Paradiso -- Canto XXIX
Creation of Angels and Cosmos
When the two children of Latona, poised
One in the Ram, the other in the Scales,
Wear the horizon as a single sash,
5 As long as from the time the zenith holds them
In balance till, unbalanced, one and other
Slip from the sash by changing hemispheres,
Just so long, with a smile traced on her face,
Beatrice was silent, gazing steadfastly
Upon the Point which overmastered me.
10 Then she began, "I tell, and do not ask,
What you want most to hear, since I have seen it
Where every where and every when are focused.
"Not for the gain of some good for Himself —
Something that cannot be — but that his splendor
15 Might say in its resplendence, ‘I exist,’
"In his eternity outside of time,
Outside all other limits, as he pleased,
Eternal Love then opened in new loves.
"Nor did he lie as if asleep before,
20 For there was no before or after when
The Spirit of God moved upon the waters.
"Pure form and matter and the two combined
Came into being which was wholly flawless,
Like three arrows shot from a three-stringed bow.
25 "And as in glass, in amber, or in crystal
A ray so flashes that there is no pause
Between its falling and its filling all,
"So the threefold effect beamed from its Lord
And flamed into its being all at once,
30 With no distinctions about its beginning.
"Within that action, order was created
For these existences, and at the summit
Of the whole world were those made in pure act.
"Pure potency held down the lowest place;
35 At midpoint, potency and act were tied
So tightly they can never be unknotted.
"Jerome described the angels in his writings
Being created a vast span of ages
Before the rest of the universe was made;
40 "But the scribes of the Holy Spirit write
On many pages the truth I tell to you,
And you shall see it if you look out sharply.
"And reason, partially, discerns the truth,
Which would not grant that those with power to move
45 Should for long fail to act on their perfection.
"Now you know where and when and how these loves
Have been created, so that three of the flames
Of your desire already are snuffed out.
"More quickly than it takes to count to twenty,
50 A number of the angels thundered down
And crashed into your elemental bedrock.
"The rest remained and introduced the art
Of circling, as you see, with such deep rapture
That they will never cease from whirling round.
55 "The root-cause of the fall was the accursed
Pride of that One whom you saw for yourself
Crushed by the whole weight of the universe.
"Those you see here had the humility
To recognize that they come from that Goodness
60 Which makes them fit for such intelligence.
"By this response their vision was exalted
Through illuminating grace and through their merit,
So that they have a full and steadfast will.
"And I do not want you in doubt, but certain,
65 That to receive grace is a source of merit
To the extent that love is open to it.
"Now, if you have absorbed what I have said,
You here may contemplate without more help
A great deal that regards this congregation.
70 "But since they teach in your schools down on earth
That the angelic nature is possessed
Of understanding, memory, and will,
"I shall speak on, that you may clearly see
The simple truth which is confused below
75 By the equivocation in such teaching.
"These beings, since they first found happiness
In the face of God, have never turned their eyes
Away from his, from which no sight is hid,
"So that their sight is never interrupted
80 By a new object, and they have no need
Of remembering through disconnected thoughts.
"So people down there dream while wide awake,
Believing or not believing they speak the truth,
But there is more blame for the unbeliever.
85 "You mortals do not walk along one track
In your philosophy: your love of show
And thinking of it lead you far astray.
"Yet even this fault meets with less displeasure
Up here in heaven than when the Holy Scripture
90 Is set aside or when it is perverted.
"There they forget how dear the cost in blood
To sow it in the world, and how deep here
The joy in one who humbly keeps the word.
"Each tries to show off and plies his inventions,
95 And these are put in sermons by the preachers;
Meanwhile the Gospel lapses into silence.
"One claims that while Christ suffered on the cross,
The moon turned backward and stood in the way
So that the sunlight could not shine on earth,
100 "But he lies, for the light concealed itself
On its own, so that the eclipse took place
For Spaniards, Indians, as well as Jews.
"There flourish fewer Jacks and Jills in Florence
Than fables like these bandied left and right
105 Out from the pulpits all the livelong year.
"On this account the poor sheep that know nothing
Come back from pasture, having fed on wind;
And not to see the harm does not excuse them.
"Christ did not say to his first company,
110 ‘Go and preach empty nonsense to the world!’
Instead he offered them the true foundation.
"And that alone so sounded on their lips
That in their fight to light the flame of faith
They took the Gospel for their shield and lance.
115 "Now men go forth to preach with jokes and clowning,
And as long as they scrape up a good laugh,
Their hoods swell up, and nothing more is asked.
"But up their sleeves and cowls nests such a bird
That if the rabble spied it they would know
120 In whom they put their trust for these fake pardons.
"Such follies flourish on earth from these frauds
That with no proof or testimonials
The people flock to every sort of promise.
"On these deceits St. Anthony’s pig grows fat,
125 And many more who are far bigger pigs,
Paying with play-money and phony coinage.
"But we have wandered off our way enough:
Now turn yourself once more to the straight path,
To make the journey shorten with the time.
130 "Angelic nature stretches up the scale
So high in number that there is no speech
Or human concept that can reach that height.
"And if you look at what has been revealed
By Daniel, you will see that in his thousands
135 There is no number that is definite.
"The primal Light that beams down through them all
Each one receives in just as many ways
As there are splendors that merge with the Light.
"Then, since the act of loving follows that
140 Of knowing, so the sweetness of their love
Diversely glows in them as bright or dim.
"See now the height and breadth of the eternal
Goodness, for it has fashioned of itself
Myriad mirrors where it separately shines,
145 "Remaining, as at first, One in itself."
