NOTES

CANTO I

1. Dante's theory of the universe is the old one, which made the earth a stationary central point, around which all the heavenly bodies revolved; a theory that, according to Paradise Lost," VIII. 15, astonished even Adam in

Milton,
Paradise:

When I behold this goodly frame, this world,
Of heaven and earth consisting, and compute
Their magnitudes: this earth, a spot, a grain,
An atom, with the firmament compared
And all her numbered stars, that seem to roll
Spaces incomprehensible (for such

Their distance argues, and their swift return
Diurnal), merely to officiate light

Round this opacous earth, this punctual spot,
One day and night; in all their vast. survey
Useless besides; reasoning I oft admire,
How Nature, wise and frugal, could commit
Such disproportions, with superfluous hand
So many nobler bodies to create,

Greater so manifold, to this one use,

For aught appears, and on their orbs impose
Such restless revolution day by day
Repeated; while the sedentary earth,

That better might with far less compass move,
Served by more noble than herself, attains
Her end without least motion, and receives,
As tribute, such a sumless journey brought
Of incorporeal speed, her warmth and light,
Speed, to describe whose swiftness number fails.

The reply that Raphael makes to "our general ancestor' may be addressed to every reader of the

Paradiso:

Whether the sun, predominant in heaven,
Rise on the earth, or earth rise on the sun;
He from the east his flaming road begin,
Or she from west her silent course advance,

With inoffensive pace that spinning sleeps
On her soft axle; while she paces even,

And bears thee soft with the smooth air along;
Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid.

Thus, taking the earth as the central point, and speaking of the order of the Ten Heavens, Dante says, "Convito," II. 4: "The first is that where the Moon is; the second is that where Mercury is; the third is that where Venus is; the fourth is that where the Sun is; the fifth is that where Mars is; the sixth is that where Jupiter is; the seventh is that where Saturn is; the eighth is that of the Stars; the ninth is not visible, save by the motion mentioned above, and is called by many the Crystalline; that is, diaphanous, or wholly transparent. Beyond all these, indeed, the Catholics place the Empyrean Heaven; that is to say, the Heaven of flame, or luminous; and this they suppose to be immovable, from having within itself, in every part, that which its matter demands. And this is the cause why the Primum Mobile has a very swift motion; from the fervent longing which each part of that ninth heaven has to be conjoined with that Divinest Heaven, the Heaven of Rest, which is next to it, it revolves therein with so great desire, that its velocity is almost incomprehensible; and quiet and peaceful is the place of that supreme Deity, who alone doth perfectly see himself."

Of the symbolism of these Heavens he says, "Convito," II. 14: As narrated above, the seven Heavens nearest to us are those of the Planets; and above these are two movable Heavens, and one motionless over all. To the first seven correspond the seven sciences of the Trivium and Quadrivium; that is, Grammar, Dialectics, Rhetoric, Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, and Astrology. To the eighth, that is, to the starry sphere, Natural Science, called Physics, corresponds, and the first science, which is called Metaphysics; and to the ninth sphere corresponds Moral Science; and to the Heaven of Rest, the Divine Science, which is called Theology."

The details of these correspondences will be given later in their appropriate places.

These Ten Heavens are the heavens of the Paradiso; nine

of them revolving about the earth as a central point, and the motionless Empyrean encircling and containing all.

In the first Heaven, or that of the Moon, are seen the spirits of those who, having taken monastic vows, were forced to violate them. In the second, or that of Mercury, the spirits of those whom desire of fame incited to noble deeds. In the third, or that of Venus, the spirits of Lovers. In the fourth, or that of the Sun, the spirits of Theologians and Fathers of the Church. In the fifth, or that of Mars, the spirits of Crusaders and those who died for the true Faith. In the sixth, or that of Jupiter, the spirits of righteous Kings and Rulers. In the seventh, or that of Saturn, the spirits of the Contemplative. In the eighth, or that of the Fixed Stars, the Triumph of Christ. In the ninth, or Primum Mobile, the Angelic Hierarchies. In the tenth, or the Empyrean, is the Visible Presence of God.

It must be observed, however, that the lower spheres, in which the spirits appear, are not assigned them as their places or dwellings. They show themselves in these different places only to indicate to Dante the different degrees of glory which they enjoy, and to show that while on earth they were under the influence of the planets in which they here appear. Dante expressly says, in canto iv. 28:

He of the Seraphim most absorbed in God,
Moses, and Samuel, and whichever John
Thou mayst select, I say, and even Mary,
Have not in any other heaven their thrones

Than have those spirits that just appeared to thee,
Nor of existence more or fewer years;

But all make beautiful the primal circle,
And have sweet life in different degrees,

By feeling more or less the eternal breath.

They showed themselves here, not because allotted
This sphere has been to them, but to give sign
Of the celestial which is least exalted.

The threefold main division of the " Paradiso," indicated by a longer prelude, or by a natural pause in the action of the poem, is: 1. From canto 1. to canto x. 2. From canto x. to canto XXIII. 3. From canto xxIII. to the end.

2. Wisdom of Solomon, i. 7: "For the spirit of the Lord

filleth the world; and Ecclesiasticus, xlii. 16: "The sun that giveth light looketh upon all things, and the work thereof is full of the glory of the Lord."

66

4. The Empyrean. Milton, Paradise Lost," III. 57:

From the pure Empyrean where he sits
High throned above all highth.

5. 2 Corinthians, xii. 2: “ I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell; God knoweth: such a one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell; God knoweth: how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a

man to utter.

7. "Convito," III. 2: "Hence the human soul, which is the noblest form of those created under heaven, receiveth more of the divine nature than any other. . . And inasmuch as its being depends upon God, and is preserved by him, it naturally desires and wishes to be united with God, in order to strengthen its being."

And again, "Convito," III. 6: "Each thing chiefly desireth its own perfection, and in it quieteth every desire, and for it is each thing desired. And this is the desire which always maketh each delight seem insufficient; for in this life is no delight so great that it can satisfy the thirst of the soul, so that the desire I speak of shall not remain in our thoughts." 13. Chaucer,

"House of Fame," III. 1:

God of science and of light,
Apollo ! thorough thy grete might
This litel last boke now thou gye.

And if that divine virtue thou
Wilte helpen me to showen now
That in my hed ymarked is,

Thou shalt yse me go as blive
Unto the next laurer I se,
And kysse it for it is thy tre.
Nowe entre in my brest anone.

12:

19. Chaucer, "Ballade in Commendacion of Our Ladie,"

O winde of grace! now blowe unto my saile;

O auriate licour of Clio! to write

My penne enspire, of that I woll indite.

20. Ovid, Metamorphoses," vi., Croxall's translation:

When straight another pictures to their view

The Satyr's fate, whom angry Phoebus slew;

Who, raised with high conceit, and puffed with pride,

At his own pipe the skilful God defied.

Why do you tear me from myself, he cries?

Ah, cruel! must my skin be made the prize?

This for a silly pipe? he roaring said,

Meanwhile the skin from off his limbs was flayed.

And Chaucer, "House of Fame," 139, changing the sex

of Marsyas:

And Mercia that lost hire skinne,

Bothe in the face, bodie, and chinne,

For that she would envyen, lo!

To pipen bette than Apollo.

36. A town at the foot of Parnassus, dedicated to Apollo, and here used for Apollo.

Chaucer, "Quene Annelida and False Arcite," 15:

Be favorable eke thou, Polymnia!

On Parnassus that, with thy susters glade
By Helicon, and not ferre from Cirrha,
Singed, with voice memoriall, in the shade
Under the laurer, which that maie not fade.

39. That point of the horizon where the sun rises at the equinox; and where the Equator, the Zodiac, and the equinoctial Colure meet, and form each a cross with the Horizon.

41. The world is as wax, which the sun softens and stamps with his seal.

44. "This word almost," says Buti, "gives us to understand that it was not the exact moment when the sun enters Aries."

60. Milton, " Paradise Lost," ш. 593:

Not all parts like, but all alike informed

With radiant light, as glowing iron with fire.