Paradiso -- Canto XIV
Mars, The Vision of the Cross
From center to rim and rim to center, water
Inside a round bowl moves, depending on
Whether it’s struck from outside or within.
So this image all of a sudden dropped
5 Into my mind, just as the glorious
Life of Thomas fell back into silence,
Because of the resemblance which arose
Between this speech of his and that of Beatrice
Who was pleased to begin by following him:
10 "This man still needs, although he will not tell you
Either by his talk or yet in thought,
To probe another truth down to its root.
"Tell him if the light with which your substance
Breaks into blossoms shall remain with you
15 Eternally, just as it now exists;
"And if the light remains, then tell him how,
When you are once again made visible,
It’s possible it will not hurt your sight."
As when those dancing in a ring, urged on
20 And drawn by more delight, from time to time
Gladden their gestures and lift up their voices,
So at that eager and devout petition
The saintly circles in their gay gyrations
And marvelous melodies displayed new joy.
25 Whoever grieves because we must die here
To live above has never witnessed there
The sweet refreshment of the endless shower.
The One and Two and Three that lives forever
And ever reigns in Three and Two and One,
30 Uncircumscribed and circumscribing all,
Three times was sung by each one of the spirits
Of those two rings, with such a melody
As would be fit reward for every merit.
And I heard in the most resplendent light
35 Of the smaller circle a voice as modest,
Perhaps, as was the angel’s voice to Mary,
Replying, "As long as the festival
Of paradise shall last, so long our love
Shall radiate around us like a robe.
40 "Its brightness is proportioned to our fervor,
Our fervor to our vision, in the measure
That each possesses grace beyond his merit.
"When our flesh, made glorious and holy,
Shall clothe us once again, our persons then
45 Will be more welcome being all complete.
"For whatever unearned light the Highest Good
Freely bestows on us will be increased —
Light which enables us to look on him,
"So that for us our vision must increase,
50 Our fervor increase kindled by the vision,
Our splendor increase coming from the fervor.
"But as a coal in giving off its flame
Outshines the fire with its burning glow,
And in this way keeps its apparent shape,
55 "So this effulgence now encircling us
Shall be outshone in brilliance by the flesh
Which all this while lies buried in the ground.
"Nor will so bright a light cause us fatigue,
Since the organs of our bodies will be strong
60 To everything that can bring us delight."
So ready and alert to cry Amen
One chorus and the other seemed to me
That clearly they desired their dead bodies,
Not only for themselves but for their mothers,
65 Their fathers, and the others dear to them
Before their flesh became eternal flame.
And look! a lustre of steady brightness rose
Around about, beyond the shining there,
Like a horizon growing ever lighter.
70 And as at the first rise of early evening
New objects start to show up in the sky,
So that their sight seems, and does not seem, real,
I thought I there began to see new beings
Approaching to form still another circle
75 Outside the other two’s circumferences.
O the true sparkle of the Holy Spirit!
How suddenly full of glory it became
Before my eyes which, beaten, could not bear it!
But Beatrice showed herself to me so smiling
80 And so beautiful that I must leave it there
Among the sights beyond my memory.
From this, my eyes recovered strength to raise
Themselves once more: I saw myself translated
Alone with my lady to a higher bliss.
85 I clearly grasped that I had risen farther
By the glittering smile of the next planet
Which I found ruddier than usual.
With all my heart, and in the tongue which sounds
The same in all, I gave God a burnt offering
90 To thank him for this gift of his new grace.
Nor had the burning of this sacrifice
Yet ended in my breast when I knew that
My offering had been favorably accepted
Because, with such a glow of ruby red,
95 Splendors so shone before me in two rays
I cried, "O Helios who adorns them brightly!"
Just as the Milky Way, pricked out by greater
And lesser lights, gleams so from pole to pole
That even the wisest minds are thunderstruck,
100 So constellated, in the depths of Mars
Those two beams formed the venerable sign
Which the crossed quadrant lines made in a circle.
Here now my memory outruns my talent,
For Christ flamed from that cross with such a flash
105 That I can find no pattern fit for it.
But he who takes his cross to follow Christ
Will pardon me for what I leave untold
When he looks at Christ gleaming in that dawn.
From tip to tip, between the top and bottom,
110 Light-rays were moving, brightly glittering
As they all met together and passed by:
So here on earth we see the motes of dust
Drift straight or slanting, swift or slow of motion,
Changing in appearance, long or little,
115 Sifting through the sunbeams sometimes streaking
Through the shaded rooms which men have built
With skill and talent for their own protection.
And as a harp or viol that is strung
With many cords for harmony chimes sweetly
120 On ears that cannot catch the melody,
So from the lights appearing to me there,
A music swelled throughout the cross and held me
Enraptured though I could not tell the hymn.
I firmly marked it was a song of praise
125 Because "Rise up," and "Conquer" came to me
As one who hears but does not understand.
I was so moved with loving by this strain
That nothing until then that I had felt
Had bound my being with such dulcet fetters.
130 Perhaps these words of mine appear too daring,
Seeming to slight the bliss of those bright eyes
In which my longing gaze finds its repose.
But one who considers how the living seals
Of every beauty grow with their ascent,
135 And how I there had not yet turned to them,
He may excuse me of my self-accusation
So that I can excuse myself, and see
I speak the truth, for holy joy’s not lost
By growing ever purer as one rises.
