English Edition, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
| 1 | A WILL benign, in which reveals itself |
| 2 | Ever the love that righteously inspires, |
| 3 | As in the iniquitous, cupidity, |
| 4 | Silence imposed upon that dulcet Iyre, |
| 5 | And quieted the consecrated chords, |
| 6 | That Heaven’s right hand doth tighten and relax |
| 7 | How unto just entreaties shall be deaf |
| 8 | Those substances, which, to give me desire |
| 9 | Of praying them, with one accord grew silent? |
| 10 | ‘Tis well that without end he should lament, |
| 11 | Who for the love of thing that doth not last |
| 12 | Eternally despoils him of that love! |
| 13 | As through the pure and tranquil evening air |
| 14 | There shoots from time to time a sudden fire, |
| 15 | Moving the eyes that steadfast were before, |
| 16 | And seems to be a star that changeth place, |
| 17 | Except that in the part where it is kindled |
| 18 | Nothing is missed, and this endureth little; |
| 19 | So from the horn that to the right extends |
| 20 | Unto that cross’s foot there ran a star |
| 21 | Out of the constellation shining there; |
| 22 | Nor was the gem dissevered from its ribbon, |
| 23 | But down the radiant fillet ran along, |
| 24 | So that fire seemed it behind alabaster. |
| 25 | Thus piteous did Anchises’ shade reach forward, |
| 26 | If any faith our greatest Muse deserve, |
| 27 | When in Elysium he his son perceived. |
| 28 | O sanguis meus, O super infusa |
| 29 | Gratia Dei, sicut tibi, cui |
| 30 | Bis unquam Coeli janua reclusa? |
| 31 | Thus that effulgence; whence I gave it heed; |
| 32 | Then round unto my Lady turned my sight, |
| 33 | And on this side and that was stupefied; |
| 34 | For in her eyes was burning such a smile |
| 35 | That with mine own methought I touched the bottom |
| 36 | Both of my grace and of my Paradise! |
| 37 | Then, pleasant to the hearing and the sight, |
| 38 | The spirit joined to its beginning things |
| 39 | I understood not, so profound it spake; |
| 40 | Nor did it hide itself from me by choice, |
| 41 | But by necessity; for its conception |
| 42 | Above the mark of mortals set itself |
| 43 | And when the bow of burning sympathy |
| 44 | Was so far slackened, that its speech descended |
| 45 | Towards the mark of our intelligence, |
| 46 | The first thing that was understood by me |
| 47 | Was Benedight be Thou, O Trine and One, |
| 48 | Who hast unto my seed so courteous been! |
| 49 | And it continued: Hunger long and grateful, |
| 50 | Drawn from the reading of the mighty volume |
| 51 | Wherein is never changed the white nor dark, |
| 52 | Thou hast appeased, my son, within this light |
| 53 | In which I speak to thee, by grace of her |
| 54 | Who to this lofty flight with plumage clothed thee. |
| 55 | Thou thinkest that to me thy thought doth pass |
| 56 | From Him who is the first, as from the unit, |
| 57 | If that be known, ray out the five and six; |
| 58 | And therefore who I am thou askest not, |
| 59 | And why I seem more joyous unto thee |
| 60 | Than any other of this gladsome crowd. |
| 61 | Thou think’st the truth; because the small and great |
| 62 | Of this existence look into the mirror |
| 63 | Wherein, before thou think’st, thy thought thou showest. |
| 64 | But that the sacred love, in which I watch |
| 65 | With sight perpetual, and which makes me thirst |
| 66 | With sweet desire, may better be fulfilled, |
| 67 | Now let thy voice secure and frank and glad |
| 68 | Proclaim the wishes, the desire proclaim, |
| 69 | To which my answer is decreed already. |
| 70 | To Beatrice I turned me, and she heard |
| 71 | Before I spake, and smiled to me a sign, |
| 72 | That made the wings of my desire increase; |
| 73 | Then in this wise began I: Love and knowledge, |
| 74 | When on you dawned the first Equality, |
| 75 | Of the same weight for each of you became; |
| 76 | For in the Sun, which lighted you and burned |
| 77 | With heat and radiance, they so equal are, |
| 78 | That all similitudes are insufficient. |
| 79 | But among mortals will and argument, |
| 80 | For reason that to you is manifest, |
| 81 | Diversely feathered in their pinions are. |
| 82 | Whence I, who mortal am, feel in myself |
| 83 | This inequality; so give not thanks |
| 84 | Save in my heart, for this paternal welcome. |
| 85 | Truly do I entreat thee, living topaz! |
| 86 | Set in this precious jewel as a gem, |
| 87 | That thou wilt satisfy me with thy name. |
| 88 | O leaf of mine, in whom I pleasure took |
| 89 | E’en while awaiting, I was thine own root! |
| 90 | Such a beginning he in answer made me |
| 91 | Then said to me: That one from whom is named |
| 92 | Thy race, and who a hundred years and more |
| 93 | Has circled round the mount on the first cornice, |
| 94 | A son of mine and thy great-grandsire was; |
| 95 | Well it behoves thee that the long fatigue |
| 96 | Thou shouldst for him make shorter with thy works. |
| 97 | Florence, within the ancient boundary |
| 98 | From which she taketh still her tierce and nones, |
| 99 | Abode in quiet, temperate and chaste. |
| 100 | No golden chain she had, nor coronal, |
| 101 | Nor ladies shod with sandal shoon, nor girdle |
| 102 | That caught the eye more than the person did. |
| 103 | Not yet the daughter at her birth struck fear |
| 104 | Into the father, for the time and dower |
| 105 | Did not o’errun this side or that the measure. |
| 106 | No houses had she void of families, |
| 107 | Not yet had thither come Sardanapalus |
| 108 | To show what in a chamber can be done; |
| 109 | Not yet surpassed had Montemalo been |
| 110 | By your Uccellatojo, which surpassed |
| 111 | Shall in its downfall be as in its rise. |
| 112 | Bellincion Berti saw I go begirt |
| 113 | With leather and with bone, and from the mirror |
| 114 | His dame depart without a painted face; |
| 115 | And him of Nerli saw, and him of Vecchio, |
| 116 | Contented with their simple suits of buff |
| 117 | And with the spindle and the flax their dame |
| 118 | O fortunate women ! and each one was certain |
| 119 | Of her own burial-place, and none as yet |
| 120 | For sake of France was in her bed deserted. |
| 121 | One o’er the cradle kept her studious watch, |
| 122 | And in her lullaby the language used |
| 123 | That first delights the fathers and the mothers; |
| 124 | Another, drawing tresses from her distaff, |
| 125 | Told o’er among her family the tales |
| 126 | Of Trojans and of Fesole and Rome. |
| 127 | As great a marvel then would have been held |
| 128 | A Lapo Salterello, a Cianghella, |
| 129 | As Cincinnatus or Cornelia now. |
| 130 | To such a quiet, such a beautiful |
| 131 | Life of the citizen, to such a safe |
| 132 | Community, and to so sweet an inn, |
| 133 | Did Mary give me, with loud cries invoked, |
| 134 | And in your ancient Baptistery at once |
| 135 | Christian and Cacciaguida I became. |
| 136 | Moronto was my brother, and Eliseo; |
| 137 | From Val di Pado came to me my wife, |
| 138 | And from that place thy surname was derived. |
| 139 | r followed afterward the Emperor Conrad, |
| 140 | And he begirt me of his chivalry, |
| 141 | So much I pleased him with my noble deeds. |
| 142 | I followed in his train against that law’s |
| 143 | Iniquity, whose people doth usurp |
| 144 | Your just possession, through your Pastor’s fault |
| 145 | There by that execrable race was I |
| 146 | Released from bonds of the fallacious world, |
| 147 | The love of which defileth many souls, |
| 148 | And came from martyrdom unto this peace. |