And that which none, who in that volume1 looks,
Can miss of, in itself apparent, struck

My view; a point I saw, that darted light
So sharp, no lid, unclosing, may bear up
Against its keenness. The least star we ken
From hence, had seem'd a moon; set by its side,
As star by side of star. And so far off,
Perchance, as is the halo from the light

Which paints it, when most dense the vapour spreads;
There wheel'd about the point a circle of fire,
More rapid than the motion which surrounds,
Speediest, the world. Another this enring'd;
And that a third; the third a fourth, and that
A fifth encompass'd; which a sixth next bound;
And over this, a seventh, following, reach'd
Circumference so ample, that its bow,
Within the span of Juno's messenger,

Had scarce been held entire. Beyond the seventh,
Ensued yet other two. And every one.

As more in number distant from the first,
Was tardier in motion: and that glow'd

With flame most pure, that to the sparkle of truth,
Was nearest; as partaking most, methinks,

Of its reality. The guide beloved

Saw me in anxious thought suspense, and spake :
| “Heaven, and all nature, hangs upon that point 2.
The circle thereto most conjoin'd observe;
And know, that by intenser love its course
Is, to this swiftness, wing'd." To whom I thus:
"It were enough; nor should I further seek,
Had I but witness'd order, in the world
Appointed, such as in these wheels is seen.
But in the sensible world such difference3 is,

That volume.] The ninth heaven; as Vellutello, I think, rightly interprets it. 2 Heaven, and all nature, hangs upon that point.] EK TOLAÚTYS ἄρα ἀρχῆς ἤρτηται ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ φύσις. Aristot. Metaph. lib. xii. c. 7. "From that beginning depend heaven and nature." 9 Such difference.] The material world and the intelligential (the copy and the pattern) appear to Dante to differ in this respect, that the orbits of the latter are more swift, the nearer they are to the centre, whereas the contrary is the case with the orbits of the former. The seeming contradiction is thus accounted for by

That in each round shows more divinity,
As each is wider from the centre. Hence,
If in this wondrous and angelic temple,
That hath, for confine, only light and love,
My wish may have completion, I must know,
Wherefore such disagreement is between
The exemplar and its copy: for myself,
Contemplating, I fail to pierce the cause."
"It is no marvel, if thy fingers foil'd
Do leave the knot untied: so hard 'tis grown
For want of tenting." Thus she said: "But take,”
She added, "if thou wish thy cure, my words,
And entertain them subtly. Every orb,
Corporeal, doth proportion its extent
Unto the virtue through its parts diffused.
The greater blessedness preserves the more.
The greater is the body (if all parts

Share equally) the more is to preserve.

Therefore the circle, whose swift course enwheels
The universal frame, answers to that

Which is supreme in knowledge and in love.

Thus by the virtue, not the seeming breadth

Of substance, measuring, thou shalt see the heavens,
Each to the intelligence that ruleth it,
Greater to more, and smaller unto less,
Suited in strict and wondrous harmony."

As when the north1 blows from his milder cheek
A blast, that scours the sky, forthwith our air,
Clear'd of the rack that hung on it before,

Beatrice. In the material world, the more ample the body is, the greater is the good, of which it is capable; supposing all the parts to be equally perfect. But in the intelligential world, the circles are more excellent and powerful, the more they approximate to the central point, which is God. Thus the first circle, that of the seraphim, corresponds to the ninth sphere, or primum mobile; the second, that of the cherubim, to the eighth sphere, or heaven of fixed stars; the third, or circle of thrones, to the seventh sphere, or planet of Saturn; and in like manner throughout the two other trines of circles and spheres.

In orbs

Of circuit inexpressible they stood,

Orb within orb.

Milton, P. L. b. v. 596. 1 The north.] By "ond' è più leno," some understand that point from whence "the wind is mildest;" others, that "in which there is most force." The former interpretation is probably right.

Glitters; and, with his beauties all unveil❜d,
The firmament looks forth serene, and smiles :
Such was my cheer, when Beatrice drove
With clear reply the shadows back, and truth
Was manifested, as a star in heaven.

And when the words were ended, not unlike
To iron in the furnace, every cirque,
Ebullient, shot forth scintillating fires:
And every sparkle shivering to new blaze,
In number1 did outmillion the account
Reduplicate upon the chequer'd board.
Then heard I echoing on, from choir to choir,
"Hosanna," to the fixed point, that holds,
And shall for ever hold them to their place,
From everlasting, irremovable.

Musing awhile I stood: and she, who saw
My inward meditations, thus began :

"In the first circles, they, whom thou beheld'st,
Are seraphim and cherubim. Thus swift
Follow their hoops, in likeness to the point,
Near as they can, approaching; and they can
The more, the loftier their vision.

Those

And all

That round them fleet, gazing the Godhead next,
Are thrones; in whom the first trine ends.
Are blessed, even as their sight descends
Deeper into the truth, wherein rest is
For every mind. Thus happiness hath root
In seeing, not in loving, which of sight
Is aftergrowth. And of the seeing such
The meed, as unto each, in due degree,
Grace and good-will their measure have assign'd.
The other trine, that with still opening buds
In this eternal springtide blossom fair,
Fearless of bruising from the nightly ram2,
Breathe up in warbled melodies threefold
Hosannas, blending ever; from the three,

1 In number.] The sparkles exceeded the number which would be produced by the sixty-four squares of a chess-board, if for the first we reckoned one; for the next, two; for the third, four; and so went on doubling to the end of the account. Fearless of bruising from the nightly ram.] Not injured, like the productions of our spring, by the influence of autumn, when the constellation Aries rises at sunset.

Transmitted, hierarchy of gods, for aye
Rejoicing; dominations 1 first; next them,

Virtues; and powers the third; the next to whom
Are princedoms and archangels, with glad round
To tread their festal ring; and last, the band
Angelical, disporting in their sphere.

All, as they circle in their orders, look

Aloft; and, downward, with such sway prevail,
That all with mutual impulse tend to God.

These once a mortal view beheld.

In Dionysius2, so intensely wrought,

Desire,

That he, as I have done, ranged them; and named
Their orders, marshal'd in his thought. From him,
Dissentient, one refused his sacred read.

But soon as in this heaven his doubting eyes
Were open'd, Gregory3 at his error smiled.
Nor marvel, that a denizen of earth

Should scan such secret truth; for he had learnt 4
Both this and much beside of these our orbs,
From an eye-witness to heaven's mysteries.”

1 Dominations.]

Hear, all ye angels, progeny of light,

Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers.

Milton, P. L. b. v. 601.

2 Dionysius.] The Areopagite, in his book de Cœlesti Hierarchiâ. 3 Gregory.] Gregory the Great. "Novem vero angelorum ordines diximus; quia videlicet esse, testante sacro eloquio, scimus: Angelos, archangelos, virtutes, potestates, principatus, dominationes, thronos, cherubin atque seraphin." "Divi Gregorii, Hom. xxxiv. f. 125, ed. Par. 1518, fol.

He had learnt.] Dionysius, he says, had learnt from St. Paul. It is almost unnecessary to add, that the book, above referred to, which goes under his name, was the production of a later age. In Bishop Bull's seventh sermon, which treats of the different degrees of beatitude in heaven, there is much that resembles what is said on the same subject by our Poet. The learned prelate, however, appears a little inconsistent, when, after having blamed Dionysius the Areopagite, "for reckoning up exactly the several orders of the angelical hierarchy, as if he had seen a muster of the heavenly host before his eyes," (v. i. p. 313,) he himself then speaks rather more particularly of the several orders in the celestial hierarchy, than he is warranted in doing by holy Scripture.

CANTO XXIX.

ARGUMENT.

Beatrice beholds, in the mirror of divine truth, some doubts which had entered the mind of Dante. These she resolves; and then digresses into a vehement reprehension of certain theologians and preachers in those days, whose ignorance or avarice induced them to substitute their own inventions for the pure word of the Gospel,

No longer1, than what time Latona's twins
Cover'd of Libra and the fleecy star,
Together both, girding the horizon hang;
In even balance, from the zenith poised;
Till from that verge, each, changing hemisphere,
Part the nice level; e'en so brief a space

Did Beatrice's silence hold. A smile

Sat painted on her cheek; and her fix'd gaze
Bent on the point, at which my vision fail'd:
When thus, her words resuming, she began:
"I speak, nor what thou wouldst inquire, demand;
For I have mark'd it, where all time and place
Are present. Not for increase to himself

Of good, which may not be increased, but forth
To manifest his glory by its beams;
Inhabiting his own eternity,

Beyond time's limit or what bound soe'er
To circumscribe his being; as he will'd,
Into new natures, like unto himself,
Eternal love unfolded: nor before,
As if in dull inaction, torpid, lay,
For, not in process of before or aft2,
Upon these waters moved the Spirit of God.

Simple and mix'd, both form and substance 3, forth

1 No longer. As short a space, as the sun and moon are in changing hemispheres, when they are opposite to one another, the one under the sign of Aries, and the other under that of Libra, and both hang, for a moment, poised as it were in the hand of the zenith. 2 For, not in process of before or aft.] There was neither "before nor after," no distinction, that is, of time, till the creation of the world. 3 Simple and mix'd, both form and substance.] Simple and unmixed form answers to "pure intelligence," v. 33, (puro atto) the highest of created being; simple and unmixed substance, to "mere power,' v. 33, (pura potenzia) the lowest; and form mixed with substance, to "intelligence and power," v. 35, (potenzia con atto) that