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Soaring the Celestial Spheres: Dante's Paradise in Modern Words!
Imagine embarking on a sublime journey through the heavens, a celestial exploration filled with wonder. Sounds enthralling, right? Yet, comprehending such an epic can be daunting with its archaic language. Don't worry, many have felt just as you do!
Dante's magnificent voyage takes him through the spheres of Paradise, each one more resplendent than the last, guided by the illuminating presence of Beatrice, representing theology. These spheres, from the shimmering Moon to the radiant Empyrean, symbolize various heavenly bodies, drawing Dante and readers into a cosmic dance of understanding the divine order.
At its core, this journey is not just about admiring the beauty of the cosmos, but about understanding the divine truths, the nature of bliss, and the soul's eternal union with the divine.
For those who have found themselves lost in Dante's original intricacies, BookCaps is here to guide you! Dive into our modern translation that captures the grandeur and profundity of Dante's vision while being relatable to today's readers. Let the timeless beauty of this classic resonate with you, enhanced by a side-by-side presentation with the original, offering a deeper connection to this heavenly masterpiece!
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Excerpt From Paradise In Plain and Simple English
Canto I
The glory of Him who moveth everything
Doth penetrate the universe, and shine
In one part more and in another less.
The glory of the one who rules everything
Runs through the universe, shining more in
Some parts than in others.
Within that heaven which most his light receives
Was I, and things beheld which to repeat
Nor knows, nor can, who from above descends;
I was in heaven which receives
More of his light then elsewhere, and saw things
That one who comes down from there either forgets or cannot describe;
Because in drawing near to its desire
Our intellect ingulphs itself so far,
That after it the memory cannot go.
Because when it comes near to its desire,
Our intellect sinks down so low
That the memory cannot follow it.
Truly whatever of the holy realm
I had the power to treasure in my mind
Shall now become the subject of my song.
But whatever memories of heaven
I have managed to keep in my mind
Will now become the basis of my song.
O good Apollo, for this last emprise
Make of me such a vessel of thy power
As giving the beloved laurel asks!
Oh good Apollo, for this final task
Give me the power of poetry
Which you are able to bestow!
One summit of Parnassus hitherto
Has been enough for me, but now with both
I needs must enter the arena left.
One peak of Parnassus has up till now
Been enough for me, but now I must
Use both, as I face this challenge.
Enter into my bosom, thou, and breathe
As at the time when Marsyas thou didst draw
Out of the scabbard of those limbs of his.
Come in to my heart, and breathe
As you did when you drew
Marsyas out of his body.
O power divine, lend'st thou thyself to me
So that the shadow of the blessed realm
Stamped in my brain I can make manifest,
O divine power, send me your skills
So that I can describe what little
Of that sacred place I can remember,
Thou'lt see me come unto thy darling tree,
And crown myself thereafter with those leaves
Of which the theme and thou shall make me worthy.
And you will see me coming to that tree you love,
Crowning myself with those leaves
Which you and my subject will make me deserve.
So seldom, Father, do we gather them
For triumph or of Caesar or of Poet,
(The fault and shame of human inclinations,)
So seldom, father, do we make the wreathes
To celebrate a ruler or a poet,
Which shows the weakness of humans,
That the Peneian foliage should bring forth
Joy to the joyous Delphic deity,
When any one it makes to thirst for it.
That when someone actively desires
To win them for themselves
It must make the god of Delphi happy.
A little spark is followed by great flame;
Perchance with better voices after me
Shall prayer be made that Cyrrha may respond!
Little sparks create great flames;
Maybe better poets than me
Will make prayers to the god of Cyrrah!
To mortal men by passages diverse
Uprises the world's lamp; but by that one
Which circles four uniteth with three crosses,
The lamp of the world comes to mortal men
Through different ways, but on the path which joins
Four circles with three crosses,
With better course and with a better star
Conjoined it issues, and the mundane wax
Tempers and stamps more after its own fashion.
It joins a better path and a better
Constellation, and it can shape the dull wax
Of the world to look more like itself.
Almost that passage had made morning there
And evening here, and there was wholly white
That hemisphere, and black the other part,
In its journey it had almost made
Morning there and evening here, and the whole
Hemisphere was white, with the other half black,
When Beatrice towards the left-hand side
I saw turned round, and gazing at the sun;
Never did eagle fasten so upon it!
When I saw Beatrice turning
To her left hand side, and staring at the sun;
No eagle ever stared so steadily!
And even as a second ray is wont
To issue from the first and reascend,
Like to a pilgrim who would fain return,
Just as a second ray will come from
The first and rebound,
Like a pilgrim coming home,
Thus of her action, through the eyes infused
In my imagination, mine I made,
And sunward fixed mine eyes beyond our wont.
So I copied what she
Was doing, and set my eyes
On the sun more than one usually would.
There much is lawful which is here unlawful
Unto our powers, by virtue of the place
Made for the human species as its own.
We can do more things there which we
Do not have the power to do on Earth, because the place
Was made to be the natural habitat of mankind.
Not long I bore it, nor so little while
But I beheld it sparkle round about
Like iron that comes molten from the fire;
I could not stand it for long, but not so briefly
That I didn't see it sparkling
Like iron coming up from the fire;
And suddenly it seemed that day to day
Was added, as if He who has the power
Had with another sun the heaven adorned.
And suddenly the day seemed doubly bright,
As if the one who has the power
Had added another sun to the heavens.
With eyes upon the everlasting wheels
Stood Beatrice all intent, and I, on her
Fixing my vision from above removed,
Beatrice stood with her eyes fixed
On the eternal motions of the planets, and I
Looked down from the heavens and looked at her,
Such at her aspect inwardly became
As Glaucus, tasting of the herb that made him
Peer of the other gods beneath the sea.
In such a way that I was changed in
The same way as Glaucus was, when he tasted that herb that
Made him an equal of the other gods beneath the sea.
To represent transhumanise in words
Impossible were; the example, then, suffice
Him for whom Grace the experience reserves.
To describe becoming more than human
Is impossible; let the example be enough
Until Grace gives you the experience for yourself.
If I was merely what of me thou newly
Createdst, Love who governest the heaven,
Thou knowest, who didst lift me with thy light!
If I was only what you newly
Made of me, love which rules over heaven,
Only you know, who lifted me with your light!
When now the wheel, which thou dost make eternal
Desiring thee, made me attentive to it
By harmony thou dost modulate and measure,
When that wheel, which you make eternal
Through its desire for you, drew my attention,
Through the harmony which you control,
Then seemed to me so much of heaven enkindled
By the sun's flame, that neither rain nor river
E'er made a lake so widely spread abroad.
Then it seemed to me so much of heaven was lit up
By the light of the sun, that neither rain nor rivers
Had ever made such a spreading lake.
The newness of the sound and the great light
Kindled in me a longing for their cause,
Never before with such acuteness felt;
That new sound and shining light
Made me long to know what had caused them
With a longing I had never felt so sharply before;
Whence she, who saw me as I saw myself,
To quiet in me my perturbed mind,
Opened her mouth, ere I did mine to ask,
And she, who knew me as well as I know myself,
Opened her mouth to speak, to calm my
Disturbed mind, before I asked any questions,
And she began: "Thou makest thyself so dull
With false imagining, that thou seest not
What thou wouldst see if thou hadst shaken it off.
And she began, “Your false imagination
Has clouded your wits so much that you cannot see
What you could see if you looked properly.
Thou art not upon earth, as thou believest;
But lightning, fleeing its appropriate site,
Ne'er ran as thou, who thitherward returnest."
You are not on earth, as you believe;
But lightning, flying from its home,
Is slower than the way you are rushing back."
If of my former doubt I was divested
By these brief little words more smiled than spoken,
I in a new one was the more ensnared;
If I lost my previous doubts
From those brief words she smiled at me,
I then became wrapped up in a new one;
And said: "Already did I rest content
From great amazement; but am now amazed
In what way I transcend these bodies light."
I said, “I was already satisfied after seeing
And those wonders; but now I am baffled
As to how I can rise above these light bodies."
Whereupon she, after a pitying sigh,
Her eyes directed tow'rds me with that look
A mother casts on a delirious child;
At that she, after giving a sigh of pity,
Looked towards me as a
Mother looks at a raving child;
And she began: "All things whate'er they be
Have order among themselves, and this is form,
That makes the universe resemble God.
And she began, “All things, whatever they are,
Have an order of their own, and this order
Is what makes the universe looks like God.
Here do the higher creatures see the footprints
Of the Eternal Power, which is the end
Whereto is made the law already mentioned.
Here the higher beings see the footprints
Of the Eternal Power, which is what that order
Is designed to assist.
In the order that I speak of are inclined
All natures, by their destinies diverse,
More or less near unto their origin;
In the order of which I speak each
Thing has a destiny it must follow
Closer or further away from its origins;
Hence they move onward unto ports diverse
O'er the great sea of being; and each one
With instinct given it which bears it on.
And from there they move to different places
Around the great ocean of life; and each one
Has been given the impulse to keep moving on.
This bears away the fire towards the moon;
This is in mortal hearts the motive power
This binds together and unites the earth.
This is what takes fire up to the moon;
This is what motivates mortal creatures,
And what holds the whole earth together.
Nor only the created things that are
Without intelligence this bow shoots forth,
But those that have both intellect and love.
Not only does this creation make creatures
That do not have intelligence, but also those
Who have an intellect and the capability of love.
The Providence that regulates all this
Makes with its light the heaven forever quiet,
Wherein that turns which has the greatest haste.
The Ruler who ordains all this
Uses its light to make the heavens eternally quiet,
Where the planets spin at their fastest.
And thither now, as to a site decreed,
Bears us away the virtue of that cord
Which aims its arrows at a joyous mark.
And that is where, as is our destiny,
We are now going, through the power of heaven
Which always sends us happiness.
True is it, that as oftentimes the form
Accords not with the intention of the art,
Because in answering is matter deaf,
It is true that, just as sometimes
A shape may not reflect the intention of the artist,
Because the material is unresponsive to his touch,
So likewise from this course doth deviate
Sometimes the creature, who the power possesses,
Though thus impelled, to swerve some other way,
So sometimes the creature who has the power
Will move away from this pathway
To go in some other direction,
(In the same wise as one may see the fire
Fall from a cloud,) if the first impetus
Earthward is wrested by some false delight.
(In the same way in which one can see fire
Falling from a cloud) if he is distracted
And enticed to earth by some false pleasure.
Thou shouldst not wonder more, if well I judge,
At thine ascent, than at a rivulet
From some high mount descending to the lowland.
If I'm correct you should be no more astonished
By your going upwards than you would be that a
Little stream ran down from a high mountain to the plains.
Marvel it would be in thee, if deprived
Of hindrance, thou wert seated down below,
As if on earth the living fire were quiet."
Thereat she heavenward turned again her face.
It would be as astonishing if, unencumbered,
You remained seated down below as if
A living flame on earth did not move."
With that she turned her face back to the heaven.
Canto II
O Ye, who in some pretty little boat,
Eager to listen, have been following
Behind my ship, that singing sails along,
Oh you, who in some pretty little boat,
Keen to listen, have been following
Behind my ship, that sings as it sails along,
Turn back to look again upon your shores;
Do not put out to sea, lest peradventure,
In losing me, you might yourselves be lost.
Turn back and look at your native shore;
Do not follow me, in case you lose sight
Of me, and become lost yourselves.
The sea I sail has never yet been passed;
Minerva breathes, and pilots me Apollo,
And Muses nine point out to me the Bears.
The sea I'm sailing on has never been crossed before;
Minerva blows me, Apollo is my helmsman,
And the nine Muses show me the guiding stars.
Ye other few who have the neck uplifted
Betimes to th' bread of Angels upon which
One liveth here and grows not sated by it,
You are the few who have sometimes looked
Up to see the bread of angels on which
People live here, though it makes them hungry for more,
Well may you launch upon the deep salt-sea
Your vessel, keeping still my wake before you
Upon the water that grows smooth again.
You can certainly launch your ship
Out on this deep sea, tracking my wake
On the water that grows smooth behind me.
Those glorious ones who unto Colchos passed
Were not so wonder-struck as you shall be,
When Jason they beheld a ploughman made!
Those glorious men who crossed to Colchos
Were amazed when they saw Jason turned into a ploughman,
But that's nothing to how amazed you will be!
The con-created and perpetual thirst
For the realm deiform did bear us on,
As swift almost as ye the heavens behold.
The first created and eternal thirst
For the kingdom of heaven drove us on,
As quickly as the heavens you see orbiting.
Upward gazed Beatrice, and I at her;
And in such space perchance as strikes a bolt
And flies, and from the notch unlocks itself,
Beatrice gazed upwards, and I gazed at her;
And in the time it takes for
An arrow to fly from the bow,
Arrived I saw me where a wondrous thing
Drew to itself my sight; and therefore she
From whom no care of mine could be concealed,
I arrived where I saw an astonishing thing
In front of me; and seeing it she,
From whom I could hide none of my thoughts,
Towards me turning, blithe as beautiful,
Said unto me: "Fix gratefully thy mind
On God, who unto the first star has brought us."
Turned towards me, as joyful as she was beautiful,
And said, “Think with gratitude
Of God, who has brought us to the first star."
It seemed to me a cloud encompassed us,
Luminous, dense, consolidate and bright
As adamant on which the sun is striking.
It seemed to me that a cloud wrapped round us,
Luminous, dense, solid and as bright
As a diamond shining in the sun.
Into itself did the eternal pearl
Receive us, even as water doth receive
A ray of light, remaining still unbroken.
The eternal pearl welcomed us inside itself,
Just as water can welcome
A ray of light, without being broken.
If I was body, (and we here conceive not
How one dimension tolerates another,
Which needs must be if body enter body,)
If I had a body (and here on earth we cannot
Understand how different things can share
The same space, with bodies entering bodies)
More the desire should be enkindled in us
That essence to behold, wherein is seen
How God and our own nature were united.
Then we would have an even greater longing
To look at the essential matter, where we can see
God and our own nature united as one.
There will be seen what we receive by faith,
Not demonstrated, but self-evident
In guise of the first truth that man believes.
There we will see what we believe in,
Not demonstrated but open and obvious,
Just like the first truth a man accepts.
I made reply: "Madonna, as devoutly
As most I can do I give thanks to Him
Who has removed me from the mortal world.
I answered, “Lady, I give thanks to Him
Who has taken me out of the mortal world
With all the devotion I can muster.
But tell me what the dusky spots may be
Upon this body, which below on earth
Make people tell that fabulous tale of Cain?"
But tell me what these dark spots might be
On this planet, which make men down on Earth
Tell that extraordinary story about Cain?"
Somewhat she smiled; and then, "If the opinion
Of mortals be erroneous," she said,
"Where'er the key of sense doth not unlock,
She smiled a little, and replied, “If men's
Ideas are wrong, whenever they cannot
See the truth through their senses,
Certes, the shafts of wonder should not pierce thee
Now, forasmuch as, following the senses,
Thou seest that the reason has short wings.
You should certainly not be amazed now,
When you see that even when the senses
Support reason, it does not always answer.
But tell me what thou think'st of it thyself."
And I: "What seems to us up here diverse,
Is caused, I think, by bodies rare and dense."
But tell me what you think of it."
I replied, “What seems light up here to us,
I think is actually made of very heavy material."
And she: "Right truly shalt thou see immersed
In error thy belief, if well thou hearest
The argument that I shall make against it.
She replied, “You shall see just
How wrong you are, if you listen carefully
To my correction.
Lights many the eighth sphere displays to you
Which in their quality and quantity
May noted be of aspects different.
The eighth sphere shows you many lights
Which you can see differ from each other
In quality and in size.
If this were caused by rare and dense alone,
One only virtue would there be in all
Or more or less diffused, or equally.
If this were caused just by a single
Dense material, they would all
Look just the same.
Virtues diverse must be perforce the fruits
Of formal principles; and these, save one,
Of course would by thy reasoning be destroyed.
Their different powers must necessarily
Spring from different scientific bases;
By your logic there would be only one.
Besides, if rarity were of this dimness
The cause thou askest, either through and through
This planet thus attenuate were of matter,
Besides, if that rare material caused
Those dark spots you ask about,
Then this planet would be transparent,
Or else, as in a body is apportioned
The fat and lean, so in like manner this
Would in its volume interchange the leaves.
Or otherwise, just as in our bodies
We have fat and thin, so this
Would alternate its matter like pages in a book.
Were it the former, in the sun's eclipse
It would be manifest by the shining through
Of light, as through aught tenuous interfused.
If the first were correct, in an eclipse
Of the sun the light would shine through,
As it does when it encounters thin matter.
This is not so; hence we must scan the other,
And if it chance the other I demolish,
Then falsified will thy opinion be.
This does not happen; so we must examine the other
Theory, and if I can refute that as well,
Then your opinion will be shown to be false.
But if this rarity go not through and through,
There needs must be a limit, beyond which
Its contrary prevents the further passing,
If the moon is not transparent all the way through,
There must be a place where its thickness
Does not allow the light to pass any further,
And thence the foreign radiance is reflected,
Even as a colour cometh back from glass,
The which behind itself concealeth lead.
And the light of the sun would be reflected,
Just as a ray of coloured light comes back
From glass when it has a lead coating on its back.
Now thou wilt say the sunbeam shows itself
More dimly there than in the other parts,
By being there reflected farther back.
Now you will say that the sunbeam
Shows itself more dimly there than in other spots,
Because it is reflected from farther back.
From this reply experiment will free thee
If e'er thou try it, which is wont to be
The fountain to the rivers of your arts.
You can disprove this by
Making an experiment, which is the way
Your science usually works.
Three mirrors shalt thou take, and two remove
Alike from thee, the other more remote
Between the former two shall meet thine eyes.
Take three mirrors, and place two at an
Equal distance from you, and the other
Between the two of them but farther away.
Turned towards these, cause that behind thy back
Be placed a light, illuming the three mirrors
And coming back to thee by all reflected.
Face them, and have a light
Placed behind you, shining in each mirror
And being reflected back to you by all of them.
Though in its quantity be not so ample
The image most remote, there shalt thou see
How it perforce is equally resplendent.
Then you will see that the farthest mirror,
Although it will not seem as large, will
Shine just as brightly.
Now, as beneath the touches of warm rays
Naked the subject of the snow remains
Both of its former colour and its cold,
Now, just as the lower layers
Of snow are stripped of their colour and cold
By the warm rays of the sun,
Thee thus remaining in thy intellect,
Will I inform with such a living light,
That it shall tremble in its aspect to thee.
So your mind has been stripped of its error,
And I will show you a light which is so alive
That you will perceive it trembling in your sight.
Within the heaven of the divine repose
Revolves a body, in whose virtue lies
The being of whatever it contains.
Within the heaven of divine peace
There spins a star, whose power
Encompasses all things.
The following heaven, that has so many eyes,
Divides this being by essences diverse,
Distinguished from it, and by it contained.
The following star, that sees so much,
Divides this power into different types,
Separate stars, but all within it.
The other spheres, by various differences,
All the distinctions which they have within them
Dispose unto their ends and their effects.
The other stars, in different ways,
Use the powers they have within them
To create different things and cause different effects.
Thus do these organs of the world proceed,
As thou perceivest now, from grade to grade;
Since from above they take, and act beneath.
This is how these elements of the universe
Move, as you can now see, from place to place;
They take power from above, and act on things below.
Observe me well, how through this place I come
Unto the truth thou wishest, that hereafter
Thou mayst alone know how to keep the ford
Now observe carefully how I reveal
The truth you ask for, so that from now on
You can know how to reach it yourself.
The power and motion of the holy spheres,
As from the artisan the hammer's craft,
Forth from the blessed motors must proceed.
The power and motion of the holy stars
Must be moved by heavenly work,
Just as the blacksmith moves his hammer.
The heaven, which lights so manifold make fair,
From the Intelligence profound, which turns it,
The image takes, and makes of it a seal.
Heaven receives its multitudinous beautiful light
From the eternal intelligence, which makes it turn,
And creates its own impression from the image.
And even as the soul within your dust
Through members different and accommodated
To faculties diverse expands itself,
Just as your soul is
Spread throughout different organs
Of your body, doing different things,
So likewise this Intelligence diffuses
Its virtue multiplied among the stars.
Itself revolving on its unity.
So this intelligence spreads
Its powers throughout the stars,
Although it remains a single entity.
Virtue diverse doth a diverse alloyage
Make with the precious body that it quickens,
In which, as life in you, it is combined.
Different powers make different things,
Just as it makes life in you
Which can do different things.
From the glad nature whence it is derived,
The mingled virtue through the body shines,
Even as gladness through the living pupil.
Due to the happy nature from which it comes,
The Power mixed with light shines in the body,
Like happiness shining through a living eye.
From this proceeds whate'er from light to light
Appeareth different, not from dense and rare:
This is the formal principle that produces,
According to its goodness, dark and bright."
It is from this, not from differences in materials
For their thicknesses, that the differences in light
Appear; this is the scientific principle which produces
Darkness and brightness, according to its goodness."
Canto III
That Sun, which erst with love my bosom warmed,
Of beauteous truth had unto me discovered,
By proving and reproving, the sweet aspect.
The sun, which had first filled my heart with love,
Had revealed a beautiful truth to me,
Showing its loveliness in its sweet face.
And, that I might confess myself convinced
And confident, so far as was befitting,
I lifted more erect my head to speak.
And, so that I could show that I was
Convinced of its truth, I lifted my head
Up as far as was suitable for me to speak.
But there appeared a vision, which withdrew me
So close to it, in order to be seen,
That my confession I remembered not.
But a vision appeared, which caught my
Attention in such a tight grip
That I forgot what I was about to admit.
Such as through polished and transparent glass,
Or waters crystalline and undisturbed,
But not so deep as that their bed be lost,
Just as through polished clear glass,
Or crystal calm waters,
Not so deep that the bottom vanishes,
Come back again the outlines of our faces
So feeble, that a pearl on forehead white
Comes not less speedily unto our eyes;
Our faces are reflected
So faintly we can only see them as clearly
As we see a pearl on a white forehead;
Such saw I many faces prompt to speak,
So that I ran in error opposite
To that which kindled love 'twixt man and fountain.
I saw many faces like this, keen to speak,
So I made the opposite sort of error
To the man who loved the image in the pool.
As soon as I became aware of them,
Esteeming them as mirrored semblances,
To see of whom they were, mine eyes I turned,
As soon as I became aware of them,
I thought that they were reflections,
So I turned round to see them,
And nothing saw, and once more turned them forward
Direct into the light of my sweet Guide,
Who smiling kindled in her holy eyes.
And I saw nothing, and turned back
To look in the face of my sweet Guide,
Who smiled warmly with her holy eyes.
"Marvel thou not," she said to me, "because
I smile at this thy puerile conceit,
Since on the truth it trusts not yet its foot,
“Don't be astonished," she said to me, “if
I smile at your childish understanding,
Since you do not yet comprehend the truth,
But turns thee, as 'tis wont, on emptiness.
True substances are these which thou beholdest,
Here relegate for breaking of some vow.
As usual you turn to empty things.
The things you can see are real,
Sent here for breaking some vow.
Therefore speak with them, listen and believe;
For the true light, which giveth peace to them,
Permits them not to turn from it their feet."
So speak to them, listen and believe what they say;
For the true light, which brings them peace,
Will not allow them to be untruthful."
And I unto the shade that seemed most wishful
To speak directed me, and I began,
As one whom too great eagerness bewilders:
So I turned to the spirit that seemed keenest
To speak to me, and I began,
Like a man bewildered by his overwhelming desire:
"O well-created spirit, who in the rays
Of life eternal dost the sweetness taste
Which being untasted ne'er is comprehended,
“Well made spirit, who in the light
Of eternal life tastes the sweetness
Which cannot be understood until it is tasted,
Grateful 'twill be to me, if thou content me
Both with thy name and with your destiny."
Whereat she promptly and with laughing eyes:
I would be grateful if you could satisfy me
By telling me your name and why you are here."
She immediately answered, with laughing eyes,
"Our charity doth never shut the doors
Against a just desire, except as one
Who wills that all her court be like herself.
“Our kindness means we will never reject
A proper request, for our love
Demands that we all follow it.
I was a virgin sister in the world;
And if thy mind doth contemplate me well,
The being more fair will not conceal me from thee,
I was a virgin nun on earth;
And if you think carefully,
My enhanced beauty will not disguise me,
But thou shalt recognise I am Piccarda,
Who, stationed here among these other blessed,
Myself am blessed in the slowest sphere.
But you will recognise that I am Piccarda,
Who, placed here with these other blessed women,
Am myself blessed in being on this slowest star.
All our affections, that alone inflamed
Are in the pleasure of the Holy Ghost,
Rejoice at being of his order formed;
Our affections, which are dedicated
To delighting in the Holy Ghost,
Rejoice at following his orders;
And this allotment, which appears so low,
Therefore is given us, because our vows
Have been neglected and in some part void."
And we have been given this lowly station
Because we have neglected our vows
And failed completely to fulfil them."
Whence I to her: "In your miraculous aspects
There shines I know not what of the divine,
Which doth transform you from our first conceptions.
I said to her, “In your miraculous appearance
I can see some incomprehensible divinity,
Which makes you look very different.
Therefore I was not swift in my remembrance;
But what thou tellest me now aids me so,
That the refiguring is easier to me.
That's why I was slow to remember you;
But what you're now telling me helps me,
So that I can now see you more clearly.
But tell me, ye who in this place are happy,
Are you desirous of a higher place,
To see more or to make yourselves more friends?"
But tell me, you who are happy in this place,
Do you wish to rise up higher,
To see more or to gain more friends?"
First with those other shades she smiled a little;
Thereafter answered me so full of gladness,
She seemed to burn in the first fire of love:
At first she and her fellow spirits smiled a little;
Then she answered me with such gladness
It was as if she was burning with original love.
"Brother, our will is quieted by virtue
Of charity, that makes us wish alone
For what we have, nor gives us thirst for more.
“Brother, the power of love calms our desires
And makes us wish only for
What we have, and not thirst for more.
If to be more exalted we aspired,
Discordant would our aspirations be
Unto the will of Him who here secludes us;
If we wished to rise up higher,
Our desires would clash with
The orders of the One who has placed us here;
Which thou shalt see finds no place in these circles,
If being in charity is needful here,
And if thou lookest well into its nature;
You will see no such discord here,
We who live here have to live in love,
And if you think carefully about the nature of love;
Nay, 'tis essential to this blest existence
To keep itself within the will divine,
Whereby our very wishes are made one;
It is essential for our blessed existence
To keep obeying the will of God,
And our desires are the same as the rest;
So that, as we are station above station
Throughout this realm, to all the realm 'tis pleasing,
As to the King, who makes his will our will.
So that, wherever we are placed
Throughout this kingdom, everyone is happy,
For it pleases the King, who rules over everything.
And his will is our peace; this is the sea
To which is moving onward whatsoever
It doth create, and all that nature makes."
His desire gives us peace; He rules over
The sea which moves onwards with all of nature
Within it, and everything that is created."
Then it was clear to me how everywhere
In heaven is Paradise, although the grace
Of good supreme there rain not in one measure.
Then it became clear to me how everywhere
In heaven is Paradise, even though
Not every place is equally blessed.
But as it comes to pass, if one food sates,
And for another still remains the longing,
We ask for this, and that decline with thanks,
But just as one can have enough of one food,
But still be hungry for another,
Asking for one thing, rejecting another with thanks,
E'en thus did I; with gesture and with word,
To learn from her what was the web wherein
She did not ply the shuttle to the end.
That was how I was; through gestures and words
I asked her what it was
Which she had not managed to attain.
"A perfect life and merit high in-heaven
A lady o'er us," said she, "by whose rule
Down in your world they vest and veil themselves,
“I did not live a perfect life and copy
The lady up in heaven, whose rule is followed
In your world by those who cover themselves and wear veils,
That until death they may both watch and sleep
Beside that Spouse who every vow accepts
Which charity conformeth to his pleasure.
So that until they die they live and sleep
Next to that husband who accepts every vow
Which is made to Him with love.
To follow her, in girlhood from the world
I fled, and in her habit shut myself,
And pledged me to the pathway of her sect.
In order to follow her, I left the world
When I was a girl, and dressed myself in her clothes,
And pledged to follow the rules of her order.
Then men accustomed unto evil more
Than unto good, from the sweet cloister tore me;
God knows what afterward my life became.
Then men who are more used to being evil
Than to being good pulled me from the sweet cloister;
God knows what my life became after that.
This other splendour, which to thee reveals
Itself on my right side, and is enkindled
With all the illumination of our sphere,
This other radiance, which you can see
On my right hand side, and is full
Of all the light which fills our heaven,
What of myself I say applies to her;
A nun was she, and likewise from her head
Was ta'en the shadow of the sacred wimple.
What I say about myself also applies to her;
She was a nun, and in the same way the sacred wimple
Was torn away from her head.
But when she too was to the world returned
Against her wishes and against good usage,
Of the heart's veil she never was divested.
But when she was thrown back into the world
Against her wishes and with force,
She never lost the veil over her heart.
Of great Costanza this is the effulgence,
Who from the second wind of Suabia
Brought forth the third and latest puissance."
This is the light of great Costanza,
Who became married to Barbarossa
And gave birth to its most recent ruler."
Thus unto me she spake, and then began
"Ave Maria" singing, and in singing
Vanished, as through deep water something heavy.
So she spoke to me, and then began
To sing “Ave Maria," and as she sang
She vanished, like something heavy falling into deep water.
My sight, that followed her as long a time
As it was possible, when it had lost her
Turned round unto the mark of more desire,
I looked after her for as long
As was possible, and when I could no longer see her
I turned back to my greater desire,
And wholly unto Beatrice reverted;
But she such lightnings flashed into mine eyes,
That at the first my sight endured it not;
And this in questioning more backward made me.
And focused completely upon Beatrice;
But her brightness dazzled my eyes so much
That at first my sight could not endure it;
And that stopped me from questioning for the moment.
Translation missing: en.general.search.loading