Have by His virtue been infused, who form'd
Both one and other: and thou thence admirest
In that I told thee, of beatitudes,

A second there is none to him enclosed
In the fifth radiance. Open now thine eyes
To what I answer thee; and thou shalt see
Thy deeming and my saying meet in truth,
As centre in the round. That' which dies not,
And that which can die, are but each the beam
Of that idea, which our Sovereign Sire
Engendereth loving; for that lively light,"
Which passeth from His splendour, not disjoin'd
From Him, nor from His love triune with them,
Doth, through His bounty, congregate itself,
Mirror'd, as 'twere, in new existences;'
Itself unalterable, and ever one.

10

"Descending hence unto the lowest powers,"
Its energy so sinks, at last it makes

But brief contingencies; for so I name
Things generated, which the heavenly orbs
Moving, with seed or without seed, produce.

Their wax, and that which moulds it," differ much:
And thence with lustre, more or less, it shows
The ideal stamp imprest: so that one tree,
According to his kind, hath better fruit,
And worse: and, at your birth, ye, mortal men,
Are in your talents various. Were the wax
Moulded with nice exactness, and the Heaven'
In its disposing influence supreme,
The brightness of the seal" should be complete:
But nature renders it imperfect ever;

Resembling thus the artist, in his work,

13

Whose faltering hand is faithless to his skill.
Therefore, if fervent Love dispose, and mark

15

"That." Things, corruptible and incorruptible, are only emanations from the archetypal idea residing in the Divine Mind.

The Word; the Son of God. "His love triune with them." The Holy Ghost.

10 Angels and human souls.

11 Irrational life and brute matter.

12" Their wax, and that which moulds it." Matter, and the virtue or energy that acts on it.

18" The heaven." The influence of the planetary bodies.

14 The brightness of the Divine idea before spoken of.

15" Therefore." Our Poet intends this for a brief description of

The lustrous Image of the primal Virtue,

There all perfection is vouchsafed; and such

16

The clay was made, accomplish'd with each gift,
That life can teem with; such the burden fill'd
The Virgin's bosom: so that I commend
Thy judgment, that the human nature ne'er
Was, or can be, such as in them it was.

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Did I advance no further than this point; 'How then had he no peer?' thou might'st reply. But, that what now appears not, may appear Right plainly, ponder, who he was, and what (When he was bidden Ask') the motive, sway'd To his requesting. I have spoken thus,

That thou mayst see, he was a king, who ask'd”
For wisdom, to the end he might be king
Sufficient: not, the number to search out
Of the celestial movers; or to know,
If necessary with contingent e'er
Have made necessity; or whether that
Be granted, that first motion is; or if,
Of the mid-circle," can by art be made
Triangle, with its corner blunt or sharp.

18

"Whence, noting that, which I have said, and this, Thou kingly prudence and that ken mayst learn,

At which the dart of my intention aims.

And, marking clearly, that I told thee, Risen,'
Thou shalt discern it only hath respect

To kings, of whom are many, and the good
Are rare. With this distinction take my words;
And they may well consist with that which thou
Of the first human father dost believe,

the Trinity: the primal virtue signi-
fying the Father; the lustrous
image, the Son; the fervent love, the
Holy Ghost.

18" The clay." Adam.

17" Who ask'd." He did not desire to know the number of the celestial intelligences, or to pry into the subtleties of logical, metaphysical, or mathematical science: but asked for that wisdom which might fit him for his kingly office.

If we

18" That first motion." must allow one first motion, which

is not caused by other motion; a question resolved affirmatively by metaphysics, according to that principle, repugnant in causis proces sus infinitum."

19" Of the mid-circle." If in the half of the circle a rectilinear triangle can be described, one side of which shall be the diameter of the same circle, without its forming a right angle with the other two sides, which geometry shows to be impos sible.

20

And of our well-beloved. And let this

Henceforth be lead unto thy feet, to make
Thee slow in motion, as a weary man,

Both to the 'yea' and to the 'nay' thou seest not.
For he among the fools is down full low,
Whose affirmation, or denial, is

Without distinction, in each case alike.
Since it befals, that in most instances
Current opinion leans to false: and then
Affection bends the judgment to her ply.

"Much more than vainly doth he loose from shore, Since he returns not such as he set forth,

Who fishes for the truth and wanteth skill.
And open proofs of this unto the world
Have been afforded in Parmenides,
Melissus, Bryso,20 and the crowd beside,
Who journey'd on, and knew not whither: so did
Sabellius, Arius," and the other fools,
Who, like to scimitars," reflected back
The scripture-image by distortion marr'd.
"Let not the people be too swift to judge;
As one who reckons on the blades in field,
Or e'er the crop be ripe. For I have seen
The thorn frown rudely all the winter long,
And after bear the rose upon its top;
And bark, that all her way across the sea
Ran straight and speedy, perish at the last
E'en in the haven's mouth. Seeing one steal,
Another bring his offering to the priest,
Let not Dame Birtha and Sir Martin" thence
Into Heaven's counsels deem that they can pry;
For one of these may rise, the other fall."

For the singular opinions entertained by the two former of these heathen philosophers, see Diogenes Laertius, lib. ix.

21" Sabellius, Arius." Well-known heretics.

22 Scimitars." Bertradon de la Brocquière, who wrote before Dante, informs us that the wandering Arabs used their scimitars as mirrors.

23"Let not." "Let not shortsighted mortals presume to decide on the future doom of any man, from a consideration of his present character and actions." This is meant as an answer to the doubts entertained respecting the salvation of Solomon. See Canto x. 107.

24" Dame Birtha and Sir Martin." Names put generally for persons who have more curiosity than discretion.

CANTO XIV

ARGUMENT.-Solomon, who is one of the spirits in the inner circle, declares what the appearance of the blest will be after the resurrection of the body. Beatrice and Dante are translated into the fifth Heaven, that of Mars; and here behold the souls of those, who had died fighting for the true faith, ranged in the sign of the cross, athwart which the spirits move to the sound of a melodious hymn.

F

ROM centre to the circle, and so back

From circle to the centre, water moves

In the round chalice, even as the blow

Impels it, inwardly, or from without.

Such was the image1 glanced into my mind,
As the great spirit of Aquinum ceased;

And Beatrice, after him, her words

66

Resumed alternate: 'Need there is (though yet

He tells it to you not in words, nor e'en

In thought) that he should fathom to its depth
Another mystery. Tell him, if the light,

Wherewith your substance blooms, shall stay with you
Eternally, as now; and, if it doth,

How, when' ye shall regain your visible forms,

The sight may without harm endure the change,

That also tell." As those, who in a ring

Tread the light measure, in their fitful mirth

Raise loud the voice, and spring with gladder bound;

Thus, at the hearing of that pious suit,

The saintly circles, in their tourneying

And wondrous note, attested new delight.

Whoso laments, that we must doff this garb

Of frail mortality, thenceforth to live

Immortally above; he hath not seen

The sweet refreshing of that heavenly shower."
Him, who lives ever, and forever reigns

In mystic union of the Three in One,
Unbounded, bounding all, each spirit thrice

1 The voice of Thomas Aquinas proceeding from the circle to the centre; and that of Beatrice, from the centre to the circle.

a" When." When ye shall be again clothed with your bodies at the resurrection.

3 That effusion of beatific light.

Sang, with such melody, as, but to hear,
For highest merit were an ample meed.
And from the lesser orb the goodliest light,*
With gentle voice and mild, such as perhaps
The Angel's once to Mary, thus replied:
"Long as the joy of Paradise shall last,
Our love shall shine around that raiment, bright
As fervent; fervent as, in vision, blest;
And that as far, in blessedness, exceeding,
As it hath grace, beyond its virtue, great.
Our shape, regarmented with glorious weeds
Of saintly flesh, must, being thus entire,
Show yet more gracious. Therefore shall increase
Whate'er, of light, gratuitous imparts

The Supreme Good; light, ministering aid,
The better to disclose His glory: whence,
The vision needs increasing, must increase
The fervour, which it kindles; and that too
The ray, that comes from it. But as the gleed
Which gives out flame, yet in its whiteness shines
More livelily than that, and so preserves

Its proper semblance; thus this circling sphere
Of splendour shall to view less radiant seem,
Than shall our fleshly robe, which yonder earth
Now covers. Nor will such excess of light
O'erpower us, in corporeal organs made
Firm, and susceptible of all delight."

So ready and so cordial an Amen " Follow'd from either choir, as plainly spoke Desire of their dead bodies; yet perchance

Not for themselves, but for their kindred dear, Mothers and sires, and those whom best they loved, Ere they were made imperishable flame.

And lo! forthwith there rose up round about

A lustre, over that already there;

Of equal clearness, like the brightening up

Of the horizon. As at evening hour

Of twilight, new appearances through Heaven
Peer with faint glimmer, doubtfully descried;

"The goodliest light." Solomon.