Paradiso (31 page)

               
‘And that your arrival at the lofty goal

               
be not delayed by waiting, I shall answer

36
           
your guarded thoughts, which you dare not express.

               
‘The summit of the mountain on whose slope   
→

               
Cassino lies was once much frequented

39
           
by people both deluded and perverse.   
→

               
‘I am he who first brought up the slope

               
the name of Him who carried down to earth

42
           
the truth that so exalts us to the heights.

               
‘And such abundant grace shone down on me

               
I led the neighboring towns away

45
           
from impious worship that misled the world.   
→

               
‘All these other flames spent their lives in contemplation,   
→

               
kindled by that warmth which brings

48
           
both holy flowers and holy fruits to birth.   
→

               
‘Here is Macarius, here is Romualdus,   
→

               
here are my brothers whose feet never strayed   
→

51
           
beyond their cloisters and whose hearts were firm.’

               
And I to him: ‘The affection you display   
→

               
when you speak with me and the signs of kindness

54
           
that I see and mark in all your fires

               
‘have enhanced my confidence,

               
as the sun expands the rose

57
           
when it opens to its fullest bloom.

               
‘Therefore, I pray you, father, reassure me—   
→

               
if I may hope to gain so great a favor—

60
           
that I may see you with your face unveiled.’

               
And he: ‘Brother, your lofty wish   
→
   
→

               
shall find fulfillment in the highest sphere,

63
           
where all desires are fulfilled, and mine as well.

               
‘There only all we long for is perfected,   
→

               
ripe, and entire. It is there alone

66
           
each element remains forever in its place,

               
‘for it is not in space and does not turn   
→

               
on poles. Our ladder mounts right up to it   
→

69
           
and thus its top is hidden from your sight.

               
‘Jacob the patriarch saw the ladder’s highest rungs   
→

               
attain that height when, teeming with

72
           
a throng of angels, it appeared to him.

               
‘But no one bothers now to raise his foot   
→

               
up from the earth to climb those rungs,

75
           
and my Rule is but a waste of paper.

               
‘The walls that were constructed for an abbey

               
have been converted into dens for thieves, and sacks,   
→

78
           
now filled with rotten flour, once served as cowls.

               
‘But the highest rates of usury are not exacted

               
against God’s will so much as is the harvest

81
           
that turns the hearts of monks to madness.

               
‘For whatever the Church has in its keeping

               
is reserved for those who ask it in God’s name,

84
           
and not for kindred or more vile relations.

               
‘The flesh of mortals is so weak and dissolute   
→

               
that good beginnings go astray down there, undone

87
           
before the newly planted oak can bring forth acorns.

               
‘Peter started his community with neither gold   
→
   
→

               
nor silver, and I mine with fasting and with prayer,   
→

90
           
while Francis with humility established his.

               
‘If you consider where each started out,

               
and then consider how far it now has strayed,

93
           
you shall see how dark its white has turned.   
→

               
‘Still, the sight of Jordan driven back and of the sea   
→

               
that opened at the will of God were greater wonders

96
           
to behold than would be His intervention here.’

               
This he said to me, and then withdrew   
→

               
to his companions, who, drawing close together,

99
           
now swirled up as in a whirlwind.

               
My sweet lady, with but a single gesture, urged me on   
→

               
to follow right behind them up that stairway,

102
         
so did her power overcome my nature.   
→

               
And never once down here below,

               
where we mount and descend by natural law,

105
         
was there motion swift enough to match my flight.

               
So may I, reader, once again return   
→

               
there to that holy triumph for whose sake

108
         
I frequently bewail my sins and beat my breast,

               
you could not have withdrawn and thrust your finger   
→
   
→

               
into the fire faster than I saw the sign

111
         
that follows on the Bull and was within.

               
O glorious stars, O light made pregnant   
→

               
with a mighty power, all my talent,

114
         
whatever it may be, has you as source.

               
From you was risen and within you hidden

               
he who is the father of all mortal life

117
         
when first I breathed the Tuscan air.

               
And afterward, when I was granted grace

               
to enter the high wheel that keeps you turning,

120
         
it was your zone to which I was assigned.

               
To you now, with devotion, my soul sighs   
→

               
that it gain strength for the next daunting task

123
         
that with such power draws it to itself.   
→

               
‘You are so near the final blessedness,’   
→
   
→

               
Beatrice then began,

126
         
‘your eyes from now on shall be clear and keen.

               
‘Thus, before you become more one with it,   
→

               
look down once more and see how many heavens

129
         
I have already set beneath your feet,   
→

               
‘so that your heart, filled with joy,

               
may greet the triumphant throng that comes   
→

132
         
in gladness to this aethereal sphere.’   
→

               
With my eyes I returned through every one   
→

               
of the seven spheres below, and saw this globe of ours   
→

135
         
to be such that I smiled, so mean did it appear.

               
That opinion which judges it as least

               
I now approve as best, and he whose thoughts

138
         
are fixed on other things may truly be called just.

               
I saw Latona’s daughter shining bright,   
→
   
→

               
without that shadow for which I once believed

141
         
she was both dense and rare.

               
The visage of your son, Hyperion, I endured   
→

               
and saw how Maia and Dïone move

144
         
around him in their circling near.   
→

               
Then I saw the tempering of Jove between his father   
→

               
and his son, and the changes that they make   
→

147
         
in their positions were now clear.

               
All seven planets there revealed   
→

               
their sizes, their velocities,

150
         
and how distant from each other their abodes.

               
The little patch of earth that makes us here so fierce,   
→

               
from hills to rivermouths, I saw it all   
→

               
while I was being wheeled with the eternal Twins.

154
         
Then I turned my eyes once more to those fair eyes.