Paradiso (44 page)

               
‘O holy father, who on my behalf   
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deign to be here below, leaving the sweet place

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where by eternal lot you have your seat,

               
‘who is the angel gazing with such joy   
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upon the eyes of her our Queen,

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so much in love he seems to be a flame?’

               
Thus I tried once more to gain instruction

               
from him who glowed in Mary’s beauty   
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as the morning star reflects the sun.

               
And he: ‘All confidence and grace of movement   
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that can be found in angel or in any blessèd soul

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are found in him—and we would have it so,

               
‘for it is he who brought the palm to Mary

               
when the Son of God elected to take on

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the burden of our flesh.

               
‘But let your eyes follow my words, as I continue,   
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noting the eminent patricians   
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of this most just and pious empire.

               
‘These two who are seated there above us,   
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most happy for being so near the Empress,   
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are, as it were, the two roots of this rose:

               
‘He who sits beside her to her left   
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is that father for whose reckless tasting

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mankind still tastes such bitterness.

               
‘To her right behold that ancient father

               
of Holy Church to whose care Christ entrusted

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the keys to this, the fairest flower.

               
‘And he who was doomed to see before he died   
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the years of grief of the beautiful bride,

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she who was won with the lance and the nails,

               
‘sits next to him and, next to the other, rests   
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that leader under whose rule that stiff-necked people,

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fickle and ungrateful, lived on manna.

               
‘Look at Anna, where she sits across from Peter,   
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so content merely to gaze upon her daughter

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she does not move her eyes as she sings hosanna.

               
‘And opposite the greatest father of a family   
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sits Lucy, who urged on your lady, when

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with lowered gaze, you headed on your path to ruin.

               
‘But since the time runs short that readies you for sleep,   
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let us stop here, as a good tailor would,   
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who cuts the cloak as he is stocked with cloth.

               
‘And let us fix our eyes on Primal Love,   
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so that, looking up toward Him, you penetrate,

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as far as may be done, His brilliance.

               
‘But, lest by any chance, beating your wings   
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and thinking to advance, you should fall back,   
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you must gain your grace through prayer,

               
‘grace from her who has the power to help you.

               
You shall follow me with your devotion   
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so your heart does not stray from my words.’

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He then began this holy supplication:   
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‘Virgin Mother, daughter of your Son,   
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more humble and exalted than any other creature,   
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fixed goal of the eternal plan,   
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‘you are the one who so ennobled human nature   
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that He, who made it first, did not disdain

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to make Himself of its own making.

               
‘Your womb relit the flame of love—   
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its heat has made this blossom seed   
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and flower in eternal peace.

               
‘To us you are a noonday torch of charity,   
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while down below, among those still in flesh,   
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you are the living fountainhead of hope.

               
‘Lady, you are so great and so prevail above,

               
should he who longs for grace not turn to you,   
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his longing would be doomed to wingless flight.   
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‘Your loving kindness does not only aid

               
whoever seeks it, but many times   
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gives freely what has yet to be implored.

               
‘In you clemency, in you compassion,   
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in you munificence, in you are joined

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all virtues found in any creature.

               
‘This man who, from within the deepest pit   
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the universe contains up to these heights

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has seen the disembodied spirits, one by one,

               
‘now begs you, by your grace, to grant such power

               
that, by lifting up his eyes,

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he may rise higher toward his ultimate salvation.

               
‘And I, who never burned for my own seeing   
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more than now I burn for his, offer all my prayers,   
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and pray that they may not fall short,

               
‘so that your prayers disperse on his behalf

               
all clouds of his mortality and let

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the highest beauty be displayed to him.   
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’This too, my Queen, I ask of you, who can achieve   
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whatever you desire, that you help him preserve,

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after such vision, the purity of his affections.

               
‘Let your protection rule his mortal passions.

               
See Beatrice, with so many of the blessed,

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palms pressed together, joining me in prayer.’

               
Those eyes belovèd and revered by God,   
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fixed on him who prayed, made clear to us

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how dear to her all true devotion is.

               
Then she turned her gaze to the eternal Light.

               
It is incorrect to think that any living being

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can penetrate that brightness with such unblinking eyes.

               
And, as I neared the end of all desire,   
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I extended to its limit, as was right,

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the ardor of the longing in my soul.   
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