So recognized shall his magnificence
Become hereafter, that his enemiesWill not have power to keep mute tongues about it.
On him rely, and on his benefits;By him shall many people be transformed,Changing condition rich and mendicant;
And written in thy mind thou hence shalt bearOf him, but shalt not say it”—and things said heIncredible to those who shall be present.
Then added: “Son, these are the commentariesOn what was said to thee; behold the snaresThat are concealed behind few revolutions;
Yet would I not thy neighbours thou shouldst envy,Because thy life into the future reachesBeyond the punishment of their perfidies.”
When by its silence showed that sainted soulThat it had finished putting in the woofInto that web which I had given it warped,
Began I, even as he who yearneth after,Being in doubt, some counsel from a personWho seeth, and uprightly wills, and loves:
“Well see I, father mine, how spurreth onThe time towards me such a blow to deal meAs heaviest is to him who most gives way.
Therefore with foresight it is well I arm me,That, if the dearest place be taken from me,I may not lose the others by my songs.
Down through the world of infinite bitterness,And o’er the mountain, from whose beauteous summitThe eyes of my own Lady lifted me,
And afterward through heaven from light to light,I have learned that which, if I tell again,Will be a savour of strong herbs to many.
And if I am a timid friend to truth,I fear lest I may lose my life with thoseWho will hereafter call this time the olden.”
The light in which was smiling my own treasureWhich there I had discovered, flashed at firstAs in the sunshine doth a golden mirror;
Then made reply: “A conscience overcastOr with its own or with another’s shame,Will taste forsooth the tartness of thy word;
But ne’ertheless, all falsehood laid aside,Make manifest thy vision utterly,And let them scratch wherever is the itch;
For if thine utterance shall offensive beAt the first taste, a vital nutriment’Twill leave thereafter, when it is digested.
This cry of thine shall do as doth the wind,Which smiteth most the most exalted summits,And that is no slight argument of honour.
Therefore are shown to thee within these wheels,Upon the mount and in the dolorous valley,Only the souls that unto fame are known;
Because the spirit of the hearer rests not,Nor doth confirm its faith by an exampleWhich has the root of it unknown and hidden,
Or other reason that is not apparent.”
Paradiso: Canto XVIII
Now was alone rejoicing in its wordThat soul beatified, and I was tastingMy own, the bitter tempering with the sweet,
And the Lady who to God was leading meSaid: “Change thy thought; consider that I amNear unto Him who every wrong disburdens.”
Unto the loving accents of my comfortI turned me round, and then what love I sawWithin those holy eyes I here relinquish;
Not only that my language I distrust,But that my mind cannot return so farAbove itself, unless another guide it.
Thus much upon that point can I repeat,That, her again beholding, my affectionFrom every other longing was released.
While the eternal pleasure, which directRayed upon Beatrice, from her fair faceContented me with its reflected aspect,
Conquering me with the radiance of a smile,She said to me, “Turn thee about and listen;Not in mine eyes alone is Paradise.”
Even as sometimes here do we beholdThe affection in the look, if it be suchThat all the soul is wrapt away by it,
So, by the flaming of the effulgence holyTo which I turned, I recognized thereinThe wish of speaking to me somewhat farther.
And it began: “In this fifth resting-placeUpon the tree that liveth by its summit,And aye bears fruit, and never loses leaf,
Are blessed spirits that below, ere yetThey came to Heaven, were of such great renownThat every Muse therewith would affluent be.
Therefore look thou upon the cross’s horns;He whom I now shall name will there enactWhat doth within a cloud its own swift fire.”
I saw athwart the Cross a splendour drawnBy naming Joshua, (even as he did it,)Nor noted I the word before the deed;