The Divine Comedy

by Dante Alighieri

  Such fine-spun parsing of a construction that could have had several meanings may leave the modern reader uneasy and lead him to miss the point. Dante conceives these spirits as direct participants in God’s omniscience and infallibility. Their every word, therefore, is exactly chosen and must be studied meticulously.

  It is not their words that lack clarity but Dante’s understanding that lacks vision. Their very use of language, for that matter, is a concession to Dante, akin to their willingness to manifest themselves to him, not as they ultimately are, but in the closest approximation that Dante can grasp. Since their knowledge is a direct ray from God, their understanding is reflected from one to the other, through God, with no need of words.

  111. our first father: Adam. our Best Delight: Christ.

  112 ff. AQUINAS REPROACHES DANTE. Dante had jumped to a conclusion. Because he failed to understand what Aquinas had said, he concluded that Aquinas had contradicted the truth in speaking of Solomon. Now that the contradiction has been resolved, Aquinas warns him not to be in a hurry to decide “yes” or “no” in matters that surpass his understanding.

  117. on which road: Whether the road of affirmation or of denial.

  123. worse off: Because they will have left their ignorance only to fall into error.

  124-126. THE FOOLISH PHILOSOPHERS. All three of the philosophers here mentioned were refuted by Aristotle in the Organon (Sophistici Elenchi, I, 10) and that is probably all Dante knew of them. Parmenides taught that all things come from and return to the Sun. Melissus, a disciple of Parmenides, taught that there is no motion in the universe but only an appearance of motion. Bryson labored devotedly and at great length to square the circle.

  127-129. THE HERETICAL PHILOSOPHERS. Arius, an Alexandrian priest (died in 336) taught that the Son, having been created by the Father, could not be one with Him. Sabellius advanced the Monarchian heresy that there is no real distinction between Father and Son and that the Trinity was merely a succession of modes in which a single person appears. Little is known about him except that he was probably born in Libya and that he died about 265.

  139-143. Tom and Jane: Anyone in general. (Dante says: “donna Berta o ser Martino.” ) It is easy for people in general, observing that one man acts sinfully and another piously, to conclude that the sinful man will be damned and the pious one saved. But that could be a hasty judgment. No man should let himself believe that he can foresee another’s fate with the eyes of Divine Omniscience. The pious man may fall from grace (as even Solomon turned to idolatry in his old age and risked damnation) or a thief may repent and win his seat in heaven.

  Canto XIV

  THE FOURTH SPHERE: THE SUN

  The Two Circles of Souls

  Philosophers and Theologians

  Solomon

  The Third Circle of Souls

  Warriors of God

  The Vision of Christ on the Cross

  ASCENT TO MARS

  THE FIFTH SPHERE: MARS

  THOMAS AQUINAS has finished speaking. Now, anticipating the wish Dante has not yet realized is his own, Beatrice begs the double circle of Philosophers and Theologians to explain to Dante the state in which the blessed will find themselves after the RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH. The radiant spirit of SOLOMON answers.

  As Solomon finishes his discourse and the souls about him cry “Amen!” Dante becomes aware of a THIRD CIRCLE OF SOULS, higher and more radiant even than the first two. Its radiance dawns slowly and indistinctly at first, and then suddenly bursts upon him. Only then does he realize that he and Beatrice have been ascending and that he has entered the FIFTH SPHERE, MARS. The souls he had seen in the third great circle are those of the WARRIORS OF GOD. There Dante beholds, shining through the Sphere of Mars (in about the way the rays of a star sapphire shine within the stone), the VISION OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS.

  “The water in a round vessel moves about from center to rim if it is struck from within, from rim to center if it is struck from without.”

  —Such was the thought that suddenly occurred to my rapt mind when the immortal ray of Thomas had pronounced its final word, occasioned by the likeness to the flow of his speech and my lady’s, she being moved to speak when he had done, beginning so:

  “There is another need this man must find the holy root of, though he does not speak it, nor know, as yet, he has the thought in mind.

  Explain to him if the radiance he sees flower about your beings will remain forever exactly as it shines forth in this hour; and if it will remain so, then explain how your restored eyes can endure such brilliance when your beings have grown visible again.”

  As dancers in a country reel flush brighter as they spin faster, moved by joy of joy, their voices higher, and all their gestures lighter—so at my lady’s prompt and humble plea the sacred circles showed yet greater joy in their dance and in their heavenly harmony.

  Those who mourn, here, that we must die to gain the life up there, have never visualized that soul-refreshing and eternal rain.

  That One and Two and Three that is eternal, eternally reigning in Three and Two and One, uncircumscribed, and circumscribing all, was praised in three great paeans by each spirit of those two rings, and in such melody as would do fitting honor to any merit.

  And I heard, then, from the most glorious ray of the inner circle, a voice as sweetly low as the angel’s must have sounded to Mary, say:

  “Long as the feast of Paradise shall be, so long shall our love’s bliss shine forth from us and clothe us in these radiant robes you see.

  Each robe reflects love’s ardor shining forth; the ardor, the vision; the vision shines down to us as each is granted grace beyond his worth.

  When our flesh, made glorious at the Judgment Seat, dresses us once again, then shall our persons become more pleasing in being more complete.

  Thereby shall we have increase of the light Supreme Love grants, unearned, to make us fit to hold His glory ever in our sight.

  Thereby, it follows, the vision shall increase; increase the ardor that the vision kindles; increase the ray its inner fires release.

  But as a coal, in giving off its fire, outshines it by its living incandescence, its form remaining visible and entire;

  so shall this radiance that wraps us round be outshone in appearance by the flesh that lies this long day through beneath the ground; nor will it be overborne by so much light; for the organs of the body shall be strengthened in all that shall give increase of delight.”

  And “Amen!” cried the souls of either chain with such prompt zeal as to make evident how much they yearned to wear their flesh again; perhaps less for themselves than for the love of mothers, fathers, and those each soul held dear before it became an eternal flame above.

  And lo! all round me, equal in all its parts, a splendor dawned above the splendor there like a horizon when the new day starts.

  And as, at the first coming on of night, new presences appear across the sky, seeming to be, and not to be, in sight;

  so did I start to see Existences I had not seen before, forming a ring around the other two circumferences.

  Oh sparkling essence of the Holy Ghost! How instantly it blazed before my eyes, defeating them with glory, their function lost!

  But Beatrice let herself appear to me so glad in beauty, that the vision must lie with those whose glory outdoes memory.

  From her I drew again the power of sight, and looked up, and I saw myself translated, with her alone, to the next estate of light.

  I was made aware that I had risen higher by the enkindled ardor of the red star that glowed, I thought, with more than usual fire.

  With all my heart, and in the tongue which is one in all men, I offered God my soul as a burnt offering for this new bliss.

  Nor had the flame of sacrifice in my breast burned out, when a good omen let me know my prayer had been received by the Most Blest;

  for with such splendor, in such a ruby glow, within two rays, there shone so great a glory I cried, “O Helios that arra
ys them so!”

  As, pole to pole, the arch of the Milky Way so glows, pricked out by greater and lesser stars, that sages stare, not knowing what to say— so constellated, deep within that Sphere, the two rays formed into the holy sign a circle’s quadrant lines describe. And here

  memory outruns my powers. How shall I write that from that cross there glowed a vision of Christ? What metaphor is worthy of that sight?

  But whoso takes his cross and follows Christ will pardon me what I leave here unsaid when he sees that great dawn that rays forth Christ.

  From arm to arm, from root to crown of that tree, bright lamps were moving, crossing and rejoining. And when they met they glowed more brilliantly.

  So, here on earth, across a slant of light that parts the air within the sheltering shade man’s arts and crafts contrive, our mortal sight

  observes bright particles of matter ranging up, down, aslant; darting or eddying; longer and shorter; but forever changing.

  And as a viol and a harp in a harmony of many strings, make only a sweet tinkle to one who has not studied melody;

  so from that choir of glories I heard swell so sweet a melody that I stood tranced, though what hymn they were singing, I could not tell.

  That it was raised in lofty praise was clear, for I heard “Arise” and “Conquer”—but as one may hear, not understanding, and still hear.

  My soul was so enraptured by those strains of purest song, that nothing until then had bound my being to it in such sweet chains.

  My saying so may seem too bold at best, since I had not yet turned to those dear eyes in which my every yearning found its rest.

  But think how the living seals of every beauty grow stronger toward their heights, and though I had not turned to those others yet in love and duty,

  reason may yet dismiss the charge I bring against myself in order to dismiss it; and see the holy truth of what I sing;

  for my sacred pleasure in those sacred eyes can only become purer as we rise.

  NOTES

  1-9. Dante and Beatrice are standing in the center of a double circle of souls that forms, so to speak, a rim around them. The rim suggests to Dante the flow of ripples in a round basin filled with water. If the basin is struck from the outside, the ripples flow toward the center, growing smaller. In Dante’s fancy, the sound of Thomas’s voice had flowed in this way, from rim to center. Now Thomas falls still and Beatrice speaks from the center, her voice seeming to flow outward like ripples from the center to the rim.

  10-18. another need: To know the truth of the resurrection of the flesh. Dante has not spoken this thought. He does not yet know, in fact, that it is forming in his mind, but Beatrice knows he is about to think to ask how it will be after the Day of Judgment if these souls retain their superhuman radiance after they have resumed their bodies (grown visible again). How will their restored human eyes be able to bear such radiance both within and without?

  22. prompt: Beatrice entered her plea in Dante’s behalf even before he knew it was what he wished. It hardly seems possible to be prompter.

  27. rain: Of light.

  35. a voice: Solomon.

  36. as the angel’s must have sounded: At the Annunciation.

  40. robe: In which each spirit is clad.

  40-42. As ever in Dante, many degrees of being exist within each category. The brilliance in which these souls are robed is in proportion to (reflects) the degree of ardor (of caritas) that burns in each. That intensity, in turn, reflects the intensity of each soul’s beatific vision. And the vision is granted to each soul by God’s grace, in proportion to the worth of the individual soul. But that grace is more than even such great souls as these can merit: it is God’s gift to man beyond man’s merit.

  67-81. THE THIRD RING OF SOULS. There is no way of assigning an exact symbolism to this third ring of souls, though three of anything is a natural unity in Dante. The third circle appears above the other two and outshines even their glory. The third circle appears dimly and slowly at first, then bursts upon Dante’s vision just as he and Beatrice soar into the next higher heaven (of Mars). The third circle is also identified as the “sparkling essence of the Holy Ghost” (line 76). It is reasonable, then, to think of the earlier two circles of Philosophers and Theologians as being identified with the Father and the Son, the law and the wisdom of the Trinity, surmounted and encompassed by its ardor. So interpreted, the shining of the third circle becomes a first view of the souls of the Sphere of Mars, the heaven of God’s warriors; and the two spheres (of the Sun and of Mars) combine into a symbolism of the Trinity.

  82-84. from her: Divine Revelation restores Dante’s vision. translated: The ascent, despite the slow dawning of the vision of the Third Circle of Souls, is here presented as being instantaneous. with her alone: With Beatrice, leaving the spirits of the Fourth Heaven behind. to the next estate: The Fifth Heaven, the Sphere of Mars.

  88-90. Dante waits for no prompting from Beatrice but offers his soul in thanks to God, offers it as wholly as if it were a burnt offering sent aloft in the consuming fire (ardor of soul) of sacrifice. the tongue which is one in all men: The tongue of true prayer. Men may phrase it in different languages, but its essence is always the same.

  94 ff. THE VISION OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS. Embedded in the Sphere of Mars (much like the rays of a star sapphire but with a magnitude on the order of the Milky Way) a cross forms on the Heaven of Mars, and in a ruby glow (the redness of Mars and the blood of Christ’s sacrifice are both indicated here), Christ himself shines forth.

  96. Helios: Greek for “sun” and specific to Apollo. Dante is praising God for the glory in which he arrays His vision.

  100. that sphere: Mars.

  102. a circle’s quadrant lines: A quadrant is one fourth of a circle. The lines that describe the four quadrants form a cross within a ring.

  103-108. Christ . . . Christ . . . Christ: Dante never rhymes “Christ” with anything but itself, no word being worthy of being so paired.

  109. that tree: The Cross.

  111. And when they met they glowed more brilliantly: The lights Dante sees are souls. Their radiance is the flame of caritas within them. Whenever two or more meet there their love of one another flares the brighter.

  112-117. THE FIGURE OF MOTES IN A RAY OF SUN. Having begun his figure on a galactic scale, Dante shifts to the scale of earthly particles dancing in a ray of Sun that strikes across a darkened room. The shift is dramatic and the figure of motes in sunlight not only apt in itself but apt again to set the scale of the galactic vision, the souls, in their enormous dimension, being so far from Dante that they are seen as motes.

  127-140. DANTE’S RAPTURE. Hitherto Dante has found his bliss in Beatrice, and it has been to her eyes that he has turned as each new vision awed him. Here, however, he is so enraptured by the vision of the cross and by the power of the music, that he has not turned to Beatrice. He has even declared that nothing in all that has gone before has filled him with such bliss.

  Shall he then be accused of ignoring Beatrice? Of neglecting her, his ardor cooled? He brings the charge against himself only that he may dismiss it. His joy in her can only become purer and more intense as they ascend to the heights of the glorious mystery.

  In one allegorical sense, of course, there is the perfect beauty, beyond even Divine Revelation, of the thing revealed. The Heavenly Soul, subsumed into the body of God, becomes its own revelation. In that sense, even Beatrice must be outgrown, as Virgil was, though the comparison is questionable, the one relation being finite and the other infinite. Beatrice cannot be outgrown: she has her place in God, as Dante is aspiring to his. When she does leave him at the height of Heaven, it is to reassume her throne in God. She does not disappear but takes her place, and as Dante grows closer to God he grows closer to Beatrice. Thus, to look away from Beatrice toward God is to turn the more closely to Beatrice.

  131. those dear eyes: Of Beatrice.

  133-135. living seals: The Heavens. Their influences stamp th
emselves, as a signet does in wax, upon the souls of men. those others: The eyes of Beatrice.

  Canto XV

  THE FIFTH SPHERE: MARS

  The Warriors of God

  Cacciaguida

  THE SOULS OF THE GREAT CROSS stop their singing in order to encourage Dante to speak, and one among them descends to the foot of the cross like a shooting star, glowing with joy at the sight of Dante. It is, as Dante will discover, CACCIAGUIDA, Dante’s own great-great-grandfather.

  Cacciaguida addresses Dante as “Blood of mine,” and though he already knows Dante’s thoughts, he begs his descendant to speak them for the joy of hearing his voice.