The Divine Comedy by Dante: The Vision Of Paradise: Canto V

"If beyond earthly wont, the flame of love     Illume me, so that I o'ercome thy power     Of vision, marvel not: but learn the cause     In that perfection of the sight, which soon     As apprehending, hasteneth on to reach     The good it apprehends. I well discern,     How in thine intellect already shines     The light eternal, which to view alone     Ne'er fails to kindle love; and if aught else     Your love seduces, 't is but that it shows     Some ill-mark'd vestige of that primal beam.     "This would'st thou know, if failure of the vow     By other service may be so supplied,     As from self-question to assure the soul."     Thus she her words, not heedless of my wish,     Began; and thus, as one who breaks not off     Discourse, continued in her saintly strain.     "Supreme of gifts, which God creating gave     Of his free bounty, sign most evident     Of goodness, and in his account most priz'd,     Was liberty of will, the boon wherewith     All intellectual creatures, and them sole     He hath endow'd. Hence now thou mayst infer     Of what high worth the vow, which so is fram'd     That when man offers, God well-pleas'd accepts;     For in the compact between God and him,     This treasure, such as I describe it to thee,     He makes the victim, and of his own act.     What compensation therefore may he find?     If that, whereof thou hast oblation made,     By using well thou think'st to consecrate,     Thou would'st of theft do charitable deed.     Thus I resolve thee of the greater point.     "But forasmuch as holy church, herein     Dispensing, seems to contradict the truth     I have discover'd to thee, yet behooves     Thou rest a little longer at the board,     Ere the crude aliment, which thou hast taken,     Digested fitly to nutrition turn.     Open thy mind to what I now unfold,     And give it inward keeping. Knowledge comes     Of learning well retain'd, unfruitful else.     "This sacrifice in essence of two things     Consisteth; one is that, whereof 't is made,     The covenant the other. For the last,     It ne'er is cancell'd if not kept: and hence     I spake erewhile so strictly of its force.     For this it was enjoin'd the Israelites,     Though leave were giv'n them, as thou know'st, to change     The offering, still to offer. Th' other part,     The matter and the substance of the vow,     May well be such, to that without offence     It may for other substance be exchang'd.     But at his own discretion none may shift     The burden on his shoulders, unreleas'd     By either key, the yellow and the white.     Nor deem of any change, as less than vain,     If the last bond be not within the new     Included, as the quatre in the six.     No satisfaction therefore can be paid     For what so precious in the balance weighs,     That all in counterpoise must kick the beam.     Take then no vow at random: ta'en, with faith     Preserve it; yet not bent, as Jephthah once,     Blindly to execute a rash resolve,     Whom better it had suited to exclaim,     'I have done ill,' than to redeem his pledge     By doing worse or, not unlike to him     In folly, that great leader of the Greeks:     Whence, on the alter, Iphigenia mourn'd     Her virgin beauty, and hath since made mourn     Both wise and simple, even all, who hear     Of so fell sacrifice. Be ye more staid,     O Christians, not, like feather, by each wind     Removable: nor think to cleanse ourselves     In every water. Either testament,     The old and new, is yours: and for your guide     The shepherd of the church let this suffice     To save you. When by evil lust entic'd,     Remember ye be men, not senseless beasts;     Nor let the Jew, who dwelleth in your streets,     Hold you in mock'ry. Be not, as the lamb,     That, fickle wanton, leaves its mother's milk,     To dally with itself in idle play."     Such were the words that Beatrice spake:     These ended, to that region, where the world     Is liveliest, full of fond desire she turn'd.     Though mainly prompt new question to propose,     Her silence and chang'd look did keep me dumb.     And as the arrow, ere the cord is still,     Leapeth unto its mark; so on we sped     Into the second realm. There I beheld     The dame, so joyous enter, that the orb     Grew brighter at her smiles; and, if the star     Were mov'd to gladness, what then was my cheer,     Whom nature hath made apt for every change!     As in a quiet and clear lake the fish,     If aught approach them from without, do draw     Towards it, deeming it their food; so drew     Full more than thousand splendours towards us,     And in each one was heard: "Lo! one arriv'd     To multiply our loves!" and as each came     The shadow, streaming forth effulgence new,     Witness'd augmented joy. Here, reader! think,     If thou didst miss the sequel of my tale,     To know the rest how sorely thou wouldst crave;     And thou shalt see what vehement desire     Possess'd me, as soon as these had met my view,     To know their state. "O born in happy hour!     Thou to whom grace vouchsafes, or ere thy close     Of fleshly warfare, to behold the thrones     Of that eternal triumph, know to us     The light communicated, which through heaven     Expatiates without bound. Therefore, if aught     Thou of our beams wouldst borrow for thine aid,     Spare not; and of our radiance take thy fill."     Thus of those piteous spirits one bespake me;     And Beatrice next: "Say on; and trust     As unto gods!"--"How in the light supreme     Thou harbour'st, and from thence the virtue bring'st,     That, sparkling in thine eyes, denotes thy joy,     I mark; but, who thou art, am still to seek;     Or wherefore, worthy spirit! for thy lot     This sphere assign'd, that oft from mortal ken     Is veil'd by others' beams." I said, and turn'd     Toward the lustre, that with greeting, kind     Erewhile had hail'd me. Forthwith brighter far     Than erst, it wax'd: and, as himself the sun     Hides through excess of light, when his warm gaze     Hath on the mantle of thick vapours prey'd;     Within its proper ray the saintly shape     Was, through increase of gladness, thus conceal'd;     And, shrouded so in splendour answer'd me,     E'en as the tenour of my song declares.