Paradiso (21 page)

               
it seemed to me that I began to see   
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new subsistences there that formed a ring

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beyond the other two circumferences.

               
Ah, true incandescence of the Holy Breath!   
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How suddenly its glowing shone before me,

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so bright my eyes could not endure it!

               
But Beatrice showed herself to me so fair

               
and smiling, this vision of her must remain

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among those sights that have escaped my memory.

               
At this my eyes regained their sight and, raising them,   
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I saw myself translated, alone now with my lady,   
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to a more exalted state of bliss.

               
I was assured that I had risen higher

               
by the planet’s fiery smile. It seemed to me   
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to glow more red than usual.

               
With all my heart and in that tongue   
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which is the same for all, I made   
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burnt-offering to God befitting the new grace.

               
And the burning of the sacrifice

               
had not yet finished in my breast before I knew

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my offering was propitious and accepted,

               
for splendors of such brightness, glowing red,   
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appeared to me within two beams that I cried out:   
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‘O Helios, who so adorn them!’   
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As the Milky Way, arrayed with greater and lesser lights,   
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glows white between the universal poles,

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making even sages wonder how and why,

               
these rays, thus constellated, made, deep within Mars,

               
the venerable sign that the crossing   
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of its quadrants fixes in a circle.

               
Here my memory outstrips my skill,   
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for that cross so flamed forth Christ

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that I can find no fit comparison.

               
But he who takes his cross and follows Christ   
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shall yet forgive me what I leave untold,

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for shining in that dawn I did see Christ.   
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From arm to arm, and between the head   
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and foot, moved brilliant lights   
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that scintillated as they met and passed.

               
Just so we see on earth, straight and slanting,

               
swift and slow, changing in appearance,

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tiny motes of matter, long and short,   
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move through the beam of light that sometimes streaks

               
the shades that men devise for their protection

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both with cunning and with skill.   
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And as viol and harp strung with many strings   
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in their harmony will sound sweet

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even to one who fails to catch their tune,

               
so from the lights that there appeared to me

               
a melody gathered and came from the cross,

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enchanting me, though I could not make out the hymn.

               
I could tell that it contained high praise,

               
for the words ‘Arise’ and ‘Conquer’ came to me

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as to one who hears but does not understand.

               
I was moved to such great love by this   
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that up until that moment I had not been bound

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by chains so sweet and gentle.

               
My words, perhaps, may seem too bold,   
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slighting the beauty of those lovely eyes—

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gazing into them my longing finds repose.

               
But one who understands that the living seals

               
of all that’s beautiful gain potency with each ascent

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and that I had not turned to her eyes there

               
may excuse me for that of which, accusing myself,

               
I make my excuse and see that I speak the truth:

               
for holy beauty may not be excluded here

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because, as it ascends, it gains in purity.

               
Benevolent will, in which a righteous love   
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whose breath is true must always show itself,

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as does cupidity within an evil will,

               
had silenced the sweet-sounding lyre   
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and hushed the sacred strings that Heaven’s right hand

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loosens and draws taut.

               
How can they be deaf to righteous prayers,   
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the very spirits who, to prompt my prayers,   
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fell silent as with one accord?

               
It is well that endless be his grief

               
who, for love of things that do not last,

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casts off a love that never dies.   
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As through the clear and tranquil evening sky   
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from time to time a sudden fire will shoot,

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drawing the eyes that just before had calmly gazed,

               
and seems a star escaping from its place—

               
except from where it first was kindled

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no star is missing and it lasts but a brief while—

               
so from the arm of that great cross

               
extending on the right a star raced to the foot

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of the resplendent constellation there.

               
Nor did this jewel leave its ribbon,   
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but ran along the shining band so that

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it seemed a flame that glows in alabaster.   
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With such affection did Anchises’ shade reach out,   
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if our greatest muse is owed belief,   
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when in Elysium he knew his son.

               
‘O sanguis meus, o superinfusa
   
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gratïa Deï, sicut tibi cui
   
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bis unquam celi ianüa reclusa?’
   
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Thus spoke that light. And I gave heed,   
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then turned my eyes back to my lady—   
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whichever way I looked I was amazed,

               
for there glowed such a smile within her eyes   
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I thought that with my own I had attained

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my ultimate bliss, my final paradise.