata gente
A vera vita non e sine causa
Intra se qui piu e meno eccellente.^ 60
6 io dis solvero Gg.; om. il Cass. Aid. * Causal Cass. 1234.
s Eiitrasi Gg. Cass. 3 Aid. VV.; intrasi 124.
■*^ The doubt is, how among these children there could be different degrees of merit to justify a difference of ranks. St. Bernard's answer is of course based on Romans ix. 11.
^'^ Cf. xvii. 37, 38.
^'^ Those who read Entrasi put a colon at causa ; but it seems hard to get any satisfactory sense out of this reading.
414 PARADISE canto
King through whom this realm rests in so great love and in so great delight that no will dares aught beyond, creating all the minds in the joy of His countenance, at His own pleasure endows with grace diversely ; and here let the effect suffice. And this expressly and clearly is noted for you in the Holy Scripture in the matter of those twins, who within their mother had their wrath aroused. Therefore, according to the colour of the hair of such grace, the chaplet of the highest Hght must needs be worthily put on. Not, therefore, with recompense of their conditions have
Lo Rege per cui questo regno pausa In tanto amore ed in tanto diletto, Che nulla volonta e di piu ausa,
Le menti tutte nel suo lieto aspetto, Creando, a suo piacer di grazia dota Diversamente ; e qui basti 1' effetto.
E cib espresso e chiaro vi si nota
Nella Scrittura santa in quei gemelli, Che nella madre ebber 1' ira commota.
Perb, secondo il color dei capelli 70
Di cotal grazia, 1' altissimo lume Degnamente convien che s' incappelli.
Dunque, sanza merce di lor costume
^ r effetto pretty nearly =^ the fact'; as in Purg. vi. 138. (Cf. the Fr. *en effet.') Bianchi compares * state contenti al quia' in Purg. iii. 37.
68 gemelli : Jacob and Esau ; Gen. xxv. 22.
"^^ il color dei capelli : with allusion to the feature which specially distinguished Jacob and Esau.
'^^ costume is probably intended to represent the habitus of the passage of S. T. quoted above. Infants, he would say, cannot have e^eis, but may have diadeacLS. See Ar. Categ. viii. and Bonitz ad Met. d. 20.
xxxii PARADISE 415
they been placed in different grades, differing only in their primary keenness of sight. Sufficient to them in the new ages, together with their innocence, in order to have salva- tion, was the faith of their parents alone. After the first ages were accomplished, it behoved the males to gain through circumcision virtue for their innocent wings. But after that the time of grace was come, without Christ's per- fect baptism such innocence was kept below. Look now upon the face that most resembles Christ, for its brightness alone can dispose thee to behold Christ'
Locati son per gradi differenti,
Sol differendo nel primiero acume. Bastavali nei secoli recenti ^
Con r innocenza, per aver salute,
Solamente la fede dei parenti. Poiche le prime etadi fur compiute,
Convenne ai maschi all' innocenti penne,^ 80
Per circoncidere, acquistar virtute. Ma poiche il tempo della grazia venne,
Senza battesmo perfetto di Cristo
Tale innocenza laggiu si ritenne. Riguarda omai nella faccia, ch' a Cristo
Pill s' assomiglia, che la sua chiarezza
Sola ti pub disporre a veder Cristo.
^ Bastavasi 3 Aid. ; Bast, si W. Bi. ^ /' innocenti Cass. 3.
7^ I.e. in their original capacity for seeing God.
^ Cf. Purg. vii. 31-33. It is curious that St. Bernard, in an extant treatise, appears to have taken a less severe view regarding the future state of infants dying unbaptized. See the notes of Philalethes and Scartazzini.
4i6 PARADISE canto
I saw upon her such gladness shower, borne in the holy minds create to fly across over that height, that whatever I had seen heretofore held me not suspended with so great wonder, nor showed me such likeness of God. And that love which first descended thereon singing Ave Maria, gratia plena, in front of her spread out his wings. To the divine song responded on all sides the blessed court, so that every countenance grew thereby more serene.
' O holy father, who for me endurest the being here below, leaving the sweet place wherein thou sittest by eternal lot, w^ho is that angel who with mirth so great is look-
lo vidi sovra lei tanta allegrezza
Piover, portata nelle menti sante
Create a trasvolar per quella altezza,^ 90
Che quantunque io avea visto davante,
Di tanta aramirazion non mi sospese,
Ne mi mostrb di Dio tanto sembiante. E queir amor, che primo li discese,
Cantando Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dinanzi a lei le sue ali distese. Rispose alia divina cantilena.
Da tutte parti, la beata Corte,
Si ch' ogni vista sen fe piu serena. O santo Padre, che per me comporte 100
L' esser quaggiu, lasciando il dolce loco
Nel qual tu siedi per eterna sorte : Qual' e queir Angel, che con tanto giuoco
Guarda negli occhi la nostra Regina,
k Creati Cass.; Creata 124 W.
^ menti : the angels, who, as we have seen above, bear the peace and love of God to the blessed spirits.
^^ queir amor : the archangel Gabriel. Cf. xxiii. 94.
XXXII PARADISE 417
ing our Queen in the eyes, enamoured so that he appears of fire ? ' Thus I recurred again to the teaching of him, who was taking in beauty from Mary, as from the sun the star of morning. And he to me : ' Hardihood and comeliness, as great as can exist in an angel and in a soul, is all in him, and so would we have it be ; for he it is who bore the palm down to Mary, when the Son of God willed to charge Himself with our burden. But come now with thine eyes, as I shall go in my speaking, and mark the great patricians of this empire most righteous and pious. Those two who sit on high there in most bliss, through being nearest to the Empress, are of this rose as it were two roots. He
Innamorato si, che par di fuoco ?
Cosi ricorsi ancora alia dottrina Di colui, ch' abbelliva di Maria, Come del Sol la Stella mattutina.
Ed egli a me : Baldezza e leggiadria,
Quanta esser puote in Angelo ed in alma, no Tutta e in lui, e si volem che sia :
Perch' egli e quegli, che porto la palma Giuso a Maria, quando il Figliuol di Dio Carcar si volse della nostra salma.^
Ma vieni omai con gli occhi, si com' io Andrp parlando, e nota i gran patrici Di questo imperio giustissimo e pio.
Quei due che seggon lassu piu felici. Per esser propinquissimi ad Augusta, Son d' esta rosa quasi due radici. 120
^ Cantar Gg.
^^'^ Note abbellire intransitive. 2 E
4i8 PARADISE canto
who on the left is placed near her is the Father through whose daring taste humankind tastes so much bitterness. On the right behold that ancient Father of Holy Church, to whom Christ entrusted the keys of this lovely flower. And he who saw all the grievous times before he died of the fair bride that was won with the spear and with the nails sits alongside of him ; and alongside the other rests that leader under whom lived on manna the thankless folk, fickle and backsliding. Over against Peter see Anna sit, so content with looking on her daughter that she moves not an eye for the chanting Hosanna. And over against
Colui che da sinistra le s' aggiusta, fe il Padre, per lo cui ardito gusto, L' umana specie tanto amaro gusta."^
Dal destro vedi quel Padre vetusto
Di santa Chiesa, a cui Cristo le chiavi Raccomando di questo fior venusto.
E quel che vide tutt' i tempi gravi, Pria che morisse, della bella sposa Che s' acquisto con la lancia e coi chiavi,
Siede lungh' esso : e lungo 1' altro posa 130
Quel Duca, sotto cui visse di manna La gente ingrata mobile e ritrosa.
Di contro a Pietro vedi sedere Anna, Tanto contenta di mirar sua figlia," Che non muove occhio, per cantare Osanna.
E contro al maggior Padre di famiglia
"^ La nostra sp. Gg. ^ di veder Gg.
122 Adam. — ardito gusto : cf. ' 1' ardimento d' Eva,' Purg. xxix. 24.
12^ St. Peter. ^27 gt. John the Evangelist.
128. 129 Qi xxxi. 3. 131 Moses.
PARADISE 419
the eldest Father of a household sits Lucy, who moved thy Lady, when thou wast bending thine eyelids to rush down. But whereas the timg that holds thee in slumber is flying, here will we make a stop, like a good tailor who makes the gown as he has cloth ; and we will direct our eyes to the first Love, so that looking toward Him thou mayest penetrate as far as is possible into His splendour. But, lest haply thou fall back in moving thy wings, while deeming that thou goest forward, it is meet that grace be sought in prayer, grace from her who is able to help thee ; and do thou follow me with thy affection, so that from my saying thy heart depart not.' And he began this holy orison.
Siede Lucia, che mosse la tua Donna, Quando chinavi a ruinar le ciglia. Ma perch^ il tempo fugge, che t' assonna,
Qui farem punto, come buon sartore 140
Che, com' egli ha del panno, fa la gonna : E drizzeremo gli occhi al primo Amore, Si che guardando verso lui, penetri Quant' e possibil per lo suo fulgore. Veramente, ne forse tu t' arretri,
Movendo 1' ali tue, credendo oltrarti, Orando grazia convien che s' impetri, Grazia da quella che puote aiutarti : E tu mi seguirai con 1' affezione,° Si che dal dicer mio lo cuor non parti. ^ 150
E comincib questa santa orazione.
o segui con V aff. Cass. 1234 Aid. W. P liocchio no7t p. 145 ; lochia 2.
138 Inf. i. 61.
139 assonna. This is, so far as I am aware, the only instance in which Dante uses any phrase which would imply that what he has seen is ot the nature of a dream.
CANTO XXXIII
ARGUMENT
After St. Bernard has prayed for the aid of the Virgin, Dante gazes fixedly at the Divine light, and beholds therein certain great mysteries. Lastly h^e attains the end of his vision in the con- version of his v^^ill to the will and the love of God.
' Virgin Mother, daughter of thy Son, humble and exalted more than any creature, end determined of eternal counsel, thou art she who didst so ennoble human nature that He
Vergine Madre, figlia del tuo Figlio,
Umile ed alta piu che creatura,
Termine fisso d' eterno consiglio, Tu sei colei, che 1' umana natura
1 sqq. This address to the Virgin should be compared with Petrarch's beautiful ode, * Vergine bella, che di Sol vestita,' by all who wish to understand the difference between the methods of the two poets ; and it may perhaps be added, the vast superiority of the elder one in sincerity and dignity ; in everything, indeed, save perhaps elegance of versification. Chaucer's rendering of this passage (Second Nun's Tale) is too worthy of the original to be omitted here. After apostrophising the Virgin as
* . . . Thou that art the flower of virgins all Of whom that Bernard list so well to write,'
the speaker continues :
* Thou maid and mother, daughter of thy Son, Thou well of mercy, sinful soules cure,
CANTO xxxiii PARADISE 421
who made it disdained not to be of its making. In thy womb was rekindled the Love, through whose warmth in the eternal peace this flower has thus sprung. Here art thou to us a noonday Hght of charity, and below among mortals art thou a living fountain of hope. Lady, thou art so great, and of such avail, that whoso wishes for grace and
Nobilitasti si, che il suo Fattore ^
Non disdegno di farsi sua fattura.^ Nel ventre tuo si raccese 1' amore,
Per lo cui caldo, nell' eterna pace,
Cosi e germinato questo fiore. Qui sei a noi meridiana face 10
Di caritade, e giuso intra mortali
Sei di speranza fontana vivace. Donna, sei tanto grande, e tanto vali,
Che qual vuol grazia, e a te non ricorre,
^ tuo Cass. ^ hia Gg.
In whom that God of bounty chose to won ; Thou humble and high over every creature, Thou nobledest so far forth our nature, That no disdain the Maker had of kind His Son in blood and flesh to clothe and wind.
Within the cloister blissful of thy sides Took mannes shape the eternal love and peace. *****
Assembled is in thee magnificence With mercy, goodness, and with such pity, That thou, that art the sun of excellence. Not only helpest them that prayen thee, But oftentime of thy benignity Full freely, or that men thine help beseech. Thou goest before, and art their lives leech.'
(I have modernised the spelling wherever the metre allows.)
422 PARADISE
has not recourse to thee, his desire would fain fly without wings. Thy loving-kindness not only succours whoso asks, but oftentimes freely prevents the asking. In thee mercy, in thee pity, in thee mighty deeds, in thee is united all of goodness that is in a creature. Now then this man, who from the deepest hollow of the universe up to this point has seen the lives of spirits one by one, supplicates thee for a gift of virtue so far that he may with his eyes raise himself higher towards the final salvation. And I who never for my own vision burned more than I do for his, offer to thee all my prayers, and pray that they fall not short, that thou wouldest unloose every cloud from his mortality with
Sua disianza vuol volar senz' ali. La tua benignita non pur soccorre
A chi dimanda, ma molte fiate
Liberamente al dimandar precorre. In te misericordia, in te pietate.
In te magnificenza, in te s' aduna 20
Quantunque in creatura e di bontate. Or questi, che dall' infima lacuna
Deir universo insin qui ha vedute
Le vite spiritali ad una ad una, Supplica a te, per grazia di virtute,
Tanto che possa con gli occhi levarsi
Pill alto, verso 1' ultima salute. Ed io, che mai per mio veder non arsi ^
Piu ch' io fo per lo suo, tutti i miei prieghi
Ti porgo, e prego che non sieno scarsi : 30
Perche tu ogni nube gli disleghi
^ voler (alt. to voder) Gg.
^"^ V ultima salute : cf. xxii. 124. ^ fo : see note to Purg. xxvi. 70.
XXXIII PARADISE 423
thy prayers, so that the highest bhss may be unfolded to him. Further I pray thee, Queen, for thou canst what thou wilt, that thou wouldst preserve blameless his affections, after so great a sight. Let thy protection quell human stirrings. Behold Beatrice with all the saints who fold their hands to thee for my prayers.'
The eyes beloved and reverenced of God fixed on him who prayed, showed us how pleasing to her are devout prayers. Then to the eternal light were they directed, into the which one may not deem that by a creature the eye is made to penetrate so clear. And I who to the end of my desires was drawing nigh, as I was bound ended in
Di sua mortalita, coi prieghi tuoi.
Si che il sommo piacer gli si dispieghi.
Ancor ti prego, Regina, che puoi Gib che tu vuoli, che conservi sani, Dopo tanto veder, gli affetti suoi.
Vinca tua guardia i muovimenti umani ; Vedi Beatrice con quanti beati Per li miei prieghi ti chiudon le mani.
Gli occhi da Dio diletti e venerati, 40
Fissi neir orator ne dimostraro, Quanto i devoti prieghi le son grati.
Indi air eterno lume si drizzaro,
Nel qual non si pub creder che s' invii Per creatura T occhio tanto chiaro.
Ed io ch' al fine di tutti i disii
M' appropinquava, si com' io dovea,^
^ deceva Gg.
46-48 cf^ i^ 7^ Here, and again in 1. 57, he would seem to be pur- posely using expressions intended to recall the opening passage of this part of the poem.
424 PARADISE
myself the ardour of my longing. Bernard made a sign to me, and smiled, so that I should gaze upward ; but I was already of myself such as he wished. For my view, be- coming undimmed, more and more was entering through the beam of the light on high, w^hich of itself is true. From henceforward my sight was greater than my speech, which at such a view gives way, and my memory gives way at so great excess. As is he who sees in a dream, in that after the dream the feeling impressed remains, and the rest does not return to the mind, such am I, for my vision departs as it were wholly ; and still trickles into my heart
L' ardor del desiderio in me finii. Bernardo m' accennava, e sorridea.
Perch' io guardassi in suso : ma io era 50
Gia per me stesso tal qual ei volea : Che la mia vista venendo sincera,^
E pill e piu entrava per Io raggio
Deir alta luce, che da se e vera. Da quinci innanzi il mio veder fu maggio
Che il parlar nostro, ch' a tal vista cede,
E cede la memoria a tanto oltraggio. Quale e colui, che sonniando vede,
Che dopo il sogno la passione impressa ^
Rimane, e 1' altro alia mente non riede, 60
Cotal son io, che quasi tutta cessa
Mia visione, ed ancor mi distilla
6 si intera Gg. * E dopo Gg. Bi.
^"^ oltraggio here of course has its original meaning.
^^ la passione impressa. Perhaps suggested by a phrase in Ar. de Somniis, 2 : fj.€Ta(t>€p6vT0}v yap tt)v atcd-qav cLKoXovdei to irddos. I cannot, however, find in that treatise any notice of the well-known phenomenon here alkided to.
PARADISE 425
the sweetness that was born of it. Thus the snow loses in the sun its stamp, thus in the wind on the hght leaves was lost the sentence of the Sibyl. ^ O highest light, that raisest thyself so far from mortal conceptions, lend again to my mind a little of what thou didst appear ; and make my tongue so potent, that it may leave one spark only of thy glory to the folk to come ; for by returning somewhat to my memory, and by sounding, a little in these verses, more will men conceive of thy victory. I believe that through the keenness of the living ray which I supported, I should have been bewildered if my eyes had been turned away
Nel cuor il dolce che nacque da essa.^ Cosi la neve al sol si disigilla ;
Cosi al vento nelle foghe lievi
Si perdea la sentenza di Sibilla. O somma luce, che tanto ti lievi
Dai concetti mortali, alia mia mente
Ripresta un poco di quel che parevi : E fa la Hngua mia tanto possente, 70
Ch' una favilla sol della tua gloria
Possa lasciare alia futura gente : Che per tornare alquanto a mia memoria,
E per sonare un poco in questi versi.
Pill si concepera di tua vittoria. lo credo, per T acume ch' io soffersi
Del vivo raggio, ch' io sarei smarrito,
Se gli occhi miei da lui fossero aversi.
8 che venue da essa Gg.
65, 66 ^gjj^ jjj^ ^^ gqq^
76-78 Qf ^^ ^Q Somn. immediately after the words quoted to 1. 59 ; olov iK Tov 7)\iov eis t6 <tk6tos' crvim^aiveL yap fir^d^v opdv dta ttjv ^tl virovcav kIptjo-lv iv roh d/mfiacnv vwb rod (pcords.
426 , PARADISE
from it. And it comes to my mind that I was the bolder for this reason to endure, so much that I mingled my looks with the Goodness that has no end. O abounding grace, whereby I took upon me to fix my gaze amid the eternal light, so far that there I consumed my vision ! Into its depth I beheld how there enters, bound with love into one volume, that which is distributed through the universe; substance and accident and their fashion, as though fused together in such wise that that which I tell. of is one single light. The universal form of this knot I believe that I saw,
E mi ricorda ch' io fui piu ardito
Per questo a sostener tanto, ch' io giunsi 80
L' aspetto mio col valore iniinito.^
O abbondante grazia, ond' io presunsi Ficcar Io viso per la luce eterna, Tanto che la veduta vi consunsi !
Nel suo profondo vidi che s' interna, Legato con amore in un volume, Gib che per 1' universo si squaderna ;
Sustanza ed accidente, e lor costume, Quasi conflati insieme per tal modo,^ Ghe cib ch' io dico e un semplice lume. 90
La forma universal di questo nodo
Gredo ch' io vidi, perch^ piu di largo,
^ col voler Gg. ^ Tutti Aid. Bi.
85 sqq. He first has an intuition of metaphysical, then (116 sqq.) of theological truths.
^'^ si squaderna : lit. *is in loose sheets.' See note to xvii. 37.
91-96 He means to say that in one moment he forgot the mysteries that he had seen ; and his only evidence of having seen them is the joy that he feels in recording that he did so. — La forma universal : cf. i. 99, 100. — nodo : the composition of the created universe.
XXXIII PARADISE 427
because in saying tHis I feel that I rejoice more at large. One moment only is to me greater oblivion than five-and- twenty centuries to the enterprise which made Neptune marvel at the shadow of Argo.
Thus my mind all in suspense was gazing fixedly immovable and intent, and ever with gazing grew in- flamed. Before that light one becomes such that to turn from it for other spectacle it is impossible that one should ever consent ; because the good which of the will is object, is all assembled in it, and outside of it that is defective which there is perfect. Henceforth my word shall be
Dicendo questo, mi sento ch' io godo.
Un punto solo m' e maggior letargo, Che venticinque secoH alia impresa, Che fe Nettuno ammirar T ombra d' Argo.
Cosi la mente mia tutta sospesa, Mirava fissa immobile ed attenta, E sempre di mirar faceasi accesa.^
A quella luce cotal si diventa, ^ 100
Che volgersi da lei per altro aspetto E impossibil che mai si consenta :
Perb ch^ il ben, ch' e del volere obbietto, Tutto s' accoghe in lei ; e fuor di quella E difettivo cio ch' b li perfetto.
Omai sara piu corta mia favella,
^ Sempre derimirar Cass,; E ttiita nel m. Aid.; E sempre del m. W. ; nel m. Bi.
100-102 s^ X. ii. I. Q. 5. A. 4: est impossibile quod aliquis videns divinam essentiam, velit earn non videre.
^^ S. T. ib. infra : beatitude est perfectio consummata, quae omnem defectum excludit a beato.
106-108 xhg simile is probably suggested by i Pet. ii. 2, 3.
428 PARADISE canto
shorter, even in regard to that which I call to mind, than of a babe who yet steeps his tongue at the breast. Not as though more than a single semblance had been in the living light whereon I was gazing, for such is it ever as it was before ; but by reason of my sight which was gaining strength in me as I looked, one sole appearance, as I changed, was winnowed out to me in the profound and bright substance of the light on high, and appeared to me three circles of three colours and one capacity ; and the
Pure a quel eh' io ricordo, che d' un fante, Che bagni ancor la lingua alia mammella ;
Non perche piu ch' un semplice sembiante ^
Fosse nel vivo lume ch' io mirava, no
Che tar e sempre qual era davante ;
Ma per la vista che s' avvalorava
In me guardando, una sola parvenza, Mutandom' io, a me si travagliava "^
Nella profonda e chiara sussistenza Deir alto lume, e parvemi tre giri Di tre colori e d' una contenenza :
1 piu un s. Gg.; piu co7t s. 3. ™ Inviirando Gg.; Jmitarido 145 ; Mutando??ii a7?ie 2.
109-120 jjj these lines is indicated the mystery of the Trinity ; and in 11. 127-132 that of the Incarnation.
114-116 J have ventured to alter the usual punctuation of the first of these lines, by omitting the colon after travagliava, and to introduce e after lume in the last. Without this it is not easy to get a good sense from 11. 109-117. The first two tercets explain why what was really one appeared to him threefold in the manner described in the third, so that the sense must run Non perche . . . ma per la vista, etc. . . . una parvenza . . . parvemi. This will enable us to take travagliava in the only satisfactory sense that has been suggested. See Glossary. — Mutandom' io : cf. Purg. xxxi. 121 sqq.
XXXIII PARADISE 429
one seemed reflected by the second, as rainbow by rainbow, and the third seemed fire, which from the one and the other is breathed forth in equat measure. Oh, how short is speech, and how indistinct beside my conception ! And this beside what I saw is such that to call it little is not enough, O Light eternal, that sole in Thyself residest, sole comprehendest Thyself, and by Thyself understood and com- prehending, lovest and smilest on Thyself! That circle which appeared so conceived in Thee as a reflected light, when somewhat contemplated by my eyes, within itself, of its own very hue, seemed to me pictured with our image, wherefore my sight was w^holly set on it. As is the geometer who applies himself wholly in order to measure
E r un dair altro, come Iri da Iri, Parea reflesso, e il terzo parea fuoco, Che quinci e quindi igualmente si spiri. 120
O quanto e corto il dire, e come fioco
Al mio concetto ! e questo a quel ch' io vidi fe tanto, che non basta a dicer poco.
O luce eterna, che sola in te sidi. Sola t' intendi, e da te intelletta Ed intendente te ami ed arridi :
Quella circulazion, che si concetta Pareva in te, come lume riflesso," Dagli occhi miei alquanto circonspetta,
Dentro da se del suo colore stesso - 130
Mi parve pinta della nostra eflige : Perche il mio viso in lei tutto era messo.
QuaF e il geometra, che tutto s' affige
^ Pareva in tre Gg. W.
119 fuoco : the symbol of love, carrying us back to x. i , 2. 131 nostra effige : i.e. human form.
430 PARADISE canto xxxiii
the circle, and finds not by thinking that principle whereof he is in want, such was I before this new vision. I would see how the image was fitted to the circle, and how it has place therein ; but my own wings were not for this ; only that my mind was smitten through with a flash, wherein its wish came. To my lofty fantasy here power failed ; but already was swaying my desire and my will, as a wheel which is evenly moved, the Love which moves the sun and all the stars.
Per misurar lo cerchio, e non ritrova, Pensando, quel principio ond' egli indige.
Tale era io a quella vista nuova : Veder voleva come si convenne L' imago al cerchio, e come vi s' indova :
Ma non eran da cib le proprie penne ;
Se non che la mia mente fu percossa 140
Da un fulgore, in che sua voglia venne.
All' alta fantasia qui mancb possa :
Ma gia volgeva il mio disiro, e il velle^ Si come ruota che igualmente e mossa,
L' amor che muove il Sole e 1' altre stelle.
"^ The final blessedness is reached with the entire surrender of the will to the love of God. C£ iii. 79-81.
GLOSSARY
Acconciare, xxxi. 98, and racconciare, Purg. vi. 88, *to fit up,' 'trim.' Sp. aconchar. From ad-comptiare \ this from comptus, part. oi comer e, 'to comb.' See Gloss. Purg. conto. [It is very doubtful whether Eng. conib^ G. kamm^ has anything to do with Lat. coviere^ which seems originally to mean ' to put together.']
Addobbare, xiv. 96, 'to fit out,' 'adorn.' Sp. adobar, Fr. adotiber (now almost obsolete, save as (i) 'to touch a piece,' at chess; (2) a marine term, 'to refit.'). The word is said to be the same as dub, which again is akin to dab and tap, all in the sense of ' to touch quickly and lightly. ' According to this view, the original meaning would- be that of making a knight, and thence of equipping or fitting out. An objection is that in the earliest examples given by Littre, from the eleventh century, the meaning is clearly ' to make ready,' the ' dubbing ' of a knight not appearing till the next century ; while in Italian this sense does not seem to occur at all. Skeat (s. v. dapper) mentions a Q:0\}i\. gadobs, 'fitting,' akin to Germ, tapfer and Slav, dobru, 'good,' which seems to offer a better derivation.
Agrume, xvii. 117, 'a harsh taste.' From agro, Lat. acer, with suffix -ume, corresponding to Lat. -umen, but applied to many roots with which it is not found in Latin.
Assettare, i. 121, 'to order.' (Inf. xvii. 91, and Conv. i. i, asset - tarsi = 'to seat oneself.') Probably from Fr. assiette ; this from an old stet = Lat. situs. No doubt the sense has been modified by Goth. sat j an. Germ, setzen, ' to set.^
Awantaggio, xxvi. 31, ' ^^z;^;//^^^," pre-eminence ' ; and vb. awan- taggiarsi, vii. 76. Fr. ava7ttage, Sp. ventaja. From avanti, ' in front ' : this from ab ante. The forms vantaggio, vantage (Fr. and Eng. ) are also found ; I suspect modified by vantare, vanter, vaunt, from vanitare ; this from vanus.
Baccelliere, xxiv. 46, ' a bachelor. ' From Fr. bachelier, Sp. bachiller. The origiri of the word is obscure. Its primary sense seems
432 GLOSSARY
to have been ' a yeoman ' ; baccalaria being an estate which gave its holder a rank below that of a vassal. Thence it became a term of chivalry, impprting one who, though higher in rank than a squire, was not yet a knight ; and subsequently it passed into the universities and denoted, as at the present day, the student who had taken his first degree, but was not yet qualified to become a Master in Arts, or a Doctor in one of the three learned faculties. Littre is inclined to con- nect the word with vassus, vassal (from Celtic g^vaz), on the analogy of bachelette^ also written baisselette, which is almost certainly from this root. He also suggests the Gael, bachall, 'a staff' (cognate with ban/ /us) ; but, as Diez says, it is hard to see the connexion. Skeat prefers bacca, a low Lat. form of vacca ; the original baccalarms then being one who kept a baccale, or herd of cows. This is satisfactory, if historically verifiable. Of course the form baccalaureus with its fanciful derivation from bacca lauri must be quite rejected, as also any con- nexion with Celt, bach, * small.' The word undoubtedly comes in the first instance from France, and is not indigenous in Italy either in this, or the other form bacalare.
Balascio, ix. 69, 'a fine ruby.' Fr. balajs, Sp. balax. From low Lat. balaschis. Said to be from the Ar. balchask, and this from the khanate of Balakshan or Badakshan in Central Asia, whence these stones were brought. But is not the order of derivation reversed here ? One is much tempted to think that the original root is the same as that of the Or. ^aXavarLov, ' a pomegranate flower.' The fruit, as we know, has given its name to another precious stone.
Barba, xix. 137, 'an uncle.' Originally merely 'an elder,' 'one with a beard.' Barbas and barbanus are found in low Latin, while in the Vaudois dialect barbe signifies 'an elder of the church.'
Bieco, V. 65, vi. 136, 'dim-sighted,' 'malicious.' From Lat. obliquus^ as 'piego' horn plico, says Diez, and its use in Inf. vi. 91 seems to sup- port this; but does long 2 ever become e} Littre takes it to be the same as Fr. bigle from bis-oculiis (see Gloss. Purg. s. v. abbagliare). But he gives no instance of this earlier than the sixteenth century, so that the Italian word can hardly be formed from it. There is an Icel. blekkja^ 'to defraud, delude,' which appears to be cognate with bletich, the causal of blink ; so that its original meaning must be to blind or dazzle the eyes. This idea in bleiich is well seen in Shakespeare, Sonnet ex. : ' Most true it is that I have looked on truth Askance and strangely ; but, by all above. These blenches gave my heart another youth.' It also has the meaning 'to shrink away.' Hence may come the idea of crooked dealing.
Bifolco, ii. 18, ' a ploughman.' Almost certainly from bubulcus
GLOSSARY 433
{u unaccented into 2, as junipertis, ginepro ; b into /*, as scarabaeus, scarafaggio) ; and so strictly ' an oxherd.' [It is a little curious that in the passage of Ovid which is here alluded to, Met. vii., there occurs the line * Pulvereumque solum pede pulsavere bisulco" (1. 113). Can Dante have read * bifulco, ' understanding ' they stamped at their driver ' ?]
Bigoncia, ix. 55, 'a vat,' 'bucket.' Properly a vessel holding two cottgii, or rather over two gallons. It was used for carrying the grapes when pressed, hence the word is appropriately used here.
Bozzacchione, xxvii. 126, 'a degenerated plum.' Strictly, a plum that has swelled up in consequence of wet weather, or the attack of an insect. From bozza^ * a tumour.' Fr. bosse, Sp. bochm, ' a wart, ' Eng. botch and boss, O. H. G. bdzo, *a bunch'; bdzen, 'to beat,' 'bump,' ^ butt.' The first idea seems that of beating, and the swelling is the result.
Bozzo, xix. 138, 'dishonoured,' lit. 'cuckold.' The derivation is uncertain ; but becco, ' a he-goat,' is used in the same sense, so that very probably bozzo also means originally ' a goat,' and is cognate with butt. See the last word.
Brogliare, xxvi. 97, 'to struggle,' 'move quickly.* Fr. broui/kr, ' to stir up ' ; Eng. broil ; Pr. briielhar, ' to spring up ' (as a plant or a fountain). Germ, brodeln, 'to bubble,' has been suggested (cf. Fr. bouger from bulicare) ; but the best opinion seems to be that it is cognate with broto, q.v. in Gloss. Purg. 'The notion seems to be that, from a substantive meaning a park or grove, also a thicket, or over- growth of bushes, was formed a verb signifying to be confused or en- tangled.'— Skeat. It may be added that from the idea of entanglement, that of struggling to get free easily follows.
Brusco, xvii. 126, 'harsh,' 'rough.' Fr. brusque; Sp. brusco. Diet. Cruse, gives the word as primarily applied to wine ; in which case the suggested derivation from labrusca, 'the wild vine,' would seem very probable. There is however a Spanish brusco, O. Fr. brusc, from Lat. ruscus, 'butcher's broom,' with 'prosthetic' b; which, if we are to be content with a botanical derivation, appears yet more satis- factory. May not ruscus itself, however, be an adjective originally, containing the same base as rudisl In that case we have only to sup- pose a form perruscus.
Bugio, XX. 27, 'hollow.' Probably from the same root as bugia, 'a lie,' and Germ, bose, which in this case will mean primarily 'empty.'
Carola, xxiv. 16, xxv. 99, 'a choir.' See Gloss. Purg. s. v. caribo. Diez, however, prefers to derive it from choraula. Whatever may have
2 F
434 GLOSSARY
been the real origin, it seems highly probable that Dante thought he was using an equivalent of chorale,
Contigiare, xv. loi, 'to deck,' 'adorn.' Diez derives the word from compHis (v. sub acconciare). The older commentators say that contigie were shoes ornamented in a particular manner ; ' calceamenta contesiata,' Benv. But the word appears to be unknown at all events to Du Cange.
Coppa, viii. 12, 'the back of the head.' Properly 'cup.' Fr. cotipe^ Sp. copa, from Lat. cupa. Hence, from its shape, 'the skull.' Diez compares tete from testa. Germ. kopf\s probably from the same.
Corredare, vi. 112, 'to fit out.' From a Teutonic root, found in Icel. rei^i, 'tackle,' 'implements,' rei'Sr, 'ready'; Goth, raidjaii, 'to order,' Germ, bereit. The French form is corroyer, Eng. curry, 'to prepare leather.' From the same root we have Fr. arroi^ Eng. array. (The Germ, gerdth, from which it has been derived, is more likely derived from it ; cf. ge?nem from coinmtinis ; U7igestu?7i, from incostumato. )
Correggiere, xi. 138, 'one who wears a thong.' From correggia, Fr. coiirroie, Lat. corrigia, generally ' a shoe-string. ' [The etymology of this is obscure. It can hardly be from corrigo, either in the sense of that which keeps in order (Fore.) or a chastiser (Littre); for it does not appear that feminines in ia are formed from verbal stems.]
Cotenna, xix. 120, 'a boar.' Properly 'a boar's hide,' Fr. couenne. From ctitaftea, and this from cutis.
Dio, xiv. 34, xxiii. 107, xxvi. 10, 'bright,' 'clear.' From Lat. dius, found only in the expression sub dio, sc. caelo. Root the same as in Deus, dies, etc.
Donneare, xxiv. 118, xxvii. 88. ' Italis Donneare quasi Doiineggiare, cortegiar e servire donne ; cum Do7nnis seu Domicellis versari. Gram- matica provincialis : Doneiare, cum dominabus loqui de amore.' — Du Cange, s. v. Domneare.
Doppiero, xxviii. 4, ' a candle. ' From Lat. duplerius ; this from duphis, on account of the two strands in the wick. [So twist, twi^ie, originally from two\ and Germ, zwirn, 'thread.' The converse is found in Germ, wickeln, 'to fold,' from wickel, *a bundle of flax,' this being cognate with our ' wick. ']
Elsa, xvi. 102, ' the /z/// of a sword.' From O. G. helza, Icel. hjalt (' the pommel,' also ' the guard '). Not connected with hold.
Ferza, xviii. 42, 'a whip.' Commonly taken hovaferitiare^ freq. of
GLOSSARY 435
ferire^ *to strike.' Diez, however, says this is impossible, 'because the fourth conjugation gives no participial verbs,' and suggests that it is for felza^ from O. G. Jillazan, freq. oijillan^ ' to scourge. '
Fioco, xi. 133, xxxiii. 121, 'indistinct' (of the voice). In Inf. iii. 75 it is used of light, which disposes of the suggestion that its primary meaning is 'hoarse,' and that it is in any way connected with raucus. I am inclined to think that it is cognate with Yx.Jiou, 'soft,' 'weak.' {Qi. fuoco and/^z/, anciently/^//.) This is said to be from Low Dutch fiauw, in the same sense. That w in this word represents an original guttural is shown by the kindred Goth, thlagvtis, Lat. flacc-idus.
Flailli, XX. 14, 'wind-instruments,' O. Yx. Jiajol, mod. JIageolet. It is tempting, with Liddell and Scott, to derive this from irkaylcLvKos ; but the historical links seem to be wanting, and it is better to take it as = a low Lat. flautiolus^ dim. oijiauta^ which itself is ioxjlatua.
Gronda, xxx. 88, properly 'the eaves' or rather 'gutter' of a roof. From Lat. gru7tda, found in comp. stibgrunda, Fr. severonde (not given by Littre). In Vulg. El. i. 10, we find grundare of a moun- tain-ridge discharging its waters in different directions, 2Jid grtmdatorium of the sea to which they flow. Goth, grujtdus = Yr\g. ground, and is found in zoxo.-^. grundti-waddjus^ 'ground- wall,' 'foundation.' — (Skeat.)
Latino, iii. d^^ ' intelligible,' 'clear.' From the original meaning of ' Latin,' the word seems to have been transferred to any language natural to the speaker (as in xii. 144), even Arabic, says Diez, and the . song of birds (as in a ballad of doubtful authenticity, Fraticelli, Can- zoniere di D. p. 223 : E cantinne gli augelli Ciascun in suo latino). For examples of a similar use in O. Fr. see Littre. Finally latinier, Eng. latiner, corrupted to latimer, Came to mean one who could speak to every man 'in the tongue wherein he was born,' and so an inter- preter. From this the meaning of ' intelligible ' is easily deduced. Cf. deutsch and deuten.
Lega, ii. 139, xxiv. 84, 'alloy.' Fr. aloi, Sp. ley. From ad iege??i ; the proportion of baser metal allowed by law in the coinage.
Mancia, v. 66, 'an offering.' Originally a present to a servant, Germ, 'trinkgeld'; also 'smart money.' Diez derives it fxom maims through mamda, low Lat. for manuae, ' gloves ' or ' sleeves,' such things being often given for those purposes. [It. paraguanto, Sp. guantes, Pg. luvas., are all used in the same sense.]
Noce, ii. 24, ' the part of the cross-bow which holds the string when it is drawn back.' Generally taken as the same with noce^ 'a nut,'
436 GLOSSARY
Lat. micetn. I cannot, however, help supposing that it is cognate with Eng. iwtch, O. Dutch nock ; possibly confused with low Lat. nouchia, ' a buckle, ' O. Fr. notiche, Eng. nojich or ouch.
Paleo, xviii. 42, ' a whipping-top. ' Probably for baleo (as palla for balld), and connected with Fr. balayer. This appears to have had anciently [baloier) the meaning of ' to float about,' as a banner in the wind ; a notion which might perhaps be transferred to the movements of a top. In this sense Diez suggests a connexion with ballare, ' to dance' (Sp. bailar, originally balear). There is, however, a Prov. balaiar^ ' to flap,' ' whip,' which seems more to the purpose. Fr. ba/ai, 'a broom,' means also provincially the plant 'broom,' and is derived from a Celtic word ba/an (the plant), whence ba/aen, the implement. This, again, is from ba/a, 'a shoot' (Lat. 'flagellum'), from which all the meanings, 'to whip,' 'to flap,' 'to sweep,' come easily.
Pareggio, xxiii. 67, 'a roadstead.' Strictly 'a coast,' Fr. parage, A low Lat. pa7'egium is found, apparently formed from Fr. paroi, from paries ; hence the wall of the land. From the coast to the sea off the coast is not a very violent transition.
Pareglio, xxvi. 106, 'a /«?>,' 'match.' Fr. pareil, S^. parejo. From paricuhun ; and so a doublet oi parecchio^ as ' veglio ' of vecchio, ' speglio ' of specchio.
ParofBii, xxviii. 84. We must apparently accept the statement of the old commentators, e.g. Buti and Landino, that this curious word stands for parrocchia, ' a parish. ' In what sense Dante used it remains uncertain. Boccaccio evidently took it as = 'retinue,' 'company'; for in the Teseide he speaks of a person entering ' con tutta paroflia. ' Against this is the objection that ogni can seldom be rendered ' whole,' and it will be observed that B. has used ttitta, which of course is the proper word. If we take ogni in its usual sense of ' every,' paroffia will mean 'region,' 'district'; and this is perhaps best. Dante maybe comparing the heaven to a city composed, like Florence, of many parishes. Parrocchia is from Gr. irapoiKia, 'a neighbourhood,' through the L,2Ltmparoecia (cf. dioecesis) ; but it has no doubt been modified by the sense o^ parochus, 'a purveyor' ('parochi in ecclesia dicuntur qui . . . fidelibus necessaria ad salutem suppeditant.' — Forcell.), zxi^ parochia is found in Latin as early 2l's> paroecia. It is not impossible that Dante intended to convey some meaning like the dispeiise of Purg. xxvii. 72. The change o{ ch into^is somewhat unusual, but v. sub roffia.
Postilla, iii. 13, * a short note,' used for the outline of a face as seen by reflection. Fr. apostille^ Sp. postila. From post ilia, sc. verba \
GLOSSARY 437
because in a running comment the notes would follow the words. Another possible explanation is that the notes i-ejiect the sense, and so the word may be used in the sense merely of ' reflected image.'
Quadrello, ii. 23, 'a quarrel^ *bolt for a cross-bow.' Fr. carreati, Sp. qtiadrillo. From quadro^ this from qtiadnim, ' a square,' from its square head.
Riparo, xxii. 150, 'a habitation.' Fr. repaire^ Eng. (vb.) repair. From repatriare ; lit. ' a place to which one goes home.' If this be correct, the Italian word must have come from the French. (It is quite a distinct word from the riparo of Purg. viii. 97 ; Fr. rempari, Eng. rampart. This is from 'L2i\.. parare, 'to make ready,' hence 'guard' ; Yx. parer^ 'to adorn,' ' to parry.')
RoflS.a, xxviii. 82, 'cloud,' 'mist.' Diez connects it with G. rufe^ Ice), hriifa, 'a scab,' 'scurf; and more remotely with arriiffare, G. raufen, 'to pull' (of the hair). But is it not rather O. G. rouh, mod. ranch, ' snwke ' ? The change would be similar to that which the gk in our rough, cough, has undergone.
^ogna, xvii. 129, 'an itch.' Fr. rogne, Sp. rona. From Lat. robigiftejn, ' rust. ' The contraction, as Diez remarks, is rather violent ; but there seems some reason to suppose that robigo had early acquired a somewhat similar sense.
Salma, xxxii. 114, 'a burden.' See Gloss. Purg. s. v. soma.
Sampogna, xx. 24, 'a pipe,' 'shawm.' Sp. zampoha. From sympho7tia, Gr. avfjicpcjvia. The word seems to have been applied to a musical instrument very early. It occurs in the list of instruments, Daniel iii. 5, in some editions of the LXX and in the Vulgate, where our translators render it by ' dulcimer,' but, as this line shows, it was a wind instrument. Prudentius uses the word for a trumpet.
Sceda, xxix. 115, 'raillery,' 'mockery.' From Lat. scida, which is for scheda, 'a slip of paper' (whence our schedule), from Gr. cx^^f]-, 'a slip of wood.' Hence it seems to have got the meaning of 'a parody,' ' caricature ' (Buti). [This does not appear very satisfactory, for want of any historical evidence ; but we may compare the history oi * libel.']
Scranna, xix. 81, 'a judgement-seat.' From Germ, schranne, 'a grating,' Eng. screen. No doubt on account of the railing which fenced the judgement-seat ; so * chancery ' from cancelli,
Susina, xxvii. 126, *a plum.' From Susa, as our 'damson' (for damascene ') from Damascus.
438 GLOSSARY
Tranare, x. 121, *to draw.' For trainare^'Yr. trahier. From low Lat. trahinare, formed from trahere.
Travagliare, xxxiii. 114. I feel very little doubt that in this place we must derive the word from vaglio^ * a sieve/ Lat. vanmihis^ dim. fr. vannus. [For its ordinary meaning see Gloss. Purg. where the last paragraph is almost certainly wrong.]
'^o^^O, passim, 'much,' 'too much.' Yx. trop. From low Lat. truppus, ' a troop,' ' herd.' This seems to have been a German corrup- tion of turba. (Observe that the original gender reappears in trtippa^ troupe, tropa. ) [For the change of meaning cf. Germ, hiuifig, ' frequent,' from haufe, ' heap. ']
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