With all these families, and others with them,
Florence beheld I in so great repose,
That no occasion had she whence to weep;
With all these families beheld so just

And glorious her people, that the lily
Never upon the spear was placed reversed,
Nor by division was vermilion made."

CANTO XVII.

As came to Clymene, to be made certain
Of that which he had heard against himself,
He who makes fathers chary still to children,
Even such was I, and such was I perceived
By Beatrice and by the holy light

That first on my account had changed its place.
Therefore my Lady said to me: "Send forth

The flame of thy desire, so that it issue
Imprinted well with the internal stamp;
Not that our knowledge may be greater made
By speech of thine, but to accustom thee
To tell thy thirst, that we may give thee drink."

"O my beloved tree, (that so dost lift thee,
That even as minds terrestrial perceive
No triangle containeth two obtuse,

So thou beholdest the contingent things

Ere in themselves they are, fixing thine eyes
Upon the point in which all times are present,)

While I was with Virgilius conjoined

Upon the mountain that the souls doth heal,
And when descending into the dead world,

Were spoken to me of my future life

Some grievous words; although I feel myself
In sooth foursquare against the blows of chance.

On this account my wish would be content

To hear what fortune is approaching me, Because foreseen an arrow comes more slowly." Thus did I say unto that selfsame light

That unto me had spoken before; and even
As Beatrice willed was my own will confessed
Not in vague phrase, in which the foolish folk

Ensnared themselves of old, ere yet was slain
The Lamb of God who taketh sins away.

But with clear words and unambiguous
Language responded that paternal love,
Hid and revealed by its own proper smile:
'Contingency, that outside of the volume
Of your materiality extends not,
Is all depicted in the eternal aspect.
Necessity however thence it takes not,

Except as from the eye, in which 'tis mirrored,
A ship that with the current down descends.
From thence, e'en as there cometh to the ear

Sweet harmony from an organ, comes in sight
To me the time that is preparing for thee.
As forth from Athens went Hippolytus,

By reason of his step-dame false and cruel,
So thou from Florence must perforce depart.]
Already this is willed, and this is sought for;

And soon it shall be done by him who thinks it,
Where every day the Christ is bought and sold.
The blame shall follow the offended party

In outcry as is usual; but the vengeance
Shall witness to the truth that doth dispense it.
Thou shalt abandon everything beloved

Most tenderly, and this the arrow is

Which first the bow of banishment shoots forth.

Thou shalt have proof how savoureth of salt

The bread of others, and how hard a road
The going down and up another's stairs.

And that which most shall weigh upon thy shoulders
Will be the bad and foolish company

With which into this valley thou shalt fall;

For all ingrate, all mad and impious

Will they become against thee; but soon after

They, and not thou, shall have the forehead scariet

Of their bestiality their own proceedings

Shall furnish proof; so 'twill be well for thee
A party to have made thee by thyself.
Thine earliest refuge and thine earliest inn

Shall be the mighty Lombard's courtesy,
Who on the Ladder bears the holy bird,
Who such benign regard shall have for thee

That 'twixt you twain, in doing and in asking,
That shall be first which is with others last.
With him shalt thou see one who at his birth

Has by this star of strength been so impressed,
That notable shall his achievements be.

2

Not yet the people are aware of him

Through his young age, since only nine years yet
Around about him have these wheels revolved
But ere the Gascon cheat the noble Henry,
Some sparkles of his virtue shall appear
In caring not for silver nor for toil.
So recognized shall his magnificence

Become hereafter, that his enemies

Will not have power to keep mute tongues about it.
On him rely, and on his benefits;

By him shall many people be transformed,
Changing condition rich and mendicant;
And written in thy mind thou hence shalt bear
Of him, but shalt not say it "--and things said he
Incredible to those who shall be present.
Then added: "Son, these are the commentaries
On what was said to thee; behold the snares
That are concealed behind few revolutions;
Yet would I not thy neighbours thou shouldst envy,
Because thy life into the future reaches
Beyond the punishment of their perfidies."
When by its silence showed that sainted soul

That it had finished putting in the woof
Into that web which I had given it warped,
Began I, even as he who yearneth after,

Being in doubt, some counsel from a person Who seeth, and uprightly wills, and loves: "Well see I, father mine, how spurreth on

The time towards me such a blow to deal me
As heaviest is to him who most gives way.
Therefore with foresight it is well I arm me,

That, if the dearest place be taken from me,
I may not lose the others by my songs.

Down through the world of infinite bitterness,

And o'er the mountain, from whose beauteous summit
The eyes of my own Lady lifted me,

And afterward through heaven from light to light,
I have learned that which, if I tell again,
Will be a savour of strong herbs to many.

And if I am a timid friend to truth,

I fear lest I may lose my life with those
Who will hereafter call this time the olden."
The light in which was smiling my own treasure
Which there I had discovered, flashed at first
As in the sunshine doth a golden mirror;

Then made reply: "A conscience overcast
Or with its own or with another's shame,
Will taste forsooth the tartness of thy word;
But ne'ertheless, all falsehood laid aside,
Make manifest thy vision utterly,

And let them scratch wherever is the itch;
For if thine utterance shall offensive be

At the first taste, a vital nutriment

"Twill leave thereafter, when it is digested.
This cry of thine shall do as doth the wind,
Which smiteth most the most exalted summits,
And that is no slight argument of honour.
Therefore are shown to thee within these wheels,
Upon the mount and in the dolorous valley,
Only the souls that unto fame are known;
Because the spirit of the hearer rests not,

Nor doth confirm its faith by an example

Which has the root of it unknown and hidden,

Or other reason that is not apparent."

CANTO XVIII.

Now was alone rejoicing in its word
That soul beatified, and I was tasting

My own, the bitter tempering with the sweet,
And the Lady who to God was leading me

Said: "Change thy thought; consider that I am
Near unto Him who every wrong disburdens."

Unto the loving accents of my comfort

I turned me round, and then what love I saw
Within those holy eyes I here relinquish ;
Not only that my language I distrust,

But that my mind cannot return so far
Above itself, unless another guide it.
Thus much upon that point can I repeat,

That, her again beholding, my affection
From every other longing was released.
While the eternal pleasure, which direct

Rayed upon Beatrice, from her fair face
Contented me with its reflected aspect,
Conquering me with the radiance of a smile,
She said to me, "Turn thee about and listen;
No in mine eyes alone is Paradise,"

Even as sometimes here do we behold
The affection in the look, if it be such
That all the soul is wrapt away by it,
So, by the flaming of the effulgence holy

To which I turned, I recognized therein
The wish of speaking to me somewhat farther.
And it began: "In this fifth resting-place

Upon the tree that liveth by its summit,
And aye bears fruit, and never loses leaf,
Are blessed spirits that below, ere yet

They came to Heaven, were of such great renown That every Muse therewith would affluent be. Therefore look thou upon the cross's horns;

He whom I now shall name will there enact
What doth within a cloud its own swift fire."
I saw athwart the Cross a splendour drawn

By naming Joshua, (even as he did it,)
Nor noted I the word before the deed;
And at the name of the great Maccabee
I saw another move itself revolving,
And gladness was the whip unto that top.
Likewise for Charlemagne and for Orlando,

Two of them my regard attentive followed
As followeth the eye its falcon flying.
William thereafterward, and Renouard,

And the Duke Godfrey, did attract my sight
Along upon that Cross, and Robert Guiscard.

Then, moved and mingled with the other lights,

The soul that had addressed me showed how great
An artist 'twas among the heavenly singers.

To my right side I turned myself around,
My duty to behold in Beatrice
Either by words or gesture signified;
And so translucent I beheld her eyes,

So full of pleasure, that her countenance
Surpassed its other and its latest wont.
`nd as, by feeling greater delectation,

A man in doing good from day to day
Becomes aware his virtue is increasing,

jo I became aware that my gyration

With heaven together had increased its arc,
That miracle beholding more adorned.
And such as is the change, in little lapse

Of time, in a pale woman, when her face
Is from the load of bashfulness unladen,