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PARADISO CANTO 10
Mandelbaum Tr. and Longfellow Tr.
NotesAnn.

	Gazing upon His Son with that Love which
One and the Other breathe eternally,
the Power-first and inexpressible-

	LOOKING into his Son with all the Love
Which each of them eternally breathes forth
The Primal and unutterable Power







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	made everything that wheels through mind and space
so orderly that one who contemplates
that harmony cannot but taste of Him.

	Whate'er before the mind or eye revolves
With so much order made, there can be none
Who this beholds without enjoying Him.







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	Then, reader, lift your eyes with me to see
the high wheels; gaze directly at that part
where the one motion strikes against the other;

	Lift up then, Reader, to the lofty wheels
With me thy vision straight unto that part
Where the one motion on the other strikes,







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	and there begin to look with longing at
that Master's art, which in Himself he loves
so much that his eye never parts from it.

	And there begin to contemplate with joy
'That Master's art, who in himself so loves it
That never doth his eye depart therefrom.







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	See there the circle branching from that cross-point
obliquely: zodiac to bear the planets
that satisfy the world in need of them.

	Behold how from that point goes branching off
The oblique circle, which conveys the planets,
To satisfy the world that calls upon them







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	For if the planets' path were not aslant,
much of the heavens' virtue would be wasted
and almost every power on earth be dead;

	And if their pathway were not thus inflected,
Much virtue in the heavens would be in vain,
And almost every power below here dead.







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	and if the zodiac swerved more or less
far from the straight course, then earth's harmony
would be defective in both hemispheres.

	If from the straight line distant more or less
Were the departure, much would wanting be
Above and underneath of mundane order.







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	Now, reader, do not leave your bench, but stay
to think on that of which you have foretaste;
you will have much delight before you tire.

	Remain now, Reader, still upon thy bench,
In thought pursuing that which is foretasted,
If thou wouldst jocund be instead of weary.







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	I have prepared your fare; now feed yourself,
because that matter of which I am made
the scribe calls all my care unto itself.

	I've set before thee; henceforth feed thyself,
For to itself diverteth all my care
That theme whereof I have been made the scribe.







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	The greatest minister of nature-he
who imprints earth with heaven's worth and, with
his light, provides the measurement for time-

	The greatest of the ministers of nature,
Who with the power of heaven the world imprints
And measures with his light the time for us,







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	since he was in conjunction with the part
I noted, now was wheeling through the spirals
where he appears more early every day.

	With that part which above is called to mind
Conjoined, along the spirals was revolving,
Where each time earlier he presents himself







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	And I was with him, but no more aware
of the ascent than one can be aware
of any sudden thought before it starts.

	And I was with him; but of the ascending
I was not conscious, saving as a man
Of a first thought is conscious ere it come;







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	The one who guides me so from good to better
is Beatrice, and on our path her acts
have so much swiftness that they span no time.

	And Beatrice, she who is seen to pass
From good to better, and so suddenly
That not by time her action is expressed,







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	How bright within themselves must be the lights
I saw on entering the Sun, for they
were known to me by splendor, not by color!

	How lucent in herself must she have been!
And what was in the sun, wherein I entered,
Apparent not by colour but by light,







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	Though I should call on talent, craft, and practice,
my telling cannot help them be imagined;
but you can trust-and may you long to see it.

	I, though I call on genius, art, and practice,
Cannot so tell that it could be imagined;
Believe one can, and let him long to see it.







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	And if our fantasies fall short before
such heights, there is no need to wonder; for
no eye has seen light brighter than the Sun's.

	And if our fantasies too lowly are
For altitude so great, it is no marvel,
Since o'er the sun was never eye could go.        







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	Such was the sphere of His fourth family,
whom the High Father always satisfies,
showing how He engenders and breathes forth.

	Such in this place was the fourth family
Of the high Father, who forever sates it,
Showing how he breathes forth and how begets







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	And Beatrice began: "Give thanks, give thanks
to Him, the angels' Sun, who, through His grace,
has lifted you to this embodied sun."

	And Beatrice began: "Give thanks, give thanks
Unto the Sun of Angels, who to this
Sensible one has raised thee by his grace!"







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	No mortal heart was ever so disposed
to worship, or so quick to yield itself
to God with all its gratefulness, as I

	Never was heart of mortal so disposed
To worship, nor to give itself to God
With all its gratitude was it so ready,







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	was when I heard those words, and all my love
was so intent on Him that Beatrice
was then eclipsed within forgetfulness.

	As at those words did I myself become;
And all my love was so absorbed in Him,
That in oblivion Beatrice was eclipsed.







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	And she was not displeased, but smiled at this,
so that the splendor of her smiling eyes
divided my rapt mind between two objects.

	Nor this displeased her; but she smiled at it
So that the splendour of her laughing eyes
My single mind on many things divided.







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	And I saw many lights, alive, most bright;
we formed the center, they became a crown,
their voices even sweeter than their splendor:

	Lights many saw I, vivid and triumphant,
Make us a centre and themselves a circle,
More sweet in voice than luminous in aspect.







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	just so, at times, we see Latona's daughter
circled when saturated air holds fast
the thread that forms the girdle of her halo.

	Thus girt about the daughter of Latona 
We sometimes see, when pregnant is the air,
So that it holds the thread which makes her zone.







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	In Heaven's court, from which I have returned,
one finds so many fair and precious gems
that are not to be taken from that kingdom:

	Within the court of Heaven, whence I return, 
Are many jewels found, so fair and precious
They cannot be transported from the realm;







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	one of those gems, the song those splendors sang.
He who does not take wings to reach that realm,
may wait for tidings of it from the mute.

	And of them was the singing of those lights.
Who takes not wings that he may fly up thither,
The tidings thence may from the dumb await! 







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	After those ardent suns, while singing so,
had wheeled three times around us, even as
stars that are close to the fixed poles, they seemed

	As soon as singing thus those burning suns
Had round about us whirled themselves three times,
Like unto stars neighbouring the steadfast poles,







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	to me like women who, though not released
from dancing, pause in silence, listening
until new notes invite to new dancing.

	Ladies they seemed, not from the dance released,
But who stop short, in silence listening  
Till they have gathered the new melody.







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	And from within one light I heard begin:
"Because the ray of grace, from which true love
is kindled first and then, in loving, grows,

	And within one I heard beginning: "When
The radiance of grace, by which is kindled
True love, and which thereafter grows by loving,







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	shines with such splendor, multiplied, in you,
that it has led you up the stair that none
descends who will not climb that stair again,

	Within thee multiplied is so resplendent
That it conducts thee upward by that stair,
Where without reascending none descends,







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	whoever would refuse to quench your thirst
with wine from his flask, would be no more free
than water that does not flow toward the sea.

	Who should deny the wine out of his vial
Unto thy thirst, in liberty were not
Except as water which descends not seaward.







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	You want to know what plants bloom in this garland
that, circling, contemplates with love the fair
lady who strengthens your ascent to heaven.

	Fain wouldst thou know with what plants is enflowered
This garland that encircles with delight
The Lady fair who makes thee strong for heaven.  







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	I was a lamb among the holy flock
that Dominic leads on the path where one
may fatten well if one does not stray off.

	Of the lambs was I of the holy flock
Which Dominic conducteth by a road
Where well one fattens if he strayeth not.







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	He who is nearest on my right was both
my brother and my teacher: from Cologne,
Albert, and I am Thomas of Aquino.

	He who is nearest to me on the right
My brother and master was; and he Albertus
Is of Cologne, I Thomas of Aquinum.







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	If you would know who all the others are,
then even as I speak let your eyes follow,
making their way around the holy wreath.

	If thou of all the others wouldst be certain,
Follow behind my speaking with thy sight
Upward along the blessed garland turning.







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	That next flame issues from the smile of Gratian,
who served one and the other court of law
so well that his work pleases Paradise.

	That next effulgence issues from the smile
Of Gratian, who assisted both the courts
In such wise that it pleased in Paradise.







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	That other, who adorns our choir next-
he was that Peter who, like the poor widow,
offered his treasure to the Holy Church.

	The other which near by adorns our choir
That Peter was who, e'en as the poor widow,
Offered his treasure unto Holy Church.







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	The fifth light, and the fairest light among us,
breathes forth such love that all the world below
hungers for tidings of it; in that flame

	The fifth light, that among us is the fairest,
Breathes forth from such a love, that all the world 
Below is greedy to learn tidings of it.







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	there is the lofty mind where such profound
wisdom was placed that, if the truth be true,
no other ever rose with so much vision.

	Within it is the lofty mind, where knowledge
So deep was put, that, if the true be true,
To see so much there never rose a second.







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	Next you can see the radiance of that candle
which, in the flesh, below, beheld most deeply
the angels' nature and their ministry.

	Thou seest next the lustre of that taper,
Which in the flesh below looked most within
The angelic nature and its ministry.







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	Within the other little light there smiles
that champion of the Christian centuries
whose narrative was used by Augustine.

	Within that other little light is smiling
The advocate of the Christian centuries,
Out of whose rhetoric Augustine was furnished.  







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	Now, if your mind's eye, following my praising,
was drawn from light to light, you must already
be thirsting for the eighth: within that light,

	Now if thou trainest thy mind's eye along
From light to light pursuant of my praise,
With thirst already of the eighth thou waitest.







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	because he saw the Greatest Good, rejoices
the blessed soul who makes the world's deceit
most plain to all who hear him carefully.

	By seeing every good therein exults
The sainted soul, which the fallacious world
Makes manifest to him who listeneth well;







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	The flesh from which his soul was banished lies
below, within Cieldauro, and he came
from martyrdom and exile to this peace.

	The body whence 'twas hunted forth is Iying
Down in Cieldauro, and from martyrdom
And banishment it came unto this peace.







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	Beyond, you see, flaming, the ardent spirits
of Isidore and Bede and Richard-he
whose meditation made him more than man.

	See farther onward flame the burning breath
Of Isidore, of Beda, and of Richard
Who was in contemplation more than man.







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	This light from whom your gaze returns to me
contains a spirit whose oppressive thoughts
made him see death as coming much too slowly:

	This, whence to me returneth thy regard,
The light is of a spirit unto whom
In his grave meditations death seemed slow.







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	it is the everlasting light of Siger,
who when he lectured in the Street of Straw
demonstrated truths that earned him envy."

	It is the light eternal of Sigier,
Who, reading lectures in the Street of Straw,
Did syllogize invidious verities."







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	Then, like a clock that calls us at the hour
in which the Bride of God, on waking, sings
matins to her Bridegroom, encouraging

	Then, as a horologe that calleth us
What time the Bride of God is rising up
With matins to her Spouse that he may love her,







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	His love (when each clock-part both drives and draws),
chiming the sounds with notes so sweet that those
with spirit well-disposed feel their love grow;

	Wherein one part the other draws and urges,
Ting! ting! resounding with so sweet a note,
That swells with love the spirit well disposed,







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	so did I see the wheel that moved in glory
go round and render voice to voice with such
sweetness and such accord that they can not

	Thus I beheld the glorious wheel move round,
And render voice to voice, in modulation
And sweetness that can not be comprehended,







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	be known except where joy is everlasting

	Excepting there where joy is made eternal.



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