Of formal principles; and these, save one1,
Will by thy reasoning be destroy'd. Beside,
If rarity were of that dusk the cause,
Which thou inquirest, either in some part
That planet must throughout be void, nor fed
With its own matter; or, as bodies share
Their fat and leanness, in like manner this
Must in its volume change the leaves. The first,
If it were true, had through the sun's eclipse
Been manifested, by transparency
Of light, as through aught rare beside effused.
But this is not. Therefore remains to see
The other cause: and, if the other fall,
Erroneous so must prove what seem'd to thee.
If not from side to side this rarity
Pass through, there needs must be a limit, whence
Its contrary no farther lets it pass.
And hence the beam, that from without proceeds,
Must be pour'd back; as colour comes, through glass
Reflected, which behind it lead conceals.
Now wilt thou say, that there of murkier hue,
Than, in the other part, the ray is shown,
By being thence refracted farther back.
From this perplexity will free thee soon
Experience, if thereof thou trial make,
The fountain whence your arts derive their streams.
Three mirrors shalt thou take, and two remove
From thee alike; and more remote the third,
Betwixt the former pair, shall meet thine eyes:
Then turn'd toward them, cause behind thy back
A light to stand, that on the three shall shine,
And thus reflected come to thee from all.
Though that, beheld most distant, do not stretch
A space so ample, yet in brightness thou
Wilt own it equaling the rest.
But now,
1 Save one.] Except that principle of rarity and denseness which thou hast assigned." By "formal principles," principi formali, are meant "constituent or essential causes.'
Milton, in imitation of this passage, introduces the angel arguing with Adam respecting the causes of the spots on the moon. But, as a late French translator of the Paradise, M. Artaud, well remarks, his reasoning is physical; that of Dante partly metaphysical and partly theologic.
Whence in her visage round those spots, unpurged
Vapours not yet into her substance turn'd.
2 Change the leaves.] Would, like leaves of parchment, be
darker in some part than others.
As under snow the ground, if the warm ray
Smites it, remains dismantled of the hue
And cold, that cover'd it before; so thee,
Dismantled in thy mind, I will inform
With light so lively, that the tremulous beam
Shall quiver where it falls. Within the heaven1,
Where peace divine inhabits, circles round
A body, in whose virtue lies the being
Of all that it contains. The following heaven,
That hath so many lights, this being divides,
Through different essences, from it distinct,
And yet contain'd within it. The other orbs
Their separate distinctions variously
Dispose, for their own seed and produce apt.
Thus do these organs of the world proceed,
As thou beholdest now, from step to step;
Their influences from above deriving,
And thence transmitting downwards. Mark me well;
How through this passage to the truth I ford,
The truth thou lovest; that thou henceforth, alone,
Mayst know to keep the shallows, safe, untold.
"The virtue and motion of the sacred orbs,
As mallet by the workman's hand, must needs
By blessed movers2 be inspired. This heaven 3,
Made beauteous by so many luminaries,
From the deep spirit 4, that moves its circling sphere,
Its image takes and impress as a seal :
And as the soul, that dwells within your dust, Through members different, yet together form'd, In different powers resolves itself; e'en so
The intellectual efficacy unfolds
Its goodness multiplied throughout the stars;
On its own unity revolving still.
Different virtues compact different
I Within the heaven.] According to our Poet's system, there are ten heavens. The heaven, "where peace divine inhabits," is the empyrean; the body within it, that "circles round," is the primum mobile; "the following heaven," that of the fixed stars; and "the other orbs," the seven lower heavens, are Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. Thus Milton, P. L. b. iii. 481.
They pass the planets seven, and pass the fix'd,
And that crystalline sphere whose balance weighs
The trepidation talk'd, and that first moved.
2 By blessed movers.] By angels.
3 This heaven.] The heaven of fixed stars.
4 The deep spirit.] The moving angel.
5 Different virtue.] "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars:
Makes with the precious body it enlivens,
With which it knits, as life in you is knit.
From its original nature full of joy,
The virtue mingled1 through the body shines,
As joy through pupil of the living eye.
From hence proceeds that which from light to light
Seems different, and not from dense or rare.
This is the formal cause, that generates,
Proportion'd to its power, the dusk or clear."
In the moon Dante meets with Piccarda, the sister of Forese, who tells him that this planet is allotted to those, who, after having made profession of chastity and a religious life, had been compelled to violate their vows; and she then points out to him the spirit of the Empress Costanza. THAT Sun2, which erst with love my bosom warm'd, Had of fair truth unveil'd the sweet aspect, By proof of right, and of the false reproof; And I, to own myself convinced and free Of doubt, as much as needed, raised my head Erect for speech. But soon a sight appear'd, Which, so intent to mark it, held me fix'd, That of confession I no longer thought.
As through translucent and smooth glass, or wave Clear and unmoved, and flowing not so deep As that its bed is dark, the shape returns So faint of our impictured lineaments, That, on white forehead set, a pearl as strong Comes to the eye; such saw I many a face, All stretch'd to speak; from whence I straight conDelusion opposite to that, which raised, [ceived, Between the man and fountain, amorous flame.
for one star differeth from another star in glory." 1 Cor. xv. 41. The words are nearly Plato's, whom St. Paul seems to have had in view throughout this part of his argument. Μία μὲν [δυνάμις] ἡλίου· μία δὲ, σελήνης· μία δὲ, τῶν πάντων ἄστρων κ.τ.λ. Epinomis. Ed. Βip. v. ix. p. 262. 1 The virtue mingled.] Virg. Æn. lib. vi. 724.
Principio cœlum, &c.
2 That sun.] Beatrice.
3 Delusion.] "An error the contrary to that of Narcissus; because he mistook a shadow for a substance; I, a substance for a shadow."
Sudden, as I perceived them, deeming these
Reflected semblances, to see of whom
They were, I turn'd mine eyes, and nothing saw ;
Then turn'd them back, directed on the light
Of my sweet guide, who, smiling, shot forth beams
From her celestial eyes. "Wonder not thou,"
She cried," at this my smiling, when I see
Thy childish judgment; since not yet on truth
It rests the foot, but, as it still is wont,
Makes thee fall back in unsound vacancy.
True substances are these, which thou behold'st,
Hither through failure of their vow exiled.
But speak thou with them; listen, and believe,
That the true light, which fills them with desire,
Permits not from its beams their feet to stray."
Straight to the shadow, which for converse seem'd
Most earnest, I address'd me; and began,
As one by over-eagerness perplex'd:
"O spirit, born for joy! who in the rays
Of life eternal, of that sweetness know'st
The flavour, which, not tasted, passes far
All apprehension; me it well would please,
If thou wouldst tell me of thy name, and this [prompt,
Your station here." Whence she with kindness
And eyes glistering with smiles: "Our charity,
To any wish by justice introduced,
Bars not the door; no more than she above,
Who would have all her court be like herself.
I was a virgin sister in the earth :
And if thy mind observe me well, this form,
With such addition graced of loveliness,
Will not conceal me long; but thou wilt know
Piccarda1, in the tardiest sphere thus placed,
Here 'mid these other blessed also blest.
Our hearts, whose high affections burn alone
With pleasure from the Holy Spirit conceived,
Admitted to his order, dwell in joy.
And this condition, which appears so low,
Is for this cause assign'd us, that our vows
Were, in some part, neglected and made void."
Whence I to her replied: "Something divine
Beams in your countenances wonderous fair;
From former knowledge quite transmuting you.
1 Piccarda.] The sister of Corso Donati, and of Forese whom we have seen in the Purgatory, Canto xxiii. Petrarch has been supposed to allude to this lady in his Triumph of Chastity, v. 160, &c.
Therefore to recollect was I so slow.
But what thou sayst hath to my memory
Given now such aid, that to retrace your forms
Is easier. Yet inform me, ye, who here
Are happy; long ye for a higher place,
More to behold, and more in love to dwell?"
She with those other spirits gently smiled;
Then answer'd with such gladness, that she seem'd
With love's first flame to glow: "Brother! our will
Is, in composure, settled by the power
Of charity, who makes us will alone
What we possess, and nought beyond desire :
If we should wish to be exalted more,
Then must our wishes jar with the high will
Of him, who sets us here; which in these orbs
Thou wilt confess not possible, if here
To be in charity must needs befal,
And if her nature well thou contemplate.
Rather it is inherent in this state
Of blessedness, to keep ourselves within
The divine will, by which our wills with his
Are one. So that as we, from step to step,
Are placed throughout this kingdom, pleases all,
Even as our King, who in us plants his will;
And in his will is our tranquillity:
It is the mighty ocean, whither tends
Whatever it creates and nature makes."
Then saw I clearly how each spot in heaven
Is Paradise, though with like gracious dew
The supreme virtue shower not over all.
But as it chances, if one sort of food
Hath satiated, and of another still
The appetite remains, that this is ask'd,
And thanks for that return'd; e'en so did I,
In word and motion, bent from her to learn
What web it was', through which she had not drawn
The shuttle to its point. She thus began:
"Exalted worth and perfectness of life
The Lady2 higher up inshrine in heaven,
By whose pure laws upon your nether earth
1 What web it was.] "What vow of religious life it was that she had been hindered from completing, had been compelled to break."
2 The Lady.] St. Clare, the foundress of the order called after her. She was born of opulent and noble parents at Assisi, in 1193, and died in 1253. See Biogr. Univ. t. i. p. 598, 8vo. Paris, 1813.
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