The Divine Comedy - Paradise: Canto XV Christianity - Books
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you                Pray without ceasing                For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you                And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him                Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God                Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven                Verily I say unto you, It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven                It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God               
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Paradise: Canto XV
   

Contents: "The Divine Comedy"


Fifth Heaven: Sphere of Mars - Dante is welcomed by his ancestor, Cacciaguida - Cacciaguida tells of his family, and of the simple life of Florence in the old days

True love, that ever shows itself as clear

In kindness, as loose appetite in wrong,

Silenced that lyre harmonious, and still'd

The sacred chords, that are by heav'n's right hand

Unwound and tighten'd, flow to righteous prayers

Should they not hearken, who, to give me will

For praying, in accordance thus were mute?

He hath in sooth good cause for endless grief,

Who, for the love of thing that lasteth not,

Despoils himself forever of that love.

As oft along the still and pure serene,

At nightfall, glides a sudden trail of fire,

Attracting with involuntary heed

The eye to follow it, erewhile at rest,

And seems some star that shifted place in heav'n,

Only that, whence it kindles, none is lost,

And it is soon extinct; thus from the horn,

That on the dexter of the cross extends,

Down to its foot, one luminary ran

From mid the cluster shone there; yet no gem

Dropp'd from its foil; and through the beamy list

Like flame in alabaster, glow'd its course.

So forward stretch'd him (if of credence aught

Our greater muse may claim) the pious ghost

Of old Anchises, in the' Elysian bower,

When he perceiv'd his son. "O thou, my blood!

O most exceeding grace divine! to whom,

As now to thee, hath twice the heav'nly gate

Been e'er unclos'd?" so spake the light; whence I

Turn'd me toward him; then unto my dame

My sight directed, and on either side

Amazement waited me; for in her eyes

Was lighted such a smile, I thought that mine

Had div'd unto the bottom of my grace

And of my bliss in Paradise. Forthwith

To hearing and to sight grateful alike,

The spirit to his proem added things

I understood not, so profound he spake;

Yet not of choice but through necessity

Mysterious; for his high conception scar'd

Beyond the mark of mortals. When the flight

Of holy transport had so spent its rage,

That nearer to the level of our thought

The speech descended, the first sounds I heard

Were, "Best he thou, Triunal Deity!

That hast such favour in my seed vouchsaf'd!"

Then follow'd: "No unpleasant thirst, tho' long,

Which took me reading in the sacred book,

Whose leaves or white or dusky never change,

Thou hast allay'd, my son, within this light,

From whence my voice thou hear'st; more thanks to her.

Who for such lofty mounting has with plumes

Begirt thee. Thou dost deem thy thoughts to me

From him transmitted, who is first of all,

E'en as all numbers ray from unity;

And therefore dost not ask me who I am,

Or why to thee more joyous I appear,

Than any other in this gladsome throng.

The truth is as thou deem'st; for in this hue

Both less and greater in that mirror look,

In which thy thoughts, or ere thou think'st, are shown.

But, that the love, which keeps me wakeful ever,

Urging with sacred thirst of sweet desire,

May be contended fully, let thy voice,

Fearless, and frank and jocund, utter forth

Thy will distinctly, utter forth the wish,

Whereto my ready answer stands decreed."

I turn'd me to Beatrice; and she heard

Ere I had spoken, smiling, an assent,

That to my will gave wings; and I began

"To each among your tribe, what time ye kenn'd

The nature, in whom naught unequal dwells,

Wisdom and love were in one measure dealt;

For that they are so equal in the sun,

From whence ye drew your radiance and your heat,

As makes all likeness scant. But will and means,

In mortals, for the cause ye well discern,

With unlike wings are fledge. A mortal I

Experience inequality like this,

And therefore give no thanks, but in the heart,

For thy paternal greeting. This howe'er

I pray thee, living topaz! that ingemm'st

This precious jewel, let me hear thy name."

"I am thy root, O leaf! whom to expect

Even, hath pleas'd me:" thus the prompt reply

Prefacing, next it added: "he, of whom

Thy kindred appellation comes, and who,

These hundred years and more, on its first ledge

Hath circuited the mountain, was my son

And thy great grandsire. Well befits, his long

Endurance should be shorten'd by thy deeds.

"Florence, within her ancient limit-mark,

Which calls her still to matin prayers and noon,

Was chaste and sober, and abode in peace.

She had no armlets and no head-tires then,

No purfled dames, no zone, that caught the eye

More than the person did. Time was not yet,

When at his daughter's birth the sire grew pale.

For fear the age and dowry should exceed

On each side just proportion. House was none

Void of its family; nor yet had come

Hardanapalus, to exhibit feats

Of chamber prowess. Montemalo yet

O'er our suburban turret rose; as much

To be surpass in fall, as in its rising.

I saw Bellincione Berti walk abroad

In leathern girdle and a clasp of bone;

And, with no artful colouring on her cheeks,

His lady leave the glass. The sons I saw

Of Nerli and of Vecchio well content

With unrob'd jerkin; and their good dames handling

The spindle and the flax; O happy they!

Each sure of burial in her native land,

And none left desolate a-bed for France!

One wak'd to tend the cradle, hushing it

With sounds that lull'd the parent's infancy:

Another, with her maidens, drawing off

The tresses from the distaff, lectur'd them

Old tales of Troy and Fesole and Rome.

A Salterello and Cianghella we

Had held as strange a marvel, as ye would

A Cincinnatus or Cornelia now.

"In such compos'd and seemly fellowship,

Such faithful and such fair equality,

In so sweet household, Mary at my birth

Bestow'd me, call'd on with loud cries; and there

In your old baptistery, I was made

Christian at once and Cacciaguida; as were

My brethren, Eliseo and Moronto.

"From Valdipado came to me my spouse,

And hence thy surname grew. I follow'd then

The Emperor Conrad; and his knighthood he

Did gird on me; in such good part he took

My valiant service. After him I went

To testify against that evil law,

Whose people, by the shepherd's fault, possess

Your right, usurping. There, by that foul crew

Was I releas'd from the deceitful world,

Whose base affection many a spirit soils,

And from the martyrdom came to this peace."


Contents: "The Divine Comedy"

Download: "The Divine Comedy"

Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/

Lesen Sie auch in Deutsch: Göttliche Komödie

Читайте також: Данте Аліг'єрі. Божественна комедія.

Читайте также: Данте Алигьери. Божественная комедия.


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