| 28 |
I saw a ladder rising up so high |
| 29 |
that it could not be followed by my sight: |
| 30 |
its color, gold when gold is struck by sunlight.
|
| |
| 31 |
I also saw so many flames descend |
| 32 |
those steps that I thought every light displayed
|
| 33 |
in heaven had been poured out from that place. |
| |
| 34 |
And just as jackdaws, at the break of day, |
| 35 |
together rise such is their nature's way |
| 36 |
to warm their feathers chilled by night; then some
|
| |
| 37 |
fly off and never do return, and some |
| 38 |
wheel back to that point where they started from,
|
| 39 |
while others, though they wheel, remain at home;
|
| |
| 40 |
such were the ways I saw those splendors take |
| 41 |
as soon as they had struck a certain step, |
| 42 |
where they had thronged as one in radiance. |
| |
| 43 |
The flame that halted nearest us became |
| 44 |
so bright that in my mind I said: I see |
| 45 |
you clearly signaling to me your love. |
| |
| 46 |
But she from whom I wait for word on how |
| 47 |
and when to speak and to be silent, pauses; |
| 48 |
thus, though I would, I do well not to ask. |
| |
| 49 |
And she who, seeing Him who sees all things, |
| 50 |
had seen the reason for my silence, said |
| 51 |
to me: Do satisfy your burning longing. |
| |
| 52 |
And I began: My merit does not make |
| 53 |
me worthy of reply, but for the sake |
| 54 |
of her who gives me leave to question you |
| |
| 55 |
a blessed living soul who hide within |
| 56 |
your joy, do let me know the reason why |
| 57 |
you drew so near to me. And tell me, too, |
| |
| 58 |
why the sweet symphony of Paradise |
| 59 |
is silent in this heaven, while, below, |
| 60 |
it sounds devoutly through the other spheres. |
| |
| 61 |
Your hearing is as mortal as your sight; |
| 62 |
thus, here there is no singing, he replied, |
| 63 |
and Beatrice, in like wise, did not smile. |
| |
| 64 |
When, down the sacred staircase, I descended, |
| 65 |
I only came to welcome you with gladness |
| 66 |
with words and with the light that mantles me. |
| |
| 67 |
The love that prompted me is not supreme; |
| 68 |
above, is love that equals or exceeds |
| 69 |
my own, as spirit-flames will let you see. |
| |
| 70 |
But the deep charity, which makes us keen |
| 71 |
to serve the Providence that rules the world, |
| 72 |
allots our actions here, as you perceive. |
| |
| 73 |
O holy lamp, I said, I do indeed |
| 74 |
see how, within this court, it is your free |
| 75 |
love that fulfills eternal Providence; |
| |
| 76 |
but this seems difficult for me to grasp: |
| 77 |
why you alone, of those who form these ranks, |
| 78 |
were he who was predestined to this task. |
| |
| 79 |
And I had yet to reach the final word |
| 80 |
when that light made a pivot of its midpoint |
| 81 |
and spun around as would a swift millstone. |
| |
| 82 |
Then, from within its light, that love replied:
|
| 83 |
Light from the Deity descends on me; |
| 84 |
it penetrates the light that enwombs me; |
| |
| 85 |
its power, as it joins my power of sight, |
| 86 |
lifts me so far beyond myself that I |
| 87 |
see the High Source from which that light derives.
|
| |
| 88 |
From this there comes the joy with which I am |
| 89 |
aflame; I match the clearness of my light |
| 90 |
with equal measure of my clear insight. |
| |
| 91 |
But even Heaven's most enlightened soul, |
| 92 |
that Seraph with his eye most set on God, |
| 93 |
could not provide the why, not satisfy |
| |
| 94 |
what you have asked; for deep in the abyss |
| 95 |
of the Eternal Ordinance, it is |
| 96 |
cut off from all created beings' vision. |
| |
| 97 |
And to the mortal world, when you return, |
| 98 |
tell this, lest men continue to trespass |
| 99 |
and set their steps toward such a reachless goal.
|
| |
| 100 |
The mind, bright here, on earth is dulled and smoky.
|
| 101 |
Think: how, below, can mind see that which hides
|
| 102 |
even when mind is raised to Heaven's height? |
| |
| 103 |
His words so curbed my query that I left |
| 104 |
behind my questioning; and I drew back |
| 105 |
and humbly asked that spirit who he was.... |
