Distinguish'd into greater lights and less,
Its pathway1. which the wisest fail to spell;
So thickly studded, in the depth of Mars,
Those rays described the venerable sign2,
That quadrants in the round conjoining frame.
Here memory mocks the toil of genius.
Christ
Beam'd on that cross; and pattern fails me now.
But whoso takes his cross, and follows Christ,
Will pardon me for that I leave untold,
When in the flecker'd dawning he shall spy
The glitterance of Christ. From horn to horn,
And 'tween the summit and the base, did move
Lights, scintillating, as they met and pass'd.
Thus oft are seen with ever-changeful glance,
Straight or athwart, now rapid and now slow,
The atomies of bodies3, long or short,

To move along the sunbeam, whose slant line
Checkers the shadow interposed by art

1 Its pathway.] See the Convito, p. 74. "E da sapere, &c." "It must be known, that, concerning the galaxy, philosophers have entertained different opinions. The Pythagoreans say that the sun once wandered out of his way; and passing through other parts not suited to his heat, scorched the place through which he passed; and that there was left that appearance of the scorching. I think they grounded their opinion on the fable of Phaeton, which Ovid relates at the beginning of his Metamorphoses. Others (as Anaxagoras and Democritus) said that it proceeded from a partial repercussion of the solar light, which they proved by such reasons as they could bring to demonstrate it. What Aristotle has said, cannot well be known; because his meaning is not made the same in one translation as in another: and I think it must have been an error in the translators; for, in the new, he seems to say that it is a collection of vapours under the stars, which they always attract in that part; and this appears devoid of any true reason. In the old, he says that the galaxy is nothing else than a multitude of fixed stars in that part, so small, that here below we cannot distinguish them; but that they form the appearance of that whiteness, which we call the galaxy. And it may be, that the heaven in that part is dense, and therefore retains and represents that light; and in this opinion Avicen and Ptolemy seem to agree with Aristotle." M. Letronne's remarks on this passage of the Convito, inserted in M. Artaud's Histoire de Dante (8°. Par. 1841. p. 157.) are worth consulting. 2 The venerable sign.] The cross, which is placed in the planet of Mars, to denote the glory of those who fought in the crusades.

3 The atomies of bodies.]

As thick as motes in the sun-beame.

Chaucer. Edit. 1603, fol. 35.

As thick and numberless,

As the gay motes that people the sunbeam.

Milton, Il Penseroso.

109-132. Against the noontide heat. And as the chime Of minstrel music, dulcimer, and harp

With many strings, a pleasant dinning makes
To him, who heareth not distinct the note;
So from the lights, which there appear'd to me,
Gather'd along the cross a melody,

That, indistinctly heard, with ravishment
Possess'd me. Yet I mark'd it was a hymn
Of lofty praises; for there came to me
"Arise," and "Conquer," as to one who hears
And comprehends not. Me such ecstacy
O'ercame, that never, till that hour, was thing
That held me in so sweet imprisonment.
Perhaps my saying overbold appears,
Accounting less the pleasure of those eyes,
Whereon to look fulfilleth all desire.
But he', who is aware those living seals
Of every beauty work with quicker force,
The higher they are risen; and that there
I had not turn'd me to them; he may well
Excuse me that, whereof in my excuse
I do accuse me, and may own my truth;
That holy pleasure here not yet reveal'd2,
Which grows in transport as we mount aloof.

CANTO XV.

ARGUMENT.

The spirit of Cacciaguida, our Poet's ancestor, glides rapidly to the foot of the cross; tells who he is; and speaks of the simplicity of the Florentines in his days, since then much corrupted.

TRUE love, that ever shows itself as clear

In kindness, as loose appetite in wrong,

1 He.] "He, who considers that the eyes of Beatrice became more radiant the higher we ascended, must not wonder that I do not except even them, as I had not yet beheld them since our entrance into this planet." Lombardi understands, by "living seals," vivi suggelli," "the stars;" and this explanation derives some authority from the Latin notes on the Monte Casino MS. "id est cœli imprimentes ut sigilla."

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2 Reveal'd.] Dischiuso. Lombardi explains this word "excluded," as indeed Vellutello had done before him; and as it is also used in the seventh Canto. If this interpretation were adopted, the line should stand thus:

That holy pleasure not excluded here.

But the word is capable of either meaning; and it would not be easy to determine which is the right, in this passage.

Silenced that lyrẻ harmonious, and still'd

The sacred chords, that are by heaven's right hand
Unwound and tighten'd. How to righteous prayers
Should they not hearken, who, to give me will
For praying, in accordance thus were mute?
He hath in sooth good cause for endless grief,
Who, for the love of thing that lasteth not,
Despoils himself for ever of that love.

As oft along the still and pure serene,
At nightfall, glides a sudden trail of fire,
Attracting with involuntary heed

The eye to follow it, erewhile at rest;

And seems some star that shifted place in heaven1,
Only that, whence it kindles, none is lost,

And it is soon extinct: thus from the horn,
That on the dexter of the cross extends,
Down to its foot, one luminary ran

From mid the cluster shone there; yet no gem
Dropp'd from its foil: and through the beamy list,
Like flame in alabaster, glow'd its course.

So forward stretch'd him (if of credence aught Our greater muse2 may claim) the pious ghost Of old Anchises, in the Elysian bower,

When he perceived his son. "O thou, my blood!
O most exceeding grace divine! to whom,
As now to thee, hath twice the heavenly gate
Been e'er unclosed?" So spake the light: whence I
Turn'd me toward him; then unto my dame
My sight directed and on either side
Amazement waited me; for in her eyes
Was lighted such a smile, I thought that mine
Had dived unto the bottom of my grace
And of my bliss in Paradise. Forthwith,
To hearing and to sight grateful alike,
The spirit to his proem added things
I understood not, so profound he spake :

1 And seems some star that shifted place in heaven.]
Pare una stella che tramuti loco.

Frezzi, Il Quadrir. lib. i. cap. 13.
Sæpe etiam stellas, vento impendente, videbis,
Præcipites cœlo labi, noctisque per umbram
Flammarum longos a tergo albescere tractus.
Virg. Georg. lib. i. 367.

Compare Arat. Διοσημ. 194.

2 Our greater muse.] Virgil. Æn. lib. vi. 684.

Isque ubi tendentem adversum per gramina vidit
Enean, alacris palmas utrasque tetendit.
Venisti tandem, tuaque spectata parenti
Vicit iter durum pietas?

Yet not of choice, but through necessity,
Mysterious; for his high conception soar'd
Beyond the mark of mortals. When the flight
Of holy transport had so spent its rage,
That nearer to the level of our thought
The speech descended; the first sounds I heard
Were," Blest be thou, Triunal Deity!

That hast such favour in my seed vouchsafed."
Then follow'd: "No unpleasant thirst, though long',
Which took me reading in the sacred book,
Whose leaves or white or dusky never change,
Thou hast allay'd, my son! within this light, [her,
From whence my voice thou hear'st: more thanks to
Who, for such lofty mounting, has with plumes
Begirt thee. Thou dost deem thy thoughts to me
From Him transmitted, who is first of all,
E'en as all numbers ray from unity2;
And therefore dost not ask me who I am,
Or why to thee more joyous I appear,
Than any other in this gladsome throng.
The truth is as thou deem'st; for in this life
Both less and greater in that mirror look,

In which thy thoughts, or ere thou think'st, are shown.
But, that the love, which keeps me wakeful ever,
Urging with sacred thirst of sweet desire,
May be contented fully; let thy voice,
Fearless, and frank, and jocund, utter forth
Thy will distinctly, utter forth the wish,
Whereto my ready answer stands decreed."

I turn'd me to Beatrice; and she heard
Ere I had spoken, smiling an assent,

That to my will gave wings; and I began: "To each among your tribe3, what time ye kenn'd

1 No unpleasant thirst, though long.] "Thou hast satisfied the long yet pleasing desire which I have felt to see thee, through my knowledge of thee, obtained in the immutable decrees of the divine Providence."

2 Unity.] Πάντων ἄρα τὸ ἓν πρῶτον γέγονε τῶν ἀριθμὸν xóvTwv. Plato. Parmenides. Ed. Bip. vol. x. p. 130. Perhaps the mention of Parmenides in the last Canto but one, suggested this thought to Dante, which he has expressed by specifying two particular numbers intended to stand for all. There is something similar to it in his treatise De Vulgari Eloquio. lib. i. c. xvi. Sicut in numero cuncta mensurantur uno, et plura vel pauciora dicuntur, secundum quod distant ab uno, vel ei propinquant.

3 To each among your tribe.] "In you, glorified spirits, love and knowledge are made equal, because they are equal in God. But with us mortals it is otherwise, for we have

The nature, in whom nought unequal dwells,
Wisdom and love were in one measure dealt;
For that they are so equal in the sun,

From whence ye drew your radiance and your heat,
As makes all likeness scant. But will and means,
In mortals, for the cause ye well discern,
With unlike wings are fledge. A mortal, I
Experience inequality like this;

And therefore give no thanks, but in the heart,
For thy paternal greeting. This howe'er
I pray thee, living topaz! that ingemm'st
This precious jewel; let me hear thy name."
"I am thy root1, O leaf! whom to expect
Even, hath pleased me." Thus the prompt reply
Prefacing, next it added: " He, of whom 2
Thy kindred appellation comes, and who,
These hundred years and more, on its first ledge
Hath circuited the mountain, was my son,
And thy great-grandsire. Well befits, his long
Endurance should be shorten'd by thy deeds.

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Florence, within her ancient limit-mark, Which calls her still 4 to matin prayers and noon, Was chaste and sober, and abode in peace. She had no armlets and no head-tires then; No purfled dames; no zone, that caught the eye More than the person did. Time was not yet, When at his daughter's birth the sire grew pale, For fear the age and dowry should exceed, On each side, just proportion. House was none Void of its family: nor yet had come

often the will without the means of expressing our affections; and I can therefore thank thee only in my heart."

1 I am thy root.] Cacciaguida, father to Alighieri of whom our Poet was the great-grandson.

2 He, of whom.] "Thy great grandfather, Alighieri, has been in the first round of Purgatory more than a hundred years; and it is fit that thou by thy good deserts shouldst endeavour to shorten the time of his remaining there." For what is known of Alighieri see Pelli. Memor. Opere di Dante. Ediz. Zatta. 1758. tom. iv. P. 2da p. 21. His son Bellincione was living in 1266; and of him was born the father of our Poet, whom Benvenuto da Imola calls a lawyer by profession. Pelli. ibid.

3 Florence.] See G. Villani. lib. iii. cap. 2.

4 Which calls her still.] The public clock being still within the circuit of the ancient walls.

5 When.] When the women were not married at too early an age, and did not expect too large a portion.

6 Void.] Through the civil wars and banishments. Or he may mean that houses were not formerly built merely for