Paradiso, Canto 13
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Paradiso XIII remains in the Sun after the two circles have become a double crown around Dante and Beatrice. Dante asks the reader to build an image from the fifteen brightest stars, the Wain, the Little Bear horn, and Ariadne's crown, and then admits that this can give only a shadow of the true double dance. The song is not pagan praise of Bacchus or Paean but Christian praise of the Trinity and the Incarnation. When dance and song complete their measure, Thomas Aquinas resumes speech and says sweet love invites him to thresh the second straw. Dante's hidden difficulty is the relation between Adam, Christ, and Solomon: if Adam and Christ received the fullness of light possible to human nature, how could Solomon's wisdom be unmatched? Thomas answers by distinguishing direct divine creation from mediated natural generation. All mortal and immortal created things are splendor of the divine Idea; living Light proceeds from the Father and remains one with Love, gathers its ray in the nine angelic subsistences, and descends through act to act into brief contingencies produced by the moving heavens. Generated things vary because wax and heavenly shaping do not remain uniform, so nature gives the seal imperfectly, like an artist with skill but a trembling hand. Where the first Power acts directly with warm Love and clear sight, however, all perfection is acquired: thus Adam and the Virgin-borne human nature of Christ are perfect in a unique way. Solomon's unmatched vision is therefore not absolute human perfection but royal prudence, the wisdom he asked for when told to ask, not speculative knowledge of angels, necessity, first motion, or geometry. Thomas tells Dante to take his earlier words with this distinction and make it lead on his feet, so he will move slowly toward any yes or no he does not see. The canto closes as a broad warning against hasty judgment: current opinion turns false, affection binds intellect, the unskilled fisher for truth leaves shore to his own loss, philosophers and heretics distort truth and Scripture, and ordinary people must not judge souls by outward theft or offering, because one may rise and the other fall.
Narrative arc
- The reader is asked to imagine a double heavenly crown from stars, the Wain, the horn, Ariadne, and the Chiana contrast
- Trinitarian and Christological song ends, and Thomas turns to thresh the second straw
- Thomas states Dante's doubt about Adam, Christ, and Solomon and promises a distinction that centers belief and speech in truth
- Divine Idea and living Light descend through the nine subsistences into contingent things, while direct divine action perfects Adam and Christ
- Solomon's peerless wisdom is limited to royal prudence because that is what he asked for as king
- Thomas turns distinction into a warning against hasty judgment, unskilled truth-seeking, distorted doctrine, and presuming to see divine counsel
Central themes
- wisdom
The reader is asked to imagine a double heavenly crown from stars, the Wain, the horn, Ariadne, and the Chiana contrast XIII.1–24
1Imagini, chi bene intender cupe
quel ch’i’ or vidi—e ritegna l’image,
mentre ch’io dico, come ferma rupe—,
quindici stelle che ’n diverse plage
5lo ciel avvivan di tanto sereno
che soperchia de l’aere ogne compage;
imagini quel carro a cu’ il seno
basta del nostro cielo e notte e giorno,
sì ch’al volger del temo non vien meno;
10imagini la bocca di quel corno
che si comincia in punta de lo stelo
a cui la prima rota va dintorno,
aver fatto di sé due segni in cielo,
qual fece la figliuola di Minoi
15allora che sentì di morte il gelo;
e l’un ne l’altro aver li raggi suoi,
e amendue girarsi per maniera
che l’uno andasse al primo e l’altro al poi;
e avrà quasi l’ombra de la vera
20costellazione e de la doppia danza
che circulava il punto dov’ io era:
poi ch’è tanto di là da nostra usanza,
quanto di là dal mover de la Chiana
si move il ciel che tutti li altri avanza.
1Let one imagine, who longs to understand well
what I then saw, and hold the image
while I speak, like a steadfast rock,
fifteen stars that in different regions
5make heaven live with so clear a light
that it overmasters every thickness of air;
let him imagine that Wain for which
the bosom of our sky is enough, by night and day,
so that with the turning of its shaft it does not fail;
10let him imagine the mouth of that horn
which begins at the tip of the axle
around which the first wheel turns,
to have made of themselves two signs in heaven,
like the one Minos' daughter made
15when she felt the frost of death;
and one to have its rays within the other,
and both to turn in such a manner
that one went first and the other after;
and he will have almost the shadow of the true
20constellation and of the double dance
that circled the point where I was:
since it is as far beyond our custom
as, beyond the motion of the Chiana,
moves the heaven that outruns all the others.
Commentary
The opening is an exercise in astronomical imagination: fifteen bright stars, the Wain, the Little Bear horn, Ariadne's crown, double signs, and Chiana/Primum Mobile contrast. The translation keeps imagine/image repetition and leaves first/after motion unflattened.
XIII.1–3 The repeated imagine/image opening asks for active astronomical fantasia, not passive description.
XIII.1–3 The repeated imagine/image opening asks for active astronomical fantasia, not passive description. Line 1: The repeated imagine/image opening asks for active astronomical fantasia, not passive description.
XIII.1 The repeated imagine/image opening asks for active astronomical fantasia, not passive description. The repeated imagine/image opening asks for active astronomical fantasia, not passive description.
XIII.7–9 The Wain is the Great Bear; keep the medieval sky image rather than modern constellation terminology.
XIII.7–9 The Wain is the Great Bear; keep the medieval sky image rather than modern constellation terminology. Line 7: The Wain is the Great Bear; keep the medieval sky image rather than modern constellation terminology.
XIII.7 The Wain is the Great Bear; keep the medieval sky image rather than modern constellation terminology. The Wain is the Great Bear; keep the medieval sky image rather than modern constellation terminology.
XIII.10–12 The horn is the Little Bear/Ursa Minor image around the celestial pole.
XIII.10–12 The horn is the Little Bear/Ursa Minor image around the celestial pole. Line 10: The horn is the Little Bear/Ursa Minor image around the celestial pole.
XIII.10 The horn is the Little Bear/Ursa Minor image around the celestial pole. The horn is the Little Bear/Ursa Minor image around the celestial pole.
XIII.13–15 Minos' daughter is Ariadne; the line keeps the allusion without expanding it in translation.
XIII.13–15 Minos' daughter is Ariadne; the line keeps the allusion without expanding it in translation. Line 14: Minos' daughter is Ariadne; the line keeps the allusion without expanding it in translation.
XIII.14 Minos' daughter is Ariadne; the line keeps the allusion without expanding it in translation. Minos' daughter is Ariadne; the line keeps the allusion without expanding it in translation.
XIII.16–18 Al primo and al poi are kept as first/after, leaving the exact double-circle motion open.
XIII.16–18 Al primo and al poi are kept as first/after, leaving the exact double-circle motion open. Line 18: Al primo and al poi are kept as first/after, leaving the exact double-circle motion open.
XIII.18 Al primo and al poi are kept as first/after, leaving the exact double-circle motion open. Al primo and al poi are kept as first/after, leaving the exact double-circle motion open.
XIII.22–24 The Chiana comparison measures the vision against the fastest heaven and a famously slow Tuscan stream.
XIII.22–24 The Chiana comparison measures the vision against the fastest heaven and a famously slow Tuscan stream. Line 24: The Chiana comparison measures the vision against the fastest heaven and a famously slow Tuscan stream.
XIII.24 The Chiana comparison measures the vision against the fastest heaven and a famously slow Tuscan stream. The Chiana comparison measures the vision against the fastest heaven and a famously slow Tuscan stream.
Trinitarian and Christological song ends, and Thomas turns to thresh the second straw XIII.25–36
25Lì si cantò non Bacco, non Peana,
ma tre persone in divina natura,
e in una persona essa e l’umana.
Compié ’l cantare e ’l volger sua misura;
e attesersi a noi quei santi lumi,
30felicitando sé di cura in cura.
Ruppe il silenzio ne’ concordi numi
poscia la luce in che mirabil vita
del poverel di Dio narrata fumi,
e disse: «Quando l’una paglia è trita,
35quando la sua semenza è già riposta,
a batter l’altra dolce amor m’invita.
25There was sung not Bacchus, not Paean,
but three persons in the divine nature,
and in one person that nature and the human.
The singing and the wheeling fulfilled their measure;
and those holy lights gave heed to us,
30making themselves glad from care to care.
Then broke silence among the concordant gods
the light in which the marvelous life
of God's poor one had been told to me,
and said: "When the one straw has been threshed,
35when its seed has already been stored,
sweet love invites me to beat the other.
Commentary
The dance and song turn from pagan solar divinities to Trinitarian and Christological praise before Thomas resumes the second unresolved straw from Paradiso X-XI.
XIII.25–27 Bacchus and Paean yield to explicitly Christian Trinitarian and Christological song.
XIII.25–27 Bacchus and Paean yield to explicitly Christian Trinitarian and Christological song. Line 25: Bacchus and Paean yield to explicitly Christian Trinitarian and Christological song.
XIII.25 Bacchus and Paean yield to explicitly Christian Trinitarian and Christological song. Bacchus and Paean yield to explicitly Christian Trinitarian and Christological song.
XIII.31–33 Numi is rendered as gods to keep Dante's elevated classical register for blessed lights.
XIII.31–33 Numi is rendered as gods to keep Dante's elevated classical register for blessed lights. Line 31: Numi is rendered as gods to keep Dante's elevated classical register for blessed lights.
XIII.31 Numi is rendered as gods to keep Dante's elevated classical register for blessed lights. Numi is rendered as gods to keep Dante's elevated classical register for blessed lights.
XIII.34–36 The threshing image resumes Thomas's two unresolved phrases from Paradiso X-XI.
XIII.34–36 The threshing image resumes Thomas's two unresolved phrases from Paradiso X-XI. Line 34: The threshing image resumes Thomas's two unresolved phrases from Paradiso X-XI.
XIII.34 The threshing image resumes Thomas's two unresolved phrases from Paradiso X-XI. The threshing image resumes Thomas's two unresolved phrases from Paradiso X-XI.
Thomas states Dante's doubt about Adam, Christ, and Solomon and promises a distinction that centers belief and speech in truth XIII.37–51
37Tu credi che nel petto onde la costa
si trasse per formar la bella guancia
il cui palato a tutto ’l mondo costa,
40e in quel che, forato da la lancia,
e prima e poscia tanto sodisfece,
che d’ogne colpa vince la bilancia,
quantunque a la natura umana lece
aver di lume, tutto fosse infuso
45da quel valor che l’uno e l’altro fece;
e però miri a ciò ch’io dissi suso,
quando narrai che non ebbe ’l secondo
lo ben che ne la quinta luce è chiuso.
Or apri li occhi a quel ch’io ti rispondo,
50e vedräi il tuo credere e ’l mio dire
nel vero farsi come centro in tondo.
37You believe that in the breast from which the rib
was drawn to form the lovely cheek
whose palate costs all the world so dear,
40and in the one which, pierced by the lance,
both before and after made such satisfaction
that it outweighs every fault in the balance,
whatever light human nature may
lawfully have was all infused
45by that Power who made the one and the other;
and therefore you marvel at what I said above,
when I related that no second had
the good enclosed in the fifth light.
Now open your eyes to what I answer you,
50and you will see your belief and my speech
become in truth like center in circle.
Commentary
Dante's doubt is a reconciliation problem: Adam and Christ had the fullness of human intellectual light, yet Thomas had said Solomon's wisdom was without a second. The center-in-circle image marks the promised distinction.
XIII.37–39 Eve's palate keeps the Genesis taste-cost pressure without explanatory expansion.
XIII.37–39 Eve's palate keeps the Genesis taste-cost pressure without explanatory expansion. Line 39: Eve's palate keeps the Genesis taste-cost pressure without explanatory expansion.
XIII.39 Eve's palate keeps the Genesis taste-cost pressure without explanatory expansion. Eve's palate keeps the Genesis taste-cost pressure without explanatory expansion.
XIII.40–42 The balance image recalls satisfaction and Atonement language from Paradiso VII.
XIII.40–42 The balance image recalls satisfaction and Atonement language from Paradiso VII. Line 42: The balance image recalls satisfaction and Atonement language from Paradiso VII.
XIII.42 The balance image recalls satisfaction and Atonement language from Paradiso VII. The balance image recalls satisfaction and Atonement language from Paradiso VII.
XIII.46–48 The fifth light is Solomon in Thomas's first Sun-circle roster.
XIII.46–48 The fifth light is Solomon in Thomas's first Sun-circle roster. Line 48: The fifth light is Solomon in Thomas's first Sun-circle roster.
XIII.48 The fifth light is Solomon in Thomas's first Sun-circle roster. The fifth light is Solomon in Thomas's first Sun-circle roster.
XIII.49–51 The center-in-circle image marks Thomas's distinction as reconciliation rather than contradiction.
XIII.49–51 The center-in-circle image marks Thomas's distinction as reconciliation rather than contradiction. Line 51: The center-in-circle image marks Thomas's distinction as reconciliation rather than contradiction.
XIII.51 The center-in-circle image marks Thomas's distinction as reconciliation rather than contradiction. The center-in-circle image marks Thomas's distinction as reconciliation rather than contradiction.
Divine Idea and living Light descend through the nine subsistences into contingent things, while direct divine action perfects Adam and Christ XIII.52–87
52Ciò che non more e ciò che può morire
non è se non splendor di quella idea
che partorisce, amando, il nostro Sire;
55ché quella viva luce che sì mea
dal suo lucente, che non si disuna
da lui né da l’amor ch’a lor s’intrea,
per sua bontate il suo raggiare aduna,
quasi specchiato, in nove sussistenze,
60etternalmente rimanendosi una.
Quindi discende a l’ultime potenze
giù d’atto in atto, tanto divenendo,
che più non fa che brevi contingenze;
e queste contingenze essere intendo
65le cose generate, che produce
con seme e sanza seme il ciel movendo.
La cera di costoro e chi la duce
non sta d’un modo; e però sotto ’l segno
idëale poi più e men traluce.
70Ond’ elli avvien ch’un medesimo legno,
secondo specie, meglio e peggio frutta;
e voi nascete con diverso ingegno.
Se fosse a punto la cera dedutta
e fosse il cielo in sua virtù supprema,
75la luce del suggel parrebbe tutta;
ma la natura la dà sempre scema,
similemente operando a l’artista
ch’a l’abito de l’arte ha man che trema.
Però se ’l caldo amor la chiara vista
80de la prima virtù dispone e segna,
tutta la perfezion quivi s’acquista.
Così fu fatta già la terra degna
di tutta l’animal perfezïone;
così fu fatta la Vergine pregna;
85sì ch’io commendo tua oppinïone,
che l’umana natura mai non fue
né fia qual fu in quelle due persone.
52What does not die and what can die
is nothing except the splendor of that Idea
which, loving, our Lord brings forth;
55for that living light which so pours
from its Shining One that it is not disjoined
from him nor from the Love that with them enthrees itself,
through its goodness gathers its radiance,
as if mirrored, in nine subsistences,
60while eternally remaining one.
From there it descends to the lowest powers
down from act to act, becoming so far
that it makes no more than brief contingencies;
and by these contingencies I mean
65generated things, which the moving heaven
produces with seed and without seed.
The wax of these and what shapes it
do not stay in one condition; and so beneath
the ideal sign it then shines through more and less.
70Thus it happens that the same tree,
according to species, bears better and worse fruit;
and you are born with differing genius.
If the wax were brought to the exact point
and heaven were in its supreme power,
75the light of the seal would all appear;
but nature always gives it diminished,
working like the artist
who has the habit of art and a trembling hand.
Therefore, if warm love and the clear sight
80of the first Power dispose and seal it,
all perfection is acquired there.
So once the earth was made worthy
of every perfection of animate life;
so the Virgin was made pregnant;
85so that I commend your opinion
that human nature never was
nor will be what it was in those two persons.
Commentary
The metaphysical passage keeps divine Idea, living Light, Trinitarian procession, nine angelic subsistences, descent into contingent generated things, wax and seal, heavenly influence, imperfect natural mediation, and direct divine perfection in Adam and the Incarnation.
XIII.52–54 Idea is capitalized as a theological term for divine exemplar/logos pressure.
XIII.52–54 Idea is capitalized as a theological term for divine exemplar/logos pressure. Line 53: Idea is capitalized as a theological term for divine exemplar/logos pressure.
XIII.53 Idea is capitalized as a theological term for divine exemplar/logos pressure. Idea is capitalized as a theological term for divine exemplar/logos pressure.
XIII.55–57 S'intrea is kept with a coined English verb so the Trinitarian coinage remains strange.
XIII.55–57 S'intrea is kept with a coined English verb so the Trinitarian coinage remains strange. Line 57: S'intrea is kept with a coined English verb so the Trinitarian coinage remains strange.
XIII.57 S'intrea is kept with a coined English verb so the Trinitarian coinage remains strange. S'intrea is kept with a coined English verb so the Trinitarian coinage remains strange.
XIII.58–60 The nine subsistences are the angelic orders in the procession of created light.
XIII.58–60 The nine subsistences are the angelic orders in the procession of created light. Line 59: The nine subsistences are the angelic orders in the procession of created light.
XIII.59 The nine subsistences are the angelic orders in the procession of created light. The nine subsistences are the angelic orders in the procession of created light.
XIII.61–63 Brief contingencies names generated sublunar things rather than eternal beings.
XIII.61–63 Brief contingencies names generated sublunar things rather than eternal beings. Line 63: Brief contingencies names generated sublunar things rather than eternal beings.
XIII.63 Brief contingencies names generated sublunar things rather than eternal beings. Brief contingencies names generated sublunar things rather than eternal beings.
XIII.67–69 The wax/seal field distinguishes receiving matter from the heavens that shape it.
XIII.67–69 The wax/seal field distinguishes receiving matter from the heavens that shape it. Line 67: The wax/seal field distinguishes receiving matter from the heavens that shape it.
XIII.67 The wax/seal field distinguishes receiving matter from the heavens that shape it. The wax/seal field distinguishes receiving matter from the heavens that shape it.
XIII.70–72 Ingegno is rendered as genius in the older sense of native capacity or wit.
XIII.70–72 Ingegno is rendered as genius in the older sense of native capacity or wit. Line 72: Ingegno is rendered as genius in the older sense of native capacity or wit.
XIII.72 Ingegno is rendered as genius in the older sense of native capacity or wit. Ingegno is rendered as genius in the older sense of native capacity or wit.
XIII.76–78 The artist with a trembling hand marks imperfect natural mediation, not bad intention.
XIII.76–78 The artist with a trembling hand marks imperfect natural mediation, not bad intention. Line 78: The artist with a trembling hand marks imperfect natural mediation, not bad intention.
XIII.78 The artist with a trembling hand marks imperfect natural mediation, not bad intention. The artist with a trembling hand marks imperfect natural mediation, not bad intention.
XIII.82–84 Animate life preserves the medieval sense of animal as soul-bearing life.
XIII.82–84 Animate life preserves the medieval sense of animal as soul-bearing life. Line 83: Animate life preserves the medieval sense of animal as soul-bearing life.
XIII.83 Animate life preserves the medieval sense of animal as soul-bearing life. Animate life preserves the medieval sense of animal as soul-bearing life.
Solomon's peerless wisdom is limited to royal prudence because that is what he asked for as king XIII.88–111
88Or s’i’ non procedesse avanti piùe,
‘Dunque, come costui fu sanza pare?’
90comincerebber le parole tue.
Ma perché paia ben ciò che non pare,
pensa chi era, e la cagion che ’l mosse,
quando fu detto “Chiedi”, a dimandare.
Non ho parlato sì, che tu non posse
95ben veder ch’el fu re, che chiese senno
acciò che re sufficïente fosse;
non per sapere il numero in che enno
li motor di qua sù, o se necesse
con contingente mai necesse fenno;
100non si est dare primum motum esse,
o se del mezzo cerchio far si puote
trïangol sì ch’un retto non avesse.
Onde, se ciò ch’io dissi e questo note,
regal prudenza è quel vedere impari
105in che lo stral di mia intenzion percuote;
e se al “surse” drizzi li occhi chiari,
vedrai aver solamente respetto
ai regi, che son molti, e ’ buon son rari.
Con questa distinzion prendi ’l mio detto;
110e così puote star con quel che credi
del primo padre e del nostro Diletto.
88Now if I did not proceed further,
'Then how was this one without a peer?'
90your words would begin.
But so that what does not appear may appear clearly,
think who he was, and the cause that moved him,
when 'Ask' was said, to ask.
I have not spoken in such a way that you cannot
95well see that he was a king, who asked for wisdom
so that he might be a sufficient king;
not to know the number in which are
the movers up here, or whether necesse
with a contingent ever made necesse;
100non si est dare primum motum esse,
or whether from a semicircle one can make
a triangle that had no right angle.
Therefore, if you note what I said and this,
royal prudence is that unequaled seeing
105at which the arrow of my intention strikes;
and if you direct clear eyes to 'arose,'
you will see it has regard only
to kings, who are many, and the good are rare.
Take my saying with this distinction;
110and so it can stand with what you believe
of the first father and of our Beloved.
Commentary
Solomon's incomparable seeing is limited by the stated object of his request: kingly prudence sufficient for ruling, not angelology, modal logic, cosmology, or geometry. The earlier surse applies to kings, not Adam or Christ.
XIII.94–96 Sufficient king keeps the political-prudential limit of Solomon's request.
XIII.94–96 Sufficient king keeps the political-prudential limit of Solomon's request. Line 96: Sufficient king keeps the political-prudential limit of Solomon's request.
XIII.96 Sufficient king keeps the political-prudential limit of Solomon's request. Sufficient king keeps the political-prudential limit of Solomon's request.
XIII.97–99 Dante leaves the scholastic Latin term necesse; the translation preserves it.
XIII.97–99 Dante leaves the scholastic Latin term necesse; the translation preserves it. Line 99: Dante leaves the scholastic Latin term necesse; the translation preserves it.
XIII.99 Dante leaves the scholastic Latin term necesse; the translation preserves it. Dante leaves the scholastic Latin term necesse; the translation preserves it.
XIII.100–102 The Latin logical formula is preserved as source text.
XIII.100–102 The Latin logical formula is preserved as source text. Line 100: The Latin logical formula is preserved as source text.
XIII.100 The Latin logical formula is preserved as source text. The Latin logical formula is preserved as source text.
XIII.106–108 Surse points back to Thomas's earlier claim about Solomon; arose keeps the lexical return visible.
XIII.106–108 Surse points back to Thomas's earlier claim about Solomon; arose keeps the lexical return visible. Line 106: Surse points back to Thomas's earlier claim about Solomon; arose keeps the lexical return visible.
XIII.106 Surse points back to Thomas's earlier claim about Solomon; arose keeps the lexical return visible. Surse points back to Thomas's earlier claim about Solomon; arose keeps the lexical return visible.
Thomas turns distinction into a warning against hasty judgment, unskilled truth-seeking, distorted doctrine, and presuming to see divine counsel XIII.112–142
112E questo ti sia sempre piombo a’ piedi,
per farti mover lento com’ uom lasso
e al sì e al no che tu non vedi:
115ché quelli è tra li stolti bene a basso,
che sanza distinzione afferma e nega
ne l’un così come ne l’altro passo;
perch’ elli ’ncontra che più volte piega
l’oppinïon corrente in falsa parte,
120e poi l’affetto l’intelletto lega.
Vie più che ’ndarno da riva si parte,
perché non torna tal qual e’ si move,
chi pesca per lo vero e non ha l’arte.
E di ciò sono al mondo aperte prove
125Parmenide, Melisso e Brisso e molti,
li quali andaro e non sapëan dove;
sì fé Sabellio e Arrio e quelli stolti
che furon come spade a le Scritture
in render torti li diritti volti.
130Non sien le genti, ancor, troppo sicure
a giudicar, sì come quei che stima
le biade in campo pria che sien mature;
ch’i’ ho veduto tutto ’l verno prima
lo prun mostrarsi rigido e feroce,
135poscia portar la rosa in su la cima;
e legno vidi già dritto e veloce
correr lo mar per tutto suo cammino,
perire al fine a l’intrar de la foce.
Non creda donna Berta e ser Martino,
140per vedere un furare, altro offerere,
vederli dentro al consiglio divino;
ché quel può surgere, e quel può cadere».
112And let this always be lead to your feet,
to make you move slowly, like a weary man,
toward the yes and the no that you do not see:
115for he is very low among the fools
who without distinction affirms and denies
in one case as in the other;
because it happens that more than once
current opinion bends in a false direction,
120and then affection binds the intellect.
Far worse than in vain does he leave the shore,
because he does not return such as he set out,
who fishes for the truth and does not have the art.
And of this in the world are open proofs
125Parmenides, Melissus, and Bryson, and many
who went and did not know where;
so did Sabellius and Arius and those fools
who were like swords to the Scriptures
in making crooked the straight faces.
130Let people not yet be too secure
in judging, like one who estimates
grain in the field before it is ripe;
for I have seen, all winter first,
the thorn show itself rigid and fierce,
135then bear the rose upon its top;
and I once saw a ship, straight and swift,
run the sea through all its course,
and perish at last at the harbor mouth.
Let not Dame Bertha and Sir Martin think,
140because they see one steal, another offer,
that they see them inside the divine counsel;
for the one may rise, and the other may fall."
Commentary
The closing warning makes distinction a rule for judgment: slow feet, yes/no caution, affection binding intellect, unskilled fishing for truth, pagan and Christian errors, crop and rose/ship images, and the hidden divine counsel behind Berta/Martino judgments.
XIII.112–114 Lead to the feet is the slowing weight of careful distinction.
XIII.112–114 Lead to the feet is the slowing weight of careful distinction. Line 112: Lead to the feet is the slowing weight of careful distinction.
XIII.112 Lead to the feet is the slowing weight of careful distinction. Lead to the feet is the slowing weight of careful distinction.
XIII.118–120 Affection binds intellect: error becomes durable when attachment follows hasty opinion.
XIII.118–120 Affection binds intellect: error becomes durable when attachment follows hasty opinion. Line 120: Affection binds intellect: error becomes durable when attachment follows hasty opinion.
XIII.120 Affection binds intellect: error becomes durable when attachment follows hasty opinion. Affection binds intellect: error becomes durable when attachment follows hasty opinion.
XIII.121–123 Fishing for truth requires art: doctrine, method, and practiced skill.
XIII.121–123 Fishing for truth requires art: doctrine, method, and practiced skill. Line 123: Fishing for truth requires art: doctrine, method, and practiced skill.
XIII.123 Fishing for truth requires art: doctrine, method, and practiced skill. Fishing for truth requires art: doctrine, method, and practiced skill.
XIII.127–129 The sword image keeps the distorted-reflection pressure of heretical reading.
XIII.127–129 The sword image keeps the distorted-reflection pressure of heretical reading. Line 129: The sword image keeps the distorted-reflection pressure of heretical reading.
XIII.129 The sword image keeps the distorted-reflection pressure of heretical reading. The sword image keeps the distorted-reflection pressure of heretical reading.
XIII.133–135 The winter thorn and rose warn against premature judgment, with Marian and last-things pressure left open.
XIII.133–135 The winter thorn and rose warn against premature judgment, with Marian and last-things pressure left open. Line 135: The winter thorn and rose warn against premature judgment, with Marian and last-things pressure left open.
XIII.135 The winter thorn and rose warn against premature judgment, with Marian and last-things pressure left open. The winter thorn and rose warn against premature judgment, with Marian and last-things pressure left open.
XIII.136–138 The shipwreck at the harbor mouth keeps salvation-judgment uncertainty active.
XIII.136–138 The shipwreck at the harbor mouth keeps salvation-judgment uncertainty active. Line 138: The shipwreck at the harbor mouth keeps salvation-judgment uncertainty active.
XIII.138 The shipwreck at the harbor mouth keeps salvation-judgment uncertainty active. The shipwreck at the harbor mouth keeps salvation-judgment uncertainty active.
XIII.139–141 Divine counsel names the judgment hidden from ordinary social evidence.
XIII.139–141 Divine counsel names the judgment hidden from ordinary social evidence. Line 141: Divine counsel names the judgment hidden from ordinary social evidence.
XIII.141 Divine counsel names the judgment hidden from ordinary social evidence. Divine counsel names the judgment hidden from ordinary social evidence.