Paradise: Canto XXII. Beatrice Reassures Dante
Beatrice reassures Dante.--St. Benedict appears.--He
tells of the founding of his Order, and of the falling away of
its brethren. Beatrice and Dante ascend to the Starry Heaven.--
The constellation of the Twins.--Sight of the Earth.
Oppressed with amazement, I turned me to my Guide, like a little
child who runs back always thither where he most confides. And
she, like a mother who quickly succors her pale and breathless
son with her voice, which is wont to reassure him, said to me, 11
Knowest thou not, that thou art in Heaven? and knowest thou not
that Heaven is all holy, and whatever is done here comes from
good zeal? How the song would have transformed thee, and I by
smiling, thou canst now conceive, since the cry has moved thee so
much; in which, if thou hadst understood its prayers, already
would be known to thee the vengeance which thou shalt see before
thou diest. The sword of here on high cuts not in haste, nor
slow, save to the seeming of him who, desiring, or fearing,
awaits it. But turn thee round now toward the others, for many
illustrious spirits thou shalt see, if, as I say, thou dost lead
back thy look."
As it pleased her I directed my eyes, and saw a hundred little
spheres, which together were becoming more beautiful with mutual
rays. I was standing as one who within himself represses the
point of his desire, and attempts not to ask, he so fears the
too-much. And the largest and the most luculent of those pearls
came forward to make of its own accord my wish content. Then
within it I heard, "If thou couldst see, as I do, the charity
which burns among us, thy thoughts would be expressed. But that
thou through waiting mayst not delay thy high end, I will make
answer to thee, even to the thought concerning which thou art so
regardful.
"That mountain[1] on whose slope Cassino is, was of old
frequented on its summit by the deluded and illdisposed people,
and I am be who first carried up thither the name of Him
who brought to earth the truth which so high exalts us: and such
grace shone upon me that I drew away the surrounding villages
from the impious worship which seduced the world. These other
fires were all contemplative men, kindled by that heat which
brings to birth holy flowers and fruits. Here is Macarius,[2]
here is Romuald,[3] here are my brothers, who within the
cloisters fixed their feet, and held a steadfast heart." And I to
him, "The affection which thou displayest in speaking with me,
and the good semblance which I see and note in all your ardors,
have so expanded my confidence as the sun does the rose, when she
becomes open so much as she has power to be. Therefore I pray
thee, and do thou, father, assure me if I have power to receive
so much grace, that I may see thee with uncovered shape." Whereon
he, "Brother, thy high desire shall be fulfilled in the last
sphere, where are fulfilled all others and my own. There perfect,
mature, and whole is every desire; in that alone is every part
there where it always was: for it is not in space, and hath not
poles; and our stairway reaches up to it, wherefore thus from thy
sight it conceals itself. Far up as there the patriarch Jacob saw
it stretch its topmost part when it appeared to him so laden with
Angels. But now no one lifts his feet from earth to ascend it;
and my Rule is remaining as waste of paper. The walls, which used
to be an abbey, have become caves; and the cowls are sacks full
of bad meal. But heavy usury is not gathered in so greatly
against the pleasure of God, as that fruit which makes the heart
of monks so foolish. For whatsoever the Church guards is all for
the folk that ask it in God's name, not for one's kindred, or for
another more vile. The flesh of mortals is so soft that a good
beginning suffices not below from the springing of the oak to the
forming of the acorn. Peter began without gold and without
silver, and I with prayers and with fasting, and Francis in
humility his convent; and if thou lookest at the source of each,
and then lookest again whither it has run, thou wilt see dark
made of the white. Truly, Jordan turned back, and the sea fleeing
when God willed, were more marvellous to behold than succor
here."[4]
[1] Monte Cassino, in the Kingdom of Naples, on which a temple of
Apollo had stood, was chosen by St. Benedict (480-543) as his
abode, and became the site of the most famous monastery of his
Order.
[2] The Egyptian anchorite of the fourth century.
[3] The founder of the order of Camaldoli; he died in 1027.
[4] Were God now to interpose to correct the evils of the
Church, the marvel would be less than that of the miracles of
old, and therefore his interposition may be hoped for.
Thus he said to me, and then drew back to his company, and the
company closed up; then like a whirlwind all gathered itself
upward.
The sweet Lady urged me behind them, with only a sign, up over
that stairway; so did her virtue overcome my nature. But never
here below, where one mounts and descends naturally, was there
motion so rapid that it could be compared unto my wing. So may I
return, Reader, to that devout triumph, for the sake of which I
often bewail my sins and beat my breast, thou hadst not so
quickly drawn out and put thy finger in the fire as I saw the
sign which follows the Bull,[1] and was within it.
[1] The sign of the Gemini, or Twins, in the Heaven of the Fixed
Stars.
O glorious stars, O light impregnate with great virtue, from
which I acknowledge all my genius, whatever it may be; with you
was born and with you was hiding himself he who is father of
every mortal life, when I first felt the Tuscan air;[1] and then,
when the grace was bestowed on me of entrance within the lofty
wheel which turns you, your region was allotted to me. To you my
soul now devoutly sighs to acquire virtue for the difficult pass
which draws her to itself.
[1] At the time of Dante's birth the sun was in the sign of the
Twins.
"Thou art so near the ultimate salvation," began Beatrice, "that
thou oughtest to have thine eyes clear and sharp. And
therefore ere thou further enterest it, look back downward, and
see how great a world I have already set beneath thy feet, in
order that thy heart, so far as it is able, may present itself
joyous to the triumphant crowd which comes glad through this
round aether." With my sight I returned through each and all the
seven spheres, and saw this globe such that I smiled at its mean
semblance; and that counsel I approve as best which holds it of
least account; and he who thinks of other things may be called
truly worthy. I saw the daughter of Latona enkindled without that
shadow which had been the cause why I once believed her rare and
dense. The aspect of thy son, Hyperion, here I endured, and I saw
how Maia and Dione[1] move around and near him. Then appeared to
me the temperateness of Jove, between his father and his son,[2]
and then was clear to me the variation which they make in their
places. And all the seven were displayed to me,[[how great they
are and how swift they are, and how they are in distant houses.
While I was revolving with the eternal Twins, the little
threshing-floor[3] which makes us so fierce all appeared to me,
from its hills to its harbors.
[1] The mothers of Venus and Mercury, by whose names these
planets are designated.
[2] Saturn and Mars.
[3] The inhabited earth.
Then I turned back my eyes to the beautiful eyes.
tells of the founding of his Order, and of the falling away of
its brethren. Beatrice and Dante ascend to the Starry Heaven.--
The constellation of the Twins.--Sight of the Earth.
Oppressed with amazement, I turned me to my Guide, like a little
child who runs back always thither where he most confides. And
she, like a mother who quickly succors her pale and breathless
son with her voice, which is wont to reassure him, said to me, 11
Knowest thou not, that thou art in Heaven? and knowest thou not
that Heaven is all holy, and whatever is done here comes from
good zeal? How the song would have transformed thee, and I by
smiling, thou canst now conceive, since the cry has moved thee so
much; in which, if thou hadst understood its prayers, already
would be known to thee the vengeance which thou shalt see before
thou diest. The sword of here on high cuts not in haste, nor
slow, save to the seeming of him who, desiring, or fearing,
awaits it. But turn thee round now toward the others, for many
illustrious spirits thou shalt see, if, as I say, thou dost lead
back thy look."
As it pleased her I directed my eyes, and saw a hundred little
spheres, which together were becoming more beautiful with mutual
rays. I was standing as one who within himself represses the
point of his desire, and attempts not to ask, he so fears the
too-much. And the largest and the most luculent of those pearls
came forward to make of its own accord my wish content. Then
within it I heard, "If thou couldst see, as I do, the charity
which burns among us, thy thoughts would be expressed. But that
thou through waiting mayst not delay thy high end, I will make
answer to thee, even to the thought concerning which thou art so
regardful.
"That mountain[1] on whose slope Cassino is, was of old
frequented on its summit by the deluded and illdisposed people,
and I am be who first carried up thither the name of Him
who brought to earth the truth which so high exalts us: and such
grace shone upon me that I drew away the surrounding villages
from the impious worship which seduced the world. These other
fires were all contemplative men, kindled by that heat which
brings to birth holy flowers and fruits. Here is Macarius,[2]
here is Romuald,[3] here are my brothers, who within the
cloisters fixed their feet, and held a steadfast heart." And I to
him, "The affection which thou displayest in speaking with me,
and the good semblance which I see and note in all your ardors,
have so expanded my confidence as the sun does the rose, when she
becomes open so much as she has power to be. Therefore I pray
thee, and do thou, father, assure me if I have power to receive
so much grace, that I may see thee with uncovered shape." Whereon
he, "Brother, thy high desire shall be fulfilled in the last
sphere, where are fulfilled all others and my own. There perfect,
mature, and whole is every desire; in that alone is every part
there where it always was: for it is not in space, and hath not
poles; and our stairway reaches up to it, wherefore thus from thy
sight it conceals itself. Far up as there the patriarch Jacob saw
it stretch its topmost part when it appeared to him so laden with
Angels. But now no one lifts his feet from earth to ascend it;
and my Rule is remaining as waste of paper. The walls, which used
to be an abbey, have become caves; and the cowls are sacks full
of bad meal. But heavy usury is not gathered in so greatly
against the pleasure of God, as that fruit which makes the heart
of monks so foolish. For whatsoever the Church guards is all for
the folk that ask it in God's name, not for one's kindred, or for
another more vile. The flesh of mortals is so soft that a good
beginning suffices not below from the springing of the oak to the
forming of the acorn. Peter began without gold and without
silver, and I with prayers and with fasting, and Francis in
humility his convent; and if thou lookest at the source of each,
and then lookest again whither it has run, thou wilt see dark
made of the white. Truly, Jordan turned back, and the sea fleeing
when God willed, were more marvellous to behold than succor
here."[4]
[1] Monte Cassino, in the Kingdom of Naples, on which a temple of
Apollo had stood, was chosen by St. Benedict (480-543) as his
abode, and became the site of the most famous monastery of his
Order.
[2] The Egyptian anchorite of the fourth century.
[3] The founder of the order of Camaldoli; he died in 1027.
[4] Were God now to interpose to correct the evils of the
Church, the marvel would be less than that of the miracles of
old, and therefore his interposition may be hoped for.
Thus he said to me, and then drew back to his company, and the
company closed up; then like a whirlwind all gathered itself
upward.
The sweet Lady urged me behind them, with only a sign, up over
that stairway; so did her virtue overcome my nature. But never
here below, where one mounts and descends naturally, was there
motion so rapid that it could be compared unto my wing. So may I
return, Reader, to that devout triumph, for the sake of which I
often bewail my sins and beat my breast, thou hadst not so
quickly drawn out and put thy finger in the fire as I saw the
sign which follows the Bull,[1] and was within it.
[1] The sign of the Gemini, or Twins, in the Heaven of the Fixed
Stars.
O glorious stars, O light impregnate with great virtue, from
which I acknowledge all my genius, whatever it may be; with you
was born and with you was hiding himself he who is father of
every mortal life, when I first felt the Tuscan air;[1] and then,
when the grace was bestowed on me of entrance within the lofty
wheel which turns you, your region was allotted to me. To you my
soul now devoutly sighs to acquire virtue for the difficult pass
which draws her to itself.
[1] At the time of Dante's birth the sun was in the sign of the
Twins.
"Thou art so near the ultimate salvation," began Beatrice, "that
thou oughtest to have thine eyes clear and sharp. And
therefore ere thou further enterest it, look back downward, and
see how great a world I have already set beneath thy feet, in
order that thy heart, so far as it is able, may present itself
joyous to the triumphant crowd which comes glad through this
round aether." With my sight I returned through each and all the
seven spheres, and saw this globe such that I smiled at its mean
semblance; and that counsel I approve as best which holds it of
least account; and he who thinks of other things may be called
truly worthy. I saw the daughter of Latona enkindled without that
shadow which had been the cause why I once believed her rare and
dense. The aspect of thy son, Hyperion, here I endured, and I saw
how Maia and Dione[1] move around and near him. Then appeared to
me the temperateness of Jove, between his father and his son,[2]
and then was clear to me the variation which they make in their
places. And all the seven were displayed to me,[[how great they
are and how swift they are, and how they are in distant houses.
While I was revolving with the eternal Twins, the little
threshing-floor[3] which makes us so fierce all appeared to me,
from its hills to its harbors.
[1] The mothers of Venus and Mercury, by whose names these
planets are designated.
[2] Saturn and Mars.
[3] The inhabited earth.
Then I turned back my eyes to the beautiful eyes.
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