Paradiso Read online

  ‘Folco the people called me, if they knew →

  my name, and now this heaven →

  96

  is marked by me, as I was marked by it, →

  ‘for the daughter of Belus was no more aflame, →

  bringing grief to Sychaeus and to Creusa,

  99

  than I, until the color of my hair began to fade,

  ‘nor was she of Rhodope, who was deceived

  by Demophoön, nor Alcides,

  102

  when he embraced Iole in his heart.

  ‘Yet here we don’t repent, but smile instead, →

  not at our fault, which comes not back to mind,

  105

  but for that Power which ordered and foresaw.

  ‘Here we contemplate the craft that beautifies →

  such love, and here discern the good

  108

  with which the world above informs the one below.

  ‘However, so that you may leave this sphere →

  with every wish that here has been engendered

  111

  satisfied, I must go on.

  ‘You want to know who occupies this luminescence

  that scintillates beside me here,

  114

  like a sunbeam gleaming in clear water.

  ‘Know then that within it Rahab is at peace, →

  and, since she is of our number,

  117

  our highest rank receives its seal from her.

  ‘Into this heaven, where the shadow of your world →

  comes to a point, before any other, →

  120

  first in Christ’s triumph, she was taken up.

  ‘Fitting it was indeed to leave her in one heaven,

  a trophy of the lofty victory

  123

  He gained with both of His two palms, →

  ‘because she aided Joshua when he gained →

  his first triumph in the Holy Land—a place

  126

  that hardly touches the memory of the pope.

  ‘Your city, which was planted by him, →

  the first to turn his back upon his Maker

  129

  and from whose envy comes such great distress,

  ‘puts forth and spreads the accursèd flower →

  that has led astray both sheep and lambs,

  132

  for it has made a wolf out of its shepherd.

  ‘For it the Gospels and the lofty doctors →

  are neglected and the Decretals alone are studied,

  135

  as is readily apparent from their margins.

  ‘To it the pope and his cardinals devote themselves, →

  without a single thought for Nazareth, →

  138

  where Gabriel spread out his wings.

  ‘But Vatican hill and other chosen Roman places

  that became the burial-ground

  for the solidiery that followed Peter

  142

  will soon be free of this adultery.’

  OUTLINE: PARADISO X

  THE SUN

  1–27

  God’s three Persons & Dante’s addresses to his readers

  1–6

  Trinitarian prologue to the heaven of the Sun

  7–15

  address to the reader, urging attention to the stars

  16–21

  the effects of the Zodiac’s ecliptic path on the earth

  22–27

  second address to the reader, urged to be self-sufficient

  28–39

  the ascent to the heaven of the Sun

  28–33

  the Sun, in Aries, seen as fructifying and measuring

  34–39

  both Dante’s ascent and Beatrice’s guidance seem timeless

  40–138

  the habitation of the Sun: first circle

  40–48

  the brightness within the Sun defeats Dante’s telling

  49–51

  God exhibits His threefold “art”

  52–54

  Beatrice advises Dante to give thanks to the “sun of the angels” for allowing him to rise to the Sun

  55–63

  no mortal was then more devoted to God than Dante; his love for God eclipsed his love for Beatrice; her smile

  64–69

  the souls make a circle with Beatrice and Dante as center that is compared in simile to the halo around the Moon

  70–75

  in the Empyrean, whence Dante has returned, there are “jewels” that these souls in the Sun now celebrate

  76–81

  the circling souls compared in simile to dancing ladies

  82–96

  Thomas Aquinas’s first speech:

  82–90

  Since Dante’s presence here reveals him to be one who lives in grace, Thomas must answer his question,

  91–93

  which concerns the souls who are circling Beatrice;

  94–96

  the speaker identifies himself as a Dominican friar

  97–99

  (1) Albertus Magnus (ca. 1193–1280)

  99

  (2) Thomas Aquinas (1225–74)

  100–102

  Thomas will now name the rest of the twelve:

  103–105

  (3) Francesco Graziano (ca. 1090–ca. 1160)

  106–108

  (4) Peter Lombard (ca. 1095–1160)

  109–114

  (5) King Solomon (author of four books of the Bible)

  115–117

  (6) Dionysius the Areopagite (converted by St. Paul)

  118–120

  (7) Paulus Orosius (flourished first half of fifth century)

  121–123

  the importance of the next soul is underlined

  124–129

  (8) Severinus Boethius (ca. 475–525)

  130–132

  (9) Isidore of Seville (ca. 560–636) (10) the Venerable Bede (674–735) (11) Richard of St. Victor (ca. 1123–73)

  133–138

  (12) Siger of Brabant (ca. 1225–ca. 1283)

  139–148

  coda: simile (mechanical clock calling monks to matins).

  PARADISO X

  Gazing on His Son with the Love → →

  the One and the Other eternally breathe forth,

  3

  the inexpressible and primal Power

  made with such order all things that revolve →

  that he who studies it, in mind and in space,

  6

  cannot but taste of Him. →

  With me, then, reader, raise your eyes →

  up to the lofty wheels, directly to that part

  9

  where the one motion and the other intersect, →

  and from that point begin to gaze in rapture →

  at the Master’s work. He so loves it in Himself

  12

  that never does His eye depart from it.

  See how from there the oblique circle

  that bears the planets on it branches off

  15

  to satisfy the world that calls for them.

  And if their pathway were not thus deflected, →

  many powers in the heavens would be vain

  18

  and quite dead almost every potency on earth.

  And, if it slanted farther or less far

  in the upper or the lower hemisphere,

  21

  much would be lacking in the order of the world.

  Stay on your bench now, reader, →

  thinking of the joy you have but tasted, →

  24

  if, well before you tire, you would be happy.

  I have set your table. From here on feed yourself,

  for my attention now resides

  27

  in that matter of which I have become the scribe. →

  Nature’s sublime and greatest minister, → →

 
who imprints Heaven’s power on the world

  30

  and in his shining measures out our time,

  in conjunction with the place I note above, →

  was wheeling through those spirals →

  33

  in which he comes forth earlier each day.

  And I was in it, aware of my ascent

  no more than one becomes aware →

  36

  of the beginnings of a thought before it comes.

  It is Beatrice who leads from good →

  to better so suddenly that her action

  39

  has no measurement in time.

  Whatever I saw within the sun, how shining →

  it must have been, for, when I entered,

  42

  it revealed itself, not by color, but by light.

  Were I to call on genius, skill, and practice, →

  I could not ever tell how this might be imagined.

  45

  Enough if one believes and longs to see it.

  And if the powers of our imagination

  are too earthbound for such height, it is no wonder,

  48

  for eye has never seen light brighter than the sun.

  So brilliant the fourth family of the highest Father, →

  who forever gives it satisfaction, shone,

  51

  revealing how He breathes and how begets.

  And Beatrice began: ‘Give thanks, give thanks →

  to the Sun who makes the angels shine and who,

  54

  by His grace, has raised you to this visible sun.’

  Never was mortal heart so well prepared

  for worship, nor so swift to yield itself

  57

  to God with absolute assent

  as was mine when I heard those words,

  and all my love was so set on Him →

  60

  that it eclipsed Beatrice in forgetfulness.

  This did not displease her. Instead, she smiled, →

  so that the splendor of her smiling eyes

  63

  divided my mind’s focus among many things.

  I saw many living lights of blinding brightness →

  make of us a center and of themselves a crown,

  66

  their voices sweeter than the radiance of their faces.

  Thus ringed we sometimes see Latona’s daughter

  when the air has grown so heavy

  69

  that it retains the thread that forms her belt.

  In the court of Heaven, from which I have returned, →

  there are many gems of such worth and beauty

  72

  that they may not be taken from the realm.

  These lights were singing of those jewels.

  He who fails to wing himself to fly there

  75

  might as well await the dumb to tell the news.

  When, with just such songs, those blazing suns →

  had three times made their way around us,

  78

  like stars right near the still and steady poles,

  they seemed to me like ladies, poised to dance,

  pausing, silent, as they listen,

  81

  until they have made out the new refrain.

  And from one of them I heard: ‘Since the ray →

  of grace by which true love is kindled

  84

  and which, by loving, sees itself increase,

  ‘multiplied in you, is so resplendent

  that it conducts you up that stair →

  87

  which none descends except to mount again, →

  ‘he who would deny your thirst the wine

  out of his bottle would not be free to do so,

  90

  as water has no option but to flow into the sea.

  ‘You want to know with what plants and blossoms

  this garland is in flower, encircling with delight

  93

  the lovely lady who strengthens you for Heaven.

  ‘I was a lamb among the holy flock

  led by Dominic along the road

  96

  where sheep are fattened if they do not stray.

  ‘He that is nearest to me on the right →

  was both my brother and my teacher—

  99

  he, Albert of Cologne, I, Thomas of Aquino. →

  ‘If you would like to find out who the others are,

  follow, as I name them, with your eyes,

  102

  turning up your gaze along the blessèd wreath.

  ‘The next flame issues from the smile of Gratian, →

  who served one and the other court so well

  105

  his service now gives joy in Paradise.

  ‘The next one to adorn our choir →

  was the Peter who, like the poor widow,

  108

  offered up his treasure to Holy Church.

  ‘The fifth light, the most beautiful among us, →

  breathes forth such love that all the world below →

  111

  is greedy to discover how his soul has fared.

  ‘Within his light there dwells a lofty mind,

  its wisdom so profound, if truth is true,

  114

  there never rose another of such vision.

  ‘Next to him behold the flaming of the candle →

  that in the flesh below saw farthest

  117

  into the nature and the ministry of angels.

  ‘In the other little light there →

  smiles that defender of the Christian Church

  120

  of whose account Augustine made good use.

  ‘If the eye of your mind is being drawn →

  from light to light, following my praises,

  123

  you are already thirsting for the eighth.

  ‘Within it rejoices, in his vision of all goodness,

  the holy soul who makes quite plain

  126

  the world’s deceit to one who listens well.

  ‘The body from which it was driven out

  lies down there in Cieldauro, and he has risen →

  129

  from martyrdom and exile to this peace.

  ‘See, blazing just beyond him, the fiery breath →

  of Isidore, of Bede, and then of Richard, → →

  132

  the last in contemplation more than human.

  ‘This one, from whom your look comes back to me, → →

  is the light of a spirit to whom it seemed,

  135

  in his grave meditation, that death came on too slow.

  ‘It is the eternal light of Siger,

  who, instructing in the Street of Straw,

  138

  demonstrated enviable truths.’ →

  Then, like a clock that calls us at the hour →

  when the bride of God gets up to sing

  141

  matins to her bridegroom, that he should love her still,

  when a cog pulls one wheel and drives another,

  chiming its ting-ting with notes so sweet

  144

  that the willing spirit swells with love, →

  thus I saw that glorious wheel in motion,

  matching voice to voice in harmony

  and with sweetness that cannot be known

  148

  except where joy becomes eternal.

  OUTLINE: PARADISO XI

  THE SUN

  1–9

  apostrophe: eight false “cares” of mortals (law, medicine, priesthood, political power, robbery, civic affairs, sexuality, idleness)

  10–12

  removed from all that: Dante with Beatrice in the Sun

  13–18

  spirits of first solar circle finish their circling and become fixed in place; one of them (Thomas) speaks:

&
nbsp; 19–21

  “I know your thoughts and the reasons for them:

  22–27

  you want to know what I meant at Par. X. 96 and X.114”

  28–139

  a self-commentary by Thomas on Paradiso X.96:

  28–36

  God chose two to serve as guides to Christ’s Church

  37–39

  one seraphic (Francis) in his ardor, the other cherubic (Dominic) in his wisdom

  40–42

  I will speak of one, but that is to do so of both.

  (43–117

  inset: Thomas’s “Life of Francis”)

  43–54

  the situation of Francis’s birthplace in Umbria, not to be called “Ascesi” but “Orïente”

  55–57

  Francis’s early proofs of his powers:

  58–63

  his youthful love for and marriage to Lady Poverty

  64–72

  left a widow by Jesus, she had previously been in Amyclas’s company; but neither association helped her

  73–75

  Thomas spoke, he explains, of Francis and Poverty

  76–78

  their love caused holy, loving thoughts in others:

  79–81

  Bernard of Quintavalle decided to go forth barefoot;

  82–84

  Egidius and Silvester did so too;

  85–87

  and off they all went, cinctured with their cord

  88–93

  Francis appeared before Pope Innocent III, receiving the first seal for his order (1214)

  94–99

  once the number of followers had grown, Pope Honorius III gave Francis his “second crown” (1223)

  100–108

  after failing to convert the Sultan (1219), Francis received the third seal on Mount Alvernia (1224)

  109–117

  he preferred to die in Lady Poverty’s bosom and told his followers to love her in faith.

  (118–139