The Sun, Saint Thomas Aquinas
Contemplating his Son with the Love
Which One and Other endlessly breathe out,
The primal and ineffable Power
Made everything that spins through mind or space
5 With such design that he who considers it
Cannot exist without some taste of God.
Lift up your eyes then, reader, here with me
To the high spheres, straight to that region where
One motion of the sun strikes on the other.
10 And begin there to gaze gladly on the art
Of that Master who in himself so loves it
That his eye never wanders from his work.
Observe how, from this point, the circle which
Obliquely bears the planets branches off
15 To satisfy the world that calls to them.
For if their path had not been slanted so,
Much of the heavens' influence would be lost,
And almost all their power dead on earth.
And if the path swerved farther or less far
20 From the straight course, the order of the world
Would in the sky and on the land be lessened.
Now, reader, remain seated at your table,
Reflecting on what here has been a foretaste,
That you may feel delight before you tire.
25 I set the feast for you: now feed yourself,
Because the subject matter I inscribe
Takes all of my attention to itself.
The mightiest minister of nature, which
Imprints the world with power from the sky
30 And measures time for us with beams of light,
Conjoining with the point that I have mentioned,
Went circling onward throughout all the spirals
In which he rises earlier each day.
And I was with him. But of my ascent
35 I was no more aware than is a person
Conscious of a thought before it comes.
Beatrice it is who guides me in this way
From good to better with such swiftness that
Her act does not extend itself in time.
40 How luminous that must be of itself
Which shone within the sun where I went in
To be revealed by light and not by color!
Though I should call on talent, skill, and practice
I could not find the words to picture it:
45 But may you still believe — and crave to see it!
If our imaginations fall far short
Of such a height, no wonder, for our eyes
Have never seen a light to match the sun’s.
Such, here, was the fourth family of the high
50 Father who forever fills them, showing how
He breathes the Spirit and begets the Son.
And Beatrice began, "Give thanks! Give thanks
To this Sun of the Angels through whose grace
You have been lifted to the sun of sense!"
55 Never was heart of mortal so disposed
To its devotion, nor ready to surrender
Itself to God with its full gratitude
Than mine was when she spoke these words to me.
And all my love so set itself on Him
60 That Beatrice in oblivion was eclipsed.
Not the least displeased, she smiled so that
The splendor of her smiling eyes splintered
My singleness of mind in many pieces.
I saw many living and surpassing lights
65 Surround us in the center of a crown
With voices sweeter than their looks were bright.
We sometimes see the daughter of Latona
So cinctured when the saturated air
Holds the threads of light that make her girdle.
70 In the courts of heaven from which I have come
Are myriad jewels so dear and beautiful
They cannot be transported from that kingdom.
It was of them these radiances sang.
Whoever wears no wings to fly up there
75 Must wait for news from those whose tongues are tied.
When, singing in this way, those flaming suns
Three times had circled round about us both,
Like stars rotating close to the fixed poles,
They looked like ladies pausing in the dance
80 To listen to the music silently
Until they catch up to the tune anew.
And inside one I heard begin, "Because
The beam of grace by which true love is lit
And which increases afterward with loving
85 "Shines so much more abundantly in you
That it leads you up along the stairway
Which none steps down except to mount again,
"Whoever should refuse to quench your thirst
With the wine from his flask would be no freer
90 Than water stopped from flowing to the sea.
"You want to know who these bright blossoms are,
Flowering this garland which girds lovingly
Round this fair lady who strengthens you for heaven.
"I was a lamb and of the holy flock
95 That Dominic leads out along the way
Where fattening is good, unless they stray.
"Beside me on the right is one who was
My brother and my master, Albert of
Cologne, and I am Thomas of Aquinas.
100 "So if you would be sure of all the others,
Come, let your eyesight follow on my words
By circling all about this blessed wreath.
"That fire flashing next breaks from the smile
Of Gratian who served both the courts of law
105 So perfectly that Paradise is pleased.
"The nearest one to ornament our choir
Was Peter Lombard who, like the poor widow,
Presented all his treasure to Holy Church.
"The fifth light, and the loveliest among us,
110 Breathes with such love that the whole world below
Hungers to learn something new about it.
"Within it is the lofty mind, endowed
With wisdom so profound, if truth be truth,
No second ever rose with such wide vision.
115 "See at its side the shining of that candle
Which in the flesh down there discerned most deeply
The nature and the ministry of angels.
"In the next tiny flickering flame there smiles
That same defender of the Christian ages
120 Whose discourse proved so useful to Augustine.
"If you have followed now with your mind’s eye
From light to light the sequence of my praises,
You thirst already to know about the eighth.
"Within, for having seen that all is good,
125 The sainted soul, who shows the world’s deceit
To all who listen well to him, rejoices.
"The body from which this soul was driven out
Rests down in Cieldauro, and he is come
From martyrdom and exile to this peace.
130 "See, flashing further on, the burning breath
Of Isidore, of Bede, and of that Richard
Who was more than a man in contemplation.
"The one from whom your gaze turns back to me
Is the glow of a soul in whose grave thoughts
135 The coming of his death appeared too slow.
"It is the neverending light of Siger
Who, lecturing at the rue du Fouarre,
Demonstrated enviable truths."
Then, like a clock that chimes us at the hour
140 When the Bride of God rises to sing
Her matins to her Spouse to make him love her,
With one part pulling and the other pushing,
Sounding ding-dong with notes so dulcet that
The true-devoted spirit swells with love,
145 Just so I saw the wheel of glory rotate
And answer voice to voice with harmony
And sweetness that can never be conceived
Except where joyfulness is everlasting.
