Paradiso, Canto 26
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Paradiso XXVI completes the fixed-star examinations through love, or charity. Dante is still blinded after trying to inspect John's excessive brightness, but John tells him to make up for lost sight by reasoning and asks where his soul is aimed. Dante answers first that the Good satisfying Heaven's court is Alpha and O of all Love's writing. John narrows the sieve by asking who aimed Dante's bow there, and Dante answers from philosophical proof and authority descending from Heaven: understood good kindles love, and the supreme Good must move the mind most strongly; Aristotle, Moses, and John's own high proclamation set this truth before him. John then asks whether other cords draw him toward God, and Dante names creation, his own being, Christ's death, the faithful hope, and living knowledge as the forces that drew him from the sea of twisted love to the shore of right love. He extends his charity to the leaves of the eternal Gardener's garden according to the good they receive. Heaven answers with the Sanctus. Beatrice restores Dante's sight with her own rays, and Dante sees a fourth light: Adam, the first soul. Dante addresses him as the only mature fruit and ancient father of every wife, and Adam, seeing Dante's desire in the truthful mirror, answers four unspoken questions. The cause of exile was not tasting as such but crossing the sign; Adam spent 4,302 solar circuits in Limbo and lived 930 years on earth; his language was extinct before Nimrod and Babel because speech is natural but particular languages are mutable human usage; God was first called I and later El; and Adam's life in Eden lasted only from the first hour until just after the sixth.
Narrative arc
- John reassures the blinded Dante, invokes Beatrice's Ananias-like healing power, and asks where Dante's soul is aimed
- John narrows the sieve, and Dante argues that philosophical proof and heavenly authority aim his love at the supreme Good
- John asks what other cords draw Dante, and Dante names creation, redemption, hope, living knowledge, and charity toward all God's leaves
- The Sanctus confirms Dante's answer, Beatrice restores his sight, and Adam appears as the fourth light
- Dante recovers confidence, addresses Adam as mature fruit and ancient father, and sees Adam's gladness through its covering
- Adam reads Dante's unspoken desire in the truthful mirror and names the four questions he will answer
- Adam explains that exile came from going beyond the sign, then gives his years in Limbo and on earth
- Adam corrects the origin-of-language question: his tongue died before Babel, speech is natural, and names change from I to El
- Adam closes with the brief span of his pure and tainted life in Eden
Central themes
- hope
- love
John reassures the blinded Dante, invokes Beatrice's Ananias-like healing power, and asks where Dante's soul is aimed XXVI.1–18
1Mentr’ io dubbiava per lo viso spento,
de la fulgida fiamma che lo spense
uscì un spiro che mi fece attento,
dicendo: «Intanto che tu ti risense
5de la vista che haï in me consunta,
ben è che ragionando la compense.
Comincia dunque; e dì ove s’appunta
l’anima tua, e fa ragion che sia
la vista in te smarrita e non defunta:
10perché la donna che per questa dia
regïon ti conduce, ha ne lo sguardo
la virtù ch’ebbe la man d’Anania».
Io dissi: «Al suo piacere e tosto e tardo
vegna remedio a li occhi, che fuor porte
15quand’ ella entrò col foco ond’ io sempr’ ardo.
Lo ben che fa contenta questa corte,
Alfa e O è di quanta scrittura
mi legge Amore o lievemente o forte».
1While I was doubting over my extinguished sight,
from the blazing flame that had extinguished it
a breath came forth that made me attentive,
saying: "Until you regain the sense
5of the sight you have consumed in me,
it is well that, reasoning, you compensate for it.
Begin then, and say where your soul
is aimed, and count it certain
that sight in you is lost, not dead:
10because the lady who through this divine
region leads you has in her gaze
the power that Ananias' hand once had."
I said: "At her pleasure, soon or late,
let remedy come to the eyes that were gates
15when she entered with the fire by which I always burn.
The Good that makes this court content
is Alpha and O of every writing
that Love reads to me, whether softly or loudly."
Commentary
John's first question is the charity examination without a formal definition prompt: Dante's sight is extinguished but recoverable, Beatrice's gaze is linked to Ananias, and God is named Alpha and O of all Love's reading.
XXVI.1–3 Viso spento continues the blindness caused by John's excessive brightness at the end of Paradiso XXV. The blazing flame is John.
XXVI.1–3 Viso spento continues the blindness caused by John's excessive brightness at the end of Paradiso XXV. Line 1: Viso spento continues the blindness caused by John's excessive brightness at the end of Paradiso XXV. Line 2: The blazing flame is John.
XXVI.1 Viso spento continues the blindness caused by John's excessive brightness at the end of Paradiso XXV. Viso spento continues the blindness caused by John's excessive brightness at the end of Paradiso XXV.
XXVI.2 The blazing flame is John. The blazing flame is John.
XXVI.4–6 The loss of sight is temporarily answered by reasoned speech.
XXVI.4–6 The loss of sight is temporarily answered by reasoned speech. Line 6: The loss of sight is temporarily answered by reasoned speech.
XXVI.6 The loss of sight is temporarily answered by reasoned speech. The loss of sight is temporarily answered by reasoned speech.
XXVI.7–9 S'appunta carries aim, focus, and optical point. Smarrita recalls lost-way language without making the blindness final.
XXVI.7–9 S'appunta carries aim, focus, and optical point. Line 7: S'appunta carries aim, focus, and optical point. Line 9: Smarrita recalls lost-way language without making the blindness final.
XXVI.7 S'appunta carries aim, focus, and optical point. S'appunta carries aim, focus, and optical point.
XXVI.9 Smarrita recalls lost-way language without making the blindness final. Smarrita recalls lost-way language without making the blindness final.
XXVI.10–12 Ananias restored Saul's sight after the Damascus-road vision.
XXVI.10–12 Ananias restored Saul's sight after the Damascus-road vision. Line 12: Ananias restored Saul's sight after the Damascus-road vision.
XXVI.12 Ananias restored Saul's sight after the Damascus-road vision. Ananias restored Saul's sight after the Damascus-road vision.
XXVI.13–15 Dante's Beatrice-love remains ordered toward the charity examination rather than set against it.
XXVI.13–15 Dante's Beatrice-love remains ordered toward the charity examination rather than set against it. Line 15: Dante's Beatrice-love remains ordered toward the charity examination rather than set against it.
XXVI.15 Dante's Beatrice-love remains ordered toward the charity examination rather than set against it. Dante's Beatrice-love remains ordered toward the charity examination rather than set against it.
XXVI.16–18 The Good is God as the satisfying object of blessed love. The translation keeps O rather than expanding to Omega, following the Italian form. Love is personified as reader, continuing the canto's book, authority, and procla.
XXVI.16–18 The Good is God as the satisfying object of blessed love. Line 16: The Good is God as the satisfying object of blessed love. Line 17: The translation keeps O rather than expanding to Omega, following the Italian form. Line 18: Love is personified as reader, continuing the canto's book, authority, and proclamation field.
XXVI.16 The Good is God as the satisfying object of blessed love. The Good is God as the satisfying object of blessed love.
XXVI.17 The translation keeps O rather than expanding to Omega, following the Italian form. The translation keeps O rather than expanding to Omega, following the Italian form.
XXVI.18 Love is personified as reader, continuing the canto's book, authority, and proclamation field. Love is personified as reader, continuing the canto's book, authority, and proclamation field.
John narrows the sieve, and Dante argues that philosophical proof and heavenly authority aim his love at the supreme Good XXVI.19–45
19Quella medesma voce che paura
20tolta m’avea del sùbito abbarbaglio,
di ragionare ancor mi mise in cura;
e disse: «Certo a più angusto vaglio
ti conviene schiarar: dicer convienti
chi drizzò l’arco tuo a tal berzaglio».
25E io: «Per filosofici argomenti
e per autorità che quinci scende
cotale amor convien che in me si ’mprenti:
ché ’l bene, in quanto ben, come s’intende,
così accende amore, e tanto maggio
30quanto più di bontate in sé comprende.
Dunque a l’essenza ov’ è tanto avvantaggio,
che ciascun ben che fuor di lei si trova
altro non è ch’un lume di suo raggio,
più che in altra convien che si mova
35la mente, amando, di ciascun che cerne
il vero in che si fonda questa prova.
Tal vero a l’intelletto mïo sterne
colui che mi dimostra il primo amore
di tutte le sustanze sempiterne.
40Sternel la voce del verace autore,
che dice a Moïsè, di sé parlando:
‘Io ti farò vedere ogne valore’.
Sternilmi tu ancora, incominciando
l’alto preconio che grida l’arcano
45di qui là giù sovra ogne altro bando».
19That same voice which had taken fear
20from me at the sudden dazzling
set me again to the task of reasoning;
and said: "Surely through a narrower sieve
you must clarify; you must say
who aimed your bow at such a target."
25And I: "By philosophical arguments
and by authority that descends from here,
such love must be imprinted in me:
for good, insofar as it is good, when understood,
kindles love accordingly, and so much greater
30as it comprehends more goodness in itself.
Therefore toward the Essence, so surpassing
that every good found outside it
is nothing but a light from its ray,
the mind, in loving, must be moved more
35than toward any other, for everyone who discerns
the truth on which this proof is founded.
Such truth is set before my intellect
by the one who demonstrates to me the first love
of all the eternal substances.
40The voice of the truthful Author sets it forth,
who says to Moses, speaking of himself:
"I will make you see all worth."
You set it before me too, beginning
the high proclamation that cries the mystery
45about this place down there beyond every other heralding."
Commentary
The narrower sieve asks who aimed Dante's bow. The translation keeps the philosophical proof of the supreme Good, the authority descending from Heaven, Moses, and John's high proclamation in sequence, without making Scripture replace the prior rational argument.
XXVI.22–24 The sieve image marks John's demand for a more exact account. Bow and target continue the aim/focus field begun at line 7.
XXVI.22–24 The sieve image marks John's demand for a more exact account. Line 22: The sieve image marks John's demand for a more exact account. Line 24: Bow and target continue the aim/focus field begun at line 7.
XXVI.22 The sieve image marks John's demand for a more exact account. The sieve image marks John's demand for a more exact account.
XXVI.24 Bow and target continue the aim/focus field begun at line 7. Bow and target continue the aim/focus field begun at line 7.
XXVI.25–27 Dante joins rational demonstration with scriptural authority.
XXVI.25–27 Dante joins rational demonstration with scriptural authority. Line 26: Dante joins rational demonstration with scriptural authority.
XXVI.26 Dante joins rational demonstration with scriptural authority. Dante joins rational demonstration with scriptural authority.
XXVI.31–33 The Essence is God as supreme Good. Created goods are derivative lights, not competing goods.
XXVI.31–33 The Essence is God as supreme Good. Line 31: The Essence is God as supreme Good. Line 33: Created goods are derivative lights, not competing goods.
XXVI.31 The Essence is God as supreme Good. The Essence is God as supreme Good.
XXVI.33 Created goods are derivative lights, not competing goods. Created goods are derivative lights, not competing goods.
XXVI.37–39 Sterne recurs in lines 40 and 43 as authorities set the truth open before Dante. The likely philosophical authority is Aristotle, with medieval cause and unmoved-mover context.
XXVI.37–39 Sterne recurs in lines 40 and 43 as authorities set the truth open before Dante. Line 37: Sterne recurs in lines 40 and 43 as authorities set the truth open before Dante. Line 38: The likely philosophical authority is Aristotle, with medieval cause and unmoved-mover context.
XXVI.37 Sterne recurs in lines 40 and 43 as authorities set the truth open before Dante. Sterne recurs in lines 40 and 43 as authorities set the truth open before Dante.
XXVI.38 The likely philosophical authority is Aristotle, with medieval cause and unmoved-mover context. The likely philosophical authority is Aristotle, with medieval cause and unmoved-mover context.
XXVI.40–42 The truthful Author is God speaking in Scripture. The line echoes Exodus 33:19 while preserving Dante's valore.
XXVI.40–42 The truthful Author is God speaking in Scripture. Line 40: The truthful Author is God speaking in Scripture. Line 42: The line echoes Exodus 33:19 while preserving Dante's valore.
XXVI.40 The truthful Author is God speaking in Scripture. The truthful Author is God speaking in Scripture.
XXVI.42 The line echoes Exodus 33:19 while preserving Dante's valore. The line echoes Exodus 33:19 while preserving Dante's valore.
XXVI.43–45 John's witness may include the Gospel especially, with the Johannine corpus in the background.
XXVI.43–45 John's witness may include the Gospel especially, with the Johannine corpus in the background. Line 43: John's witness may include the Gospel especially, with the Johannine corpus in the background.
XXVI.43 John's witness may include the Gospel especially, with the Johannine corpus in the background. John's witness may include the Gospel especially, with the Johannine corpus in the background.
John asks what other cords draw Dante, and Dante names creation, redemption, hope, living knowledge, and charity toward all God's leaves XXVI.46–66
46E io udi’: «Per intelletto umano
e per autoritadi a lui concorde
d’i tuoi amori a Dio guarda il sovrano.
Ma dì ancor se tu senti altre corde
50tirarti verso lui, sì che tu suone
con quanti denti questo amor ti morde».
Non fu latente la santa intenzione
de l’aguglia di Cristo, anzi m’accorsi
dove volea menar mia professione.
55Però ricominciai: «Tutti quei morsi
che posson far lo cor volgere a Dio,
a la mia caritate son concorsi:
ché l’essere del mondo e l’esser mio,
la morte ch’el sostenne perch’ io viva,
60e quel che spera ogne fedel com’ io,
con la predetta conoscenza viva,
tratto m’hanno del mar de l’amor torto,
e del diritto m’han posto a la riva.
Le fronde onde s’infronda tutto l’orto
65de l’ortolano etterno, am’ io cotanto
quanto da lui a lor di bene è porto».
46And I heard: "Through human intellect
and through authorities agreeing with it,
the sovereign of your loves is turned to God.
But say further whether you feel other cords
50draw you toward him, so that you sound out
with how many teeth this love bites you."
The holy intention was not hidden
from Christ's eagle; rather, I perceived
where he wished to lead my profession.
55Therefore I began again: "All those bites
that can make the heart turn toward God
have converged upon my charity:
for the being of the world and my own being,
the death that he endured so that I may live,
60and what every faithful soul hopes, as I do,
with the living knowledge already spoken of,
have drawn me from the sea of twisted love,
and set me on the shore of right love.
The leaves by which the whole garden
65of the eternal Gardener puts on leaf, I love
as much as good is brought from him to them."
Commentary
John's second prompt concerns cords, teeth, bites, charity, creation, personal being, Redemption, hope, living knowledge, the sea of twisted love, and the garden of the eternal Gardener, retained as one ordered-love answer.
XXVI.46–48 John confirms that Dante's highest love has God as its object.
XXVI.46–48 John confirms that Dante's highest love has God as its object. Line 48: John confirms that Dante's highest love has God as its object.
XXVI.48 John confirms that Dante's highest love has God as its object. John confirms that Dante's highest love has God as its object.
XXVI.49–51 Cords, teeth, and bites make the pressure of love active rather than abstract.
XXVI.49–51 Cords, teeth, and bites make the pressure of love active rather than abstract. Line 51: Cords, teeth, and bites make the pressure of love active rather than abstract.
XXVI.51 Cords, teeth, and bites make the pressure of love active rather than abstract. Cords, teeth, and bites make the pressure of love active rather than abstract.
XXVI.52–54 Christ's eagle is John, traditional eagle-symbol of the Evangelist.
XXVI.52–54 Christ's eagle is John, traditional eagle-symbol of the Evangelist. Line 53: Christ's eagle is John, traditional eagle-symbol of the Evangelist.
XXVI.53 Christ's eagle is John, traditional eagle-symbol of the Evangelist. Christ's eagle is John, traditional eagle-symbol of the Evangelist.
XXVI.55–57 Caritate is kept as charity, the theological virtue under examination.
XXVI.55–57 Caritate is kept as charity, the theological virtue under examination. Line 57: Caritate is kept as charity, the theological virtue under examination.
XXVI.57 Caritate is kept as charity, the theological virtue under examination. Caritate is kept as charity, the theological virtue under examination.
XXVI.58–60 Christ's death is named as a cause of Dante's love. The answer gathers in the hope examined in Paradiso XXV.
XXVI.58–60 Christ's death is named as a cause of Dante's love. Line 59: Christ's death is named as a cause of Dante's love. Line 60: The answer gathers in the hope examined in Paradiso XXV.
XXVI.59 Christ's death is named as a cause of Dante's love. Christ's death is named as a cause of Dante's love.
XXVI.60 The answer gathers in the hope examined in Paradiso XXV. The answer gathers in the hope examined in Paradiso XXV.
XXVI.61–63 Amor torto is rendered as twisted love, coordinating with Purgatorio's love doctrine.
XXVI.61–63 Amor torto is rendered as twisted love, coordinating with Purgatorio's love doctrine. Line 62: Amor torto is rendered as twisted love, coordinating with Purgatorio's love doctrine.
XXVI.62 Amor torto is rendered as twisted love, coordinating with Purgatorio's love doctrine. Amor torto is rendered as twisted love, coordinating with Purgatorio's love doctrine.
XXVI.64–66 Leaves and garden anticipate Adam and the later leaf-language of mutable usage. Charity toward creatures is proportioned to their received participation in the Good.
XXVI.64–66 Leaves and garden anticipate Adam and the later leaf-language of mutable usage. Line 64: Leaves and garden anticipate Adam and the later leaf-language of mutable usage. Line 66: Charity toward creatures is proportioned to their received participation in the Good.
XXVI.64 Leaves and garden anticipate Adam and the later leaf-language of mutable usage. Leaves and garden anticipate Adam and the later leaf-language of mutable usage.
XXVI.66 Charity toward creatures is proportioned to their received participation in the Good. Charity toward creatures is proportioned to their received participation in the Good.
The Sanctus confirms Dante's answer, Beatrice restores his sight, and Adam appears as the fourth light XXVI.67–84
67Sì com’ io tacqui, un dolcissimo canto
risonò per lo cielo, e la mia donna
dicea con li altri: «Santo, santo, santo!».
70E come a lume acuto si disonna
per lo spirto visivo che ricorre
a lo splendor che va di gonna in gonna,
e lo svegliato ciò che vede aborre,
sì nescïa è la sùbita vigilia
75fin che la stimativa non soccorre;
così de li occhi miei ogne quisquilia
fugò Beatrice col raggio d’i suoi,
che rifulgea da più di mille milia:
onde mei che dinanzi vidi poi;
80e quasi stupefatto domandai
d’un quarto lume ch’io vidi tra noi.
E la mia donna: «Dentro da quei rai
vagheggia il suo fattor l’anima prima
che la prima virtù creasse mai».
67As soon as I fell silent, a most sweet song
resounded through heaven, and my lady
said with the others: "Holy, holy, holy!"
70And as by a sharp light one is awakened
because the visual spirit runs back
to the splendor that goes from tunic to tunic,
and the awakened one recoils from what he sees,
so unknowing is the sudden waking
75until the estimative power comes to help;
so from my eyes every speck
Beatrice drove away with the ray of her own,
which shone from more than a thousand miles:
wherefore afterward I saw better than before;
80and, almost stunned, I asked
about a fourth light that I saw among us.
And my lady: "Within those rays
the first soul gazes with love on its Maker,
that the First Power ever created."
Commentary
The Sanctus marks the completed examination and leads to Beatrice's restorative ray. The eye-physiology simile, Ananias/Paul pressure, cleared sight, and Adam as the first soul made by the First Power follow in the same passage.
XXVI.67–69 The Sanctus confirms the charity examination.
XXVI.67–69 The Sanctus confirms the charity examination. Line 69: The Sanctus confirms the charity examination.
XXVI.69 The Sanctus confirms the charity examination. The Sanctus confirms the charity examination.
XXVI.70–72 The simile uses medieval eye physiology to figure restored sight. Gonna is rendered as tunic for the eye's membranes.
XXVI.70–72 The simile uses medieval eye physiology to figure restored sight. Line 71: The simile uses medieval eye physiology to figure restored sight. Line 72: Gonna is rendered as tunic for the eye's membranes.
XXVI.71 The simile uses medieval eye physiology to figure restored sight. The simile uses medieval eye physiology to figure restored sight.
XXVI.72 Gonna is rendered as tunic for the eye's membranes. Gonna is rendered as tunic for the eye's membranes.
XXVI.73–75 The estimative power is the faculty that recognizes and judges the confused image.
XXVI.73–75 The estimative power is the faculty that recognizes and judges the confused image. Line 75: The estimative power is the faculty that recognizes and judges the confused image.
XXVI.75 The estimative power is the faculty that recognizes and judges the confused image. The estimative power is the faculty that recognizes and judges the confused image.
XXVI.76–78 Quisquilia suggests chaff, specks, or refuse cleared from sight.
XXVI.76–78 Quisquilia suggests chaff, specks, or refuse cleared from sight. Line 76: Quisquilia suggests chaff, specks, or refuse cleared from sight.
XXVI.76 Quisquilia suggests chaff, specks, or refuse cleared from sight. Quisquilia suggests chaff, specks, or refuse cleared from sight.
XXVI.79–81 The fourth light is Adam, beside Peter, James, and John.
XXVI.79–81 The fourth light is Adam, beside Peter, James, and John. Line 81: The fourth light is Adam, beside Peter, James, and John.
XXVI.81 The fourth light is Adam, beside Peter, James, and John. The fourth light is Adam, beside Peter, James, and John.
XXVI.82–84 Vagheggia gives Adam's vision the quality of loving contemplation.
XXVI.82–84 Vagheggia gives Adam's vision the quality of loving contemplation. Line 83: Vagheggia gives Adam's vision the quality of loving contemplation.
XXVI.83 Vagheggia gives Adam's vision the quality of loving contemplation. Vagheggia gives Adam's vision the quality of loving contemplation.
Dante recovers confidence, addresses Adam as mature fruit and ancient father, and sees Adam's gladness through its covering XXVI.85–102
85Come la fronda che flette la cima
nel transito del vento, e poi si leva
per la propria virtù che la soblima,
fec’ io in tanto in quant’ ella diceva,
stupendo, e poi mi rifece sicuro
90un disio di parlare ond’ ïo ardeva.
E cominciai: «O pomo che maturo
solo prodotto fosti, o padre antico
a cui ciascuna sposa è figlia e nuro,
divoto quanto posso a te supplìco
95perché mi parli: tu vedi mia voglia,
e per udirti tosto non la dico».
Talvolta un animal coverto broglia,
sì che l’affetto convien che si paia
per lo seguir che face a lui la ’nvoglia;
100e similmente l’anima primaia
mi facea trasparer per la coverta
quant’ ella a compiacermi venìa gaia.
85Like the branch that bends its crown
in the passage of the wind, and then rises
by its own power that lifts it upward,
so did I while she was speaking,
marveling; then a desire to speak
90with which I burned made me secure again.
And I began: "O fruit who, already mature,
alone were brought forth, O ancient father
to whom every wife is daughter and daughter-in-law,
as devoutly as I can I supplicate you
95that you speak to me: you see my wish,
and to hear you quickly I do not say it."
Sometimes a covered animal stirs,
so that its feeling must appear
through the motion its wrapping makes after it;
100and similarly the primal soul
made me see through its covering
how gladly it came to please me.
Commentary
Dante's approach to Adam keeps natural desire and reverence together: branch/wind, burning desire to speak, mature fruit, every wife as daughter and daughter-in-law, and the covered animal simile for joy visible through light.
XXVI.85–87 The branch image makes Dante's renewed confidence a natural upward motion.
XXVI.85–87 The branch image makes Dante's renewed confidence a natural upward motion. Line 87: The branch image makes Dante's renewed confidence a natural upward motion.
XXVI.87 The branch image makes Dante's renewed confidence a natural upward motion. The branch image makes Dante's renewed confidence a natural upward motion.
XXVI.91–93 Adam is addressed as the uniquely mature fruit, directly created rather than born. Every wife descends from Adam and marries a descendant of Adam.
XXVI.91–93 Adam is addressed as the uniquely mature fruit, directly created rather than born. Line 91: Adam is addressed as the uniquely mature fruit, directly created rather than born. Line 93: Every wife descends from Adam and marries a descendant of Adam.
XXVI.91 Adam is addressed as the uniquely mature fruit, directly created rather than born. Adam is addressed as the uniquely mature fruit, directly created rather than born.
XXVI.93 Every wife descends from Adam and marries a descendant of Adam. Every wife descends from Adam and marries a descendant of Adam.
XXVI.97–99 The image is kept generic rather than specifying a hooded hawk or horse.
XXVI.97–99 The image is kept generic rather than specifying a hooded hawk or horse. Line 97: The image is kept generic rather than specifying a hooded hawk or horse.
XXVI.97 The image is kept generic rather than specifying a hooded hawk or horse. The image is kept generic rather than specifying a hooded hawk or horse.
XXVI.100–102 Adam's joy is visible through the covering of light.
XXVI.100–102 Adam's joy is visible through the covering of light. Line 102: Adam's joy is visible through the covering of light.
XXVI.102 Adam's joy is visible through the covering of light. Adam's joy is visible through the covering of light.
Adam reads Dante's unspoken desire in the truthful mirror and names the four questions he will answer XXVI.103–114
103Indi spirò: «Sanz’ essermi proferta
da te, la voglia tua discerno meglio
105che tu qualunque cosa t’è più certa;
perch’ io la veggio nel verace speglio
che fa di sé pareglio a l’altre cose,
e nulla face lui di sé pareglio.
Tu vuogli udir quant’ è che Dio mi puose
110ne l’eccelso giardino, ove costei
a così lunga scala ti dispuose,
e quanto fu diletto a li occhi miei,
e la propria cagion del gran disdegno,
e l’idïoma ch’usai e che fei.
103Then it breathed: "Without being put forth
by you, your wish I discern better
105than you discern whatever thing is most certain to you;
because I see it in the truthful mirror
that makes itself a likeness to other things,
and nothing makes him a likeness of itself.
You want to hear how long it is since God placed me
110in the exalted garden, where this lady
disposed you for so long a stairway,
and how long it delighted my eyes,
and the proper cause of the great disdain,
and the idiom that I used and made.
Commentary
Adam's knowledge of Dante's unspoken questions is grounded in the truthful mirror. The translation preserves the four questions: age in Eden, duration of delight, cause of divine disdain, and the language Adam used and made.
XXVI.106–108 The truthful mirror is the divine mind in which blessed souls read Dante's desire. Pareglio is kept as counterpart/likeness language rather than flattened into mere reflection. Created things can be known in God, but.
XXVI.106–108 The truthful mirror is the divine mind in which blessed souls read Dante's desire. Line 106: The truthful mirror is the divine mind in which blessed souls read Dante's desire. Line 107: Pareglio is kept as counterpart/likeness language rather than flattened into mere reflection. Line 108: Created things can be known in God, but cannot fully mirror God.
XXVI.106 The truthful mirror is the divine mind in which blessed souls read Dante's desire. The truthful mirror is the divine mind in which blessed souls read Dante's desire.
XXVI.107 Pareglio is kept as counterpart/likeness language rather than flattened into mere reflection. Pareglio is kept as counterpart/likeness language rather than flattened into mere reflection.
XXVI.108 Created things can be known in God, but cannot fully mirror God. Created things can be known in God, but cannot fully mirror God.
XXVI.109–111 The exalted garden is Eden on the summit of the mountain of Purgatory.
XXVI.109–111 The exalted garden is Eden on the summit of the mountain of Purgatory. Line 110: The exalted garden is Eden on the summit of the mountain of Purgatory.
XXVI.110 The exalted garden is Eden on the summit of the mountain of Purgatory. The exalted garden is Eden on the summit of the mountain of Purgatory.
XXVI.112–114 Gran disdegno is preserved as great disdain while noting the context is divine anger and exile. Adam names both using and making language.
XXVI.112–114 Gran disdegno is preserved as great disdain while noting the context is divine anger and exile. Line 113: Gran disdegno is preserved as great disdain while noting the context is divine anger and exile. Line 114: Adam names both using and making language.
XXVI.113 Gran disdegno is preserved as great disdain while noting the context is divine anger and exile. Gran disdegno is preserved as great disdain while noting the context is divine anger and exile.
XXVI.114 Adam names both using and making language. Adam names both using and making language.
Adam explains that exile came from going beyond the sign, then gives his years in Limbo and on earth XXVI.115–123
115Or, figluol mio, non il gustar del legno
fu per sé la cagion di tanto essilio,
ma solamente il trapassar del segno.
Quindi onde mosse tua donna Virgilio,
quattromilia trecento e due volumi
120di sol desiderai questo concilio;
e vidi lui tornare a tutt’ i lumi
de la sua strada novecento trenta
fïate, mentre ch’ïo in terra fu’mi.
115Now, my son, not the tasting of the tree
was by itself the cause of such exile,
but only the going beyond the sign.
From where your lady moved Virgil,
for four thousand three hundred and two rounds
120of the sun I longed for this assembly;
and I saw him return to all the lights
of his road nine hundred thirty
times, while I was on earth.
Commentary
In the exile answer, Adam's fault is not tasting as such but going beyond the sign; the 4,302 solar circuits in Limbo and 930 earthly years are left in Dante's chronology.
XXVI.115–117 Adam defines the sin as transgression of the God-given boundary, not eating as such.
XXVI.115–117 Adam defines the sin as transgression of the God-given boundary, not eating as such. Line 117: Adam defines the sin as transgression of the God-given boundary, not eating as such.
XXVI.117 Adam defines the sin as transgression of the God-given boundary, not eating as such. Adam defines the sin as transgression of the God-given boundary, not eating as such.
XXVI.118–120 Virgil is named for the last time through Beatrice's descent to Limbo. The number gives Adam's time in Limbo before the Harrowing.
XXVI.118–120 Virgil is named for the last time through Beatrice's descent to Limbo. Line 118: Virgil is named for the last time through Beatrice's descent to Limbo. Line 120: The number gives Adam's time in Limbo before the Harrowing.
XXVI.118 Virgil is named for the last time through Beatrice's descent to Limbo. Virgil is named for the last time through Beatrice's descent to Limbo.
XXVI.120 The number gives Adam's time in Limbo before the Harrowing. The number gives Adam's time in Limbo before the Harrowing.
XXVI.121–123 Him is the sun. The line follows Genesis 5:5's 930 years for Adam's earthly life.
XXVI.121–123 Him is the sun. Line 121: Him is the sun. Line 123: The line follows Genesis 5:5's 930 years for Adam's earthly life.
XXVI.121 Him is the sun. Him is the sun.
XXVI.123 The line follows Genesis 5:5's 930 years for Adam's earthly life. The line follows Genesis 5:5's 930 years for Adam's earthly life.
Adam corrects the origin-of-language question: his tongue died before Babel, speech is natural, and names change from I to El XXVI.124–138
124La lingua ch’io parlai fu tutta spenta
125innanzi che a l’ovra inconsummabile
fosse la gente di Nembròt attenta:
ché nullo effetto mai razïonabile,
per lo piacere uman che rinovella
seguendo il cielo, sempre fu durabile.
130Opera naturale è ch’uom favella;
ma così o così, natura lascia
poi fare a voi secondo che v’abbella.
Pria ch’i’ scendessi a l’infernale ambascia,
I s’appellava in terra il sommo bene
135onde vien la letizia che mi fascia;
e El si chiamò poi: e ciò convene,
ché l’uso d’i mortali è come fronda
in ramo, che sen va e altra vene.
124The tongue I spoke was wholly extinct
125before the unfinishable work
held the people of Nimrod intent:
for no rational effect has ever,
because of human pleasure, which renews itself
following heaven, been lasting forever.
130That man speaks is a natural work;
but this way or that, nature leaves
for you to do according to what pleases you.
Before I descended to the infernal anguish,
the Supreme Good on earth was called `I`,
135from whom comes the gladness that wraps me;
and later it was called `El`; and this is fitting,
for mortal usage is like a leaf
on a branch, which goes away and another comes.
Commentary
Adam's language correction keeps the distinction between speech as natural and particular language as human usage; Nimrod, the unfinishable work, mutable mortal usage, and the names I and El are retained.
XXVI.124–126 Adam corrects the idea that his original language survived until Babel. The unfinishable work is Babel.
XXVI.124–126 Adam corrects the idea that his original language survived until Babel. Line 124: Adam corrects the idea that his original language survived until Babel. Line 126: The unfinishable work is Babel.
XXVI.124 Adam corrects the idea that his original language survived until Babel. Adam corrects the idea that his original language survived until Babel.
XXVI.126 The unfinishable work is Babel. The unfinishable work is Babel.
XXVI.127–129 The sentence names human linguistic products as mutable under changing usage.
XXVI.127–129 The sentence names human linguistic products as mutable under changing usage. Line 129: The sentence names human linguistic products as mutable under changing usage.
XXVI.129 The sentence names human linguistic products as mutable under changing usage. The sentence names human linguistic products as mutable under changing usage.
XXVI.130–132 The natural faculty of speech is distinguished from particular languages.
XXVI.130–132 The natural faculty of speech is distinguished from particular languages. Line 130: The natural faculty of speech is distinguished from particular languages.
XXVI.130 The natural faculty of speech is distinguished from particular languages. The natural faculty of speech is distinguished from particular languages.
XXVI.133–135 Adam refers to his descent to Limbo before Christ's Harrowing. The single-letter divine name is kept as I.
XXVI.133–135 Adam refers to his descent to Limbo before Christ's Harrowing. Line 133: Adam refers to his descent to Limbo before Christ's Harrowing. Line 134: The single-letter divine name is kept as I.
XXVI.133 Adam refers to his descent to Limbo before Christ's Harrowing. Adam refers to his descent to Limbo before Christ's Harrowing.
XXVI.134 The single-letter divine name is kept as I. The single-letter divine name is kept as I.
XXVI.136–138 The leaf image joins the garden/leaves imagery earlier in the canto.
XXVI.136–138 The leaf image joins the garden/leaves imagery earlier in the canto. Line 137: The leaf image joins the garden/leaves imagery earlier in the canto.
XXVI.137 The leaf image joins the garden/leaves imagery earlier in the canto. The leaf image joins the garden/leaves imagery earlier in the canto.
Adam closes with the brief span of his pure and tainted life in Eden XXVI.139–142
139Nel monte che si leva più da l’onda,
140fu’ io, con vita pura e disonesta,
da la prim’ ora a quella che seconda,
come ’l sol muta quadra, l’ora sesta».
139On the mountain that rises highest from the wave,
140I was, with life pure and then tainted,
from the first hour to the one that follows
the sixth, as the sun changes quadrant."
Commentary
The Eden duration is kept brief and concrete: on the mountain above the wave, Adam's pure and tainted life runs from the first hour until the hour following the sixth as the sun changes quadrant.
XXVI.139–141 The mountain is Purgatory's mountain, with Eden at its summit.
XXVI.139–141 The mountain is Purgatory's mountain, with Eden at its summit. Line 139: The mountain is Purgatory's mountain, with Eden at its summit.
XXVI.139 The mountain is Purgatory's mountain, with Eden at its summit. The mountain is Purgatory's mountain, with Eden at its summit.
XXVI.142 Adam's stay in Eden lasts only until the hour after the sixth. Adam's stay in Eden lasts only until the hour after the sixth.