CANTO XXV.

Argument.

St. James examines Dante on the nature and ground of Hope.
I F e'er it chanceth that the Sacred Lay,
Wherein have aided me both earth and Heaven,
And which hath made me lean for many a day,
O'ercome the cruelty which forth hath driven
Me from the beauteous fold, within whose bourne,
Unfriendly to the wolves who fierce have striven,
Lamb-like I slept; then, sooth, shall I return
A poet now, with alter'd voice and mien,
And at my font baptismal shall be worn
By me the laurel crown: for there, I ween,
The Faith at first I enter'd, which doth lead
Souls unto God; and now my brow hath been,
For that same Faith, by Peter garlanded.
Then moved a light from out this band whence came
The first whom Christ once bade his flock to feed;
And full of gladness spake my fairest Dame:
" Behold the mighty Prince, of whom below
Ye in Galicia do the praise proclaim. "
As when the dove doth near and nearer go
Unto its mate, with sweet and murmuring voice
Their mutual love they to each other show;
Even thus, these glorious spirits did rejoice,
As each the other at their meeting hail'd,
With praise to Him who feeds them with such choice
And heavenly food: then silently unveil'd
Their wondrous radiance, with such dazzling light,
That 'neath its power my mortal vision fail'd.
And, smiling, thus spake Beatrice: " O bright
Illustrious life, who didst the ample store
And wealth of our basilica indite,
Make Hope resound upon this lofty shore;
Thou know'st, as oft as Jesus show'd his pure
Light but to three, she still thy likeness wore. "
" Now lift thy head, and be thy heart secure;
That which doth from the mortal world ascend
Must here within our rays become mature. "
This second Fire such counsel me did lend;
And then I raised mine eyes unto the hills
Whose heavy weight first made me downward bend
My glance. " Since upon thee God's grace distils
Such power, that ere thy death thou mayst behold
Our Sovereign where his secret glory fills
His inmost hall, and he his Court doth hold,
Among his nobles; that, when thou hast known
Its truth, both thou and others may be bold
To seek the Hope which tends to good alone,
Say how and what it is, and whence its spring: "
Thus spake that second Light. She who had flown
With me on high, still guiding my frail wing,
On this wise now prevented my reply:
" No son of the Church Militant doth bring
A surer hope, as thou mayst well descry,
Writ in the sun whose shining rays illume
Wholly our band; thus he, with mortal eye,
Forth from the darkness of Egyptian gloom,
Hath come unto Jerusalem's bright land,
Ere yet his strife is ended in the tomb.
The other points (which thou dost not demand
For thine instruction, but that he may tell,
On Earth, how near thy heart this grace doth stand)
I leave to him; for he in sooth can well
Reply without or vanity or fear:
And may God's grace for this within him dwell. "
As the disciple answers full and clear,
Of ready speech in all his learnid lore,
That thus his ample knowledge may appear,
" Hope is a patient waiting for the store
Of future glory, " (thus I spake) " which springs
From grace divine and merits gone before.
Full many a shining star this radiance brings;
But one first shed its plenteous wealth on me,
The lofty Singer of the King of Kings.
" Let those who know thy name have hope in thee,"
He in his Odes Divine hath said; and who
Doth know it not, if in his heart there be
True faith? Thou also shower'st on me this dew,
In thy Epistle; so that being fill'd,
On others I its rain may shed anew. "
The while I spake, within the living shield
Of fire, a radiance trembled, in such wise,
As if the lightning's flash I had beheld;
And thence was breathed: " True love which in me lies
Still for the virtue which my footsteps led,
Until I won the palm and heavenly prize,
Bids me discourse with thee, who aye dost spread
Her joys before thee: me it pleaseth well
That thou declare what Hope hath promisid. "
And I: " The new and ancient Scriptures tell
The sign. " And he: " Then shew that sign to me. "
" Of souls with whom God as a friend doth dwell,
Isaiah saith, each one shall clothid be
Doubly when he in his own land shall rest;
And his own land is this sweet life ye see.
Thy brother hath yet more this truth exprest,
Where in the vision of the raiment white,
Its revelation was made manifest. "
I spake; and ere my speech was closed aright,
" Sperent in te " a voice on high did say:
In melody replied each choir of light.
And then, among them shone so bright a ray,
In sooth, had Cancer such a crystal shrine,
Winter should have a month of one sole day.
And, moving to this harmony divine,
As a glad maiden who unto a bride
Would show due honour, not with evil sign,
A clear and radiant splendour I descried,
Advancing to the twain who circled round,
Led by the love which in them did abide.
It mingled with the strain and the sweet sound;
And still my Dame on them her gaze did rest,
Silent and moveless, as a maiden crown'd
With bridal flowers. " Of yore, upon the breast
Of Him who fed us with his blood, he leant
Whom thou beholdest; unto him addrest
The Saviour from his Cross the office blent
Of holiest love. " Thus Beatrice: I gazed,
Even as before she spake, with fix'd intent;
And stood as one who looks, with glance upraised,
In faint eclipse to see the sun appear,
Till wholly is the dazzled eye amazed,
Nor seeth, for too much light; while to mine ear
Came from the latest fire: " Why dost thou still
Thy vision strain to see what is not here?
In earth, my corpse is earth; and shall be, till,
In counsels which deep-hidden aye remain,
God shall the number of his Saints fulfil.
Two only might the shore of bliss attain,
With twofold garb; the twain who rose on high:
Take back this truth unto your world again. "
No longer then in circling gyres they fly,
And the soft mingling music now was still,
Which erst in threefold voice made melody;
As when the oars, to shun some threaten'd ill,
Or rest from toiling, ere they strike the wave
All stay their motion at the signal shrill.
Ah! what swift tremour through my spirit clave,
When I to Beatrice again would turn,
And saw not her whom all my heart did crave;
Though near her now I stood, within the heavenly bourne!