Stamped in my brain I can make manifest, Thou 'lt see me come unto thy darling tree, 25 And crown myself thereafter with those leaves Of which the theme and thou shall make me worthy. So seldom, Father, do we gather them For triumph or of Cæsar or of Poet, (The fault and shame of human inclinations,) 30 That the Peneian foliage should bring forth Joy to the joyous Delphic deity, When any one it makes to thirst for it. A little spark is followed by great flame; Perchance with better voices after me 35 Shall prayer be made that Cyrrha may respond! To mortal men by passages diverse 40 Uprises the world's lamp; but by that one I saw turned round, and gazing at the sun; And even as a second ray is wont To issue from the first and reascend, Like to a pilgrim who would fain return, Thus of her action, through the eyes infused In my imagination, mine I made, And sun ward fixed mine eyes beyond our wont. There much is lawful which is here unlawful 45 50 55 Unto our powers, by virtue of the place Made for the human species as its own. Not long I bore it, nor so little while But I beheld it sparkle round about Like iron that comes molten from the fire; Stood Beatrice all intent, and I, on her As Glaucus, tasting of the herb that made him Peer of the other gods beneath the sea. To represent transhumanize in words Impossible were; the example, then, suffice Him for whom Grace the experience reserves. If I was merely what of me thou newly Createdst, Love, who governest the heaven, 60 65 70 Thou knowest, who didst lift me with thy light! 75 When now the wheel, which thou dost make eternal Desiring thee, made me attentive to it By harmony thou dost modulate and measure, Then seemed to me so much of heaven enkindled By the sun's flame, that neither rain nor river 80 E'er made a lake so widely spread abroad. The newness of the sound and the great light Kindled in me a longing for their cause, Never before with such acuteness felt; Whence she, who saw me as I saw myself, To quiet in me my perturbed mind, Opened her mouth, ere I did mine to ask, 85 And she began: "Thou makest thyself so dull What thou wouldst see if thou hadst shaken it off. Thou art not upon earth, as thou believest; But lightning, fleeing its appropriate site, Ne'er ran as thou, who thitherward returnest." If of my former doubt I was divested 90 By these brief little words more smiled than spoken, I in a new one was the more ensnared; And said: "Already did I rest content From great amazement; but am now amazed In what way I transcend these bodies light.” Whereupon she, after a pitying sigh, 95 100 105 Her eyes directed tow'rds me with that look A mother casts on a delirious child; And she began: "All things whate'er they be Have order among themselves, and this is form, That makes the universe resemble God. Here do the higher creatures see the footprints Of the Eternal Power, which is the end Whereto is made the law already mentioned. In the order that I speak of are inclined All natures, by their destinies diverse, More or less near unto their origin; Hence they move onward unto ports diverse O'er the great sea of being; and each one With instinct given it which bears it on. This bears away the fire towards the moon; This is in mortal hearts the motive power; This binds together and unites the earth. Nor only the created things that are 110 115 Without intelligence this bow shoots forth, But those that have both intellect and love. The Providence that regulates all this 120 Makes with its light the heaven forever quiet, Wherein that turns which has the greatest haste. And thither now, as to a site decreed, Bears us away the virtue of that cord Accords not with the intention of the art, 125 130 Sometimes the creature, who the power possesses, Though thus impelled, to swerve some other way, (In the same wise as one may see the fire Fall from a cloud,) if the first impetus Earthward is wrested by some false delight. Thou shouldst not wonder more, if well I judge, At thine ascent, than at a rivulet From some high mount descending to the plain. Marvel it would be in thee, if deprived Of hindrance, thou wert seated down below, As if on earth the living fire were quiet." Thereat she heavenward turned again her face. 135 140 CANTO II. O ye, who in some pretty little boat, Behind my ship, that singing sails along, Line 138. From some high mount descending to the lowland. In losing me, you might yourselves be lost. The sea I sail has never yet been passed: Minerva breathes, and pilots me Apollo, And Muses nine point out to me the Bears. Ye other few who have the neck uplifted Betimes to th' bread of Angels upon which One liveth here and grows not sated by it, Well may you launch upon the deep salt-sea Your vessel, keeping still my wake before you Upon the water that grows smooth again. Those glorious ones who unto Colchos passed Were not so wonder-struck as you shall be, When Jason they beheld a ploughman made! The con-created and perpetual thirst For the realm deiform did bear us on, And in such space perchance as strikes a bolt And flies, and from the notch unlocks itself, Arrived I saw me where a wondrous thing 16 15 20 25 Drew to itself my sight; and therefore she From whom no care of mine could be concealed, Towards me turning, blithe as beautiful, Said unto me: "Fix gratefully thy mind On God, who unto the first star has brought us.” It seemed to me a cloud encompassed us, Luminous, dense, consolidate and bright As adamant on which the sun is striking. Into itself did the eternal pearl Receive us, even as water doth receive A ray of light, remaining still unbroken. If I was body, (and we here conceive not How one dimension tolerates another, 3) 35 |