Y vió el arcángel, blanco como la nieve, que sentado sobre un inmenso
globo de cristal,[1] lo dirige por el espacio en las noches serenas,
como un bajel de plata sobre la superficie de un lago azul.
[Footnote 1: globo de cristal. The moon. Longfellow thus translates
Dante's description of the sphere of the moon in canto II of the
_Paradiso:_
It seemed to me a cloud encompassed us,
Luminous, dense, consolidate and bright
As adamant on which the sun is striking.
Into itself did the eternal pearl
Receive us...]
Y vió el sol volteando encendido sobre ejes de oro en una atmósfera de
colores y de fuego, y en su foco á los ígneos espíritus[1] que habitan
incólumes entre las llamas, y desde su ardiente seno entonan al
Criador himnos de alegría.
[Footnote 1: ígneos espíritus. These are not elemental spirits (see
p.47, note 1), but are either angelic beings of a fiery nature, or
the spirits of the blessed in the sphere of the sun, of whom Dante
speaks as follows:
Lights many saw, vivid and triumphant,
Make us a center and themselves a circle,
More sweet in voice than luminous in aspect,
Within the court of Heaven, whence I return,
Are many jewels found, so fair and precious
They cannot be transported from the realm;
And of them was the singing of these lights.
_Dante's Paradiso, canto X, Longfellow's translation._]
Vió los hilos de luz imperceptibles que atan los hombres á las
estrellas,[1] y vió el arco íris, echado como un puente colosal sobre
el abismo que separa al primer cielo del segundo.[2]
[Footnote 1: A reference doubtless to the power of the stars to
influence the destiny of man, with which subject astrology concerns
itself. Compare--
That which Timasus argues of the soul
Doth not resemble that which here is seen,
Because it seems that as he speaks he thinks.
He says the soul unto its star returns,
Believing it to have been severed thence
Whenever nature gave it as a form.
Perhaps his doctrine is of other guise
Than the words sound, and possibly may be
With meaning that is not to be derided.
If he doth mean that to these wheels return
The honor of their influence and the blame,
Perhaps his bow doth hit upon some truth.
O glorious stars, O light impregnated
With mighty virtue, from which I acknowledge
All my genius, whatso'er it be.
_Idem, canto's IV and XXII._]
[Footnote 2: primer cielo, segundo. Belief in a series of heavenly
spheres, such as Dante describes, has characterized most mystical
philosophies.]
V
Por una escala[1] misteriosa vió bajar las almas á la tierra; vió
bajar muchas, y subir pocas.[2] Cada una de aquellas almas inocentes
iba acompañada de un arcángel purísimo que le cubría con la sombra de
sus alas. Los que tornaban solos, tornaban en silencio y con lágrimas
en los ojos; los que no, subían cantando como suben las alondras en
las mañanas de Abril?[3]
[Footnote 1: escala. Dante mentions a similar stairway in canto XXII
of the _Paradiso_, and intimates that the vision of it is disclosed
only to true mystics.
He thereupon: "Brother, thy high desire
In the remotest sphere shall be fulfilled,
Where are fulfilled all others and my own.
There perfect is, and ripened, and complete,
Every desire; within that one alone
Is every part where it has always been;
For it is not in space, nor turns on poles,
And unto it our stairway reaches up,
thus from out thy sight it steals away.
Up to that height the Patriarch Jacob saw it
Extending its supernal part, whst time
So thronged with angels it appeared to him.
But to ascend it now no one uplifts
His feet from off the earth...."
_Longfellow's translation_.]
[Footnote 2: pocas. Because, in comparison with the number of souls
born into earthly bodies, but few escape the snares of evil and rise
again to their original state of innocence.]
[Footnote 3: Though the idea is somewhat different, there is a
certain parallelism in the picture evoked by the closing verses of
Rossetti's poem "The Blessed Damozel." The Damozel is represented as
waiting for her lover on the ramparts of heaven.
She gazed and listened and then said,
Less sad of speech than mild,--
"All this is when he comes." She ceased.
The light thrilled towards her, fill'd
With angels in strong level flight.
Her eyes prayed, and she smiled.
(I saw her smile.) But soon their path
Was vague in distant spheres:
And then she cast her arms along
The golden barriers,
And laid her face between her hands,
And wept. (I heard her tears.)]
Después las tinieblas rosadas y azules que flotaban en el espacio,
como cortinas de gasa transparente, se rasgaron como el día de
gloria[1] se rasga en nuestros templos el velo de los altares, y el
paraíso de los justos se ofreció á sus miradas deslumbrador y
magnifico.[2]
[Footnote 1: el día de gloria. Called also _Sábado de gloria_, 'Holy
Saturday.' "During the last two weeks of Lent, the pictures and
statues throughout the Catholic Church are covered by a purple cloth
and uncovered on Holy Saturday. In parts of Spain this unveiling is
effected suddenly by rending them with a spear or lance, so as to
reveal all the pictures and statues at the same time." Hence the
comparison.]
[Footnote 2: Read Dante's description in canto XXXII of the
_Paradiso_]