CANTO THE THIRTY‑THIRD.
ARGUMENT.
“ O VIRGIN ! who thy soft attraction drew
From him, who ow’d his mortal Form to you,
Whose lowly Mind those Angel plumes admir’d
That rais’d thee to the Stars ; the mighty Plan
Of Man’s Salvation, which in Heav’n began,
Thro’ thee deriv’d, new energy acquir’d.
II.
“ On thee
the Majesty of Heav’n bestow’d
Such matchless honour, that the SON OF GOD
Came from the Skies, and chose that humble Shrine,
Where, for a time, he deign’d his Light to shrowd ;
Then, like the Sun emerging from a Cloud,
Call’d forth to Light and Life those Germs divine.
III.
“ Hence Charity derives her fervent glow,
And Hope on heav’nly prospects lives below ;
The Souls, that to another Fount apply
Than thy First‑born, a broken cistern
find,
And, with judicial impotence of Mind,
Try with a plumeless wing to mount the Sky.
IV.
“ By thee preventing Grace each bold demand
Heeds not, but oft bestows, with lib’ral hand,
Her choicest Blessings on the Heart contrite ;
The mingled bounties of the heav’nly Throne,
And soft Compassion’s stores, by thee were
shown,
Which ransom’d Nature fill’d with new delight.
V.
“ The Man, that from the STYGIAN world below
Has found his way to this OLYMPIAN brow,
Climbing aloft by that stupendous Vine,
From bough to bough, that o’er the ample Face
Of this dread Universe its Shade displays,
To his last labour craves thy help divine.
VI.
“ Not for myself I long’d so much of old,
The BEATIFIC VISION to behold,
As now for him the heav’nly Boon to gain ;
O holy Virgin, purge his mental eye,
From thy bright glance new energy supply,
Nor let they Suppliant’s vows be breath’d in
vain.
VII.
“O heav’nly Maid ! with matchless pow’r
endow’d,
As from his Mind you chace th’ opposing Cloud,
So guard him from th’ intolerable Beam,
Which else would turn his ecstacy to pain,
And quite destroy the fabric of his brain,
Far, far too weak to bear the fierce extreme.
VIII.
“ O guard, celestial Maid ! the sacred Trust !
See these uplifted palms that once were dust,
From ev’ry stage of this OLYMPIAN Choir,
All rais’d to thee, with HERS that show’d the
Path,
Thro’ the tremendous haunts of Sin and Death !
Relent, sweet Maid, and grant their warm desire
!”
IX.
A sacred smile, that seem’d to melt the Sky,
From the twin Stars of everlasting Joy,
Accordance gave ; then to the Source of Light
Mine eyes I rais’d, that felt a fiercer gleam
Than e’er from op’ning Heav’n was seen to
stream
On the dim organs of terrestrial sight.
X.
But I, that now my strong desire beheld
So near completion, found each wish repell’d,
And quench’d with the cold drops of holy fear :
At length the Senior gave the awful sign,
His looks inspir’d my Soul with force divine,
That seem’d new wing’d to mount the heav’nly
sphere.
XI.
He smil’d my kindling ardours to behold,
For, with new life inspir’d, erect and bold,
I met the Prospect with untroubled gaze ;
My visual nerves, by uncreated Light
Sustain’d, still inward, like an Eagle’s sight,
Sent my keen eye‑beam thro’ th’ empyreal
Blaze.
XII.
But there such Wonders on my senses broke,
It shakes my Soul like Heav’n’s æthereal stroke,
No tongue can tell what prospects met my eyes !
Even the fair Pictures, tho’ by Heav’n pourtray’d
On the frail tablet of the Mem’ry, fade
Like setting splendours in the Ev’ning Skies.
XIII.
As when the faculties, arous’d from sleep,
Of some wild dream the strong impression keep,
Till o’er the awful scene Oblivion holds
Her cloudy palm, and blots the Vision fair,
Then gradual draws a veil of formless air,
Which soon each evanescent Shape enfolds.
XIV.
Such was my feeling, as the Vision fled,
A mingled thrilling sense of love and dread ;
It vibrates in my heart, and burns my brain
Ev’n now ; and, oh ! how quick it seem’d to go,
As to an APRIL Sun the drifted snow,
In vapours rising from the vernal plain.
XV.
The pictur’d Series thus of times to come,
On leaves design’d, within her lonely room,
By SYBILL’s hands, the wanton breeze destroys :
“ O all‑surpassing Source of raptures
high,
One scintillation to my Mind supply,
One glimpse, to shew the Source of heav’nly joys !
XVI.
“ O tune my tongue to that seraphic strain,
That bids the Image, duly press’d, remain
Upon the gen’ral Mind and on my own !
That some faint trace, tho’ by reflexion view’d,
May give a Semblance of the SOV’REIGN GOOD,
To the dark Souls confin’d beneath the Moon.”
XVII.
With Beam direct, I fac’d the vivid Light,
By Instinct led ; for had I turn’d my sight
The least degree askance, the blinding Beam
In sudden Night had quench’d my visual pow’rs ;
But this I met with more collected force,
The noontide Glory in its fierce extreme.
XVIII.
By uncreated energy refin’d,
Boldly I dar’d to scan th’ ETERNAL MIND :
O heav’nly Grace, that thus benignant bore
A Mortal’s daring eyes, that travell’d far
Amid thy wonders, till th’ eternal Bar,
Uprais’d by Mercy, bade me look no more.
XIX.
Yet I beheld, before the Vision clos’d,
These awful Pow’rs that rule the heav’nly Host,
And Nature’s universal reign, conbin’d,
In one eternal act ; each substance there,
Each accident and mode, distinct and clear,
I saw reflected in the heav’nly Mind.
XX.
Yet all those strange varieties in one
Full on my eyes in cloudless splendour shone,
Without a mixture, and without a shade ;
I bore the sight, ’twas no illusive spell,
For yet with transport on the thought I dwell,
Tho’ faintly to my inward eye convey’d.
XXI.
One moment of Oblivion swept away
More from the Mind, on that distinguish’d day,
Than the whole course of Time’s o’erbearing tide
Could drown, from the first dawn of op’ning
Light,
Till then, when NEPTUNE saw, with new delight,
Tall ARGO’s Shadow on his surges ride.
XXII.
The splendid Scene, with strong attraction drew
My pow’rs, all cent’red in the glorious view,
And as I gaz’d, I kindled at the sight ;
No Mortal from the glorious view could turn,
Tho’ Worlds should dance and Planets round him
burn,
And ev’ry charm to lure his eyes unite.
XXIII.
All good that fills the universal Sphere,
Thro’ boundless time and space, is centred here
;
And all perfections else, wherever found,
Altho’, compar’d to that transcendent ray,
Like gath’ring mists they seem, that cloud the
day,
When in their Orbs they light the mundane
round.
XXIV.
My imperfection spoils the heav’nly theme ;
The Infant thus, that quaffs the milky stream,
Mars her incipient words with wailing cry :
Yet an unvary’d semblance here was seen ;
What now it is, the GODHEAD still has been,
And Chance or Change must ever more defy.
XXV.
Yet to spiritual organs, far refin’d
Above material Sense, th’ eternal Mind,
Tho’ ONE itself, a changing aspect wore ;
More glorious far, and more intensely bright,
The Vision seem’d, as with a sharper sight
I try’d the glorious Prospect to explore.
XXVI.
THREE Splendours seem’d their Glories to unite,
And then diverge amid th’ abyss of Light,
Each catching in their turn the running Blaze ;
As if three colours of the show’ry bow,
With bright alternate hues, were seen to glow,
For ever blending in a radiant
maze.
XXVII.
The central Glory seem’d a rising
Fire,
Darting on either side his flaming
spire !---
Alas ! how poorly do my words
express
Ev’n the faint Picture that my
Fancy drew !
And that, how far beneath the wond’rous View !
It were abuse of words to call it less.
XXVIII.
Thou self-existent Beam, where all to come,
Present and past, within the ample
womb
Of deep Duration held, to being
spring
At once, I saw you with unbounded
joy,
As if a second dawn illum’d the
Sky,
Soaring to catch thy sight with
flaming wing.
XXIX.
With sudden glance, the sun‑bright
Mirror show’d
A radiant Form, that seem’d an human God ;
His regal mien, and sweet ELYSIAN glance,
As with a spell, my whole attention caught ;
On the fair Vision still, absorpt in thought,
I hung, like one in soft delicious trance.
XXX.
As the GEOMETER, with studious pain,
To square the circle, plies his art in vain
The reconciling principle to find ;
So ponder’d I, on this strange problem fix’d,
When Manhood shone so bright with GODHEAD
mix’d,
Matter concrete, with pure abstracted Mind.
XXXI.
But ill could mortal Sense this sight explore,
Until a lucid Hand, extended o’er
My straining eyes, the Miracle display’d,
Bright as empyreal Noon, which Heav’n denies
To paint !‑‑-O may his Will, that
rules the Skies,
In this and all, be evermore obey’d !
END OF THE COMMEDIA OF DANTE.