Paradise Canto 3
Canto III
Argument
In the moon Dante meets with Piccarda, the sister of Forese, who tells him that this planet is allotted to those, who, after having made profession of chastity and a religious life, had been compelled to violate their vows;
and she then points out to him the spirit of the Empress Costanza.
That sun, which erst with love my bosom warmed, Had of fair truth unveil'd the sweet aspect, By proof of right, and of the false reproof;
And I, to own myself convinced and free Of doubt, as much as needed, raised my head Erect for speech. But soon a sight appear'd, Which, so intent to mark it, held me fix'd That of confession I no longer thought.
[1: "That sun." Beatrice.]
As through translucent and smooth glass, or wave Clear and unmoved, and flowing not so deep As that its bed is dark, the shape returns So faint of our impictured lineaments, That, on white forehead set, a pearl as strong Comes to the eye; such saw I many a face, All stretch'd to speak; from whence I straight conceived, Delusion opposite to that, which raised, Between the man and fountain, amorous flame.
[2: "Delusion. An error the contrary to that of Narcissus; because he mistook a shadow for a substance; I, a substance for a shadow."]
Sudden, as I perceived them, deeming these Reflected semblances, to see of whom They were, I turn'd mine eyes, and nothing saw;
Then turn'd them back, directed on the light Of my sweet guide, who, smiling, shot forth beams From her celestial eyes. "Wonder not thou,"
She cried, "at this my smiling, when I see Thy childish judgment; since not yet on truth It rests the foot, but, as it still is wont, Makes thee fall back in unsound vacancy.
True substances are these, which thou behold'st, Hither through failure of their vow exiled.
But speak thou with them; listen, and believe, That the true light, which fills them with desire, Permits not from its beams their feet to stray."
Straight to the shadow, which for converse seem'd Most earnest, I address'd me; and began As one by over - eagerness perplex'd:
"O spirit, born of joy! who in the rays Of life eternal, of that sweetness know'st The flavour, which, not tasted, passes far All apprehension; me it well would please, If thou wouldst tell me of thy name, and this Your station here." Whence she with kindness prompt And eyes glist'ring with smiles: "Our charity, To any wish by justice introduced, Bars not the door; no more than She above, Who would have all her court be like herself.
I was a virgin sister in the earth;
And if thy mind observe me well, this form, With such addition graced of loveliness, Will not conceal me long; but thou wilt know Piccarda, in the tardiest sphere thus placed, Here 'mid these other blessed also blest.
Our hearts, whose high affections burn alone With pleasure from the Holy Spirit conceived, Admitted to His order, dwell in joy.
And this condition, which appears so low, Is for this cause assign'd us, that our vows Were, in some part, neglected and made void."
[3: "Piccarda." The sister of Corso Donati, and of Forese, whom we have seen in the Purgatory, Canto xxiv. Petrarch has been supposed to allude to this lady in his "Triumph of Chastity," v. 160, etc.]
Whence I to her replied: "Something divine Beams in your countenances wondrous fair;
From former knowledge quite transmitting you.
Therefore to recollect was I so slow.
But what thou say'st hath to my memory Given now such aid, that to retrace your forms Is easier. Yet inform me, ye, who here Are happy; long ye for a higher place, More to behold, and more in love to dwell?"
She with those other spirits gently smiled;
Then answer'd with such gladness, that she seem'd With love's first flame to glow: "Brother! our will Is, in composure, settled by the power Of charity, who makes us will alone What we possess, and naught beyond desire: If we should wish to be exalted more, Then must our wishes jar with the high will Of Him, who sets us here; which in these orbs Thou wilt confess not possible, if here To be in charity must needs befall, And if her nature well thou contemplate.
Rather it is inherent in this state Of blessedness, to keep ourselves within The Divine Will, by which our wills with His Are one. So that as we, from step to step, Are placed throughout this kingdom, pleases all, Even as our King, who in us plants His will;
And in His will is our tranquillity: It is the mighty ocean, whither tends Whatever it creates and Nature makes."
Then saw I clearly how each spot in Heaven Is Paradise, though with like gracious dew The supreme virtue shower not over all.
But as it chances, if one sort of food Hath satiated, and of another still The appetite remains, that this is ask'd, And thanks for that return'd; e'en so did I, In word and motion, bent from her to learn What web it was, through which she had not drawn The shuttle to its point. She thus began:
"Exalted worth and perfectness of life
[4: "What vow of religious life it was that she had been hindered from completing, had been compelled to break."]
The Lady higher up inshrine in Heaven, By whose pure laws upon your nether earth The robe and veil they wear; to that intent, That e'en till death they may keep watch, or sleep, With their great Bridegroom, who accepts each vow, Which to His gracious pleasure love conforms.
I from the world, to follow her, when young Escaped; and, in her vesture mantling me, Made promise of the way her sect enjoins.
Thereafter men, for ill than good more apt, Forth snatch'd me from the pleasant cloister's pale.
God knows how, after that, my life was framed.
This other splendid shape, which thou behold'st At my right side, burning with all the light Of this our orb, what of myself I tell May to herself apply. From her, like me A sister, with like violence were torn The saintly folds, that shaded her fair brows.
E'en when she to the world again was brought In spite of her own will and better wont, Yet not for that the bosom's inward veil Did she renounce. This is the luminary Of mighty Constance, who from that loud blast, Which blew the second over Suabia's realm, That power produced, which was the third and last."
[5: St. Clare, the foundress of the order called after her. She was born at Assisi, in 1193, and died in 1253.]
[6: Rodolfo da Tossignano, Hist. Seraph. Relig., relates the following legend of Piccarda: "Her brother Corso, inflamed with rage against his virgin sister, having joined with him Farinata, an infamous assassin, and twelve other abandoned ruffians, entered the monastery by a ladder, and carried away his sister forcibly to his own house; and then tearing off her religious habit, compelled her to go in a secular garment to her nuptials.
Before the spouse of Christ came together with her new husband, she knelt down before a crucifix and recommended her virginity to Christ. Soon after her whole body was smitten with leprosy; in a few days, through the divine disposal, she passed with a palm of virginity to the Lord.]
[7: Daughter of Ruggieri, King of Sicily, who being taken by force out of a monastery was married to the Emperor Henry VI and by him was mother of Frederick II. She was fifty years old or more at the time, and "because it was not credited that she could have a child at that age, she was delivered in a pavilion, and it was given out that any lady, who pleased, was at liberty to see her."]
[8: Henry VI, son of Frederick I, was the second emperor of the house of Suabia; and his son Frederick II "the third and last."]
She ceased from further talk, and then began
"Ave Maria" singing; and with that song Vanish'd, as heavy substance through deep wave.
Mine eye, that, far as it was capable, Pursued her, when in dimness she was lost, Turn'd to the mark where greater want impell'd And bent on Beatrice all its gaze.
But she, as lightning, beam'd upon my looks;
So that the sight sustain'd it not at first.
Whence I to question her became less prompt.
Argument
In the moon Dante meets with Piccarda, the sister of Forese, who tells him that this planet is allotted to those, who, after having made profession of chastity and a religious life, had been compelled to violate their vows;
and she then points out to him the spirit of the Empress Costanza.
That sun, which erst with love my bosom warmed, Had of fair truth unveil'd the sweet aspect, By proof of right, and of the false reproof;
And I, to own myself convinced and free Of doubt, as much as needed, raised my head Erect for speech. But soon a sight appear'd, Which, so intent to mark it, held me fix'd That of confession I no longer thought.
[1: "That sun." Beatrice.]
As through translucent and smooth glass, or wave Clear and unmoved, and flowing not so deep As that its bed is dark, the shape returns So faint of our impictured lineaments, That, on white forehead set, a pearl as strong Comes to the eye; such saw I many a face, All stretch'd to speak; from whence I straight conceived, Delusion opposite to that, which raised, Between the man and fountain, amorous flame.
[2: "Delusion. An error the contrary to that of Narcissus; because he mistook a shadow for a substance; I, a substance for a shadow."]
Sudden, as I perceived them, deeming these Reflected semblances, to see of whom They were, I turn'd mine eyes, and nothing saw;
Then turn'd them back, directed on the light Of my sweet guide, who, smiling, shot forth beams From her celestial eyes. "Wonder not thou,"
She cried, "at this my smiling, when I see Thy childish judgment; since not yet on truth It rests the foot, but, as it still is wont, Makes thee fall back in unsound vacancy.
True substances are these, which thou behold'st, Hither through failure of their vow exiled.
But speak thou with them; listen, and believe, That the true light, which fills them with desire, Permits not from its beams their feet to stray."
Straight to the shadow, which for converse seem'd Most earnest, I address'd me; and began As one by over - eagerness perplex'd:
"O spirit, born of joy! who in the rays Of life eternal, of that sweetness know'st The flavour, which, not tasted, passes far All apprehension; me it well would please, If thou wouldst tell me of thy name, and this Your station here." Whence she with kindness prompt And eyes glist'ring with smiles: "Our charity, To any wish by justice introduced, Bars not the door; no more than She above, Who would have all her court be like herself.
I was a virgin sister in the earth;
And if thy mind observe me well, this form, With such addition graced of loveliness, Will not conceal me long; but thou wilt know Piccarda, in the tardiest sphere thus placed, Here 'mid these other blessed also blest.
Our hearts, whose high affections burn alone With pleasure from the Holy Spirit conceived, Admitted to His order, dwell in joy.
And this condition, which appears so low, Is for this cause assign'd us, that our vows Were, in some part, neglected and made void."
[3: "Piccarda." The sister of Corso Donati, and of Forese, whom we have seen in the Purgatory, Canto xxiv. Petrarch has been supposed to allude to this lady in his "Triumph of Chastity," v. 160, etc.]
Whence I to her replied: "Something divine Beams in your countenances wondrous fair;
From former knowledge quite transmitting you.
Therefore to recollect was I so slow.
But what thou say'st hath to my memory Given now such aid, that to retrace your forms Is easier. Yet inform me, ye, who here Are happy; long ye for a higher place, More to behold, and more in love to dwell?"
She with those other spirits gently smiled;
Then answer'd with such gladness, that she seem'd With love's first flame to glow: "Brother! our will Is, in composure, settled by the power Of charity, who makes us will alone What we possess, and naught beyond desire: If we should wish to be exalted more, Then must our wishes jar with the high will Of Him, who sets us here; which in these orbs Thou wilt confess not possible, if here To be in charity must needs befall, And if her nature well thou contemplate.
Rather it is inherent in this state Of blessedness, to keep ourselves within The Divine Will, by which our wills with His Are one. So that as we, from step to step, Are placed throughout this kingdom, pleases all, Even as our King, who in us plants His will;
And in His will is our tranquillity: It is the mighty ocean, whither tends Whatever it creates and Nature makes."
Then saw I clearly how each spot in Heaven Is Paradise, though with like gracious dew The supreme virtue shower not over all.
But as it chances, if one sort of food Hath satiated, and of another still The appetite remains, that this is ask'd, And thanks for that return'd; e'en so did I, In word and motion, bent from her to learn What web it was, through which she had not drawn The shuttle to its point. She thus began:
"Exalted worth and perfectness of life
[4: "What vow of religious life it was that she had been hindered from completing, had been compelled to break."]
The Lady higher up inshrine in Heaven, By whose pure laws upon your nether earth The robe and veil they wear; to that intent, That e'en till death they may keep watch, or sleep, With their great Bridegroom, who accepts each vow, Which to His gracious pleasure love conforms.
I from the world, to follow her, when young Escaped; and, in her vesture mantling me, Made promise of the way her sect enjoins.
Thereafter men, for ill than good more apt, Forth snatch'd me from the pleasant cloister's pale.
God knows how, after that, my life was framed.
This other splendid shape, which thou behold'st At my right side, burning with all the light Of this our orb, what of myself I tell May to herself apply. From her, like me A sister, with like violence were torn The saintly folds, that shaded her fair brows.
E'en when she to the world again was brought In spite of her own will and better wont, Yet not for that the bosom's inward veil Did she renounce. This is the luminary Of mighty Constance, who from that loud blast, Which blew the second over Suabia's realm, That power produced, which was the third and last."
[5: St. Clare, the foundress of the order called after her. She was born at Assisi, in 1193, and died in 1253.]
[6: Rodolfo da Tossignano, Hist. Seraph. Relig., relates the following legend of Piccarda: "Her brother Corso, inflamed with rage against his virgin sister, having joined with him Farinata, an infamous assassin, and twelve other abandoned ruffians, entered the monastery by a ladder, and carried away his sister forcibly to his own house; and then tearing off her religious habit, compelled her to go in a secular garment to her nuptials.
Before the spouse of Christ came together with her new husband, she knelt down before a crucifix and recommended her virginity to Christ. Soon after her whole body was smitten with leprosy; in a few days, through the divine disposal, she passed with a palm of virginity to the Lord.]
[7: Daughter of Ruggieri, King of Sicily, who being taken by force out of a monastery was married to the Emperor Henry VI and by him was mother of Frederick II. She was fifty years old or more at the time, and "because it was not credited that she could have a child at that age, she was delivered in a pavilion, and it was given out that any lady, who pleased, was at liberty to see her."]
[8: Henry VI, son of Frederick I, was the second emperor of the house of Suabia; and his son Frederick II "the third and last."]
She ceased from further talk, and then began
"Ave Maria" singing; and with that song Vanish'd, as heavy substance through deep wave.
Mine eye, that, far as it was capable, Pursued her, when in dimness she was lost, Turn'd to the mark where greater want impell'd And bent on Beatrice all its gaze.
But she, as lightning, beam'd upon my looks;
So that the sight sustain'd it not at first.
Whence I to question her became less prompt.
