Divine Comedy: Paradise | Page 8

if failure of the vow
By other service may
be so supplied,
As from self-question to assure the soul."
Thus she her words, not heedless of my wish,
Began; and thus, as one
who breaks not off
Discourse, continued in her saintly strain.

"Supreme of gifts, which God creating gave
Of his free bounty, sign
most evident
Of goodness, and in his account most priz'd,
Was
liberty of will, the boon wherewith
All intellectual creatures, and
them sole
He hath endow'd. Hence now thou mayst infer
Of what
high worth the vow, which so is fram'd
That when man offers, God
well-pleas'd accepts;
For in the compact between God and him,

This treasure, such as I describe it to thee,
He makes the victim, and
of his own act.
What compensation therefore may he find?
If that,
whereof thou hast oblation made,
By using well thou think'st to
consecrate,
Thou would'st of theft do charitable deed.
Thus I
resolve thee of the greater point.
"But forasmuch as holy church, herein
Dispensing, seems to
contradict the truth
I have discover'd to thee, yet behooves
Thou
rest a little longer at the board,
Ere the crude aliment, which thou hast
taken,
Digested fitly to nutrition turn.
Open thy mind to what I now
unfold,
And give it inward keeping. Knowledge comes
Of learning
well retain'd, unfruitful else.
"This sacrifice in essence of two things
Consisteth; one is that,
whereof 't is made,
The covenant the other. For the last,
It ne'er is
cancell'd if not kept: and hence
I spake erewhile so strictly of its force.

For this it was enjoin'd the Israelites,
Though leave were giv'n
them, as thou know'st, to change
The offering, still to offer. Th' other
part,

The matter and the substance of the vow,
May well be such, to
that without offence
It may for other substance be exchang'd.
But at

his own discretion none may shift
The burden on his shoulders,
unreleas'd
By either key, the yellow and the white.
Nor deem of any
change, as less than vain,
If the last bond be not within the new

Included, as the quatre in the six.
No satisfaction therefore can be
paid
For what so precious in the balance weighs,
That all in
counterpoise must kick the beam.
Take then no vow at random: ta'en,
with faith
Preserve it; yet not bent, as Jephthah once,
Blindly to
execute a rash resolve,
Whom better it had suited to exclaim,
'1
have done ill,' than to redeem his pledge
By doing worse or, not
unlike to him
In folly, that great leader of the Greeks:
Whence, on
the alter, Iphigenia mourn'd
Her virgin beauty, and hath since made
mourn
Both wise and simple, even all, who hear
Of so fell sacrifice.
Be ye more staid,
O Christians, not, like feather, by each wind

Removable: nor think to cleanse ourselves
In every water. Either
testament,
The old and new, is yours: and for your guide
The
shepherd of the church let this suffice
To save you. When by evil lust
entic'd,
Remember ye be men, not senseless beasts;
Nor let the Jew,
who dwelleth in your streets,
Hold you in mock'ry. Be not, as the
lamb,
That, fickle wanton, leaves its mother's milk,
To dally with
itself in idle play."
Such were the words that Beatrice spake:
These ended, to that region,
where the world
Is liveliest, full of fond desire she turn'd.
Though mainly prompt new question to propose,
Her silence and
chang'd look did keep me dumb.
And as the arrow, ere the cord is still,

Leapeth unto its mark; so on we sped
Into the second realm. There
I beheld
The dame, so joyous enter, that the orb
Grew brighter at
her smiles; and, if the star

Were mov'd to gladness, what then was my
cheer,
Whom nature hath made apt for every change!
As in a quiet and clear lake the fish,
If aught approach them from
without, do draw
Towards it, deeming it their food; so drew
Full
more than thousand splendours towards us,
And in each one was

heard: "Lo! one arriv'd
To multiply our loves!" and as each came

The shadow, streaming forth effulgence new,
Witness'd augmented
joy. Here, reader! think,
If thou didst miss the sequel of my tale,
To
know the rest how sorely thou wouldst crave;
And thou shalt see
what vehement desire
Possess'd me, as soon as these had met my
view,
To know their state. "O born in happy hour!
Thou to whom
grace vouchsafes, or ere thy close
Of fleshly warfare, to behold the
thrones
Of that eternal triumph, know to us
The light
communicated, which through heaven
Expatiates without bound.
Therefore, if aught
Thou of our beams wouldst borrow for thine aid,

Spare not; and of our radiance take thy fill."
Thus of those piteous spirits one bespake me;
And Beatrice next:
"Say on; and trust
As unto gods!" --"How in the light supreme
Thou
harbour'st, and from thence the virtue bring'st,
That, sparkling in
thine eyes, denotes thy joy,
l mark; but, who thou art, am still to seek;

Or wherefore, worthy spirit! for thy lot
This sphere assign'd, that
oft from mortal ken
Is veil'd by others' beams." I said, and turn'd

Toward the lustre, that with greeting, kind
Erewhile had hail'd me.
Forthwith brighter far
Than erst, it wax'd: and, as himself the sun

Hides through excess of light, when his warm gaze
Hath on the