By now that blessed mirror was delighting →
in its own inner words; I, tasting mine, →
was tempering the bitter with the sweet.
4 But she, the lady leading me to God,
said: “Shift your thoughts: remember—I am close
to Him who lightens every unjust hurt.”
7 Hearing the loving sound my solace spoke,
I turned. But here I have to leave untold
what love I saw within her holy eyes,
10 not just because I do not trust my speech,
but, too, because recall cannot retrieve →
that much, unless Another is its guide.
13 This only—of that moment—can I tell:
that even as I gazed at her, my soul
was free from any other need as long
16 as the Eternal Loveliness that shone
on Beatrice directly, from her eyes,
contented me with the reflected light.
19 But, conquering my will with her smile’s splendor,
she told me: “Turn to him and listen—for
not only in my eyes is Paradise.”
22 As, here on earth, at times our sentiment,
if it be passionate enough to take
the soul entirely, shows in the face,
25 so, in the flaming of the holy fire
to which I turned, I saw that he desired
some further words with me. And he began:
28 “In this fifth resting place, upon the tree →
that grows down from its crown and endlessly
bears fruit and never loses any leaves,
31 are blessed souls that, down below, before
they came to heaven, were so notable
that any poem would be enriched by them.
34 Therefore look at the cross, along its horns: →
those whom I name will race as swiftly as,
within a cloud, its rapid lightnings flash.”
37 Then, just as soon as Joshua was named, →
I saw a splendor thrust along the cross,
nor did I note the name before the act.
40 And at the name of noble Maccabeus, →
I saw another flame wheel round itself,
and gladness was the whip that spurred that top.
43 So, too, for Charlemagne and Roland—my →
attentive eye held fast to that pair like
a falconer who tracks his falcon’s flight.
46 The next to draw my eyes along that cross →
were William and Renouard and, too, Duke Godfrey
and Robert Guiscard. Then, when he had left me
49 and mingled with the other lights, the soul
who had addressed me showed his artistry,
singing among the singers in that sphere.
52 I turned to my right side to see if I →
might see if Beatrice had signified
by word or gesture what I was to do
55 and saw such purity within her eyes,
such joy, that her appearance now surpassed
its guise at other times, even the last.
58 And as, by feeling greater joyousness
in doing good, a man becomes aware
that day by day his virtue is advancing,
61 so I became aware that my revolving
with heaven had increased its arc—by seeing
that miracle becoming still more brilliant.
64 And like the rapid change that one can see →
in a pale woman’s face when it has freed
itself from bearing bashful modesty,
67 such change I, turning, saw: the red of Mars
was gone—and now the temperate sixth star’s
white heaven welcomed me into itself.
70 I saw within that torch of Jupiter
the sparkling of the love that it contained
design before my eyes the signs we speak. →
73 And just as birds that rise from riverbanks, →
as if rejoicing after feeding there,
will form a round flock or another shape,
76 so, in their lights, the saintly beings sang →
and, in their flight, the figures that they spelled
were now a D, now I, and now an L.
79 First, they moved to the rhythm of their song;
then, after they had finished forming one
letter, they halted for a while, in silence.
82 O godly Pegasea, you who give →
to genius glory and long life, as it,
through you, gives these to kingdoms and to cities,
85 give me your light that I may emphasize
these signs as I inscribed them in my mind:
your power—may it appear in these brief lines!
88 Those blessed spirits took the shape of five →
times seven vowels and consonants, and I
noted the parts as they were spelled for me.
91 DILIGITE IUSTITIAM were the verb →
and noun that first appeared in that depiction;
QUI IUDICATIS TERRAM followed after.
94 Then, having formed the M of the fifth word, →
those spirits kept their order; Jupiter’s
silver, at that point, seemed embossed with gold.
97 And I saw other lights descending on →
the apex of the M and, settling, singing—
I think—the Good that draws them to Itself.
100 Then, as innumerable sparks rise up
when one strikes burning logs (and in those sparks
fools have a way of reading auguries),
103 from that M seemed to surge more than a thousand
lights; and they climbed, some high, some low, just as
the Sun that kindles them assigned positions.
106 With each light settled quietly in place,
I saw that the array of fire had shaped
the image of an eagle’s head and neck.
109 He who paints there has no one as His guide: →
He guides Himself; in Him we recognize
the shaping force that flows from nest to nest.
112 The other lights, who were, it seemed, content
at first to form a lily on the M,
moving a little, formed the eagle’s frame.
115 O gentle star, what—and how many—gems →
made plain to me that justice here on earth
depends upon the heaven you engem!
118 Therefore I pray the Mind in which begin
your motion and your force, to watch that place
which has produced the smoke that dims your rays,
121 that once again His anger fall upon
those who would buy and sell within that temple
whose walls were built by miracles and martyrs.
124 O hosts of Heaven whom I contemplate,
for all who, led by bad example, stray
within the life they live on earth, do pray!
127 Men once were used to waging war with swords; →
now war means seizing here and there the bread
the tender Father would deny to none.
130 But you who only write to then erase, →
remember this: Peter and Paul, who died
to save the vines you spoil, are still alive.