tion of the poet to such a degree, that Dante is deprived of sight, and falls into a trance.* During this abstraction from the things of earth, he is examined by St. John concerning Charity, or the love of God; when, having expressed himself in sentiments that elicit the applause of heaven, he is restored to sight by a look from Beatrice.+ After an interview with our first parents, he hears a hymn sung to the Trinity, and in an ecstacy of delight exclaims, "O bliss ineffable, O rapture pure! O life of love and peace! O wealth that knows St. Peter then addressing Dante gives utterance to an ardent and lofty discourse against the Popes for their venality in selling indulgences—declares that his place in the Church has been usurped by them, and is now vacant in the sight of God-denounces them as wolves in shepherds' clothing, and charges the poet to reveal their wickedness to the world. § Such is the indignation of the Saints at the recital, that heaven is disturbed by an eclipse, similar to that which took place at the death of our Saviour. The poet is now carried up to the ninth sphere, or * Canto xxv. 113, 118. Ib. xxvii. 7. + Ib. xxvi. 76. § Ib. xxvii. 22, 40, 52, 66. heaven of fixed stars, where the Deity is seen, surrounded by the celestial Hierarchy, or nine orders of Angels.* The object of God in creating these Beings, who are represented as singing Hosannas, and "blooming in an abode of sempiternal spring," is declared by Beatrice to have been a desire to multiply images and combinations of Himself; and from the beauty of these "mirrors of the Deity," she argues His boundless perfection.+" All the praises that Dante has hitherto bestowed upon Beatrice would fail, he declares, to give an idea of the superhuman loveliness with which she is now invested, as she ascends with him to the empyrean, or heaven of pure light. Out of this river of Light, proceeding from the immediate presence of God, Angels burning like rubies are seen to rise and contemplate themselves in the Divine Effulgence: "And as a cliff looks down upon the bed Of some clear stream, to see how richly crown'd Seated on more than thousand thrones around, Within the Eternal Light themselves discern'd."‡ Varying the description of the "beauty of Holiness," the poet now compares the assemblage of the Saints to a *Canto xxviii. 16, 98. Rose of purest white, expanding beneath the rays of the Eternal Sun; and, like the leaves of that flower, ranged in concentric circles around the glorious Orb whose light they variously enjoy.* Amid these, Angels are seen ascending and descending, who as they fly between the "Flower and the Fountain of their bliss," impart to them the gifts they have acquired.—Meditating on this blessed scene of peace and love, the poet suddenly contrasts it with the stormy condition of his own beloved country.“If the Barbarians,” he exclaims, on their arrival from the north, "Beholding Rome and all her buildings vast, When like the Lateran mortal works were none, Into extreme astonishment were cast; I who from earth to an immortal fane Had pass'd, from time into eternity- What great astonishment belike was mine! "+ Then, as he looks "with searching ken" through the several ranks of the Blessed, he compares himself to a pilgrim, who arrived at last before the temple he has long desired to see, surveys it with fond delight, in the hopes of being able, on his return home, to communicate to others the glories he has witnessed.-Beatrice he beholds enthroned far above in the highest circle, and distinctly visible to his sight, though removed to so immense a + Ib. xxxi. 34. * Canto xxxi. 10; xxxii. 18. distance. To her he pours forth his gratitude for enabling him to see all these wondrous things-declares that to her he owes his freedom from the bonds of slavery, and implores a continuance of her protection; so that his soul, some future day, may quit its earthly tenement, purified and approved by her.* By the intercession of St. Bernard with the Virgin Mary, Dante is endued with grace to look upon the brightness of Jehovah ;+ and offers up a prayer that he may be enabled to show forth to unborn nations some traces of the glory revealed to him. In the profundity of the Divine Light he beholds all that the universe contains-his power of vision gaining force as he prolongs the contemplation,-till, absorbed in the overwhelming glory of the sight, he finds it impossible to turn away. The Trinity he attempts to describe by comparing its appearance to three circles of different hues, but of like dimensions. He then asserts the impossibility of relating all he beheld; and closes his work by informing us, that having reached the height of his desire, both his will and his affections became wholly swayed by the influence of celestial Love. **Canto xxxi. 90. + Ib. xxxiii, 43. Ib. xxxiii. 97. PARADISO. CANTO I. ARGUMENT. RAPT to the highest heaven, Dante, gazing upon the sun, experiences a change in his nature, through an infusion of divine grace. THE glory of the Lord, to all things given, With greater lustre here, with lesser there, Pervades Creation.-In that sphere of heav'n Where most abundantly he lends his light, 1 Was I,-and saw what no one may declare, Who hath descended from so vast a height; For drawing near unto its Chiefest Good, 7 Depths so profound our intellect explores, Is treasured in my intellectual stores, B |