Consisteth; one is that, whereof 'tis made;
The covenant, the other. For the last,
It ne'er is cancel'd, if not kept: and hence
I spake, erewhile, so strictly of its force.
For this it was enjoin'd the Israelites,*

Though leave were given them, as thou know'st, to change
The offering, still to offer. The other part,
The matter and the substance of the vow,
May well be such, as that, without offence,
It may for other substance be exchanged.
But, at his own discretion, none may shift
The burden on his shoulders; unreleased
By either key," the yellow and the white.
Nor deem of any change, as less than vain,
If the last bond be not within the new
Included, as the quatre in the six.

No satisfaction therefore can be paid
For what so precious in the balance weighs,
That all in counterpoise must kick the beam.
Take then no vow at random: ta'en, with faith
Preserve it; yet not bent, as Jephthah once,
Blindly to execute a rash resolve,

Whom better it had suited to exclaim,

'I have done ill,' then to redeem his pledge
By doing worse: or, not unlike to him
In folly, that great leader of the Greeks;
Whence, on the altar, Iphigenia mourn'd
Her virgin beauty, and hath since made mourn
Both wise and simple, even all, who hear
Of so fell sacrifice. Be ye more staid,
O Christian! not, like feather, by each wind
Removable; nor think to cleanse yourselves
In every water. Either testament,

The old and new, is yours: and for your guide,
The shepherd of the church. Let this suffice
To save you. When by evil lust enticed,
Remember ye be men, not senseless beasts;

"It was enjoin'd the Israelites." See
Lev. c. xii. and xxvii.
"Either key."

ix. 108.

44

Purgatory," Canto

"If the last bond." If the thing substituted be not far more precious than that which is released.

Nor let the Jew, who dwelleth in your streets,
Hold you in mockery. Be not, as the lamb,
That, fickle wanton, leaves its mother's milk,
To dally with itself in idle play."

Such were the words that Beatrice spake:
These ended, to that region, where the world
Is liveliest, full of fond desire she turn'd.

Though mainly prompt new question to propose, Her silence and changed look did keep me dumb. And as the arrow, ere the cord is still, Leapeth unto its mark; so on we sped Into the second realm. There I beheld The dame, so joyous, enter, that the orb Grew brighter at her smiles; and, if the star Were moved to gladness, what then was my cheer, Whom nature hath made apt for every change!

As in a quiet and clear lake the fish,

If aught approach them from without, do draw
Toward it, deeming it their food; so drew
Full more than thousand splendors toward us;
And in each one was heard: "Lo! one arrived
To multiply our loves!" and as each came,
The shadow, streaming forth effulgence new,
Witness'd augmented joy. Here, Reader! think,
If thou didst miss the sequel of my tale,

To know the rest how sorely thou wouldst crave;
And thou shalt see what vehement desire
Possess'd me, soon as these had met my view,
To know their state. "O born in happy hour!
Thou, to whom grace vouchsafes, or e'er thy close
Of fleshly warfare, to behold the thrones
Of that eternal triumph; know, to us
The light communicated, which through heaven
Expatiates without bound. Therefore, if aught
Thou of our beams wouldst borrow for thine aid,
Spare not; and, of our radiance, take thy fill."
Thus of those piteous spirits one bespake me;
And Beatrice next: Say on; and trust
As unto gods." "How in the light supreme
Thou harbor'st, and from thence the virtue bring'st,

That, sparkling in thine eyes, denotes thy joy,
I mark; but, who thou art, am still to seek;
Or wherefore, worthy spirit! for thy lot
This sphere assign'd, that oft from mortal ken
Is veil'd by other's beams." I said; and turn'd
Toward the lustre, that with greeting kind
Erewhile had hail'd me. Forthwith, brighter far
Than erst, it wax'd: and, as himself the sun
Hides through excess of light, when his warm gaze
Hath on the mantle of thick vapors prey'd;
Within its proper ray the saintly shape

Was, through increase of gladness, thus conceal'd;
And, shrouded so in splendor, answer'd me,
E'en as the tenor of my song declares.

CANTO VI

ARGUMENT.-The spirit, who had offered to satisfy the inquiries of Dante, declares himself to be the Emperor Justinian; and after speaking of his own actions, recounts the victories, before him, obtained under the Roman Eagle. He then informs our Poet that the soul of Romeo the pilgrim is in the same star.

66

A

FTER that Constantine the eagle turn'd1

Against the motions of the heaven, that roll'd
Consenting with its course, when he of yore,
Lavinia's spouse, was leader of the flight;
A hundred years twice told and more, his seat
At Europe's extreme point,3 the bird of Jove
Held, near the mountains, whence he issued first;
There under shadow of his sacred plumes
Swaying the world, till through successive hands

7" This sphere." The planet Mercury, which being nearest to the sun, is oftenest hidden by that luminary.

8" When his warm gaze." When the sun has dried up the vapors, that shaded his brightness.

1"After that Constantine the eagle turn'd." Constantine, in transferring the seat of empire from Rome to Byzantium, carried the eagle, the imperial ensign, from the west

to the east. Eneas, on the contrary, had, with better augury, moved along with the sun's

course, when he passed from Troy to Italy.

2" A hundred years twice told and more." The Emperor Constantine entered Byzantium in 324; and Justinian began his reign in 527.

3" At Europe's extreme point." Constantine being situated at the extreme of Europe, and on the borders of Asia, near those mountains in the neighborhood of Troy, from whence the first founders of Rome had emigrated.

To mine he came devolved. Cæsar I was;
And am Justinian; destined by the will
Of that prime love, whose influence I feel,
From vain excess to clear the incumber'd laws.*
Or e'er that work engaged me, I did hold
In Christ one nature only; with such faith
Contented. But the blessed Agapete,"

Who was chief shepherd, he with warning voice
To the true faith recall'd me. I believed
His words and what he taught, now plainly see,
As thou in every contradiction seest

The true and false opposed. Soon as my feet
Were to the church reclaim'd, to my great task,
By inspiration of God's grace impell'd,
I gave me wholly; and consign'd mine arms
To Belisarius, with whom heaven's right hand
Was link'd in such conjointment, 'twas a sign
That I should rest. To thy first question thus
I shape mine answer, which were ended here,
But that its tendency doth prompt perforce
To some addition; that thou well mayst mark,
What reason on each side they have to plead,
By whom that holiest banner is withstood,
Both who pretend its power and who oppose.8
Beginning from that hour, when Pallas died
To give it rule, behold the valorous deeds
Have made it worthy reverence. Not unknown
To thee, how for three hundred years and more
It dwelt in Alba, up to those fell lists
Where, for its sake, were met the rival three;"
Nor aught unknown to thee, which it achieved
Down 10 from the Sabines' wrong to Lucrece' woe;
With its seven kings conquering the nations round;
Nor all it wrought, by Roman worthies borne

"To clear the incumber'd laws." The code of laws was abridged and reformed by Justinian.

5" In Christ one nature only." Justinian is said to have been a follower of heretical opinions held by Eutyches, who taught that in Christ there was but one nature, viz. that of the incarnate word.

Agapete." Agapetus, Bishop of Rome, whose Scheda Regia," ad

7

dressed to the Emperor Justinian, procured him a place among the wisest and most judicious writers of this century. 7 "Who pretend its power." The Ghibellines.

8" And who oppose." The Guelfs. "The rival three." The Horatii and Curiatii.

46

10" Down." From the rape of the Sabine women to the violation of Lucretia.

'Gainst Brennus and the Epirot prince,11 and hosts
Of single chiefs, or states in league combined
Of social warfare: hence, Torquatus stern,
And Quintius 12 named of his neglected locks,
The Decii, and the Fabii hence acquired
Their fame, which I with duteous zeal embalm.
By it the pride of Arab hordes 13 was quell'd,
When they, led on by Hannibal, o'erpass'd
The Alpine rocks, whence glide thy currents, Po!
Beneath its guidance, in their prime of days
Scipio and Pompey triumph'd; and that hill 14
Under whose summit 15 thou didst see the light,
Rued its stern bearing. After, near the hour,16
When heaven was minded that o'er all the world
His own deep calm should brood, to Cæsar's hand
Did Rome consign it; and what then it wrought
From Var unto the Rhine, saw Isere's flood,
Saw Loire and Seine, and every vale, that fills
The torrent Rhone. What after that it wrought,
When from Ravenna it came forth, and leap'd
The Rubicon, was of so bold a flight,

17

That tongue nor pen may follow it. Toward Spain
It wheel'd its bands, then toward Dyrrachium smote,
And on Pharsalia, with so fierce a plunge,
E'en the warm Nile was conscious to the pang;
Its native shores Antandros, and the streams

Of Simois revisited, and there

Where Hector lies; then ill for Ptolemy

His pennons shook again; lightening thence fell
On Juba, and the next, upon your west,

At sound of the Pompeian trump, return'd.
"What following, and in its next bearer's gripe,18
It wrought, is now by Cassius and Brutus
Bark'd of in Hell; and by Perugia's sons,

"The Epirot prince." King Pyr

rhus.

12" Quintius." Quintius Cincinnatus. 18" Arab hordes." The Arabians seem to be put for the barbarians in general. 14" That hill." The city of Fesulæ, which was sacked by the Romans after the defeat of Catiline.

15" Under whose summit." At the foot of which is situated Florence, thy birth-place.'

16 44 Near the hour." Near the time of our Saviour's birth.

17" What then it wrought." In the following fifteen lines the Poet has comprised the exploits of Julius Cæsar, for which, and for the allusions in the greater part of this speech of Justinian's, I must refer my reader to the history of Rome.

18" In its next bearer's gripe." With Augustus Cæsar.