CANTO II.
Argument.
The Lunar Sphere. — Discourse concerning the nature of the Spots on the Moon.
O YE who in a little bark would fain
List to my words, and pass the surges o'er,
Behind my ship that, singing, ploughs the main,
Turn ye again to look upon the shore:
Seek not the ocean; for it well may be,
Losing my track, ye err in peril sore.
The waves whereon I sail are, save by me,
Unfurrow'd; then let Pallas waft me far,
Apollo guide me o'er the dangerous sea,
And Muses nine point out the polar star.
Ye other few, who for the angels' bread
Have early stretch'd your hands, (that food ye are
Still nourish'd by, unsated,) ye may lead
Your vessel through the high salt sea, and trace
My course among the waves which swiftly speed,
Smoothing my path again. The glorious race
Who pass'd by Colchis, when they did discern
Jason's strange husbandry, yet marvell'd less
Than ye at this my tale. The thirst, inborn
And aye unquench'd, for God's own kingdom, raised
Us swiftly as the starry myriads turn.
Still upward Beatrice intently gazed,
And I on her: perchance, an arrow's flight
No longer lasts than until I, amazed,
Beheld myself where a most wondrous sight
Attracted me; and she from whom my care
Could not be hid, as beautiful as bright,
Now turn'd, and said: " Most gratefully we are
Bound to give thanks unto the grace divine,
Which hath conjoin'd us thus to the first star. "
Meseem'd a cloud did o'er our heads incline,
Enfolding us, thick, solid, clear, and bright
As diamond whereon the sun doth shine.
The eternal pearl received us in its light,
As water doth the sunny ray contain,
Which penetrates, but nought doth disunite.
If I did in the body still remain,
Though here ye know not how one space doth bear
Another, (which, if substance entrance gain
In substance, must be,) more ye should prepare
To see that essence wherein we perceive
How with our nature God is join'd. And there
Shall we behold what we by faith receive
All undemonstrate, but in knowledge shed,
Like the primeval truth man doth believe.
" Lady, in spirit as devout, " I said,
" As may be, do I render thanks to Him
Who from the mortal world me far hath led.
But tell me what the traces are, which seem
To cloud this substance, and on earth below
Of Cain make men discourse in legends dim? "
Somewhat she smiled, and said: " If mortals show
Error within their thoughts, whene'er the key
Of sense doth not unlock, thou shouldst not go
Transpiercid with amaze; since thou mayst see,
E'en when ye have the help of this same sense,
How short for flight the wings of reason be.
But tell me what thy mind doth evidence. "
And I: " What in this region seems diverse,
I deem is caused by substance rare and dense. "
And she: " In sooth a falsehood doth immerse
Thy faith, as thou shalt see, in pond'ring well
The argument I make, thereto adverse.
For lo! in the eighth firmament there dwell
Stars, which in measurement of light and size
Differ, as less and more they do excel.
If rare and dense could act in such a wise,
In all should be one principle alone,
And more or less distributed, in guise
Proportion'd. Diverse virtues must be known,
As fruits of Formal Principles: and then,
Save one, all by thy reasoning were o'erthrown.
Again, if rarefaction, of that stain,
Were cause, of which thou ask'st, either in part
The matter of this planet must so wane,
Pierced through and through, or else it doth dispart
(As in a body, fat and lean do rest)
Its substance, changing with alternate art,
As leaves within a book. 'Twere manifest,
Then, in the sun's eclipse; because its light
Were visible, if this first thought be just
Not so: the other scan we now aright;
And if it may be here disproved by me,
False shall thy judgment stand within thy sight.
If this rare part transpierce not, there must be
A limit, which as bound'ry doth abide,
Of that which thereunto is contrary:
And thence the solar rays should be descried
Reflected, even as objects in a glass,
The which behind it doth quicksilver hide.
Now thou wilt say that here this planet has
More darken'd ray than in each other part,
Since the refraction longer space must pass.
Experience an answer may impart
To this objection: if thou seek to prove;
Which ever is the fountain of your art.
Three mirrors take, and two of them remove
From thee in the same equidistant space,
And further, 'twixt them then the other move:
Looking at them, a lamp behind thee place,
To light these mirrors in an equal line,
And from the three give back to thee its rays.
Though the most distant turn not to thy eyne
Of such great bulk, yet surely thou shalt know
How with the same resplendence each doth shine.
E'en as, beneath the sunbeam's stroke the snow,
Wholly dissolving, its first hue of white,
And primal cold, doth now no longer show,
Thy mind thus barren I would here aright
Inform with holy radiance, which shall burn,
Trembling unto thy glance with living light.
Know, in the heaven of peace divine, doth turn
A firmament within whose virtue lies
The essence of all things it doth inurn:
And the next heaven, which hath so many eyes,
Receives that essence in each influence
Distinct from it, which it doth yet comprise.
The other spheres in diverse ways dispense
The different virtues that from each do flow,
Disposing all to fitting ends. And thence
Those organs of the world do ever go,
As now thou mayst behold, from grade to grade,
Receive above, and give to that below.
Look well at me, how thus my course is sped
Unto the truth which here thou dost desire;
And learn to cross the ford without my aid.
The power and motion of each holy fire,
As of the smith's strong arm the hammer's might,
By the blest Motive-Spirits must respire.
The heaven, made lovely thus with starry light,
Of the deep mind which guides it on its way
The image takes, and seals itself aright.
And as the soul within your mortal clay
In different limbs with diverse powers doth lie,
Even thus, unfolded in each planet's ray,
That Heavenly Influence doth multiply
Its goodness in the glittering sphere around,
Yet circles aye in its own unity.
Each diverse virtue differently is found
Join'd with the precious form it vivifies,
In which, as life within you, it is bound.
From the bright nature whence it doth arise,
The virtue mingled through the body glows,
As gladness that shines forth from living eyes.
And hence it comes that light from light thus shows
A varied radiance; not from dense and rare:
This is the Formal Principle whence flows,
Conform'd unto its essence, both the dark and clear.
Argument.
The Lunar Sphere. — Discourse concerning the nature of the Spots on the Moon.
O YE who in a little bark would fain
List to my words, and pass the surges o'er,
Behind my ship that, singing, ploughs the main,
Turn ye again to look upon the shore:
Seek not the ocean; for it well may be,
Losing my track, ye err in peril sore.
The waves whereon I sail are, save by me,
Unfurrow'd; then let Pallas waft me far,
Apollo guide me o'er the dangerous sea,
And Muses nine point out the polar star.
Ye other few, who for the angels' bread
Have early stretch'd your hands, (that food ye are
Still nourish'd by, unsated,) ye may lead
Your vessel through the high salt sea, and trace
My course among the waves which swiftly speed,
Smoothing my path again. The glorious race
Who pass'd by Colchis, when they did discern
Jason's strange husbandry, yet marvell'd less
Than ye at this my tale. The thirst, inborn
And aye unquench'd, for God's own kingdom, raised
Us swiftly as the starry myriads turn.
Still upward Beatrice intently gazed,
And I on her: perchance, an arrow's flight
No longer lasts than until I, amazed,
Beheld myself where a most wondrous sight
Attracted me; and she from whom my care
Could not be hid, as beautiful as bright,
Now turn'd, and said: " Most gratefully we are
Bound to give thanks unto the grace divine,
Which hath conjoin'd us thus to the first star. "
Meseem'd a cloud did o'er our heads incline,
Enfolding us, thick, solid, clear, and bright
As diamond whereon the sun doth shine.
The eternal pearl received us in its light,
As water doth the sunny ray contain,
Which penetrates, but nought doth disunite.
If I did in the body still remain,
Though here ye know not how one space doth bear
Another, (which, if substance entrance gain
In substance, must be,) more ye should prepare
To see that essence wherein we perceive
How with our nature God is join'd. And there
Shall we behold what we by faith receive
All undemonstrate, but in knowledge shed,
Like the primeval truth man doth believe.
" Lady, in spirit as devout, " I said,
" As may be, do I render thanks to Him
Who from the mortal world me far hath led.
But tell me what the traces are, which seem
To cloud this substance, and on earth below
Of Cain make men discourse in legends dim? "
Somewhat she smiled, and said: " If mortals show
Error within their thoughts, whene'er the key
Of sense doth not unlock, thou shouldst not go
Transpiercid with amaze; since thou mayst see,
E'en when ye have the help of this same sense,
How short for flight the wings of reason be.
But tell me what thy mind doth evidence. "
And I: " What in this region seems diverse,
I deem is caused by substance rare and dense. "
And she: " In sooth a falsehood doth immerse
Thy faith, as thou shalt see, in pond'ring well
The argument I make, thereto adverse.
For lo! in the eighth firmament there dwell
Stars, which in measurement of light and size
Differ, as less and more they do excel.
If rare and dense could act in such a wise,
In all should be one principle alone,
And more or less distributed, in guise
Proportion'd. Diverse virtues must be known,
As fruits of Formal Principles: and then,
Save one, all by thy reasoning were o'erthrown.
Again, if rarefaction, of that stain,
Were cause, of which thou ask'st, either in part
The matter of this planet must so wane,
Pierced through and through, or else it doth dispart
(As in a body, fat and lean do rest)
Its substance, changing with alternate art,
As leaves within a book. 'Twere manifest,
Then, in the sun's eclipse; because its light
Were visible, if this first thought be just
Not so: the other scan we now aright;
And if it may be here disproved by me,
False shall thy judgment stand within thy sight.
If this rare part transpierce not, there must be
A limit, which as bound'ry doth abide,
Of that which thereunto is contrary:
And thence the solar rays should be descried
Reflected, even as objects in a glass,
The which behind it doth quicksilver hide.
Now thou wilt say that here this planet has
More darken'd ray than in each other part,
Since the refraction longer space must pass.
Experience an answer may impart
To this objection: if thou seek to prove;
Which ever is the fountain of your art.
Three mirrors take, and two of them remove
From thee in the same equidistant space,
And further, 'twixt them then the other move:
Looking at them, a lamp behind thee place,
To light these mirrors in an equal line,
And from the three give back to thee its rays.
Though the most distant turn not to thy eyne
Of such great bulk, yet surely thou shalt know
How with the same resplendence each doth shine.
E'en as, beneath the sunbeam's stroke the snow,
Wholly dissolving, its first hue of white,
And primal cold, doth now no longer show,
Thy mind thus barren I would here aright
Inform with holy radiance, which shall burn,
Trembling unto thy glance with living light.
Know, in the heaven of peace divine, doth turn
A firmament within whose virtue lies
The essence of all things it doth inurn:
And the next heaven, which hath so many eyes,
Receives that essence in each influence
Distinct from it, which it doth yet comprise.
The other spheres in diverse ways dispense
The different virtues that from each do flow,
Disposing all to fitting ends. And thence
Those organs of the world do ever go,
As now thou mayst behold, from grade to grade,
Receive above, and give to that below.
Look well at me, how thus my course is sped
Unto the truth which here thou dost desire;
And learn to cross the ford without my aid.
The power and motion of each holy fire,
As of the smith's strong arm the hammer's might,
By the blest Motive-Spirits must respire.
The heaven, made lovely thus with starry light,
Of the deep mind which guides it on its way
The image takes, and seals itself aright.
And as the soul within your mortal clay
In different limbs with diverse powers doth lie,
Even thus, unfolded in each planet's ray,
That Heavenly Influence doth multiply
Its goodness in the glittering sphere around,
Yet circles aye in its own unity.
Each diverse virtue differently is found
Join'd with the precious form it vivifies,
In which, as life within you, it is bound.
From the bright nature whence it doth arise,
The virtue mingled through the body glows,
As gladness that shines forth from living eyes.
And hence it comes that light from light thus shows
A varied radiance; not from dense and rare:
This is the Formal Principle whence flows,
Conform'd unto its essence, both the dark and clear.