# Paradise Canto 23

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> Christianity Index  Divine Comedy Index  Previous: Paradise Canto 22  Next: Paradise Canto 24  
> 
> Canto XXIII
> 
> Argument
> 
>      He sees Christ triumphing with his Church. The Saviour ascends followed
> by his Virgin Mother. The others remain with St. Peter.
> 
> E'en as the bird, who midst the leafy bower
> Has, in her nest, sat darkling through the night,
> With her sweet brood; impatient to descry
> Their wished looks, and to bring home their food,
> In the fond quest unconscious of her toil:
> She, of the time prevenient, on the spray,
> That overhangs their couch, with wakeful gaze
> Expects the sun; nor ever, till the dawn,
> Removeth from the east her eager ken:
> So stood the dame erect, and bent her glance
> Wistfully on that region,[1] where the sun
> Abateth most his speed; that, seeing her
> Suspense and wondering, I became as one,
> In whom desire is waken'd, and the hope
> Of somewhat new to come fills with delight.
> 
> [1: "That region." Toward the south, where the course of the sun
> appears less rapid, than when he is in the east or the west.]
> 
> Short space ensued; I was not held, I say,
> Long in expectance, when I saw the Heaven
> Wax more and more resplendent; and, "Behold,"
> Cried Beatrice, "the triumphal hosts
> Of Christ, and all the harvest gather'd in,
> Made ripe by these revolving spheres." Meseem'd,
> That, while she spake, her image all did burn;
> And in her eyes such fulness was of joy,
> As I am fain to pass unconstrued by.
> 
> As in the calm full moon, when Trivia[2] smiles,
> In peerless beauty, 'mid the eternal nymphs,[3]
> That paint through all its gulfs the blue profound;
> In bright pre - eminence so saw I there
> O'er million lamps a Sun, from whom all drew
> Their radiance, as from ours the starry train:
> And, through the living light, so lustrous glow'd
> The substance, that my ken endured it not.
> 
> [2: "Trivia." A name of Diana.]
> 
> [3: "The eternal nymphs." The stars. Those starry nymphs which dance
> about the pole. Drummond Sonnet.]
> 
> O Beatrice! sweet and precious guide,
> Who cheer'd me with her comfortable words:
> "Against the virtue, that o'erpowereth thee,
> Avails not to resist. Here is the Might,[4]
> And here the Wisdom, which did open lay
> The path, that had been yearned for so long,
> Betwixt the Heaven and earth." Like to the fire,
> That, in a cloud imprison'd, doth break out
> Expansive, so that from its womb enlarged,
> It falleth against nature to the ground;
> Thus, in that heavenly banqueting, my soul
> Outgrew herself; and, in the transport lost,
> Holds now remembrance none of what she was.
> 
> [4: "The Might." Our Saviour.]
> 
> "Ope thou thine eyes, and mark me: thou hast seen
> Things, that empower thee to sustain my smile."
> 
> I was as one, when a forgotten dream
> Doth come across him, and he strives in vain
> To shape it in his fantasy again:
> Whenas that gracious boon was proffer'd me,
> Which never may be cancel'd from the book
> Wherein the past is written. Now were all
> Those tongues to sound, that have, on sweetest milk
> Of Polyhymnia and her sisters, fed
> And fatten'd; not with all their help to boot,
> Unto the thousandth parcel of the truth,
> My song might shadow forth that saintly smile,
> How merely, in her saintly looks, it wrought.
> And, with such figuring of Paradise,
> The sacred strain must leap, like one that meets
> A sudden interruption to his road.
> But he, who thinks how ponderous the theme,
> And that 'tis laid upon a mortal shoulder,
> May pardon, if it tremble with the burden.
> The track, our venturous keel must furrow, brooks
> No unribb'd pinnace, no self - sparing pilot.
> 
> "Why doth my face," said Beatrice, "thus
> Enamour thee, as that thou dost not turn
> Unto the beautiful garden, blossoming
> 
> Beneath the rays of Christ? Here is the Rose,[5]
> Wherein the Word Divine was made incarnate;
> And here the lilies,..[6] by whose odour known
> The way of life was follow'd." Prompt I heard
> Her bidding, and encounter'd once again
> The strife of aching vision. As, erewhile, [cloud,
> Through glance of sun - light, stream'd through broken
> Mine eyes a flower - besprinkled mead have seen;
> Though veil'd themselves in shade: so saw I there
> Legions of splendours, on whom burning rays
> Shed lightnings from above; yet saw I not
> The fountain whence they flow'd. O gracious Virtue
> Thou, whose broad stamp is on them, higher up
> Thou didst exalt Thy glory,[7] to give room
> To my o'erlabour'd sight; when at the name
> Of that fair flower,[8] whom duly I invoke
> Both morn and eve, my soul with all her might
> Collected, on the goodliest ardour fix'd.
> And, as the bright dimensions of the star
> In Heaven excelling, as once here on earth,
> Were, in my eye - balls livelily pourtray'd;
> Lo! from within the sky a cresset[9] fell,
> Circling in fashion of a diadem;
> And girt the star; and, hovering, round it wheel'd.
> 
> [5: "The rose." The Virgin Mary, who is termed by the Church, "Rosa
> Mystica." "I was exalted like a palm - tree in Engaddi, and as a rose - plant
> in Jericho." - Ecclesiasticus, xxiv. 14.]
> 
> [6: "The lilies." The Apostles. "And give ye a sweet savour as
> frankincense, and flourish as a lily." - Ecclesiasticus, xxxix. 14.]
> 
> [7: "Thou didst exalt thy glory." The divine light retired upward, to
> render the eyes of Dante more capable of enduring the spectacle which now
> presented itself.]
> 
> [8: "_____ the name Of that fair flower." The name of the Virgin.]
> 
> [9: "A cresset." The angel Gabriel.]
> 
> Whatever melody sounds sweetest here,
> And draws the spirit most onto itself,
> Might seem a rent cloud, when it grates the thunder;
> Compared unto the sounding of that lyre,[10]
> Wherewith the goodliest sapphire,[11] that inlays
> The floor of Heaven was crown'd. "Angelic Love
> I am, who thus with hovering flight enwheel
> The lofty rapture from that womb inspired,
> Where our desire did dwell: and round thee so,
> Lady of Heaven! will hover; long as thou
> Thy Son shalt follow, and diviner joy
> Shall from thy presence gild the highest sphere."
> 
> [10: "That lyre." By synecdoche, the lyre is put for the angel.]
> 
> [11: The Virgin.]
> 
> Such close was to the circling melody:
> And, as it ended, all the other lights
> Took up the strain, and echoed Mary's name.
> 
> The robe,[12] that with its regal folds enwraps
> The world, and with the nearer breath of God
> Doth burn and quiver, held so far retired
> Its inner hem and skirting over us,
> That yet no glimmer of its majesty
> Had stream'd unto me: therefore were mine eyes
> Unequal to pursue the crowned flame,[13]
> That towering rose, and sought the seed[14] it bore.
> And like to babe, that stretches forth its arms
> For every eagerness toward the breast,
> After the milk is taken; so outstretch'd
> Their wavy summits all the fervent band,
> Through zealous love to Mary: then, in view,
> There halted; and "Regina Coeli"[15] sang
> So sweetly, the delight hath left me never.
> 
> [12: "The robe." The ninth heaven, the primum mobile, that enfolds
> and moves the eight lower heavens.]
> 
> [13: "The crowned flame." The Virgin, with the angel hovering over
> her.]
> 
> [14: "The seed." Our Saviour.]
> 
> [15: "Regina Coeli." "The beginning of an anthem, sung by the Church
> at Easter, in honor of Our Lady."]
> 
> Oh! what o'erflowing plenty is up - piled
> In those rich - laden coffers,[16] which below
> Sow'd the good seed, whose harvest now they keep.
> Here are the treasures tasted, that with tears
> Were in the Babylonian exile[17] won,
> When gold had fail'd them. Here, in synod high
> Of ancient council with the new convened,
> Under the Son of Mary and of God,
> Victorious he[18] his mighty triumph holds,
> To whom the keys of glory were assign'd.
> 
> [16: "Those rich - laden coffers." Those spirits, who, having sown
> the seed of good works on earth, now contain the fruit of their pious
> endeavors.]
> 
> [17: "In the Babylonian exile." During their abode in this world.]
> 
> [18: "He." St. Peter, with the other holy men of the Old and New
> Testaments.]
>
> — *Paradise Canto 23*