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PARADISO CANTO 29
Mandelbaum Tr. and Longfellow Tr. Notes Ann.

As long as both Latona's children take (when, covered by the Ram and Scales, they make their belt of the horizon at the same AT what time both the children of Latona, Surmounted by the Ram and by the Scales, Together make a zone of the horizon,

29.003

moment) to pass from equilibrium- the zenith held in balance-to that state where, changing hemispheres, each leaves that belt, As long as from the time the zenith holds them In equipoise, till from that girdle both Changing their hemisphere disturb the balance,

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so long did Beatrice, a smile upon her face, keep silent, even as she gazed intently at the Point that overwhelmed me. So long, her face depicted with a smile, Did Beatrice keep silence while she gazed Fixedly at the point which had o'ercome me.

29.009

Then she began: "I tell-not ask-what you now want to hear, for I have seen it there where, in one point, all whens and ubis end. Then she began: "I say, and I ask not What thou dost wish to hear, for I have seen it Where centres every When and every Ubi.

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Not to acquire new goodness for Himself- which cannot be-but that his splendor might, as it shines back to Him, declare 'Subsisto,' Not to acquire some good unto himself, Which is impossible, but that his splendour In its resplendency may say, ' Subsisto,'

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in His eternity outside of time, beyond all other borders, as pleased Him, Eternal Love opened into new loves. In his eternity outside of time, Outside all other limits, as it pleased him, Into new Loves the Eternal Love unfolded.

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Nor did he lie, before this, as if languid; there was no after, no before-they were not there until God moved upon these waters. Nor as if torpid did he lie before; For neither after nor before proceeded The going forth of God upon these waters.

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Then form and matter, either separately or in mixed state, emerged as flawless being, as from a three-stringed bow, three arrows spring. Matter and Form unmingled and conjoined Came into being that had no defect, E'en as three arrows from a three-stringed bow.

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And as a ray shines into amber, crystal, or glass, so that there is no interval between its coming and its lighting all And as in glass, in amber, or in crystal A sunbeam flashes so, that from its coming To its full being is no interval

29.027

so did the three-form, matter, and their union- flash into being from the Lord with no distinction in beginning: all at once. So from its Lord did the triform effect Ray forth into its being all together, Without discrimination of beginning.

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Created with the substances were order and pattern; at the summit of the world were those in whom pure act had been produced; Order was con-created and constructed In substances, and summit of the world Were those wherein the pure act was produced.

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and pure potentiality possessed the lowest part; and in the middle, act so joined potentiality that they Pure potentiality held the lowest part; Midway bound potentiality with act Such bond that it shall never be unbound.

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never disjoin. For you, Jerome has written that the creation of the angels came long centuries before all else was made; Jerome has written unto you of angels Created a long lapse of centuries Or ever yet the other world was made;

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but this, the truth I speak, is written by scribes of the Holy Ghost-as you can find if you look carefully-on many pages; But written is this truth in many places By writers of the Holy Ghost, and thou Shalt see it, if thou lookest well thereat

29.042

and reason, too, can see in part this truth, for it would not admit that those who move the heavens could, for so long, be without And even reason seeth it somewhat, For it would not concede that for so long Could be the motors without their perfection.

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their perfect task. Now you know where and when and how these loving spirits were created: with this, three flames of your desire are quenched. Now dost thou know both where and when these Loves Created were, and how; so that extinct In thy desire already are three fires.

29.048

Then, sooner than it takes to count to twenty, a portion of the angels violently disturbed the lowest of your elements. Nor could one reach, in counting, unto twenty So swiftly, as a portion of these angels Disturbed the subject of your elements.

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The rest remained; and they, with such rejoicing, began the office you can see, that they never desert their circling contemplation. The rest remained, and they began this art Which thou discernest, with so great delight That never from their circling do they cease.

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The fall had its beginning in the cursed pride of the one you saw, held in constraint by all of the world's weights. Those whom you see The occasion of the fall was the accursed Presumption of that One, whom thou hast seen By all the burden of the world constrained.

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in Heaven here were modestly aware that they were ready for intelligence so vast, because of that Good which had made them: Those whom thou here beholdest modest were To recognise themselves as of that goodness Which made them apt for so much understanding;

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through this, their vision was exalted with illuminating grace and with their merit, so that their will is constant and intact. On which account their vision was exalted By the enlightening grace and their own merit, So that they have a full and steadfast will.

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I would not have you doubt, but have you know surely that there is merit in receiving grace, measured by the longing to receive it. I would not have thee doubt, but certain be, 'Tis meritorious to receive this grace, According as the affection opens to it.

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By now, if you have taken in my words, you need no other aid to contemplate much in regard to this consistory. Now round about in this consistory Much mayst thou contemplate, if these my words Be gathered up, without all further aid.

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But since on earth, throughout your schools, they teach that it is in the nature of the angels to understand, to recollect, to will, But since upon the earth, throughout your schools, They teach that such is the angelic nature That it doth hear, and recollect, and will,

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I shall say more, so that you may see clearly the truth that, there below, has been confused by teaching that is so ambiguous. More will I say, that thou mayst see unmixed The truth that is confounded there below, Equivocating in such like prelections.

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These beings, since they first were gladdened by the face of God, from which no thing is hidden, have never turned their vision from that face, These substances, since in God's countenance They jocund were, turned not away their sight From that wherefrom not anything is hidden;

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so that their sight is never intercepted by a new object, and they have no need to recollect an interrupted concept. Hence they have not their vision intercepted By object new, and hence they do not need To recollect, through interrupted thought.

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So that, below, though not asleep, men dream, speaking in good faith or in bad-the last, however, merits greater blame and shame. So that below, not sleeping, people dream, Believing they speak truth, and not believing; And in the last is greater sin and shame.

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Below, you do not follow one sole path as you philosophize-your love of show and thought of it so carry you astray! Below you do not journey by one path Philosophising; so transporteth you Love of appearance and the thought thereof.

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Yet even love of show is suffered here with less disdain than the subordination or the perversion of the Holy Scripture. And even this above here is endured With less disdain, than when is set aside The Holy Writ, or when it is distorted.

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There, they devote no thought to how much blood it costs to sow it in the world, to how pleasing is he who-humbly-holds it fast. They think not there how much of blood it costs To sow it in the world, and how he pleases Who in humility keeps close to it.

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Each one strives for display, elaborates his own inventions; preachers speak at length of these-meanwhile the Gospels do not speak. Each striveth for appearance, and doth make His own inventions; and these treated are By preachers, and the Evangel holds its peace.

29.096

One says that, to prevent the sun from reaching below, the moon-when Christ was crucified- moved back along the zodiac, so as One sayeth that the moon did backward turn, In the Passion of Christ, and interpose herself So that the sunlight reached not down below;

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to interpose itself; who says so, lies- for sunlight hid itself; not only Jews, but Spaniards, Indians, too, saw that eclipse. And lies; for of its own accord the light Hid itself; whence to Spaniards and to Indians, As to the Jews, did such eclipse respond.

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Such fables, shouted through the year from pulpits- some here, some there-outnumber even all the Lapos and the Bindos Florence has; Florence has not so many Lapi and Bindi As fables such as these, that every year Are shouted from the pulpit back and forth,

29.105

so that the wretched sheep, in ignorance, return from pasture, having fed on wind- but to be blind to harm does not excuse them. In such wise that the lambs, who do not know, Come back from pasture fed upon the wind, And not to see the harm doth not excuse them.

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Christ did not say to his first company: 'Go, and preach idle stories to the world'; but he gave them the teaching that is truth, Christ did not to his first disciples say, ' Go forth, and to the world preach idle tales,' But unto them a true foundation gave;

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and truth alone was sounded when they spoke; and thus, to battle to enkindle faith, the Gospels served them as both shield and lance. And this so loudly sounded from their lips, That, in the warfare to enkindle Faith, They made of the Evangel shields and lances.

29.114

But now men go to preach with jests and jeers, and just as long as they can raise a laugh, the cowl puffs up, and nothing more is asked. Now men go forth with jests and drolleries To preach, and if but well the people laugh, The hood puffs out, and nothing more is asked.

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But such a bird nests in that cowl, that if the people saw it, they would recognize as lies the pardons in which they confide- But in the cowl there nestles such a bird, That, if the common people were to see it, They would perceive what pardons they confide in.

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pardons through which the world's credulity increases so, that people throng to every indulgence backed by no authority; For which so great on earth has grown the folly, That, without proof of any testimony, To each indulgence they would flock together.

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and this allows the Antonines to fatten their pigs, and others, too, more piggish still, who pay with counterfeit, illegal tender. By this Saint Anthony his pig doth fatten, And many others, who are worse than pigs, Paying in money without mark of coinage.

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But since we have digressed enough, turn back your eyes now to the way that is direct; our time is short-so, too, must be our path. But since we have digressed abundantly, Turn back thine eyes forthwith to the right path, So that the way be shortened with the time.

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The number of these angels is so great that there has never been a mortal speech or mortal thought that named a sum so steep; This nature doth so multiply itself ln numbers, that there never yet was speech Nor mortal fancy that can go so far.

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and if you look at that which is revealed by Daniel, you will see that, while he mentions thousands, he gives no number with precision. And if thou notest that which is revealed By Daniel, thou wilt see that in his thousands Number determinate is kept concealed.

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The First Light reaches them in ways as many as are the angels to which It conjoins Itself, as It illumines all of them; The primal light, that all irradiates it, By modes as many is received therein As are the splendours wherewith it is mated.

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and this is why (because affection follows the act of knowledge) the intensity of love's sweetness appears unequally. Hence, inasmuch as on the act conceptive The affection followeth, of love the sweetness Therein diversely fervid is or tepid.

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By now you see the height, you see the breadth, of the Eternal Goodness: It has made so many mirrors, which divide Its light, The height behold now and the amplitude Of the eternal power, since it hath made Itself so many mirrors, where 'tis broken,

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but, as before, Its own Self still is One." One in itself remaining as before."

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PARADISO CANTO 29 Mandelbaum Tr. and Longfellow Tr.	*Notes*	*Ann.*
As long as both Latona's children take (when, covered by the Ram and Scales, they make their belt of the horizon at the same AT what time both the children of Latona, Surmounted by the Ram and by the Scales, Together make a zone of the horizon,	29.003
moment) to pass from equilibrium- the zenith held in balance-to that state where, changing hemispheres, each leaves that belt, As long as from the time the zenith holds them In equipoise, till from that girdle both Changing their hemisphere disturb the balance,	29.006
so long did Beatrice, a smile upon her face, keep silent, even as she gazed intently at the Point that overwhelmed me. So long, her face depicted with a smile, Did Beatrice keep silence while she gazed Fixedly at the point which had o'ercome me.	29.009
Then she began: "I tell-not ask-what you now want to hear, for I have seen it there where, in one point, all whens and ubis end. Then she began: "I say, and I ask not What thou dost wish to hear, for I have seen it Where centres every When and every Ubi.	29.012
Not to acquire new goodness for Himself- which cannot be-but that his splendor might, as it shines back to Him, declare 'Subsisto,' Not to acquire some good unto himself, Which is impossible, but that his splendour In its resplendency may say, ' Subsisto,'	29.015
in His eternity outside of time, beyond all other borders, as pleased Him, Eternal Love opened into new loves. In his eternity outside of time, Outside all other limits, as it pleased him, Into new Loves the Eternal Love unfolded.	29.018
Nor did he lie, before this, as if languid; there was no after, no before-they were not there until God moved upon these waters. Nor as if torpid did he lie before; For neither after nor before proceeded The going forth of God upon these waters.	29.021
Then form and matter, either separately or in mixed state, emerged as flawless being, as from a three-stringed bow, three arrows spring. Matter and Form unmingled and conjoined Came into being that had no defect, E'en as three arrows from a three-stringed bow.	29.024
And as a ray shines into amber, crystal, or glass, so that there is no interval between its coming and its lighting all And as in glass, in amber, or in crystal A sunbeam flashes so, that from its coming To its full being is no interval	29.027
so did the three-form, matter, and their union- flash into being from the Lord with no distinction in beginning: all at once. So from its Lord did the triform effect Ray forth into its being all together, Without discrimination of beginning.	29.030
Created with the substances were order and pattern; at the summit of the world were those in whom pure act had been produced; Order was con-created and constructed In substances, and summit of the world Were those wherein the pure act was produced.	29.033
and pure potentiality possessed the lowest part; and in the middle, act so joined potentiality that they Pure potentiality held the lowest part; Midway bound potentiality with act Such bond that it shall never be unbound.	29.036
never disjoin. For you, Jerome has written that the creation of the angels came long centuries before all else was made; Jerome has written unto you of angels Created a long lapse of centuries Or ever yet the other world was made;	29.039
but this, the truth I speak, is written by scribes of the Holy Ghost-as you can find if you look carefully-on many pages; But written is this truth in many places By writers of the Holy Ghost, and thou Shalt see it, if thou lookest well thereat	29.042
and reason, too, can see in part this truth, for it would not admit that those who move the heavens could, for so long, be without And even reason seeth it somewhat, For it would not concede that for so long Could be the motors without their perfection.	29.045
their perfect task. Now you know where and when and how these loving spirits were created: with this, three flames of your desire are quenched. Now dost thou know both where and when these Loves Created were, and how; so that extinct In thy desire already are three fires.	29.048
Then, sooner than it takes to count to twenty, a portion of the angels violently disturbed the lowest of your elements. Nor could one reach, in counting, unto twenty So swiftly, as a portion of these angels Disturbed the subject of your elements.	29.051
The rest remained; and they, with such rejoicing, began the office you can see, that they never desert their circling contemplation. The rest remained, and they began this art Which thou discernest, with so great delight That never from their circling do they cease.	29.054
The fall had its beginning in the cursed pride of the one you saw, held in constraint by all of the world's weights. Those whom you see The occasion of the fall was the accursed Presumption of that One, whom thou hast seen By all the burden of the world constrained.	29.057
in Heaven here were modestly aware that they were ready for intelligence so vast, because of that Good which had made them: Those whom thou here beholdest modest were To recognise themselves as of that goodness Which made them apt for so much understanding;	29.060
through this, their vision was exalted with illuminating grace and with their merit, so that their will is constant and intact. On which account their vision was exalted By the enlightening grace and their own merit, So that they have a full and steadfast will.	29.063
I would not have you doubt, but have you know surely that there is merit in receiving grace, measured by the longing to receive it. I would not have thee doubt, but certain be, 'Tis meritorious to receive this grace, According as the affection opens to it.	29.066
By now, if you have taken in my words, you need no other aid to contemplate much in regard to this consistory. Now round about in this consistory Much mayst thou contemplate, if these my words Be gathered up, without all further aid.	29.069
But since on earth, throughout your schools, they teach that it is in the nature of the angels to understand, to recollect, to will, But since upon the earth, throughout your schools, They teach that such is the angelic nature That it doth hear, and recollect, and will,	29.072
I shall say more, so that you may see clearly the truth that, there below, has been confused by teaching that is so ambiguous. More will I say, that thou mayst see unmixed The truth that is confounded there below, Equivocating in such like prelections.	29.075
These beings, since they first were gladdened by the face of God, from which no thing is hidden, have never turned their vision from that face, These substances, since in God's countenance They jocund were, turned not away their sight From that wherefrom not anything is hidden;	29.078
so that their sight is never intercepted by a new object, and they have no need to recollect an interrupted concept. Hence they have not their vision intercepted By object new, and hence they do not need To recollect, through interrupted thought.	29.081
So that, below, though not asleep, men dream, speaking in good faith or in bad-the last, however, merits greater blame and shame. So that below, not sleeping, people dream, Believing they speak truth, and not believing; And in the last is greater sin and shame.	29.084
Below, you do not follow one sole path as you philosophize-your love of show and thought of it so carry you astray! Below you do not journey by one path Philosophising; so transporteth you Love of appearance and the thought thereof.	29.087
Yet even love of show is suffered here with less disdain than the subordination or the perversion of the Holy Scripture. And even this above here is endured With less disdain, than when is set aside The Holy Writ, or when it is distorted.	29.090
There, they devote no thought to how much blood it costs to sow it in the world, to how pleasing is he who-humbly-holds it fast. They think not there how much of blood it costs To sow it in the world, and how he pleases Who in humility keeps close to it.	29.093
Each one strives for display, elaborates his own inventions; preachers speak at length of these-meanwhile the Gospels do not speak. Each striveth for appearance, and doth make His own inventions; and these treated are By preachers, and the Evangel holds its peace.	29.096
One says that, to prevent the sun from reaching below, the moon-when Christ was crucified- moved back along the zodiac, so as One sayeth that the moon did backward turn, In the Passion of Christ, and interpose herself So that the sunlight reached not down below;	29.099
to interpose itself; who says so, lies- for sunlight hid itself; not only Jews, but Spaniards, Indians, too, saw that eclipse. And lies; for of its own accord the light Hid itself; whence to Spaniards and to Indians, As to the Jews, did such eclipse respond.	29.102
Such fables, shouted through the year from pulpits- some here, some there-outnumber even all the Lapos and the Bindos Florence has; Florence has not so many Lapi and Bindi As fables such as these, that every year Are shouted from the pulpit back and forth,	29.105
so that the wretched sheep, in ignorance, return from pasture, having fed on wind- but to be blind to harm does not excuse them. In such wise that the lambs, who do not know, Come back from pasture fed upon the wind, And not to see the harm doth not excuse them.	29.108
Christ did not say to his first company: 'Go, and preach idle stories to the world'; but he gave them the teaching that is truth, Christ did not to his first disciples say, ' Go forth, and to the world preach idle tales,' But unto them a true foundation gave;	29.111
and truth alone was sounded when they spoke; and thus, to battle to enkindle faith, the Gospels served them as both shield and lance. And this so loudly sounded from their lips, That, in the warfare to enkindle Faith, They made of the Evangel shields and lances.	29.114
But now men go to preach with jests and jeers, and just as long as they can raise a laugh, the cowl puffs up, and nothing more is asked. Now men go forth with jests and drolleries To preach, and if but well the people laugh, The hood puffs out, and nothing more is asked.	29.117
But such a bird nests in that cowl, that if the people saw it, they would recognize as lies the pardons in which they confide- But in the cowl there nestles such a bird, That, if the common people were to see it, They would perceive what pardons they confide in.	29.120
pardons through which the world's credulity increases so, that people throng to every indulgence backed by no authority; For which so great on earth has grown the folly, That, without proof of any testimony, To each indulgence they would flock together.	29.123
and this allows the Antonines to fatten their pigs, and others, too, more piggish still, who pay with counterfeit, illegal tender. By this Saint Anthony his pig doth fatten, And many others, who are worse than pigs, Paying in money without mark of coinage.	29.126
But since we have digressed enough, turn back your eyes now to the way that is direct; our time is short-so, too, must be our path. But since we have digressed abundantly, Turn back thine eyes forthwith to the right path, So that the way be shortened with the time.	29.129
The number of these angels is so great that there has never been a mortal speech or mortal thought that named a sum so steep; This nature doth so multiply itself ln numbers, that there never yet was speech Nor mortal fancy that can go so far.	29.132
and if you look at that which is revealed by Daniel, you will see that, while he mentions thousands, he gives no number with precision. And if thou notest that which is revealed By Daniel, thou wilt see that in his thousands Number determinate is kept concealed.	29.135
The First Light reaches them in ways as many as are the angels to which It conjoins Itself, as It illumines all of them; The primal light, that all irradiates it, By modes as many is received therein As are the splendours wherewith it is mated.	29.138
and this is why (because affection follows the act of knowledge) the intensity of love's sweetness appears unequally. Hence, inasmuch as on the act conceptive The affection followeth, of love the sweetness Therein diversely fervid is or tepid.	29.141
By now you see the height, you see the breadth, of the Eternal Goodness: It has made so many mirrors, which divide Its light, The height behold now and the amplitude Of the eternal power, since it hath made Itself so many mirrors, where 'tis broken,	29.144
but, as before, Its own Self still is One." One in itself remaining as before."	29.145