all these
would seem nothing if set beside the godly
beauty that shone upon me when I turned
to see the smiling face of Beatrice.
The powers that her gaze now granted me
drew me out of the lovely nest of Leda
and thrust me into heaven's swiftest sphere.
Its parts were so equally alive
and excellent, that I cannot say which
place Beatrice selected for my entry.
But she , who saw what my desire was -
her smile had so much gladness that within
her face there seemed to be God's joy - began:
"The nature of the universe, which holds
the center still and moves all else around it,
begins here as if from its turning-post.
This heaven has no other where than this:
the mind of God, in which are kindled both
the love that turns it and the force it rains.
As in a circle, light and love enclose it,
as it surrounds the rest - and that enclosing,
only He who encloses understands.
No other heaven measures this sphere's motion,
but it serves as the measure of the rest,
even as half and fifth determine ten;
and now it can be evident to you
how time has roots within this vessel and,
within the other vessels, has its leaves.
white skin turns black when it is struck
by direct light - the lovely daughter of
the one who brings us dawn and leaves us evening.
That you not be amazed at what I say,
consider this: on earth no king holds sway;
therefore, the family of humans strays.
But well before nine thousand years have passed
(and January is unwintered by
day's hundredth part, which they neglect below),
this high sphere shall shine so, that Providence,
long waited for, will turn the sterns to where
the prows now are, so that the fleet runs straight;
and then fine fruit shall follow on the flower."
From "The Divine Comedy"
Paradiso, Canto XXVII
Translation Allen Mandelbaum (1926 - 2011)
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