Paradiso, Canto 12
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Paradiso XII remains in the Sun and answers Thomas's Dominican praise of Francis with Bonaventure's Franciscan praise of Dominic. As soon as Thomas finishes, the first holy wheel begins turning and is enclosed by a second circle that matches its motion and song. Dante compares the two garlands of blessed lights to double rainbows in thin cloud, with Iris, Echo, and Noah's covenant gathered into the image of responsive reflected splendor. When the dance and flaming song stop together, a voice from one new light turns Dante like a compass needle. Bonaventure says that the love making him beautiful draws him to speak of Dominic, because Francis and Dominic fought together and should shine together. Christ's army, bought at great cost yet moving slowly, fearfully, and sparsely behind the cross, was aided by the eternal Emperor through two champions whose deeds and words recalled the straying people. Bonaventure locates Dominic's birth in Calaruega in the west, under the Castilian-Leonese shield, and praises him as lover of Christian faith, holy athlete, kind to his own and hard to enemies. Dominic's mind is full of living power from creation, making his mother prophetic; at baptism he is espoused to Faith, his godmother dreams of the fruit to come from him, and a spirit names him as one belonging wholly to the Lord. He becomes Christ's husbandman in the vineyard, a messenger and familiar of Christ, devoted first to evangelical poverty. Rather than pursue worldly legal or medical fame, he becomes a great teacher through love of true manna, tends the whitening vineyard, asks the papal see not for income or privilege but for license to fight the erring world, and moves like a torrent against heretical thickets so that streams from him water the Catholic garden. Bonaventure then turns from reciprocal praise to self-critique: if Dominic was one wheel of the Church's chariot, Francis's excellence should be plain from Thomas's courtesy; yet the Franciscan track is abandoned, mold has replaced crust, the family has turned against its own footsteps, and bad cultivation will show itself in the harvest. Some pages of the Franciscan volume still read as they should, but not those from Casale or Acquasparta, where the Rule is fled or constricted. Bonaventure names himself and the other lights of the second circle, ending with Rabanus and the prophetic Calabrian abbot Joachim, and says Thomas's fiery courtesy and discerning speech moved him and the whole company to praise so great a paladin.
Narrative arc
- A second holy circle encloses the first like a double rainbow answering itself
- The double dance stops together and Bonaventure begins reciprocal praise of Dominic
- Dominic's western birthplace, birth signs, baptismal marriage to Faith, name, and first vocation are narrated
- Dominic rejects worldly study and church income, seeks license to fight error, and waters the Catholic garden
- Bonaventure infers Francis's excellence from Dominic's and rebukes Franciscan decline
- Bonaventure names himself and the second circle, ending with Joachim and Thomas's fiery courtesy
Central themes
- poverty
- preaching
A second holy circle encloses the first like a double rainbow answering itself XII.1–21
1Sì tosto come l’ultima parola
la benedetta fiamma per dir tolse,
a rotar cominciò la santa mola;
e nel suo giro tutta non si volse
5prima ch’un’altra di cerchio la chiuse,
e moto a moto e canto a canto colse;
canto che tanto vince nostre muse,
nostre serene in quelle dolci tube,
quanto primo splendor quel ch’e’ refuse.
10Come si volgon per tenera nube
due archi paralelli e concolori,
quando Iunone a sua ancella iube,
nascendo di quel d’entro quel di fori,
a guisa del parlar di quella vaga
15ch’amor consunse come sol vapori,
e fanno qui la gente esser presaga,
per lo patto che Dio con Noè puose,
del mondo che già mai più non s’allaga:
così di quelle sempiterne rose
20volgiensi circa noi le due ghirlande,
e sì l’estrema a l’intima rispuose.
1As soon as the blessed flame
had taken its final word to say,
the holy mill began to wheel;
and it had not fully turned
5within its circuit before another enclosed it with a circle,
and caught motion to motion, song to song;
a song that so far surpasses our Muses,
our Sirens, in those sweet trumpets,
as first splendor surpasses what it reflects.
10As through a tender cloud there curve
two parallel bows of one color,
when Juno gives command to her handmaid,
the outer born from the one within,
like the speech of that wandering one
15whom love consumed as the sun consumes vapors,
and here make people foreknow,
by the covenant God made with Noah,
that the world will never again be flooded:
so, from those sempiternal roses,
20the two garlands turned around us,
and so the outer answered to the inner.
Commentary
This passage covers this sequence: A second holy circle encloses the first like a double rainbow answering itself.
XII.1–3 Santa mola keeps the millstone/wheel image behind the solar circling.
XII.1–3 Santa mola keeps the millstone/wheel image behind the solar circling. Line 3: Santa mola keeps the millstone/wheel image behind the solar circling.
XII.3 Santa mola keeps the millstone/wheel image behind the solar circling. Santa mola keeps the millstone/wheel image behind the solar circling.
XII.4–6 The second circle answers the first rather than merely adding decoration.
XII.4–6 The second circle answers the first rather than merely adding decoration. Line 6: The second circle answers the first rather than merely adding decoration.
XII.6 The second circle answers the first rather than merely adding decoration. The second circle answers the first rather than merely adding decoration.
XII.7–9 The pagan music of Muses and Sirens is fulfilled and exceeded by heavenly song.
XII.7–9 The pagan music of Muses and Sirens is fulfilled and exceeded by heavenly song. Line 8: The pagan music of Muses and Sirens is fulfilled and exceeded by heavenly song.
XII.8 The pagan music of Muses and Sirens is fulfilled and exceeded by heavenly song. The pagan music of Muses and Sirens is fulfilled and exceeded by heavenly song.
XII.10–12 The handmaid is Iris, the rainbow, retained through the pagan-Christian layering.
XII.10–12 The handmaid is Iris, the rainbow, retained through the pagan-Christian layering. Line 12: The handmaid is Iris, the rainbow, retained through the pagan-Christian layering.
XII.12 The handmaid is Iris, the rainbow, retained through the pagan-Christian layering. The handmaid is Iris, the rainbow, retained through the pagan-Christian layering.
XII.13–15 The wandering nymph is Echo; the line keeps the reflected-speech logic.
XII.13–15 The wandering nymph is Echo; the line keeps the reflected-speech logic. Line 14: The wandering nymph is Echo; the line keeps the reflected-speech logic.
XII.14 The wandering nymph is Echo; the line keeps the reflected-speech logic. The wandering nymph is Echo; the line keeps the reflected-speech logic.
XII.16–18 The rainbow image shifts from pagan Iris/Echo to covenantal sign.
XII.16–18 The rainbow image shifts from pagan Iris/Echo to covenantal sign. Line 18: The rainbow image shifts from pagan Iris/Echo to covenantal sign.
XII.18 The rainbow image shifts from pagan Iris/Echo to covenantal sign. The rainbow image shifts from pagan Iris/Echo to covenantal sign.
XII.19–21 Answering preserves the reciprocal, reflective structure of Cantos XI-XII.
XII.19–21 Answering preserves the reciprocal, reflective structure of Cantos XI-XII. Line 21: Answering preserves the reciprocal, reflective structure of Cantos XI-XII.
XII.21 Answering preserves the reciprocal, reflective structure of Cantos XI-XII. Answering preserves the reciprocal, reflective structure of Cantos XI-XII.
The double dance stops together and Bonaventure begins reciprocal praise of Dominic XII.22–45
22Poi che ’l tripudio e l’altra festa grande,
sì del cantare e sì del fiammeggiarsi
luce con luce gaudïose e blande,
25insieme a punto e a voler quetarsi,
pur come li occhi ch’al piacer che i move
conviene insieme chiudere e levarsi;
del cor de l’una de le luci nove
si mosse voce, che l’ago a la stella
30parer mi fece in volgermi al suo dove;
e cominciò: «L’amor che mi fa bella
mi tragge a ragionar de l’altro duca
per cui del mio sì ben ci si favella.
Degno è che, dov’ è l’un, l’altro s’induca:
35sì che, com’ elli ad una militaro,
così la gloria loro insieme luca.
L’essercito di Cristo, che sì caro
costò a rïarmar, dietro a la ’nsegna
si movea tardo, sospeccioso e raro,
40quando lo ’mperador che sempre regna
provide a la milizia, ch’era in forse,
per sola grazia, non per esser degna;
e, come è detto, a sua sposa soccorse
con due campioni, al cui fare, al cui dire
45lo popol disvïato si raccorse.
22After the dance and the other great festivity,
both of singing and of flaming
light with light, joyful and gentle,
25came to rest together, at one instant and one will,
just like eyes that, at the pleasure moving them,
must close and lift themselves together;
from the heart of one of the new lights
a voice moved out, and it made me seem a needle
30turning toward the star as I turned to where it was;
and it began: "The love that makes me beautiful
draws me to speak of the other leader,
because of whom my own is spoken of so well here.
It is fitting that, where the one is, the other be brought in:
35so that, as they served as soldiers together,
so their glory may shine together.
The army of Christ, which cost so dear
to rearm, behind the standard
moved slow, wary, and sparse,
40when the Emperor who always reigns
provided for the soldiery, which was in danger,
by grace alone, not because it was worthy;
and, as has been said, came to his bride's aid
with two champions, by whose deeds, by whose speech,
45the straying people gathered themselves back.
Commentary
This passage covers this sequence: The double dance stops together and Bonaventure begins reciprocal praise of Dominic.
XII.25–27 The simile joins sight, pleasure, intellect, and will in one motion.
XII.25–27 The simile joins sight, pleasure, intellect, and will in one motion. Line 27: The simile joins sight, pleasure, intellect, and will in one motion.
XII.27 The simile joins sight, pleasure, intellect, and will in one motion. The simile joins sight, pleasure, intellect, and will in one motion.
XII.28–30 Dove is kept as location pressure rather than a named visible body.
XII.28–30 Dove is kept as location pressure rather than a named visible body. Line 30: Dove is kept as location pressure rather than a named visible body.
XII.30 Dove is kept as location pressure rather than a named visible body. Dove is kept as location pressure rather than a named visible body.
XII.31–33 Bonaventure responds to Thomas's praise of Francis by praising Dominic.
XII.31–33 Bonaventure responds to Thomas's praise of Francis by praising Dominic. Line 33: Bonaventure responds to Thomas's praise of Francis by praising Dominic.
XII.33 Bonaventure responds to Thomas's praise of Francis by praising Dominic. Bonaventure responds to Thomas's praise of Francis by praising Dominic.
XII.37–39 The standard carries cross and Church-militant pressure.
XII.37–39 The standard carries cross and Church-militant pressure. Line 38: The standard carries cross and Church-militant pressure.
XII.38 The standard carries cross and Church-militant pressure. The standard carries cross and Church-militant pressure.
XII.43–45 The line keeps both correction and recollection in si raccorse.
XII.43–45 The line keeps both correction and recollection in si raccorse. Line 45: The line keeps both correction and recollection in si raccorse.
XII.45 The line keeps both correction and recollection in si raccorse. The line keeps both correction and recollection in si raccorse.
Dominic's western birthplace, birth signs, baptismal marriage to Faith, name, and first vocation are narrated XII.46–81
46In quella parte ove surge ad aprire
Zefiro dolce le novelle fronde
di che si vede Europa rivestire,
non molto lungi al percuoter de l’onde
50dietro a le quali, per la lunga foga,
lo sol talvolta ad ogne uom si nasconde,
siede la fortunata Calaroga
sotto la protezion del grande scudo
in che soggiace il leone e soggioga:
55dentro vi nacque l’amoroso drudo
de la fede cristiana, il santo atleta
benigno a’ suoi e a’ nemici crudo;
e come fu creata, fu repleta
sì la sua mente di viva vertute
60che, ne la madre, lei fece profeta.
Poi che le sponsalizie fuor compiute
al sacro fonte intra lui e la Fede,
u’ si dotar di mutüa salute,
la donna che per lui l’assenso diede,
65vide nel sonno il mirabile frutto
ch’uscir dovea di lui e de le rede;
e perché fosse qual era in costrutto,
quinci si mosse spirito a nomarlo
del possessivo di cui era tutto.
70Domenico fu detto; e io ne parlo
sì come de l’agricola che Cristo
elesse a l’orto suo per aiutarlo.
Ben parve messo e famigliar di Cristo:
che ’l primo amor che ’n lui fu manifesto,
75fu al primo consiglio che diè Cristo.
Spesse fïate fu tacito e desto
trovato in terra da la sua nutrice,
come dicesse: ‘Io son venuto a questo’.
Oh padre suo veramente Felice!
80oh madre sua veramente Giovanna,
se, interpretata, val come si dice!
46In that region where there rises to open
sweet Zephyr the new leaves
with which Europe is seen reclothing itself,
not very far from the beating of the waves
50behind which, after its long course,
the sun at times hides itself from every person,
fortunate Calaruega sits
under the protection of the great shield
in which the lion lies subject and subdues:
55within it was born the loving liegeman
of the Christian faith, the holy athlete,
kind to his own and hard toward enemies;
and as soon as it was created,
his mind was so filled with living virtue
60that, in the mother, it made her a prophet.
After the espousals were completed
at the sacred font between him and Faith,
where they endowed each other with mutual salvation,
the lady who gave assent for him
65saw in sleep the marvelous fruit
that was to come from him and from the heirs;
and so that he would be what he was in meaning,
a spirit moved from here to name him
with the possessive of the one whose own he wholly was.
70Dominic he was called; and I speak of him
as of the husbandman whom Christ
chose to help him in his garden.
He well seemed messenger and familiar of Christ:
for the first love made manifest in him
75was for the first counsel Christ gave.
Often he was found silent and awake
on the ground by his nurse,
as if saying: 'I have come for this.'
O his father truly Felix!
80O his mother truly Giovanna,
if, interpreted, it means what people say!
Commentary
The Dominic narrative keeps the Spanish west/Calaruega setting, the Castile-Leon shield, Dominic as lover of Christian faith and holy athlete, prenatal and baptismal signs, the Faith marriage, the possessive force of his name, and the Christ-centered triple rhyme pressure.
XII.46–48 Dominic's western setting is softened by spring renewal.
XII.46–48 Dominic's western setting is softened by spring renewal. Line 48: Dominic's western setting is softened by spring renewal.
XII.48 Dominic's western setting is softened by spring renewal. Dominic's western setting is softened by spring renewal.
XII.52–54 Calaroga is rendered by the standard English place name Calaruega. The line preserves the Castile-Leon heraldic reversal.
XII.52–54 Calaroga is rendered by the standard English place name Calaruega. Line 52: Calaroga is rendered by the standard English place name Calaruega. Line 54: The line preserves the Castile-Leon heraldic reversal.
XII.52 Calaroga is rendered by the standard English place name Calaruega. Calaroga is rendered by the standard English place name Calaruega.
XII.54 The line preserves the Castile-Leon heraldic reversal. The line preserves the Castile-Leon heraldic reversal.
XII.55–57 Drudo keeps love and loyal service together.
XII.55–57 Drudo keeps love and loyal service together. Line 55: Drudo keeps love and loyal service together.
XII.55 Drudo keeps love and loyal service together. Drudo keeps love and loyal service together.
XII.58–60 Repleta is carried in the English by "filled," keeping the biblical register.
XII.58–60 Repleta is carried in the English by "filled," keeping the biblical register. Line 59: Repleta is carried in the English by "filled," keeping the biblical register.
XII.59 Repleta is carried in the English by "filled," keeping the biblical register. Repleta is carried in the English by "filled," keeping the biblical register.
XII.61–63 Dominic's baptism is figured as marriage to Faith.
XII.61–63 Dominic's baptism is figured as marriage to Faith. Line 62: Dominic's baptism is figured as marriage to Faith.
XII.62 Dominic's baptism is figured as marriage to Faith. Dominic's baptism is figured as marriage to Faith.
XII.64–66 The lady is the godmother at baptism.
XII.64–66 The lady is the godmother at baptism. Line 64: The lady is the godmother at baptism.
XII.64 The lady is the godmother at baptism. The lady is the godmother at baptism.
XII.67–69 The name Dominic is read as belonging to the Lord.
XII.67–69 The name Dominic is read as belonging to the Lord. Line 69: The name Dominic is read as belonging to the Lord.
XII.69 The name Dominic is read as belonging to the Lord. The name Dominic is read as belonging to the Lord.
XII.70–72 This begins the triple Christ rhyme in the Italian.
XII.70–72 This begins the triple Christ rhyme in the Italian. Line 71: This begins the triple Christ rhyme in the Italian.
XII.71 This begins the triple Christ rhyme in the Italian. This begins the triple Christ rhyme in the Italian.
XII.73–75 The first evangelical counsel is kept as poverty without over-explaining inside the line.
XII.73–75 The first evangelical counsel is kept as poverty without over-explaining inside the line. Line 75: The first evangelical counsel is kept as poverty without over-explaining inside the line.
XII.75 The first evangelical counsel is kept as poverty without over-explaining inside the line. The first evangelical counsel is kept as poverty without over-explaining inside the line.
XII.76–78 The phrase carries humility and preaching-vocation pressure.
XII.76–78 The phrase carries humility and preaching-vocation pressure. Line 78: The phrase carries humility and preaching-vocation pressure.
XII.78 The phrase carries humility and preaching-vocation pressure. The phrase carries humility and preaching-vocation pressure.
XII.79–81 The father's name means happy/blessed. The mother's name is traditionally glossed through divine grace.
XII.79–81 The father's name means happy/blessed. Line 79: The father's name means happy/blessed. Line 81: The mother's name is traditionally glossed through divine grace.
XII.79 The father's name means happy/blessed. The father's name means happy/blessed.
XII.81 The mother's name is traditionally glossed through divine grace. The mother's name is traditionally glossed through divine grace.
Dominic rejects worldly study and church income, seeks license to fight error, and waters the Catholic garden XII.82–105
82Non per lo mondo, per cui mo s’affanna
di retro ad Ostïense e a Taddeo,
ma per amor de la verace manna
85in picciol tempo gran dottor si feo;
tal che si mise a circüir la vigna
che tosto imbianca, se ’l vignaio è reo.
E a la sedia che fu già benigna
più a’ poveri giusti, non per lei,
90ma per colui che siede, che traligna,
non dispensare o due o tre per sei,
non la fortuna di prima vacante,
non decimas, quae sunt pauperum Dei,
addimandò, ma contro al mondo errante
95licenza di combatter per lo seme
del qual ti fascian ventiquattro piante.
Poi, con dottrina e con volere insieme,
con l’officio appostolico si mosse
quasi torrente ch’alta vena preme;
100e ne li sterpi eretici percosse
l’impeto suo, più vivamente quivi
dove le resistenze eran più grosse.
Di lui si fecer poi diversi rivi
onde l’orto catolico si riga,
105sì che i suoi arbuscelli stan più vivi.
82Not for the world, for which people now toil
behind Hostiensis and Taddeo,
but for love of the true manna,
85in a short time he made himself a great teacher;
so that he set himself to go round the vineyard
that soon whitens if the vinekeeper is bad.
And from the seat that once was more benign
to the just poor, not because of itself,
90but because of the one who sits there and degenerates,
he did not ask to dispense two or three for six,
not the income from the first vacancy,
not decimas, quae sunt pauperum Dei,
but asked, against the erring world,
95license to fight for the seed
from which the twenty-four plants garland you.
Then, with doctrine and will together,
with apostolic office, he moved
like a torrent pressed by a high spring;
100and among the heretical brambles he struck
his force, more fiercely there
where the resistances were thickest.
From him afterward diverse streams were made
by which the Catholic garden is watered,
105so that its shrubs stand more alive.
Commentary
Dominic's learning is not worldly careerism but love of true manna; his papal petition rejects benefices, dispensation, and diverted tithes in favor of license to fight error for the seed that produces the twenty-four circling plants.
XII.82–84 The legal and medical authorities answer Paradiso XI's defective pursuits.
XII.82–84 The legal and medical authorities answer Paradiso XI's defective pursuits. Line 83: The legal and medical authorities answer Paradiso XI's defective pursuits.
XII.83 The legal and medical authorities answer Paradiso XI's defective pursuits. The legal and medical authorities answer Paradiso XI's defective pursuits.
XII.85–87 The vineyard/whitening image remains deliberately concrete for Church neglect.
XII.85–87 The vineyard/whitening image remains deliberately concrete for Church neglect. Line 87: The vineyard/whitening image remains deliberately concrete for Church neglect.
XII.87 The vineyard/whitening image remains deliberately concrete for Church neglect. The vineyard/whitening image remains deliberately concrete for Church neglect.
XII.88–90 The papal rebuke targets the occupant rather than the see as such.
XII.88–90 The papal rebuke targets the occupant rather than the see as such. Line 90: The papal rebuke targets the occupant rather than the see as such.
XII.90 The papal rebuke targets the occupant rather than the see as such. The papal rebuke targets the occupant rather than the see as such.
XII.91–93 The line keeps the technical ecclesiastical abuse compressed. The Latin phrase is retained for the tithes belonging to God's poor.
XII.91–93 The line keeps the technical ecclesiastical abuse compressed. Line 91: The line keeps the technical ecclesiastical abuse compressed. Line 93: The Latin phrase is retained for the tithes belonging to God's poor.
XII.91 The line keeps the technical ecclesiastical abuse compressed. The line keeps the technical ecclesiastical abuse compressed.
XII.93 The Latin phrase is retained for the tithes belonging to God's poor. The Latin phrase is retained for the tithes belonging to God's poor.
XII.94–96 The seed produces the two circles of wise lights around Dante.
XII.94–96 The seed produces the two circles of wise lights around Dante. Line 96: The seed produces the two circles of wise lights around Dante.
XII.96 The seed produces the two circles of wise lights around Dante. The seed produces the two circles of wise lights around Dante.
XII.97–99 The torrent will become irrigating streams after the anti-heretical passage.
XII.97–99 The torrent will become irrigating streams after the anti-heretical passage. Line 99: The torrent will become irrigating streams after the anti-heretical passage.
XII.99 The torrent will become irrigating streams after the anti-heretical passage. The torrent will become irrigating streams after the anti-heretical passage.
XII.103–105 Garden, vine, seed, and streams remain one ecclesial cultivation field.
XII.103–105 Garden, vine, seed, and streams remain one ecclesial cultivation field. Line 105: Garden, vine, seed, and streams remain one ecclesial cultivation field.
XII.105 Garden, vine, seed, and streams remain one ecclesial cultivation field. Garden, vine, seed, and streams remain one ecclesial cultivation field.
Bonaventure infers Francis's excellence from Dominic's and rebukes Franciscan decline XII.106–126
106Se tal fu l’una rota de la biga
in che la Santa Chiesa si difese
e vinse in campo la sua civil briga,
ben ti dovrebbe assai esser palese
110l’eccellenza de l’altra, di cui Tomma
dinanzi al mio venir fu sì cortese.
Ma l’orbita che fé la parte somma
di sua circunferenza, è derelitta,
sì ch’è la muffa dov’ era la gromma.
115La sua famiglia, che si mosse dritta
coi piedi a le sue orme, è tanto volta,
che quel dinanzi a quel di retro gitta;
e tosto si vedrà de la ricolta
de la mala coltura, quando il loglio
120si lagnerà che l’arca li sia tolta.
Ben dico, chi cercasse a foglio a foglio
nostro volume, ancor troveria carta
u’ leggerebbe “I’ mi son quel ch’i’ soglio”;
ma non fia da Casal né d’Acquasparta,
125là onde vegnon tali a la scrittura,
ch’uno la fugge e altro la coarta.
106If such was one wheel of the chariot
in which Holy Church defended herself
and won in the field her civil war,
then it should be very plain to you
110the excellence of the other, of whom Thomas
before my coming was so courteous.
But the track made by the highest part
of its circumference is derelict,
so that there is mold where the good crust was.
115His family, which moved straight
with its feet in his footprints, is so turned around
that the one ahead casts seed on the one behind;
and soon, from the harvest
of the bad cultivation, it will be seen when the tares
120complain that the granary has been taken from them.
I do say: whoever searched leaf by leaf
through our volume would still find a page
where he would read, "I am what I used to be";
but it will not be from Casale or from Acquasparta,
125from whom such men come to the writing
that one flees it and the other constricts it.
Commentary
The Franciscan rebuke stacks chariot, wheel-track, wine-crust, march, sowing, harvest, granary, book, and Rule imagery. Ubertino da Casale and Matteo d'Acquasparta remain the opposed extremes, one fleeing and the other constricting the writing.
XII.106–108 Civil briga keeps the Church's internal conflict visible.
XII.106–108 Civil briga keeps the Church's internal conflict visible. Line 108: Civil briga keeps the Church's internal conflict visible.
XII.108 Civil briga keeps the Church's internal conflict visible. Civil briga keeps the Church's internal conflict visible.
XII.112–114 The wheel-track image connects the Franciscan order's path to the chariot image. Gromma is kept as wine-cask crust, set against corrupt mold.
XII.112–114 The wheel-track image connects the Franciscan order's path to the chariot image. Line 112: The wheel-track image connects the Franciscan order's path to the chariot image. Line 114: Gromma is kept as wine-cask crust, set against corrupt mold.
XII.112 The wheel-track image connects the Franciscan order's path to the chariot image. The wheel-track image connects the Franciscan order's path to the chariot image.
XII.114 Gromma is kept as wine-cask crust, set against corrupt mold. Gromma is kept as wine-cask crust, set against corrupt mold.
XII.115–117 The line lets the march and sowing images interfere, as in the Italian.
XII.115–117 The line lets the march and sowing images interfere, as in the Italian. Line 117: The line lets the march and sowing images interfere, as in the Italian.
XII.117 The line lets the march and sowing images interfere, as in the Italian. The line lets the march and sowing images interfere, as in the Italian.
XII.118–120 Arca keeps granary/book-chest resonance for the following volume image.
XII.118–120 Arca keeps granary/book-chest resonance for the following volume image. Line 120: Arca keeps granary/book-chest resonance for the following volume image.
XII.120 Arca keeps granary/book-chest resonance for the following volume image. Arca keeps granary/book-chest resonance for the following volume image.
XII.121–123 Bonaventure allows faithful Franciscan pages before naming the extremes.
XII.121–123 Bonaventure allows faithful Franciscan pages before naming the extremes. Line 123: Bonaventure allows faithful Franciscan pages before naming the extremes.
XII.123 Bonaventure allows faithful Franciscan pages before naming the extremes. Bonaventure allows faithful Franciscan pages before naming the extremes.
XII.124–126 Ubertino da Casale and Matteo d'Acquasparta mark opposed Franciscan extremes. La refers to the writing/Rule; the two verbs hold laxity and rigorist constriction.
XII.124–126 Ubertino da Casale and Matteo d'Acquasparta mark opposed Franciscan extremes. Line 124: Ubertino da Casale and Matteo d'Acquasparta mark opposed Franciscan extremes. Line 126: La refers to the writing/Rule; the two verbs hold laxity and rigorist constriction.
XII.124 Ubertino da Casale and Matteo d'Acquasparta mark opposed Franciscan extremes. Ubertino da Casale and Matteo d'Acquasparta mark opposed Franciscan extremes.
XII.126 La refers to the writing/Rule; the two verbs hold laxity and rigorist constriction. La refers to the writing/Rule; the two verbs hold laxity and rigorist constriction.
Bonaventure names himself and the second circle, ending with Joachim and Thomas's fiery courtesy XII.127–145
127Io son la vita di Bonaventura
da Bagnoregio, che ne’ grandi offici
sempre pospuosi la sinistra cura.
130Illuminato e Augustin son quici,
che fuor de’ primi scalzi poverelli
che nel capestro a Dio si fero amici.
Ugo da San Vittore è qui con elli,
e Pietro Mangiadore e Pietro Spano,
135lo qual giù luce in dodici libelli;
Natàn profeta e ’l metropolitano
Crisostomo e Anselmo e quel Donato
ch’a la prim’ arte degnò porre mano.
Rabano è qui, e lucemi dallato
140il calavrese abate Giovacchino
di spirito profetico dotato.
Ad inveggiar cotanto paladino
mi mosse l’infiammata cortesia
di fra Tommaso e ’l discreto latino;
145e mosse meco questa compagnia».
127I am the life of Bonaventure
from Bagnoregio, who in great offices
always set the left-hand care behind.
130Illuminato and Augustine are here,
who were among the first barefoot poor ones
who made themselves friends to God in the rope.
Hugh of Saint Victor is here with them,
and Peter Comestor and Peter of Spain,
135who shines below in twelve little books;
Nathan the prophet and the metropolitan
Chrysostom, and Anselm, and that Donatus
who deigned to set his hand to the first art.
Rabanus is here, and at my side shines
140the Calabrian abbot Joachim,
endowed with prophetic spirit.
To praise so great a paladin
the inflamed courtesy moved me
of Brother Thomas and his discerning speech;
145and moved this company along with me."
Commentary
The final roster is kept as Bonaventure's second circle: Illuminato, Augustine, Hugh of St. Victor, Peter Comestor, Peter of Spain, Nathan, Chrysostom, Anselm, Donatus, Rabanus, and Joachim. The closing credits Thomas's fiery courtesy and measured speech for moving the company to praise Dominic.
XII.127–129 Vita is retained rather than flattened to name alone. Left-hand care is administrative/worldly concern subordinated to right worship and contemplation.
XII.127–129 Vita is retained rather than flattened to name alone. Line 127: Vita is retained rather than flattened to name alone. Line 129: Left-hand care is administrative/worldly concern subordinated to right worship and contemplation.
XII.127 Vita is retained rather than flattened to name alone. Vita is retained rather than flattened to name alone.
XII.129 Left-hand care is administrative/worldly concern subordinated to right worship and contemplation. Left-hand care is administrative/worldly concern subordinated to right worship and contemplation.
XII.130–132 Capestro recalls the humble Franciscan cord from Paradiso XI.
XII.130–132 Capestro recalls the humble Franciscan cord from Paradiso XI. Line 132: Capestro recalls the humble Franciscan cord from Paradiso XI.
XII.132 Capestro recalls the humble Franciscan cord from Paradiso XI. Capestro recalls the humble Franciscan cord from Paradiso XI.
XII.133–135 Peter of Spain's earthly logical manuals are kept as a lower-world shining.
XII.133–135 Peter of Spain's earthly logical manuals are kept as a lower-world shining. Line 135: Peter of Spain's earthly logical manuals are kept as a lower-world shining.
XII.135 Peter of Spain's earthly logical manuals are kept as a lower-world shining. Peter of Spain's earthly logical manuals are kept as a lower-world shining.
XII.136–138 The first art is grammar, foundation of the trivium.
XII.136–138 The first art is grammar, foundation of the trivium. Line 138: The first art is grammar, foundation of the trivium.
XII.138 The first art is grammar, foundation of the trivium. The first art is grammar, foundation of the trivium.
XII.139–141 Joachim closes the list as a controversial prophetic figure, paired structurally with Siger's edge case in Paradiso X.
XII.139–141 Joachim closes the list as a controversial prophetic figure, paired structurally with Siger's edge case in Paradiso X. Line 141: Joachim closes the list as a controversial prophetic figure, paired structurally with Siger's edge case in Paradiso X.
XII.141 Joachim closes the list as a controversial prophetic figure, paired structurally with Siger's edge case in Paradiso X. Joachim closes the list as a controversial prophetic figure, paired structurally with Siger's edge case in Paradiso X.
XII.142–144 The paladin language keeps Dominic's militant defender role. Latino is read as clear, measured speech rather than the Latin language alone.
XII.142–144 The paladin language keeps Dominic's militant defender role. Line 142: The paladin language keeps Dominic's militant defender role. Line 144: Latino is read as clear, measured speech rather than the Latin language alone.
XII.142 The paladin language keeps Dominic's militant defender role. The paladin language keeps Dominic's militant defender role.
XII.144 Latino is read as clear, measured speech rather than the Latin language alone. Latino is read as clear, measured speech rather than the Latin language alone.