Paradiso: Canto XXVIf e’er it happen that the Poem Sacred,To which both heaven and earth have set their hand,So that it many a year hath made me lean,O’ercome the cruelty that bars me outFrom the fair sheepfold, where a lamb I slumbered,An enemy to the wolves that war upon it,With other voice forthwith, with other fleecePoet will I return, and at my fontBaptismal will I take the laurel crown;Because into the Faith that maketh knownAll souls to God there entered I, and thenPeter for her sake thus my brow encircled.Thereafterward towards us moved a lightOut of that band whence issued the first-fruitsWhich of his vicars Christ behind him left,And then my Lady, full of ecstasy,Said unto me: “Look, look! behold the BaronFor whom below Galicia is frequented.”In the same way as, when a dove alightsNear his companion, both of them pour forth,Circling about and murmuring, their affection,So one beheld I by the other grandPrince glorified to be with welcome greeted,Lauding the food that there above is eaten.But when their gratulations were complete,Silently ‘coram me’ each one stood still,So incandescent it o’ercame my sight.Smiling thereafterwards, said Beatrice:“Illustrious life, by whom the benefactionsOf our Basilica have been described,Make Hope resound within this altitude;Thou knowest as oft thou dost personify itAs Jesus to the three gave greater clearness.”—“Lift up thy head, and make thyself assured;For what comes hither from the mortal worldMust needs be ripened in our radiance.”This comfort came to me from the second fire;Wherefore mine eyes I lifted to the hills,Which bent them down before with too great weight.“Since, through his grace, our Emperor wills that thouShouldst find thee face to face, before thy death,In the most secret chamber, with his Counts,So that, the truth beholden of this court,Hope, which below there rightfully enamours,Thereby thou strengthen in thyself and others,Say what it is, and how is flowering with itThy mind, and say from whence it came to thee.”Thus did the second light again continue.And the Compassionate, who pilotedThe plumage of my wings in such high flight,Did in reply anticipate me thus:“No child whatever the Church MilitantOf greater hope possesses, as is writtenIn that Sun which irradiates all our band;Therefore it is conceded him from EgyptTo come into Jerusalem to see,Or ever yet his warfare be completed.The two remaining points, that not for knowledgeHave been demanded, but that he reportHow much this virtue unto thee is pleasing,To him I leave; for hard he will not find them,Nor of self-praise; and let him answer them;And may the grace of God in this assist him!”As a disciple, who his teacher follows,Ready and willing, where he is expert,That his proficiency may be displayed,“Hope,” said I, “is the certain expectationOf future glory, which is the effectOf grace divine and merit precedent.From many stars this light comes unto me;But he instilled it first into my heartWho was chief singer unto the chief captain.‘Sperent in te,’ in the high TheodyHe sayeth, ‘those who know thy name;’ and whoKnoweth it not, if he my faith possess?Thou didst instil me, then, with his instillingIn the Epistle, so that I am full,And upon others rain again your rain.”While I was speaking, in the living bosomOf that combustion quivered an effulgence,Sudden and frequent, in the guise of lightning;Then breathed: “The love wherewith I am inflamedTowards the virtue still which followed meUnto the palm and issue of the field,Wills that I breathe to thee that thou delightIn her; and grateful to me is thy tellingWhatever things Hope promises to thee.”And I: “The ancient Scriptures and the newThe mark establish, and this shows it me,Of all the souls whom God hath made his friends.Isaiah saith, that each one garmentedIn his own land shall be with twofold garments,And his own land is this delightful life.Thy brother, too, far more explicitly,There where he treateth of the robes of white,This revelation manifests to us.”And first, and near the ending of these words,“Sperent in te” from over us was heard,To which responsive answered all the carols.Thereafterward a light among them brightened,So that, if Cancer one such crystal had,Winter would have a month of one sole day.And as uprises, goes, and enters the danceA winsome maiden, only to do honourTo the new bride, and not from any failing,Even thus did I behold the brightened splendourApproach the two, who in a wheel revolvedAs was beseeming to their ardent love.Into the song and music there it entered;And fixed on them my Lady kept her look,Even as a bride silent and motionless.“This is the one who lay upon the breastOf him our Pelican; and this is heTo the great office from the cross elected.”My Lady thus; but therefore none the moreDid move her sight from its attentive gazeBefore or afterward these words of hers.Even as a man who gazes, and endeavoursTo see the eclipsing of the sun a little,And who, by seeing, sightless doth become,So I became before that latest fire,While it was said, “Why dost thou daze thyselfTo see a thing which here hath no existence?Earth in the earth my body is, and shall beWith all the others there, until our numberWith the eternal proposition tallies.With the two garments in the blessed cloisterAre the two lights alone that have ascended:And this shalt thou take back into your world.”And at this utterance the flaming circleGrew quiet, with the dulcet interminglingOf sound that by the trinal breath was made,As to escape from danger or fatigueThe oars that erst were in the water beatenAre all suspended at a whistle’s sound.Ah, how much in my mind was I disturbed,When I turned round to look on Beatrice,That her I could not see, although I wasClose at her side and in the Happy World!
If e’er it happen that the Poem Sacred,To which both heaven and earth have set their hand,So that it many a year hath made me lean,
O’ercome the cruelty that bars me outFrom the fair sheepfold, where a lamb I slumbered,An enemy to the wolves that war upon it,
With other voice forthwith, with other fleecePoet will I return, and at my fontBaptismal will I take the laurel crown;
Because into the Faith that maketh knownAll souls to God there entered I, and thenPeter for her sake thus my brow encircled.
Thereafterward towards us moved a lightOut of that band whence issued the first-fruitsWhich of his vicars Christ behind him left,
And then my Lady, full of ecstasy,Said unto me: “Look, look! behold the BaronFor whom below Galicia is frequented.”
In the same way as, when a dove alightsNear his companion, both of them pour forth,Circling about and murmuring, their affection,
So one beheld I by the other grandPrince glorified to be with welcome greeted,Lauding the food that there above is eaten.
But when their gratulations were complete,Silently ‘coram me’ each one stood still,So incandescent it o’ercame my sight.
Smiling thereafterwards, said Beatrice:“Illustrious life, by whom the benefactionsOf our Basilica have been described,
Make Hope resound within this altitude;Thou knowest as oft thou dost personify itAs Jesus to the three gave greater clearness.”—
“Lift up thy head, and make thyself assured;For what comes hither from the mortal worldMust needs be ripened in our radiance.”
This comfort came to me from the second fire;Wherefore mine eyes I lifted to the hills,Which bent them down before with too great weight.
“Since, through his grace, our Emperor wills that thouShouldst find thee face to face, before thy death,In the most secret chamber, with his Counts,
So that, the truth beholden of this court,Hope, which below there rightfully enamours,Thereby thou strengthen in thyself and others,
Say what it is, and how is flowering with itThy mind, and say from whence it came to thee.”Thus did the second light again continue.
And the Compassionate, who pilotedThe plumage of my wings in such high flight,Did in reply anticipate me thus:
“No child whatever the Church MilitantOf greater hope possesses, as is writtenIn that Sun which irradiates all our band;
Therefore it is conceded him from EgyptTo come into Jerusalem to see,Or ever yet his warfare be completed.
The two remaining points, that not for knowledgeHave been demanded, but that he reportHow much this virtue unto thee is pleasing,
To him I leave; for hard he will not find them,Nor of self-praise; and let him answer them;And may the grace of God in this assist him!”
As a disciple, who his teacher follows,Ready and willing, where he is expert,That his proficiency may be displayed,
“Hope,” said I, “is the certain expectationOf future glory, which is the effectOf grace divine and merit precedent.
From many stars this light comes unto me;But he instilled it first into my heartWho was chief singer unto the chief captain.
‘Sperent in te,’ in the high TheodyHe sayeth, ‘those who know thy name;’ and whoKnoweth it not, if he my faith possess?
Thou didst instil me, then, with his instillingIn the Epistle, so that I am full,And upon others rain again your rain.”
While I was speaking, in the living bosomOf that combustion quivered an effulgence,Sudden and frequent, in the guise of lightning;
Then breathed: “The love wherewith I am inflamedTowards the virtue still which followed meUnto the palm and issue of the field,
Wills that I breathe to thee that thou delightIn her; and grateful to me is thy tellingWhatever things Hope promises to thee.”
And I: “The ancient Scriptures and the newThe mark establish, and this shows it me,Of all the souls whom God hath made his friends.
Isaiah saith, that each one garmentedIn his own land shall be with twofold garments,And his own land is this delightful life.
Thy brother, too, far more explicitly,There where he treateth of the robes of white,This revelation manifests to us.”
And first, and near the ending of these words,“Sperent in te” from over us was heard,To which responsive answered all the carols.
Thereafterward a light among them brightened,So that, if Cancer one such crystal had,Winter would have a month of one sole day.
And as uprises, goes, and enters the danceA winsome maiden, only to do honourTo the new bride, and not from any failing,
Even thus did I behold the brightened splendourApproach the two, who in a wheel revolvedAs was beseeming to their ardent love.
Into the song and music there it entered;And fixed on them my Lady kept her look,Even as a bride silent and motionless.
“This is the one who lay upon the breastOf him our Pelican; and this is heTo the great office from the cross elected.”
My Lady thus; but therefore none the moreDid move her sight from its attentive gazeBefore or afterward these words of hers.
Even as a man who gazes, and endeavoursTo see the eclipsing of the sun a little,And who, by seeing, sightless doth become,
So I became before that latest fire,While it was said, “Why dost thou daze thyselfTo see a thing which here hath no existence?
Earth in the earth my body is, and shall beWith all the others there, until our numberWith the eternal proposition tallies.
With the two garments in the blessed cloisterAre the two lights alone that have ascended:And this shalt thou take back into your world.”
And at this utterance the flaming circleGrew quiet, with the dulcet interminglingOf sound that by the trinal breath was made,
As to escape from danger or fatigueThe oars that erst were in the water beatenAre all suspended at a whistle’s sound.
Ah, how much in my mind was I disturbed,When I turned round to look on Beatrice,That her I could not see, although I was
Close at her side and in the Happy World!