Paradiso

Canto XXV

The Laurel Crown. St. James examines Dante on Hope. Dante's Blindness.

If it should ever happen that this Sacred Poem,

to which both heaven and earth have lent their hand,

this work that has made me lean through many years,

should overcome the cruelty that bars me

from the beautiful sheepfold where I slept as a lamb,

enemy to the wolves that wage war upon it—

then with a different voice, with different fleece,

I will return as poet, and at the font

where I was baptized I will take the laurel crown.

For there I entered into the Faith

that makes all souls known to God,

and for this Faith Peter crowned my brow.

Then toward us moved a light

from that company which gave forth the first fruits

of those Christ left behind as his vicars.

And my Lady, full of ecstasy,

said to me: "Look, look! See the Baron

for whom people make pilgrimage to Galicia below."

Just as when a dove settles

near its companion, and both pour forth

their affection, circling and cooing together,

so I saw one great Prince welcomed

by the other with glory,

praising the food that is eaten up there.

But when their greetings were complete,

each stood silent before me,

so blazing bright they overwhelmed my sight.

Then Beatrice smiled and said:

"Illustrious soul, who wrote of the benefactions

of our heavenly court,

make Hope resound at this height.

You know how to embody it,

as Jesus gave the three apostles greater clarity."

"Lift up your head and be confident,

for whatever comes here from the mortal world

must ripen in our radiance."

This comfort came to me from the second flame,

and so I raised my eyes to the heights

that had bent them down with too great weight.

"Since through his grace our Emperor wills

that you should meet face to face, before your death,

with his nobles in the most secret chamber,

so that having seen the truth of this court,

you may strengthen in yourself and others

the Hope that rightfully inspires love below—

tell us what Hope is, how your mind

flowers with it, and where it came to you."

So the second light continued.

And she who guided the feathers of my wings

in such high flight, the Compassionate One,

anticipated my reply:

"The Church Militant has no child

with greater hope, as is written

in that Sun who illuminates all our company.

Therefore he is granted to come from Egypt

to see Jerusalem

before his warfare on earth is complete.

The other two questions you asked—

not for knowledge but so he may report

how much this virtue pleases you—

I leave to him. He will not find them difficult,

nor cause for boasting. Let him answer,

and may God's grace assist him."

Like a student following his teacher,

ready and eager in his area of expertise

to display his skill,

I said: "Hope is the assured expectation

of future glory, produced by

divine grace and preceding merit.

This light comes to me from many stars,

but he first poured it into my heart

who was the chief singer to the chief captain.

'Let them hope in you,' he says in his high song,

'those who know your name'—and who

with my faith does not know it?

You then instilled me, along with his instilling,

in the Epistle, so that I am full

and rain your rain upon others."

While I spoke, within the living heart

of that fire trembled a radiance,

sudden and frequent, like lightning.

Then it breathed: "The love with which I burn

toward the virtue that followed me

to the palm and leaving of the field

moves me to speak to you, that you delight

in her. Tell me what Hope promises you."

And I: "The old and new Scriptures

set the target, and this reveals to me

all the souls God has made his friends.

Isaiah says each will be clothed

with double garments in his own land—

and his own land is this delightful life.

Your brother too, far more explicitly,

where he writes of the white robes,

reveals this truth to us."

First, near the end of these words,

"Let them hope in you" was heard above us,

and all the choirs responded.

Then a light among them brightened

so that if Cancer held such a crystal,

winter would have a month of one long day.

As a graceful girl rises, moves, and joins the dance

only to honor the new bride,

not from any fault,

so I saw that brightened splendor

approach the two who revolved in a wheel

befitting their ardent love.

It entered into the song and music there,

and my Lady kept her gaze fixed on them

like a bride, silent and motionless.

"This is he who lay upon the breast

of our Pelican, and this is he

chosen from the cross for the great office."

So spoke my Lady, but her sight

did not move from attentive watching

before or after these words.

Like someone who strains to glimpse

the sun's eclipse a little,

and by looking becomes blind,

so I became before that final fire

until it spoke: "Why do you daze yourself

trying to see what does not exist here?

My body is earth in the earth, and will remain

with all the others there until our number

matches the eternal plan.

Only two lights have ascended

to the blessed cloister with both garments—

and this you shall carry back to your world."

At these words the flaming circle

fell quiet, along with the sweet mingling

of sounds made by the threefold breath,

just as oars beating in the water

all stop at a whistle's sound

to escape danger or fatigue.

How disturbed I was in my mind

when I turned to look at Beatrice

and could not see her, though I stood

close beside her in the World of Joy!