Part 167

Thou wilt behold a marvellous agreement, Of more to greater, and of less to smaller, In every heaven, with its Intelligence.”

Even as remaineth splendid and serene The hemisphere of air, when Boreas Is blowing from that cheek where he is mildest,

Because is purified and resolved the rack That erst disturbed it, till the welkin laughs With all the beauties of its pageantry;

Thus did I likewise, after that my Lady Had me provided with her clear response, And like a star in heaven the truth was seen.

And soon as to a stop her words had come, Not otherwise does iron scintillate When molten, than those circles scintillated.

Their coruscation all the sparks repeated, And they so many were, their number makes More millions than the doubling of the chess.

I heard them sing hosanna choir by choir To the fixed point which holds them at the ‘Ubi,’ And ever will, where they have ever been.

And she, who saw the dubious meditations Within my mind, “The primal circles,” said, “Have shown thee Seraphim and Cherubim.

Thus rapidly they follow their own bonds, To be as like the point as most they can, And can as far as they are high in vision.

Those other Loves, that round about them go, Thrones of the countenance divine are called, Because they terminate the primal Triad.

And thou shouldst know that they all have delight As much as their own vision penetrates The Truth, in which all intellect finds rest.

From this it may be seen how blessedness Is founded in the faculty which sees, And not in that which loves, and follows next;

And of this seeing merit is the measure, Which is brought forth by grace, and by good will; Thus on from grade to grade doth it proceed.

The second Triad, which is germinating In such wise in this sempiternal spring, That no nocturnal Aries despoils,

Perpetually hosanna warbles forth With threefold melody, that sounds in three Orders of joy, with which it is intrined.

The three Divine are in this hierarchy, First the Dominions, and the Virtues next; And the third order is that of the Powers.

Then in the dances twain penultimate The Principalities and Archangels wheel; The last is wholly of angelic sports.

These orders upward all of them are gazing, And downward so prevail, that unto God They all attracted are and all attract.

And Dionysius with so great desire To contemplate these Orders set himself, He named them and distinguished them as I do.

But Gregory afterwards dissented from him; Wherefore, as soon as he unclosed his eyes Within this heaven, he at himself did smile.

And if so much of secret truth a mortal Proffered on earth, I would not have thee marvel, For he who saw it here revealed it to him,

With much more of the truth about these circles.”

Paradiso: Canto XXIX

At what time both the children of Latona, Surmounted by the Ram and by the Scales, Together make a zone of the horizon,

As long as from the time the zenith holds them In equipoise, till from that girdle both Changing their hemisphere disturb the balance,

So long, her face depicted with a smile, Did Beatrice keep silence while she gazed Fixedly at the point which had o’ercome me.

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.’

Not to acquire some good unto himself, Which is impossible, but that his splendour In its resplendency may say, ‘Subsisto,’