31.
Mild are thy rays, oh, Sol! from Taurus sent,
And from the Lion thy beams mature and burn,
And when thy light from pungent Scorpion darts
Transcendent is the ardour of thy flames.
From fierce Deucalion all is struck with cold,
Stiffened the lakes and locked the running streams.
With spring, with summer, autumn, and with winter,
I warm, I kindle, burn and blaze for ever.
So ardent my desire,
The object so supreme for which I burn;
Glowing and unencumbered I behold,
And make my lightnings flash unto the stars.
No moment can I count in all the year
To change the[E] inexorable cross I bear.
Here observe that the four seasons of the year are signified, not by
four movable signs, which are Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, but
by the four which are called fixed--namely, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and
Aquarius, to signify the condition, fervour, and perfection of those
seasons. Note further, that in virtue of those apostrophes, which are in
the eighth line, you can read: I warm, kindle, burn, blaze; or, be thou
warmed, kindled, burning, blazing; or, let him warm, kindle, burn,
blaze.
[E] Sordi affanni.
You have farther to consider that these are not four synonyms, but four
different terms, which signify so many degrees of the effects of the
fire, which first warms, secondly kindles, thirdly burns, and fourthly
blazes or inflames that which it has warmed, kindled, and burnt. And
thus are denoted in the enthusiast, desire, attention, study, affection,
in which he never for a moment feels any change.