Paradiso (The Divine Comedy series Book 3)

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Paradiso (The Divine Comedy series Book 3) Page 22

by Dante


  for he who saw it here above revealed it then to him,

  139

  along with many other truths about these circlings.’

  OUTLINE: PARADISO XXIX

  CRYSTALLINE SPHERE

  1–9

  simile: the moment of the vernal equinox (sun and moon in “balance”) and Beatrice’s silent smile

  10–12

  Beatrice will tell Dante what he wants to know: she has seen his question in God.

  Beatrice explains God’s creation of the angels:

  13–21

  motive: (WHY?) not for “gain” to Himself (impossible), but that His splendor might “subsist” (WHEN? & WHERE?) in time and space, after creation out of time and space

  22–24

  (HOW?) form (angels), unformed matter (earth), form and matter joined (heavens) all were created simultaneously

  25–30

  simile: instantaneous flash of light in clear objects and God’s three-stringed bow’s three creations

  31–36

  the three orders of the substances God made (repeated)

  37–45

  against Jerome [and with Thomas], angels not created before the material universe

  46–48

  now Dante knows where, when, and how angels were made

  49–66

  the fallen angels and the good: nearly immediate fall of first, while rest circle God in joy; Lucifer’s pride vs. humility of the good angels. Dante should not doubt their worth: it lies in their affection for God

  67–69

  Beatrice: this suffices for him to understand angels;

  70–126

  however, because Dante may have been incorrectly taught she digresses on how the angels, if they have intellection and will, do not need memory, since they always live in God’s present;

  82–96

  attack on vain philosophizing on earth (which is, nonetheless, not as troublesome as distortion of the Bible), and of foolish preachers; examples:

  97–102

  eclipse at Crucifixion: miracle, not natural

  103–126

  indulgences: lying clergy and foolish flocks

  127–145

  Beatrice adds further intelligence about the angels:

  130–135

  their number is beyond calculation;

  136–141

  the varying degrees in which they partake of God;

  142–145

  God’s glory is reflected in them.

  PARADISO XXIX

  When the two offspring of Latona, → → →

  one covered by the Ram, one by the Scales,

  3

  together make a belt of the horizon

  for the moment that the zenith →

  holds them balanced, until each of them,

  6

  in changing hemispheres, now leaves that belt,

  for just that long, her face lit by a smile, →

  Beatrice was silent, staring intently

  9

  at the point that overcame me. →

  Then she began: ‘I tell, I do not ask, →

  what you would like to hear. For I have seen it there

  12

  where every ubi and every quando has its center.

  ‘Not to increase His store of goodness, →

  a thing impossible, but that His splendor,

  15

  shining back, might say Subsisto, →

  ‘in His eternity, beyond time, beyond

  any other limit, as it pleased Him, →

  18

  in these new loves, Eternal Love unfolded.

  ‘Nor, before then, did He rest in torpor, →

  for until God moved upon these waters

  21

  there existed no “before,” there was no “after.”

  ‘Form and matter, conjoined and separate, → →

  came into being without defect,

  24

  shot like three arrows from a three-stringed bow.

  ‘And, as a ray shines right through glass, amber, →

  or crystal, so that between its presence →

  27

  and its shining there is no lapse of time,

  ‘just so did the threefold creation flash—

  with no intervals in its beginning—

  30

  from its Lord into being, all at once.

  ‘With it, order was created and ordained → →

  for the angels, and these were the summit

  33

  of the universe, for in them God produced pure act.

  ‘Pure potential held the lowest place.

  Between them, potential and act were held together

  36

  by such a bond as may not be unbound.

  ‘Jerome’s writing tells you all the angels →

  were created many centuries before

  39

  the rest of the universe came into being.

  ‘Yet the scribes of the Holy Ghost declare

  the truth on many pages,

  42

  as you shall find on searching with some care.

  ‘And even reason sees it, in some measure, →

  for it would not grant that the movers of the heavens

  45

  should remain so long without becoming perfect.

  ‘Now you know both where and when these loving spirits → →

  were created, and you know how, as well.

  48

  And thus three flames of your desire have been quenched.

  ‘Then, sooner than one might count to twenty, →

  one band of angels had disturbed →

  51

  the lowest of your elements. →

  ‘The other band remained and gave itself →

  with such abandon to this task, which you behold,

  54

  that never does it cease its circling motion.

  ‘The cause accounting for the fall

  was the accursèd pride of him you saw

  57

  crushed beneath the weight of all the world.

  ‘These whom you observe here all were humble, →

  acknowledging the Goodness that had made them fit

  60

  to be endowed with an intelligence so vast.

  ‘Thus their vision was exalted →

  by illuminating grace, along with their own merit,

  63

  so that theirs is a will both whole and steadfast.

  ‘And I would not have you doubt, but rather be assured, →

  that there is merit in receiving grace →

  66

  in measure as the heart inclines to it.

  ‘Henceforth, if you have understood my words,

  you may examine anything you like

  69

  in this assembly without need of aid.

  ‘But since in schools on earth you still are taught → → →

  that the angelic nature is possessed

  72

  of understanding, memory, and will,

  ‘I will continue, so that you clearly see

  how truth is made unclear down there

  75

  by such equivocation in its teaching. →

  ‘These angelic beings, since they first rejoiced

  in the face of God, from which nothing may be hidden,

  78

  have never turned their eyes away from it,

  ‘so that their sight is never interrupted →

  by some new object. And thus they have no need

  81

  to search the past for some forgotten construct.

  ‘Thus down there men are dreaming while they wake, →

  believing that they speak the truth. And those

  84

  who don’t believe so share the greater guilt and shame.

  ‘Down there, when you philosophize, you fail →

  to follow one true path, so does the love of show

  87
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  preoccupy your mind and carry you away,

  ‘and even this is tolerated here

  with less wrath than when holy Scripture

  90

  is neglected or its doctrines are mistaught.

  ‘There is no thought among you of the blood it costs →

  to sow the world with it, or how acceptable he is

  93

  who humbly makes his way to it.

  ‘Each strives to gain attention by inventing new ideas, → →

  expounded by the preachers at some length—

  96

  but the Gospel remains silent.

  ‘One says that at Christ’s passion the moon turned back →

  and interposed itself in such a way

  99

  the sun’s light did not reach below.

  ‘He lies, for the light chose to hide itself. →

  And therefore Spaniards and Indians,

  102

  as well as Jews, could all see that eclipse take place.

  ‘Florence has not as many named Lapo and Bindo → →

  as it has tales like these that are proclaimed

  105

  from the pulpit, here and there, throughout the year, →

  ‘so that the ignorant flocks return from feeding →

  fed on wind. And that they fail

  108

  to see their loss does not excuse them.

  ‘Christ did not say to His first congregation: →

  “Go preach idle nonsense to the world,”

  111

  but gave to them a sound foundation. →

  ‘And that alone resounded from their lips, →

  so that, in their warfare to ignite the faith,

  114

  they used the Gospel as their shield and lance.

  ‘Now preachers ply their trade with buffoonery and jokes,

  their cowls inflating if they get a laugh,

  117

  and the people ask for nothing more. →

  ‘But such a bird nests in their hoods →

  that, if the people saw it, they would see

  120

  the kind of pardoning to which they give their trust.

  ‘Because of these such foolishness has grown on earth →

  that, with no warrant vouching for its truth,

  123

  they still would flock to any promise.

  ‘On this Saint Anthony fattens his swine, →

  along with many others who are still more swinish,

  126

  repaying them with unstamped coin. →

  ‘But, since we have digressed enough, →

  now turn your eyes to the true road again,

  129

  that the way may be made shorter—and the time.

  ‘The angelic host mounts by degrees →

  to such high numbers, no mortal speech or thought

  132

  could ever count so far,

  ‘and, if you consider what Daniel reveals, →

  you shall see that in his many thousands

  135

  a finite number stays concealed.

  ‘The Primal Light that irradiates them all →

  is received by them in just as many ways

  138

  as there are splendors joined with It.

  ‘Therefore, since affection follows

  the act of conceiving, love’s sweetness glows

  141

  with differing radiance, more brightly or subdued.

  ‘See now the height and breadth of the Eternal Worth, →

  one light, which shines dispersed among

  so many mirrors yet remains

  145

  in Itself one, just as It was before.’

  OUTLINE: PARADISO XXX

  PRIMUM MOBILE; EMPYREAN

  1–13

  simile: advancing dawn hiding stars, God hiding angels

  14–15

  blinded by the light and constrained by love: Beatrice

  16–21

  her beauty greater than ever; only God can truly enjoy it

  22–24

  the poet defeated by his subject

  25–27

  comparison: sun on eyes, as her smile blots out his memory

  28–33

  elaboration: his continual praise has reached its limit

  34–36

  and so he leaves her to a greater trumpeting

  37–45

  Beatrice, her task over, tells Dante where he is and that here he will see angels and saints, the latter in flesh

  46–51

  simile: lightning and perceived objects; the point of light and Dante’s blindness

  52–54

  a voice within Dante: so this Light welcomes here

  55–60

  Dante, enraptured, gradually can see the Light

  61–69

  his first vision: light as river, two banks, sparks

  70–75

  Beatrice commends his desire to know; first he must drink

  76–81

  she indicates the relation between what he sees and what he will see once he can really see

  82–87

  simile: babe awaking moves to suckle, Dante bends to river

  88–90

  even as he drinks the river becomes round, not linear

  91–96

  simile: unmasked revelers, flowers and sparks

  97–99

  eighth invocation: splendor of God

  100–102

  the new place: God as Light that his creatures can see

  103–105

  its circumference wider than the sun’s

  106–108

  it is formed by a ray reflected from the Primum Mobile, which in turn takes its movement and influence from it

  109–114

  simile: hill reflected in river, one thousand tiers above the Light

  115–117

  if the lowest ring encloses the Light, imagine the upper circumference of the Rose!

  118–123

  Dante sees it all as one, since where God rules without mediation far and near do not matter

  124–148

  Beatrice’s last speaking role in the poem:

  124–132

  she draws Dante into the Rose: “see the blessed”

  133–138

  Henry VII, the first soul, seen as coming to Paradise

  139–141

  Italy’s failure to welcome Henry

  142–144

  the devious behavior of Clement V

  145–148

  Clement will soon go to Hell and displace Boniface.

  PARADISO XXX

  About six thousand miles away from here → →

  the sixth hour burns and even now this world →

  3

  inclines its shadow almost to a level bed, →

  when, deep in intervening air, above us, → →

  begins such change that here and there,

  6

  at our depth, a star is lost to sight.

  And, as that brightest handmaid of the sun advances, →

  the sky extinguishes its lights,

  9

  even the most beautiful, one by one. →

  Not otherwise the victory that revels →

  in eternal joy around the point that overcame me →

  12

  and seems enclosed by that which it encloses →

  little by little faded from my sight,

  so that, compelled by seeing nothing and by love,

  15

  I turned my eyes to gaze on Beatrice.

  If all things said of her up to this point →

  were gathered in a single hymn of praise, →

  18

  it would be paltry, matched to what is due. →

  The beauty that I saw transcends →

  all thought of beauty, and I must believe

  21

  that only its maker may savor it
all.

  I declare myself defeated at this point →

  more than any poet, whether comic or tragic,

  24

  was ever thwarted by a topic in his theme,

  for, like sunlight striking on the weakest eyes, →

  the memory of the sweetness of that smile

  27

  deprives me of my mental powers. →

  From the first day, when in this life I saw her face → →

  until my vision of her now, pursuit

  30

  of her in song has never been cut off. →

  But now I must desist in my pursuit, →

  no longer following her beauty in my verse,

  33

  as every artist, having reached his limit, must. →

  Thus I leave her to more glorious trumpeting →

  than that of my own music, as, laboring on,

  36

  I bring my difficult subject toward its close.

  With the voice and bearing of a guide

  who has discharged his duty, she began: ‘We have issued →

  39

  from the largest body to the Heaven of pure light, →

  ‘light intellectual, full of love,

  love of true good, full of joy,

  42

  joy that surpasses every sweetness.

  ‘Here you shall see both soldieries of Paradise, →

  one of them in just such form →

  45

  as you shall see it at the final judgment.’

  Like sudden lightning that confounds →

  the faculty of sight, depriving eyes

  48

  of taking in the clearest objects,

  thus did a living light shine all around me, →

  leaving me so swathed in the veil of its effulgence

  51

  that I saw nothing else.

  ‘The love that calms this heaven →

  always offers welcome with such greetings, →

 

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