by Dante
yellow lilies, while the other claims it for a party,
102
so that it’s hard to see which one offends the more.
‘Let the Ghibellines ply them, ply their tricks →
beneath another standard, for he follows
105
this one poorly who severs it from justice.
‘And let not this new Charles strive to fell it →
with his Guelphs, but let him fear its claws,
108
which have ripped the hides from greater lions. →
‘Many a time have children wept →
for the father’s sin, and let him not think
111
that God will change His ensign for those lilies.
‘This little star is ornamented →
with righteous spirits, those whose deeds were done
114
for the honor and the glory that would follow.
‘When such errant desires arise down there,
then the rays of the one true love
117
must rise with less intensity.
‘But noting how our merit equals our reward →
is part of our happiness,
120
because we see them being neither less nor more.
‘So much does living justice sweeten our affection →
we cannot ever then take on
123
the warp of wickedness.
‘Differing voices make sweet music.
Just so our differing ranks in this our life
126
create sweet harmony among these wheels.
‘Within this very pearl shines →
the shining light of Romeo,
129
whose great and noble work was poorly paid.
‘But those of Provence who schemed against him →
have not had the last laugh—he takes an evil road
132
to whom another’s good deed seems a wrong.
‘Raymond Berenger had four daughters,
each of them a queen, and Romeo, a man →
135
of little standing and a stranger, made that happen.
‘And when malicious tongues moved Raymond
to go over accounts with this just man, →
138
who had rendered him seven plus five for ten, →
‘Romeo left there, poor in his old age. →
And, if the world knew the heart he had within
when, crust by crust, he begged his bread,
142
much as it praises him, it would praise him more.’
OUTLINE: PARADISO VII
MERCURY
1–3
Justinian’s double-tongued canto opening
4–6
his “double light”
7–9
the dancing disappearance of the “Mercurians”
10–12
Dante’s question and eagerness to share it with Beatrice
13–18
he holds it back, yet she divines his thoughts
19–24
Beatrice reveals his question (“how can a just vendetta be justly punished?”) and prepares to answer
(1) Beatrice’s response to Dante’s first question
25–27
Adam, not reining in his will, took us down with him
28–33
thus the human race was “infirm” until the Incarnation
34–39
the flesh of Christ was both pure (like new-made Adam’s) and, because flesh after original sin is what it is, impure in itself;
40–45
if one pays attention to Christ’s flesh as flesh, the pain of the Cross was justly felt,
46–48
thus a single act had diverse effects, pleasing God and the Jews (for different reasons), earthquake and the opening of heaven the differing signs
49–51
and thus let it no longer be difficult for you to acknowledge that a just vengeance (the killing of Jesus) was itself avenged justly (by Titus)
(2) Dante’s second doubt and Beatrice’s response
52–57
I see you are again confused; what you want to know is “Why did God decide to save humankind by agency of the death of Jesus and not in some other way?”
58–63
This is hidden, brother, from those who have not been brought up in the flame of divine love
64–78
man’s privileged position in the universe
79–81
the Fall: man lost most of that privilege
82–93
only two ways to recover his position: (1) he himself had to repay or (2) God had to pardon him
94–105
since he had no means to accomplish the first of these, it remained to God to ransom him
106–120
the Incarnation and death of Jesus
(3) Dante’s third doubt; Beatrice’s resolution of it
121–123
Anticipating a problem Dante may derive from her previous words, Beatrice resolves yet another doubt:
124–129
you say, “I see the four elements, and they, created by God, in fact die; they should not do so”;
130–138
angels and heavens fully formed by God
139–141
souls of beasts and plants drawn forth by the stars
142–144
but your life is breathed into you directly by God,
145–148
hence you are immortal (as are Adam and Eve).
PARADISO VII
‘Osanna, sanctus Deus sabaoth, → → →
superillustrans claritate tua
3
felices ignes horum malacoth!’— →
thus, wheeling to the notes of his own melody, →
I saw that being, in whom a double light
6
is twinned, caught up in song, →
he and the others moving in their dance
and, like the fastest-flying sparks, →
9
veiled from me by their sudden distance.
I was in doubt, saying to myself, ‘Tell her, →
tell her,’ saying to myself, ‘tell this to my lady,
12
who slakes my thirst with her sweet drops.’ →
But the reverence that is mistress over me →
at the mere sound of Be or ice →
15
bowed down my head, as when a man nods off.
Not long did Beatrice leave me in this state
before she spoke, shining with the rays of such a smile
18
as would content a man if he were set on fire: →
‘In my infallible opinion this idea, → →
that just revenge itself perhaps deserves → →
21
just punishment, has set you thinking.
‘But I will quickly free your mind of doubt.
Still, you must listen closely, for my words
24
shall set before you things of great importance.
‘By not enduring, for his own good, a rein →
upon his will, that man who was not born, →
27
damning himself, damned all his offspring.
‘As a result, for centuries the human race →
lay sick in an abyss of error →
30
until the Word of God chose to descend, →
‘uniting human nature, estranged now →
from its Maker, with Himself in His own person
33
by a single act of His eternal Love.
‘Now direct your inner sight on what evolves from that. →
This nature, united with its Maker,
36
was pure and good, even as it was when first created.
‘But through the fault of its own doing
> it was expelled from Eden
39
because it turned away from truth and life. →
‘If, then, the penalty exacted by the cross
is measured by the nature He assumed,
42
no other ever stung so justly.
‘Yet it is also true that there was never done
so great an outrage with regard to Him who suffered,
45
having taken on that nature.
‘From a single act, then, came diverse effects, →
for the same death delighted God as well as Jews.
48
Because of it earth quaked and Heaven opened.
‘No longer, from now on, should it seem puzzling →
when you hear it said that a just vengeance
51
was afterward avenged in a just court.
‘But now I see your mind entangled, → →
by one thought and another in a knot
54
from which, eager, it waits to be untied:
‘You say, “I follow closely what I hear,
but why God wanted this to be the very way
57
for our redemption is obscure to me.” →
‘The reason for this decree, brother, lies buried,
hidden from the eyes of all
60
whose minds have not been ripened in the flame of love.
‘Nonetheless, since so many strive to hit this mark,
while so few can even see it, I shall explain
63
why this was the most fitting choice.
‘Spurning any kind of envy, Divine Goodness, → →
burning within, so sparkles
66
that it unfolds Eternal Beauty.
‘That which, unmediated, derives from it →
is thus without an end, because its imprint, →
69
once stamped, can never wear away.
‘That which, unmediated, rains down from it
is wholly free, because it is not subject
72
to the influence of things more recent, →
‘is more like that Goodness and thus more pleases Him.
The holy ardor that irradiates all things
75
shines brightest in what most resembles it.
‘In all these gifts the human creature
is advantaged, but, if a single gift is lacking,
78
he must fall from his exalted state.
‘Sin alone is what enslaves him,
making him unlike the highest good
81
so that he is illumined by its light but little,
‘never returning to his privilege
unless he fills the void created by his fault
84
with penalties fit for his sinful pleasure.
‘Your nature, when it sinned in toto →
in its seed, was separated
87
from these privileges and from its Eden.
‘Nor could they be recovered—
if you consider closely—by any other recourse
90
except to ford one of these crossings:
‘either that God, in His own clemency,
had pardoned, or that man, of himself,
93
had given satisfaction for his foolish pride.
‘Now fix your eyes deep in the abyss
of the everlasting will of God
96
and give your strict attention to my words.
‘With his limitations, man could never offer →
satisfaction, for he could not descend as deep
99
into humility, by latter-day obedience,
‘as, by disobeying, he had thought to rise.
And this is the reason for which he was denied
102
the power of giving satisfaction on his own.
‘Thus it was necessary that God in His own ways →
restore man to the fullness of his life—
105
by the one way, that is, or by both of them.
‘But since the deed more gratifies the doer
the more it shows the goodness
108
of the heart from which it springs,
‘divine goodness, which puts its imprint
on the world, was pleased to proceed
111
in both its ways to raise you up again.
‘Nor between the last night and the first day →
was, or will there be, a deed performed—in the first way
114
or the second—so sublime or generous.
‘More bountiful was God when He gave Himself,
enabling man to rise again, than if,
117
in His sole clemency, he had simply pardoned.
‘All other means fell short of justice
save that the Son of God
120
should humble Himself by becoming flesh.
‘Now, to satisfy each of your desires,
I go back to clarify one point,
123
that you may understand it just as I do.
‘You say: “I see water, I see fire, air, → →
and earth—and all their combinations—
126
become corrupted, lasting only briefly.
‘ “And yet these things were created,
so that, if what was said is true,
129
they should be proof against corruption.”
‘The angels, brother, and this pure country
where you are may be said to have been created
132
just as they are and in their entire being,
‘but those elements that have been named
and those other things made from them
135
take their form from a created power.
‘Created was the matter that is in them,
created, the informing power
138
in these stars that wheel about them.
‘The soul of every beast and every plant →
is drawn from a complex of potentials
141
by the shining and the motion of the holy lights.
‘But supreme goodness breathes life in you,
unmediated, and He so enamors your soul
144
of Himself that it desires Him forever after.
‘From this you may, in consequence, deduce →
your resurrection, if you but recall
how then your flesh was made
148
in the making of the first two parents.’
OUTLINE: PARADISO VIII
VENUS
1–12
Venereal preamble: what the ancient pagans used to believe about this planet (“veneral trinity”); Dido
13–15
the ascent to Venus accomplished without awareness
16–21
double simile: as a spark within a flame and as one voice is distinguished from another because it varies its note, so the lights of souls stood out from the light of Venus
22–27
pseudo-simile: lightning or windstorm, to one who had seen these movements, would seem slow compared to them;
28–30
those in front sing “Osanna” (the first song of the canto)
31–32
one of the saved [Charles Martel] approaches to speak:
33–39
“We revolve here with the order of angels known as ‘Principalities,’ to whom you once referred as ‘Thrones’
40–42
Dante looks reverently at Beatrice; with her permission
43–48
he turns his eyes back to Charles: “Who are you?”
49–84
Charles’s story:
49–51
I died young (twenty-four years old in 1295), and this will cause the world more woe than had I not
52–54
the joy that swathes me makes me like a silkworm
55–57
you (Dante) loved me much; had I lived, you would have enjoyed the rewards of that love
58–75
the realms deprived of his guidance by his death: Provence, the kingdom of Naples, Hungary
76–84
Charles castigates his brother Robert’s future rule
85–90
Dante takes joy in seeing his joy seen by Charles in God
91–93
Dante continues by wondering, on the basis of vv. 82–83, how a good father can have a bad son
94–96
Charles agrees to deal with Dante’s quandary:
97–111
“God’s providence is present in the heavenly bodies”
112–114
Charles: “is that clear?” Dante: “Yes”
115–135
Charles continues: “humans have diverse dispositions, as [Aristotle] says (thus Solon, Xerxes, Melchizedek, [Daedalus], [Icarus]); but Nature does not favor one family over another: Esau, Jacob; Romulus”;
136–138
Charles now offers a corollary as a “cloak”:
139–148
the world should not insist on forcing humans to take on roles that do not fit their natures.
PARADISO VIII
To its own cost, there was a time the world believed →
that the fair Cyprian beamed rays of maddened love, →
3
revolving in the wheel of the third epicycle, →
so that the ancient peoples in their ancient error →
not only did her honor
6
with sacrifice and votive cry
but honored Dïone, and Cupid too, →
one as her mother, the other as her son,
9
and told how once he sat in Dido’s lap. →
