Notes.
22 Dante returns to one of the
central issues of the Commedia: free will, which is the root of human freedom,
the greatest gift from God. See also De Monarchia I, XII, 6.
51 Dante refers to Leviticus 28:
1-33.
57 For the two keys of
priestly authority and discernment, see Purgatorio IX, 117-129 and n.
117.
66 Jephthah made a foolish vow to Jehovah and
felt obliged to sacrifice his only daughter (Judges 11). Agamemnon (l. 69) likewise vowed
to sacrifice his daughter to Artemis. When Iphigenia was born, however, he reneged until
forced to take her life at the outset of the Trojan expedition (see Aeneid
II, 116).
76 References to vows in the Old Testament
are present, besides Leviticus (see note 51), in Psalm 75:12; Ecclesiastes, 5:3; and
Genesis 28:20-22. But there is nothing in the Gospels.
93 The second kingdom is the sphere of
Mercury where the seekers after honor have their thrones. |
|
-
"If I flame on you in the warmth of love
-
Beyond the measure witnessed in the world
- And
so overwhelm the power of your eyes,
-
-
"Do not wonder, for this light proceeds
- 5
From perfect vision which, as it apprehends,
- So
moves its steps to apprehended good.
-
-
"I plainly see how in your intellect
-
Already shines eternal radiance
-
Which, once seen, alone and always kindles love.
-
- 10
"And should another good seduce your love,
- It
only is some vestige of this light,
-
Misunderstood, which still shines through within.
-
-
"You wish to know if with some other service
- Such
reckoning can be paid for unkept vows
- 15
That would secure the soul from further suits."
-
- So
Beatrice began this canto and, like someone
- Who
will not pause to interrupt a speech,
-
Continued in this way her sacred discourse:
-
-
"The greatest gift God’s generosity
- 20
Made in creating and the most conformed
- To
his own goodness — what he prizes most —
-
-
"Is freedom of the will, and with this gift
- The
creatures with intelligence — they all
- And
they alone — have been and are endowed.
-
- 25
"Now, if you reason from this, you will see
- The
high value of the vow, if it be such
- That
God gives his consent when you consent.
-
-
"For in the compact between God and humans,
- This
treasure of the will which I describe
- 30
Becomes the sacrifice by its own free act.
-
-
"What can you render then in restitution?
- If
you think to make good use of your offering,
- You
wish to do good with ill-gotten gains.
-
-
"You now have been assured as to the main point,
- 35
But since here Holy Church grants dispensations,
- And
seems to contradict the truth I’ve shown you,
-
-
"You’ll have to sit at table a while longer
-
Because the tough food which you have been taking
-
Requires further aid for your digestion.
-
- 40
"Open your mind to what I shall reveal
- To
you, and keep it there, for to have heard
-
Without retention does not make for knowledge.
-
-
"The essence of this sacrifice involves,
-
First, the matter of which it is made,
- 45
And second, the nature of the final compact.
-
-
"This second never can be canceled out,
-
Except by being kept, and on this point
- My
preceding speech was so precise.
-
-
"To offer sacrifices was prescribed,
- 50
Then, for the Hebrews, although what was offered,
- As
you must know, might sometimes be exchanged.
-
-
"The other part, which you know as the matter,
- May
in fact be such that there’s no fault
- If it
should be replaced with other matter.
-
- 55
"But let none shift the weight upon his shoulder
- At
his own judgment, till he first has turned
- The
lock with both the gold and silver keys.
-
-
"And let him think of every change as folly,
-
Unless the thing that he takes up contains,
- 60
As six does four, the thing that he laid down.
-
-
"So then, whatever thing through its own worth
-
Weighs so much that it would tip any scale
- Can
never be made good by other outlay.
-
-
"Let mortals never make their vows too lightly.
- 65
Be loyal, but also be not blurry-eyed,
- As
Jephthah was in his first offering,
-
-
"Who better would have cried out, ‘I’ve done wrong!’
- Than,
keeping to his vow, do worse. And you’ll find
- As
big a dolt the great lord of the Greeks
-
- 70
"Whose Iphigenia wept to be fair of face
- And
made both wise and foolish weep for her
- On
hearing such cruel rituals recounted.
-
-
"Christians, be serious in taking action:
- Do
not be like a feather to every wind,
- 75
Nor think that every water cleanses you.
-
-
"You have the New and the Old Testament
- And
the Shepherd of the Church to guide you:
- Let
this be all you need for your salvation.
-
-
"If sorry greed shout anything else at you,
- 80
Be men, do not be senseless sheep, so that
- The
Jew among you not laugh at you in scorn.
-
-
"Do not be like the lamb that strolls away
- From
its mother’s milk and, silly and wanton,
-
Fights with itself for its own fun and frolic!"
-
- 85
What Beatrice said to me I here write down.
- Then,
all in longing, she turned toward that point
- Where
the whole universe is most alive.
-
- Her
quietness and her transfigured look
- Made
my inquiring mind lapse into silence
- 90
While it already planned new questionings.
-
- And
like an arrow that strikes at the target
- Even
before the bowcord becomes still,
- So we
sped on into the second kingdom.
-
- Here
I saw my lady so full of gladness
- 95
When she gave herself into the heaven’s light
- That
the planet itself now glowed more brightly.
-
- And
if the star was so transformed and smiled,
- What
then did I become who by my nature
- Am
subject to fresh changes of all sorts?
-
- 100
As in a fish-pond that is clear and tranquil,
- The
fish draw to what drops down from the outside,
-
Believing it to be some food to feed on,
-
- So I
did see more than a thousand splendors
-
Drawing toward us, and in each I heard,
- 105
"Look, someone comes who shall augment our love!"
-
- And
when each one in turn came up to us,
- We
saw each shade was filled with happiness
- By
the bright glow that burst out from within.
-
-
Imagine, reader, if what I now begin
- 110
Went no further on, how you would feel
- An
anguished hunger to know more about them,
-
- And
you will see, all on your own, how I
-
Hungered to hear more of their condition
- The
moment they were shown before my eyes.
-
- 115
"O happy-born, to whom grace freely grants
- Sight
of the thrones of everlasting triumph
-
Before you are released from earthly warfare,
-
-
"We are inflamed by the illumination
-
Reaching through all heaven: if you seek then
- 120
Enlightenment from us, take what you please!"
-
- These
words were said to me by one of those
-
Gracious spirits. And Beatrice: "Speak, speak
-
Safely, and trust in them as you would gods!"
-
-
"I plainly see how you nest in your light
- 125
And that you draw it out from your own eyes
-
Because light sparkles in them when you smile,
-
-
"But I do not know who you are, nor why
- You,
worthy spirit, have your rank in this sphere
- Which
rays of sunlight veil from mortal sight,"
-
- 130
This words I said as I turned toward the light
- Which
first had spoken to me, and at that
- It
beamed out much more brightly than before.
-
- Just
as the sun which by excessive light
-
Conceals itself when heat has all consumed
- 135
The thickly mantling mists that moderate it,
-
- So by
increasing joy that holy figure
- Hid
itself from me in its own radiance,
- And
hidden fast in this way, answered me
-
- In
the manner which my next canto sings.
|
return
to Paradiso IV