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Already of myself aloft I looked;
For visual strength, refining more and more,
Bare me into the ray authentical

Of sovran light. Thenceforward, what I saw,
Was not for words to speak, nor memory's self
To stand against such outrage on her skill.

As one, who from a dream awakened, straight,
All he hath seen forgets; yet still retains
Impression of the feeling in his dream;
E'en such am I: for all the vision dies,
As 't were, away; and yet the sense of sweet,
That sprang from it, still trickles in my heart.
Thus in the sun-thaw is the snow unsealed;
Thus in the winds on flitting leaves was lost
The Sibyl's sentence. O eternal beam!

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55

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Of what thou then appearedst; give my tongue

(Whose height what reach of mortal thought may soar?)
Yield me again some little particle

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Power, but to leave one sparkle of thy glory,
Unto the race to come, that shall not lose
Thy triumph wholly, if thou waken aught
Of memory in me, and endure to hear
The record sound in this unequal strain.

Such keenness from the living ray I met,
That, if mine eyes had turned away, methinks,
I had been lost; but, so emboldened, on

I passed, as I remember, till my view
Hovered the brink of dread infinitude.

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O grace, unenvying of thy boon! that gavest
Boldness to fix so earnestly my ken

On the everlasting splendor, that I looked,

While sight was unconsumed; and, in that depth,

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69. "Chè, per tornare alquanto a mia memo- with their properties.

ria, E

per sonare un poco in questi versi, Più si conceperà di tua vittoria,"

"For if it returns somewhat to my memory, and if it sounds a little in these verses, more of

83. Scholastic terms; substance = that which exists in itself; accident = that which is inherent in a substance without forming part of its

essence.

The universal form; for that whene'er
I do but speak of it, my soul dilates

Beyond her proper self; and, till I speak,
One moment seems a longer lethargy,
Than five-and-twenty ages had appeared

To that emprize, that first made Neptune wonder
At Argo's shadow darkening on his flood.
With fixed heed, suspense and motionless,
Wondering I gazed; and admiration still
Was kindled as I gazed. It may not be,
That one, who looks upon that light, can turn
To other object, willingly, his view.

For all the good, that will may covet, there

Is summed; and all, elsewhere defective found,

Complete. My tongue shall utter now, no more

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E'en what remembrance keeps, than could the babe's
That yet is moistened at his mother's breast.
Not that the semblance of the living light

Was changed, (that ever as at first remained,)
But that my vision quickening, in that sole
Appearance, still new miracles descried,

And toiled me with the change. In that abyss
Of radiance, clear and lofty, seemed, methought,
Three orbs of triple hue, clipt in one bound:
And, from another, one reflected seemed,
As rainbow is from rainbow: and the third

Seemed fire, breathe equally from both. O speech!
How feeble and how faint art thou, to give
Conception birth. Yet this to what I saw
Is less than little. O eternal light!
Sole in thyself that dwell'st; and of thyself
Sole understood, past, present, or to come;
Thou smiledst, on that circling, which in thee
Seemed as reflected splendor, while I mused;
For I therein, methought, in its own hue
Beheld our image painted: steadfastly

I therefore pored upon the view. As one,
Who versed in geometric lore, would fain
Measure the circle; and, though pondering long

89. Cary's interpretation here differs from that of Scartazzini, Philalethes, Fraticelli, Bianchi, and others. He himself, in his corrected edition of his translation, refers to this second interpretation, which is as follows: Dante has gazed into the mind of God (which contains all things, past, present, and future) only an instant. What he saw, and now forgets, was greater than all that has occurred in the world's history, since the earliest known event, the expedition of the Argonauts, when the first ship, passing

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And deeply, that beginning, which he needs,
Finds not: e'en such was I, intent to scan

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The novel wonder, and trace out the form,

How to the circle fitted, and therein

How placed but the flight was not for my wing;

Had not a flash darted athwart my mind,

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And, in the spleen, unfolded what it sought.
Here vigor failed the towering fantasy:
But yet the will rolled onward, like a wheel
In even motion, by the love impelled,

That moves the sun in heaven and all the stars.

126. Dante is endeavoring to solve the mystery of the two natures in Christ, when a sudden flash reveals it.

132. His mind is overcome by the supreme

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vision, and his voyage ends. Yet the Poet is content to have it so, since his will is in harmony with that of God.

INDEX OF PROPER NAMES,

EITHER EXPRESSLY MENTIONED, OR SUPPOSED TO BE REFERRED TO IN
THE DIVINE COMEDY.

Abati, Bocca degli, H. xxxii. 105.
Abati, Buoso degli, H. xxv. 131.
Abbagliato, H. xxix. 129.
Abel, H. iv. 53.

Abraham, H. iv. 55.

Absalom, H. xxviii. 132.

Abydos, Purg. xxviii. 74.

Accorso, H. xv. 110.

Accorso, Francesco d', H. xv. III.

Achan, Purg. xx. 107.

Acheron, H. iii. 72; xiv. 111. Purg. ii. 100.
Achilles, H. v. 65; xii. 68; xxvi. 63; xxxi. 4.
Purg. ix. 32; xxi. 93.

Acone, Par. xvi. 64.
Acquacheta, H. xvi. 97.

Acquasparta, Par. xii. 115.
Acre, H. xxvii. 84.

Adam, H. iii. 107; iv. 52. Purg. ix. 9; xi. 45;
xxix. 84; xxxii. 37; xxxiii. 62. Par. vii. 25;
xiii. 34, 77; xxvi. 82, 100; xxxii. 108, 122.
Adamo of Brescia, H. xxx. 60, 103.

Adige, H. xii. 4. Purg. xvi. 117. Par. ix. 44.
Adimari, Par. xvi. 113.

Adrian V. Purg. xix. 97.
Adriatic, Par. xxi. 114.
Ægina, H. xxix. 58.

Æneas, H. ii. 14, 34; iv. 119; xxvi. 61, 92. Purg.

xviii. 135; xxi. 98. Par. vi. 3; xv. 26.

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Ahasuerus, Purg. xvii. 28.
Ahitophel, H. xxviii. 133.
Alagia, Purg. xix. 141.

Alagna (or Anagni), Purg. xx. 86. Par. xxx.

145.

Alardo, H. xxviii. 17.

Alba, Par. vi. 38..

Alberichi, Par. xvi. 87.

Alberigo. See Manfredi.

Albero of Siena, H. xxix. 104.

Albert I. Purg. vi. 98. Par. xix. 114.
Alberti, Alberto degli, H. xxxii. 55.
Alberti, Alessandro degli, H. xxxii. 53.
Alberti, Napoleone degli, H. xxxii. 53.
Alberto, Abbot of San Zeno, Purg. xviii. 118.
Albertus Magnus, Par. x. 95.
Alcides, H. xxv. 30; xxxi. 123.
Alcmæon, Purg. xii. 46. Par. iv. 100.
Aldobrandesco, Guglielmo, Purg. xi. 59.
Aldobrandesco, Omberto, Purg. xi. 58, 67.
Aldobrandi, Tegghiaio, H. vi. 79; xvi. 42.
Alecto, H. ix. 48.

Alessandro of Romena, H. xxx. 76.
Alessio. See Interminei.

Alexander the Great, H. xiv. 28.

Alexander Pheræus, H. xii. 106.
Alexandria, Purg. vii. 137.
Ali, H. xxviii. 32.

Alichino, H. xxi. 116; xxii. 111.

Alighieri, son of Cacciaguida, Par. xv. 86.
Alp, H. xx. 58.

Alphonso III. King of Aragon, Purg. vii. 116.

Alpine, Purg. xiv. 33; xxxiii. 110.

Alverna, Par. xi. 98.

Amata, Purg. xvii. 34.

Amidei, Par. xvi. 135.

Par. vi. 52.

Amphiaräus, H. xx. 31. Par. iv. 100.
Amphion, H. xxxii. 11.

Amyclas, Par. xi. 63.

Anacreon, Purg. xxii. 105.

Ananias, Par. xxvi. 13.

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Arrigo. See Fifanti.

Arrigucci, Par. xvi. 106.

Arthur, H. xxxii. 59.

Anchises, H. i. 69; iv. 119; xxvi. 94. Par. xv. Aruns, H. xx. 43.

25; xix. 128.

Andes, Purg. xviii. 84.

Andrea, da Sant', Giacomo, H. xiii. 134.

Angelo. See Cagnano.

Ann, Saint, Par. xxxii. 119.

Annas, H. xxiii. 124.

Anselm, Par. xii. 128.

Anselm, son of Count Ugolino de' Gherardeschi,

H. xxxiii. 48.

Antæus, H. xxxi. 92, 103, 131.

Antandros, Par. vi. 69.

Antenor, Purg. v. 75.

Antenora, H. xxxii. 89.

Antigone, Purg. xxii. 108.

Antiochus, H. xix. 90.

Anthony, Saint, Par. xxix. 131.

Ascesi, Par. xi. 49.

Asciano, Caccia of, H. xxix. 126.

Asdente, H. xx. 116.

Asopus, Purg. xviii. 92.

Assyrians, Purg. xii. 54.

Athamas, H. xxx. 4.

Athens, H. xii. 17. Purg. vi. 141; xv. 96. Par.

xvii. 46.

Atropos, H. xxxiii. 124.

Attila, H. xii. 134; xiii. 150.

August, Purg. v. 38.

Augustine, Saint, Par. x. 117; xxxii. 30.

Augustus, Par. xxx. 136. See Cæsar.

Aulis, H. xx. 109.

Apennine, H. xvi. 96; xx. 63. Purg. v. 94; Ausonian, Par. xi. 98.

xxx. 87. Par. xxi. 97.

Apollo, Purg. xx. 127. Par. i. 12; ii. 9.

Apulia, H. xxviii. 7. See Pouille.

Apulian, H. xxviii. 15.

Aquarius, H. xxiv. 2.

Aquinum, Purg. xxii. 14. Par. x. 96; xiv. 6.

Arab, Par. vi. 50.

Arachne, H. xvii. 18. Purg. xii. 39.

Aragonia, Purg. iii. 113.

Arbia, H. x. 84.

Arca, Par. xvi. 90.

Arcas, Par. xxxi. 30.

Archiano, Purg. v. 93, 122.

Arctic, Par. xxxi. 28.

Ardelaffi. See Ordelaffi.

Ardinghi, Par. xvi. 91.

Arethusa, H. xxv. 89.

Aurora, Purg. ii. 8; ix. 1.

Ausonia, Par. viii. 63.

Austrian, H. xxxii. 26.

Aventine, H. xxv. 25.

Averroes, H. iv. 141.

Avicen, H. iv. 140.

Azzo, Ubaldini of, Purg. xiv. 107.
Azzolino. See Romano.

Babylonian, Par. xxiii. 129.

Bacchiglione, H. xv. 115. Par. ix. 47.
Bacchus, H. xx. 55. Purg. xviii. 93. Par. xiii.

22.

Bagnacavallo, Purg. xiv. 118.

Bagnoregio, Par. xii. 119.

Balearic, H. xxviii. 79.

Baptist. See John.

Barbariccia, H. xxi. 118; xxii. 30, 57, 142.
Barbarossa. See Frederick.

Arezzo, H. xxii. 6; xxix. 103; xxx. 32. Purg. Bari, Par. viii. 64.

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Aries, Purg. viii. 135; xxxii. 52. Par. i. 39; Belacqua, Purg. iv. 119.

xxviii. 108.

Belisarius, Par. vi. 25.

Aristotle, H. iv. 128; xi. 104. Purg. iii. 41. Bella, Giano della, Par. xvi. 130.

Par. viii. 125.

Arius, Par. xiii. 123.

Arles, H. ix. III.

Arnaut. See Daniel.

Arno, H. xiii. 148; xv. 115; xxiii. 95; xxx.

Bellincion. See Berti.

Bello, Geri del, H. xxix. 26.

Belus, Par. ix. 93.

Belzebub, H. xxxiv. 122.

Benacus, H. xx. 60, 72, 75.

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