Notes.
1 The children of Latona are Apollo the sun
and Diana the moon. In the spring equinox, as the sun sets in Aries the Ram and the moon
rises opposite in Libra the Scales, they are in balance and share the same circular
horizon.
22 God’s creation is threefold: pure
form of the angels, pure matter of the physical earth, and form and matter combined in the
physical heavens. This creation was instantaneous and simultaneous.
37 Saint Jerome (d. 420) was mistaken in
holding that angels existed long before the universe.
118 The bird up the monk's sleeve and tippet
is a devil.
124 Saint Anthony (250-356), the Egyptian
hermit, had as his symbol a pig (the devil) at his feet. The monks of his order in Italy
kept pigs fattened on almsgiving.
134 The reference is to Daniel 7:9-10. |
|
- When
the two children of Latona, poised
- One
in the Ram, the other in the Scales,
- Wear
the horizon as a single sash,
-
- 5
As long as from the time the zenith holds them
- In
balance till, unbalanced, one and other
- Slip
from the sash by changing hemispheres,
-
- Just
so long, with a smile traced on her face,
-
Beatrice was silent, gazing steadfastly
- Upon
the Point which overmastered me.
-
- 10
Then she began, "I tell, and do not ask,
- What
you want most to hear, since I have seen it
- Where
every where and every when are focused.
-
-
"Not for the gain of some good for Himself —
-
Something that cannot be — but that his splendor
- 15
Might say in its resplendence, ‘I exist,’
-
-
"In his eternity outside of time,
-
Outside all other limits, as he pleased,
-
Eternal Love then opened in new loves.
-
-
"Nor did he lie as if asleep before,
- 20
For there was no before or after when
- The
Spirit of God moved upon the waters.
-
-
"Pure form and matter and the two combined
- Came
into being which was wholly flawless,
- Like
three arrows shot from a three-stringed bow.
-
- 25
"And as in glass, in amber, or in crystal
- A ray
so flashes that there is no pause
-
Between its falling and its filling all,
-
-
"So the threefold effect beamed from its Lord
- And
flamed into its being all at once,
- 30
With no distinctions about its beginning.
-
-
"Within that action, order was created
- For
these existences, and at the summit
- Of
the whole world were those made in pure act.
-
-
"Pure potency held down the lowest place;
- 35
At midpoint, potency and act were tied
- So
tightly they can never be unknotted.
-
-
"Jerome described the angels in his writings
- Being
created a vast span of ages
-
Before the rest of the universe was made;
-
- 40
"But the scribes of the Holy Spirit write
- On
many pages the truth I tell to you,
- And
you shall see it if you look out sharply.
-
-
"And reason, partially, discerns the truth,
- Which
would not grant that those with power to move
- 45
Should for long fail to act on their perfection.
-
-
"Now you know where and when and how these loves
- Have
been created, so that three of the flames
- Of
your desire already are snuffed out.
-
-
"More quickly than it takes to count to twenty,
- 50
A number of the angels thundered down
- And
crashed into your elemental bedrock.
-
-
"The rest remained and introduced the art
- Of
circling, as you see, with such deep rapture
- That
they will never cease from whirling round.
-
- 55
"The root-cause of the fall was the accursed
- Pride
of that One whom you saw for yourself
-
Crushed by the whole weight of the universe.
-
-
"Those you see here had the humility
- To
recognize that they come from that Goodness
- 60
Which makes them fit for such intelligence.
-
-
"By this response their vision was exalted
-
Through illuminating grace and through their merit,
- So
that they have a full and steadfast will.
-
-
"And I do not want you in doubt, but certain,
- 65
That to receive grace is a source of merit
- To
the extent that love is open to it.
-
-
"Now, if you have absorbed what I have said,
- You
here may contemplate without more help
- A
great deal that regards this congregation.
-
- 70
"But since they teach in your schools down on earth
- That
the angelic nature is possessed
- Of
understanding, memory, and will,
-
-
"I shall speak on, that you may clearly see
- The
simple truth which is confused below
- 75
By the equivocation in such teaching.
-
-
"These beings, since they first found happiness
- In
the face of God, have never turned their eyes
- Away
from his, from which no sight is hid,
-
-
"So that their sight is never interrupted
- 80
By a new object, and they have no need
- Of
remembering through disconnected thoughts.
-
-
"So people down there dream while wide awake,
-
Believing or not believing they speak the truth,
- But
there is more blame for the unbeliever.
-
- 85
"You mortals do not walk along one track
- In
your philosophy: your love of show
- And
thinking of it lead you far astray.
-
-
"Yet even this fault meets with less displeasure
- Up
here in heaven than when the Holy Scripture
- 90
Is set aside or when it is perverted.
-
-
"There they forget how dear the cost in blood
- To
sow it in the world, and how deep here
- The
joy in one who humbly keeps the word.
-
-
"Each tries to show off and plies his inventions,
- 95
And these are put in sermons by the preachers;
-
Meanwhile the Gospel lapses into silence.
-
-
"One claims that while Christ suffered on the cross,
- The
moon turned backward and stood in the way
- So
that the sunlight could not shine on earth,
-
- 100
"But he lies, for the light concealed itself
- On
its own, so that the eclipse took place
- For
Spaniards, Indians, as well as Jews.
-
-
"There flourish fewer Jacks and Jills in Florence
- Than
fables like these bandied left and right
- 105
Out from the pulpits all the livelong year.
-
-
"On this account the poor sheep that know nothing
- Come
back from pasture, having fed on wind;
- And
not to see the harm does not excuse them.
-
-
"Christ did not say to his first company,
- 110
‘Go and preach empty nonsense to the world!’
-
Instead he offered them the true foundation.
-
-
"And that alone so sounded on their lips
- That
in their fight to light the flame of faith
- They
took the Gospel for their shield and lance.
-
- 115
"Now men go forth to preach with jokes and clowning,
- And
as long as they scrape up a good laugh,
- Their
hoods swell up, and nothing more is asked.
-
-
"But up their sleeves and cowls nests such a bird
- That
if the rabble spied it they would know
- 120
In whom they put their trust for these fake pardons.
-
-
"Such follies flourish on earth from these frauds
- That
with no proof or testimonials
- The
people flock to every sort of promise.
-
-
"On these deceits St. Anthony’s pig grows fat,
- 125
And many more who are far bigger pigs,
-
Paying with play-money and phony coinage.
-
-
"But we have wandered off our way enough:
- Now
turn yourself once more to the straight path,
- To
make the journey shorten with the time.
-
- 130
"Angelic nature stretches up the scale
- So
high in number that there is no speech
- Or
human concept that can reach that height.
-
-
"And if you look at what has been revealed
- By
Daniel, you will see that in his thousands
- 135
There is no number that is definite.
-
-
"The primal Light that beams down through them all
- Each
one receives in just as many ways
- As
there are splendors that merge with the Light.
-
-
"Then, since the act of loving follows that
- 140
Of knowing, so the sweetness of their love
-
Diversely glows in them as bright or dim.
-
-
"See now the height and breadth of the eternal
-
Goodness, for it has fashioned of itself
-
Myriad mirrors where it separately shines,
-
- 145
"Remaining, as at first, One in itself."
|
return
to Paradiso XXVIII