And the soul,

My ken, and Robert Guiscard1.
Who spake with me, among the other lights
Did move away, and mix; and with the quire
Of heavenly songsters proved his tuneful skill.
To Beatrice on my right I bent,
Looking for intimation, or by word

Or act, what next behoved; and did descry
Such mere effulgence in her eyes, such joy,
It pass'd all former wont. And, as by sense
Of new delight, the man, who perseveres
In good deeds, doth perceive, from day to day,
His virtue growing; I e'en thus perceived,
Of my ascent, together with the heaven,
The circuit widen'd; noting the increase
Of beauty in that wonder. Like the change
In a brief moment on some maiden's cheek,
Which, from its fairness, doth discharge the weight
Of pudency, that stain'd it; such in her,
And to mine eyes so sudden was the change,
Through silvery 2 whiteness of that temperate star,
Whose sixth orb now enfolded us.
I saw,
Within that Jovial cresset, the clear sparks
Of love, that reign'd there, fashion to my view
Our language. And as birds, from river banks
Arisen, now in round, now lengthen'd troop,
Array them in their flight, greeting, as seems,
Their new-found pastures; so, within the lights,
The saintly creatures flying, sang; and made
Now D, now I, now L, figured i' the air.
First singing to their notes they moved; then, one
Becoming of these signs, a little while

Did rest them, and were mute. O nymph divine3,

Questo, di ch' io mi sdegno e'ndarno grido,
Fece in Hierusalem con le sue mani

Il mal guardato e già negletto nido.

Petrarca, Tr. della Fama, cap. ii.

1 Robert Guiscard.] See Hell, Canto xxviii. 12.

2 Through silvery.] So in the Convito, "E'l ciel di Giove, &c." p. 74. "The heaven of Jupiter may be compared to geometry, for two properties: the one is, that it moves between two heavens repugnant to its temperature, as that of Mars and that of Saturn; whence Ptolemy, in the abovecited book, says that Jupiter is a star of temperate complexion, between the coldness of Saturn and the heat of Mars: the other is, that, among all the stars, it shows itself white, as it were silvered."

3 O nymph divine.] "O muse, thou that makest thy votaries glorious and long-lived, as they, assisted by thee, make glorious and long-lived the cities and realms which they celebrate, now enlighten me, &c."

Of Pegasean race! who souls, which thou
Inspirest, makest glorious and long-lived, as they
Cities and realms by thee; thou with thyself
Inform me; that I may set forth the shapes,
As fancy doth present them: be thy power
Display'd in this brief song. The characters1,
Vocal and consonant, were five-fold seven.
In order, each, as they appear'd, I mark’d.
Diligite Justitiam, the first,

Both verb and noun all blazon'd; and the extreme,
Qui judicatis terram. In the M

Of the fifth word they held their station;

Making the star seem silver streak'd with gold.
And on the summit of the M, I saw

Descending other lights, that rested there,
Singing, methinks, their bliss and primal good.
Then, as at shaking of a lighted brand,
Sparkles innumerable on all sides

Rise scatter'd, source of augury to the unwise 2;
Thus more than thousand twinkling lustres hence
Seem'd reascending; and a higher pitch

Some mounting, and some less, e'en as the sun,
Which kindleth them, decreed. And when each one
Had settled in his place; the head and neck
Then saw I of an eagle, livelily

Graved in that streaky fire. Who painteth there3,
Hath none to guide Him: of Himself he guides :
And every line and texture of the nest
Doth own from Him the virtue fashions it.
The other bright beatitude 4, that seem'd
Erewhile, with lillied crowning, well content
To over-canopy the M, moved forth,
Following gently the impress of the bird.

Sweet star! what glorious and thick-studded gems Declared to me our justice on the earth

To be the effluence of that heaven, which thou,
Thyself a costly jewel, dost inlay.

Therefore I pray the Sovran Mind, from whom

1 The characters.] Diligite justitiam qui judicatis terram. "Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth." Wisdom of Solomon, c. i. 1.

2 The unwise.] Who augur future riches to themselves in proportion to the quantity of sparks that fly from the lighted brand when it is shaken.

3 Who painteth there.] The Deity himself.

4 Beatitude.] The band of spirits; for "beatitudo" is

here a noun of multitude.

Thy motion and thy virtue are begun,

1

That He would look from whence the fog doth rise,
To vitiate thy beam; so that once more
He may put forth his hand 'gainst such, as drive
Their traffic in that sanctuary, whose walls
With miracles and martyrdoms were built.
Ye host of heaven, whose glory I survey!
O beg ye grace for those, that are, on earth,
All after ill example gone astray.

War once had for his instrument the sword:
But now 't is made, taking the bread away2,
Which the good Father locks from none.-And thou,
That writest but to cancel3, think, that they,
Who for the vineyard, which thou wastest, died,
Peter and Paul, live yet, and mark thy doings.
Thou hast good cause to cry, "My heart so cleaves
To him, that lived in solitude remote,

And for a dance was dragg'd to martyrdom,
I wist not of the fisherman nor Paul."

CANTO XIX.

ARGUMENT.

The eagle speaks as with one voice proceeding from a multitude of spirits, that compose it; and declares the cause for which it is exalted to that state of glory. It then solves a doubt, which our Poet had entertained, respecting the possibility of salvation without belief in Christ; exposes the inefficacy of a mere profession of such belief; and prophesies the evil appearance, that many Christian potentates will make at the day of judgment.

BEFORE my sight appear'd, with open wings,

1 That once more.] "That he may again drive out those who buy and sell in the temple."

2 Taking the bread away.] "Excommunication, or interdiction of the eucharist, is now employed as a weapon of warfare."

3 That writest but to cancel.] "And thou, Pope Boniface, who writest thy ecclesiastical censures for no other purpose than to be paid for revoking them."

4 To him.] The coin of Florence was stamped with the impression of John the Baptist; and, for this, the avaricious pope is made to declare that he felt more devotion, than either for Peter or Paul. Lombardi, I know not why, would apply this to Clement V. rather than to Boniface VIII.

5 And for a dance.] I am indebted to an intelligent critic in the Monthly Review, 1823, for pointing out my former erroneous translation of the words " per salti," "From the wilds."

The beauteous image; in fruition sweet,
Gladdening the thronged spirits.

A little ruby, whereon so intense

Each did seem

The sun-beam glow'd, that to mine eyes it came In clear refraction. And that, which next Befals me to pourtray, voice hath not utter'd, Nor hath ink written1, nor in fantasy

Was e'er conceived. For I beheld and heard
The beak discourse; and, what intention form'd
Of many, singly as of one express,

Beginning: "For that I was just and piteous,
I am exalted to this height of glory,

The which no wish exceeds: and there on earth
Have I my memory left, e'en by the bad
Commended, while they leave its course untrod."
Thus is one heat from many embers felt;

As in that image many were the loves,

And one the voice, that issued from them all:
Whence I address'd them: "O perennial flowers
Of gladness everlasting! that exhale

In single breath your odours manifold;
Breathe now and let the hunger be appeased,
That with great craving long hath held my soul,
Finding no food on earth. This well I know;
That if there be in heaven a realm, that shows
In faithful mirror the celestial Justice,
Yours without veil reflects it. Ye discern
The heed, wherewith I do prepare myself
To hearken; ye, the doubt, that urges me
With such inveterate craving." Straight I saw,
Like to a falcon 2 issuing from the hood,

That rears his head, and claps him with his wings,
His beauty and his eagerness bewraying;

Nor hath ink written.]

This joie ne maie not written be with inke.

2 Like to a falcon.]

Chaucer, Troilus and Cresseide, b. iii.

Come falcon ch' uscisse dal cappello.

Which Chaucer translates,

Boccaccio, Il Filostrato, p. iv. st. 83.

As fresh as faucon coming out of mew.
Troilus and Cresseide, b. iii.
Poi come fa 'l falcon, quando si move,
Così Umiltà al cielo alzò la vista.

Frezzi, Il Quadrir, lib. iv. cap. 5.

Rinaldo stà come suole il falcone
Uscito del capello a la veleta.

L. Pulci, Morgante Magg, c. xi.

So saw I move that stately sign, with praise
Of grace divine inwoven, and high song
Of inexpressive joy. He," it began,

66

66

1 Who turn'd his compass on the worlds extreme, And in that space so variously hath wrought, Both openly and in secret; in such wise Could not, through all the universe, display Impression of his glory, that the Word2 Of his omniscience should not still remain In infinite excess. In proof whereof,

He first through pride supplanted, who was sum
Of each created being, waited not

For light celestial; and abortive fell.
Whence needs each lesser nature is but scant
Receptacle unto that Good, which knows

No limit, measured by itself alone.

Therefore your sight, of the omnipresent Mind
A single beam, its origin must own
Surpassing far its utmost potency.

The ken, your world is gifted with, descends
In the everlasting Justice as low down,

As eye doth in the sea; which, though it mark
The bottom from the shore, in the wide main
Discerns it not; and ne'ertheless it is;

But hidden through its deepness. Light is none,
Save that which cometh from the pure serene
Of ne'er disturbed ether for the rest,
"T is darkness all; or shadow of the flesh,
Or else its poison. Here confess reveal'd
That covert, which hath hidden from thy search
The living justice, of the which thou madest
Such frequent question; for thou said'st— ́ A man
Is born on Indus' banks, and none is there
Who speaks of Christ, nor who doth read nor write;

1 Who turn'd his compass.] "When he prepared the heavens, I was there when he set a compass upon the face of the depth." Proverbs, viii. 27.

In his hand

He took the golden compasses, prepar'd
In God's eternal store, to circumscribe
This universe, and all created things.

Milton, P. L. b. vii. 227.

2 The Word.] "The divine nature still remained incomprehensible. Of this Lucifer was a proof; for he, though the chief of all created beings, yet, through his pride, waiting not for further supplies of the divine illumination, fell without coming to maturity." Thus our author in the De Vulgari Eloquio, speaking of the fallen angels, says, "divinam curam perversi expectare noluerunt." L. i. c. 2.