PARADISE.

CANTO I.

Argument.

The Poet ascends with Beatrice towards the first heaven; and is, by her, resolved of certain doubts which arise in his mind.

His glory, by whose might all things are mov'd,
Pierces the universe*, and in one part

Sheds more resplendence, elsewhere less. In heav'n,
That largeliest of his light partakes, was I,
Witness of things, which, to relate again,
Surpasseth power of him who comes from thence;

For that, so near approaching it's desire,
Our intellect is to such depth absorb'd,

* Pierces the universe.] Per l'universo penetra, &c.

his magnetic beam, that gently warms

The universe, and to each inward part
With gentle penetration, though unseen,
Shoots invisible virtue ev'n to the deep.

Milton, P. L. b. iii. 586.

That memory cannot follow.

Nathless all,

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That in my thoughts I of that sacred realm
Could store, shall now *be matter of my song.

Benign Apollo †! this last labour aid;

And make me such a vessel of thy worth,
As thy own laurel claims, of me belov'd.

Thus far hath one of steep Parnassus' brows
+

Suffic'd me; henceforth, there is need of both
For my remaining enterprize. Do thou s
Enter into my bosom, and there breathe

So, as when Marsyas | by thy hand was dragg'd

* Shall now.] Sarà ora materia del mio canto. Shall be the copious matter of my song.

Milton, P. L. b. iii. 413.

+ Benign Apollo.] Chaucer has imitated this invocation very closely, at the beginning of the Third Booke of Fame.

If, divine vertue, thou

Wilt helpe me to shewe now

That in my head ymarked is,

Thou shalt see me go as blive

Unto the next laurer I see,
And kisse it, for it is thy tree.

Now entre thou my breast anone.

Thus far.] He appears to mean nothing more than that this part of his poem will require a greater exertion of his powers than

the former.

§ Do thou.] Make me thine instrument; and, through me, utter such sound as when thou didst contend with Marsyas.

Marsyas.] Ovid. Met. lib. vi. fab. 7.

Filocopo. lib. v. p. 25. v. ii. Ediz. Fir. 1723.

Compare Boccaccio. Il

Egli nel mio petto

entri," &c." May he enter my bosom, and let my voice sound like