CANTO XXIX.
Argument.
Beatrice discourses concerning the creation and rebellion of the Angels; and reproves the preachers who occupy themselves only with vain and subtle questions.
W HEN both the children of Latona stand,
By Aries and Libra hid, and make
Of one horizon their encircling band,
Even for the space of time which it doth take
To free them from the equipoise, erewhile
Held by the zenith, ere its bonds they break,
Changing their hemisphere; so long the smile
Of Beatrice endured, who silent stood,
Gazing on that which on my soul did pile
Such deep amaze. She said: " I speak, nor would
Demand of thee thy thought; for it is seen
Where Time and Space do meet. Not seeking good
Unto Himself (which cannot be, I ween),
But that His splendour might, resplendent, say:
" I am;" before the birth of Time hath been,
In the long ages of eternal day,
Beyond the knowledge of created lore,
Even as it pleased Him, a still newer ray
Of love the Love Eternal, from his store,
Brought forth: yet not at first in torpor slept;
For neither first nor latest went before
God's footsteps o'er the darksome waters swept.
Both form and matter, join'd and pure, did flow
Forth from an act wherein no error crept,
As spring three arrows from a three-string'd bow.
And as in amber, crystal, or in glass
A sunbeam shines with instantaneous glow,
Thus the effect triform its being has;
And, from its dawn to full and perfect day,
Did in the self-same moment wholly pass.
And with these substances their order'd way
Was concreate; they are the highest band
Of all the world, wherein their fair array
Was but for action made: the lowest strand
Contains each power of merely passive might;
While, in the midst, do closely mingled stand
Passive and active. Jerome erst did write
Of angel-hosts, created many an age
Ere the material world first dawn'd in light:
But yet ye read the truth, within the page
Of those who writ the Holy Spirit's song;
And thou shalt see it, if thou well engage
Thereto thy mind. Of this the reason strong
Thou in some measure also mayst perceive;
'Twas fit the Motive Spirits should not long
Exist, ere perfect. How they did receive,
And when, and whence, their being, thou dost know;
Three of thy wishes thus thy mind should leave.
Nor, counting, unto twenty couldst thou go
So soon, as of those angels did a part
Disturb your elemental sphere below:
The rest stood firm, and then began their art
Which thou discernest, with so much delight,
That never from their task do they depart.
The root of all perdition was the spite
Of pride accursid, in his heart whom thou
Saw'st bow'd 'neath every weight of earthly might
Each, whom thou here dost look on, bent his brow,
Acknowledging the goodness which had made
The powers from whence such influences flow;
Therefore their merits upon them have laid
Such insight deep, with grace illumining,
That full and firm their will for aye is stay'd.
I would not aught of doubt in thee should spring:
When thou receivest grace, doth merit lie
In thee, thy heart thereto still opening.
Unaided now, this high consistory
Thou mayst contemplate, if thou well hast brought
This my discourse before thy mental eye.
But, since on earth among your schools are taught
Such tales concerning the angelic mind,
Ascribing Will, and Memory, and Thought
Thereto, I tell thee (that thou be not blind
Unto the truth confusid there below
With error, but its purity mayst find),
These substances, because they aye do glow
In God's own light, have never turn'd away
From that where nought may hid nor veilid go:
No newer object hindereth its ray;
Therefore they have no need of Memory's gleam,
To call to life once more a by-gone day:
And those on earth are in a waking dream
Who do this thing believe or disbelieve;
But yet, in one, more sin and shame I deem.
Ye who philosophise do often leave
The path; so much ye are transported by
The semblance of the praise ye would receive.
Yet is this evil look'd on from on high
With lesser wrath, than when ye would have lost
The Holy Scriptures, or their meaning try
To wrest. Ye think not of the blood it cost
To sow them in the world, nor the increase
Of grace he hath who ne'er their lore hath cross'd.
But, somewhat to appear, each doth not cease
His fancies to invent; and these alone
They preach, the while the Gospel holds its peace.
And one doth say the moon had backward gone
When Christ was slain, and interposed her orb;
And thus, below, no ray of sunlight shone.
Some deem the light did then itself absorb,
And fled; thus in the Indies and in Spain
Did that eclipse the minds of men disturb,
As in Judea. Florence doth contain
Less store of those who are or Lapo hight,
Or Bindo, than of fables in this strain,
Which every year on parchment they indite,
And vaunt, now here, now there. The silly sheep
Return from pasture fed with wind; nor might
The ignorance excuse them, which doth steep
Them wholly, seeing not their wakeful foe,
Whose stealthy footsteps tow'rds the fold do creep.
To his first company Christ said not: " Go,
Unto the world preach folly;" but a true
Foundation gave he them. On earth below,
So long and loud a trumpet-blast he blew,
That, sooth, to fight the battles of the Faith,
From out the Gospel, shield and lance they drew.
But now, they teach with quirks and jesting breath;
And if the list'ners laugh, at every word,
Proudly the preacher onward hasteneth:
While in the cowl there nestleth a bird
Which, if the people saw, they soon should know
What pardon they confide in. Thus is stirr'd
Such foolishness on earth, and still doth grow,
That, without proof of testimony, they
Do after every promise freely go.
And thus St. Anton's swine grow fat, each day,
And others who, in truth, are worse than swine,
And do in false and uncoin'd money pay.
But, since we have digress'd, now turn thy eyne
To the straight path, that thus the way be made
More short, as is the time which yet is thine.
This nature doth extend, from grade to grade,
So far, upon the bright celestial field,
That here all mortal speech and thought is stay'd
And if thou lookest on the lore reveal'd
By Daniel, in his thousands thou shalt know
That all determined number is conceal'd.
The Primal Light, which o'er them sheds its glow,
They in as many diverse ways receive,
As diverse splendours from their armies flow:
Therefore, since to the act which doth perceive,
A like affection must succeed, doth love
A diverse sweetness in each spirit leave.
And here the height and fulness thou mayst prove
Of the Eternal Power, who doth divide
His rays, which o'er so many mirrors move;
Yet One for evermore that Light doth still abide. "
Argument.
Beatrice discourses concerning the creation and rebellion of the Angels; and reproves the preachers who occupy themselves only with vain and subtle questions.
W HEN both the children of Latona stand,
By Aries and Libra hid, and make
Of one horizon their encircling band,
Even for the space of time which it doth take
To free them from the equipoise, erewhile
Held by the zenith, ere its bonds they break,
Changing their hemisphere; so long the smile
Of Beatrice endured, who silent stood,
Gazing on that which on my soul did pile
Such deep amaze. She said: " I speak, nor would
Demand of thee thy thought; for it is seen
Where Time and Space do meet. Not seeking good
Unto Himself (which cannot be, I ween),
But that His splendour might, resplendent, say:
" I am;" before the birth of Time hath been,
In the long ages of eternal day,
Beyond the knowledge of created lore,
Even as it pleased Him, a still newer ray
Of love the Love Eternal, from his store,
Brought forth: yet not at first in torpor slept;
For neither first nor latest went before
God's footsteps o'er the darksome waters swept.
Both form and matter, join'd and pure, did flow
Forth from an act wherein no error crept,
As spring three arrows from a three-string'd bow.
And as in amber, crystal, or in glass
A sunbeam shines with instantaneous glow,
Thus the effect triform its being has;
And, from its dawn to full and perfect day,
Did in the self-same moment wholly pass.
And with these substances their order'd way
Was concreate; they are the highest band
Of all the world, wherein their fair array
Was but for action made: the lowest strand
Contains each power of merely passive might;
While, in the midst, do closely mingled stand
Passive and active. Jerome erst did write
Of angel-hosts, created many an age
Ere the material world first dawn'd in light:
But yet ye read the truth, within the page
Of those who writ the Holy Spirit's song;
And thou shalt see it, if thou well engage
Thereto thy mind. Of this the reason strong
Thou in some measure also mayst perceive;
'Twas fit the Motive Spirits should not long
Exist, ere perfect. How they did receive,
And when, and whence, their being, thou dost know;
Three of thy wishes thus thy mind should leave.
Nor, counting, unto twenty couldst thou go
So soon, as of those angels did a part
Disturb your elemental sphere below:
The rest stood firm, and then began their art
Which thou discernest, with so much delight,
That never from their task do they depart.
The root of all perdition was the spite
Of pride accursid, in his heart whom thou
Saw'st bow'd 'neath every weight of earthly might
Each, whom thou here dost look on, bent his brow,
Acknowledging the goodness which had made
The powers from whence such influences flow;
Therefore their merits upon them have laid
Such insight deep, with grace illumining,
That full and firm their will for aye is stay'd.
I would not aught of doubt in thee should spring:
When thou receivest grace, doth merit lie
In thee, thy heart thereto still opening.
Unaided now, this high consistory
Thou mayst contemplate, if thou well hast brought
This my discourse before thy mental eye.
But, since on earth among your schools are taught
Such tales concerning the angelic mind,
Ascribing Will, and Memory, and Thought
Thereto, I tell thee (that thou be not blind
Unto the truth confusid there below
With error, but its purity mayst find),
These substances, because they aye do glow
In God's own light, have never turn'd away
From that where nought may hid nor veilid go:
No newer object hindereth its ray;
Therefore they have no need of Memory's gleam,
To call to life once more a by-gone day:
And those on earth are in a waking dream
Who do this thing believe or disbelieve;
But yet, in one, more sin and shame I deem.
Ye who philosophise do often leave
The path; so much ye are transported by
The semblance of the praise ye would receive.
Yet is this evil look'd on from on high
With lesser wrath, than when ye would have lost
The Holy Scriptures, or their meaning try
To wrest. Ye think not of the blood it cost
To sow them in the world, nor the increase
Of grace he hath who ne'er their lore hath cross'd.
But, somewhat to appear, each doth not cease
His fancies to invent; and these alone
They preach, the while the Gospel holds its peace.
And one doth say the moon had backward gone
When Christ was slain, and interposed her orb;
And thus, below, no ray of sunlight shone.
Some deem the light did then itself absorb,
And fled; thus in the Indies and in Spain
Did that eclipse the minds of men disturb,
As in Judea. Florence doth contain
Less store of those who are or Lapo hight,
Or Bindo, than of fables in this strain,
Which every year on parchment they indite,
And vaunt, now here, now there. The silly sheep
Return from pasture fed with wind; nor might
The ignorance excuse them, which doth steep
Them wholly, seeing not their wakeful foe,
Whose stealthy footsteps tow'rds the fold do creep.
To his first company Christ said not: " Go,
Unto the world preach folly;" but a true
Foundation gave he them. On earth below,
So long and loud a trumpet-blast he blew,
That, sooth, to fight the battles of the Faith,
From out the Gospel, shield and lance they drew.
But now, they teach with quirks and jesting breath;
And if the list'ners laugh, at every word,
Proudly the preacher onward hasteneth:
While in the cowl there nestleth a bird
Which, if the people saw, they soon should know
What pardon they confide in. Thus is stirr'd
Such foolishness on earth, and still doth grow,
That, without proof of testimony, they
Do after every promise freely go.
And thus St. Anton's swine grow fat, each day,
And others who, in truth, are worse than swine,
And do in false and uncoin'd money pay.
But, since we have digress'd, now turn thy eyne
To the straight path, that thus the way be made
More short, as is the time which yet is thine.
This nature doth extend, from grade to grade,
So far, upon the bright celestial field,
That here all mortal speech and thought is stay'd
And if thou lookest on the lore reveal'd
By Daniel, in his thousands thou shalt know
That all determined number is conceal'd.
The Primal Light, which o'er them sheds its glow,
They in as many diverse ways receive,
As diverse splendours from their armies flow:
Therefore, since to the act which doth perceive,
A like affection must succeed, doth love
A diverse sweetness in each spirit leave.
And here the height and fulness thou mayst prove
Of the Eternal Power, who doth divide
His rays, which o'er so many mirrors move;
Yet One for evermore that Light doth still abide. "