Paradiso, Canto 10
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Paradiso X leaves Venus for the Sun through a proem on divine art and cosmic order. Dante asks the reader to lift the gaze to the crossing of the heavenly motions and to contemplate the oblique circle that lets planetary influence satisfy the world. After leaving the reader with the foretaste, the poem returns to the Sun as nature's chief minister, joined to the point just described, and Dante finds himself there without perceiving the ascent because Beatrice moves from good to better beyond temporal measure. Inside the Sun he sees a brightness apparent by light rather than color, beyond imagination but fit for belief and desire. Beatrice tells him to thank the Sun of the angels, and Dante's love turns so fully toward God that Beatrice is eclipsed in forgetfulness; her pleased smile divides his unified mind among the many living splendors now visible. The wise spirits make a crown around Dante and Beatrice, singing with a sweetness the poem cannot carry out of Heaven. After circling three times, they pause like women in a dance, and Thomas Aquinas speaks from within one light. He reads Dante's ascent as the work of grace and charity, promises speech to satisfy Dante's thirst, identifies himself as a Dominican lamb beside Albertus Magnus, and then guides Dante's sight through the blessed wreath. The named circle gathers Gratian, Peter Lombard, Solomon, Pseudo-Dionysius, Orosius, Boethius, Isidore, Bede, Richard of St. Victor, and Siger of Brabant. The canto closes with the whole wheel moving like a clock that calls the Bride of God to matins, voice answering voice in a sweetness knowable only where joy eternizes itself.
Narrative arc
- The Trinity and divine art order the cosmos, and the reader is invited to contemplate the ecliptic from the scholar's bench
- The Sun, nature's chief minister, carries Dante upward without his perceiving the ascent through Beatrice's timeless guidance
- The self-lucent fourth family appears inside the Sun, and Beatrice's smile divides Dante's God-absorbed mind toward many lights
- Living splendors form a singing crown, circle three times, and pause like dancers listening for new notes
- Thomas Aquinas begins from grace, charity, thirst, and the Dominican path before naming Albert and himself
- Thomas guides Dante's sight through the first circle of wise spirits, from Gratian and Peter Lombard through Siger
- The glorious wheel moves like a matins clock, voice answering voice where joy becomes eternal
Central themes
- wisdom
The Trinity and divine art order the cosmos, and the reader is invited to contemplate the ecliptic from the scholar's bench X.1–27
1Guardando nel suo Figlio con l’Amore
che l’uno e l’altro etternalmente spira,
lo primo e ineffabile Valore
quanto per mente e per loco si gira
5con tant’ ordine fé, ch’esser non puote
sanza gustar di lui chi ciò rimira.
Leva dunque, lettore, a l’alte rote
meco la vista, dritto a quella parte
dove l’un moto e l’altro si percuote;
10e lì comincia a vagheggiar ne l’arte
di quel maestro che dentro a sé l’ama,
tanto che mai da lei l’occhio non parte.
Vedi come da indi si dirama
l’oblico cerchio che i pianeti porta,
15per sodisfare al mondo che li chiama.
Che se la strada lor non fosse torta,
molta virtù nel ciel sarebbe in vano,
e quasi ogne potenza qua giù morta;
e se dal dritto più o men lontano
20fosse ’l partire, assai sarebbe manco
e giù e sù de l’ordine mondano.
Or ti riman, lettor, sovra ’l tuo banco,
dietro pensando a ciò che si preliba,
s’esser vuoi lieto assai prima che stanco.
25Messo t’ho innanzi: omai per te ti ciba;
ché a sé torce tutta la mia cura
quella materia ond’ io son fatto scriba.
1Looking into his Son with the Love
that one and the other eternally breathe,
the first and ineffable Power
made all that turns through mind and place
5with such order that no one can be
without tasting of him who gazes on it.
Therefore, reader, lift your sight with me
to the lofty wheels, straight to that part
where the one motion strikes the other;
10and there begin to delight in the art
of that master who loves it within himself
so much that his eye never leaves it.
See how from there the oblique circle
that carries the planets branches off,
15to satisfy the world that calls them.
For if their road were not bent,
much power in heaven would be in vain,
and almost every potency down here dead;
and if the departure from the straight
20were farther off or closer,
much would be lacking below and above in the world's order.
Now stay, reader, over your bench,
thinking after what is here foretasted,
if you would be glad long before you tire.
25I have set it before you; now feed yourself,
for all my care bends back to itself
toward the matter of which I have been made scribe.
Commentary
The opening is a tightly structured cosmic-order proem: Trinity, creation, the ecliptic's obliquity, reader contemplation, foretaste, and food all converge before Dante returns to the matter of which he is made scribe.
X.1–3 The opening names Father, Son, and Love as the Trinitarian source of cosmic order.
X.1–3 The opening names Father, Son, and Love as the Trinitarian source of cosmic order. Line 1: The opening names Father, Son, and Love as the Trinitarian source of cosmic order.
X.1 The opening names Father, Son, and Love as the Trinitarian source of cosmic order. The opening names Father, Son, and Love as the Trinitarian source of cosmic order.
X.4–6 Mind and place keep the created order's intellectual and spatial reach. Tasting anticipates the reader-feeding figure in lines 22-25.
X.4–6 Mind and place keep the created order's intellectual and spatial reach. Line 4: Mind and place keep the created order's intellectual and spatial reach. Line 6: Tasting anticipates the reader-feeding figure in lines 22-25.
X.4 Mind and place keep the created order's intellectual and spatial reach. Mind and place keep the created order's intellectual and spatial reach.
X.6 Tasting anticipates the reader-feeding figure in lines 22-25. Tasting anticipates the reader-feeding figure in lines 22-25.
X.7–9 The crossing of celestial motions is the equinoctial intersection of ecliptic and equator.
X.7–9 The crossing of celestial motions is the equinoctial intersection of ecliptic and equator. Line 9: The crossing of celestial motions is the equinoctial intersection of ecliptic and equator.
X.9 The crossing of celestial motions is the equinoctial intersection of ecliptic and equator. The crossing of celestial motions is the equinoctial intersection of ecliptic and equator.
X.13–15 The oblique circle is the zodiac/ecliptic.
X.13–15 The oblique circle is the zodiac/ecliptic. Line 14: The oblique circle is the zodiac/ecliptic.
X.14 The oblique circle is the zodiac/ecliptic. The oblique circle is the zodiac/ecliptic.
X.22–24 The reader is staged as a scholar pausing over a desk or bench.
X.22–24 The reader is staged as a scholar pausing over a desk or bench. Line 22: The reader is staged as a scholar pausing over a desk or bench.
X.22 The reader is staged as a scholar pausing over a desk or bench. The reader is staged as a scholar pausing over a desk or bench.
The Sun, nature's chief minister, carries Dante upward without his perceiving the ascent through Beatrice's timeless guidance X.28–39
28Lo ministro maggior de la natura,
che del valor del ciel lo mondo imprenta
30e col suo lume il tempo ne misura,
con quella parte che sù si rammenta
congiunto, si girava per le spire
in che più tosto ognora s’appresenta;
e io era con lui; ma del salire
35non m’accors’ io, se non com’ uom s’accorge,
anzi ’l primo pensier, del suo venire.
È Bëatrice quella che sì scorge
di bene in meglio, sì subitamente
che l’atto suo per tempo non si sporge.
28The greatest minister of nature,
who stamps the world with heaven's power
30and with his light measures time for us,
joined with that part recalled above,
was wheeling through the spirals
in which he appears ever earlier;
and I was with him; but of the rising
35I was not aware, except as one is aware,
before the first thought, of its coming.
It is Beatrice who so guides
from good to better, so suddenly
that her act does not stretch through time.
Commentary
This passage covers this sequence: The Sun, nature's chief minister, carries Dante upward without his perceiving the ascent through Beatrice's timeless guidance.
X.28–30 The Sun is the chief visible minister of natural order.
X.28–30 The Sun is the chief visible minister of natural order. Line 28: The Sun is the chief visible minister of natural order.
X.28 The Sun is the chief visible minister of natural order. The Sun is the chief visible minister of natural order.
X.31–33 The springtime solar course is kept as medieval astronomical description.
X.31–33 The springtime solar course is kept as medieval astronomical description. Line 33: The springtime solar course is kept as medieval astronomical description.
X.33 The springtime solar course is kept as medieval astronomical description. The springtime solar course is kept as medieval astronomical description.
The self-lucent fourth family appears inside the Sun, and Beatrice's smile divides Dante's God-absorbed mind toward many lights X.40–63
40Quant’ esser convenia da sé lucente
quel ch’era dentro al sol dov’ io entra’mi,
non per color, ma per lume parvente!
Perch’ io lo ’ngegno e l’arte e l’uso chiami,
sì nol direi che mai s’imaginasse;
45ma creder puossi e di veder si brami.
E se le fantasie nostre son basse
a tanta altezza, non è maraviglia;
ché sopra ’l sol non fu occhio ch’andasse.
Tal era quivi la quarta famiglia
50de l’alto Padre, che sempre la sazia,
mostrando come spira e come figlia.
E Bëatrice cominciò: «Ringrazia,
ringrazia il Sol de li angeli, ch’a questo
sensibil t’ha levato per sua grazia».
55Cor di mortal non fu mai sì digesto
a divozione e a rendersi a Dio
con tutto ’l suo gradir cotanto presto,
come a quelle parole mi fec’ io;
e sì tutto ’l mio amore in lui si mise,
60che Bëatrice eclissò ne l’oblio.
Non le dispiacque; ma sì se ne rise,
che lo splendor de li occhi suoi ridenti
mia mente unita in più cose divise.
40How self-lucent must have been
what was inside the sun where I entered,
apparent not by color but by light!
Though I call on genius and art and practice,
I could not tell it so that it ever could be imagined;
45but it can be believed, and let its sight be longed for.
And if our fantasies are low
for such a height, it is no wonder;
for no eye ever went above the sun.
Such was there the fourth family
50of the high Father, who forever satisfies it,
showing how he breathes and how he begets.
And Beatrice began: "Give thanks,
give thanks to the Sun of the angels, who to this
sensible one has lifted you by his grace."
55Never was mortal heart so prepared
for devotion and for giving itself back to God
with all its pleasure so quickly,
as I became at those words;
and all my love so set itself in him
60that Beatrice was eclipsed in forgetfulness.
This did not displease her; rather she so smiled
that the splendor of her laughing eyes
divided my united mind among many things.
Commentary
This passage covers this sequence: The self-lucent fourth family appears inside the Sun, and Beatrice's smile divides Dante's God-absorbed mind toward many lights.
X.49–51 The line keeps the Trinitarian procession/generation pressure rather than explaining it away.
X.49–51 The line keeps the Trinitarian procession/generation pressure rather than explaining it away. Line 51: The line keeps the Trinitarian procession/generation pressure rather than explaining it away.
X.51 The line keeps the Trinitarian procession/generation pressure rather than explaining it away. The line keeps the Trinitarian procession/generation pressure rather than explaining it away.
X.52–54 Sun is capitalized for God as angelic source, distinct from the sensible sun of line 54.
X.52–54 Sun is capitalized for God as angelic source, distinct from the sensible sun of line 54. Line 53: Sun is capitalized for God as angelic source, distinct from the sensible sun of line 54.
X.53 Sun is capitalized for God as angelic source, distinct from the sensible sun of line 54. Sun is capitalized for God as angelic source, distinct from the sensible sun of line 54.
X.58–60 The eclipse is not rejection of Beatrice but the proper ordering of love toward God.
X.58–60 The eclipse is not rejection of Beatrice but the proper ordering of love toward God. Line 60: The eclipse is not rejection of Beatrice but the proper ordering of love toward God.
X.60 The eclipse is not rejection of Beatrice but the proper ordering of love toward God. The eclipse is not rejection of Beatrice but the proper ordering of love toward God.
Living splendors form a singing crown, circle three times, and pause like dancers listening for new notes X.64–81
64Io vidi più folgór vivi e vincenti
65far di noi centro e di sé far corona,
più dolci in voce che in vista lucenti:
così cinger la figlia di Latona
vedem talvolta, quando l’aere è pregno,
sì che ritenga il fil che fa la zona.
70Ne la corte del cielo, ond’ io rivegno,
si trovan molte gioie care e belle
tanto che non si posson trar del regno;
e ’l canto di quei lumi era di quelle;
chi non s’impenna sì che là sù voli,
75dal muto aspetti quindi le novelle.
Poi, sì cantando, quelli ardenti soli
si fuor girati intorno a noi tre volte,
come stelle vicine a’ fermi poli,
donne mi parver, non da ballo sciolte,
80ma che s’arrestin tacite, ascoltando
fin che le nove note hanno ricolte.
64I saw many living and conquering flashes
65make a center of us and of themselves a crown,
sweeter in voice than bright to sight:
so we sometimes see Latona's daughter girdled
when the air is laden,
so that it holds the thread that makes the zone.
70In the court of Heaven, from which I return,
are found many jewels, dear and beautiful,
so that they cannot be drawn from the kingdom;
and the song of those lights was one of these;
whoever does not feather himself to fly up there
75should await news of it from the mute.
Then, singing so, those ardent suns
had turned around us three times,
like stars near the fixed poles,
they seemed to me like ladies not released from dance,
80but stopping silent, listening
until they have gathered the new notes.
Commentary
The crown of living lights joins visual brilliance to sweeter-than-visible music. The Latona's-daughter halo, threefold circling, and paused dance keep the scene liturgical and cosmic rather than decorative.
X.67–69 Latona's daughter is the Moon, here in a halo simile.
X.67–69 Latona's daughter is the Moon, here in a halo simile. Line 67: Latona's daughter is the Moon, here in a halo simile.
X.67 Latona's daughter is the Moon, here in a halo simile. Latona's daughter is the Moon, here in a halo simile.
X.73–75 The paradox marks heavenly song as finally unavailable to unaided earthly speech.
X.73–75 The paradox marks heavenly song as finally unavailable to unaided earthly speech. Line 75: The paradox marks heavenly song as finally unavailable to unaided earthly speech.
X.75 The paradox marks heavenly song as finally unavailable to unaided earthly speech. The paradox marks heavenly song as finally unavailable to unaided earthly speech.
X.76–78 The triple circling carries Trinitarian pressure after the canto's opening.
X.76–78 The triple circling carries Trinitarian pressure after the canto's opening. Line 77: The triple circling carries Trinitarian pressure after the canto's opening.
X.77 The triple circling carries Trinitarian pressure after the canto's opening. The triple circling carries Trinitarian pressure after the canto's opening.
Thomas Aquinas begins from grace, charity, thirst, and the Dominican path before naming Albert and himself X.82–99
82E dentro a l’un senti’ cominciar: «Quando
lo raggio de la grazia, onde s’accende
verace amore e che poi cresce amando,
85multiplicato in te tanto resplende,
che ti conduce su per quella scala
u’ sanza risalir nessun discende;
qual ti negasse il vin de la sua fiala
per la tua sete, in libertà non fora
90se non com’ acqua ch’al mar non si cala.
Tu vuo’ saper di quai piante s’infiora
questa ghirlanda che ’ntorno vagheggia
la bella donna ch’al ciel t’avvalora.
Io fui de li agni de la santa greggia
95che Domenico mena per cammino
u’ ben s’impingua se non si vaneggia.
Questi che m’è a destra più vicino,
frate e maestro fummi, ed esso Alberto
è di Cologna, e io Thomas d’Aquino.
82And within one I heard begin: "When
the ray of grace, by which true love is kindled
and which then grows by loving,
85shines multiplied in you so much
that it leads you up that stair
where no one descends without reascending,
whoever denied the wine of his flask
for your thirst would not be in freedom,
90except as water that does not go down to the sea.
You want to know by what plants is flowered
this garland that gazes lovingly around
the fair lady who strengthens you for heaven.
I was among the lambs of the holy flock
95that Dominic leads along the way
where one fattens well if one does not stray into vanity.
This one nearest to me on the right
was brother and master to me, and he is Albert
of Cologne, and I Thomas of Aquino.
Commentary
Thomas's opening speech is retained as charity under grace: the stair implies assured ascent after descent, the wine image answers Dante's thirst, and Dominican path language keeps the flock's fattening tied to not straying into vanity.
X.82–84 True love is kindled and increased by the ray of grace.
X.82–84 True love is kindled and increased by the ray of grace. Line 84: True love is kindled and increased by the ray of grace.
X.84 True love is kindled and increased by the ray of grace. True love is kindled and increased by the ray of grace.
X.85–87 Thomas implies Dante's return from Heaven is held inside eventual re-ascent.
X.85–87 Thomas implies Dante's return from Heaven is held inside eventual re-ascent. Line 87: Thomas implies Dante's return from Heaven is held inside eventual re-ascent.
X.87 Thomas implies Dante's return from Heaven is held inside eventual re-ascent. Thomas implies Dante's return from Heaven is held inside eventual re-ascent.
X.88–90 The natural-motion image continues Paradiso's desire and sea language.
X.88–90 The natural-motion image continues Paradiso's desire and sea language. Line 90: The natural-motion image continues Paradiso's desire and sea language.
X.90 The natural-motion image continues Paradiso's desire and sea language. The natural-motion image continues Paradiso's desire and sea language.
X.94–96 The line keeps both Dominican discipline and the danger of vain wandering.
X.94–96 The line keeps both Dominican discipline and the danger of vain wandering. Line 96: The line keeps both Dominican discipline and the danger of vain wandering.
X.96 The line keeps both Dominican discipline and the danger of vain wandering. The line keeps both Dominican discipline and the danger of vain wandering.
X.97–99 Albert is Albertus Magnus. Thomas Aquinas identifies himself after naming Albert.
X.97–99 Albert is Albertus Magnus. Line 98: Albert is Albertus Magnus. Line 99: Thomas Aquinas identifies himself after naming Albert.
X.98 Albert is Albertus Magnus. Albert is Albertus Magnus.
X.99 Thomas Aquinas identifies himself after naming Albert. Thomas Aquinas identifies himself after naming Albert.
Thomas guides Dante's sight through the first circle of wise spirits, from Gratian and Peter Lombard through Siger X.100–138
100Se sì di tutti li altri esser vuo’ certo,
di retro al mio parlar ten vien col viso
girando su per lo beato serto.
Quell’ altro fiammeggiare esce del riso
di Grazïan, che l’uno e l’altro foro
105aiutò sì che piace in paradiso.
L’altro ch’appresso addorna il nostro coro,
quel Pietro fu che con la poverella
offerse a Santa Chiesa suo tesoro.
La quinta luce, ch’è tra noi più bella,
110spira di tale amor, che tutto ’l mondo
là giù ne gola di saper novella:
entro v’è l’alta mente u’ sì profondo
saver fu messo, che, se ’l vero è vero,
a veder tanto non surse il secondo.
115Appresso vedi il lume di quel cero
che giù in carne più a dentro vide
l’angelica natura e ’l ministero.
Ne l’altra piccioletta luce ride
quello avvocato de’ tempi cristiani
120del cui latino Augustin si provide.
Or se tu l’occhio de la mente trani
di luce in luce dietro a le mie lode,
già de l’ottava con sete rimani.
Per vedere ogne ben dentro vi gode
125l’anima santa che ’l mondo fallace
fa manifesto a chi di lei ben ode.
Lo corpo ond’ ella fu cacciata giace
giuso in Cieldauro; ed essa da martiro
e da essilio venne a questa pace.
130Vedi oltre fiammeggiar l’ardente spiro
d’Isidoro, di Beda e di Riccardo,
che a considerar fu più che viro.
Questi onde a me ritorna il tuo riguardo,
è ’l lume d’uno spirto che ’n pensieri
135gravi a morir li parve venir tardo:
essa è la luce etterna di Sigieri,
che, leggendo nel Vico de li Strami,
silogizzò invidïosi veri».
100If you want to be certain of all the others,
come with your sight behind my speech,
circling upward along the blessed wreath.
That other flaming comes from the smile
of Gratian, who helped one forum and the other
105so that it pleases in Paradise.
The next who adorns our choir
was that Peter who with the poor woman
offered his treasure to Holy Church.
The fifth light, which is fairest among us,
110breathes with such love that all the world
down there is hungry to know news of it:
within it is the high mind where such deep
wisdom was placed that, if the true is true,
no second rose to see so much.
115Next you see the light of that candle
which down in flesh saw most deeply
the angelic nature and ministry.
In the other little light smiles
that advocate of Christian times
120from whose Latin Augustine provided himself.
Now if you draw the eye of your mind
from light to light behind my praises,
you already remain thirsty for the eighth.
Through seeing every good, within it rejoices
125the holy soul that makes the false world
manifest to whoever hears it well.
The body from which it was driven lies
down in Cieldauro; and it from martyrdom
and from exile came to this peace.
130See beyond, flaming, the ardent breath
of Isidore, of Bede, and of Richard,
who in contemplation was more than a man.
This one from whom your gaze returns to me
is the light of a spirit who, in grave
135thoughts, found death coming too slowly:
it is the eternal light of Siger,
who, lecturing in the Street of Straw,
syllogized envied truths."
Commentary
The named circle is: Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Gratian, Peter Lombard, Solomon, Pseudo-Dionysius, Orosius, Boethius, Isidore, Bede, Richard of St. Victor, and Siger of Brabant. Open questions remain around one/other forum, Solomon's unique vision, and Siger's envied truths.
X.103–105 The two forums are the ecclesiastical and civil legal orders.
X.103–105 The two forums are the ecclesiastical and civil legal orders. Line 104: The two forums are the ecclesiastical and civil legal orders.
X.104 The two forums are the ecclesiastical and civil legal orders. The two forums are the ecclesiastical and civil legal orders.
X.106–108 Peter is Peter Lombard; the poor woman recalls the widow's mite.
X.106–108 Peter is Peter Lombard; the poor woman recalls the widow's mite. Line 107: Peter is Peter Lombard; the poor woman recalls the widow's mite.
X.107 Peter is Peter Lombard; the poor woman recalls the widow's mite. Peter is Peter Lombard; the poor woman recalls the widow's mite.
X.109–111 The fifth light is Solomon. The world's hunger points to debate about Solomon's wisdom and salvation.
X.109–111 The fifth light is Solomon. Line 109: The fifth light is Solomon. Line 111: The world's hunger points to debate about Solomon's wisdom and salvation.
X.109 The fifth light is Solomon. The fifth light is Solomon.
X.111 The world's hunger points to debate about Solomon's wisdom and salvation. The world's hunger points to debate about Solomon's wisdom and salvation.
X.115–117 The candle is Pseudo-Dionysius, treated by Dante as an authority on angelic hierarchy.
X.115–117 The candle is Pseudo-Dionysius, treated by Dante as an authority on angelic hierarchy. Line 116: The candle is Pseudo-Dionysius, treated by Dante as an authority on angelic hierarchy.
X.116 The candle is Pseudo-Dionysius, treated by Dante as an authority on angelic hierarchy. The candle is Pseudo-Dionysius, treated by Dante as an authority on angelic hierarchy.
X.118–120 The advocate is Orosius, whose history defended Christianity against pagan accusation.
X.118–120 The advocate is Orosius, whose history defended Christianity against pagan accusation. Line 119: The advocate is Orosius, whose history defended Christianity against pagan accusation.
X.119 The advocate is Orosius, whose history defended Christianity against pagan accusation. The advocate is Orosius, whose history defended Christianity against pagan accusation.
X.124–126 The soul is Boethius; the false world points to the Consolation's exposure of fortune and worldly instability.
X.124–126 The soul is Boethius; the false world points to the Consolation's exposure of fortune and worldly instability. Line 125: The soul is Boethius; the false world points to the Consolation's exposure of fortune and worldly instability.
X.125 The soul is Boethius; the false world points to the Consolation's exposure of fortune and worldly instability. The soul is Boethius; the false world points to the Consolation's exposure of fortune and worldly instability.
X.127–129 Cieldauro is the burial place associated with Boethius at Pavia.
X.127–129 Cieldauro is the burial place associated with Boethius at Pavia. Line 128: Cieldauro is the burial place associated with Boethius at Pavia.
X.128 Cieldauro is the burial place associated with Boethius at Pavia. Cieldauro is the burial place associated with Boethius at Pavia.
X.130–132 Richard is Richard of St. Victor.
X.130–132 Richard is Richard of St. Victor. Line 131: Richard is Richard of St. Victor.
X.131 Richard is Richard of St. Victor. Richard is Richard of St. Victor.
X.136–138 Siger of Brabant's placement beside Thomas is a major interpretive crux. Envied truths preserves the ambiguity between truths that aroused envy and truths viewed with hostility.
X.136–138 Siger of Brabant's placement beside Thomas is a major interpretive crux. Line 136: Siger of Brabant's placement beside Thomas is a major interpretive crux. Line 138: Envied truths preserves the ambiguity between truths that aroused envy and truths viewed with hostility.
X.136 Siger of Brabant's placement beside Thomas is a major interpretive crux. Siger of Brabant's placement beside Thomas is a major interpretive crux.
X.138 Envied truths preserves the ambiguity between truths that aroused envy and truths viewed with hostility. Envied truths preserves the ambiguity between truths that aroused envy and truths viewed with hostility.
The glorious wheel moves like a matins clock, voice answering voice where joy becomes eternal X.139–148
139Indi, come orologio che ne chiami
140ne l’ora che la sposa di Dio surge
a mattinar lo sposo perché l’ami,
che l’una parte e l’altra tira e urge,
tin tin sonando con sì dolce nota,
che ’l ben disposto spirto d’amor turge;
145così vid’ ïo la gloriosa rota
muoversi e render voce a voce in tempra
e in dolcezza ch’esser non pò nota
se non colà dove gioir s’insempra.
139Then, like a clock that calls us
140at the hour when the Bride of God rises
to sing matins to the Bridegroom so that he may love her,
in which one part draws and another urges,
sounding tin tin with so sweet a note
that the well-disposed spirit swells with love;
145so I saw the glorious wheel
move and render voice to voice in temper
and in sweetness that cannot be known
except where joy eternizes itself.
Commentary
The clock simile keeps ecclesial, mechanical, musical, and love language together. The closing coinage 'eternizes itself' preserves the pressure of Dante's s'insempra.
X.139–141 The Bride of God is the Church rising for matins.
X.139–141 The Bride of God is the Church rising for matins. Line 140: The Bride of God is the Church rising for matins.
X.140 The Bride of God is the Church rising for matins. The Bride of God is the Church rising for matins.
X.148 Eternizes itself preserves Dante's coined verb s'insempra; revisit before final-candidate status. Eternizes itself preserves Dante's coined verb s'insempra; revisit before final-candidate status.