The Whip of Wrath
As much time as that sphere, which like a child
Plays endlessly, has left between the end
Of the third hour and the beginning day,
So much of the sun’s course toward evening
5 Appeared still to be left, for now it was
Vespers there and midnight over here.
The slant rays struck us fully in the face,
For we had circled so far round the mountain
That we were headed straight into the sunset.
10 Now when I felt my forehead weighted down
With splendor much brighter than before,
I grew amazed at things unknown to me.
With that I raised my hand above my brow
And made a visor to protect my eyes
15 And lessen the intensity of sunlight.
As when a ray of light leaps from the water
Or mirror, in the opposite direction,
Yet rising at the angle it descended
And deflecting just as far from that side where
20 The midpoint of the two lines intersects,
As experiment and science demonstrate —
So I appeared to be struck by the light
Reflected off the path in front of me,
And that is why I turned my sight from it.
25 "Sweet father, what is that from which I cannot
Screen my eyes in any helpful way,"
I asked, "and which seems ever to approach us?"
"Do not marvel if the host of heaven
Still dazzles you," he answered me, "this is
30 The messenger who invites us to ascend.
"Soon it will be no burden to behold
These things, rather you will find delight
As deep as nature destines you to feel."
When we had come up to the blessed angel,
35 He said with a glad voice, "Enter here
To stairs that are less steep than were the others."
We left him there and we then climbed beyond,
Until "Blessed are the merciful" rang out
In song behind us, and "Conqueror, rejoice!"
40 My master and I journeyed up together,
We two alone, and I thought while we walked
To benefit here from his conversation,
And I turned toward him to ask him the question,
"What did that spirit from Romagna mean
45 Speaking of ‘goods’ and ‘may not share with others’?"
"He knows the punishment for his worst fault,"
He answered me, "and so it is no wonder
If he reproves it, to have less to weep for.
"Since your desires are focused on the goods
50 Which lessen when apportioned out to others,
Envy pumps your bellows full of sighs.
"But if the love within the loftiest heaven
Turns your desires toward the good on high,
That craving fear would not be at your heart,
55 "For the more there are who call out ‘ours,’
The more of the highest good each one possesses,
And the more charity kindles in that cloister."
"I hunger more now to be satisfied,"
I said, "than if I had kept still before,
60 And I collect more doubts in my own mind.
"How can one good that is apportioned out
Make more of those possessors wealthier
Than if it were possessed by just a few?"
And he told me, "Because you still affix
65 Your intellect to the things of the world,
You gather darkness out of the true light.
"That ineffable and infinite Good
That is in heaven hastens forth to love,
Just as a sunbeam strikes a shiny surface:
70 "It gives back as much ardor as it finds,
So that the more unlimited the love
The more eternal goodness grows in it,
"And the more souls on high there are in love,
The more there are to love and the more love,
75 And like a mirror each reflects the other.
"And if my discourse fails to satisfy you,
You shall see Beatrice and she shall completely
Free you from this and every other longing.
"Just strive that the five wounds soon melt away,
80 As have the other two already vanished,
For they heal of themselves by being painful."
I was about to say, "You so content me,"
When, seeing I’d arrived at the next circle,
My eager eyes made me remain silent.
85 There it seemed that I was all at once
Caught up into an ecstatic vision
And saw a temple filled with crowds of people
And saw a woman there about to enter,
With a mother’s tender attitude,
90 Saying, "My son, why have you done this to us?
"See how your father and I have sought for you,
Sorrowing." And as she then was silent,
That which at first appeared there, disappeared.
Another woman then appeared to me,
95 With her cheeks drenched by water grief distills
When it arises out of deep resentment,
And she spoke, "If you are lord of the city
Whose naming was debated by the gods,
And which beams with all knowledge everywhere,
100 "Take your revenge against those brazen arms
Which embraced our daughter, O Pisistratus!"
And her lord seemed to me gentle and kind
In answering her with a temperate look,
"What shall we do to one who wants to hurt us
105 If we condemn someone who shows us love?"
Then I saw people fired up with anger
Stoning a young man to death, and loudly
Clamoring to each other, "Kill! Kill!"
And I saw him sink down, since death already
110 Weighed heavily upon him, toward the ground,
But ever he made his eyes gates for heaven,
Praying to the high Lord in such pain
That He show pardon to his persecutors,
With that look which unlocks true compassion.
115 When my mind turned again to outward things
Which, independent of it, still are real,
I recognized the truth within my errors.
My guide, who could see that I acted
Like someone shaking off his sleepiness,
120 Said, "What’s wrong? Can’t you hold your own,
"But have you come for more than half a league
With your eyes shut and your legs unsteady,
Like a man staggering with wine or sleep?"
"O my sweet father, if you’ll hear me out,"
125 I said, "I’ll tell you what appeared to me
When my two legs stumbled along the way."
And he: "If you had worn a hundred masks
Over your face, even your slightest thought
Still could not remain concealed from me.
130 "What you saw was intended to allow you
To open your heart up to the flood of peace
Which tumbles out of the eternal fountain.
"I did not ask, ‘What’s wrong?’ like a person
Who cannot see beyond his own two eyes
135 When a body lies insensible before him,
"But I asked to give strength to your feet:
So must the sluggards be spurred when they are slow
To ply their waking-time when it comes round."
We walked on through the twilight with our eyes
140 Straining ahead as far as we were able
Against the last bright beams of evening sun;
And, look! billow by billow a smoke drifted
Toward us, black as night, with no way left
For us to flee or to shake free from it:
145 Smoke robbed us of our sight and the pure air.
