Gazing upon His Son with that Love which →
One and the Other breathe eternally,
the Power—first and inexpressible—
4 made everything that wheels through mind and space
so orderly that one who contemplates
that harmony cannot but taste of Him.
7 Then, reader, lift your eyes with me to see →
the high wheels; gaze directly at that part
where the one motion strikes against the other;
10 and there begin to look with longing at
that Master’s art, which in Himself he loves
so much that his eye never parts from it.
13 See there the circle branching from that cross-point
obliquely: zodiac to bear the planets
that satisfy the world in need of them.
16 For if the planets’ path were not aslant,
much of the heavens’ virtue would be wasted
and almost every power on earth be dead;
19 and if the zodiac swerved more or less
far from the straight course, then earth’s harmony
would be defective in both hemispheres.
22 Now, reader, do not leave your bench, but stay
to think on that of which you have foretaste; →
you will have much delight before you tire.
25 I have prepared your fare; now feed yourself,
because that matter of which I am made
the scribe calls all my care unto itself.
28 The greatest minister of nature—he →
who imprints earth with heaven’s worth and, with
his light, provides the measurement for time—
31 since he was in conjunction with the part
I noted, now was wheeling through the spirals
where he appears more early every day.
34 And I was with him, but no more aware →
of the ascent than one can be aware
of any sudden thought before it starts.
37 The one who guides me so from good to better
is Beatrice, and on our path her acts
have so much swiftness that they span no time.
40 How bright within themselves must be the lights →
I saw on entering the Sun, for they
were known to me by splendor, not by color!
43 Though I should call on talent, craft, and practice,
my telling cannot help them be imagined;
but you can trust—and may you long to see it.
46 And if our fantasies fall short before
such heights, there is no need to wonder; for
no eye has seen light brighter than the Sun’s.
49 Such was the sphere of His fourth family, →
whom the High Father always satisfies,
showing how He engenders and breathes forth.
52 And Beatrice began: “Give thanks, give thanks
to Him, the angels’ Sun, who, through His grace, →
has lifted you to this embodied sun.”
55 No mortal heart was ever so disposed
to worship, or so quick to yield itself
to God with all its gratefulness, as I
58 was when I heard those words, and all my love
was so intent on Him that Beatrice
was then eclipsed within forgetfulness.
61 And she was not displeased, but smiled at this,
so that the splendor of her smiling eyes →
divided my rapt mind between two objects.
64 And I saw many lights, alive, most bright;
we formed the center, they became a crown,
their voices even sweeter than their splendor:
67 just so, at times, we see Latona’s daughter →
circled when saturated air holds fast
the thread that forms the girdle of her halo.
70 In Heaven’s court, from which I have returned, →
one finds so many fair and precious gems
that are not to be taken from that kingdom:
73 one of those gems, the song those splendors sang.
He who does not take wings to reach that realm, →
may wait for tidings of it from the mute.
76 After those ardent suns, while singing so,
had wheeled three times around us, even as →
stars that are close to the fixed poles, they seemed
79 to me like women who, though not released
from dancing, pause in silence, listening
until new notes invite to new dancing.
82 And from within one light I heard begin:
“Because the ray of grace, from which true love →
is kindled first and then, in loving, grows,
85 shines with such splendor, multiplied, in you,
that it has led you up the stair that none →
descends who will not climb that stair again,
88 whoever would refuse to quench your thirst →
with wine from his flask, would be no more free
than water that does not flow toward the sea.
91 You want to know what plants bloom in this garland
that, circling, contemplates with love the fair
lady who strengthens your ascent to heaven.
94 I was a lamb among the holy flock →
that Dominic leads on the path where one
may fatten well if one does not stray off.
97 He who is nearest on my right was both
my brother and my teacher: from Cologne, →
Albert, and I am Thomas of Aquino.
100 If you would know who all the others are,
then even as I speak let your eyes follow,
making their way around the holy wreath.
103 That next flame issues from the smile of Gratian, →
who served one and the other court of law
so well that his work pleases Paradise.
106 That other, who adorns our choir next— →
he was that Peter who, like the poor widow,
offered his treasure to the Holy Church.
109 The fifth light, and the fairest light among us, →
breathes forth such love that all the world below
hungers for tidings of it; in that flame
112 there is the lofty mind where such profound
wisdom was placed that, if the truth be true,
no other ever rose with so much vision.
115 Next you can see the radiance of that candle →
which, in the flesh, below, beheld most deeply
the angels’ nature and their ministry.
118 Within the other little light there smiles →
that champion of the Christian centuries
whose narrative was used by Augustine.
121 Now, if your mind’s eye, following my praising,
was drawn from light to light, you must already
be thirsting for the eighth: within that light, →
124 because he saw the Greatest Good, rejoices
the blessed soul who makes the world’s deceit
most plain to all who hear him carefully.
127 The flesh from which his soul was banished lies
below, within Cieldauro, and he came
from martyrdom and exile to this peace.
130 Beyond, you see, flaming, the ardent spirits
of Isidore and Bede and Richard—he →
whose meditation made him more than man. →
133 This light from whom your gaze returns to me
contains a spirit whose oppressive thoughts
made him see death as coming much too slowly:
136 it is the everlasting light of Siger, →
who when he lectured in the Street of Straw,
demonstrated truths that earned him envy.”
139 Then, like a clock that calls us at the hour →
in which the Bride of God, on waking, sings
matins to her Bridegroom, encouraging
142 His love (when each clock-part both drives and draws),
chiming the sounds with notes so sweet that those
with spirit well-disposed feel their love grow;
145 so did I see the wheel that moved in glory
go round and render voice to voice with such
sweetness and such accord that they can not