the divine comedy(神曲)-第53章
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In thee compassion is; in thee is pity;
In thee magnificence; in thee unites
Whate'er of goodness is in any creature。
Now doth this man; who from the lowest depth
Of the universe as far as here has seen
One after one the spiritual lives;
Supplicate thee through grace for so much power
That with his eyes he may uplift himself
Higher towards the uttermost salvation。
And I; who never burned for my own seeing
More than I do for his; all of my prayers
Proffer to thee; and pray they come not short;
That thou wouldst scatter from him every cloud
Of his mortality so with thy prayers;
That the Chief Pleasure be to him displayed。
Still farther do I pray thee; Queen; who canst
Whate'er thou wilt; that sound thou mayst preserve
After so great a vision his affections。
Let thy protection conquer human movements;
See Beatrice and all the blessed ones
My prayers to second clasp their hands to thee!〃
The eyes beloved and revered of God;
Fastened upon the speaker; showed to us
How grateful unto her are prayers devout;
Then unto the Eternal Light they turned;
On which it is not credible could be
By any creature bent an eye so clear。
And I; who to the end of all desires
Was now approaching; even as I ought
The ardour of desire within me ended。
Bernard was beckoning unto me; and smiling;
That I should upward look; but I already
Was of my own accord such as he wished;
Because my sight; becoming purified;
Was entering more and more into the ray
Of the High Light which of itself is true。
From that time forward what I saw was greater
Than our discourse; that to such vision yields;
And yields the memory unto such excess。
Even as he is who seeth in a dream;
And after dreaming the imprinted passion
Remains; and to his mind the rest returns not;
Even such am I; for almost utterly
Ceases my vision; and distilleth yet
Within my heart the sweetness born of it;
Even thus the snow is in the sun unsealed;
Even thus upon the wind in the light leaves
Were the soothsayings of the Sibyl lost。
O Light Supreme; that dost so far uplift thee
From the conceits of mortals; to my mind
Of what thou didst appear re…lend a little;
And make my tongue of so great puissance;
That but a single sparkle of thy glory
It may bequeath unto the future people;
For by returning to my memory somewhat;
And by a little sounding in these verses;
More of thy victory shall be conceived!
I think the keenness of the living ray
Which I endured would have bewildered me;
If but mine eyes had been averted from it;
And I remember that I was more bold
On this account to bear; so that I joined
My aspect with the Glory Infinite。
O grace abundant; by which I presumed
To fix my sight upon the Light Eternal;
So that the seeing I consumed therein!
I saw that in its depth far down is lying
Bound up with love together in one volume;
What through the universe in leaves is scattered;
Substance; and accident; and their operations;
All interfused together in such wise
That what I speak of is one simple light。
The universal fashion of this knot
Methinks I saw; since more abundantly
In saying this I feel that I rejoice。
One moment is more lethargy to me;
Than five and twenty centuries to the emprise
That startled Neptune with the shade of Argo!
My mind in this wise wholly in suspense;
Steadfast; immovable; attentive gazed;
And evermore with gazing grew enkindled。
In presence of that light one such becomes;
That to withdraw therefrom for other prospect
It is impossible he e'er consent;
Because the good; which object is of will;
Is gathered all in this; and out of it
That is defective which is perfect there。
Shorter henceforward will my language fall
Of what I yet remember; than an infant's
Who still his tongue doth moisten at the breast。
Not because more than one unmingled semblance
Was in the living light on which I looked;
For it is always what it was before;
But through the sight; that fortified itself
In me by looking; one appearance only
To me was ever changing as I changed。
Within the deep and luminous subsistence
Of the High Light appeared to me three circles;
Of threefold colour and of one dimension;
And by the second seemed the first reflected
As Iris is by Iris; and the third
Seemed fire that equally from both is breathed。
O how all speech is feeble and falls short
Of my conceit; and this to what I saw
Is such; 'tis not enough to call it little!
O Light Eterne; sole in thyself that dwellest;
Sole knowest thyself; and; known unto thyself
And knowing; lovest and smilest on thyself!
That circulation; which being thus conceived
Appeared in thee as a reflected light;
When somewhat contemplated by mine eyes;
Within itself; of its own very colour
Seemed to me painted with our effigy;
Wherefore my sight was all absorbed therein。
As the geometrician; who endeavours
To square the circle; and discovers not;
By taking thought; the principle he wants;
Even such was I at that new apparition;
I wished to see how the image to the circle
Conformed itself; and how it there finds place;
But my own wings were not enough for this;
Had it not been that then my mind there smote
A flash of lightning; wherein came its wish。
Here vigour failed the lofty fantasy:
But now was turning my desire and will;
Even as a wheel that equally is moved;
The Love which moves the sun and the other stars。
APPENDIX
SIX SONNETS ON DANTE'S DIVINE COMEDY
BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW (1807…1882)
I
Oft have I seen at some cathedral door
A laborer; pausing in the dust and heat;
Lay down his burden; and with reverent feet
Enter; and cross himself; and on the floor
Kneel to repeat his paternoster o'er;
Far off the noises of the world retreat;
The loud vociferations of the street
Become an undistinguishable roar。
So; as I enter here from day to day;
And leave my burden at this minster gate;
Kneeling in prayer; and not ashamed to pray;
The tumult of the time disconsolate
To inarticulate murmurs dies away;
While the eternal ages watch and wait。
II
How strange the sculptures that adorn these towers!
This crowd of statues; in whose folded sleeves
Birds build their nests; while canopied with leaves
Parvis and portal bloom like trellised bowers;
And the vast minster seems a cross of flowers!
But fiends and dragons on the gargoyled eaves
Watch the dead Christ between the living thieves;
And; underneath; the traitor Judas lowers!
Ah! from what agonies of heart and brain;
What exultations trampling on despair;
What tenderness; what tears; what hate of wrong;
What passionate outcry of a soul in pain;
Uprose this poem of the earth and air;
This mediaeval miracle of song!
III
I enter; and I see thee in the gloom
Of the long aisles; O poet saturnine!
And strive to make my steps keep pace with thine。
The air is filled with some unknown perfume;
The congregation of the dead make room
For thee to pass; the votive tapers shine;
Like rooks that haunt Ravenna's groves of pine;
The hovering echoes fly from tomb to tomb。
From the confessionals I hear arise
Rehearsals of forgotten tragedies;
And lamentations from the crypts below
And then a voice celestial that begins
With the pathetic words; 〃Although your sins
As scarlet be;〃 and ends with 〃as the snow。〃
IV
With snow…white veil; and garments as of flame;
She stands before thee; who so long ago
Filled thy young heart with passion and the woe
From which thy song in all its splendors came;
And while with stern rebuke she speaks thy name;
The ice about thy heart melts as the snow
On mountain heights; and in swift overflow
Comes gushing from thy lips in sobs of shame。
Thou makest full confession; and a gleam
As of the dawn on some dark forest cast;
Seems on thy lifted forehead to increase;
Lethe and Eunoethe remembered dream
And the forgotten sorrowbring at last
That perfect pardon which is