Authors: Dante
‘Wretched Cleopatra still weeps because of it.
→
She, fleeing before its advancing front,
78
took from the asp her quick and baleful death.
‘But what the standard that promotes my speech
→
had done before and had yet to do
84
in the mortal realm where it holds sway
‘comes to seem both small and dim
if we observe it, with clear eyes and pure affection,
87
when it was held in the third Caesar’s hand.
‘For the living justice that inspires me
→
→
allowed it, in the hand of him of whom I speak,
90
the glory of the vengeance for His wrath.
‘And now marvel at what I unfold for you:
Afterward it raced with Titus, doing vengeance
→
93
upon the vengeance for the ancient sin.
‘Then, beneath its wings,
→
when Lombard tooth bit Holy Church,
96
Charlemagne, in victory, gave her comfort.
‘Now you may judge such men as I accused before
→
→
and consider their offenses,
99
the very cause of all your ills.
‘One sets against the universal standard
→
yellow lilies, while the other claims it for a party,
102
so that it’s hard to see which one offends the more.
‘Let the Ghibellines ply them, ply their tricks
→
beneath another standard, for he follows
105
this one poorly who severs it from justice.
‘And let not this new Charles strive to fell it
→
with his Guelphs, but let him fear its claws,
‘Many a time have children wept
→
for the father’s sin, and let him not think
111
that God will change His ensign for those lilies.
‘This little star is ornamented
→
with righteous spirits, those whose deeds were done
114
for the honor and the glory that would follow.
‘When such errant desires arise down there,
then the rays of the one true love
117
must rise with less intensity.
‘But noting how our merit equals our reward
→
is part of our happiness,
120
because we see them being neither less nor more.
‘So much does living justice sweeten our affection
→
we cannot ever then take on
123
the warp of wickedness.
‘Differing voices make sweet music.
Just so our differing ranks in this our life
126
create sweet harmony among these wheels.
‘Within this very pearl shines
→
the shining light of Romeo,
129
whose great and noble work was poorly paid.
‘But those of Provence who schemed against him
→
have not had the last laugh—he takes an evil road
132
to whom another’s good deed seems a wrong.
‘Raymond Berenger had four daughters,
each of them a queen, and Romeo, a man
→
135
of little standing and a stranger, made that happen.
‘And when malicious tongues moved Raymond
to go over accounts with this just man,
→
‘Romeo left there, poor in his old age.
→
And, if the world knew the heart he had within
when, crust by crust, he begged his bread,
142
much as it praises him, it would praise him more.’
MERCURY
(1) Beatrice’s response to Dante’s first question
(2) Dante’s second doubt and Beatrice’s response
(3) Dante’s third doubt; Beatrice’s resolution of it
thus, wheeling to the notes of his own melody,
→
I saw that being, in whom a double light
he and the others moving in their dance
and, like the fastest-flying sparks,
→
9
veiled from me by their sudden distance.
I was in doubt, saying to myself, ‘Tell her,
→
tell her,’ saying to myself, ‘tell this to my lady,
But the reverence that is mistress over me
→
at the mere sound of
Be
or
ice
→
15
bowed down my head, as when a man nods off.
Not long did Beatrice leave me in this state
before she spoke, shining with the rays of such a smile
‘In my infallible opinion this idea,
→
→
that just revenge itself perhaps deserves
→
→
21
just punishment, has set you thinking.
‘But I will quickly free your mind of doubt.
Still, you must listen closely, for my words
24
shall set before you things of great importance.
‘By not enduring, for his own good, a rein
→
upon his will, that man who was not born,
→
27
damning himself, damned all his offspring.