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

37

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 givenThy 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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55

Nor ought displeased was she; but as she smiled,

Such brightness from her radiant eyes came down, My mind from that sole object was beguiled. Round us, as round a centre, I beheld

Full many a living lustre form a crown,
Whose vocal sweetness e'en their light excell'd.
Oft cinctured thus Latona's daughter reigns,

What time so charged with moisture is the air
That she the texture of her zone retains.
In Heaven's high court, whence I my steps retrace,
Are many precious gems serene and fair,
Which may not be extracted from their place;
And like to these was that celestial strain :-
Vain, without plumes to seek such melody,
As to seek tidings from the dumb were vain.

These glowing suns, thus pouring forth the song,

Around us circled thrice, as in the sky
Whirl stars that unto steady poles belong.

Ladies they seem'd, not from the dance set free,
But pausing for new notes,—with fond desire,
Until they catch them, listening silently:

And words like these from one of them I heard:

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67

73

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"Since the bright ray of grace (whence love's true fire Once kindled, to fresh warmth is ever stirr'd)

Such ardent glow unto thy spirit lends,

That it conducts thee upward by that stair
Which every one remounteth who descends;
He is not free (unless a stream be free

That runs not seaward) who denies a share,
In this thy thirst, of his own wine to thee.

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You wish to know what flowers this wreath compose, 91 View'd by that Lady with admiring gaze

[shows.
Who gives thee strength, while heaven's high path she
One of the Lambs of that blest flock was I
Which Dominic so leads in righteous ways,
They thrive, unless they fall through vanity.
He who is nearest to me on the right

Was Albert, my erewhile instructor-who
Lived at Cologne: Aquinas am I hight.
And would'st thou know the names of all the rest,
Turning thine eyes as I direct thy view,

Look up throughout the garland of the blest.
From Gratian's smile that other flame doth rise,

Who to both Forums such assistance bore,

That favour he obtains in Paradise.

The other, of our choir the ornament,

Was that Lombardo, who, like her of yore,
To holy Church his treasure did present.

G

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108

The fifth light, fairest amid all our fires,

Breathes forth such love, that all the world below To gain some knowledge of its fate desires: Within it is that luminary seen,

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Which Heaven so richly did of old endow,

If truth be truth, its like hath never been.

Nearer, that radiant taper meets thy view,

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Who in the flesh, the nature and the state
Of Angels with acutest vision knew.
And in that other little light behold

His smile, of Christian fanes the advocate,
From whom Augustin took his lore of old.
Now if thy mental eye conducted be

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From light to light, as I resound their praise,

The eighth well worth attention wilt thou see.
Within it dwells, all excellence beholding,

The soul who pointed out the world's dark ways;
To all who listen, its deceits unfolding.

Beneath in Cieldauro lies the frame

Whence it was driven ;-from death and exile, to
This fair abode of peace and bliss it came.

Flaming beyond, the ardent spirits scan

Of Isidaurus, Bede, Riccardo, who

In judgment may be deem'd as more than man.

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This flame, from whom to me reverts thine eye,
Is one, who, pondering mortal follies, thought
That death's approach was made too tardily,—
Sigieri's clear and everlasting light ;—

Who in the street of straw as erst he taught,

Raised by the truths he told, invidious spite. Then, like a clock that summons us away,

What time the Spouse of God at matin hour
Hastes to her Husband, for his love to pray,—
And one part urges on the other, sounding

Tin Tin in notes so sweet, that by its power
The soul is thrill'd, with pious love abounding;

So I beheld that glorious circle move;

And with such sweet accord and harmony

Take up the song of praise, as none may prove, Save where is joy through all eternity."

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NOTES.

Page 93. (Line 9.) " Dante and Beatrice are ascending towards the sun, which was then in Aries, and at the point where the zodiac and equator intersect each other."-Lombardi.

Page 94. (Line 21.) "The poet means the two poles, the Arctic and the Antarctic, conformable to Virgil: 'Hic vertex nobis semper sublimis,' &c. Georg. i. 242."-Volpi. (31.) The