The Providence that regulates all this Makes with its light the heaven forever quiet, And thither now, as to a site decreed, Bears us away the virtue of that cord True is it, that as oftentimes the form Accords not with the intention of the art, So likewise from this course doth deviate Sometimes the creature, who the power possesses, (In the same wise as one may see the fire Thou shouldst not wonder more, if well I judge, From some high mount descending to the lowland. Marvel it would be in thee, if deprived Of hindrance, thou wert seated down below, As if on earth the living fire were quiet." Thereat she heavenward turned again her face. 125 130 135 140 CANTO II. O YE, who in some pretty little boat, Eager to listen, have been following Behind my ship, that singing sails along, Turn back to look again upon your shores; Do not put out to sea, lest peradventure, In losing me, you might yourselves be lost. The sea I sail has never yet been passed; Minerva breathes, and pilots me Apollo, And Muses nine point out to me the Bears. Ye other few who have the neck uplifted Betimes to th' bread of Angels upon which One liveth here and grows not sated by it, Well may you launch upon the deep salt-sea Your vessel, keeping still my wake before you Upon the water that grows smooth again. Those glorious ones who unto Colchos passed Were not so wonder-struck as you shall be, When Jason they beheld a ploughman made! 5 10 15 The con-created and perpetual thirst For the realm deiform did bear us on, As swift almost as ye the heavens behold. Upward gazed Beatrice, and I at her; And in such space perchance as strikes a bolt Drew to itself my sight; and therefore she Said unto me: "Fix gratefully thy mind On God, who unto the first star has brought us." It seemed to me a cloud encompassed us, Luminous, dense, consolidate and bright As adamant on which the sun is striking. Into itself did the eternal pearl Receive us, even as water doth receive A ray of light, remaining still unbroken. If I was body, (and we here conceive not How one dimension tolerates another, That essence to behold, wherein is seen I made reply: "Madonna, as devoutly As most I can do I give thanks to Him But tell me what the dusky spots may be Upon this body, which below on earth "Where'er the key of sense doth not unlock, And I: "What seems to us up here diverse, 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 69 Lights many the eighth sphere displays to you If this were caused by rare and dense alone, Of formal principles; and these, save one, The cause thou askest, either through and through Or else, as in a body is apportioned The fat and lean, so in like manner this It would be manifest by the shining through There needs must be a limit, beyond which Even as a colour cometh back from glass, If e'er thou try it, which is wont to be The image most remote, there shalt thou see Thee, thus remaining in thy intellect, Revolves a body, in whose virtue lies All the distinctions which they have within them As thou perceivest now, from grade to grade; Unto the truth thou wishest, that hereafter As from the artisan the hammer's craft, From the Intelligence profound, which turns it, Through members different and accommodated So likewise this Intelligence diffuses Its virtue multiplied among the stars. Virtue diverse doth a diverse alloyage Make with the precious body that it quickens, The mingled virtue through the body shines, Appeareth different, not from dense and rare : This is the formal principle that produces, According to its goodness, dark and bright." 110 115 120 175 130 135 140 145 CANTO III. THAT Sun, which erst with love my bosom warmed, So feeble, that a pearl on forehead white So that I ran in error opposite To that which kindled love 'twixt man and fountain. As soon as I became aware of them, Esteeming them as mirrored semblances, To see of whom they were, mine eyes I turned, And nothing saw, and once more turned them forward "Marvel thou not," she said to me, "because Since on the truth it trusts not yet its foot, But turns thee, as 'tis wont, on emptiness. True substances are these which thou beholdest, For the true light, which giveth peace to them, "O well-created spirit, who in the rays Of life eternal dost the sweetness taste Which being untasted ne'er is comprehended, |