Of that fair flower1, whom duly I invoke
Both morn and eve, my soul with all her might
Collected, on the goodliest ardour fix'd.
And, as the bright dimensions of the star
In heaven excelling, as once here on earth,
Were, in my eye-balls livelily pourtray'd;
Lo! from within the sky a cresset2 fell,
Circling in fashion of a diadem;

And girt the star; and, hovering, round it wheel'd.
Whatever melody sounds sweetest here,
And draws the spirit most unto itself,

66

Might seem a rent cloud, when it grates the thunder;
Compared unto the sounding of that lyre3,
Wherewith the goodliest sapphire, that inlays
The floor of heaven, was crown'd. Angelic Love
I am, who thus with hovering flight enwheel
The lofty rapture from that womb inspired,
Where our desire did dwell: and round thee so,
Lady of Heaven! will hover; long as thou
Thy Son shalt follow, and diviner joy

Shall from thy presence gild the highest sphere."
Such close was to the circling melody:

And, as it ended, all the other lights
Took up the strain, and echoed Mary's name.
The robe, that with its regal folds enwraps
The world, and with the nearer breath of God
Doth burn and quiver, held so far retired
Its inner hem and skirting over us,
That yet no glimmer of its majesty

Had stream'd unto me: therefore were mine eyes
Unequal to pursue the crowned flame,

That towering rose, and sought the seed it bore.
And like to babe, that stretches forth its arms
For very eagerness toward the breast,

After the milk is taken; so outstretch'd
Their wavy summits all the fervent band,
Through zealous love to Mary: then, in view,

Of that fair flower.] The name of the Virgin.

2 A cresset.] The angel Gabriel.

3 That lyre.] By synecdoche, the lyre is put for the angel.

4 The goodliest sapphire.] The Virgin.

5 The robe.] The ninth heaven, the primum mobile, that enfolds and moves the eight lower heavens.

6 The crowned flame.] The Virgin, with the angel hovering over her.

7 The seed.] Our Saviour.

There halted; and "Regina Coeli1" sang
So sweetly, the delight hath left me never.
Oh! what o'erflowing plenty is up-piled
In those rich-laden coffers2, which below

Sow'd the good seed, whose harvest now they keep.
Here are the treasures tasted, that with tears
Were in the Babylonian exile3 won,

When gold had fail'd them. Here, in synod high
Of ancient council with the new convened,
Under the Son of Mary and of God,
Victorious he his mighty triumph holds,
To whom the keys of glory were assign'd.

CANTO XXIV.

ARGUMENT.

Saint Peter examines Dante touching Faith, and is contented with his answers.

'O YE! in chosen fellowship advanced
To the great supper of the blessed Lamb,
Whereon who feeds hath every wish fulfill'd;
If to this man through God's grace be vouchsafed
Foretaste of that, which from your table falls,
Or ever death his fated term prescribe;
Be ye not heedless of his urgent will:
But may some influence of your sacred dews
Sprinkle him. Of the fount ye alway drink,
Whence flows what most he craves."
And the rejoicing spirits, like to spheres [spake;
On firm-set poles revolving, trail'd a blaze
Of comet splendour: and as wheels, that wind
Their circles in the horologe, so work
The stated rounds, that to the observant eye
The first seems still, and as it flew, the last;
E'en thus their carols weaving variously,

Beatrice

1 Regina Coeli.] "The beginning of an anthem, sung by the church at Easter, in honour of our Lady." Volpi.

2 Those rich-laden coffers.] Those spirits, who, having sown the seed of good works on earth, now contain the fruit of their pious endeavours.

3 In the Babylonian exile.] During their abode in this world.

He.] St. Peter, with the other holy men of the Old and New Testament.

5 Their carols.] Carole. The annotator on the Monte Casino MS. observes, "carolæ dicuntur tripudium quoddam

They, by the measure paced, or swift, or slow,
Made me to rate the riches1 of their joy.

From that2, which I did note in beauty most
Excelling, saw I issue forth a flame

So bright, as none was left more goodly there.
Round Beatrice thrice it wheel'd about,
With so divine a song, that fancy's ear
Records it not; and the pen passeth on,
And leaves a blank: for that our mortal speech,
Nor e'en the inward shaping of the brain,
Hath colours fine enough to trace such folds3.
"O saintly sister mine! thy prayer devout
Is with so vehement affection urged,
Thou dost unbind me from that beauteous sphere."
Such were the accents towards my lady breathed

quod fit saliendo, ut Napolitani faciunt et dicunt." The word had also that signification, which is now the only one that common use attaches to it. "Au tiers jour il s'en partit," (the king of Cyprus coming from Canterbury to Edward III.) "et chevaucha le chemin de Londres; et fit tant qu'il vint a Altem; ou le roi se tenoit, et grand foison de Seigneurs appareillés pour le recevoir. Ce fut un dimenche a heure de relevee qu'il vint là. Si eut entre celle heure et le souper grans danses et grans karolles. Là etoit le jeune Seigneur de Coucy qui s'efforcoit de bien danser et de bien chanter quand son tour venoit, &c." Froissart, vol. i. cap. 219. Fol. edit. 1559.

These folke, of which I tell you so,

Upon a karole wenten tho:

A ladie karoled hem, that hight
Gladnesse, blissfull, and light,

Well could she sing and lustely.

Chaucer, Romaunt of the Rose, Edit. 1602, fol. 112.

I saw her daunce so comely,

Carol and sing so swetely.

Chaucer, The Dreame, or Booke of the Duchesse. fol. 231. 1 The riches.] Lombardi here reads with the Nidobeatina edition," dalla richezza," instead of " della ricchezza," and construes it of the amplitude of the circles, according to which the Poet estimated their greater or less degree of velocity. I have followed the other commentators.

2 From that.] Saint Peter.

3 Such folds. Pindar has the same bold image; ὕμνων πτυχαῖς. Ο. 1. 170.

which both the Scholiast and Heyne, I think erroneously, understand of the return of the strophes. Since this note was written, I have found the same interpretation of Pindar's expression as that I had adopted, in the manuscript notes on that poet collected by Mr. St. Amand, and preserved in the Bodleian Library. No. 42. "Notandum: maximum decus vestimenti antiquitus sinus existimabantur, ita ut vix unquam a poetis tam Græcis quam Latinis vestis pulchra describatur sine hoc adjuncto."

From that blest ardour, soon as it was stay'd;
To whom she thus: "O everlasting light
Of him, within whose mighty grasp our Lord
Did leave the keys, which of this wondrous bliss
He bare below! tent' this man as thou wilt,
With lighter probe or deep, touching the faith,
By the which thou didst on the billows walk.
If he in love, in hope, and in belief,

Be stedfast, is not hid from thee for thou
Hast there thy ken, where all things are beheld
In liveliest portraiture. But since true faith
Has peopled this fair realm with citizens;
Meet is, that to exalt its glory more,

Thou, in his audience, shouldst thereof discourse."
Like to the bachelor, who arms himself,
And speaks not, till the master have proposed
The question, to approve2, and not to end it;
So I, in silence, arm'd me, while she spake,
Summoning up each argument to aid;
As was behoveful for such questioner,

And such profession : "As good Christian ought,
Declare thee, What is faith ?" Whereat I raised
My forehead to the light, whence this had breathed;
Then turn'd to Beatrice; and in her looks
Approval met, that from their inmost fount
I should unlock the waters. 66
May the grace,
That giveth me the captain of the church
For confessor," said I, "vouchsafe to me

Apt utterance for my thoughts;" then added: "Sire!
E'en as set down by the unerring style

Of thy dear brother, who with thee conspired
To bring Rome in unto the way of life,

Faith of things hoped is substance, and the proof
Of things not seen; and herein doth consist

1 Tent.] Tenta. The word "tent," try, is used by our old writers, who, I think, usually spell it "taint;" as Massinger, Parliament of Love, act iv. sc. 3. "Do not fear, I have a staff to taint, and bravely."

2 To approve.] "Per approbarla." Landino has "aiutarla." "The bachelor, or disputant in the school, arms or prepares himself to discuss the question proposed by the master, whose business it is to terminate it.' Such is Vellutello's interpretation; and it has the merit of being, at least, more intelligible than Lombardi's, who, without reason, accuses the other commentators, except Venturi, (whose explanation he rejects) of passing over the difficulty.

3 Faith.] Hebrews, xi. 1. So Marino, in one of his sonnets, which he calls Divozioni:

Fede è sustanza di sperate cose,
E delle non visibili argomento.

Methinks its essence." Rightly hast thou deem'd."

Was answer'd; "if thou well discern, why first
He hath defined it substance, and then proof."
"The deep things," I replied, "which here I scan
Distinctly, are below from mortal eye

So hidden, they have in belief alone

Their being; on which credence, hope sublime
Is built: and, therefore substance, it intends.
And inasmuch as we must needs infer
From such belief our reasoning, all respect
To other view excluded; hence of proof
The intention is derived." Forthwith I heard:
"If thus, whate'er by learning men attain,
Were understood; the sophist would want room
To exercise his wit." So breathed the flame
Of love; then added: "Current' is the coin
Thou utter'st, both in weight and in alloy.
But tell me, if thou hast it in thy purse.'
"Even so glittering and so round," said I,
"I not a whit misdoubt of its assay." [dour:
Next issued from the deep-imbosom'd splen-
Say, whence the costly jewel, on the which

1 Current.] "The answer thou hast made, is right: but let me know if thy inward persuasion be conformable to thy profession."

2 Next issued.] "We find that the more men have been acquainted with the practice of Christianity, the greater evidence they have had of the truth of it, and been more fully and rationally persuaded of it. To such I grant there are such powerful evidences of the truth of the doctrine of Christ by the effectual workings of the spirit of God upon their souls, that all other arguments, as to their own satisfaction, may fall short of these. As to which, those verses of the poet Dantes, rendered into Latin by F. S. are very pertinent and significant; for when he had introduced the Apostle Peter, asking him what it was which his faith was founded on, he answers,

Deinde exivit ex luce profunda

Quæ illic splendebat pretiosa gemma,
Super quam omnis virtus fundatur.

i.e. That God was pleased by immediate revelation of himself, to discover that divine truth to the world whereon our faith doth stand as on its sure foundation ;"but when the Apostle goes on to enquire how he knew this at first came from God, his answer to that is,

larga pluvia

Spiritus Sancti, quæ est diffusa

Super veteres et super novas membranas
Est syllogismus ille qui eam mihi conclusit
Adeo acute, ut præ illa demonstratione

Omnis demonstratio alia mihi videatur obtusa.