Fair Clemence, after I had been enlightened →
by your dear Charles, he told me how his seed →
would be defrauded, but he said: “Be silent →
4 and let the years revolve.” All I can say
is this: lament for vengeance well-deserved
will follow on the wrongs you are to suffer.
7 And now the life-soul of that holy light
turned to the Sun that fills it even as
the Goodness that suffices for all things.
10 Ah, souls seduced and creatures without reverence,
who twist your hearts away from such a Good,
who let your brows be bent on emptiness!
13 And here another of those splendors moved
toward me; and by its brightening without,
it showed its wish to please me. Beatrice,
16 whose eyes were fixed on me, as they had been
before, gave me the precious certainty
that she consented to my need to speak.
19 “Pray, blessed, spirit, may you remedy—
quickly—my wish to know,” I said. “Give me
proof that you can reflect the thoughts I think.”
22 At which that light, one still unknown to me,
out of the depth from which it sang before,
continued as if it rejoiced in kindness:
25 “In that part of indecent Italy →
that lies between Rialto and the springs
from which the Brenta and the Piave stream,
28 rises a hill—of no great height—from which
a firebrand descended, and it brought
much injury to all the land about.
31 Both he and I were born of one same root: →
Cunizza was my name, and I shine here
because this planet’s radiance conquered me.
34 But in myself I pardon happily →
the reason for my fate; I do not grieve—
and vulgar minds may find this hard to see.
37 Of the resplendent, precious jewel that stands →
most close to me within our heaven, much
fame still remains and will not die away →
40 before this hundredth year returns five times:
see then if man should not seek excellence— →
that his first life bequeath another life.
43 And this, the rabble that is now enclosed
between the Adige and Tagliamento
does not consider, nor does it repent
46 despite its scourgings; and since it would shun →
its duty, at the marsh the Paduans
will stain the river-course that bathes Vicenza;
49 and where the Sile and Cagnano flow →
in company, one lords it, arrogant;
the net to catch him is already set.
52 Feltre shall yet lament the treachery →
of her indecent shepherd—act so filthy
that for the like none ever entered prison.
55 The vat to hold the blood of the Ferrarese
would be too large indeed, and weary he
who weighs it ounce by ounce—the vat that he,
58 generous priest, will offer up to show
fidelity to his Guelph party; and
such gifts will suit the customs of that land.
61 Above are mirrors—Thrones is what you call them— →
and from them God in judgment shines on us;
and thus we think it right to say such things.”
64 Here she was silent and appeared to me
to turn toward other things, reentering
the wheeling dance where she had been before.
67 The other joy, already known to me
as precious, then appeared before my eyes
like a pure ruby struck by the sun’s rays.
70 On high, joy is made manifest by brightness,
as, here on earth, by smiles; but down below, →
the shade grows darker when the mind feels sorrow.
73 “God can see all,” I said, “and, blessed spirit,
your vision is contained in Him, so that
no wish can ever hide itself from you.
76 Your voice has always made the heavens glad,
as has the singing of the pious fires →
that make themselves a cowl of their six wings:
79 why then do you not satisfy my longings?
I would not have to wait for your request
if I could enter you as you do me.”
82 “The widest valley into which the waters →
spread from the sea that girds the world,” his words
began, “between discrepant shores, extends
85 eastward so far against the sun, that when
those waters end at the meridian,
that point—when they began—was the horizon.
88 I lived along the shoreline of that valley →
between the Ebro and the Magra, whose
brief course divides the Genoese and Tuscans.
91 Beneath the same sunset, the same sunrise, →
lie both Bougie and my own city, which
once warmed its harbor with its very blood.
94 Those men to whom my name was known, called me
Folco; and even as this sphere receives
my imprint, so was I impressed with its;
97 for even Belus’ daughter, wronging both →
Sychaeus and Creusa, did not burn
more than I did, as long as I was young;
100 nor did the Rhodopean woman whom
Demophoön deceived, nor did Alcides
when he enclosed Iole in his heart.
103 Yet one does not repent here; here one smiles— →
not for the fault, which we do not recall,
but for the Power that fashioned and foresaw.
106 For here we contemplate the art adorned
by such great love, and we discern the good
through which the world above forms that below.
109 But so that all your longings born within
this sphere may be completely satisfied
when you bear them away, I must continue.
112 You wish to know what spirit is within
the light that here beside me sparkles so,
as would a ray of sun in limpid water.
115 Know then that Rahab lives serenely in →
that light, and since her presence joins our order,
she seals that order in the highest rank. →
118 This heaven, where the shadow cast by earth
comes to a point, had Rahab as the first
soul to be taken up when Christ triumphed.
121 And it was right to leave her in this heaven
as trophy of the lofty victory
that Christ won, palm on palm, upon the cross,
124 for she had favored the initial glory
of Joshua within the Holy Land—
which seldom touches the Pope’s memory. →
127 Your city, which was planted by that one →
who was the first to turn against his Maker,
the one whose envy cost us many tears—
130 produces and distributes the damned flower →
that turns both sheep and lambs from the true course,
for of the shepherd it has made a wolf.
133 For this the Gospel and the great Church Fathers →
are set aside and only the Decretals
are studied—as their margins clearly show.
136 On these the pope and cardinals are intent. →
Their thoughts are never bent on Nazareth,
where Gabriel’s open wings were reverent.
139 And yet the hill of Vatican as well
as other noble parts of Rome that were
the cemetery for Peter’s soldiery