seek; Or wherefore, worthy spirit! for thy lotThis sphere assign'd, that oft from mortal ken Is veil'd by others' 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 vapours prey'd; Within its proper ray the saintly shape
Was, through increase of gladness, thus conceal'd; And, shrouded so in splendour answer'd me,
E'en as the tenour of my song declares.
CANTO VI
"After that Constantine the eagle turn'd
Against the motions of the heav'n, that roll'd
30
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, 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 To mine he came devolv'd. Caesar I was,
And am Justinian; destin'd by the will
Of that prime love, whose influence I feel, From vain excess to clear th' encumber'd laws. Or ere that work engag'd me, I did hold Christ's nature merely human, with such faith Contented. But the blessed Agapete,
Who was chief shepherd, he with warning voice
To the true faith recall'd me. I believ'd
His words: and what he taught, now plainly see, As thou in every contradiction seest
The true and false oppos'd. 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, 't was 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,
31
By whom that holiest banner is withstood, Both who pretend its power and who oppose.
"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 achiev'd Down to the Sabines' wrong to Lucrece' woe, With its sev'n kings conqu'ring the nation round; Nor all it wrought, by Roman worthies home
'Gainst Brennus and th' Epirot prince, and hosts
Of single chiefs, or states in league combin'd Of social warfare; hence Torquatus stern, And Quintius nam'd of his neglected locks, The Decii, and the Fabii hence acquir'd
Their fame, which I with duteous zeal embalm. By it the pride of Arab hordes 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, Under whose summit thou didst see the light, Rued its stern bearing. After, near the hour, When heav'n was minded that o'er all the world
His own deep calm should brood, to Caesar's hand
Did Rome consign it; and what then it wrought
32
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,
That tongue nor pen may follow it. Tow'rds Spain
It wheel'd its bands, then tow'rd 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; lightning 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 It wrought, is now by Cassius and Brutus Bark'd off in hell, and by Perugia's sons
And Modena's was mourn'd. Hence weepeth still
Sad Cleopatra, who, pursued by it,
Took from the adder black and sudden death. With him it ran e'en to the Red Sea coast;
With him compos'd the world to such a peace, That of his temple Janus barr'd the door.
"But all the mighty standard yet had wrought, And was appointed to perform thereafter,
Throughout the mortal kingdom which it sway'd,
33
Falls in appearance dwindled and obscur'd, If one with steady eye and perfect thought On the third Caesar look; for to his hands, The living Justice, in whose breath I move, Committed glory, e'en into his hands,
To execute the vengeance of its wrath.
"Hear now and wonder at what next I tell. After with Titus it was sent to wreak Vengeance for vengeance of the ancient sin,
And, when the Lombard tooth, with fangs impure, Did gore the bosom of the holy church,
Under its wings victorious, Charlemagne Sped to her rescue. Judge then for thyself Of those, whom I erewhile accus'd to thee,
What they are, and how grievous their offending, Who are the cause of all your ills. The one Against the universal ensign rears
The yellow lilies, and with partial aim
That to himself the other arrogates:
So that 't is hard to see which more offends. Be yours, ye Ghibellines, to veil your arts Beneath another standard: ill is this
Follow'd of him, who severs it and justice:
And let not with his Guelphs the new-crown'd Charles
Assail it, but those talons hold in dread, Which from a lion of more lofty
