Classic Poem

PARADISO

CANTO I.

Argument.

Invocation to Apollo. — Dante ascends from the terrestrial Paradise to the first sphere of Heaven. — Beatrice replies to some of his doubts.

T HE glory of the Mover of each sphere
Pierces the Universe; and yet doth shine
In one place more, in other parts less clear.
In heaven, where brightest is that light divine,
Was I, but know not how to tell again
The things I there beheld with mortal eyne.
Because, where our weak memory would fain
Go back unto that deep abyss, and trace
The vision it hath seen, it is in vain.
Truly, what I, when in the Holy Place,
Within the treasure of my mind could store,
Shall now be the material of my lays.
O good Apollo, for this last high lore,
Me with such portion of thy spirit fill,
That I may win the leaves thy laurel bore.
Till now, one summit of Parnassus' hill
Sufficed, but both by me must be possest,
The strife to enter which remaineth still.
Breathe thou thy inspiration in my breast,
As once, of old, when thou didst Marsyas draw
Forth from the sheath wherein his limbs were cased.
Divinest virtue, if to me thou show
Grace, that the shadow of the Blessed Land
Be manifestly sign'd upon my brow,
'Neath thy belovid tree I then may stand,
And crown me with a garland of those leaves,
Whereof my subject and thy guiding hand
Shall make me worthy. And so rarely weaves,
Father, the hand of mortal such a wreath,
For king or poet, (whence our will receives
Just blame) that yet a gladder joy should breathe
On the bright Delphic deity, when man
His brow with leaves Peneian garlandeth.
Great flame doth follow what small sparks began:
Perchance, with sweeter voice, one after me
May pray, and Cyrrha shall reply again.
By diverse gates doth mortal vision see
The lamp arise which lights the world from far;
But with four circles join'd, and crosses three,
In better course, and 'neath a happier star,
It issues, and on earthly wax doth leave
A seal we by our weakness less do mar.
And thus 'twas morning there, while here the eve
Drew near, and from that hemisphere did fly
The shadows which the realms of earth receive,
When Beatrice unto the eastern sky
Her looks directed where the sunbeams burn:
No eagle gazes with so fix'd an eye.
And, as a second ray ye may discern
Come from the first, and then on high diffuse
Its light, as pilgrim who would homeward turn;
Thus did her action in mine eyes infuse
Her image, and I follow'd in her trace,
And on the sun I gazed, beyond our use.
Much is permitted there which in this place
Must be forbidden; for the bound'ry set
Unto the powers of our weak mortal race.
Not long I bore it; nor so short that yet
I saw not sparkling lights around it play,
Like iron in the furnace at white-heat.
And suddenly it seem'd that day to day
Was added; as if He who surely could
Had placed another sun in heaven's bright way.
And Beatrice, the while, unmoving stood,
And on the eternal spheres gazed fixidly;
And I who look'd no longer on their flood
Of radiance, gazed on her, and seem'd to be
As Glaucus, tasting of the herb which made
Him consort of the Gods within the sea.
How to transcend humanity, is said
Not easily in words: this may suffice
For him on whom the grace divine will shed
Experience. Thou Love, who rul'st the skies,
If I were only what thou didst create
Most late, thou knowest, for thou mad'st me rise
On high. The sphere which doth desiderate
Thee evermore, and thus for aye doth turn,
Recall'd me with the song which it hath set
To sweetest music: then did I discern
So much of heaven on fire with the sun's flame,
That ne'er was spread so wide a wat'ry bourne,
By rain or river. Thus in me became,
By this new sound, and burst of dazzling light,
So keen the wish to know from whence they came,
As never yet I felt. Then she whose sight
As deep as mine own thought transpierced my mind,
Before I spake, to calm my heart aright
Had oped her lips, and said: " With error blind,
Thy soul thou gross and ignorant dost make;
And what thou else hadst seen, thou canst not find.
For thou art not on earth, as, in mistake,
Thou deem'st: the lightning, leaving its own site,
Ne'er fled so fast as thou this way didst take. "
If I were now relieved from the first might
Of doubt, by the brief words she smiling said,
Now was I held in yet more tangled plight,
And spake: " From my chief wonder am I stay'd;
But yet I marvel how I thus can rise,
And o'er those airy substances have sped. "
Then, sighing as she spake, she turn'd her eyes
Towards me, with a look as pitiful
As mother's on a son who raving lies,
And thus began: " All things have order'd rule
Among themselves; unto the Power Divine,
Thus Earth hath likeness. Here with insight full,
Each high Intelligence beholds the sign
Of Virtue everlasting; the true end
Whereto is ever traced the normal line.
In the aforesaid order still do tend
All natures, suited to each diverse lot;
And more or less they from their birth-place wend.
And thus by them are diverse havens sought,
On the great sea of being; and each one
With instinct given to it as guide is fraught.
This beareth fire on high towards the moon;
This ever in the human heart doth move;
This binds the earth together. Nor alone
The creatures unintelligent do prove
Its might, but also those who are endow'd
With the great gifts of intellect and love:
And Providence, which to its will hath bow'd
All things in order, with its radiant light
Aye stills the heaven wherein is the abode
Of that which swiftest speeds. As to a site
Decreed, we are sent upward by that cord
Which to its mark directs the dart aright.
True, as the form doth sometimes not accord
With the intention and the hand of Art,
Since the material to respond is hard:
Even thus, created beings oft depart
From their due course; for they have power to stray
(Though bent aright) unto some other part,
As fire descending from the cloud ye may
Behold, if the first impetus they bore
To earth by pleasure false be turn'd away.
If well I deem, thou shouldst not marvel more
At this thy flight, than when a stream doth flow
From a high hill, descending to the shore.
More wondrous it would be, if thou, with no
Impediment, shouldst dwell on earth for aye,
Than if live flame should quietly rest below. "
And then her glance once more she turn'd toward the sky.