Paradiso, Canto 22
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Paradiso XXII continues Saturn by answering the thunderous outcry that ended the previous canto. Overwhelmed, Dante turns to Beatrice like a child to its trusted refuge, and she steadies him with maternal reassurance: all of Heaven is holy, the cry came from good zeal, and the sword of heavenly justice is neither early nor late except to fearful or impatient eyes. She directs him toward other contemplatives, and Dante sees a hundred mutually beautifying little spheres. His desire to ask is held back by reverent fear, but the greatest pearl comes forward and reads the thought he has not spoken. Saint Benedict identifies the mountain of Cassino, recalls carrying the name of Christ there and drawing the neighboring villages away from impious worship, and names the contemplative fires of Macarius, Romuald, and his cloistered brothers. Dante, made confident by Benedict's affection and the good appearance of the blessed flames, asks whether he may see the saint unveiled. Benedict says the desire will be fulfilled only in the final sphere, where all desire is perfect, mature, whole, and outside spatial pole or place; Jacob once saw the ladder reach that height, but now no one lifts earthly feet to climb it. Benedict's Rule has become wasted paper, abbeys have become dens, cowls sacks of bad flour, and Church goods meant for the poor are diverted to kin and worse uses. Against corrupt religious houses he sets Peter's poverty, his own prayer and fasting, and Francis's humble founding, then says ancient miracles would be more marvelous than the help needed here. Benedict withdraws, the company gathers and rises like a whirlwind, and Beatrice's single sign drives Dante up the ladder with motion beyond earthly nature. The canto then turns into the fixed stars. In an oath to the reader, Dante invokes the devout triumph for which he repents, enters Gemini almost instantly, and addresses the glorious stars under which he was born and to which he attributes whatever genius he has. Beatrice, because Dante is near the last salvation, tells him to sharpen his sight by looking down at the world already beneath his feet before meeting the triumphant host. Dante reviews the seven spheres, sees the earth's poor appearance, approves the counsel that values it least, sees the Moon without the old dark-spot error, bears the Sun's aspect, sees Mercury and Venus near it, sees Jupiter tempering between Saturn and Mars, and understands the size, speed, and distances of the spheres. Turning with eternal Gemini, he sees the whole little threshing floor that makes human beings fierce, from hills to river mouths, and then returns his eyes to Beatrice's beautiful eyes.
Narrative arc
- Beatrice steadies Dante after the thunderous cry and interprets Heaven's zeal, song, smile, prayer, and just sword
- Dante sees mutually beautifying little spheres, represses his desire, and hears Benedict identify Cassino, Christ's name, contemplative fires, and cloistered steadfastness
- Dante's confidence opens like a rose, he asks to see Benedict unveiled, and Benedict points desire beyond Saturn to the non-spatial final sphere and Jacob's ladder
- Benedict denounces failure to climb the ladder, the wasted Rule, corrupted abbeys and cowls, misused Church goods, and the collapse from founding poverty to darkened practice
- Benedict's company gathers upward, Beatrice sends Dante swiftly up the ladder, and Dante enters Gemini while invoking his natal stars for the hard passage
- Beatrice commands Dante's downward look, and Dante reviews the seven spheres and the little threshing floor of earth before returning to her eyes
Central themes
- contemplation
- reform
- height
Beatrice steadies Dante after the thunderous cry and interprets Heaven's zeal, song, smile, prayer, and just sword XXII.1–21
1Oppresso di stupore, a la mia guida
mi volsi, come parvol che ricorre
sempre colà dove più si confida;
e quella, come madre che soccorre
5sùbito al figlio palido e anelo
con la sua voce, che ’l suol ben disporre,
mi disse: «Non sai tu che tu se’ in cielo?
e non sai tu che ’l cielo è tutto santo,
e ciò che ci si fa vien da buon zelo?
10Come t’avrebbe trasmutato il canto,
e io ridendo, mo pensar lo puoi,
poscia che ’l grido t’ha mosso cotanto;
nel qual, se ’nteso avessi i prieghi suoi,
già ti sarebbe nota la vendetta
15che tu vedrai innanzi che tu muoi.
La spada di qua sù non taglia in fretta
né tardo, ma’ ch’al parer di colui
che disïando o temendo l’aspetta.
Ma rivolgiti omai inverso altrui;
20ch’assai illustri spiriti vedrai,
se com’ io dico l’aspetto redui».
1Oppressed by amazement, to my guide
I turned, like a little child who runs back
always where he trusts the most;
and she, like a mother who comes to help
5her pale and breathless son at once
with her voice, which usually calms him well,
said to me: "Do you not know that you are in Heaven?
and do you not know that Heaven is wholly holy,
and what is done here comes from good zeal?
10How the song would have transmuted you,
and what my smile would have done, you can think now,
since the cry has moved you so greatly;
in which, if you had understood its prayers,
already the vengeance would be known to you
15that you will see before you die.
The sword up here does not cut in haste
nor late, except in the seeming of him
who waits for it, desiring or fearing.
But turn now toward others;
20for you will see many illustrious spirits,
if you lead back your gaze as I say."
Commentary
Beatrice's maternal reassurance is a direct answer to the thunderous cry, while preserving the justice-pressure of the delayed or feared heavenly sword.
XXII.4–6 The maternal voice continues Beatrice's moderated guidance after the Saturn cry.
XXII.4–6 The maternal voice continues Beatrice's moderated guidance after the Saturn cry. Line 6: The maternal voice continues Beatrice's moderated guidance after the Saturn cry.
XXII.6 The maternal voice continues Beatrice's moderated guidance after the Saturn cry. The maternal voice continues Beatrice's moderated guidance after the Saturn cry.
XXII.10–12 Beatrice links the muted song and withheld smile of Saturn to Dante's mortal limits.
XXII.10–12 Beatrice links the muted song and withheld smile of Saturn to Dante's mortal limits. Line 11: Beatrice links the muted song and withheld smile of Saturn to Dante's mortal limits.
XXII.11 Beatrice links the muted song and withheld smile of Saturn to Dante's mortal limits. Beatrice links the muted song and withheld smile of Saturn to Dante's mortal limits.
XXII.13–15 The cry is treated as prayer for just redress, not as disordered anger.
XXII.13–15 The cry is treated as prayer for just redress, not as disordered anger. Line 14: The cry is treated as prayer for just redress, not as disordered anger.
XXII.14 The cry is treated as prayer for just redress, not as disordered anger. The cry is treated as prayer for just redress, not as disordered anger.
XXII.16–18 The line keeps divine timing distinct from impatient desire and fearful delay.
XXII.16–18 The line keeps divine timing distinct from impatient desire and fearful delay. Line 18: The line keeps divine timing distinct from impatient desire and fearful delay.
XXII.18 The line keeps divine timing distinct from impatient desire and fearful delay. The line keeps divine timing distinct from impatient desire and fearful delay.
Dante sees mutually beautifying little spheres, represses his desire, and hears Benedict identify Cassino, Christ's name, contemplative fires, and cloistered steadfastness XXII.22–51
22Come a lei piacque, li occhi ritornai,
e vidi cento sperule che ’nsieme
più s’abbellivan con mutüi rai.
25Io stava come quei che ’n sé repreme
la punta del disio, e non s’attenta
di domandar, sì del troppo si teme;
e la maggiore e la più luculenta
di quelle margherite innanzi fessi,
30per far di sé la mia voglia contenta.
Poi dentro a lei udi’: «Se tu vedessi
com’ io la carità che tra noi arde,
li tuoi concetti sarebbero espressi.
Ma perché tu, aspettando, non tarde
35a l’alto fine, io ti farò risposta
pur al pensier, da che sì ti riguarde.
Quel monte a cui Cassino è ne la costa
fu frequentato già in su la cima
da la gente ingannata e mal disposta;
40e quel son io che sù vi portai prima
lo nome di colui che ’n terra addusse
la verità che tanto ci soblima;
e tanta grazia sopra me relusse,
ch’io ritrassi le ville circunstanti
45da l’empio cólto che ’l mondo sedusse.
Questi altri fuochi tutti contemplanti
uomini fuoro, accesi di quel caldo
che fa nascere i fiori e ’ frutti santi.
Qui è Maccario, qui è Romoaldo,
50qui son li frati miei che dentro ai chiostri
fermar li piedi e tennero il cor saldo».
22As it pleased her, I returned my eyes,
and saw a hundred little spheres that together
made one another more beautiful with mutual rays.
25I stood like one who represses within himself
the point of desire, and does not venture
to ask, so much he fears excess;
and the greatest and most luculent
of those pearls came forward,
30to make my wish content by giving itself.
Then within it I heard: "If you could see
as I do the charity that burns among us,
your thoughts would have been expressed.
But so that you, waiting, may not be late
35for the high end, I will answer you
even to the thought you keep so guarded.
That mountain on whose slope Cassino is
was once frequented on its summit
by people deceived and badly disposed;
40and I am he who first carried up there
the name of him who brought to earth
the truth that so sublimates us;
and so much grace shone upon me
that I drew the surrounding villages
45from the impious worship that seduced the world.
These other fires were all contemplative
men, kindled by that heat
that makes holy flowers and fruits be born.
Here is Macarius, here is Romuald,
50here are my brothers who within the cloisters
fixed their feet and kept the heart steady."
Commentary
The Benedict identification keeps Cassino, the displaced pagan worship, Macarius, Romuald, and cloistered firmness within the larger Saturn sequence of contemplative lights and restrained mortal desire.
XXII.22–24 The mutual rays keep the blessed community from becoming isolated lights.
XXII.22–24 The mutual rays keep the blessed community from becoming isolated lights. Line 24: The mutual rays keep the blessed community from becoming isolated lights.
XXII.24 The mutual rays keep the blessed community from becoming isolated lights. The mutual rays keep the blessed community from becoming isolated lights.
XXII.25–27 The phrase preserves the pressure of desire held back by reverent fear of excess.
XXII.25–27 The phrase preserves the pressure of desire held back by reverent fear of excess. Line 27: The phrase preserves the pressure of desire held back by reverent fear of excess.
XXII.27 The phrase preserves the pressure of desire held back by reverent fear of excess. The phrase preserves the pressure of desire held back by reverent fear of excess.
XXII.31–33 Benedict reads Dante's unspoken thought through shared heavenly charity.
XXII.31–33 Benedict reads Dante's unspoken thought through shared heavenly charity. Line 33: Benedict reads Dante's unspoken thought through shared heavenly charity.
XXII.33 Benedict reads Dante's unspoken thought through shared heavenly charity. Benedict reads Dante's unspoken thought through shared heavenly charity.
XXII.37–39 Cassino identifies Benedict through the founding place of the Benedictine monastery.
XXII.37–39 Cassino identifies Benedict through the founding place of the Benedictine monastery. Line 37: Cassino identifies Benedict through the founding place of the Benedictine monastery.
XXII.37 Cassino identifies Benedict through the founding place of the Benedictine monastery. Cassino identifies Benedict through the founding place of the Benedictine monastery.
XXII.43–45 The local conversion at Monte Cassino remains tied to wider pagan delusion.
XXII.43–45 The local conversion at Monte Cassino remains tied to wider pagan delusion. Line 45: The local conversion at Monte Cassino remains tied to wider pagan delusion.
XXII.45 The local conversion at Monte Cassino remains tied to wider pagan delusion. The local conversion at Monte Cassino remains tied to wider pagan delusion.
XXII.46–48 Holy flowers and fruits answer the later corrupt fruit of monastic misuse.
XXII.46–48 Holy flowers and fruits answer the later corrupt fruit of monastic misuse. Line 48: Holy flowers and fruits answer the later corrupt fruit of monastic misuse.
XXII.48 Holy flowers and fruits answer the later corrupt fruit of monastic misuse. Holy flowers and fruits answer the later corrupt fruit of monastic misuse.
XXII.49–51 Fixed feet and steady heart set monastic stability against later wandering and corruption.
XXII.49–51 Fixed feet and steady heart set monastic stability against later wandering and corruption. Line 51: Fixed feet and steady heart set monastic stability against later wandering and corruption.
XXII.51 Fixed feet and steady heart set monastic stability against later wandering and corruption. Fixed feet and steady heart set monastic stability against later wandering and corruption.
Dante's confidence opens like a rose, he asks to see Benedict unveiled, and Benedict points desire beyond Saturn to the non-spatial final sphere and Jacob's ladder XXII.52–72
52E io a lui: «L’affetto che dimostri
meco parlando, e la buona sembianza
ch’io veggio e noto in tutti li ardor vostri,
55così m’ha dilatata mia fidanza,
come ’l sol fa la rosa quando aperta
tanto divien quant’ ell’ ha di possanza.
Però ti priego, e tu, padre, m’accerta
s’io posso prender tanta grazia, ch’io
60ti veggia con imagine scoverta».
Ond’ elli: «Frate, il tuo alto disio
s’adempierà in su l’ultima spera,
ove s’adempion tutti li altri e ’l mio.
Ivi è perfetta, matura e intera
65ciascuna disïanza; in quella sola
è ogne parte là ove sempr’ era,
perché non è in loco e non s’impola;
e nostra scala infino ad essa varca,
onde così dal viso ti s’invola.
70Infin là sù la vide il patriarca
Iacobbe porger la superna parte,
quando li apparve d’angeli sì carca.
52And I to him: "The affection you show
in speaking with me, and the good semblance
that I see and note in all your ardors,
55has so expanded my confidence,
as the sun does the rose when, opened,
it becomes as much as it has power to become.
Therefore I pray you, and you, father, assure me
whether I can receive so much grace, that I
60may see you with your image uncovered."
Then he: "Brother, your high desire
will be fulfilled upon the last sphere,
where all the others and mine are fulfilled.
There every desire is perfect,
65mature and whole; in that alone
every part is where it always was,
because it is not in place and is not set on poles;
and our ladder reaches all the way to it,
and so steals itself from your sight.
70As far up as that, the patriarch
Jacob saw its upper part extend,
when it appeared to him so laden with angels.
Commentary
The rose-confidence image, request for an unveiled face, final sphere, non-spatial Empyrean, and Jacob's ladder keep desire, sight, and ladder ascent coordinated.
XXII.58–60 The request for an uncovered image marks a limit that will only be met in the Empyrean.
XXII.58–60 The request for an uncovered image marks a limit that will only be met in the Empyrean. Line 60: The request for an uncovered image marks a limit that will only be met in the Empyrean.
XXII.60 The request for an uncovered image marks a limit that will only be met in the Empyrean. The request for an uncovered image marks a limit that will only be met in the Empyrean.
XXII.64–66 The final sphere is treated as the place where desire is complete and created parts are in their true order.
XXII.64–66 The final sphere is treated as the place where desire is complete and created parts are in their true order. Line 66: The final sphere is treated as the place where desire is complete and created parts are in their true order.
XXII.66 The final sphere is treated as the place where desire is complete and created parts are in their true order. The final sphere is treated as the place where desire is complete and created parts are in their true order.
XXII.67–69 The Empyrean is non-spatial rather than another rotating astronomical sphere.
XXII.67–69 The Empyrean is non-spatial rather than another rotating astronomical sphere. Line 67: The Empyrean is non-spatial rather than another rotating astronomical sphere.
XXII.67 The Empyrean is non-spatial rather than another rotating astronomical sphere. The Empyrean is non-spatial rather than another rotating astronomical sphere.
XXII.70–72 Jacob's ladder anchors the golden ladder in biblical contemplative ascent.
XXII.70–72 Jacob's ladder anchors the golden ladder in biblical contemplative ascent. Line 72: Jacob's ladder anchors the golden ladder in biblical contemplative ascent.
XXII.72 Jacob's ladder anchors the golden ladder in biblical contemplative ascent. Jacob's ladder anchors the golden ladder in biblical contemplative ascent.
Benedict denounces failure to climb the ladder, the wasted Rule, corrupted abbeys and cowls, misused Church goods, and the collapse from founding poverty to darkened practice XXII.73–96
73Ma, per salirla, mo nessun diparte
da terra i piedi, e la regola mia
75rimasa è per danno de le carte.
Le mura che solieno esser badia
fatte sono spelonche, e le cocolle
sacca son piene di farina ria.
Ma grave usura tanto non si tolle
80contra ’l piacer di Dio, quanto quel frutto
che fa il cor de’ monaci sì folle;
ché quantunque la Chiesa guarda, tutto
è de la gente che per Dio dimanda;
non di parenti né d’altro più brutto.
85La carne d’i mortali è tanto blanda,
che giù non basta buon cominciamento
dal nascer de la quercia al far la ghianda.
Pier cominciò sanz’ oro e sanz’ argento,
e io con orazione e con digiuno,
90e Francesco umilmente il suo convento;
e se guardi ’l principio di ciascuno,
poscia riguardi là dov’ è trascorso,
tu vederai del bianco fatto bruno.
Veramente Iordan vòlto retrorso
95più fu, e ’l mar fuggir, quando Dio volse,
mirabile a veder che qui ’l soccorso».
73But to climb it now, no one lifts
his feet from earth, and my Rule
75remains only as a waste of paper.
The walls that used to be abbey
have become dens, and the cowls
are sacks filled with bad flour.
But heavy usury does not weigh
80against God's pleasure so much as that fruit
that makes the monks' hearts so mad;
for whatever the Church keeps, all of it
belongs to the people who ask for God's sake,
not to relatives nor to something uglier.
85The flesh of mortals is so yielding
that down there a good beginning does not suffice
from the oak's birth to the making of the acorn.
Peter began without gold and without silver,
and I with prayer and with fasting,
90and Francis began his fellowship humbly;
and if you look at each one's beginning,
then look again to where it has run off course,
you will see white made dark.
Truly Jordan turned backward
95and the sea fleeing, when God willed, were more
marvelous to see than help for this would be."
Commentary
The passage is reform invective: Benedict's Rule reduced to waste paper, abbey walls as dens, cowls as corrupt sacks, Church goods meant for God's poor, apostolic and order-founders' poverty, and the difficult hope of divine remedy.
XXII.73–75 Benedict's Rule is not softened into generic advice; the charge is that written discipline has ceased to govern life.
XXII.73–75 Benedict's Rule is not softened into generic advice; the charge is that written discipline has ceased to govern life. Line 75: Benedict's Rule is not softened into generic advice; the charge is that written discipline has ceased to govern life.
XXII.75 Benedict's Rule is not softened into generic advice; the charge is that written discipline has ceased to govern life. Benedict's Rule is not softened into generic advice; the charge is that written discipline has ceased to govern life.
XXII.76–78 The image keeps the grotesque materiality of corrupted monastic clothing and bodies.
XXII.76–78 The image keeps the grotesque materiality of corrupted monastic clothing and bodies. Line 78: The image keeps the grotesque materiality of corrupted monastic clothing and bodies.
XXII.78 The image keeps the grotesque materiality of corrupted monastic clothing and bodies. The image keeps the grotesque materiality of corrupted monastic clothing and bodies.
XXII.79–81 Fruit recurs from holy contemplative fruit to corrupt monastic revenue.
XXII.79–81 Fruit recurs from holy contemplative fruit to corrupt monastic revenue. Line 81: Fruit recurs from holy contemplative fruit to corrupt monastic revenue.
XXII.81 Fruit recurs from holy contemplative fruit to corrupt monastic revenue. Fruit recurs from holy contemplative fruit to corrupt monastic revenue.
XXII.82–84 The line preserves the open but morally sharp something uglier without over-specifying the abuse.
XXII.82–84 The line preserves the open but morally sharp something uglier without over-specifying the abuse. Line 84: The line preserves the open but morally sharp something uglier without over-specifying the abuse.
XXII.84 The line preserves the open but morally sharp something uglier without over-specifying the abuse. The line preserves the open but morally sharp something uglier without over-specifying the abuse.
XXII.88–90 Peter, Benedict, and Francis keep apostolic, monastic, and mendicant origins in one poverty sequence.
XXII.88–90 Peter, Benedict, and Francis keep apostolic, monastic, and mendicant origins in one poverty sequence. Line 90: Peter, Benedict, and Francis keep apostolic, monastic, and mendicant origins in one poverty sequence.
XXII.90 Peter, Benedict, and Francis keep apostolic, monastic, and mendicant origins in one poverty sequence. Peter, Benedict, and Francis keep apostolic, monastic, and mendicant origins in one poverty sequence.
XXII.91–93 bruno is kept as darkened moral color rather than normalized to a single institutional diagnosis.
XXII.91–93 bruno is kept as darkened moral color rather than normalized to a single institutional diagnosis. Line 93: bruno is kept as darkened moral color rather than normalized to a single institutional diagnosis.
XXII.93 bruno is kept as darkened moral color rather than normalized to a single institutional diagnosis. bruno is kept as darkened moral color rather than normalized to a single institutional diagnosis.
XXII.94–96 The biblical miracles set the scale for Benedict's hope of reform without turning the line into a prediction mechanism.
XXII.94–96 The biblical miracles set the scale for Benedict's hope of reform without turning the line into a prediction mechanism. Line 96: The biblical miracles set the scale for Benedict's hope of reform without turning the line into a prediction mechanism.
XXII.96 The biblical miracles set the scale for Benedict's hope of reform without turning the line into a prediction mechanism. The biblical miracles set the scale for Benedict's hope of reform without turning the line into a prediction mechanism.
Benedict's company gathers upward, Beatrice sends Dante swiftly up the ladder, and Dante enters Gemini while invoking his natal stars for the hard passage XXII.97–123
97Così mi disse, e indi si raccolse
al suo collegio, e ’l collegio si strinse;
poi, come turbo, in sù tutto s’avvolse.
100La dolce donna dietro a lor mi pinse
con un sol cenno su per quella scala,
sì sua virtù la mia natura vinse;
né mai qua giù dove si monta e cala
naturalmente, fu sì ratto moto
105ch’agguagliar si potesse a la mia ala.
S’io torni mai, lettore, a quel divoto
trïunfo per lo quale io piango spesso
le mie peccata e ’l petto mi percuoto,
tu non avresti in tanto tratto e messo
110nel foco il dito, in quant’ io vidi ’l segno
che segue il Tauro e fui dentro da esso.
O glorïose stelle, o lume pregno
di gran virtù, dal quale io riconosco
tutto, qual che si sia, il mio ingegno,
115con voi nasceva e s’ascondeva vosco
quelli ch’è padre d’ogne mortal vita,
quand’ io senti’ di prima l’aere tosco;
e poi, quando mi fu grazia largita
d’entrar ne l’alta rota che vi gira,
120la vostra regïon mi fu sortita.
A voi divotamente ora sospira
l’anima mia, per acquistar virtute
al passo forte che a sé la tira.
97Thus he said to me, and then gathered himself
to his college, and the college drew close;
then, like a whirlwind, all rolled upward.
100The sweet lady pushed me after them
with a single sign up that ladder,
so her power overcame my nature;
nor ever down here where one mounts and descends
naturally, was there motion so swift
105that it could be matched to my wing.
If ever I return, reader, to that devout
triumph for which I often weep
my sins and beat my breast,
you would not have drawn out and put back
110your finger in the fire in the time I saw the sign
that follows Taurus and was within it.
O glorious stars, O light pregnant
with great power, from which I acknowledge
all of my genius, whatever it may be,
115with you was rising, and with you was setting,
he who is father of every mortal life,
when I first felt the Tuscan air;
and then, when grace was granted me
to enter the high wheel that turns you,
120your region was allotted to me.
To you my soul now devoutly sighs,
to acquire power
for the hard passage that draws it to itself.
Commentary
The ascent through the ladder into Gemini keeps the whirlwind gathering, Beatrice's single sign, rapid motion, reader oath, natal-star invocation, genius, grace, and the hard passage as one transition into the fixed stars.
XXII.97–99 The contemplative company leaves Saturn in a compact upward motion rather than individual display.
XXII.97–99 The contemplative company leaves Saturn in a compact upward motion rather than individual display. Line 99: The contemplative company leaves Saturn in a compact upward motion rather than individual display.
XXII.99 The contemplative company leaves Saturn in a compact upward motion rather than individual display. The contemplative company leaves Saturn in a compact upward motion rather than individual display.
XXII.103–105 The wing image marks ascent by grace-aided power, not ordinary bodily locomotion.
XXII.103–105 The wing image marks ascent by grace-aided power, not ordinary bodily locomotion. Line 105: The wing image marks ascent by grace-aided power, not ordinary bodily locomotion.
XXII.105 The wing image marks ascent by grace-aided power, not ordinary bodily locomotion. The wing image marks ascent by grace-aided power, not ordinary bodily locomotion.
XXII.106–108 The reader oath briefly joins the narrator's penitential present to the heavenly triumph.
XXII.106–108 The reader oath briefly joins the narrator's penitential present to the heavenly triumph. Line 108: The reader oath briefly joins the narrator's penitential present to the heavenly triumph.
XXII.108 The reader oath briefly joins the narrator's penitential present to the heavenly triumph. The reader oath briefly joins the narrator's penitential present to the heavenly triumph.
XXII.109–111 The sign following Taurus is Gemini, the fixed-star region Dante enters almost instantaneously.
XXII.109–111 The sign following Taurus is Gemini, the fixed-star region Dante enters almost instantaneously. Line 111: The sign following Taurus is Gemini, the fixed-star region Dante enters almost instantaneously.
XXII.111 The sign following Taurus is Gemini, the fixed-star region Dante enters almost instantaneously. The sign following Taurus is Gemini, the fixed-star region Dante enters almost instantaneously.
XXII.112–114 Gemini keeps natal influence under providential grace rather than autonomous astrology.
XXII.112–114 Gemini keeps natal influence under providential grace rather than autonomous astrology. Line 114: Gemini keeps natal influence under providential grace rather than autonomous astrology.
XXII.114 Gemini keeps natal influence under providential grace rather than autonomous astrology. Gemini keeps natal influence under providential grace rather than autonomous astrology.
XXII.115–117 The father of mortal life is the Sun, described through its rising and setting with Gemini at Dante's birth.
XXII.115–117 The father of mortal life is the Sun, described through its rising and setting with Gemini at Dante's birth. Line 116: The father of mortal life is the Sun, described through its rising and setting with Gemini at Dante's birth.
XXII.116 The father of mortal life is the Sun, described through its rising and setting with Gemini at Dante's birth. The father of mortal life is the Sun, described through its rising and setting with Gemini at Dante's birth.
XXII.121–123 passo forte looks ahead to the final Paradiso examinations and the strain of approaching ultimate vision.
XXII.121–123 passo forte looks ahead to the final Paradiso examinations and the strain of approaching ultimate vision. Line 123: passo forte looks ahead to the final Paradiso examinations and the strain of approaching ultimate vision.
XXII.123 passo forte looks ahead to the final Paradiso examinations and the strain of approaching ultimate vision. passo forte looks ahead to the final Paradiso examinations and the strain of approaching ultimate vision.
Beatrice commands Dante's downward look, and Dante reviews the seven spheres and the little threshing floor of earth before returning to her eyes XXII.124–154
124«Tu se’ sì presso a l’ultima salute»,
125cominciò Bëatrice, «che tu dei
aver le luci tue chiare e acute;
e però, prima che tu più t’inlei,
rimira in giù, e vedi quanto mondo
sotto li piedi già esser ti fei;
130sì che ’l tuo cor, quantunque può, giocondo
s’appresenti a la turba trïunfante
che lieta vien per questo etera tondo».
Col viso ritornai per tutte quante
le sette spere, e vidi questo globo
135tal, ch’io sorrisi del suo vil sembiante;
e quel consiglio per migliore approbo
che l’ha per meno; e chi ad altro pensa
chiamar si puote veramente probo.
Vidi la figlia di Latona incensa
140sanza quell’ ombra che mi fu cagione
per che già la credetti rara e densa.
L’aspetto del tuo nato, Iperïone,
quivi sostenni, e vidi com’ si move
circa e vicino a lui Maia e Dïone.
145Quindi m’apparve il temperar di Giove
tra ’l padre e ’l figlio; e quindi mi fu chiaro
il varïar che fanno di lor dove;
e tutti e sette mi si dimostraro
quanto son grandi e quanto son veloci
150e come sono in distante riparo.
L’aiuola che ci fa tanto feroci,
volgendom’ io con li etterni Gemelli,
tutta m’apparve da’ colli a le foci;
poscia rivolsi li occhi a li occhi belli.
124"You are so near the last salvation,"
125Beatrice began, "that you must
have your lights clear and keen;
and therefore, before you enter further into it,
look down, and see how much world
I have already set beneath your feet;
130so that your heart, as joyful as it can be,
may present itself to the triumphant crowd
that comes glad through this round ether."
With my sight I returned through all
the seven spheres, and saw this globe
135such that I smiled at its lowly look;
and that counsel I approve as better
which holds it for least; and whoever thinks of something else
may truly be called upright.
I saw Latona's daughter kindled
140without that shadow that had been my cause
for once believing her rare and dense.
The aspect of your son, Hyperion,
there I sustained, and saw how they move
around and near him, Maia and Dione.
145From there appeared to me the tempering of Jove
between the father and the son; and from there was clear to me
the variation that they make in their where;
and all seven showed themselves to me,
how great they are and how swift,
150and how they are in distant stations.
The little threshing floor that makes us so fierce,
as I turned with the eternal Twins,
appeared to me entire, from hills to river mouths;
then I turned my eyes to the beautiful eyes.
Commentary
The downward view preserves Beatrice's command, the coined inward-motion pressure of t'inlei, the review of the seven spheres, the Moon crux from Paradiso II, the Sun and inner planets, Jupiter's tempering, and the earth as the little threshing floor.
XXII.124–126 luci keeps the eye/light overlap as Beatrice prepares Dante's strengthened sight.
XXII.124–126 luci keeps the eye/light overlap as Beatrice prepares Dante's strengthened sight. Line 126: luci keeps the eye/light overlap as Beatrice prepares Dante's strengthened sight.
XXII.126 luci keeps the eye/light overlap as Beatrice prepares Dante's strengthened sight. luci keeps the eye/light overlap as Beatrice prepares Dante's strengthened sight.
XXII.127–129 t'inlei is Dante's coined inward-motion verb; the translation gives the sense while marking the coinage.
XXII.127–129 t'inlei is Dante's coined inward-motion verb; the translation gives the sense while marking the coinage. Line 127: t'inlei is Dante's coined inward-motion verb; the translation gives the sense while marking the coinage.
XXII.127 t'inlei is Dante's coined inward-motion verb; the translation gives the sense while marking the coinage. t'inlei is Dante's coined inward-motion verb; the translation gives the sense while marking the coinage.
XXII.133–135 The earth's low appearance begins the humility-of-scale passage before the fixed stars.
XXII.133–135 The earth's low appearance begins the humility-of-scale passage before the fixed stars. Line 135: The earth's low appearance begins the humility-of-scale passage before the fixed stars.
XXII.135 The earth's low appearance begins the humility-of-scale passage before the fixed stars. The earth's low appearance begins the humility-of-scale passage before the fixed stars.
XXII.136–138 The line praises rightly ordered valuation, not contempt for creation itself.
XXII.136–138 The line praises rightly ordered valuation, not contempt for creation itself. Line 138: The line praises rightly ordered valuation, not contempt for creation itself.
XXII.138 The line praises rightly ordered valuation, not contempt for creation itself. The line praises rightly ordered valuation, not contempt for creation itself.
XXII.139–141 The Moon recalls Beatrice's correction of Dante's rare-and-dense error in Paradiso II.
XXII.139–141 The Moon recalls Beatrice's correction of Dante's rare-and-dense error in Paradiso II. Line 141: The Moon recalls Beatrice's correction of Dante's rare-and-dense error in Paradiso II.
XXII.141 The Moon recalls Beatrice's correction of Dante's rare-and-dense error in Paradiso II. The Moon recalls Beatrice's correction of Dante's rare-and-dense error in Paradiso II.
XXII.142–144 Maia and Dione stand for Mercury and Venus in the planetary review around the Sun.
XXII.142–144 Maia and Dione stand for Mercury and Venus in the planetary review around the Sun. Line 144: Maia and Dione stand for Mercury and Venus in the planetary review around the Sun.
XXII.144 Maia and Dione stand for Mercury and Venus in the planetary review around the Sun. Maia and Dione stand for Mercury and Venus in the planetary review around the Sun.
XXII.145–147 Jove's father and son are Saturn and Mars; the line recalls Jupiter's tempering role. The deliberately plain where preserves Dante's compact dove for planetary position.
XXII.145–147 Jove's father and son are Saturn and Mars; the line recalls Jupiter's tempering role. Line 146: Jove's father and son are Saturn and Mars; the line recalls Jupiter's tempering role. Line 147: The deliberately plain where preserves Dante's compact dove for planetary position.
XXII.146 Jove's father and son are Saturn and Mars; the line recalls Jupiter's tempering role. Jove's father and son are Saturn and Mars; the line recalls Jupiter's tempering role.
XXII.147 The deliberately plain where preserves Dante's compact dove for planetary position. The deliberately plain where preserves Dante's compact dove for planetary position.
XXII.151–153 aiuola is retained as little threshing floor for the earth, a scale image that also judges human ferocity.
XXII.151–153 aiuola is retained as little threshing floor for the earth, a scale image that also judges human ferocity. Line 151: aiuola is retained as little threshing floor for the earth, a scale image that also judges human ferocity.
XXII.151 aiuola is retained as little threshing floor for the earth, a scale image that also judges human ferocity. aiuola is retained as little threshing floor for the earth, a scale image that also judges human ferocity.
XXII.154 The canto closes by returning the cosmological view to Beatrice's guiding eyes. The canto closes by returning the cosmological view to Beatrice's guiding eyes.