So, there, new substances, methought, began To rise in view beyond the other twain, And wheeling, sweep their ampler circuit wide. O genuine glitter of eternal Beam! With what a sudden whiteness did it flow, O'erpowering vision in me. But so fair, So passing lovely, Beatrice show'd, Mind cannot follow it, nor words express
Her infinite sweetness. Thence mine eyes regain'd Power to look up; and I beheld myself, Sole with my lady, to more lofty bliss
Translated: for the star, with warmer smile
Impurpled, well denoted our ascent.
With all the heart, and with that tongue which speaks The same in all, an holocaust I made
To God, befitting the new grace vouchsafed. And from my bosom had not yet upsteam'd The fuming of that incense, when I knew The rite accepted. With such mighty sheen And mantling crimson, in two listed rays The splendours shot before me, that I cried, "God of Sabaoth! that dost prank them thus!" As leads the galaxy from pole to pole, Distinguish'd into greater lights and less, Its pathway, which the wisest fail to spell; So thickly studded, in the depth of Mars, Those rays described the venerable sign, That quadrants in the round conjoining frame.
Here memory mocks the toil of genius. Christ Beam'd on that cross; and pattern fails me now. But whoso takes his cross, and follows Christ, Will pardon me for that I leave untold, When in the flecker'd dawning he shall spy The glitterance of Christ. From horn to horn, And 'tween the summit and the base, did move Lights, scintillating, as they met and pass'd. Thus oft are seen with ever-changeful glance, Straight or athwart, now rapid and now slow, The atomies of bodies, long or short,
5" To more lofty bliss." To the planet Mars.
To move along the sunbeam, whose slant line Checkers the shadow interposed by art
Against the noontide heat. And as the chime Of minstrel music, dulcimer, and harp
With many strings, a pleasant dinning makes To him, who heareth not distinct the note; So from the lights, which there appear'd to me, Gather'd along the cross a melody,
That, indistinctly heard, with ravishment Possess'd me. Yet I mark'd it was a hymn
Of lofty praises; for there came to me
'Arise," and "Conquer," as to one who hears
And comprehends not. Me such ecstasy
O'ercame, that never, till that hour, was thing That held me in so sweet imprisonment. Perhaps my saying overbold appears, Accounting less the pleasure of those eyes, Whereon to look fulfilleth all desire. But he, who is aware those living seals Of every beauty work with quicker force, The higher they are risen; and that there I had not turn'd me to them; he may well Excuse me that, whereof in my excuse I do accuse me, and may own my truth; That holy pleasure here not yet reveal'd, Which grows in transport as we mount aloof.
ARGUMENT. The spirit of Cacciaguida, our Poet's ancestor, glides rapidly to the foot of the cross; tells who he is; and speaks of the simplicity of the Florentines in his days, since then much corrupted.
|RUE love, that ever shows itself as clear
In kindness, as loose appetite in wrong,
Silenced that lyre harmonious, and still'd The sacred cords, that are by Heaven's right hand Unwound and tighten'd. How to righteous prayers Should they not hearken, who, to give me will For praying, in accordance thus were mute?
He hath in sooth good cause for endless grief, Who, for the love of thing that lasteth not, Despoils himself forever of that love.
As oft along the still and pure serene, At nightfall, glides a sudden trail of fire, Attracting with involuntary heed
The eye to follow it, erewhile at rest;
And seems some star that shifted place in Heaven,
Only that, whence it kindles, none is lost,
And it is soon extinct: thus from the horn, That on the dexter of the cross extends, Down to its foot, one luminary ran
From mid the cluster shone there; yet no gem Dropp'd from its foil: and through the beamy list, Like flame in alabaster, glow'd its course.
So forward stretch'd him (if of credence aught Our greater muse may claim) the pious ghost Of old Anchises, in the Elysian bower, When he perceived his son. "O thou, my blood! O most exceeding grace divine! to whom, As now to thee, hath twice the heavenly gate
Been e'er unclosed?" So spake the light: whence I Turn'd me toward him; then unto my dame My sight directed: and on either side Amazement waited me; for in her eyes Was lighted such a smile, I thought that mine Had dived unto the bottom of my grace And of my bliss in Paradise. Forthwith, To hearing and to sight grateful alike, The spirit to his proem added things I understood not, so profound he spake: Yet not of choice, but through necessity, Mysterious; for his high conception soar'd Beyond the mark of mortals. When the flight Of holy transport had so spent its rage, That nearer to the level of our thought The speech descended; the first sounds I heard Were, "Blest be thou, Triunal Deity!
That hast such favour in my seed vouchsafed." Then follow'd. "No unpleasant thirst, though long,
Which took me reading in the sacred book, Whose leaves or white or dusky never change, Thou hast allay'd, my son! within this light,
From whence my voice thou hear'st: more thanks to her, Who, for such lofty mounting, has with plumes Begirt thee. Thou dost deem thy thoughts to me
From Him transmitted, who is first of all, E'en as all numbers ray from unity; And therefore dost not ask me who I am, Or why to thee more joyous I appear, Than any other in this gladsome throng. The truth is as thou deem'st; for in this life Both less and greater in that Mirror look,
In which thy thoughts, or e'er thou think'st, are shown. But, that the love, which keeps me wakeful ever, Urging with sacred thirst of sweet desire, May be contented fully; let thy voice, Fearless, and frank, and jocund, utter forth Thy will distinctly, utter forth the wish, Whereto my ready answer stands decreed."
I turn'd me to Beatrice; and she heard Ere I had spoken, smiling an assent, That to my will gave wings; and I began: "To each among your tribe, what time ye kenn'd The nature, in whom naught unequal dwells, Wisdom and love were in one measure dealt;
For that they are so equal in the Sun,
From whence ye drew your radiance and your heat, As makes all likeness scant.
In mortals, for the cause ye well discern, With unlike wings are fledged. A mortal, I Experience inequality like this;
And therefore give no thanks, but in the heart, For thy paternal greeting. This howe'er
I pray thee, living topaz! that ingemm'st This precious jewel; let me hear thy name." "I am thy root,' O leaf! whom to expect Even, hath pleased me." Thus the prompt reply
1 "I am thy root." Cacciaguida, father to Alighieri, of whom our Poet was the great-grandson.
Prefacing, next it added: "He, of whom' Thy kindred appellation comes, and who, These hundred years and more, on its first ledge Hath circuited the mountain, was my son, And thy great-grandsire. Well befits, his long Endurance should he shorten'd by thy deeds.
Florence, within her ancient limit-mark, Which calls her still3 to matin prayers and noon, Was chaste and sober, and abode in peace. She had no armlets and no head-tires then; No purfled dames; no zone, that caught the eye More than the person did. Time was not yet, When at his daughter's birth the sire grew pale, For fear the age and dowry should exceed, On each side, just proportion. House was none Void of its family: nor yet had come Sardanapalus, to exhibit feats
Of chamber prowess. Montemalo' yet O'er our suburban turretR rose; as much To be surpast in fall, as in its rising. I saw Bellincion Berti' walk abroad
"He, of whom." Thy great- grandfather, Alighieri, has been in the first round of Purgatory more than a hundred years; and it is fit that thou by thy good deserts shouldst endeavor to shorten the time of his remaining there. son Bellincione was living in 1266; and of him was born the father of our Poet, whom Benvenuto da Imo- la calls a lawyer by profession.
3 The public clock being still within the circuit of the ancient walls.
When the women were not married at too early an age, and did not expect too large a portion.
Through the civil wars and banishments. Or he may mean that houses were not formerly built merely for show, nor of greater size than was necessary for containing the families that inhabited them.
The luxurious monarch of Assyria. Either an elevated spot between Rome and Viterbo; or Monte Mario, the site of the villa Mellini, commanding a view of Rome.
8 Uccellatojo, near Florence, whence that city was discovered. Florence had not yet vied with Rome in the
grandeur of her public buildings. 9" Bellincion Berti." "Hell," Canto xvi. 38, and notes. "And ob- serve that in the time of the said people (A. D. 1259), and before and for a long time after, the citi- zens of Florence lived soberly, on coarse viands, and at little cost, and in many customs and courtesies of life were rude and unpolished; and dressed themselves and their women in coarse cloths: many wore plain leather, without cloth over it; bon- nets on their heads; and all, boots on the feet; and the Florentine wo- men were without ornament; the better sort content with a close gown of scarlet cloth of Ypres or of camlet, bound with a girdle in the ancient mode, and a mantle lined with fur, and a hood to it, which was worn on the head; the com- mon sort of women were clad in a coarse gown of Cambrai in like but with their coarse way of living and poverty [the Flor- entines] did greater and more virtu- ous deeds than have been done in our times with greater refinement and wealth."-G. Villani, lib. vi. c. lxxi.
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