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Dante Alighieri (1265–1321). The Divine Comedy.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.

Paradise

Canto XXI ARGUMENT.—Dante ascends with Beatrice to the seventh heaven, which is the planet Saturn; wherein is placed a ladder, so lofty, that the top of it is out of his sight. Here are the souls of those who had passed their life in holy retirement and contemplation. Piero Damiano comes near them, and answers questions put to him by Dante; then declares who he was on earth; and ends by declaiming against the luxury of pastors and prelates in those times.

AGAIN mine eyes were fix’d on Beatrice;

And, with mine eyes, my soul that in her looks

Found all contentment. Yet no smile she wore:

And, “Did I smile,” quoth she, “thou wouldst be straight

Like Semele when into ashes turn’d;

For, mounting these eternal palace-stairs,

My beauty, which the loftier it climbs,

As thou hast noted, still doth kindle more,

So shines, that, were no tempering interposed,

Thy mortal puissance would from its rays

Shrink, as the leaf doth from the thunderbolt.

Into the seventh splendour are we wafted,

That, underneath the burning lion’s breast,

Beams, in this hour, commingled with his might.

Thy mind be with thine eyes; and, in them, mirror’d

The shape, which in this mirror shall be shown.”

Whoso can deem, how fondly I had fed

My sight upon her blissful countenance,

May know, when to new thoughts I changed, what joy

To do the bidding of my heavenly guide;

In equal balance, poising either weight.

Within the crystal, which records the name

(As its remoter circle girds the world)

Of that loved monarch, in whose happy reign

No ill had power to harm, I saw rear’d up,

In colour like to sun-illumined gold,

A ladder, which my ken pursued in vain,

So lofty was the summit; down whose steps

I saw the splendours in such multitude

Descending, every light in Heaven, methought,

Was shed thence. As the rooks, at dawn of day,

Bestirring them to dry their feathers chill,

Some speed their way a-field; and homeward some,

Returning, cross their flight; while some abide,

And wheel around their airy lodge: so seem’d

That glitterance, wafted on alternate wing,

As upon certain stair it came, and clash’d

Its shining. And one, lingering near us, wax’d

So bright, that in my thought I said: “The love,

Which this betokens me, admits no doubt.”

Unwillingly from question I refrain;

To her, by whom my silence and my speech

Are order’d, looking for a sign: whence she,

Who in the sight of Him, that seeth all,

Saw wherefore I was silent, prompted me

To indulge the fervent wish; and I began:

“I am not worthy, of my own desert,

That thou shouldst answer me: but for her sake,

Who hath vouchsafed my asking, spirit blest,

That in thy joy art shrouded! say the cause,

Which bringeth thee so near: and wherefore, say,

Doth the sweet symphony of Paradise

Keep silence here, pervading with such sounds

Of rapt devotion every lower sphere?”

“Mortal art thou in hearing, as in sight;”

Was the reply: “and what forbade the smile

Of Beatrice interrupts our song.

Only to yield thee gladness of my voice,

And of the light that vests me, I thus far

Descend these hallow’d steps; not that more love

Invites me; for, lo! there aloft, as much

Or more of love is witness’d in those flames:

But such my lot by charity assign’d,

That makes us ready servants, as thou seest,

To execute the counsel of the Highest.”

“That in this court,” said I, “O sacred lamp!

Love no compulsion needs, but follows free

The eternal Providence, I well discern:

This harder find to deem: why, of thy peers,

Thou only, to this office wert foredoom’d.”

I had not ended, when, like rapid mill,

Upon its centre whirl’d the light; and then

The love that did inhabit there, replied:

“Splendour eternal, piercing through these folds,

Its virtue to my vision knits; and thus

Supported, lifts me so above myself,

That on the sovran Essence, which it wells from,

I have the power to gaze: and hence the joy,

Wherewith I sparkle, equaling with my blaze

The keenness of my sight. But not the soul,

That is in Heaven most lustrous, nor the Seraph,

That hath his eyes most fix’d on God, shall solve

What thou hast ask’d: for in the abyss it lies

Of th’ everlasting statute sunks so low,

That no created ken may fathom it.

And, to the mortal world when thou return’st,

Be this reported: that none henceforth dare

Direct his footsteps to so dread a bourn.

The mind, that here is radiant, on the earth

Is wrapt in mist. Look then if she may do

Below, what passeth her ability

When she is ta’en to Heaven.” By words like these

Admonish’d, I the question urged no more;

And of the spirit humbly sued alone

To instruct me of its state. “’Twixt either shore

Of Italy, nor distant from thy land,

A stony ridge ariseth; in such sort,

The thunder doth not lift his voice so high.

They call it Catria: at whose foot, a cell

Is sacred to the lonely Eremite;

For worship set apart and holy rites.”

A third time thus it spake; then added: “There

So firmly to God’s service I adhered,

That with no costlier viands than the juice

Of olives, easily I pass’d the heats

Of summer and the winter frosts; content

In heaven-ward musings. Rich were the returns

And fertile, which that cloister once was used

To render to these Heavens: now ’tis fallen

Into a waste so empty, that ere long

Detection must lay bare its vanity.

Pietro Damiano there was I y-clept:

Pietro the sinner, when before I dwelt,

Beside the Adriatic, in the house

Of our blest Lady. Near upon my close

Of mortal life, through much importuning

I was constrain’d to weat the hat, that still

From bad to worse is shifted.—Cephas came:

He came, who was the Holy Spirit’s vessel;

Barefoot and lean; eating their bread, as chanced,

At the first table. Modern Shepherds need

Those who on either hand may prop and lead them,

So burly are they grown; and from behind,

Others to hoist them. Down the palfrey’s sides

Spread their broad mantles, so as both the beasts

Are cover’d with one skin. O patience! thou

That look’st on this, and dost endure so long.”

I at those accents saw the splendours down

From step to step alight, and wheel, and wax,

Each circuiting, more beautiful. Round this

They came, and stay’d them; utter’d then a shout

So loud, it hath no likeness here: nor I

Wist what it spake, so deafening was the thunder.