ye on earth call Thrones, are like so many mirrors.”—l'’enturi. See note to line 21. (67.) Folco di Marsiglia-made known to Dante through Cunizza's account of his fame. See line 37, and note to line 82. “The sign which spiritual Intelligences in heaven give of their desire to converse with the travellers that visit their respective abodes, by shining out from among their companions with intenser lustre, is of the same happy character of thought with the idea of Beatrice's beauty brightening as she mounts from sphere to sphere."—James Montgomery. (77.) The Seraphim were described, canto viii. 28, as singing Hosanna together with the spirits. Their six wings are mentioned by Isaiah, cap. vi. 2. (82.) The object of the following lines is, to point out the dwelling place of Folco, who was born at Genoa, but resided at Marseilles. He is said to have been much honoured by Richard I. of England, and Raymond of Toulouse. His verses having perished, he lives only in Dante's work. On the death of his wife he entered into a monastery, and is said to have become Bishop of Marseilles. The "vale of waters" here spoken of is the Mediter

ranean.

Page 87. (Line 85.) The shores of the Mediterranean, inhabited by people of opposite habits and manners, are called "discordant," after Virgil: " Littora littoribus contraria.”— En. iv. 628. "They who live near the Straits of Gibraltar have their horizon at Jerusalem....., Whosoever, therefore, should advance thence to Palestine, i.e. a fourth part of the circle of the earth, would have the meridian where he before had the horizon.”—Volpi. (91.) Buggia is a city in the state of Algiers, opposite to, and under the same meridian with Genoa. the place of Folco's birth. The slaughter alluded to is that committed by the Saracens, in 936. (97.) Dido.—The maid of

Rhodope, Phyllis ;-Iole's lover, Hercules. (107.) The reading" affetto" is adopted in preference to that of "effetto.' See Cesari. Bellezze di Dante.

Page 88. (Line 118.) Of Rahab, see Joshua, cap. ii. and Hebrews, ix. 31. "Though all the inhabitants of Jericho were alarmed at the approach of Joshua, this woman alone turned her sense of its imminent danger to any good account; she believed what had been told her as to the former history of the Israelites; and she reasoned sensibly, and acted promptly upon her belief."-Scripture History. By the Hon. and very Rev. Henry E. J. Howard, D.D., Dean of Lichfield. (119) According to Ptolemy, the shadow of the earth ends in the planet Venus. The triumph of Christ is that achieved over Satan when he visited the spirits in Limbo. See Inf. iv. 53, and note. (126.) i. e. The Pope forgets it is in the hands of the Saracens. Florence is called the "plant" of Satan; and Envy was most rife there. See Inf. xv. 68. (130.) The floren was the gold coin in use at Florence, which the Pope so coveted that he became a very wolf.

Page 89. (Line 134.) The Decretals were books of ecclesiastical law, in which Boniface was well versed, and their margins well worn. (139.) The liberation looked forward to is supposed by Landino to allude to the death of Boniface,by Venturi, to the arrival of Henry of Luxemburg,-by Lombardi, to the removal of the Holy See to Avignon. (141.) "St. Peter's faithful host," means the blessed army of martyrs. (142.) Boniface is so called from his simoniacal practices. See Inf. xix. 53, and note.

CANTO X.

ARGUMENT.

ASCENT to the Sun, or fourth heaven. Dante is encompassed by a wreath of spirits. Thomas Aquinas, one of these, declares the names of the rest.

VIEWING his offspring with that fervent Love
Which ever from the Sire and Son proceeds,
The First Great Cause of all below-above-
Hath in such perfect order wrought the whole,
That he who contemplates these wonders, needs
Must feel the Godhead thrill his inmost soul.
Raise then thine eyes, O reader, following mine,
Up to the lofty wheels, that I may show

Where the two motions, link'd in one, combine;
And then become enamour'd of the art

Of the Great Master, who admires it so~~
His eyes, delighted, never thence depart.

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See how the Zodiac is extended thence,

Whereon are borne the planets, that they may Supply the earth, which asks their influence: And did they not through heaven obliquely run, Much starry virtue would be thrown away, And many a motive power on earth undone.

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And were or more or less the obliquity,

Greatly defective would that order be

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Which reigns below, and in the realms on high.
And now, O reader, on thy bench recline,
Pondering the feast that is prepared for thee;
So will delight, not weariness, be thine.
Feed now ;-before thee have I placed the fare;
For that which I have task'd myself to write,

Demands from me my undivided care.

Nature's great Minister, (whose ray sublime

Imprints the world below with heav'n's own might,
And regulating all things measures time,)

Entering the sign that has been named before,
Amid these spires his circling journey ran,

In which each day he advances more and more:
And I was with him; nor perceiv'd I ought
Of my increas'd ascent, more than a man
Perceives, ere it arise, his primal thought.

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But wonder not; for Beatrice is she

Who leads from good to better with such speed,
That not by time her acts exprest may be.
To tell what forms, self-radiant, on my sight

Shone in the sun, distinguish'd not indeed

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By different hue, but by their greater light, (Though art, though genius should my pen inspire 43 To aid the imagination) were in vain ;

But Faith may yet conceive, and Hope desire.
Nor is it wondrous if our fantasies

Unequal be such lofty height to gain :
Since o'er the sun soar'd never mortal eyes.
Such the fourth mansion of the Holy One,

Who ever doth its happiness renew

With His own Spirit, proceeding from His Son. And Beatrice began: "Thy thanks be given— Thy thanks unto the Sun of Angels, who

Hath raised thee to this bright abode in heaven." Never was heart of man so wholly brought

Through heavenly love and through desire unmix'd
To render up to God its every thought,

As I, soon as these words my bosom thrill'd;
And all my affection was on Him so fix'd,

That Beatrice no more my spirit fill'd.

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