CANTO VIII.

Ascent to the Third Heaven, or that of Venus, where are seen the Spirits of

The Fourth Heaven, or that of the Sun, where are seen the Spirits of Theolo-

gians and Fathers of the Church. St. Thomas Aquinas.

-

CANTO XI.

St. Thomas Aquinas recounts the Life of St. Francis.

48

55

. 62

69

The Fifth Heaven, or that of Mars, where are seen the Spirits of Martyrs, and

of Crusaders who died fighting for the true Faith. The Celestial Cross . 89

-

CANTO XVIII.

The Sixth Heaven, or that of Jupiter, where are seen the Spirits of Righteous

The Seventh Heaven, or that of Saturn, where are seen the Spirits of the

Contemplative.

-

-

The Celestial Stairway. St. Peter Damiano.

Invectives against the Luxury of the Prelates

CANTO XXII.

-

St. Benedict. His Lamentation over the Corruption of the Monks.

Eighth Heaven, or that of the Fixed Stars.

CANTO XXIII.

The Triumph of Christ

CANTO XXVIII.

God and the Celestial Hierarchies

CANTO XXIX.

Beatrice's Discourse of the Creation of the Angels, and of the Fall of Lucifer.
Her Reproof of the Ignorance and Avarice of Preachers, and the Sale
of Indulgences

CANTO XXX.

The Tenth Heaven, or Empyrean. The River of Light. - The Two Courts
of Heaven. The White Rose of Paradise

Prayer to the Virgin. - The Threefold Circle of the Trinity.- Mystery of the

Divine and Human Nature.

NOTES

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Le Dante

La Divine Comédie .

Notes sur le Dante

La Comédie Divine .

La Philosophie Italienne

La Divine Comédie.

Dante, Imitateur et Créateur

Cabala

INDEX

. 183

189

. 196

.

217

225

387

389

I

LIFT mine eyes, and all the windows blaze

With forms of Saints and holy men who died,
Here martyred and hereafter glorified;

And the great Rose upon its leaves displays
Christ's Triumph, and the angelic roundelays,
With splendor upon splendor multiplied;

And Beatrice again at Dante's side

No more rebukes, but smiles her words of praise.

And then the organ sounds, and unseen choirs

Sing the old Latin hymns of peace and love

And benedictions of the Holy Ghost;

And the melodious bells among the spires

O'er all the house-tops and through heaven above

Proclaim the elevation of the Host!

O

STAR of morning and of liberty!

O bringer of the light, whose splendor shines
Above the darkness of the Apennines,

Forerunner of the day that is to be!

The voices of the city and the sea,

The voices of the mountains and the pines,
Repeat thy song, till the familiar lines

Are footpaths for the thought of Italy!
Thy fame is blown abroad from all the heights,
Through all the nations, and a sound is heard,
As of a mighty wind, and men devout,
Strangers of Rome, and the new proselytes,

In their own language hear thy wondrous word,
And many are amazed and many doubt.