Paradiso Canto 26

Paradiso Canto 26 Translated by Robert Hollander  1 While I was still bewildered at my loss of sight,2 from the resplendent flame that blinded me3 there breathed a voice that caught my ear: 4 'Until you have regained the sight5 you have consumed on me, you will do well6 to make good for its loss with speech. 7 'Begin, and tell what goal your soul has set.8 And be assured your power of sight9 is but confounded, not forever lost, 10 'for the lady who guides you through11 this holy place possesses in her glance12 the power the hand of Ananias had.' 13 And I said: 'As soon or as late as she wishes,14 may the cure come to eyes that were the portals15 she entered with the fire in which I always burn. 16 'The good that satisfies this court17 is alpha and omega of whatever scripture18 Love teaches me in loud or gentle tones.' 19 The same voice that had set me free20 from fear at my sudden blindness21 made me hesitate before I spoke again, 22 when it said: 'It is clear you need to sift23 with a finer sieve, for you must reveal24 who made you aim your bow at such a target.' 25 And I: 'Both philosophic reasoning26 and the authority that descends from here27 made me receive the imprint of such love, 28 'for the good, by measure of its goodness, kindles29 love as soon as it is known, and so much more30 the more of goodness it contains. 31 'To that essence, then, which holds such store of goodness32 that every good outside of it is nothing33 but a light reflected of its rays, 34 'the mind of everyone who sees the truth35 on which this argument is based36 must, more than anything, be moved by love. 37 'This truth is set forth to my understanding38 by him who demonstrates to me the primal love39 of all eternal substances. 40 'And the voice of the truthful Author sets it forth41 when, speaking of Himself, He says to Moses:42 "I will make all My goodness pass before you." 43 'You also set it forth to me in the beginning44 of your great message, which, more than any other herald,45 proclaims the mystery of this high place on earth.' 46 And I heard: 'In accord with human reason47 and with the authorities concordant with it,48 the highest of your loves is turned to God. 49 'Say further if you feel still other cords50 that draw you to Him, so that you may declare51 the many teeth with which this love does bite.' 52 The holy purpose of Christ's Eagle was not hidden.53 Indeed, I readily perceived the road54 on which he set my declaration on its way. 55 Thus I began again: 'All those things56 the bite of which can make hearts turn to God57 converge with one another in my love. 58 'The world's existence and my own,59 the death He bore that I might live,60 and that which all believers hope for as do I, 61 'all these -- and the certain knowledge of which I spoke --62 have drawn me from the sea of twisted love63 and brought me to the shore where love is just. 64 'I love the leaves with which the garden65 of the eternal Gardener is in leaf66 in measure of the good He has bestowed on them.' 67As soon as I was silent, the sweetest song68 resounded through that heaven, and my lady69 chanted with the others: 'Holy, holy, holy!' 70As sleep is broken by a piercing light71 when the spirit of sight runs to meet the brightness72 that passes through its filmy membranes, 73and the awakened man recoils from what he sees,74 his senses stunned in that abrupt awakening75 until his judgment rushes to his aid -- 76exactly thus did Beatrice drive away each mote77 from my eyes with the radiance of her own,78 which could be seen a thousand miles away, 79so that I then saw better than I had before.80 And almost dazed with wonder I inquired81 about a fourth light shining there among us. 82My lady answered: 'Within these rays83 the first soul ever made by the First Power84 looks with love upon his Maker.' 85As the tree that bends its highest branches86 in a gust of wind and then springs back,87 raised up by natural inclination, 88so was I overcome while she was speaking --89 awe-struck -- and then restored to confidence90 by the words that burned in me to be expressed. 91I began: 'O fruit who alone were brought forth ripe,92 O ancient father, of whom each bride93 is at once daughter and daughter-in-law, 94'as humbly as I am able, I make supplication95 for you to speak with me. You know what I long for.96 To have your answer sooner I leave that unsaid.' 97Sometimes, beneath its covering, an animal98 stirs, thus making its desire clear99 by how its wrappings follow and reveal its movement. 100 In just this manner the very first soul101 revealed to me, through its covering,102 how joyously it came to do me pleasure. 103 Then it breathed forth: 'Without your telling me,104 I can discern your wishes even better105 than you can picture anything you know as certain. 106 'For I can see them in that truthful mirror107 which makes itself reflective of all else108 but which can be reflected nowhere else. 109 'You wish to know how long it is since God110 placed me in the lofty garden where this lady111 prepared you for so long a stairway, 112 'and how long it was a pleasure to my eyes,113 and the true cause of the great wrath,114 and the language that I used and that I shaped. 115 'Know then, my son, that in itself the tasting of the tree116 was not the cause of such long exile --117 that lay in trespassing the boundary line. 118 'In the place from which your lady sent down Virgil119 I longed for this assembly more than four thousand120 three hundred and two revolutions of the sun, 121 'and I saw it return to all the lights122 along its track nine hundred thirty times123 while I was living on the earth. 124 'The tongue I spoke was utterly extinct125 before the followers of Nimrod turned their minds126 to their unattainable ambition. 127 'For nothing ever produced by reason --128 since human tastes reflect the motion129 of the moving stars -- can last forever. 130 'It is the work of nature man should speak131 but, if in this way or in that, nature leaves to you,132 allowing you to choose at your own pleasure.133 'Before I descended to anguish of Hell,134 I was the name on earth of the Sovereign Good,135 whose joyous rays envelop and surround me. 136 'Later El became His name, and that is as it should be,137 for mortal custom is like a leaf upon a branch,138 which goes and then another comes. 139 'On the mountain that rises highest140 from the sea, I lived, pure, then guilty,141 from the first hour until the sun changed quadrant, 142 in the hour that follows on the sixth.'