NOTES TO PARADISO. "When I behold this goodly frame, this world, Round this opacous earth, this punctual spot, Served by more noble than herself, attains Of incorporeal speed, her warmth and light, Speed, to describe whose swiftness number fails.' The reply that Raphael makes to "our general ancestor,' may be addressed to every reader of the Para diso: "Whether the sun, predominant in heaven, And bears thee soft with the smooth air along; Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid." Thus, taking the earth as the central point, and speaking of the order of the Ten Heavens, Dante says, Convito, II. 4: The first is that where the Moon is; the second is that where Mercury is ; the third is that where Venus is; the fourth is that where the Sun is; the fifth is that where Mars is; the sixth is that where Jupiter is; the seventh is that where Saturn is; the eighth is that of the Stars; the ninth is not visible, save by the motion mentioned above, and is called by many the Crystalline : that is, diaphanous, or wholly transparent. Beyond all these, indeed, the Catholics place the Empyrean Heaven; that is to say, the Heaven of flame, or luminous; and this they suppose to be immovable, from having within itself, in every part, that which its matter demands. And this is the cause why the Primum Mobile has a very swift motion; from the fervent longing which each part of that ninth heaven has to be conjoined with that Divinest Heaven, the Heaven of Rest, which is next to it, it revolves therein with so great desire, that its velocity is almost incomprehensible; and quiet and peaceful is the place of that supreme Deity, who alone doth perfectly see himself." Of the symbolism of these Heavens he says, Convito, II. 14: "As narrated above, the seven Heavens nearest to us are those of the Planets; and above these are two movable Heavens, and one motionless over all. To the first seven correspond the seven sciences of the Trivium and Quadrivium; that is, Grammar, Dialectics, Rhetoric, Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, and Astrology. To the eighth, that is, to the Physics, corresponds, and the first starry sphere, Natural Science, called science which is called Metaphysics; and to the ninth sphere corresponds Moral Science; and to the Heaven of Rest, the Divine Science, which is called Theology." The details of these correspondences X. 2. From Canto X. to Canto XXIII. will be given later in their appropriate 3. From Canto XXIII. to the end. places. These Ten Heavens are the heavens of the Paradiso; nine of them revolving about the earth as a central point, and the motionless Empyrean encircling and containing all. In the first Heaven, or that of the Moon, are seen the spirits of those who, having taken monastic vows, were forced to violate them. In the second, or that of Mercury, the spirits of those whom desire of fame, incited to noble deeds. In the third, or that of Venus, the spirits of Lovers. In the fourth, or that of the Sun, the spirits of Theologians and Fathers of the Church. In the fifth, or that of Mars, the spirits of Crusaders and those who died for the true Faith. In the sixth, or that of Jupiter, the spirits of righteous Kings and Ruiers. In the seventh, or that of Saturn, the spirits of the Contemplative. In the eighth, or that of the Fixed Stars In the ninth, the Triumph of Christ. or Primum Mobile, the Angelic Hierarchies. In the tenth, or the Empyrean, is the Visible Presence of God. It must be observed, however, that the lower spheres, in which the spirits appear, are not assigned them as their places or dwellings. They show themselves in these different places only to indicate to Dante the different degrees of glory which they enjoy, and to show that while on earth they were under the influence of the planets in which they here appear. Dante expressly says, in Canto IV. 28: "He of the Seraphim most absorbed in God, Nor of existence more or fewer years This sphere has been to them, but to give sign The threefold main division of the Paradiso, indicated by a longer prelude, or by a natural pause in the action of the poem, is: -1. From Canto I. to Canto 2. Wisdom of Solomon, i. 7: "For the spirit of the Lord filleth the world"; and Ecclesiasticus, xlii. 16: "The sun that giveth light looketh upon all things, and the work thereof is full of the glory of the Lord.” 4. The Empyrean. Lost, III. 57: Milton, Par. "From the pure Empyrean where he sits High throned above all highth." 5. 2 Corinthians, xii. 2: "I knew a man in Christ about fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell God knoweth ;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell; God knoweth :) how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." 7. Convito, III. 2: "Hence the human soul, which is the noblest form of those created under heaven, receiveth more of the divine nature than any other. And inasmuch as its being depends upon God, and is preserved by him, it naturally desires and wishes to be united with God, in order to strengthen its being." And again, Convito, III. 6: "Each thing chiefly desireth its own perfection, and in it quieteth every desire, and for And this is it is each thing desired. the desire which always maketh each delight seem insufficient; for in this life is no delight so great that it can satisfy the thirst of the soul, so that the desire I speak of shall not remain in our thoughts." 13. Chaucer, House of Fame, III NOTES TO PARADISO. 19. Chaucer, Ballade in Commendacion of Our Ladie, 12 : "O winde of grace! now blowe unto my saile; 20. Ovid, Met., VI., Croxall's Tr. :"When straight another pictures to their view The Satyr's fate, whom angry Phoebus slew; Who, raised with high conceit, and puffed with pride, At his own pipe the skilful God defied. And Chaucer, House of Fame, changing the sex of Marsyas : : "And Mercia that lost hire skinne, Restless I grew, and every place forsook, 66 was "As Glaucus," says Buti, changed from a fisherman to a sea-god by tasting of the grass that had that power, so the human soul, tasting of things divine, becomes divine." 73. Whether I were spirit only. 2 "Whether in the Corinthians, xii. 3: cannot tell; body, or out of the body, God knoweth." One of the questions which exercised 139, the minds of the Fathers and the Schoolmen was, whether the soul were created before the body or after it. Origen, following Plato, supposes all souls to have been created at once, and to await their bodies. Thomas Aquinas combats this opinion, Sum. Theol., I. Quæst. CXVIII. 3, and maintains, that "creation and infusion are simultaneous in regard to the soul." Dante's belief. 36. A town at the foot of Parnassus, dedicated to Apollo, and here used for Apollo. Chaucer, Quene Annelida and False Arcite, 15: "Be favorable eke thou, Polymnia! On Parnassus that, with thy susters glade 39. That point of the horizon where the sun rises at the equinox; and where the Equator, the Zodiac, and the equinoctial Colure meet, and form each a cross with the Horizon. 41. The world is as wax, which the sun softens and stamps with his seal. 44. "This word almost," says Buti, gives us to understand that it was not the exact moment when the sun enters Aries." 60. Milton, Par. Lost, III. 593 :"Not all parts like, but all alike informed With radiant light, as glowing iron with fire." 61. Milton, Par. Lost, V. 310: "Seems another morn Risen on mid-noon.' 68. Glaucus, changed to a sea-god by eating of the salt-meadow grass. Ovid, Met., XIII., Rowe's Tr. :— This seems also to be "The primal Motor turns to it well pleased See also Note 1. 78. The music of the spheres. Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, V. "Look, how the floor of heaven "Ring out, ye crystal spheres, Once bless our human ears, If ye have power to touch our senses 90. And let the bass of Heaven's deep organ And, with your ninefold harmony, Make up full consort to the angelic symphony." all your senses it is the most blunted. Thus, the people who live near the place where the Nile rushes down from very high mountains to the parts which are called Catadupa, are destitute of the sense of hearing, by reason of the great Rixner, Handbuch der Geschichte der Philosophie, I. 100, speaking of the ten heavens, or the Lyre of Pythagoras, says: "These ten celestial spheres are arranged among themselves in an order so mathematical and musical, that is so harmonious, that the sphere of the fixedness of the noise. Now this sound, stars, which is above the sphere of Saturn, gives forth the deepest tone in the music of the universe (the WorldLyre strung with ten strings), and that of the Moon the highest." Cicero, in his Vision of Scipio, inverts the tones. He says, Edmonds's Tr. :"Which as I was gazing at in amazement, I said, as I recovered myself, from whence proceed these sounds so strong, and yet so sweet, that fill my ears? The melody,' replies he, which you hear, and which, though composed in unequal time, is nevertheless divided into regular harmony, is effected by the impulse and motion of the spheres themselves, which, by a happy temper of sharp and grave notes, regularly produces various harmonic effects. Now it is impossible that such prodigious movements should pass in silence; and nature teaches that the sounds which the spheres at one extremity utter must be sharp, and those on the other extremity must be grave; on which account, that highest revolution of the star-studded heaven, whose motion is more rapid, is carried on with a sharp and quick sound; whereas this of the moon, which is situated the lowest, and at the other extremity, moves with the gravest sound. For the earth, the ninth sphere, remaining motionless, abides invariably in the innermost position, occupying the central spot in the universe. 666 Some which is effected by the rapid rotation of the whole system of nature, is so powerful that human hearing cannot comprehend it, just as you cannot look directly upon the sun, because your sight and sense are overcome by his beams.'" 92. The region of fire. Brunetto Latini, Tresor, Ch. CVIII.: "After the zone of the air is placed the fourth element. This is an orb of fire without any moisture, which extends as far as the moon, and surrounds this atmosphere in which we are. And know that above the fire is first the moon, and the other stars, which are all of the nature of fire." 109. Milton, Par. Lost. V. 469 : All things proceed, and up to him return, leaves More aery; last, the bright consummate flower 121. Filicaja's beautiful sonnet Providence is thus translated by Leigh Hunt : Yearns towards her little children from her Now these eight directions, two of which have the same powers, effect seven sounds, differing in their modulations, which number is the connecting principle of almost all things. learned men, by imitating this harmony "Just as a nother, with sweet, pious face, with strings and vocal melodies, have opened a way for their return to this place as all others have done, who, endued with pre-eminent qualities, have cultivated in their mortal life the pursuits of heaven. "The ears of mankind, filled with these sounds, have become deaf, for of seat, Gives one a kiss, another an embrace, She learns their feelings and their various To this a look, to that a word, dispenses, And, whether stern or smiling, loves them still |