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

"After that Constantine the eagle turn'd     Against the motions of the heav'n, that roll'd     Consenting with its course, when he of yore,     Lavinia's spouse, was leader of the flight,     A hundred years twice told and more, his seat     At Europe's extreme point, the bird of Jove     Held, near the mountains, whence he issued first.     There, under shadow of his sacred plumes     Swaying the world, till through successive hands     To mine he came devolv'd. Caesar I was,     And am Justinian; destin'd by the will     Of that prime love, whose influence I feel,     From vain excess to clear th' encumber'd laws.     Or ere that work engag'd me, I did hold     Christ's nature merely human, with such faith     Contented. But the blessed Agapete,     Who was chief shepherd, he with warning voice     To the true faith recall'd me. I believ'd     His words: and what he taught, now plainly see,     As thou in every contradiction seest     The true and false oppos'd. Soon as my feet     Were to the church reclaim'd, to my great task,     By inspiration of God's grace impell'd,     I gave me wholly, and consign'd mine arms     To Belisarius, with whom heaven's right hand     Was link'd in such conjointment, 't was a sign     That I should rest. To thy first question thus     I shape mine answer, which were ended here,     But that its tendency doth prompt perforce     To some addition; that thou well, mayst mark     What reason on each side they have to plead,     By whom that holiest banner is withstood,     Both who pretend its power and who oppose.     "Beginning from that hour, when Pallas died     To give it rule, behold the valorous deeds     Have made it worthy reverence. Not unknown     To thee, how for three hundred years and more     It dwelt in Alba, up to those fell lists     Where for its sake were met the rival three;     Nor aught unknown to thee, which it achiev'd     Down to the Sabines' wrong to Lucrece' woe,     With its sev'n kings conqu'ring the nation round;     Nor all it wrought, by Roman worthies home     'Gainst Brennus and th' Epirot prince, and hosts     Of single chiefs, or states in league combin'd     Of social warfare; hence Torquatus stern,     And Quintius nam'd of his neglected locks,     The Decii, and the Fabii hence acquir'd     Their fame, which I with duteous zeal embalm.     By it the pride of Arab hordes was quell'd,     When they led on by Hannibal o'erpass'd     The Alpine rocks, whence glide thy currents, Po!     Beneath its guidance, in their prime of days     Scipio and Pompey triumph'd; and that hill,     Under whose summit thou didst see the light,     Rued its stern bearing. After, near the hour,     When heav'n was minded that o'er all the world     His own deep calm should brood, to Caesar's hand     Did Rome consign it; and what then it wrought     From Var unto the Rhine, saw Isere's flood,     Saw Loire and Seine, and every vale, that fills     The torrent Rhone. What after that it wrought,     When from Ravenna it came forth, and leap'd     The Rubicon, was of so bold a flight,     That tongue nor pen may follow it. Tow'rds Spain     It wheel'd its bands, then tow'rd Dyrrachium smote,     And on Pharsalia with so fierce a plunge,     E'en the warm Nile was conscious to the pang;     Its native shores Antandros, and the streams     Of Simois revisited, and there     Where Hector lies; then ill for Ptolemy     His pennons shook again; lightning thence fell     On Juba; and the next upon your west,     At sound of the Pompeian trump, return'd.     "What following and in its next bearer's gripe     It wrought, is now by Cassius and Brutus     Bark'd off in hell, and by Perugia's sons     And Modena's was mourn'd. Hence weepeth still     Sad Cleopatra, who, pursued by it,     Took from the adder black and sudden death.     With him it ran e'en to the Red Sea coast;     With him compos'd the world to such a peace,     That of his temple Janus barr'd the door.     "But all the mighty standard yet had wrought,     And was appointed to perform thereafter,     Throughout the mortal kingdom which it sway'd,     Falls in appearance dwindled and obscur'd,     If one with steady eye and perfect thought     On the third Caesar look; for to his hands,     The living Justice, in whose breath I move,     Committed glory, e'en into his hands,     To execute the vengeance of its wrath.     "Hear now and wonder at what next I tell.     After with Titus it was sent to wreak     Vengeance for vengeance of the ancient sin,     And, when the Lombard tooth, with fangs impure,     Did gore the bosom of the holy church,     Under its wings victorious, Charlemagne     Sped to her rescue. Judge then for thyself     Of those, whom I erewhile accus'd to thee,     What they are, and how grievous their offending,     Who are the cause of all your ills. The one     Against the universal ensign rears     The yellow lilies, and with partial aim     That to himself the other arrogates:     So that 't is hard to see which more offends.     Be yours, ye Ghibellines, to veil your arts     Beneath another standard: ill is this     Follow'd of him, who severs it and justice:     And let not with his Guelphs the new-crown'd Charles     Assail it, but those talons hold in dread,     Which from a lion of more lofty port     Have rent the easing. Many a time ere now     The sons have for the sire's transgression wail'd;     Nor let him trust the fond belief, that heav'n     Will truck its armour for his lilied shield.     "This little star is furnish'd with good spirits,     Whose mortal lives were busied to that end,     That honour and renown might wait on them:     And, when desires thus err in their intention,     True love must needs ascend with slacker beam.     But it is part of our delight, to measure     Our wages with the merit; and admire     The close proportion. Hence doth heav'nly justice     Temper so evenly affection in us,     It ne'er can warp to any wrongfulness.     Of diverse voices is sweet music made:     So in our life the different degrees     Render sweet harmony among these wheels.     "Within the pearl, that now encloseth us,     Shines Romeo's light, whose goodly deed and fair     Met ill acceptance. But the Provencals,     That were his foes, have little cause for mirth.     Ill shapes that man his course, who makes his wrong     Of other's worth. Four daughters were there born     To Raymond Berenger, and every one     Became a queen; and this for him did Romeo,     Though of mean state and from a foreign land.     Yet envious tongues incited him to ask     A reckoning of that just one, who return'd     Twelve fold to him for ten. Aged and poor     He parted thence: and if the world did know     The heart he had, begging his life by morsels,     'T would deem the praise, it yields him, scantly dealt."