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Boldness to fix so earnestly my ken

On the everlasting splendor, that I look'd,

While sight was unconsumed; and, in that depth,
Saw in one volume clasp'd of love, whate'er
The universe unfolds; all properties1

Of substance and of accident, beheld,
Compounded, yet one individual light
The whole.

And of such bond methinks I saw
The universal form; for that whene'er
I do but speak of it, my soul dilates
Beyond her proper self; and, till I speak,
One moment neems a longer lethargy,
Than five-and-twenty ages had appear'd
To that emprize, that first made Neptune wonder
At Argo's shadow3 darkening on his flood.

With fixed heed, suspense and motionless,
Wondering I gazed; and admiration still
Was kindled as I gazed. It may not be,
That one, who looks upon that light, can turn
To other object, willingly, his view.

For all the good, that will may covet, there
Is summ'd; and all, elsewhere defective found,
Complete. My tongue shall utter now, no more
E'en what remembrance keeps, than could the babe's,
That yet is moisten'd at his mother's breast.
Not that the semblance of the living light
Was changed (that ever as at first remain'd)

1 All properties.] Thus in the Parmenides of Plato, it is argued that al. conceivable quantities and qualities, however contradictory, are necessarily inherent in our idea of a universe or unity.

2 One moment.] "A moment seems to me more tedious, than five-and-twenty ages would have appeared to the Argonauts, when they had resolved on their expedition." Lombardi proposes a new interpretation of this difficult passage, and would understand our autor to say that "one moment elapsed after the vision, occasioned a greater forgetfulness of what he had seen, than the five-and-twenty centuries, which passed between the Argonautic expedition and the time of his writing this poem, had caused oblivion of the circumstances attendant on that event."

Argo's shadow.]

Quæ simul ac rostro ventosum proscidit æquor
Tortaque remigio spumis incanduit unda,
Emerseri feri candenti e gurgite vultus
Equoreæ monstrum Nereides admirantes.

Catullus, De Nupt. Pel et Thet., 15.

The wondred Argo, which in wondrous piece

First through the Euxine seas bore all the flower of Greece. Spenser, Faer Queen, b. ii. c. 12, st. 44.

But that my vision quickening, in that sole
Appearance, still new miracles descried,
And toil'd me with the change. In that abyss
Of radiance, clear and lofty, seem'd, methought,
Three orbs of triple hue, clipp'd in one bound:'
And, from another, one reflected seem'd,

As rainbow is from rainbow: and the third
Seem'd fire, breathed equally from both. O speech!
How feeble and how faint art thou, to give
Conception birth. Yet this to what I saw
Is less than little. O eternal light!
Sole in thyself that dwell'st; and of thyself
Sole understood, past, present, or to come;
Thou smiledst, on that circling, which in thee
Seem'd as reflected splendor, while I mused;
For I therein, methought, in its own hue
Beheld our image painted: steadfastly
I therefore pored upon the view. As one,
Who versed in geometric lore, would fain
Measure the circle; and, though pondering long
And deeply, that beginning, which he needs,
Finds not: e'en such was I, intent to scan
The novel wonder, and trace out the form,
How to the circle fitted, and therein

How placed but the flight was not for my wing;
Had not a flash darted athwart my mind,
And, in the spleen, unfolded what it sought.
Here vigor fail'd the towering fantasy:
But yet the will roll'd onward, like a wheel
In even motion, by the love impell'd,

That moves the sun in heaven and all the stars.

1 Three orbs of triple hue, clipp'd in one bound.] The Trinity This passage may be compared to what Plato, in his second Epistle, enigmatically says of a first, second, and third, and of the impossibility that the human soul should attain to what it desires to know of them, by means of any thing akin to itself

2 Less than little.]

Che 'l pavon vi parrebbe men che poco.

Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamondo, 1. ii. cap. 5. • Thou smiledst.] Some MSS. and editions instead of "intendente te a me arridi," have "intendente te ami ed arridi," "who, understanding thyself, lovest and enjoyest thyself;" which Lombardi thinks much preferable.

That circling.] The second of the circles, "Light of Light," in which he dimly beheld the mystery of the incar nation.

THE END.

INDEX OF PROPER NAMES,

EITHER EXPRESSLY MENTIONED, OR SUPPOSED TO BE
REFERRED TO, IN THE PRECEDING POEM.

Abbagliato, H. xxix. 129.
Abbati, Par. xvi. 109.
Abbati degli, Bocca. H.
xxxii. 105.

Abbati degli, Buoso. H. xxv.

131.

Abel, H. iv. 53.
Abraham, H. iv. 55.
Absalom, H. xxviii. 132.
Abydos, Purg. xxviii. 74.
Accorso, H. xv. 110.
Accorso d', Francesco, H.
XV. 111.
Achan, Purg. xx. 107.
Acheron, H. iii. 72; xiv.
111. Purg. ii. 100.
Achilles, H. v. 65; xii. 68;
xxvi. 63; xxxi. 4. Purg.
ix. 32; xxi. 93.
Acone, Par. xvi. 64.
Acquacheta, H. xvi. 97.
Acquasparta, Par. xii. 115.
Acre, H. xxvii. 84.
Adam, H. iii. 107; iv. 52.
Purg. ix. 9; xi 45; xxix.
84; xxxii. 37; xxxiii. 62.
Far. vii. 22; xiii. 34, 77;
xxvi. 82, 100; xxxii. 108,
122.

Adamo of Brescia, H. xxx.
60, 103.

Adice, H. xii. 4. Purg. xvi.
117. Par. ix. 44.
Adimari, Par. xvi. 113.
Adrian V., Purg. xix. 97.
Adriatic, Par. xxi. 114.
Ægina, H. xxix. 58.
Æneas, H. ii. 34; iv. 119;
xxvi. 62, 92. Purg. xviii.
135; xxi. 98. Par. vi. 3;

XV. 26.

Esop, H. xxiii. 5.

Africanus. See Scipio.
Agamemnon, Par. v. 69.
Agapete I., Par. vi. 16.
Agatho, Purg. xxii. 105.
Aghinulfo of Romena, H.

XXX. 76.
Aglauros, Purg. xiv. 142.
Agnello. See Brunelles
chi.

Agobbio, Purg. xi. 80.
Agobbio d', Oderigi, Purg.
xi. 79.

Agostino, Par. xii. 122.
Aguglione d', Baldo, Par.
xvi. 54.

Ahasuerus, Purg. xvii. 28
Ahitophel, H. xxviii. 133.
Alagia, Purg. xix. 141.
Alagna, Purg. xx. 86. Par.
XXX. 145.
Alardo, H. xxviii. 17.
Alba, Par. vi. 38.
Alberichi, Par. xvi. 87.
Alberigo. See Manfredi.
Albero of Sienna, H. xxix
105.

Albert I., Purg. vi. 98. Par
xix. 114.
Alberti degli, Alberto, H
xxxii. 55.

Alberti degli, Alessandro,
H. xxxii. 53.
Alberti degli, Napoleone, H.
xxxii. 53.

Alberto, Abbot of San Zeno,
Purg. xviii. 118.

Albertus Magnus, Par. x.

95.

Alcides, H. xxv. 30; xxxi.

123.
Alcmæon, Purg. x. 46.
Par. iv. 100.

Ethiop, Purg. xxvi. 18. Aldobrandesco, Guglielmo,

Par. xix. 108.

Purg. xi. 59.

Omberto, | Anthony, Saint, Par. xxix

Aldobrandesco,
Purg. xi. 58, 67.
Aldobrandi, Tegghiaio, H.
vi. 79; xvi. 42.
Alecto, H. ix. 48.
Alessandro of Romena, H.
XXX. 76.

Alessio. See Intermine.
Alexander Pheræus, H. xii.
106.

Alexander the Great, H.
xiv. 28.

Alexandria, Purg. vii. 137.
Ali, H. xxviii. 32.
Alichino, H. xxi. 116; xxii.

111.

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of

Amphion, H. xxxii. 11.
Amyclas, Par. xi. 63.
Anacreon, Purg. xxii. 105.
Ananias, Par. xxvi. 13.
Ananias, the husband
Sapphira, Purg. xx. 109.
Anastagio, Purg. xiv. 109.
Anastasius, H. xi. 9.
Anaxagoras, H. iv. 135.
Anchises, H. i. 69; iv. 119;
xxvi. 94. Par. xv. 25;
xix. 128.

Andes, Purg. xviii. 84.
Andrea da Sant', Giacomo,
H. xiii. 134.
Angelo. See Cagnano.
Ann, Saint, Par. xxxii. 119.
Annas, H. xxiii. 124.
Anselm, Par. xii. 128.
Anselm, son of Count Ugo-
lino de' Gherardeschi, H.
xxxiii. 48.
Antæus, H. xxxi. 92,
131.

103,

Antandros, Par. vi. 69.
Antenor, Purg. v. 75.
Antenora, H. xxxii. 89.
Antigone, Purg. xxii. 108.
Antiochus, H. xix. 90.

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xii. 39.

Aragonia, Purg. iii. 113.
Arbia, H. x. 84.
Arca, Par. xvi. 90.
Archiano, Purg. v. 93, 122.
Arctic, Par. xxxi. 28.
Ardelaffi. See Ordelaffi.
Ardinghi, Par. xvi. 91.
Arethusa, H. xxv. 89.
Arezzo, H. xxii. 6; xxix
104; XXX. 32. Purg. vi.
14; xiv. 49.

Argenti, Filippo, H. viii

59.

Argia, Purg. xxii. 109.
Argive, H. xxviii. 81.
Argo, Par. xxxiii. 92.
Argus, Purg. xxix. 91; xxxii.

63.

Argonauts, Par. ii. 17;
xxxiii. 91.

Ariadne, Par. xiii. 12.
Aries, Purg. viii. 135; xxxii.
52. Par. i. 39; xxviii.
106.

Arius, Par. xiii. 123.
Aristotle, H. iv. 128; xi.
104. Purg. iii. 41. Par.
viii. 125.

Arles, H. ix. 111.
Arnault. See Daniel.
Arno, H. xiii. 148; xv. 115;
xxiii. 95; xxx. 65; xxxiii.
83. Purg. v. 123; xiv. 26.
Par. xi. 99.
Arrigo. See Fifanti.
Arrigucci, Par. xvi. 106.
Arthur, H. xxxii. 59.
Aruns, H. xx. 43.
Ascesi, Par. xi. 49.
Asciano of, Caccia, H. xxix
127.

Asdente, H. xx. 116.
Asopus, Purg. xviii. 92.

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Aventine, H. xxv. 25.
Averroes, H. iv. 141.
August, Purg. v. 38.
Augustine, Saint, Par. x.
117; xxxii. 30.
Augustus, Par. xxx. 136.
See Cæsar.
Avicen, H. iv. 140.
Aulis, H. xx. 109.
Aurora, Purg. ii. 8; ix. 1.
Ausonia, Par. viii. 63.
Ausonian, Par. xi. 98.
Austrian, H. xxxii. 26.
Azzo of, Ubaldini, Purg.
xiv. 107.

Azzolino. See Romano.

Babylonian, Par. xxiii. 129.
Bacchiglione, H. xv. 115.
Par. ix. 47.
Bacchus, H. xx. 55. Purg.
xviii. 93. Par. xiii. 22.
Bagnacavallo, Purg. xiv.

118.

Bagnoregio, Par. xii. 119.
Balearic, H. xxviii. 79.
Baliol, John, Par. xix. 121.
Baptist. See John.
Barbariccia, H. xxi. 118;
xxii. 30, 57, 142.
Barbarossa. See Frederick.
Bari, Par. viii. 64.
Barucci, Par. xvi. 102.
Battifolle da, Frederigo No-
vello, Purg. vi. 17.
Beatrice, daughter of Folco
Portinari, passim.
Beatrice, Marchioness of Es-
te, Purg. viii. 73.
Beatrix, wife of Charles I.
king of Naples, Purg. vii.
129. Par. vi. 135.
Beccaria, H. xxxii. 116.
Bede, Par. x. 127.
Begga, Par. ix. 88.
Belacqua, Purg. iv. 119.
Belisarius, Par. vi. 25.
Bella della, Giano, Par. xvi.
130.

Bellincion. See Berti.

Belus, Par. ix. 93.
Belzebub, H. xxxiv. 122.
Benacus, H. xx. 60, 72, 75..
Benedict, Saint, Par. xxii.
38; xxxii. 30.
Benedict, Saint, the Abbey,
H. xvi. 100.
Benevento, Purg. iii. 124.
Benincasa d' Arezzo, Purg.
vi. 14.

Berenger, haymond, Par.
vi. 136.

Bergamese, H. xx. 70.
Bernard the Franciscan
Par. xi. 72.

Bernard, Saint, Par. xxxi.
55, 93, 130; xxxii. 1;
xxxiii. 47.

Bernardin. See Fosco.
Bernardone, Pietro, Par. xi.
83.

Berti, Bellincion, Par. xv
106; xvi. 96, 119.
Bertrand. See Born.
Bethlehem, Purg. xx. 135.
Bianco, H. xxiv. 149.
Billi, Par. xvi. 100.
Bindi, Par. xxix. 111.
Birtha, Par. xiii. 135.
Bisenzio, H. xxxii. 54.
Bismantua, Purg. iv. 25.
Bocca. See Abbati.
Boëtius, Par. x. 119.
Bohemia, Purg. vii. 98. Par.
xix. 116.
Bohemian, Par. xix. 123.
Bologna, H. xviii. 58; xxiii.

105, 144. Purg. xiv. 102.
Bolognian, Purg. xi. 83.
Bolsena, Purg. xxiv. 25.
Bonatti, Guido, H. xx. 116.
Bonaventura, Saint, Par.
xii. 25, 118.
Boniface, Purg. xxiv. 30.
Boniface VIII., H. xix. 55;
xxvii. 81. Purg. xx. 85;
xxxii. 146. Par. ix. 134;
xii. 82; xxii. 14; xxvii.
20; xxx. 145.
Bonturo. See Dati.
Borgo, Par. xvi. 132.
Born de, Bertrand, H. xxviii.
130; xxix. 27.

Borneil de, Giraud, Purg.
xxvi. 113.

Borsiere, Guglielmo, H. xvi.

70.

Bostichi, Par. xvi. 91.

Bello del, Geri, H. xxix. 26. Botaio, Martino, H. xxi. 37.

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