I turned back then to those sublimities
that were approaching at so slow a pace
that new brides might outdistance them with ease.
The lady cried: “Why have you set your mind
so fixedly upon those living lights
that you do not observe what comes behind?”
Then I saw people walking like attendants
behind their lords, and clothed in robes so white
earth has no snow of such a pure resplendence.
Upon my left the polished river shone
bright as a mirror, and when I looked in
I saw my left side there, perfectly drawn.
And when I had moved close enough to be
kept at a distance by no more than water,
I halted my slow steps, better to see.
I saw the flames advance, leaving the air
painted behind, as if by massive strokes,
or by bright pennons they were trailing there;
thus, all the trailing heavens were aglow
with seven bands of light of the same color
as Delia’s girdle or Apollo’s bow.
Those bands stretched back further than I could see,
and the distance separating side from side
came to ten paces, as it seemed to me.
And there, advancing two by two beneath
that seven-striped sky came four-and-twenty elders,
each crowned in glory with a lily-wreath.
And all sang with one voice, triumphantly:
“Blessèd art thou among the daughters of Adam!
Blessèd thy beauty to eternity!”
And when those souls elect, as in a dream,
had left behind the flowers and the new grass
that shone before me, there across the stream,
as star follows on star in the serene
of heaven’s height, there came on at their backs
four beasts, and these wore wreaths of living green.
Each had three pairs of wings, and every pair
was full of eyes. Were Argus living yet,
his eyes would be most like what I saw there.
I cannot spend my rhymes as liberally
as I should like to in describing them,
for, reader, other needs are pressing me:
but read Ezekiel where he sets forth
how they appeared to him in a great storm
of wind and cloud and fire out of the North;
and such as he recounts, such did I see;
except that in the number of their wings
John differs with him, and agrees with me.
Within the space they guarded there came on
a burnished two-wheeled chariot in triumph,
and harnessed to the neck of a great Griffon
whose wings, upraised into the bands of light,
inclosed the middle one so perfectly
they cut no part of those to left or right.
Higher than sight its wing-tips soared away.
Its bird-like parts were gold; and white the rest
with blood-red markings. Will it serve to say
Rome never saw such a caparison,
no, not for Africanus, nor yet Augustus?
The Sun’s own would seem shabby by comparison;
yes, even the Sun’s own chariot, which strayed
and was destroyed in fire by Jove’s dark justice
that day the frightened Earth devoutly prayed.
Beside the right wheel, dancing in a gyre,
three maidens came. The first one was so red
she would be barely visible in fire.
The second looked as if both flesh and bone
were made of flawless emerald. The third
seemed a new snow no slightest wind has blown.
And now the white one led the dance, and now
the red: and from the song the red one sang
the others took their measure, fast or slow.
Beside the left wheel, dancing in a flame
of purple robes, and led by one who had
three eyes within her head, four glad nymphs came.
Behind these seven came on, side by side,
two elders, different in dress, but both
by the same massive bearing dignified.
One showed he was a follower of the art
of great Hippocrates, whom Nature made
to heal the creatures dearest to her heart.
The other, his counterpart, carried a blade
so sharp and bright that at the sight of it,
even across the stream, I was afraid.
Next I saw four who walked with humble mien.
And last of all, one who moved in a trance,
as if asleep, but his face was firm and keen.
These seven were robed like the first twenty-four
in flowing robes of white, but, for their crowns,
it was not wreaths of lilies that they wore,
but roses and whatever blooms most red.
One would have sworn, seeing them at a distance,
that they were wearing flames about the head.
And when the chariot had reached the place
across from me, I heard a thunderclap
that seemed a signal to those souls in grace,
for there, in unison with the exalted
first flaming standards, all that pageant halted.
NOTES
2. Beati quorum tecta sunt peccata: This is Dante’s elision of Psalm XXXII, 1: “Blessed are they [whose transgression is forgiven] whose sins are covered.”
11. both banks curved as one: Note the regularity (constancy, perfection) of the river’s curve.
12. the cradle of the day: The East.
23-30. so sweet that I reproached . . . : For having thrown away the glory of the Earthly Paradise by refusing to endure the one veil (of ignorance) under which, had Eve been dutiful, Dante would have known his present bliss since birth (hence, “before then, and for longer”).
33. the eternal pleasure: The joys of Heaven. The joys of the Earthly Paradise are the first fruits of the great harvest to come.
37-42. INVOCATION OF THE MUSES. Dante is about to describe the entrance of the Heavenly Pageant, a spectacle of such splendor that it is difficult to conceive, let alone put into rhyme. For his great effort, therefore, he summons all the Muses from Helicon, calling upon Urania to preside, since she is the Muse of Astronomy, hence of heavenly things. (Her name in Greek means, literally, “the heavenly one.”) O holy, holy Virgins: The Nine Muses. with your full choir: With all the other Muses.
43 ff. THE HEAVENLY PAGEANT. The Pageant Dante now describes is an allegory of the Church Triumphant in the form of a religious procession or a formal masque in which devout mummers present themselves in allegorical guises. The center of the Pageant is the Chariot of The Church Triumphant, guarded by the Four Gospels, and attended on the right by the Three Theological Graces and on the left by the Four Cardinal Virtues. The Chariot itself is drawn by the Griffon, who represents the twofold nature of Christ as Man-and-God. Before this central group walk twenty-four Elders representing the books of the Old Testament. Behind the central group walk seven Elders representing the books of the New Testament. The entire procession is led by seven enormous Candelabra whose candles trail a rainbow canopy across the sky representing the Seven Gifts of the Spirit under which the Church moves.
Dante has not presented any allegory of such formality up to this point, and some readers have thought the allegory of the Pageant stiff and lifeless. One should bear in mind, however, that Dante is beginning to deal, now, not with reason but with revelation, and that the increased formality of his allegory here is apt to its content, and apt again in its resemblance to the rituals of the Church whose triumph he is representing. Note too, as distinct from the rest of Dante’s allegory, that these figures do not enter as themselves (St. John, for example, appears in three guises)
but as heavenly beings made up to represent others.
43-51. I saw next . . . : Dante sees in the distance what he takes to be seven trees of gold. Drawing nearer, he sees they are, in reality, enormous candelabra. At that point, too, he is close enough to make out that the word being sung by the chorus (line 36) which was first heard as a distant melody (line 22) is “Hosanna!” chance resemblances: Of the bases of the candelabra to tree trunks. that power that reaps for reason’s mill: The discernment of the senses through which reason draws the data of nature from which it derives its concepts.
50. THE SEVEN CANDELABRA. On the Mountain the Lord specified to Moses the exact form of the seven-branched candelabra of pure gold which was to be an essential part of the tabernacle (Exodus, xxv, 31-37). In Revelation, i, 12, John had a vision of seven candelabra and interpreted them as seven churches (i, 20). Later (iv, 5) he interprets them as the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord). As the Candelabra advance in the van of the procession, their candles paint the sky overhead with a seven-striped rainbow that represents these Gifts. Thus, the Candelabra may be taken as the light and glory of God from which issue the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Church follows where the Candelabra lead.
51. Hosanna!: (Literally, “Save, we pray!”) On Palm Sunday as Christ was about to enter Jerusalem, he was hailed at Bethphage on the Mount of Olives with the words “Hosannah to the son of David!” (Matthew, xxi, 9.) The chant is especially apt in that Christ, as the Griffon, is about to enter in triumph.
56. my good Virgil: A new and much more familiar form of address signifying Dante’s new state. Dante has always referred to Virgil with titles of honor and superiority.
57. a look of equal awe: Allegorically: Dante, out of old habit, turns to Reason for an explanation, but finds that Reason itself is overawed. Virgil has already explained (XXVII, 129) that he has passed the limit of his understanding.
60. new brides: Walking back from the altar. Hence, at a very slow pace. But even that pace would easily outdistance this procession.
64. I saw people walking: These are the figures made up as four and twenty elders who represent the books of the Old Testament as counted by St. Jerome in his Galli-can Psalter (the twelve minor prophets are counted as one book, and so are Ezra-Nehemiah, I and II Kings, I and II Samuel, and I and II Chronicles). Thus the elders represent all Revelation before Christ. They wear white robes and wreaths of lilies as symbols of the purity of their faith. John has a vision of them in Revelation, iv, 4-5, and explains them, there, as the Twelve Patriarchs and the Twelve Apostles. In his vision they wore crowns of gold. Their song (lines 86-87) is an adaptation of the words used by Gabriel and Elisabeth in addressing Mary at the time of the Annunciation. (Luke, i, 28, 42.)
78. Delia’s girdle: The rainbow-colored halo round the Moon. Delia was another name for Diana, the Moon goddess. Apollo’s bow: The rainbow. Apollo was, of course, the Sun.
79-81. stretched back further than I could see: Allegorically, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit stretch further back into time than any man can reckon. ten paces: May certainly be taken as the Ten Commandments in which the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit were revealed, and through which they may be enjoyed.
93-105. THE FOUR BEASTS. They represent the Four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John that follow immediately upon the Old Testament. Their wreaths of living green signify Hope. The wings may be taken as signifying the speed with which the Gospels spread through the world. The fact that there are three pairs of wings obviously suggests the Trinity, and the eyes may be taken as Omniscience which is able to see past, present, and future. That much stated, Dante refers the reader to Ezekiel, i, 4-14, for a detailed description, except that they are there described as having only four wings, and Dante follows John (Revelation, iv, 8) in giving them six.
95. Argus: Jove made love to Io. Juno, in wifely jealousy, turned Io into a cow and set Argus of the hundred eyes to watch her. Mercury, sent by Jove, caused Argus to fall into an enchanted sleep and cut his head off. Juno set Argus’ eyes in the tail of the peacock. Dante makes the point that the peacock’s eyes, bright as they are, are dead, whereas the eyes in the feathers of these beasts are alive.
106 ff. THE CHARIOT OF THE CHURCH TRIUMPHANT. Within the square guarded by the Four Gospel Beasts the Church is represented by a chariot so splendid that Rome never saw its equal, not even in the triumphs of Scipio Africanus or of Augustus. The very chariot of the Sun could not compare with it.
Its two wheels may best be taken as representing the Old and the New Testament. It is drawn by the Griffon that represents Christ, and it is flanked by the Theological Virtues and the Cardinal Virtues.
108 ff. THE GRIFFON. A mythical figure with the fore parts of an eagle and the hind parts of a lion, here meant to represent the dual role of Christ as God and Man, his birdlike part divine, his lionlike part animal, hence human, and the unity of the two a symbol of his incarnation as the Word. His upraised wings, their tips soaring higher than the sight of man can follow, extend into the seven-striped heaven and inclose the central stripe representing MIGHT as the central Gift of the Holy Spirit and as a symbol of His triumph. The Griffon’s coloration is probably suggested by Song of Solomon, v, 10-11: “My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold.”
118-120. the Sun’s own chariot, which strayed . . . : The Chariot of the Sun was driven by Apollo. One day Phaëthon, Apollo’s son, tried to drive it, but could not manage the horses. The chariot swerved from its path, scorching the sky and threatening to destroy the Earth. In terror Earth prayed to Jove for deliverance, and Jove destroyed the chariot with a thunderbolt. The scar left on the sky by Phaëthon’s course became the Milky Way.
121-129. THE THREE THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES. They are Caritas (Christian Love), Faith, and Hope. Caritas is so red she could scarcely be seen in a fire. Faith is green, and Hope pure white. They dance in a ring at the Chariot’s right wheel, and Faith and Caritas take turns leading the dance, while Hope (who cannot move except as Faith and Caritas direct) follows. Note that it is Caritas (“And the greatest of these is Charity”) that sings the song to which they dance.
130-132. THE FOUR CARDINAL (OR NATURAL) VIRTUES. They are Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. They are dressed in the Imperial Purple, for they represent the Classical Virtues. Prudence, who leads them in their dance, has three eyes symbolizing that it is her duty to look at and consider the past, the present, and the future. Note, too, that the Classical and the Theological Virtues must go together if the soul is to develop.
133 ff. THE SEVEN ELDERS. These represent the remaining books of the New Testament (aside from the Four Gospels). Note that it is the books, not the persons, that are represented, for John appears three times in this procession; first as the Gospel, next as the Epistles, and finally as Revelation. Thus the first two are Acts and the Fourteen Epistles. The next four are the Catholic Epistles. And the final single figure is Revelation . They wear wreaths of brightest red to signify the ardor of Caritas.
136-137. One showed he was a follower of the art of great Hippocrates: Luke, as the author of Acts. In Colossians, iv, 14, Paul describes him as “the beloved physician.” He is the doctor of souls, as Hippocrates was the doctor of bodies.
139-141. The other, his counterpart: The figure is Paul. The sword he carries may symbolize his martyrdom by a sword, or more aptly “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians, vi, 17.) Thus he is here the taker rather than the healer of lives, as presented in the Epistles.
154-155. the exalted first flaming standards: The candelabra that lead the procession like pennons. in unison: The rear and the van of the procession stopped at the same instant.
Canto XXX
THE EARTHLY PARADISE
Beatrice
Virgil Vanishes
The procession halts and the Prophets turn to the chariot and sing “Come, my
bride, from Lebanon.” They are summoning BEATRICE, who appears on the left side of the chariot, half-hidden from view by showers of blossoms poured from above by A HUNDRED ANGELS. Dante, stirred by the sight, turns to Virgil to express his overflowing emotions, and discovers that VIRGIL HAS VANISHED.
Because he bursts into tears at losing Virgil DANTE IS REPRIMANDED BY BEATRICE. The Angel Choir overhead immediately breaks into a Psalm of Compassion, but Beatrice, still severe, answers by detailing Dante’s offenses in not making proper use of his great gifts. It would violate the ordering of the Divine Decree, she argues, to let Dante drink the waters of Lethe, thereby washing all memory of sin from his soul, before he had shed the tears of a real repentance.
When the Septentrion of the First Heaven,
which does not rise nor set, and which has never
been veiled from sight by any mist but sin,
and which made every soul in that high court
know its true course (just as the lower Seven
direct the helmsman to his earthly port),
had stopped; the holy prophets, who till then
had walked between the Griffon and those lights,
turned to the car like souls who cry “Amen.”
The Divine Comedy Page 65