Paradiso Read online

  12

  now at her nape, now at her brow. →

  I had not been aware of rising to that star, →

  but was assured of being in it

  15

  when I observed my lady turn more beautiful.

  And, as one sees a spark within a flame →

  or hears, within a song, a second voice, →

  18

  holding its note while the other comes and goes,

  so I saw within that light still other lights, →

  swifter and slower in their circling motions, →

  21

  it seemed in measure to their inner sight.

  Winds racing down from a cold cloud,

  in their swift motion, whether visible or not, →

  24

  would seem impeded, slow,

  to one who had seen these heavenly lights

  come toward us, pausing in the dance →

  27

  begun among the lofty Seraphim.

  And from among the closest that appeared

  rang out Hosanna so that ever since →

  30

  I have not been without the wish to hear it.

  Then one, alone, drew nearer and began: →

  ‘All of us desire to bring you pleasure

  33

  so that you may in turn delight in us.

  ‘In one orbit we revolve with these celestial princes— → →

  in one circle, with one circling, and with a single thirst—

  36

  to whom, from the world, you addressed these words:

  ‘ “You who, by understanding, move the third heaven.”

  We are filled with love but, to give you pleasure, →

  39

  a little respite will be no less sweet to us.’ →

  After I had raised my reverent eyes →

  to my lady and she had made them glad

  42

  and made them sure of her consent,

  I turned them back to the light that had made

  such a promise, and ‘Oh, who are you?’ →

  45

  I asked, my voice expressing great affection. →

  I watched the light grow larger →

  and more luminescent as I spoke

  48

  with new joy added to its joys!

  Thus changed, it said to me: ‘The world kept me →

  but a little while below, and, had that time been longer,

  51

  much evil that shall be would not have been.

  ‘It is my happiness that hides me from you, →

  as it enfolds and hides me in its shining rays,

  54

  like the creature that is sheathed in its own silk.

  ‘You loved me well, and with good reason. →

  Had I remained below, to you I would have shown

  57

  much more than the mere fronds of my affection.

  ‘The left bank that is moistened by the Rhone →

  once it mingles waters with the Sorgue

  60

  awaited me as sovereign at a time to come,

  ‘as did Ausonia’s horn, from where it borders Bari,

  Gaeta, and Catona, to the place

  63

  where the Tronto and the Verde flow into the sea.

  ‘On my brow already shone the crown →

  of the country furrowed by the Danube

  66

  once it leaves behind its German banks.

  ‘And fair Trinacria, overcast and murky →

  between Pachynus and Pelorus, →

  69

  above the bay most vexed by the Sirocco,

  ‘darkened not by Typhon but by rising sulphur— →

  would still have waited for its kings,

  72

  born through me of Charles and Rudolph,

  ‘had not bad governance, which ever grieves the hearts

  of subject peoples, impelled Palermo

  75

  to cry out, “Kill them, kill!” →

  ‘And if my brother but foresaw this →

  he would shun the greedy poverty of Catalonia

  78

  so that it not afflict him.

  ‘For truly there is need that he or someone else →

  should look to it, lest on his overloaded bark

  81

  be laid a load of even greater weight.

  ‘His stingy nature, though he came from worthy stock, →

  would require officials who do not set their hearts →

  84

  on filling up their coffers.’

  ‘Since I sense that the deep joy →

  your words have filled me with, my lord,

  87

  is seen by you as clearly as it’s seen by me

  ‘there where every good begins and ends,

  my joy is greater. And I also hold it dear

  90

  that you discern this as you gaze on God.

  ‘You have made me glad, now bring me light, →

  for, listening to your words, I am confused:

  93

  How from sweet seed may come a bitter fruit?’

  Thus I to him, and he: ‘If I can prove a truth to you, →

  then you will have before your eyes

  96

  an answer to the question on which you turn your back.

  ‘The Good, which revolves and gladdens → →

  all the realm you now are climbing,

  99

  puts its plan to work through these great bodies.

  ‘Not only are the natures of the souls foreseen →

  within the Mind that in Itself is perfect,

  102

  but, along with their natures, their well-being,

  ‘and thus whatsoever this bow shoots →

  falls predisposed to a determined end,

  105

  as a shaft directed to its target.

  ‘Were this not so, the heavens you traverse →

  would engender such effects

  108

  as would not seem crafted but chaotic,

  ‘and such cannot be, unless the intellects that impel →

  the spheres here were defective and defective, too,

  111

  the primal Intellect, for failing to perfect them.

  ‘Would you like to have this truth made clearer?’ →

  And I: ‘No, for I understand it cannot be

  114

  that nature should weary in her necessary chores.’

  And he continued: ‘Now tell me, would it be worse →

  for man on earth if he were not a social being?’

  117

  ‘Yes,’ I agreed, ‘and here I ask no proof.’

  ‘And can he be such if men down there on earth →

  live not in different ways for different tasks?

  120

  Not if your master is correct in this.’

  Thus he brought his thesis to its point →

  and then concluded, ‘The roots of your activities, →

  123

  therefore, are necessarily diverse:

  ‘Thus one is born Solon and another Xerxes,

  one Melchizedek, another one the man

  126

  who flew up through the air and lost his son.

  ‘Circling nature, which sets its seal → →

  on mortal wax, plies its craft with skill,

  129

  but does not distinguish one house from another.

  ‘Thus it happens that Esau differs even in the seed →

  from Jacob, and Quirinus is born

  132

  of so rude a father he is ascribed to Mars.

  ‘Nature, once begotten, would always follow →

  a course like that of its begetters

  135

  if Divine Providence did not intervene.

  ‘Now what was behind you is before you. →

  But t
hat you may know how much it is you please me,

  138

  I want you to wear this corollary as your cloak. →

  ‘Always, if nature meets a fate →

  unsuited to it, like any kind of seed

  141

  out of its native soil, it comes to a bad end,

  ‘and if the world below paid more attention →

  to the foundation nature lays

  144

  and built on that, it would be peopled well.

  ‘But no, you force into religion one born →

  to wear the sword, and make a king

  of one more fit for sermons,

  148

  so that your path departs from the true way.’

  OUTLINE: PARADISO IX

  VENUS

  1

  “Fair Clemenza”: Charles’s wife or daughter?

  2–3

  his son, Caroberto, deprived of Naples by Uncle Robert

  4–6

  Charles’s prophecy, perhaps indicating the battle of Montecatini (1315)

  7–9

  the “life” of Charles turns its attention back to God

  10–12

  denunciation of vain mortals, who turn away from God

  13–15

  another “splendor” comes toward Dante

  16–18

  Beatrice nods assent: he may speak to this soul

  19–21

  Dante: “Show me that you can read my thoughts”

  22–24

  this splendor, Cunizza da Romano, addresses Dante

  25–30

  Cunizza speaks first of her brother, Ezzelino da Romano

  31–36

  and then goes on to speak briefly of her present joy

  37–38

  next she turns to her “neighbor” here, Folco di Marsiglia

  39–42

  her prediction of the fame on earth that Folco will enjoy

  43–45

  Cunizza indicates the area of the March of Treviso by the the cities Padua, Vicenza, Treviso, and Feltre

  46–48

  her first prophecy: the battle at Vicenza (1314)

  49–51

  her second prophecy: Riccardo da Camino will die (1312)

  52–60

  her third prophecy: the bishop of Feltre, Alessandro Novello, will betray three Ferrarese brothers (1314)

  61–63

  Cunizza ends her speech by taking joy in God’s judgment

  64–66

  Cunizza turns back to dancing among the other Venusians

  67–72

  the living soul of Folco of Marseilles glows

  73–81

  Dante wants to know, since Folco reads his mind in God, why he insists on being asked to speak

  82–93

  Folco’s circumlocutory indication of his city, Marseilles

  94–96

  his charity now stamps the heaven of Venus as that heaven had first “imprinted” him

  97–102

  Folco’s aptness for love was none less than that of Dido, Phyllis, and Hercules

  103–108

  Folco: the awareness of their sins had ceased when these souls went through Lethe; now they discern God’s plan

  109–114

  Folco: so that all the desires Dante has felt in this sphere be satisfied, he will tell Dante who is near him

  115–126

  Rahab, the harlot, is rewarded for helping the invading Jews take Jericho, in the Holy Land

  127–132

  Folco: the lamentable condition of Florence in 1300

  133–138

  further, that churchmen, from priest to pope, seek to enrich themselves by studying decretals instead of sacred texts, results in leaving the Holy Land to the infidel

  139–142

  But the Vatican (where Peter was put to death) and other Roman sites of martyrs’ deaths will soon be free of stain.

  PARADISO IX

  After your Charles had enlightened me, →

  fair Clemence, he told of the deceptions

  3

  his seed was destined still to bear,

  but said: ‘Be silent, and let the years roll by.’

  And so I can reveal no more than this: fitting grief

  6

  shall find the ones who do your family wrong.

  By now the spirit in its holy light →

  had turned back to the Sun that fills its being, →

  9

  as to the goodness that suffices in all things.

  Ah, souls beguiled, creatures without reverence, →

  who wrench your hearts away from so much good

  12

  and set your minds on emptiness! →

  Now another of those splendors moved →

  in my direction, while its brightened glow →

  15

  proclaimed its wish to bring me joy.

  The eyes of Beatrice, fixed on me,

  as they had been before, held loving reassurance

  18

  of her glad consent to my desire. →

  ‘Please let my wish receive its quick reward, →

  blessèd spirit,’ I asked, ‘and give me proof

  21

  that what I think reflects itself in you.’ →

  At that the radiance, as yet unknown to me,

  out of the very depth from which it sang before, →

  24

  responded as does someone who delights in doing good:

  ‘In that part of degenerate Italy → →

  that extends from the Rialto

  27

  to the sources of the Brenta and the Piave

  ‘there rises a hill of no great height

  from which a firebrand came hurtling down →

  30

  to scourge the region with its fierce assault.

  ‘This torch and I were born from a single root. → →

  Cunizza was my name and, overcome

  33

  by this star’s splendor, I shine here.

  ‘I gladly pardon in myself the reason for my lot, →

  nor does it grieve me—a fact that may

  36

  seem strange, perhaps, to those unschooled among you.

  ‘Of this scintillating, precious jewel beside me →

  in this heaven, great fame was left on earth. →

  39

  And, before it dies away completely,

  ‘this centennial year will come again five times. →

  Consider, then, should a man not strive to excel →

  42

  so that his first life leave behind a better?

  ‘Of this the present rabble there enclosed →

  by the Tagliamento and the Àdige have no thought,

  45

  nor, for all their scourgings, do they yet repent.

  ‘But soon the time will come when Padua shall stain →

  the color of the water of Vicenza’s marshes,

  48

  because the people there resist their duty.

  ‘Where the rivers Sile and Cagnano converge, →

  one man lords it, with his head held high—

  51

  but even now the web is spun to catch him.

  ‘Feltre must still bewail the perfidy →

  of her godless shepherd. This shall be so foul

  54

  that, for its like, none yet has gone to prison. →

  ‘Large indeed the vat would have to be

  to hold so much of Ferrarese blood,

  57

  and weary he who had to weigh it ounce by ounce,

  ‘the blood this generous priest will offer as a gift

  to show his party just how staunch he is—

  60

  such gifts will suit that city’s way of life.

  ‘Above us are the mirrors you call Thrones. →

  From them the judging God shines down on us,

  63

  so that we thi
nk it good to say such things.’ →

  Here she was silent and it seemed to me →

  her thoughts had turned to other cares

  66

  as she rejoined the ring where she had been before.

  The other joy, already known to me →

  as precious, before my eyes became a splendid ruby,

  69

  sparkling in the bright rays of the sun. →

  There above, brightness is gained by joy, →

  as is laughter here, but down below

  72

  a shade shows dark when sadness clouds its mind.

  ‘God sees all, and your sight is so in-Himmed, →

  blessèd spirit,’ I said, ‘that no wish of any kind

  75

  is able to conceal itself from you.

  ‘Why then does your voice, which ever pleases Heaven,

  together with the singing of those loving flames →

  78

  that form their cowls from their six wings,

  ‘not offer my desires their satisfaction?

  I would not await your question

  81

  if I in-you’d me as you in-me’d you.’

  ‘The widest expanse of water inside shores,’ →

  were the initial words of his response,

  84

  ‘drawn from the sea encircling all the world,

  ‘between its opposing shores extends so far →

  against the wheeling sun, it places the meridian

  87

  where at first lay only the horizon.

  ‘I was a dweller on that water’s shore

  between the Ebro and the brief run of the Magra

  90

  that separates the Tuscan from the Genovese.

  ‘So close they nearly share sunset and dawn

  lie Bougie and the city that I came from.

  93

  Once it made its harbor warm with its own blood. →