Classic Poem

CANTO XXX.

Argument.

Ascent to the Empyrean. — Dante sees the Angels, in the form of a river of light, flowing between flowery banks, of which each blossom is the soul of a saint. — Prophecy concerning the Emperor Henry VII.

T HE hour of noon sheds forth its sultry beam,
Perchance six thousand miles from us afar,
The while the shadow of our Earth doth seem
To lie bent downwards low, most like a bar
Of level darkness, when more faint appear
The rays, in the deep zenith, of each star;
And, as the Day's bright handmaid draweth near,
From depth to depth the heaven no longer shows
Its glories, till is hid the fairest sphere:
None otherwise that triumph, which arose
Rejoicing round the Point which me o'ercame,
Seeming enclosed in what it did enclose,
By slow degrees unto mine eyes became
Invisible; then love, and seeing nought,
Caused me to turn unto my fairest Dame.
If all I e'er have sung of her were brought
Together in one strain of lofty lays,
Yet with too weak a power my words were fraught.
The loveliness which now transfix'd my gaze
So far exceeds our measure, that, I think,
Only her Maker knoweth all her praise.
Conquer'd, beneath this burden do I sink,
More than e'er bow'd, beneath some weighty theme,
He who would fain the Muses' fountain drink,
Tragic or comic. As the sunny beam
Makes weakest vision tremble, thus for aye
The memory of that sweetest smile doth gleam
Until my heart is faint. From the first day
When I, in life, beheld her, until now,
I ne'er have ceased of her to sing a lay:
But here my strain must needs no further go,
Nor follow her bright loveliness, in song;
As artist who no greater skill can show.
Such, as I leave unto a voice more strong
Than I can bring from out my feeble might,
Which strives to end its labour hard and long,
Thus she began: " We now do take our flight,
And from the vastest realm of matter prove
The path unto the heaven of purest light;
Light intellectual and full of love,
Love of true good where joy doth dwell for aye,
Joy which doth soar all sweetest things above.
Here shalt thou see the glorious array
Of both the hosts of Paradise; and one,
As thou shalt see it at the judgment-day. "
Even as a flame that suddenly hath shone,
The visual power dispersing, which aright
Of the most vivid objects seith none;
Thus flash'd around me clear and living light,
And left me wrapp'd in such a veil of this
Its splendour, that it hid from out my sight
All else. " The Love which stills this heaven in bliss
Such salutation ever doth bestow,
To fit the candle to its flame, I wis. "
Scarcely mine ears did these brief accents know,
When I perceived that now my strength excell'd
All that, as yet, within my soul might flow:
And newer powers my visual orbs impell'd,
So keen that no resplendence here could bring
To me perplexity. For I beheld
A river of pure light aye wandering
Between two shores that did its sheen enfold,
Painted with fairest hues of wondrous spring
And ever, as its dazzling waters roll'd,
Bright sparks arose, and settled on the flowers,
Which seem'd like glowing rubies set in gold.
Then, as inebriate with those sweet bowers,
They plunge once more into the shining stream,
And, as one sinks, another upward soars.
" The high desire, which on thy brow doth beam,
To know in ampler guise what thou dost see,
Doth please me more as stronger is its gleam.
But of this marvellous wave it needs must be
Thou drink, before thy thirst be quench'd aright: "
She said, who was as sunlight unto me.
And added then: " The river; and each bright
Topaz which comes and goes; the smile of flowers;
Are of their truth but shadows, in thy sight.
Not that o'er these a cloud of darkness lowers;
But from defects which upon thee do lie,
Whose vision hath not yet such heavenly powers. "
No infant ever doth so quickly fly
Unto his mother's breast, if he awake
More late than is his usage, than did I,
A clearer mirror of mine eyes to make,
Inclining me toward the waves which flow
From whence the Blessid all good gifts partake.
And as mine eyelids, bending downwards low,
Drank of the flood, its tide, which I had seen
Gush in straight course, in circuit seem'd to go.
And then, as those who hid by masks have been,
And change their semblance, soon as they divest
Themselves of that which hideth their true mien,
Thus in more festal aspect now were drest
The flowers and glittering sparks; and I beheld
Both the high courts of heaven made manifest.
Splendour of God, by which I there beheld
The lofty triumph of the truest throne,
Now give me strength to sing what I beheld!
There is a light above, whence aye hath shone
The High Creator unto those who find
Their peace in gazing upon Him alone;
And in a circle doth so far extend,
That its circumference too vast had been
The sun with its bright girdling fire to bind:
And all its semblance is of dazzling sheen,
Reflected down to the first mobile sphere,
Which thence receives both life and power, I ween
And, as a hill is mirror'd in the clear
And limpid lake which its fair hues adorn,
What time its richest herbs and blooms appear,
Even thus, around that light which aye doth burn,
More than a thousand ranks I saw, of those
Who from our Earth did homeward erst return.
And if the smallest circle doth enclose
So great a light, bethink thee then, how wide
Must be the furthest petals of that rose?
In all this breadth and height, on every side,
My gaze yet did not lose itself, but all
The rule and manner of its joy descried.
There, far and near, no change doth e'er befall;
For, where God rules directly, in these skies,
There dwell no laws of order natural.
From out the golden heart that ever lies
Deep in the sempiternal rose which here
Dilates, sweet odours evermore arise
Of praise unto the Sun that to this sphere
Brings ceaseless spring. As one who doth desire
Both speech and silence, Beatrice did bear
Me on, and said: " Behold the white-stoled quire!
Behold our city's ample bounds, and see
Our ranks so full, that few may now aspire
Thereto. Yon throne, to which thy glances be
Drawn by the diadem above, shall, ere
The heavenly supper may be shared by thee,
Be fill'd by the great Henry, who shall wear
On earth the crown of Caesar, and shall lay
His sceptre upon Italy, when there,
As yet men are not fitted for his sway.
The blind cupidity, from whence ye pine,
Hath made you like the child who drives away
His nurse, although an hunger'd. The divine
Forum shall then be ruled by one who, hid
Or openly, with him in the same line
Walks not a step. But, little time shall speed,
Ere from the holy office God shall send
Him down where Simon Magus hath his meed;
He of Alagna then to lower depths shall wend. "