Paradiso (16 page)
Authors: Dante
And Beatrice began: ‘Give thanks, give thanks
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to the Sun who makes the angels shine and who,
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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
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to God with absolute assent
as was mine when I heard those words,
and all my love was so set on Him
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that it eclipsed Beatrice in forgetfulness.
This did not displease her. Instead, she smiled,
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so that the splendor of her smiling eyes
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divided my mind’s focus among many things.
I saw many living lights of blinding brightness
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make of us a center and of themselves a crown,
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their voices sweeter than the radiance of their faces.
Thus ringed we sometimes see Latona’s daughter
when the air has grown so heavy
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that it retains the thread that forms her belt.
In the court of Heaven, from which I have returned,
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there are many gems of such worth and beauty
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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
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might as well await the dumb to tell the news.
When, with just such songs, those blazing suns
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had three times made their way around us,
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like stars right near the still and steady poles,
they seemed to me like ladies, poised to dance,
pausing, silent, as they listen,
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until they have made out the new refrain.
And from one of them I heard: ‘Since the ray
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of grace by which true love is kindled
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and which, by loving, sees itself increase,
‘multiplied in you, is so resplendent
that it conducts you up that stair
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‘he who would deny your thirst the wine
out of his bottle would not be free to do so,
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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
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the lovely lady who strengthens you for Heaven.
‘I was a lamb among the holy flock
led by Dominic along the road
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where sheep are fattened if they do not stray.
‘He that is nearest to me on the right
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was both my brother and my teacher—
‘If you would like to find out who the others are,
follow, as I name them, with your eyes,
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turning up your gaze along the blessèd wreath.
‘The next flame issues from the smile of Gratian,
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who served one and the other court so well
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his service now gives joy in Paradise.
‘The next one to adorn our choir
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was the Peter who, like the poor widow,
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offered up his treasure to Holy Church.
‘The fifth light, the most beautiful among us,
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breathes forth such love that all the world below
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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,
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there never rose another of such vision.
‘Next to him behold the flaming of the candle
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that in the flesh below saw farthest
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into the nature and the ministry of angels.
‘In the other little light there
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smiles that defender of the Christian Church
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of whose account Augustine made good use.
‘If the eye of your mind is being drawn
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from light to light, following my praises,
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you are already thirsting for the eighth.
‘Within it rejoices, in his vision of all goodness,
the holy soul who makes quite plain
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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
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from martyrdom and exile to this peace.
‘See, blazing just beyond him, the fiery breath
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of Isidore, of Bede, and then of Richard,
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the last in contemplation more than human.
‘This one, from whom your look comes back to me,
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is the light of a spirit to whom it seemed,
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in his grave meditation, that death came on too slow.
‘It is the eternal light of Siger,
who, instructing in the Street of Straw,
Then, like a clock that calls us at the hour
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when the bride of God gets up to sing
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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
thus I saw that glorious wheel in motion,
matching voice to voice in harmony
and with sweetness that cannot be known
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except where joy becomes eternal.
THE SUN
Par.
X. 96 and X.114”
(Francis)
in his ardor, the other cherubic
(Dominic)
in his wisdom
Lady Poverty
Jesus
, she had previously been in
Amyclas
’s company; but neither association helped her
decided to go forth barefoot;
and
Silvester
did so too;
Pope Innocent III
, receiving the first seal for his order (1214)
Pope Honorius III
gave Francis his “second crown” (1223)
Sultan
(1219), Francis received the third seal on
Mount Alvernia
(1224)