The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 75, January, 1864

[Line 12: Under the meridian, or at noon, the shadows being shorter move slower, and, therefore the sun seems less in haste.]

[Line 21: By the beneficent influences of the stars.]

[Line 29: The old belief that the stars were fed by the light of the sun. So Milton,—

"Hither, as to their fountain, other starsRepair, and in their golden urns draw light."

Here the stars are souls, the sun is Christ.]

[Line 45: Beatrice speaks.]

[Line 55: The Muse of harmony and singing.]

[Line 72: The rose is the Virgin Mary, Rosa Mundi, Rosa Mystica; the lilies are the Apostles and other saints.]

[Line 78: The struggle between his eyes and the light.]

[Line 89: Christ reascends, that Dante's dazzled eyes, too feeble to bear the light of his presence, may behold the splendors around him.

The greater fire is the Virgin Mary, greater than any of those remaining. She is the living star, surpassing in brightness all other souls in heaven, as she did here on earth: Stella Maris, Stella Matutina.]

[Line 98: The Angel Gabriel, or Angelic Love.]

[Line 106: Sapphire is the color in which the old painters arrayed the Virgin.]

[Line 116: The regal mantle of all the volumes, or rolling orbs, of the world is the crystalline heaven, or Primus Mobile, which infolds all the others like a mantle.]

[Line 132: Easter hymn to the Virgin.]

[Line 137: Caring not for gold in the Babylonian exile of this life, they laid up treasures in the other.]

[Line 143: St. Peter, keeper of the keys, with the holy men of the Old and the New Testament.]

CANTO XXIV

"O company elect to the great supper [1]        Of the Lamb glorified, who feedeth you        So that forever full is your desire,If by the grace of God this man foretastes        Of whatsoever falleth from your table,        Or ever death prescribes to him the time,Direct your mind to his immense desire, [7]        And him somewhat bedew; ye drinking are        Forever from the fount whence comes his thought." [9]Thus Beatrice; and those enraptured spirits        Made themselves spheres around their steadfast poles,        Flaming intensely in the guise of comets.And as the wheels in works of horologes        Revolve so that the first to the beholder        Motionless seems, and the last one to fly,So in like manner did those carols, dancing [16]        In different measure, by their affluence        Make me esteem them either swift or slow.From that one which I noted of most beauty        Beheld I issue forth a fire so happy        That none it left there of a greater splendor;And around Beatrice three several times [22]        It whirled itself with so divine a song,        My fantasy repeats it not to me;Therefore the pen skips, and I write it not,        Since our imagination for such folds,        Much more our speech, is of a tint too glaring. [27]"O holy sister mine, who us implorest [28]        With such devotion, by thine ardent love        Thou dost unbind me from that beautiful sphere!"Thus, having stopped, the beatific fire        Unto my Lady did direct its breath,        Which spake in fashion as I here have said.And she: "O light eterne of the great man        To whom our Lord delivered up the keys        He carried down of this miraculous joy,This one examine on points light and grave,        As good beseemeth thee, about the Faith        By means of which thou on the sea didst walk.If he loves well, and hopes well, and believes,        Is hid not from thee; for thou hast thy sight        Where everything beholds itself depicted. [42]But since this kingdom has made citizens        By means of the true Faith, to glorify it        'Tis well he have the chance to speak thereof."As baccalaureate arms himself, and speaks not        Until the master doth propose the question,        To argue it, and not to terminate it,So did I arm myself with every reason,        While she was speaking, that I might be ready        For such a questioner and such profession."Speak on, good Christian; manifest thyself; [52]        Say, what is Faith?" Whereat I raised my brow        Unto that light from which this was breathed forth.Then turned I round to Beatrice, and she        Prompt signals made to me that I should pour        The water forth from my internal fountain."May grace, that suffers me to make confession,"        Began I, "to the great Centurion, [59]        Cause my conceptions all to be explicit!"And I continued: "As the truthful pen,        Father, of thy dear brother wrote of it,        Who put with thee Rome into the good way,Faith is the substance of the things we hope for,        And evidence of those that are not seen;        And this appears to me its quiddity." [66]Then heard I: "Very rightly thou perceivest,        If well thou understandest why he placed it        With substances and then with evidences."And I thereafterward: "The things profound,        That here vouchsafe to me their outward show,        Unto all eyes below are so concealed,That they exist there only in belief,        Upon the which is founded the high hope,        And therefore take the nature of a substance.And it behooveth us from this belief        To reason without having other views,        And hence it has the nature of evidence."Then heard I: "If whatever is acquired        Below as doctrine were thus understood,        No sophist's subtlety would there find place."Thus was breathed forth from that enkindled love;        Then added: "Thoroughly has been gone over        Already of this coin the alloy and weight;But tell me if thou hast it in thy purse?"        And I: "Yes, both so shining and so round,        That in its stamp there is no peradventure."Thereafter issued from the light profound        That there resplendent was: "This precious jewel,        Upon the which is every virtue founded,Whence hadst thou it?" And I: "The large outpouring        Of the Holy Spirit, which has been diffused        Upon the ancient parchments and the new, [93]A syllogism is, which demonstrates it        With such acuteness, that, compared therewith,        All demonstration seems to me obtuse."And then I heard: "The ancient and the new        Postulates, that to thee are so conclusive,        Why dost thou take them for the word divine?"And I: "The proof, which shows the truth to me,        Are the works subsequent, whereunto Nature        Ne'er heated iron yet, nor anvil beat."'Twas answered me: "Say, who assureth thee        That those works ever were? the thing itself        We wish to prove, nought else to thee affirms it.""Were the world to Christianity converted,"        I said, "withouten miracles, this one        Is such, the rest are not its hundredth part;For thou didst enter destitute and fasting        Into the field to plant there the good plant,        Which was a vine and has become a thorn!"This being finished, the high, holy Court        Resounded through the spheres, "One God we praise!"        In melody that there above is chanted.And then that Baron, who from branch to branch, [115]        Examining, had thus conducted me,        Till the remotest leaves we were approaching,Did recommence once more: "The Grace that lords it        Over thy intellect thy mouth has opened,        Up to this point, as it should opened be,So that I do approve what forth emerged;        But now thou must express what thou believest,        And whence to thy belief it was presented.""O holy father! O thou spirit, who seest        What thou believedst, so that thou o'ercamest,        Towards the sepulchre, more youthful feet," [126]Began I, "thou dost wish me to declare        Forthwith the manner of my prompt belief,        And likewise thou the cause thereof demandest.And I respond: In one God I believe,        Sole and eterne, who all the heaven doth move,        Himself unmoved, with love and with desire;And of such faith not only have I proofs        Physical and metaphysical, but gives them        Likewise the truth that from this place rains downThrough Moses, through the Prophets and the Psalms,        Through the Evangel, and through you, who wrote        After the fiery Spirit sanctified you; [138]In Persons three eterne believe I, and these        One essence I believe, so one and trine,        They bear conjunction both with sunt and est.With the profound conjunction and divine,        Which now I touch upon, doth stamp my mind        Ofttimes the doctrine evangelical.This the beginning is, this is the spark        Which afterwards dilates to vivid flame,        And, like a star in heaven, is sparkling in me."Even as a lord, who hears what pleases him,        His servant straight embraces, giving thanks        For the good news, as soon as he is silent;So, giving me its benediction, singing,        Three times encircled me, when I was silent,        The apostolic light, at whose commandI spoken had, in speaking I so pleased him.

[Line 1: Beatrice speaks.]

[Line 7: Hunger and thirst after things divine.]

[Line 9: The grace of God.]

[Line 16: The carol was a dance as well as a song.]

[Line 22: St. Peter thrice encircles Beatrice, as the Angel Gabriel did the Virgin Mary in the preceding canto.]

[Line 27: Too glaring for painting such delicate draperies of song.]

[Line 28: St. Peter speaks to Beatrice.]

[Line 42: Fixed upon God, in whom all things reflected.]

[Line 52: St. Peter speaks to Dante.]

[Line 59: The great Head of the Church.]

[Line 66: In the Scholastic Philosophy, the essence of a thing, distinguishing it from all other things, was called its quiddity: an answer to the question, Quid est?]

[Line 93: The Old and New Testaments.]

[Line 115: In the Middle Ages earthly titles were sometimes given to the saints. Thus, Boccaccio speaks of Baron Messer San Antonio.]

[Line 126: St. John, xx. 3-8. St. John was the first to reach the sepulchre, but St. Peter the first to enter it.]

[Line 138: St. Peter and the other Apostles after Pentecost.]

CANTO XXV

If e'er it happen that the Poem Sacred, [1]        To which both heaven and earth have set their hand        Till it hath made me meagre many a year,O'ercome the cruelty that bars me out        From the fair sheepfold, where a lamb I slumbered,        Obnoxious to the wolves that war upon it,With other voice henceforth, with other fleece        Will I return as poet, and at my font        Baptismal will I take the laurel-crown; [9]Because into the Faith that maketh known        All souls to God there entered I, and then        Peter for her sake so my brow encircled.Thereafterward towards us moved a light        Out of that band whence issued the first-fruits [14]        Which of his vicars Christ behind him left,And then, my Lady, full of ecstasy,        Said unto me: "Look, look! behold the Baron        For whom below Galicia is frequented." [18]In the same way as, when a dove alights        Near his companion, both of them pour forth,        Circling about and murmuring, their affection,So I beheld one by the other grand        Prince glorified to be with welcome greeted,        Lauding the food that there above is eaten.But when their gratulations were completed,        Silently coram me each one stood still,        So incandescent it o'ercame my sight.Smiling thereafterwards, said Beatrice:        "Spirit august, by whom the benefactions        Of our Basilica have been described, [30]Make Hope reverberate in this altitude;        Thou knowest as oft thou dost personify it        As Jesus to the three gave greater light,"– [33]"Lift up thy head, and make thyself assured; [34]        For what comes hither from the mortal world        Must needs be ripened in our radiance."This exhortation from the second fire [37]        Came; and mine eyes I lifted to the hills, [38]        Which bent them down before with too great weight,"Since, through his grace, our Emperor decrees        Thou shouldst confronted be, before thy death,        In the most secret chamber, with his Counts, [42]So that, the truth beholding of this court,        Hope, which below there rightly fascinates,        In thee and others may thereby be strengthened;Say what it is, and how is flowering with it        Thy mind, and say from whence it came to thee":        Thus did the second light continue still.And the Compassionate, who piloted [49]        The plumage of my wings in such high flight,        In the reply did thus anticipate me:"No child whatever the Church Militant        Of greater hope possesses, as is written        In that Sun which irradiates all our band; [54]Therefore it is conceded him from Egypt        To come into Jerusalem to see, [56]        Or ever yet his warfare is completed.The other points, that not for knowledge' sake [58]        Have been demanded, but that he report        How much this virtue unto thee is pleasing,To him I leave; for hard he will not find them,        Nor to be boasted of; them let him answer;        And may the grace of God in this assist him!"As a disciple, who obeys his teacher,        Ready and willing, where he is expert,        So that his excellence may be revealed,"Hope," said I, "is the certain expectation [67]        Of glory in the hereafter, which proceedeth        From grace divine and merit precedent.From many stars this light comes unto me;        But he instilled it first into my heart,        Who was chief singer unto the chief captain. [72]Hope they in thee, in the high Theody        He says, all those who recognize thy name; [74]        And who does not, if he my faith possesses? [75]Thou didst instil me, then, with his instilling        In the Epistle, so that I am full,        And upon others rain again your rain." [78]While I was speaking, in the living bosom        Of that effulgence quivered a sharp flash,        Sudden and frequent, in the guise of lightning.Then breathed: "The love wherewith I am inflamed        Towards the virtue still, which followed me        Unto the palm and issue of the field,Wills that I whisper thee, thou take delight        In her; and grateful to me is thy saying        Whatever things Hope promises to thee."And I: "The ancient Scriptures and the new        The mark establish, and this shows it me, [89]        Of all the souls whom God has made his friends.Isaiah saith, that each one garmented        In his own land shall be with twofold garments, [92]        And his own land is this sweet life of yours.Thy brother, too, far more explicitly,        There where he treateth of the robes of white, [95]        This revelation manifests to us."And first, and near the ending of these words,        Sperent in te from over us was heard,        To which responsive answered all the carols. [99]Thereafterward among them gleamed a light, [100]        So that, if Cancer such a crystal had,        Winter would have a month of one sole day. [102]And as uprises, goes, and enters the dance        A joyous maiden, only to do honor        To the new bride, and not from any failing, [105]So saw I the illuminated splendor        Approach the two, who in a wheel revolved, [107]        As was beseeming to their ardent love.It joined itself there in the song and music;        And fixed on them my Lady kept her look,        Even as a bride, silent and motionless."This is the one who lay upon the breast        Of him our Pelican; and this is he        To the great office from the cross elected." [114]My Lady thus; but therefore none the more        Removed her sight from its fixed contemplation,        Before or afterward, these words of hers.Even as a man who gazes, and endeavors        To see the eclipsing of the sun a little,        And who, by seeing, sightless doth become,So I became before that latest fire, [122]        While it was said, "Why dost thou daze thyself        To see a thing which here has no existence? [124]Earth upon earth my body is, and shall be        With all the others there, until our number        With the eternal proposition tallies; [127]With the two garments in the blessed cloister [128]        Are the two lights alone that have ascended: [129]        And this shalt thou take back into your world." [130]And at this utterance the flaming circle        Grew quiet, with the dulcet intermingling        Of sound that by the trinal breath was made, [133]As to escape from danger or fatigue        The oars that erst were in the water beaten        Are all suspended at a whistle's sound.Ah, how much in my mind was I disturbed,        When I turned round to look on Beatrice,        At not beholding her, although I wasClose at her side and in the Happy World!

[Line 1: This "Divina Commedia," in which human science or Philosophy is symbolized in Virgil, and divine science or Theology in Beatrice.

"Fiorenza la Bella," Florence the Fair. In one of his Canzoni, Dante says,—

"O mountain-song of mine, thou goest thy way;Florence my town thou shalt perchance behold,Which bars me from itself,Devoid of love and naked of compassion."]

[Line 9: This allusion to the Church of San Giovanni, "il mio bel San Giovanni," as Dante calls it elsewhere, (Inf. xix. 17,) is a fitting prelude to the Canto in which St. John is to appear. Like the "laughing of the grass" in Canto xxx. 77, it is a "foreshadowing preface," ombrifero prefazio, of what follows.

See Canto xxiv. 150;

"So, giving me its benediction, singing,Three times encircled me, when I was silent,The apostolic light."]

[Line 14: St. Peter. "That we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures." Epistle of St. James, i. 18.]

[Line 18: St. James. Pilgrimages are made to his tomb at Compostella in Galicia.]

[Line 30: The General Epistle of St. James, called the Epistola Cattolica, i. 17. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights." Our Basilica: Paradise: the Church Triumphant.]

[Line 33: Peter, James, and John, representing the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity, and distinguished above the other apostles by clearer manifestations of their Master's favor.]

[Line 34: St. James speaks.]

[Line 37: The three Apostles, luminous above him, overwhelming him with light.]

[Line 38: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help." Psalm cxxi. 1.]

[Line 42: The most august spirits of the Celestial City.]

[Line 49: Beatrice.]

[Line 54: In God,

"Where everything beholds itself depicted."

Canto xxiv. 42.]

[Line 56: To come from earth to heaven.]

[Line 58: "Say what it is," and "whence it came to thee."]

[Line 67: "Est spes certa expectatio futuræ beatitudinis, veniens ex Dei gratia et meritis præcedentibus." Petrus Lombardus, Magister Sententiarum.]

[Line 72: The Psalmist David.]

[Line 74: The Book of Psalms, or Songs of God.]

[Line 75: "And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee." Psalm ix. 10.]

[Line 78: Your rain: that is, of David and yourself.]

[Line 89: "The mark of the high calling and election sure."]

[Line 92: The twofold garments are the glorified spirit and the glorified body.]

[Line 95: St. John, in the Apocalypse, vii. 9. "A great multitude which no man could number … clothed with white robes."]

[Line 99: Dances and songs commingled; the circling choirs, the celestial choristers.]

[Line 100: St. John the Evangelist.]

[Line 102: In winter the constellation Cancer rises at sunset; and if it had one star as bright as this, it would turn night into day.]

[Line 105: Such as vanity, ostentation, or the like.]

[Line 107: St. Peter and St. James are joined by St. John.]

[Line 114: Christ. "Then saith he to the disciple, 'Behold thy mother!' And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." St. John, xix. 27.]

[Line 122: St. John.]

[Line 124: "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee."]

[Line 127: Till the predestined number of the elect is complete.]

[Line 128: The two garments: the glorified spirit and the glorified body.]

[Line 129: The two lights: Christ and the Virgin Mary.]

[Line 130: Carry back these tidings.]

[Line 133: The sacred trio of St. Peter, St. James, and St. John.]

EXTERNAL APPEARANCE OF GLACIERS

Thus far we have examined chiefly the internal structure of the glacier; let us look now at its external appearance, and at the variety of curious phenomena connected with the deposit of foreign materials upon its surface, some of which seem quite inexplicable at first sight. Among the most striking of these are the large boulders elevated on columns of ice, standing sometimes ten feet or more above the level of the glacier, and the sand-pyramids, those conical hills of sand which occur not infrequently on all the large Alpine glaciers. One is at first quite at a loss to explain the presence of these pyramids in the midst of a frozen ice-field, and yet it has a very simple cause.

I have spoken of the many little rills arising on the surface of the ice in consequence of its melting. Indeed, the voice of the waters is rarely still on the glacier during the warm season, except at night. On a summer's day, a thousand streams are born before noontide, and die again at sunset; it is no uncommon thing to see a full cascade come rushing out from the lower end of a glacier during the heat of the day, and vanish again at its decline. Suppose one of these rivulets should fall into a deep, circular hole, such as often occur on the glacier, and the nature of which I shall presently explain, and that this cylindrical opening narrows to a mere crack at a greater or less depth within the ice, the water will find its way through the crack and filter down into the deeper mass; but the dust and sand carried along with it will be caught there, and form a deposit at the bottom of the hole. As day after day, throughout the summer, the rivulet is renewed, it carries with it an additional supply of these light materials, until the opening is gradually filled and the sand is brought to a level with the surface of the ice. We have already seen, that, in consequence of evaporation, melting, and other disintegrating causes, the level of the glacier sinks annually at the rate of from five to ten feet, according to stations. The natural consequence, of course, must be, that the sand is left standing above the surface of the ice, forming a mound which would constantly increase in height in proportion to the sinking of the surrounding ice, had it sufficient solidity to retain its original position. But a heap of sand, if unsupported, must very soon subside and be dispersed; and, indeed, these pyramids, which are often quite lofty, and yet look as if they would crumble at a touch, prove, on nearer examination, to be perfectly solid, and are, in fact, pyramids of ice with a thin sheet of sand spread over them. A word will explain how this transformation is brought about. As soon as the level of the glacier falls below the sand, thus depriving it of support, it sinks down and spreads slightly over the surrounding surface. In this condition it protects the ice immediately beneath it from the action of the sun. In proportion as the glacier wastes, this protected area rises above the general mass and becomes detached from it. The sand, of course, slides down over it, spreading toward its base, so as to cover a wider space below, and an ever-narrowing one above, until it gradually assumes the pyramidal form in which we find it, covered with a thin coating of sand. Every stage of this process may occasionally be seen upon the same glacier, in a number of sand-piles raised to various heights above the surface of the ice, approaching the perfect pyramidal form, or falling to pieces after standing for a short time erect.

The phenomenon of the large boulders, supported on tall pillars of ice, is of a similar character. A mass of rock, having fallen on the surface of the glacier, protects the ice immediately beneath it from the action of the sun; and as the level of the glacier sinks all around it, in consequence of the unceasing waste of the surface, the rock is gradually left standing on an ice-pillar of considerable height. In proportion as the column rises, however, the rays of the sun reach its sides, striking obliquely upon them under the boulder, and wearing them away, until the column becomes at last too slight to sustain its burden, and the rock falls again upon the glacier; or, owing to the unequal action of the sun, striking of course with most power on the southern side, the top of the pillar becomes slanting, and the boulder slides off. These ice-pillars, crowned with masses of rock, form a very picturesque feature in the scenery of the glacier, and are represented in many of the landscapes in which Swiss artists have endeavored to reproduce the grandeur and variety of Alpine views, especially in the masterly Aquarelles of Lory. The English reader will find them admirably well described and illustrated in Dr. Tyndall's work upon the glaciers. They are known throughout the Alps as "glacier-tables"; and many a time my fellow-travellers and I have spread our frugal meal on such a table, erected, as it seemed, especially for our convenience.