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Authors: Dante

BOOK: Paradiso
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‘And let this always be as lead upon your feet   

   

               
to make you slow, just like a weary man, in moving,

114
         
whether to yes or no, unless you see both clearly.

               
‘For he ranks low among the fools   

               
who, without making clear distinctions,

117
         
affirms or denies in one case or another,

               
‘since it often happens that a hasty opinion

               
inclines one to the erring side, and then

120
         
fondness for it fetters the working of the mind.

               
‘He who casts off from shore to fish for truth   

   

               
without the necessary skill does not return the same

123
         
as he sets out, but worse, and all in vain.

               
‘Clear proof of this was given to the world

               
by Parmenides, Melissus, Bryson, and others,   

126
         
who went to sea without a port in mind.

               
‘Such were Sabellius and Arius and the fools   

               
who misread Scripture as a sword reflecting   

129
         
the distorted image of a face upon its blade.

               
‘Let the people, then, not be too certain   

               
in their judgments, like those that harvest in their minds

132
         
corn still in the field before it ripens.

               
‘For I have seen the briar first look dry and thorny   

               
right through all the winter’s cold,

135
         
then later wear the bloom of roses at its tip,   

               
‘and once I saw a ship, which had sailed straight   

               
and swift upon the sea through all its voyage,

138
         
sinking at the end as it made its way to port.

               
‘Let not Dame Bertha and Master Martin,   

               
when they see one steal and another offer alms,   

               
think that they behold them with God’s wisdom,

142
         
for the first may still rise up, the other fall.’   

OUTLINE: PARADISO XIV

THE SUN; MARS

1–9
   
the canto begins with an “implicit simile”: water in a bowl that moves in waves from outer rim to center (or the obverse) and Thomas’s voice at “perimeter” (and Beatrice’s at “center”) of the circle made by theologians
10–18
   
Beatrice intuits Dante’s two questions: (1) Will the bodies of the saints shine eternally? (2) If so, how will onlookers’ eyes endure so brilliant a light?
19–24
   
simile (2): as dancers in a circle become more excited in their singing and gestures as the dance continues, so did the holy circle react to Dante’s question
25–27
   
and no one witnessing this could lament its price, death
28–33
   
this trinitarian sphere (of the Sun—see
Par.
X.1f.) is thrice marked again by the souls’ trinitarian song.
34–36
   
The voice of the most divine member of the inner circle
[Solomon]
is compared to the voice of
[Gabriel]
to
Mary
:
37–42
   
[Solomon]: “our brightness corresponds to our ardor, our ardor to our power of sight, and that power to our grace
43–45
   
“once we are in flesh again, we will be more acceptable to God for being more complete
46–51
   
“when this is true, God’s gift of grace will be increased as must our vision of Him, as must the ardor of our love, as must the brightness of our light
52–57
   
[simile (3)] “a glowing coal seen within the flame that it produces resembles the glowing body that will be added to the shining presences of these souls
58–60
   
“our bodily organs will be strong enough to sustain the sight of the glorified body.”
61–66
   
The two circles of saints make Solomon’s prayer their own
67–69
   
simile (4): the main “event,” the third circle of lights
70–75
   
simile (5): evening stars compared to newly visible souls
76–78
   
the poet’s apostrophe: true sparkling of the Holy Spirit!
79–81
   
Beatrice’s smiling beauty too affecting to be remembered
82–87
   
the ascent to
Mars
, the smiling, reddening star
88–96
   
Dante’s prayer of thanksgiving to God; the star’s warm reaction; Dante’s mixed-language response
97–102
   
simile (6): Milky Way seen as cross of crusading saints
103–108
   
the poet remembers the moment but cannot express it
109–117
   
simile (7): souls moving along the limbs of the cross and motes in rays of sunlight passing through slats of shades
118–123
   
simile (8): harmonies (not melody) of bowed instruments and harps compared to melody sung from cross (not words)
124–129
   
Dante heard “Risurgi” and “Vinci” but not the rest and is moved to love more than he has ever been before
130–132
   
perhaps that goes too far for seeming to slight Beatrice
133–139
   
the poet’s complicated self-exculpation.
PARADISO XIV

               
From center to rim, as from rim to center,   

               
the water in a rounded vessel moves

3
             
as it is struck from outside or within.

               
This thought, just as I phrase it,   

               
dropped into my mind the very instant

6
             
the glorious living soul of Thomas fell silent,   

               
because of the like effects that sprang   

               
from his speech and from the words of Beatrice,

9
             
who, responding, graciously began:

               
‘This man has need, but does not tell of it   

               
either by word or yet in thought,

12
           
because he seeks the root of still another truth.

               
‘Tell him if the light that blooms

               
and makes your substance radiant shall remain

15
           
with you eternally the way it shines today,

               
‘and, if it remains, tell him how,

               
when all of you are visible once more,

18
           
this would not prove distressing to your sight.’

               
As, impelled and drawn by heightened joy,   

               
dancers in a round may raise their voices,

21
           
their pleasure showing in their movements,

               
so, at that eager and devout appeal,

               
the holy circles showed new joy in wheeling

24
           
as well as in their wondrous song.

               
Whoever here on earth laments that we must die   

               
to find our life above knows not the fresh relief

27
           
found there in these eternal showers.

               
That ever-living One and Two and Three   

               
who reigns forever in Three and Two and One,

30
           
uncircumscribed and circumscribing all,   

               
was sung three times by each and every one   

               
of these spirits, and with such melody

33
           
as would be fit reward for any merit.   

               
And I heard in the most resplendent light   

   

               
of the lesser circle a modest voice,   

36
           
such perhaps as the angel’s was to Mary,   

               
reply: ‘Just as long as the festival of Paradise   

   

               
shall last, that is how long our love

39
           
shall dress us in this radiance.

               
‘Its brightness answers to our ardor,   

   

               
the ardor to our vision, and that is given

42
           
in greater measure of grace than we deserve.

               
‘When we put on again our flesh,

               
glorified and holy, then our persons

45
           
will be more pleasing for being all complete,

               
‘so that the light, granted to us freely

               
by the Highest Good, shall increase,

48
           
the light that makes us fit to see Him.

               
‘From that light, vision must increase,   

               
and love increase what vision kindles,

51
           
and radiance increase, which comes from love.

               
‘But like a coal that shoots out flame   

               
and in its glowing center still outshines it

54
           
so that it does not lose its own appearance,

               
‘just so this splendor that enfolds us now

               
will be surpassed in brightness by the flesh

57
           
that earth as yet still covers.

               
‘Nor will such shining have the power to harm us,   

               
for our body’s organs shall be strengthened

60
           
to deal with all that can delight us.’

               
So quick and eager seemed to me both choirs   

               
to say their
Amen
that they clearly showed   

63
           
their desire for their dead bodies,

               
not perhaps for themselves alone, but for their mothers,   

               
for their fathers, and for others whom they loved

66
           
before they all became eternal flames.

               
And lo, all around and all of equal brightness,   

   

               
rose a splendor, surpassing what had been,   

69
           
as the horizon, at the rising sun, grows brighter.

               
And just as, at the approach of evening,   

               
new lights begin to show throughout the sky,

72
           
so faint they seem both real and yet unreal,

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