Paradiso (25 page)
Authors: Dante
Then he added: ‘Son, these are the glosses
→
on what was told you, these are the snares
96
that lurk behind a few revolving years.
‘Yet I would not have you feel envious disdain
→
for your fellow-townsmen, since your life shall far outlast
99
the punishment of their treachery.’
After the holy soul, by falling silent,
→
showed that he had done with putting the woof
102
into the web for which I had set the warp,
I began, like a man in doubt,
→
but one filled with great desire for advice
105
from someone of clear sight, right will, and love:
‘I can see, father, that time is spurring toward me
→
to deal me such a blow as falls most heavily
‘Thus it is good I arm myself with forethought
→
so that, if my belovèd town is torn from me,
‘Down through the world of endless bitterness,
→
and upward on the mountain from whose lovely peak
114
my lady raised me with her eyes,
‘and after, rising through the heavens, light to light,
I have learned things that, should I retell them,
117
would discomfort many with their bitter taste.
‘Yet, should I be a timid friend to truth,
→
I fear that I shall not live on for those
→
120
to whom our times will be the ancient days.’
The light, in which the treasure that I found there
→
had been smiling, now became resplendent
123
as a mirror, golden in the sun,
and then made this reply: ‘A conscience dark,
→
whether with its own or with a kinsman’s shame,
126
is sure to feel your words are harsh.
‘Nonetheless, forswear all falsehood,
→
revealing all that you have seen,
129
and then let him who itches scratch.
‘For, if your voice is bitter at first taste,
→
it will later furnish vital nourishment
132
once it has been swallowed and digested.
‘This cry of yours shall do as does the wind
→
→
that strikes the highest peaks with greater force—
135
this loftiness itself no little sign of honor.
‘That is why you have been shown, within these wheels,
upon the mountain, and in the woeful valley,
138
those souls alone that are well known to fame,
‘since the mind of one who listens will not heed
→
nor fix its faith on an example
that has its roots in things unknown or hidden
MARS; JUPITER
“Nine Worthies”
Jupiter
“divine Pegasean”
Eagle
[papacy]
That blessèd mirror continued to rejoice
→
in his own thoughts and I was tasting mine,
when that lady, who was leading me to God,
said: ‘Change your thoughts. Consider that I dwell
→
6
with Him who lifts the weight of every wrong.’
At the loving sound of my comfort’s voice
→
I turned, and the great love I saw then,
→
→
9
in her holy eyes, I have to leave untold,
not just because I cannot trust my speech,
but because memory cannot retrace its path
12
that far unless Another guide it.
This much only of that moment can I tell again,
that, when I fixed my gaze on her,
15
my affections were released from any other longing
as long as the eternal Beauty,
→
shining its light on Beatrice, made me content
18
with its reflected glow in her fair eyes.
Conquering me with her radiant smile,
→
she said: ‘Turn now and listen:
21
not in my eyes alone is Paradise.’
As, on occasion, here on earth, affection
→
may be read in someone’s face
24
if it is strong enough to capture all the soul,
so, in the flaming of that holy radiance
to which I turned, I recognized his wish
27
to share some further thoughts with me.
And he began: ‘On this fifth tier of the branches
→
of the tree that draws its sustenance from above
→
30
and always is in fruit and never sheds its leaves
‘are blessèd spirits who below, on earth,
→
before they rose to Heaven, were of such renown
‘Look, therefore, at the two arms of the cross,
→
and each one whom I name will, flashing, dart
And, at the name of valorous Maccabaeus,
→
I saw shoot by another whirling light—
My watchful gaze was fastened
→
on Charlemagne and Roland there, as well,
45
just as the eye pursues the falcon in its flight.
Then, leaving me to mingle with the other lights,
→
the soul who’d spoken last with me displayed