Divine Comedy: Paradise | Page 8

human
Gabriel and Michael
represent to you,
And him who made Tobias whole again.
That which Timaeus argues of the soul
Doth not resemble that which
here is seen,
Because it seems that as he speaks he thinks.
He says the soul unto its star returns,
Believing it to have been
severed thence
Whenever nature gave it as a form.
Perhaps his doctrine is of other guise
Than the words sound, and
possibly may be
With meaning that is not to be derided.
If he doth mean that to these wheels return
The honour of their
influence and the blame,
Perhaps his bow doth hit upon some truth.
This principle ill understood once warped
The whole world nearly,
till it went astray
Invoking Jove and Mercury and Mars.
The other doubt which doth disquiet thee
Less venom has, for its
malevolence
Could never lead thee otherwhere from me.
That as unjust our justice should appear
In eyes of mortals, is an
argument
Of faith, and not of sin heretical.
But still, that your perception may be able
To thoroughly penetrate
this verity,
As thou desirest, I will satisfy thee.
If it be violence when he who suffers
Co-operates not with him who
uses force,
These souls were not on that account excused;
For will is never quenched unless it will,
But operates as nature doth
in fire
If violence a thousand times distort it.
Hence, if it yieldeth more or less, it seconds
The force; and these
have done so, having power
Of turning back unto the holy place.

If their will had been perfect, like to that
Which Lawrence fast upon
his gridiron held,
And Mutius made severe to his own hand,
It would have urged them back along the road
Whence they were
dragged, as soon as they were free;
But such a solid will is all too
rare.
And by these words, if thou hast gathered them
As thou shouldst do,
the argument is refuted
That would have still annoyed thee many
times.
But now another passage runs across
Before thine eyes, and such that
by thyself
Thou couldst not thread it ere thou wouldst be weary.
I have for certain put into thy mind
That soul beatified could never lie,

For it is near the primal Truth,
And then thou from Piccarda might'st have heard
Costanza kept
affection for the veil,
So that she seemeth here to contradict me.
Many times, brother, has it come to pass,
That, to escape from peril,
with reluctance
That has been done it was not right to do,
E'en as Alcmaeon (who, being by his father
Thereto entreated, his
own mother slew)
Not to lose pity pitiless became.
At this point I desire thee to remember
That force with will
commingles, and they cause
That the offences cannot be excused.
Will absolute consenteth not to evil;
But in so far consenteth as it
fears,
If it refrain, to fall into more harm.
Hence when Piccarda uses this expression,
She meaneth the will
absolute, and I
The other, so that both of us speak truth."
Such was the flowing of the holy river
That issued from the fount

whence springs all truth;
This put to rest my wishes one and all.
"O love of the first lover, O divine,"
Said I forthwith, "whose speech
inundates me
And warms me so, it more and more revives me,
My own affection is not so profound
As to suffice in rendering grace
for grace;
Let Him, who sees and can, thereto respond.
Well I perceive that never sated is
Our intellect unless the Truth
illume it,
Beyond which nothing true expands itself.
It rests therein, as wild beast in his lair,
When it attains it; and it can
attain it;
If not, then each desire would frustrate be.
Therefore springs up, in fashion of a shoot,
Doubt at the foot of truth;
and this is nature,
Which to the top from height to height impels us.
This doth invite me, this assurance give me
With reverence, Lady, to
inquire of you
Another truth, which is obscure to me.
I wish to know if man can satisfy you
For broken vows with other
good deeds, so
That in your balance they will not be light."
Beatrice gazed upon me with her eyes
Full of the sparks of love, and
so divine,
That, overcome my power, I turned my back
And almost lost myself with eyes downcast.
Paradiso: Canto V
"If in the heat of love I flame upon thee
Beyond the measure that on
earth is seen,
So that the valour of thine eyes I vanquish,
Marvel thou not thereat; for this proceeds
From perfect sight, which
as it apprehends
To the good apprehended moves its feet.

Well I perceive how is already shining
Into thine intellect the eternal
light,
That only seen enkindles always love;
And if some other thing your love seduce,
'Tis nothing but a vestige
of the same,
Ill understood, which there is shining through.
Thou fain wouldst know if with another service
For broken vow can
such return be made
As to secure the soul from further claim."
This Canto thus did Beatrice begin;
And, as a man who breaks not off
his speech,
Continued thus her holy argument: