Notes.
9 At the spring equinox the sun lies in Ares
and from this point (l. 13) the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator, causing the signs
of the zodiac to slant and increase their virtue or influence on earth. Dante and Beatrice
are rising into the fourth sphere of the sun, reserved for theologians.
34 At this point Dante enters the sphere of
the sun.
67 Latona’s daughter Diana is goddess of
the moon.
82 This is Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274), the
Dominican "Angelic Doctor" who wrote, among many other works, the Summa
Theologica which powerfully influenced Dante’s thinking and later Western
thought.
98 Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) taught
theology at Cologne and Paris; Aquinas was his student at Cologne.
104 Gratian, a twelfth-century scholar from
Chiusi, contributed to the harmonization of church and civil law.
107 Peter Lombard (d. 1160) compiled a
systematic study called the Sententiae for Christian doctrine; it became a standard
text-book on the subject.
109 The fifth teacher is King Solomon, son of
David, known as the author of the Book of Wisdom and the Song of Songs.
115 Dionysius the Areopagite, mentioned in
Acts 17:34, was thought to be the author of the influential work On the Celestial
Hierarchy.
118 This defender is either Paulus Orosius,
fifth-century historian, or Marius Victorinus, fourth century translator of Plato and
theologian.
124 Boethius (d. 525), Roman senator executed
by Theodoric, wrote the important dialogue On the Consolation of Philosophy while
in prison. His body is buried in Saint Peter Cieldauro in Pavia (l. 128).
131 Isidore (d. 636), bishop of Seville,
authored the encyclopedic Etymologies. Bede (d. 735), an English monk, wrote the Ecclesiastical
History and other works. Richard of Saint Victor (d. 1173), another English monk and a
mystic, is the author of the treatise On Contemplation.
137 Siger (d. 1283?) lectured at the
University of Paris on the rue du Fouarre (Straw Street, now the Rue Dante). His defense
of Averrhoism met with Aquinas’ opposition and he was twice charged with heresy. |
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-
Contemplating his Son with the Love
- Which
One and Other endlessly breathe out,
- The
primal and ineffable Power
-
- Made
everything that spins through mind or space
- 5
With such design that he who considers it
-
Cannot exist without some taste of God.
-
- Lift
up your eyes then, reader, here with me
- To
the high spheres, straight to that region where
- One
motion of the sun strikes on the other.
-
- 10
And begin there to gaze gladly on the art
- Of
that Master who in himself so loves it
- That
his eye never wanders from his work.
-
-
Observe how, from this point, the circle which
-
Obliquely bears the planets branches off
- 15
To satisfy the world that calls to them.
-
- For
if their path had not been slanted so,
- Much
of the heavens' influence would be lost,
- And
almost all their power dead on earth.
-
- And
if the path swerved farther or less far
- 20
From the straight course, the order of the world
- Would
in the sky and on the land be lessened.
-
- Now,
reader, remain seated at your table,
-
Reflecting on what here has been a foretaste,
- That
you may feel delight before you tire.
-
- 25
I set the feast for you: now feed yourself,
-
Because the subject matter I inscribe
- Takes
all of my attention to itself.
-
- The
mightiest minister of nature, which
-
Imprints the world with power from the sky
- 30
And measures time for us with beams of light,
-
-
Conjoining with the point that I have mentioned,
- Went
circling onward throughout all the spirals
- In
which he rises earlier each day.
-
- And I
was with him. But of my ascent
- 35
I was no more aware than is a person
-
Conscious of a thought before it comes.
-
-
Beatrice it is who guides me in this way
- From
good to better with such swiftness that
- Her
act does not extend itself in time.
-
- 40
How luminous that must be of itself
- Which
shone within the sun where I went in
- To be
revealed by light and not by color!
-
-
Though I should call on talent, skill, and practice
- I
could not find the words to picture it:
- 45
But may you still believe — and crave to see it!
-
- If
our imaginations fall far short
- Of
such a height, no wonder, for our eyes
- Have
never seen a light to match the sun’s.
-
- Such,
here, was the fourth family of the high
- 50
Father who forever fills them, showing how
- He
breathes the Spirit and begets the Son.
-
- And
Beatrice began, "Give thanks! Give thanks
- To
this Sun of the Angels through whose grace
- You
have been lifted to the sun of sense!"
-
- 55
Never was heart of mortal so disposed
- To
its devotion, nor ready to surrender
-
Itself to God with its full gratitude
-
- Than
mine was when she spoke these words to me.
- And
all my love so set itself on Him
- 60
That Beatrice in oblivion was eclipsed.
-
- Not
the least displeased, she smiled so that
- The
splendor of her smiling eyes splintered
- My
singleness of mind in many pieces.
-
- I saw
many living and surpassing lights
- 65
Surround us in the center of a crown
- With
voices sweeter than their looks were bright.
-
- We
sometimes see the daughter of Latona
- So
cinctured when the saturated air
- Holds
the threads of light that make her girdle.
-
- 70
In the courts of heaven from which I have come
- Are
myriad jewels so dear and beautiful
- They
cannot be transported from that kingdom.
-
- It
was of them these radiances sang.
-
Whoever wears no wings to fly up there
- 75
Must wait for news from those whose tongues are tied.
-
- When,
singing in this way, those flaming suns
- Three
times had circled round about us both,
- Like
stars rotating close to the fixed poles,
-
- They
looked like ladies pausing in the dance
- 80
To listen to the music silently
- Until
they catch up to the tune anew.
-
- And
inside one I heard begin, "Because
- The
beam of grace by which true love is lit
- And
which increases afterward with loving
-
- 85
"Shines so much more abundantly in you
- That
it leads you up along the stairway
- Which
none steps down except to mount again,
-
-
"Whoever should refuse to quench your thirst
- With
the wine from his flask would be no freer
- 90
Than water stopped from flowing to the sea.
-
-
"You want to know who these bright blossoms are,
-
Flowering this garland which girds lovingly
- Round
this fair lady who strengthens you for heaven.
-
-
"I was a lamb and of the holy flock
- 95
That Dominic leads out along the way
- Where
fattening is good, unless they stray.
-
-
"Beside me on the right is one who was
- My
brother and my master, Albert of
-
Cologne, and I am Thomas of Aquinas.
-
- 100
"So if you would be sure of all the others,
- Come,
let your eyesight follow on my words
- By
circling all about this blessed wreath.
-
-
"That fire flashing next breaks from the smile
- Of
Gratian who served both the courts of law
- 105
So perfectly that Paradise is pleased.
-
-
"The nearest one to ornament our choir
- Was
Peter Lombard who, like the poor widow,
-
Presented all his treasure to Holy Church.
-
-
"The fifth light, and the loveliest among us,
- 110
Breathes with such love that the whole world below
-
Hungers to learn something new about it.
-
-
"Within it is the lofty mind, endowed
- With
wisdom so profound, if truth be truth,
- No
second ever rose with such wide vision.
-
- 115
"See at its side the shining of that candle
- Which
in the flesh down there discerned most deeply
- The
nature and the ministry of angels.
-
-
"In the next tiny flickering flame there smiles
- That
same defender of the Christian ages
- 120
Whose discourse proved so useful to Augustine.
-
-
"If you have followed now with your mind’s eye
- From
light to light the sequence of my praises,
- You
thirst already to know about the eighth.
-
-
"Within, for having seen that all is good,
- 125
The sainted soul, who shows the world’s deceit
- To
all who listen well to him, rejoices.
-
-
"The body from which this soul was driven out
- Rests
down in Cieldauro, and he is come
- From
martyrdom and exile to this peace.
-
- 130
"See, flashing further on, the burning breath
- Of
Isidore, of Bede, and of that Richard
- Who
was more than a man in contemplation.
-
-
"The one from whom your gaze turns back to me
- Is
the glow of a soul in whose grave thoughts
- 135
The coming of his death appeared too slow.
-
-
"It is the neverending light of Siger
- Who,
lecturing at the rue du Fouarre,
-
Demonstrated enviable truths."
-
- Then,
like a clock that chimes us at the hour
- 140
When the Bride of God rises to sing
- Her
matins to her Spouse to make him love her,
-
- With
one part pulling and the other pushing,
-
Sounding ding-dong with notes so dulcet that
- The
true-devoted spirit swells with love,
-
- 145
Just so I saw the wheel of glory rotate
- And
answer voice to voice with harmony
- And
sweetness that can never be conceived
-
-
Except where joyfulness is everlasting.
|
return
to Paradiso IX