Beautiful Clemence, after your Charles
had enlightened me, he told me
of the betrayals his descendants would suffer.
3
But he said, "Stay silent and let the years pass"—
so I can only say that righteous grief
will follow the wrongs done to you.
6
And the life of that holy light
had already turned back to the Sun
that fills it with radiance,
9
That ultimate good which satisfies all things—
ah, deceived souls, impious creatures
who turn your hearts away from such goodness,
directing your minds toward empty vanities!
13
And now, behold, another of those radiances
approached me, and its desire to please me
showed itself by brightening outwardly.
Beatrice's eyes, which remained fixed
upon me as before, gave me sweet assurance
that my longing had her dear consent.
19
"Ah, bring swift fulfillment to my wish,
blessed spirit," I said, "and prove to me
that what I think can be reflected in you!"
22
At this, the light that was still new to me
continued from its depths, where it had been singing
like one who delights in doing good:
25
"In that corrupted region of Italy
that lies between the Rialto
and the sources of the Brenta and Piave rivers,
rises a hill of no great height
from which once descended a firebrand
that brought terrible assault upon that land.
31
From one root sprang both that torch and I—
I was called Cunizza, and here I shine
because this star's splendor overcame me.
But gladly I forgive myself the cause
of my destiny, and it brings me no grief,
though this might seem strange to your common folk.
37
Of this brilliant and precious jewel
that shines nearest to me in our heaven,
great fame remains, and before it dies away
this hundredth year shall see it multiplied fivefold.
See then if mortals should strive for excellence
so that a second life might follow the first!
43
Yet this is not how the present multitude thinks,
those enclosed by the Adige and Tagliamento,
nor do they repent despite their punishment.
But soon Padua in the marshland
will stain red the waters that bathe Vicenza
because its people are stubborn against duty.
49
And where the Sile and Cagnano meet,
one rules with head held high who lords over all—
even now the net is being woven to catch him.
Feltro will weep for the crime
of its godless bishop, so monstrous
that none like it ever entered Malta's prison.
55
Vast beyond measure would be the vat
needed to hold all the Ferrarese blood,
weary the one who weighed it ounce by ounce,
that this courteous priest will spill as gift
to show himself a loyal partisan—
such gifts conform to that country's customs.
61
Above us shine mirrors you call Thrones
from which God's judgment radiates down to us,
and so these words of mine seem good to us."
64
Here the spirit fell silent and seemed
to turn elsewhere, rejoining the wheel
on which it had entered as before.
67
The other joy, already known to me,
became a thing transparent in my sight
like a fine ruby struck by sunlight.
Through joy, radiance is gained above
as here below through smiling, while in the depths
shadows darken outwardly when the mind grows sad.
73
"God sees all things, and your sight exists in Him,
blessed spirit," I said, "so that no wish
of His can possibly be hidden from you.
Your voice that makes the heavens glad forever
with the singing of those holy fires
who make themselves a cowl of six wings—
why does it not satisfy my longings?
80
Indeed, I would not wait for your questions
if I dwelt in you as you dwell in me."
82
"The greatest valley where waters spread themselves,"
its words began at once, "except for the sea
that garlands all the earth, extends so far
between discordant shores against the sun
that it makes meridian where once
it used to make horizon.
88
I lived upon the shore of that valley
between the Ebro and the Magra, which
with its short course divides Tuscans from Genoese.
Nearly the same sunset and sunrise
shine on Bougie and the city I came from,
which once made the harbor hot with blood.
94
Folco that people called me, those to whom
my name was known, and now this heaven
bears my imprint as I once bore its,
for not more did Belus's daughter burn—
wronging both Sichaeus and Creusa—
than I, while it suited my years,
nor that Rhodopean woman deceived
by Demophoon, nor Hercules himself
when he had locked Iole in his heart.
103
Yet here we do not repent, but smile—
not at the sin, which never comes to mind,
but at the Power that ordered and foresaw.
Here we contemplate the art that adorns
with such love, and discern the good
by which the world above turns the world below.
109
But so that you may carry hence
your wishes wholly satisfied—wishes born
in this sphere—I must proceed still farther.
You long to know who dwells within this light
that scintillates here beside me
like a sunbeam in clear water.
115
Know then that Rahab rests within,
and being joined to our order,
she seals it at its highest rank.
To this heaven where the shadowy cone
cast by your world comes to an end,
she was lifted before any other soul
as the first palm of Christ's triumph.
122
It was fitting to leave her in some heaven
as trophy of the high victory
He won with both His palms,
because she favored Joshua's first
glorious deed in the Holy Land—
which little stirs the Pope's memory.
128
Your city, which is offspring of him
who first turned his back on his Maker,
whose envy is so bitterly mourned,
produces and scatters that accursed flower
which has led both sheep and lambs astray,
turning the shepherd into a wolf.
134
For this the Gospel and the great Doctors
lie abandoned, and only Canon Law
is studied—as their margins plainly show.
Pope and Cardinals focus on this alone;
their thoughts never reach to Nazareth
where Gabriel spread his wings.
140
But Vatican and those other chosen parts
of Rome that have been cemetery
to the soldiers who followed Peter
shall soon be freed from this adultery."
144