Canto XVII

English Edition, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

1	As came to Clymene, to be made certain
2	Of that which he had heard against himself,
3	He who makes fathers chary still to children,

4	Even such was I, and such was I perceived
5	By Beatrice and by the holy light
6	That first on my account had changed its place.

7	Therefore my Lady said to me: Send forth
8	The flame of thy desire, so that it issue
9	Imprinted well with the internal stamp;

10	Not that our knowledge may be greater made
11	By speech of thine, but to accustom thee
12	To tell thy thirst, that we may give thee drink.

13	O my beloved tree, (that so dost lift thee,
14	That even as minds terrestrial perceive
15	No triangle containeth two obtuse,

16	So thou beholdest the contingent things
17	Ere in themselves they are, fixing thine eyes
18	Upon the point in which all times are present,)

19	While I was with Virgilius conjoined
20	Upon the mountain that the souls doth heal,
21	And when descending into the dead world,

22	Were spoken to me of my future life
23	Some grievous words; although I feel myself
24	ln sooth foursquare against the blows of chance.

25	on this account my wish would be content
26	To hear what fortune is approaching me,
27	Because foreseen an arrow comes more slowly.

28	Thus did I say unto that selfsame light
29	That unto me had spoken before, and even
30	As Beatrice willed was my own will confessed.

31	Not in vague phrase, in which the foolish folk
32	Ensnared themselves of old, ere yet was slain
33	The Lamb of God who taketh sins away,

34	But with clear words and unambiguous
35	Language responded that paternal love,
36	Hid and revealed by its own proper smile:

37	Contingency, that outside of the volume
38	Of your materiality extends not,
39	Is all depicted in the eternal aspect.

40	Necessity however thence it takes not,
41	Except as from the eye, in which 'tis mirrored,
42	A ship that with the current down descends.

43	From thence, e'en as there cometh to the ear
44	Sweet harmony from an organ, comes in sight
45	To me the time that is preparing for thee.

46	As forth from Athens went Hippolytus,
47	By reason of his step-dame false and cruel,
48	So thou from Florence must perforce depart.

49	Already this is willed, and this is sought for;
50	And soon it shall be done by him who thinks it,
51	Where every day the Christ is bought and sold.

52	The blame shall follow the offended party
53	In outcry as is usual; but the vengeance
54	Shall witness to the truth that doth dispense it.

55	Thou shalt abandon everything beloved
56	Most tenderly, and this the arrow is
57	Which first the bow of banishment shoots forth.

58	Thou shalt have proof how savoureth of salt
59	The bread of others, and how hard a road
60	The going down and up another's stairs.

61	And that which most shall weigh upon thy shoulders
62	Will be the bad and foolish company
63	With which into this valley thou shalt fall;

64	For all ingrate, all mad and impious
65	Will they become against thee; but soon after
66	They, and not thou, shall have the forehead scarlet

67	Of their bestiality their own proceedings
68	Shall furnish proof; so 'twill be well for thee
69	A party to have made thee by thyself.

70	Thine earliest refuge and thine earliest inn
71	Shall be the mighty Lombard's courtesy,
72	Who on the Ladder bears the holy bird,

73	Who such benign regard shall have for thee
74	That 'twixt you twain, in doing and in asking,
75	That shall be first which is with others last.

76	With him shalt thou see one who at his birth
77	Has by this star of strength been so impressed,
78	That notable shall his achievements be.

79	Not yet the people are aware of him
80	Through his young age, since only nine years ye
81	Around about him have these wheels revolved-

82	But ere the Gascon cheat the noble Henry,
83	Some sparkles of his virtue shall appear
84	In caring not for silver nor for toil.

85	So recognized shall his magnificence
86	Become hereafter, that his enemies
87	Will not have power to keep mute tongues about it.

88	On him rely, and on his benefits;
89	By him shall many people be transformed,
90	Changing condition rich and mendicant;

91	And written in thy mind thou hence shalt bear
92	Of him, but shalt not say it --and things said he
93	Incredible to those who shall be present.

94	Then added: Son, these are the commentaries
95	On what was said to thee; behold the snares
96	That are concealed behind few revolutions;

97	Yet would I not thy neighbours thou shouldst envy,
98	Because thy life into the future reaches
99	Beyond the punishment of their perfidies.

100	When by its silence showed that sainted soul
101	That it had finished putting in the woof
102	Into that web which I had given it warped,

103	Began I, even as he who yearneth after,
104	Being in doubt, some counsel from a person
105	Who seeth, and uprightly wills, and loves:

106	Well see I, father mine, how spurreth on
107	The time towards me such a blow to deal me
108	As heaviest is to him who most gives way.

109	Therefore with foresight it is well I arm me,
110	That, if the dearest place be taken from me,
111	I may not lose the others by my songs.

112	Down through the world of infinite bitterness,
113	And o'er the mountain, from whose beauteous summit
114	The eyes of my own Lady lifted me,

115	And afterward through heaven from light to light,
116	I have learned that which, if I tell again,
117	Will be a savour of strong herbs to many.

118	And if I am a timid friend to truth,
119	I fear lest I may lose my life with those
120	Who will hereafter call this time the olden.

121	The light in which was smiling my own treasure
122	Which there I had discovered, flashed at first
123	As in the sunshine doth a golden mirror;

124	Then made reply: A conscience overcast
125	Or with its own or with another's shame,
126	Will taste forsooth the tartness of thy word;

127	But ne'ertheless, ail falsehood laid aside,
128	Make manifest thy vision utterly,
129	And let them scratch wherever is the itch;

130	For if thine utterance shall offensive be
131	At the first taste, a vital nutriment
132	'Twill leave thereafter, when it is digested.

133	This cry of thine shall do as doth the wind,
134	Which smiteth most the most exalted summits,
135	And that is no slight argument of honour.

136	Therefore are shown to thee within these wheels,
137	Upon the mount and in the dolorous valley,
138	Only the souls that unto fame are known;

139	Because the spirit of the hearer rests not,
140	Nor doth confirm its faith by an example
141	Which has the root of it unknown and hidden,

142	Or other reason that is not apparent.

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Canto XVII