Canto XXVIII of Dante Alighieri’s Paradiso begins with the character Dante having arrived at the ninth heaven, the Primum Mobile. This heaven, unlike the others, has no sun, moon, or planetary body to define it; it has no particulate matter whatsoever, so it’s crystal clear throughout. The Primum Mobile is the outermost and fastest-moving sphere of the earth-centric universe; it alone determines the speed at which the other spheres rotate.
Dante turns from looking into the beautiful eyes of Beatrice, which he describes as having “imparadise[d]” his mind (a neologism, one of many in the Comedy) and sees a bright point of light surrounded by nine fiery rings. The ring closest to the light whirls the fastest; each subsequent ring is slower, and wider. Beatrice explains that these rings are composed of angels, arranged according to a hierarchy that is dictated by how closely the angels in that rank resemble the light, which is the mind of God. The nine orders are divided into groups of three, with each individual order aligned with one of the nine heavens, over which it has primary influence. This influence, in turn, gets exerted on humans. It is in this way that God transmits His light and love throughout the universe.
In the First Hierarchy are the Seraphim, who hold sway over the Primum Mobile; next are the Cherubim, who influence the Heaven of the Fixed Stars; next, the Thrones, who sway Saturn. The Second Hierarchy is composed of the Dominions, who sway Jupiter; the Virtues, who sway Mars; and the Powers, who sway the Sun. In the Third Hierarchy are the Principalities, who sway Venus; the Archangels, who sway Mercury; and the Angels, who sway the Moon. The canto ends with Beatrice explaining that Pope Gregory I (Saint Gregory the Great), bishop of Rome from 590 until his death in 604, mistakenly reversed the order of Principalities and Thrones (in his book Morals). Dante himself followed Gregory’s order when he wrote Convivio (The Banquet); through Beatrice, Dante now not only corrects Gregory’s mistake but rights his own error as well.
— Mary Jo Bang
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Canto XXVIII
After she who imparadises my mind
Had revealed the truth
About the present life of miserable mortals —
As one who glimpses in a mirror the flame
Of a branched candlestick behind their back,
Before they see it, or before it even comes to mind,
And then turns to see whether the glass
Tells the truth and sees that it does align with it,
Just as a note does with its metrical notation —
I recall how I did just that,
Gazing into the beautiful eyes
From which love made the rope to lasso me.
And when I turned around and my own eyes
Were met with what appears in that vast space
Whenever one looks intently at its circling, 15
I saw a point that radiated such an intense light
That eyes seared by it are forced to close
Because of its extreme brightness.
Whatever star seems smallest from here
Would seem moon-sized if placed next to it,
Like a star in a binary star system.
Perhaps as near as a halo that seems to enclose
The light that colors it
When the vapor it’s made of is very dense,
At that same distance around the point,
A ring of fire spun so fast it would have exceeded
The speed of the fastest sphere circling the universe.
And this one ring was encircled by another,
And that one by a third, and the third by a fourth,
The fourth by a fifth, then the fifth by a sixth. 30
Beyond that came the seventh,
Which was so vast that if Juno’s rainbow
Made a circle, it would be too small to contain it.
The same with the eighth and the ninth,
Each one moving more slowly,
According to how much farther it was from the first.
The one that had the purest flame
Was the one least distant from the Pure Spark,
I believe because it was most within-Its-truth.
My Lady, who could see I was paying a lot
Of attention and was seriously confused, said,
“Heaven and all of nature depend on that point.
Look at the circle closest to it
And understand that its movement is that fast
Because of the burning love that drives it.” 45
I to her: “If the world were arranged
In the same order I see in these wheels,
I’d be convinced by what’s being proposed,
But in the discernible world, one can see
The orbits become so much more divine
The more remote they are from the center.
So, if my wish has to find its end
In this miraculous angelic temple,
Which only has love and light as its borders,
I need to hear more about how the copy
And the original fail to go the same way,
Because whenever I think about this I get nowhere.”
“If your fingers aren’t up to the task
For a knot like this, it’s no wonder —
It’s that much harder for not having been tried.” 60
To that, My Lady added: “Take what I tell you
And, if you want to be convinced,
Sharpen that razor-like mind of yours.
The material circles are wide or narrow
According to whether more or less power
Is spread throughout all their parts.
Greater goodness produces greater blessedness —
The greater the body, if its parts are equally whole,
The more blessedness it’s capable of.
So, this sphere, which sweeps along with it
The rest of the universe, corresponds to the circle
That loves the most and knows the most.
If you then apply your measure to that powe —
And not to the appearance of the angelic substances
That look to you like circles — 75
You’ll see the marvelous agreement of greater
With more and smaller with less in each heaven,
Consistent with its presiding intelligence.”
As the air in our atmosphere
Is left brilliant and clear, once
Once Boreas blows from his softer cheek,
Dissolving and whisking away the earlier
Mist so that the sky smiles down on us
With the beauties of its every sector,
So it was for me — once My Lady
Had given me her eloquent answer —
And the truth was seen like a star in the sky.
After her speech came to an end,
The circles emitted sparks, not unlike the way
Molten iron gives off a spray of sparks. 90
Each spark kept to its fiery path;
There were so many, more than the doubling
Of chessboard squares enthousanding themselves.
From choir to choir, I heard Hosannas to the
Fixed point that holds them in their Where, and will
Hold them forever where they’ve forever been.
And she who saw the doubtful thoughts
Inside my mind said, “The first circles
Have shown you the Seraphim and Cherubim.
They follow their paths this fast because they
Resemble the point as much as they can. The more
Elevated their vision, the more possible that is.
Those other angelic loves that circle around them
Are called Thrones of the divine aspect,
Because they brought the first Triad to an end. 105
You have to understand that the delight
They all take depends on how deeply they see
Into the Truth, in which every mind finds its rest.
From this you can see how the foundation
Of being blessed is in the act of seeing,
Not in that of loving, which comes after.
And the measure of this seeing is their merit,
Which grace and goodwill have produced —
And it progresses like that, from grade to grade.
The next triad, which germinates the same way
In this everlasting springtime — which nighttime
Aries never has a chance to ravage —
Is perpetually singing Hosannas with three melodies,
Which resound in the three orders of joy
In which they are in-tripled. 120
The other divinities in this hierarchy are,
First, Dominions, and then Virtues;
The third order is that of the Powers.
Then, in the two penultimate whirl-arounds,
Principalities and Archangels circle, and the last
Is totally made up of Angels celebrating.
These orders all gaze upward
And prevail downward, so that all are drawn
Toward God and all draw the others.
Dionysius began to contemplate these orders
With such intense desire that he named them
And distinguished them just as I have.
But later on, Gregory split from him —
Which is why as soon as he opened his eyes
In this heaven, he laughed at himself. 135
And if a mortal on earth exposed such a secret
Truth, I wouldn’t want you to wonder —
Saint Paul, who saw it up here, disclosed it to him,
With many other truths about these spheres.
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Canto XXVIII
Poscia che ’ncontro a la vita presente
d’i miseri mortali aperse ’l vero
quella che ’mparadisa la mia mente,
come in lo specchio fiamma di doppiero
vede colui che se n’alluma retro,
prima che l’abbia in vista o in pensiero,
e sé rivolge per veder se ’l vetro
li dice il vero, e vede ch’el s’accorda
con esso come nota con suo metro;
così la mia memoria si ricorda
ch’io feci riguardando ne’ belli occhi
onde a pigliarmi fece Amor la corda.
E com’ io mi rivolsi e furon tocchi
li miei da ciò che pare in quel volume,
quandunque nel suo giro ben s’adocchi,
un punto vidi che raggiava lume
acuto sì, che ’l viso ch’elli affoca
chiuder conviensi per lo forte acume;
e quale stella par quinci più poca,
parrebbe luna, locata con esso
come stella con stella si collòca.
Forse cotanto quanto pare appresso
alo cigner la luce che ’l dipigne
quando ’l vapor che ’l porta più è spesso,
distante intorno al punto un cerchio d’igne
si girava sì ratto, ch’avria vinto
quel moto che più tosto il mondo cigne;
e questo era d’un altro circumcinto,
e quel dal terzo, e ’l terzo poi dal quarto,
dal quinto il quarto, e poi dal sesto il quinto.
Sopra seguiva il settimo sì sparto
già di larghezza, che ’l messo di Iuno
intero a contenerlo sarebbe arto.
Così l’ottavo e ’l nono; e chiascheduno
più tardo si movea, secondo ch’era
in numero distante più da l’uno;
e quello avea la fiamma più sincera
cui men distava la favilla pura,
credo, però che più di lei s’invera.
La donna mia, che mi vedëa in cura
forte sospeso, disse: «Da quel punto
depende il cielo e tutta la natura.
Mira quel cerchio che più li è congiunto;
e sappi che ’l suo muovere è sì tosto
per l’affocato amore ond’ elli è punto».
E io a lei: «Se ’l mondo fosse posto
con l’ordine ch’io veggio in quelle rote,
sazio m’avrebbe ciò che m’è proposto;
ma nel mondo sensibile si puote
veder le volte tanto più divine,
quant’ elle son dal centro più remote.
Onde, se ’l mio disir dee aver fine
in questo miro e angelico templo
che solo amore e luce ha per confine,
udir convienmi ancor come l’essemplo
e l’essemplare non vanno d’un modo,
ché io per me indarno a ciò contemplo».
«Se li tuoi diti non sono a tal nodo
sufficïenti, non è maraviglia:
tanto, per non tentare, è fatto sodo!».
Così la donna mia; poi disse: «Piglia
quel ch’io ti dicerò, se vuo’ saziarti;
e intorno da esso t’assottiglia.
Li cerchi corporai sono ampi e arti
secondo il più e ’l men de la virtute
che si distende per tutte lor parti.
Maggior bontà vuol far maggior salute;
maggior salute maggior corpo cape,
s’elli ha le parti igualmente compiute.
Dunque costui che tutto quanto rape
l’altro universo seco, corrisponde
al cerchio che più ama e che più sape:
per che, se tu a la virtù circonde
la tua misura, non a la parvenza
de le sustanze che t’appaion tonde,
tu vederai mirabil consequenza
di maggio a più e di minore a meno,
in ciascun cielo, a süa intelligenza».
Come rimane splendido e sereno
l’emisperio de l’aere, quando soffia
Borea da quella guancia ond’ è più leno,
per che si purga e risolve la roffia
che pria turbava, sì che ’l ciel ne ride
con le bellezze d’ogne sua paroffia;
così fec’ïo, poi che mi provide
la donna mia del suo risponder chiaro,
e come stella in cielo il ver si vide.
E poi che le parole sue restaro,
non altrimenti ferro disfavilla
che bolle, come i cerchi sfavillaro.
L’incendio suo seguiva ogne scintilla;
ed eran tante, che ’l numero loro
più che ’l doppiar de li scacchi s’inmilla.
Io sentiva osannar di coro in coro
al punto fisso che li tiene a li ubi,
e terrà sempre, ne’ quai sempre fuoro.
E quella che vedëa i pensier dubi
la mia mente, disse: «I cerchi primi
t’hanno mostrato Serafi e Cherubi.
Così veloci seguono i suoi vimi,
per somigliarsi al punto quanto ponno;
e posson quanto a veder son soblimi.
Quelli altri amori che ’ntorno li vonno,
si chiaman Troni del divino aspetto,
per che ’l primo ternaro terminonno;
e dei saper che tutti hanno diletto
quanto la sua veduta si profonda
nel vero in che si queta ogne intelletto.
Quinci si può veder come si fonda
l’esser beato ne l’atto che vede,
non in quel ch’ama, che poscia seconda;
e del vedere è misura mercede,
che grazia partorisce e buona voglia:
così di grado in grado si procede.
L’altro ternaro, che così germoglia
in questa primavera sempiterna
che notturno Arïete non dispoglia,
perpetüalemente ‘Osanna’ sberna
con tre melode, che suonano in tree
ordini di letizia onde s’interna.
In essa gerarcia son l’altre dee:
prima Dominazioni, e poi Virtudi;
l’ordine terzo di Podestadi èe.
Poscia ne’ due penultimi tripudi
Principati e Arcangeli si girano;
l’ultimo è tutto d’Angelici ludi.
Questi ordini di sù tutti s’ammirano,
e di giù vincon sì, che verso Dio
tutti tirati sono e tutti tirano.
E Dïonisio con tanto disio
a contemplar questi ordini si mise,
che li nomò e distinse com’ io.
Ma Gregorio da lui poi si divise;
onde, sì tosto come li occhi aperse
in questo ciel, di sé medesmo rise.
E se tanto secreto ver proferse
mortale in terra, non voglio ch’ammiri:
ché chi ’l vide qua sù gliel discoperse
con altro assai del ver di questi giri».
/ / / /
Canto XXVIII appears here with the permission of Graywolf Press and Mary Jo Bang.
To acquire a copy of Paradiso directly from the press, click here.