| PARADISO CANTO 11 Dante and Mandelbaum Tr. | Notes | Ann. |
O insensata cura de' mortali, quanto son difettivi silogismi quei che ti fanno in basso batter l'ali! O senseless cares of mortals, how deceiving are syllogistic reasonings that bring your wings to flight so low, to earthly things! |
11.003 |
|
Chi dietro a iura, e chi ad amforismi sen giva, e chi seguendo sacerdozio, e chi regnar per forza o per sofismi, One studied law and one the Aphorisms of the physicians; one was set on priesthood and one, through force or fraud, on rulership; |
11.006 |
|
e chi rubare, e chi civil negozio, chi nel diletto de la carne involto s'affaticava e chi si dava a l'ozio, one meant to plunder, one to politick; one labored, tangled in delights of flesh, and one was fully bent on indolence; |
11.009 |
|
quando, da tutte queste cose sciolto, con Beatrice m'era suso in cielo cotanto gloriosamente accolto. while I, delivered from our servitude to all these things, was in the height of heaven with Beatrice, so gloriously welcomed. |
11.012 |
|
Poi che ciascuno fu tornato ne lo punto del cerchio in che avanti s'era, fermossi, come a candellier candelo. After each of those spirits had returned to that place in the ring where it had been, it halted, like a candle in its stand. |
11.015 |
|
E io senti' dentro a quella lumera che pria m'avea parlato, sorridendo incominciar, faccendosi più mera: And from within the splendor that had spoken to me before, I heard him, as he smiled- become more radiant, more pure-begin: |
11.018 |
|
«Così com'io del suo raggio resplendo, sì, riguardando ne la luce etterna, li tuoi pensieri onde cagioni apprendo. "Even as I grow bright within Its rays, so, as I gaze at the Eternal Light, I can perceive your thoughts and see their cause. |
11.021 |
|
Tu dubbi, e hai voler che si ricerna in sì aperta e 'n sì distesa lingua lo dicer mio, ch'al tuo sentir si sterna, You are in doubt; you want an explanation in language that is open and expanded, so clear that it contents your understanding |
11.024 |
|
ove dinanzi dissi "U' ben s'impingua", e là u' dissi "Non nacque il secondo"; e qui è uopo che ben si distingua. of two points: where I said, 'They fatten well,' and where I said, 'No other ever rose'- and here one has to make a clear distinction. |
11.027 |
|
La provedenza, che governa il mondo con quel consiglio nel quale ogne aspetto creato è vinto pria che vada al fondo, The Providence that rules the world with wisdom so fathomless that creatures' intellects are vanquished and can never probe its depth, |
11.030 |
|
però che andasse ver' lo suo diletto la sposa di colui ch'ad alte grida disposò lei col sangue benedetto, so that the Bride of Him who, with loud cries, had wed her with His blessed blood, might meet her Love with more fidelity and more |
11.033 |
|
in sé sicura e anche a lui più fida, due principi ordinò in suo favore, che quinci e quindi le fosser per guida. assurance in herself, on her behalf commanded that there be two princes, one on this side, one on that side, as her guides. |
11.036 |
|
L'un fu tutto serafico in ardore; l'altro per sapienza in terra fue di cherubica luce uno splendore. One prince was all seraphic in his ardor; the other, for his wisdom, had possessed the splendor of cherubic light on earth. |
11.039 |
|
De l'un dirò, però che d'amendue si dice l'un pregiando, qual ch'om prende, perch'ad un fine fur l'opere sue. I shall devote my tale to one, because in praising either prince one praises both: the labors of the two were toward one goal. |
11.042 |
|
Intra Tupino e l'acqua che discende del colle eletto dal beato Ubaldo, fertile costa d'alto monte pende, Between Topino's stream and that which flows down from the hill the blessed Ubaldo chose, from a high peak there hangs a fertile slope; |
11.045 |
|
onde Perugia sente freddo e caldo da Porta Sole; e di rietro le piange per grave giogo Nocera con Gualdo. from there Perugia feels both heat and cold at Porta Sole, while behind it sorrow Nocera and Gualdo under their hard yoke. |
11.048 |
|
Di questa costa, là dov'ella frange più sua rattezza, nacque al mondo un sole, come fa questo tal volta di Gange. From this hillside, where it abates its rise, a sun was born into the world, much like this sun when it is climbing from the Ganges. |
11.051 |
|
Però chi d'esso loco fa parole, non dica Ascesi, ché direbbe corto, ma Oriente, se proprio dir vuole. Therefore let him who names this site not say Ascesi, which would be to say too little, but Orient, if he would name it rightly. |
11.054 |
|
Non era ancor molto lontan da l'orto, ch'el cominciò a far sentir la terra de la sua gran virtute alcun conforto; That sun was not yet very distant from his rising, when he caused the earth to take some comfort from his mighty influence; |
11.057 |
|
ché per tal donna, giovinetto, in guerra del padre corse, a cui, come a la morte, la porta del piacer nessun diserra; for even as a youth, he ran to war against his father, on behalf of her- the lady unto whom, just as to death, |
11.060 |
|
e dinanzi a la sua spirital corte et coram patre le si fece unito; poscia di dì in dì l'amò più forte. none willingly unlocks the door; before his spiritual court et coram patre, he wed her; day by day he loved her more. |
11.063 |
|
Questa, privata del primo marito, millecent'anni e più dispetta e scura fino a costui si stette sanza invito; She was bereft of her first husband; scorned, obscure, for some eleven hundred years, until that sun came, she had had no suitor. |
11.066 |
|
né valse udir che la trovò sicura con Amiclate, al suon de la sua voce, colui ch'a tutto 'l mondo fé paura; Nor did it help her when men heard that he who made earth tremble found her unafraid- serene, with Amyclas-when he addressed her; |
11.069 |
|
né valse esser costante né feroce, sì che, dove Maria rimase giuso, ella con Cristo pianse in su la croce. nor did her constancy and courage help when she, even when Mary stayed below, suffered with Christ upon the cross. But so |
11.072 |
|
Ma perch'io non proceda troppo chiuso, Francesco e Povertà per questi amanti prendi oramai nel mio parlar diffuso. that I not tell my tale too darkly, you may now take Francis and take Poverty to be the lovers meant in my recounting. |
11.075 |
|
La lor concordia e i lor lieti sembianti, amore e maraviglia e dolce sguardo facieno esser cagion di pensier santi; Their harmony and their glad looks, their love and wonder and their gentle contemplation, served others as a source of holy thoughts; |
11.078 |
|
tanto che 'l venerabile Bernardo si scalzò prima, e dietro a tanta pace corse e, correndo, li parve esser tardo. so much so, that the venerable Bernard went barefoot first; he hurried toward such peace; and though he ran, he thought his pace too slow. |
11.081 |
|
Oh ignota ricchezza! oh ben ferace! Scalzasi Egidio, scalzasi Silvestro dietro a lo sposo, sì la sposa piace. O wealth unknown! O good that is so fruitful! Egidius goes barefoot, and Sylvester, behind the groom-the bride delights them so. |
11.084 |
|
Indi sen va quel padre e quel maestro con la sua donna e con quella famiglia che già legava l'umile capestro. Then Francis-father, master-goes his way with both his lady and his family, the lowly cord already round their waists. |
11.087 |
|
Né li gravò viltà di cuor le ciglia per esser fi' di Pietro Bernardone, né per parer dispetto a maraviglia; Nor did he lower his eyes in shame because he was the son of Pietro Bernardone, nor for the scorn and wonder he aroused; |
11.090 |
|
ma regalmente sua dura intenzione ad Innocenzio aperse, e da lui ebbe primo sigillo a sua religione. but like a sovereign, he disclosed in full- to Innocent-the sternness of his rule; from him he had the first seal of his order. |
11.093 |
|
Poi che la gente poverella crebbe dietro a costui, la cui mirabil vita meglio in gloria del ciel si canterebbe, And after many of the poor had followed Francis, whose wondrous life were better sung by glory's choir in the Empyrean, |
11.096 |
|
di seconda corona redimita fu per Onorio da l'Etterno Spiro la santa voglia d'esto archimandrita. the sacred purpose of this chief of shepherds was then encircled with a second crown by the Eternal Spirit through Honorius. |
11.099 |
|
E poi che, per la sete del martiro, ne la presenza del Soldan superba predicò Cristo e li altri che 'l seguiro, And after, in his thirst for martyrdom, within the presence of the haughty Sultan, he preached of Christ and those who followed Him. |
11.102 |
|
e per trovare a conversione acerba troppo la gente e per non stare indarno, redissi al frutto de l'italica erba, But, finding hearers who were too unripe to be converted, he-not wasting time- returned to harvest the Italian fields; |
11.105 |
|
nel crudo sasso intra Tevero e Arno da Cristo prese l'ultimo sigillo, che le sue membra due anni portarno. there, on the naked crag between the Arno and Tiber, he received the final seal from Christ; and this, his limbs bore for two years. |
11.108 |
|
Quando a colui ch'a tanto ben sortillo piacque di trarlo suso a la mercede ch'el meritò nel suo farsi pusillo, When He who destined Francis to such goodness was pleased to draw him up to the reward that he had won through his humility, |
11.111 |
|
a' frati suoi, sì com'a giuste rede, raccomandò la donna sua più cara, e comandò che l'amassero a fede; then to his brothers, as to rightful heirs, Francis commended his most precious lady, and he bade them to love her faithfully; |
11.114 |
|
e del suo grembo l'anima preclara mover si volle, tornando al suo regno, e al suo corpo non volle altra bara. and when, returning to its kingdom, his bright soul wanted to set forth from her bosom, it, for its body, asked no other bier. |
11.117 |
|
Pensa oramai qual fu colui che degno collega fu a mantener la barca di Pietro in alto mar per dritto segno; Consider now that man who was a colleague worthy of Francis; with him, in high seas, he kept the bark of Peter on true course. |
11.120 |
|
e questo fu il nostro patriarca; per che qual segue lui, com'el comanda, discerner puoi che buone merce carca. Such was our patriarch; thus you can see that those who follow him as he commands, as cargo carry worthy merchandise. |
11.123 |
|
Ma 'l suo pecuglio di nova vivanda è fatto ghiotto, sì ch'esser non puote che per diversi salti non si spanda; But now his flock is grown so greedy for new nourishment that it must wander far, in search of strange and distant grazing lands; |
11.126 |
|
e quanto le sue pecore remote e vagabunde più da esso vanno, più tornano a l'ovil di latte vòte. and as his sheep, remote and vagabond, stray farther from his side, at their return into the fold, their lack of milk is greater. |
11.129 |
|
Ben son di quelle che temono 'l danno e stringonsi al pastor; ma son sì poche, che le cappe fornisce poco panno. Though there are some indeed who, fearing harm, stay near the shepherd, they are few in number- to cowl them would require little cloth. |
11.132 |
|
Or, se le mie parole non son fioche, se la tua audienza è stata attenta, se ciò ch'è detto a la mente revoche, Now if my words are not too dim and distant, if you have listened carefully to them, if you can call to mind what has been said, |
11.135 |
|
in parte fia la tua voglia contenta, perché vedrai la pianta onde si scheggia, e vedra' il corrègger che argomenta then part of what you wish to know is answered, for you will see the splinters on the plant and see what my correction meant: 'Where one |
11.138 |
|
"U' ben s'impingua, se non si vaneggia"». may fatten well, if one does not stray off.'" |
11.139 |