Paradiso: Canto IV
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Between two
viands, equally
removed
And tempting, a free man would
die of hunger
Ere either he could bring unto his
teeth.
So would a
lamb between the ravenings
Of two fierce
wolves stand fearing both alike;
And so would stand a
dog between two does.
Hence, if I held my peace, myself I blame not,
Impelled in equal measure by my doubts,
Since it must be so, nor do I commend.
I held my peace; but
my desire was
painted
Upon my
face, and questioning with that
More fervent far than by
articulate speech.
Beatrice did as
Daniel had done
Relieving
Nebuchadnezzar from the wrath
Which rendered him unjustly
merciless,
And said: "Well see I how
attracteth thee
One and the other wish, so that thy care
Binds itself so that forth it does not
breathe.
Thou arguest, if good will be
permanent,
The violence of others, for what reason
Doth it decrease the measure of my merit?
Again for
doubting furnish thee occasion
Souls seeming to return unto the stars,
According to the sentiment of
Plato.
These are the questions which upon thy wish
Are
thrusting equally; and therefore first
Will I treat that which hath the most of
gall.
He of the
Seraphim most absorbed in
God,
Moses, and
Samuel, and whichever
John
Thou mayst select, I say, and even
Mary,
Have not in any other heaven their seats,
Than have those
spirits that just appeared to thee,
Nor of existence more or fewer years;
But all make beautiful the
primal circle,
And have sweet life in different
degrees,
By feeling more or less the eternal breath.
They showed
themselves here, not because
allotted
This sphere has been to them, but to give sign
Of the celestial which is least exalted.
To
speak thus is adapted to your mind,
Since only through the sense it
apprehendeth
What then it worthy makes of intellect.
On this account the
Scripture condescends
Unto your
faculties, and feet and hands
To
God attributes, and means something else;
And
Holy Church under an
aspect human
Gabriel and
Michael represent to you,
And him who made
Tobias whole again.
That which
Timaeus argues of the soul
Doth not resemble that which here is seen,
Because it seems that as he
speaks he thinks.
He says the soul unto its
star returns,
Believing it to have been
severed thence
Whenever nature gave it as a form.
Perhaps his
doctrine is of other guise
Than the words
sound, and possibly may be
With meaning that is not to be
derided.
If he doth mean that to these wheels return
The
honour of their influence and the blame,
Perhaps his bow doth hit upon some truth.
This
principle ill understood once
warped
The whole world nearly, till it went
astray
Invoking
Jove and
Mercury and
Mars.
The other doubt which doth
disquiet thee
Less
venom has, for its
malevolence
Could never lead thee
otherwhere from me.
That as
unjust our justice should appear
In eyes of
mortals, is an
argument
Of faith, and not of sin
heretical.
But still, that your perception may be able
To thoroughly
penetrate this verity,
As thou
desirest, I will satisfy thee.
If it be
violence when he who
suffers
Co-operates not with him who uses
force,
These souls were not on that account
excused;
For will is never quenched unless it will,
But
operates as nature doth in fire
If
violence a
thousand times distort it.
Hence, if it
yieldeth more or less, it seconds
The force; and these have done so, having
power
Of turning back unto the
holy place.
If their will had been
perfect, like to that
Which
Lawrence fast upon his gridiron held,
And
Mutius made severe to his own hand,
It would have urged them back along the road
Whence they were
dragged, as soon as they were free;
But such a solid will is all too rare.
And by these words, if thou hast gathered them
As thou shouldst do,
the argument is refuted
That would have still
annoyed thee many
times.
But now another
passage runs across
Before thine eyes, and such that by thyself
Thou couldst not thread it ere thou wouldst be weary.
I have for certain put into thy mind
That soul
beatified could never lie,
For it is near the
primal Truth,
And then thou from
Piccarda might'st have heard
Costanza kept affection for the veil,
So that she seemeth here to contradict me.
Many times,
brother, has it come to pass,
That, to escape from peril, with reluctance
That has been done it was not right to do,
E'en as
Alcmaeon (who, being by his father
Thereto entreated,
his own mother slew)
Not to lose pity
pitiless became.
At this point I desire thee to
remember
That force with will
commingles, and they cause
That the offences cannot be
excused.
Will
absolute consenteth not to evil;
But in so far consenteth as it fears,
If it refrain, to fall into more harm.
Hence when
Piccarda uses this
expression,
She meaneth the will
absolute, and I
The other, so that both of us speak truth."
Such was the flowing of the
holy river
That issued from the fount whence springs all truth;
This put to rest my wishes one and all.
"O love of the
first lover, O
divine,"
Said I forthwith, "whose speech
inundates me
And warms me so, it more and more
revives me,
My own
affection is not so
profound
As to
suffice in
rendering grace for
grace;
Let Him, who sees and can, thereto
respond.
Well I perceive that
never sated is
Our
intellect unless the
Truth illume it,
Beyond which nothing true expands itself.
It rests therein, as wild
beast in his lair,
When it attains it; and it can attain it;
If not, then each desire would frustrate be.
Therefore springs up, in fashion of a shoot,
Doubt at the foot of truth; and this is nature,
Which to the top from height to height impels us.
This doth invite me, this assurance give me
With reverence,
Lady, to inquire of you
Another truth, which is obscure to me.
I wish to know if man can satisfy you
For broken vows with other good deeds, so
That in your balance they will not be light."
Beatrice gazed upon me with her eyes
Full of the sparks of love, and so
divine,
That, overcome my power,
I turned my back
And almost lost myself with eyes
downcast.
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