The Divine Comedy by Dante: The Vision Of Purgatory: Canto XVIII

The teacher ended, and his high discourse     Concluding, earnest in my looks inquir'd     If I appear'd content; and I, whom still     Unsated thirst to hear him urg'd, was mute,     Mute outwardly, yet inwardly I said:     "Perchance my too much questioning offends"     But he, true father, mark'd the secret wish     By diffidence restrain'd, and speaking, gave     Me boldness thus to speak: 'Master, my Sight     Gathers so lively virtue from thy beams,     That all, thy words convey, distinct is seen.     Wherefore I pray thee, father, whom this heart     Holds dearest! thou wouldst deign by proof t' unfold     That love, from which as from their source thou bring'st     All good deeds and their opposite.'" He then:     "To what I now disclose be thy clear ken     Directed, and thou plainly shalt behold     How much those blind have err'd, who make themselves     The guides of men. The soul, created apt     To love, moves versatile which way soe'er     Aught pleasing prompts her, soon as she is wak'd     By pleasure into act. Of substance true     Your apprehension forms its counterfeit,     And in you the ideal shape presenting     Attracts the soul's regard. If she, thus drawn,     incline toward it, love is that inclining,     And a new nature knit by pleasure in ye.     Then as the fire points up, and mounting seeks     His birth-place and his lasting seat, e'en thus     Enters the captive soul into desire,     Which is a spiritual motion, that ne'er rests     Before enjoyment of the thing it loves.     Enough to show thee, how the truth from those     Is hidden, who aver all love a thing     Praise-worthy in itself: although perhaps     Its substance seem still good. Yet if the wax     Be good, it follows not th' impression must."     "What love is," I return'd, "thy words, O guide!     And my own docile mind, reveal. Yet thence     New doubts have sprung. For from without if love     Be offer'd to us, and the spirit knows     No other footing, tend she right or wrong,     Is no desert of hers." He answering thus:     "What reason here discovers I have power     To show thee: that which lies beyond, expect     From Beatrice, faith not reason's task.     Spirit, substantial form, with matter join'd     Not in confusion mix'd, hath in itself     Specific virtue of that union born,     Which is not felt except it work, nor prov'd     But through effect, as vegetable life     By the green leaf. From whence his intellect     Deduced its primal notices of things,     Man therefore knows not, or his appetites     Their first affections; such in you, as zeal     In bees to gather honey; at the first,     Volition, meriting nor blame nor praise.     But o'er each lower faculty supreme,     That as she list are summon'd to her bar,     Ye have that virtue in you, whose just voice     Uttereth counsel, and whose word should keep     The threshold of assent. Here is the source,     Whence cause of merit in you is deriv'd,     E'en as the affections good or ill she takes,     Or severs, winnow'd as the chaff. Those men     Who reas'ning went to depth profoundest, mark'd     That innate freedom, and were thence induc'd     To leave their moral teaching to the world.     Grant then, that from necessity arise     All love that glows within you; to dismiss     Or harbour it, the pow'r is in yourselves.     Remember, Beatrice, in her style,     Denominates free choice by eminence     The noble virtue, if in talk with thee     She touch upon that theme." The moon, well nigh     To midnight hour belated, made the stars     Appear to wink and fade; and her broad disk     Seem'd like a crag on fire, as up the vault     That course she journey'd, which the sun then warms,     When they of Rome behold him at his set.     Betwixt Sardinia and the Corsic isle.     And now the weight, that hung upon my thought,     Was lighten'd by the aid of that clear spirit,     Who raiseth Andes above Mantua's name.     I therefore, when my questions had obtain'd     Solution plain and ample, stood as one     Musing in dreary slumber; but not long     Slumber'd; for suddenly a multitude,     The steep already turning, from behind,     Rush'd on. With fury and like random rout,     As echoing on their shores at midnight heard     Ismenus and Asopus, for his Thebes     If Bacchus' help were needed; so came these     Tumultuous, curving each his rapid step,     By eagerness impell'd of holy love.     Soon they o'ertook us; with such swiftness mov'd     The mighty crowd. Two spirits at their head     Cried weeping; "Blessed Mary sought with haste     The hilly region. Caesar to subdue     Ilerda, darted in Marseilles his sting,     And flew to Spain."--"Oh tarry not: away;"     The others shouted; "let not time be lost     Through slackness of affection. Hearty zeal     To serve reanimates celestial grace."     "O ye, in whom intenser fervency     Haply supplies, where lukewarm erst ye fail'd,     Slow or neglectful, to absolve your part     Of good and virtuous, this man, who yet lives,     (Credit my tale, though strange) desires t' ascend,     So morning rise to light us. Therefore say     Which hand leads nearest to the rifted rock?"     So spake my guide, to whom a shade return'd:     "Come after us, and thou shalt find the cleft.     We may not linger: such resistless will     Speeds our unwearied course. Vouchsafe us then     Thy pardon, if our duty seem to thee     Discourteous rudeness. In Verona I     Was abbot of San Zeno, when the hand     Of Barbarossa grasp'd Imperial sway,     That name, ne'er utter'd without tears in Milan.     And there is he, hath one foot in his grave,     Who for that monastery ere long shall weep,     Ruing his power misus'd: for that his son,     Of body ill compact, and worse in mind,     And born in evil, he hath set in place     Of its true pastor." Whether more he spake,     Or here was mute, I know not: he had sped     E'en now so far beyond us. Yet thus much     I heard, and in rememb'rance treasur'd it.     He then, who never fail'd me at my need,     Cried, "Hither turn. Lo! two with sharp remorse     Chiding their sin!" In rear of all the troop     These shouted: "First they died, to whom the sea     Open'd, or ever Jordan saw his heirs:     And they, who with Aeneas to the end     Endur'd not suffering, for their portion chose     Life without glory." Soon as they had fled     Past reach of sight, new thought within me rose     By others follow'd fast, and each unlike     Its fellow: till led on from thought to thought,     And pleasur'd with the fleeting train, mine eye     Was clos'd, and meditation chang'd to dream.