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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19817-8.txt b/19817-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c6dc90 --- /dev/null +++ b/19817-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4450 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Heroic Enthusiasts,(1 of 2) (Gli Eroici +Furori), by Giordano Bruno + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Heroic Enthusiasts,(1 of 2) (Gli Eroici Furori) + An Ethical Poem + +Author: Giordano Bruno + +Translator: L. Williams + +Release Date: November 15, 2006 [EBook #19817] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROIC ENTHUSIASTS *** + + + + +Produced by Sjaani, Ted Garvin and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +THE + +HEROIC ENTHUSIASTS + +(_GLI EROICI FURORI_) + +An Ethical poem + +BY GIORDANO BRUNO + +PART THE FIRST + +TRANSLATED BY + +L. WILLIAMS + +_WITH AN INTRODUCTION, COMPILED CHIEFLY FROM DAVID LEVI'S +GIORDANO BRUNO O LA RELIGIONE DEL PENSIERO_ + + +LONDON +GEORGE REDWAY +YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN +1887 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +When this Translation was begun, more than two years ago, for my own +pleasure, in leisure hours, I had no knowledge of the difficulty I +should find in the work, nor any thought of ever having it printed; but +as "Gli Eroici Furori" of Giordano Bruno has never appeared in English, +I decided to publish that portion of it which I have finished. + +I wish to thank those friends who have so kindly looked over my work +from time to time, and given me their help in the choice of words and +phrases. I must, moreover, confess that I am keenly alive to the +shortcomings and defects of this Translation. + +I have used the word "Enthusiasts" in the title, rather than +"Enthusiasms," because it seemed to me more appropriate. + +L. W. + +FOLKSTONE, _September 1887_. + + + + +ERRATA + +Page 3, line 10, _for_ "also mother" _read_ "also my mother." +Page 47, line 9, _for_ "poisons" _read_ "poison." + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Nola, a city founded by the Chalcidian Greeks, at a short distance from +Naples and from Vesuvius, was the birth-place of Giordano Bruno. It is +described by David Levi as a city which from ancient times had always +been consecrated to science and letters. From the time of the Romans to +that of the Barbarians and of the Middle Ages, Nola was conspicuous for +culture and refinement, and its inhabitants were in all times remarkable +for their courteous manners, for valour, and for keenness of perception. +They were, moreover, distinguished by their love for and study of +philosophy; so that this city was ever a favourite dwelling-place for +the choice spirits of the Renaissance. It may also be asserted that Nola +was the only city of Magna Græcia which, in spite of the persecutions of +Pagan emperors and Christian princes and clergy, always preserved the +philosophical traditions of the Pythagoreans, and never was the sacred +fire on the altar of Vesta suffered to become entirely extinct. Such was +the intellectual and moral atmosphere in which Bruno passed his +childhood. His paternal home was situated at the foot of Mount Cicada, +celebrated for its fruitful soil. From early youth his pleasure was to +pass the night out on the mountain, now watching the stars, now +contemplating the arid, desolate sides of Vesuvius. He tells how, in +recalling those days--the only peaceful ones of his life--he used to +think, as he looked up at the infinite expanse of heaven and the +confines of the horizon, with the towering volcano, that this must be +the ultimate end of the earth, and it appeared as if neither tree nor +grass refreshed the dreary space which stretched out to the foot of the +bare smoky mountain. When, grown older, he came nearer to it, and saw +the mountain so different from what it had appeared, and the intervening +space that, seen from afar, had looked so bare and sterile, all covered +with fruit-trees and enriched with vineyards, he began to see how +illusory the judgment of the senses may be; and the first doubt was +planted in his young soul as he perceived that, while the mind may grasp +Nature in her grandeur and majesty, the work of the sage must be to +examine her in detail, and penetrate to the cause of things. When he +appeared before the tribunal of the Holy Office at Venice, being asked +to declare who and what he was, he said: "My name is Giordano, of the +family of Bruno, of the city of Nola, twelve miles from Naples. There +was I born and brought up. My profession has been and is that of +letters, and of all the sciences. My father's name was Giovanni, and my +mother was Francesca Savolini; and my father was a soldier. He is dead, +and also mother. I am forty-four years old, having been born in 1548." +He always regarded Nola with patriotic pride, and he received his first +instruction in his father's house and in the public schools. Of a sad +disposition, and gifted with a most lively imagination, he was from his +earliest years given to meditation and to poetry. The early years of +Bruno's life were times of agitation and misfortune, and not propitious +to study. The Neapolitan provinces were disturbed by constant +earthquakes, and devastated by pestilence and famine. The Turks fought, +and ravaged the country, and made slaves of the inhabitants; the +neighbouring provinces were still more harassed by hordes of bandits and +outlaws, who invested Calabria, led by a terrible chief called Marcone. +The Inquisition stood prepared to light its fires and slaughter the +heretic. The Waldensians, who had lately been driven out of Piedmont, +and had sought a shelter in the Calabrian territory, were hunted down +and given over to the executioner. + +The convent was the only refuge from violence, and Bruno, either from +religious enthusiasm, or in order to be able to devote himself to study, +became a friar at the age of fifteen. There, in the quiet cloister of +the convent of St. Dominic at Naples, his mind was nourished and his +intellect developed; the cloistral and monkish education failed to +enslave his thought, and he emerged from this tutelage the boldest and +least fettered of philosophers. Everything about this church and this +convent, famous as having been the abode of Thomas Aquinas, was +calculated to fire the enthusiasm of Bruno's soul; the leisure and +quiet, far from inducing habits of indolence, or the sterile practices +of asceticism, were stimulants to austere study, and to the fervour of +mystical speculations. Here he passed nearly thirteen years of early +manhood, until his intellect strengthened by study he began to long for +independence of thought, and becoming, as he said himself, solicitous +about the food of the soul and the culture of the mind, he found it +irksome to go through automatically the daily vulgar routine of the +convent; the pure flame of an elevated religious feeling being kindled +in his soul, he tried to evade the vain exercises of the monks, the +puerile gymnastics, and the adoration of so-called relics. His character +was frank and open, and he was unable to hide his convictions; he put +some of his doubts before his companions, and these hastened to refer +them to the superiors; and thus was material found to institute a cause +against him. It became known, that he had praised the methods used by +the Arians or Unitarians in expounding their doctrines, adding that they +refer all things to the ultimate cause, which is the Father: this, with +other heretical propositions, being brought to the notice of the Holy +Office, Bruno found himself in the position of being first observed and +then threatened. He was warned of the danger that hung over him by some +friends, and decided to quit Naples. He fled from the convent, and took +the road to Rome, and was there received in the monastery of the +Minerva. A few days after his arrival in Rome he learned that +instructions for his arrest had been forwarded from Naples; he tarried +not, but got away secretly, throwing aside the monk's habiliments by the +way. He wandered for some days about the Roman Campagna, his destitute +condition proving a safeguard against the bands of brigands that +infested those lands, until arriving near Civita Vecchia, he was taken +on board a Genoese vessel, and carried to the Ligurian port, where he +hoped to find a refuge from his enemies; but the city of Geneva was +devastated by pestilence and civil war, and after a sojourn of a few +days he pursued once more the road of exile. Seeking for a place wherein +he might settle for a short time and hide from his pursuers, he stayed +his steps at Noli, situated at a short distance from Savona, on the +Riviera: this town, nestled in a little bay surrounded by high hills +crowned by feudal castles and towers, was only accessible on the shore +side, and offered a grateful retreat to our philosopher. At Noli, Bruno +obtained permission of the magistracy to teach grammar to children, and +thus secured the means of subsistence by the small remuneration he +received; but this modest employment did not occupy him sufficiently, +and he gathered round him a few gentlemen of the district, to whom he +taught the science of the Sphere. Bruno also wrote a book upon the +Sphere, which was lost. He expounded the system of Copernicus, and +talked to his pupils with enthusiasm about the movement of the earth and +of the plurality of worlds. + +As in that same Liguria Columbus first divined another hemisphere +outside the Pillars of Hercules, so Bruno discovered to those astonished +minds the myriads of worlds which fill the immensity of space. Columbus +was derided and banished by his fellow-citizens, and the fate of our +philosopher was similar to his. In the humble schoolmaster who taught +grammar to the children, the bishop, the clergy, and the nobles, who +listened eagerly to his lectures on the Sphere, began to suspect the +heretic and the innovator. After five months it behoved him to leave +Noli; he took the road to Savona, crossed the Apennines, and arrived at +Turin. In Turin at that time reigned the great Duke Emanuele Filiberto, +a man of strong character--one of those men who know how to found a +dynasty and to fix the destiny of a people; at that time, when Central +and Southern Italy were languishing under home and foreign tyranny, he +laid the foundations of the future Italy. + +He was warrior, artist, mechanic, and scholar. Intrepid on the field of +battle, he would retire from deeds of arms to the silence of his study, +and cause the works of Aristotle to be read to him; he spoke all the +European languages; he worked at artillery, at models of fortresses, and +at the smith's craft; he brought together around him, from all sides of +Italy, artisans and scientists to promote industry, commerce, and +science; he gathered together in Piedmont the most excellent compositors +of Italy, and sanctioned a printer's company. + +Bruno, attracted to Turin by the favour that was shown to letters and +philosophy, hoped to get occupation as press reader; but it was +precisely at that time that the Duke, instigated by France, was +combating, with every kind of weapon, the Waldensian and Huguenot +heresies, and had invited the Jesuits to Turin, offering them a +substantial subsidy; so that on Bruno's arrival he found the place he +had hoped for, as teacher in the university, occupied by his enemies, +and he therefore moved on with little delay, and embarked for Venice. + +Berti, in his Life of Bruno, remarks that when the latter sought refuge +in Turin, Torquato Tasso, also driven by adverse fortune, arrived in the +same place, and he notes the affinity between them--both so great, both +subject to every species of misfortune and persecution in life, and +destined to immortal honours after their death: the light of genius +burned in them both, the fire of enthusiasm flamed in each alike, and on +the forehead of each one was set the sign of sorrow and of pain. + +Both Bruno and Tasso entered the cloister as boys: the one joined the +Dominicans, the other the Jesuits; and in the souls of both might be +discerned the impress of the Order to which they belonged. Both went +forth from their native place longing to find a broader field of action +and greater scope for their intellectual powers. The one left Naples +carrying in his heart the Pagan and Christian traditions of the noble +enterprises and the saintly heroism of Olympus and of Calvary, of Homer +and the Fathers, of Plato and St. Ignatius; the other was filled with +the philosophical thought of the primitive Italian and Pythagorean +epochs, fecundated by his own conceptions and by the new age; +philosopher and apostle of an idea, Bruno consecrated his life to the +development of it in his writings and to the propagation of his +principles in Europe by the fire of enthusiasm. The one surprised the +world with the melody of his songs; being, as Dante says, the "dolce +sirena che i marinari in mezzo al mare smaga," he lulled the anguish +that lacerated Italy, and gilded the chains which bound her; the other +tried to shake her; to recall her to life with the vigour of thought, +with the force of reason, with the sacrifice of himself. The songs of +Tasso were heard and sung from one end of Italy to the other, and the +poet dwelt in palaces and received the caress and smile of princes; +while Bruno, discoursing in the name of reason and of science, was +rejected, persecuted, and scourged, and only after three centuries of +ingratitude, of calumny, and of forgetfulness, does his country show +signs of appreciating him and of doing justice to his memory. In Tasso +the poet predominates over the philosopher, in Bruno the philosopher +predominates over and eclipses the poet. The first sacrifices thought to +form; the second is careful only of the idea. Again, both are full of a +conception of the Divine, but the God that the dying Tasso confessed is +a god that is expected and comes not; while the god that Bruno proclaims +he already finds within himself. Tasso dies in his bed in the cloister, +uneasy as on a bed of thorns; Bruno, amidst the flames, stands out as on +a pedestal, and dies serene and calm. We must now follow our fugitive to +Venice. + +At the time Giordano Bruno arrived in Venice that city was the most +important typographical centre of Europe; the commerce in books extended +through the Levant, Germany, and France, and the philosopher hoped that +here he might find some means of subsistence. The plague at that time +was devastating Venice, and in less than one year had claimed forty-two +thousand victims; but Bruno felt no fear, and he took a lodging in that +part of Venice called the Frezzeria, and was soon busy preparing for the +press a work called "Segni del Tempo," hoping that the sale of it would +bring a little money for daily needs. This work was lost, as were all +those which he published in Italy, and which it was to the interest of +Rome to destroy. Disappointed at not finding work to do in Venice, he +next went to Padua, which was the intellectual centre of Europe, as +Venice was the centre of printing and publishing; the most celebrated +professors of that epoch were to be found in the University of Padua, +but at the time of Bruno's sojourn there, Padua, like Venice, was +ravaged by the plague; the university was closed, and the printing-house +was not in operation. He remained there only a few days, lodging with +some monks of the Order of St. Dominic, who, he relates, "persuaded me +to wear the dress again, even though I would not profess the religion it +implied, because they said it would aid me in my wayfaring to be thus +attired; and so I got a white cloth robe, and I put on the hood which I +had preserved when I left Rome." Thus habited he wandered for several +months about the cities of Venetia and Lombardy; and although he +contrived for a time to evade his persecutors, he finally decided to +leave Italy, as it was repugnant to his disposition to live in forced +dissimulation, and he felt that he could do no good either for himself +or for his country, which was then overrun with Spaniards and scourged +by petty tyrants; and with the lower orders sunk in ignorance, and the +upper classes illiterate, uncultivated, and corrupt, the mission of +Giordano Bruno was impossible. "Altiora Peto" was Bruno's motto, and to +realize it he had gone forth with the pilgrim's staff in his hand, +sometimes covered with the cowl of the monk, at others wearing the +simple habit of a schoolmaster, or, again, clothed with the doublet of +the mechanic: he had found no resting-place--nowhere to lay his head, no +one who could understand him, but always many ready to denounce him. He +turned his back at last on his country, crossed the Alps on foot, and +directed his steps towards Switzerland. He visited the universities in +different towns of Switzerland, France, and Germany, and wherever he +went he left behind him traces of his visit in some hurried writings. +The only work of the Nolan, written in Italy, which has survived is "Il +Candelajo," which was published in Paris. Levi, in his Life of Bruno, +passes in review his various works; but it will suffice here to +reproduce what he says of the "Eroici Furori," the first part of which +I have translated, and to note his remarks upon the style of Bruno, +which presents many difficulties to the translator on account of its +formlessness. Goethe says of Bruno's writings: "Zu allgemeiner +Betrachtung und Erhebung der Geistes eigneten sich die Schriften des +Jordanus Brunous von Nola; aber freilich das gediegene Gold and Silber +aus der Masse jener zo ungleich begabten Erzgänge auszuscheiden und +unter den Hammer zu bringen erfordert fast mehr als menschliche Kräfte +vermögen." + +I believe that no translation of Giordano Bruno's works has ever been +brought out in English, or, at any rate, no translation of the "Eroici +Furori," and therefore I have had no help from previous renderings. I +have, for the most part, followed the text as closely as possible, +especially in the sonnets, which are frequently rendered line for line. +Form is lacking in the original, and would, owing to the unusual and +often fantastic clothing of the ideas, be difficult to apply in the +translation. He seems to have written down his grand ideas hurriedly, +and, as Levi says, probably intended to retouch the work before +printing. + +Following the order of Levi's Life of Bruno, we next find the fugitive +at Geneva. He was hardly thirty-one years old when he quitted his +country and crossed the Alps, and his first stopping-place was Chambery, +where he was received in a convent of the Order of Predicatori; he +proposed going on to Lyons, but being told by an Italian priest, whom he +met there, that he was not likely to find countenance or support, either +in the place he was in or in any other place, however far he might +travel, he changed his course and made for Geneva. + +The name of Giordano Bruno was not unknown to the Italian colony who had +fled from papal persecution to this stronghold of religious reform. He +went to lodge at an inn, and soon received visits from the Marchese di +Vico Napoletano, Pietro Martire Vermigli, and other refugees, who +welcomed him with affection, inquiring whether he intended to embrace +the religion of Calvin, to which Bruno replied that he did not intend to +make profession of that religion, as he did not know of what kind it +was, and he only desired to live in Geneva in freedom. He was then +advised to doff the Dominican habit, which he still wore; this he was +quite willing to do, only he had no money to buy other clothing, and was +forced to have some made of the cloth of his monkish robes, and his new +friends presented him with a sword and a hat; they also procured some +work for him in correcting press errors. + +The term of Bruno's sojourn in Geneva seems doubtful, and the precise +nature of his employment when there is also uncertain; but his +independent spirit brought him into dispute with the rigid Calvinists of +that city, who preached and exacted a blind faith, absolute and +compulsory. Bruno could not accept any of the existing positive +religions; he professed the cult of philosophy and science, nor was his +character of that mould that would have enabled him to hide his +principles. It was made known to him that he must either adopt Calvinism +or leave Geneva: he declined the former, and had no choice as to the +latter; poor he had entered Geneva, and poor he left it, and now turned +his steps towards France. + +He reached Lyons, which was also at that time a city of refuge against +religious persecutions, and he addressed himself to his compatriots, +begging for work from the publishers, Aldo and Grifi; but not succeeding +in gaining enough to enable him to subsist, after a few days he left, +and went on his way to Toulouse, where there was a famous university; +and having made acquaintance with several men of intellect, Bruno was +invited to lecture on the Sphere, which he did, with various other +subjects, for six months, when the chair of Philosophy becoming vacant, +he took the degree of Doctor, and competed for it; and he continued for +two years in that place, teaching the philosophy of Aristotle and of +others. He took for the text of his lectures the treatise of Aristotle, +"De Anima," and this gave him the opportunity of introducing and +discussing the deepest questions--upon the Origin and Destiny of +Humanity; The Soul, is it Matter or Spirit? Potentiality or Reality? +Individual or Universal? Mortal or Eternal? Is Man alone gifted with +Soul, or are all beings equally so? Bruno's system was in his mind +complete and mature; he taught that everything in Nature has a soul, one +universal mind, penetrates and moves all things; the world itself is a +_sacrum animal_. Nothing is lost, but all transmutes and becomes. This +vast field afforded him scope for teaching his doctrines upon the world, +on the movement of the earth, and on the universal soul. The novelty and +boldness of his opinions roused the animosity of the clergy against him, +and after living two years and six months at Toulouse, he felt it wise +to retire, and leaving the capital of the Languedoc, he set his face +towards Paris. + +The two books--the fruit of his lectures--which he published in +Toulouse, "De Anima" and "De Clavis Magis," were lost. + +The title of Doctor, or as he said himself, "Maestro delle Arti," which +Bruno had obtained at Toulouse, gave him the faculty of teaching +publicly in Paris, and he says: "I went to Paris, where I set myself to +read a most unusual lecture, in order to make myself known and to +attract attention." He gave thirty lectures on the thirty Divine +attributes, dividing and distributing them according to the method of +St. Thomas Aquinas: these lectures excited much attention amongst the +scholars of the Sorbonne, who went in crowds to hear him; and he +introduced, as usual, his own ideas while apparently teaching the +doctrines of St. Thomas. His extraordinary memory and his eloquence +caused great astonishment; and the fame of Bruno reached the ears of +King Henry III., who sent for him to the Court, and being filled with +admiration of his learning, he offered him a substantial subsidy. + +During his stay at Paris, although he was much at Court, he spent many +hours in his study, writing the works that he afterwards published. + +Philosophical questions were discussed at the Sorbonne with much +freedom: Bruno showed himself no partisan of either the Platonic or the +Peripatetic school; he was not exclusive either in philosophy or in +religion; he did not favour the Huguenot faction more than the Catholic +league; and precisely by reason of this independent attitude, which kept +him free of the shackles of the sects, did he obtain the faculty of +lecturing at the Sorbonne. Nor can we ascribe this aloofness to +religious indifference, but to the fact that he sought for higher things +and longed for nobler ones. The humiliating spectacle which the positive +religions, both Catholic and Reformed, presented at that time--the +hatreds, the civil wars, the assassinations which they instigated--had +disgusted men of noble mould, and had turned them against these +so-called religions; so that in Naples, in Tuscany, in Venice, in +Switzerland, France, and England, there were to be found societies of +philosophers, of free-thinkers, and politicians, who repudiated every +positive religion and professed a pure Theism. + +In the "Spaccio della Bestia Trionfante" he declares that he cannot ally +himself either to the Catholic or the Lutheran Church, because he +professes a more pure and complete faith than these--to wit, the love of +humanity and the love of wisdom; and Mocenigo, the disciple who +ultimately betrayed and sold him to the Holy Office, declares in his +deposition that Bruno sought to make himself the author of a new +religion under the name of "Philosophy." He was not a man to conceal his +ideas, and in the fervour of his improvisation he no doubt revealed what +he was; some tumult resulted from this free speaking of Bruno's, and he +was forced to discontinue his lectures at the Sorbonne. + +Towards the end of the year 1583 the King became enthralled by religious +enthusiasm, and nothing was talked of in Paris but the conversion of +King Henry. This fact changed the aspect of affairs as far as Bruno was +concerned; he judged it prudent to leave Paris, and he travelled to +England. + +The principal works published by Bruno during his stay in Paris are "Il +Candelajo" and "Umbrae Idearum." The former, says Levi, is a work of +criticism and of demolition; in this comedy he sets in groups the +principal types of hypocrisy, stupidity, and rascality, and exhibiting +them in their true colours, he lashes them with ridicule. In the "Umbrae +Idearum" he initiates the work of reconstruction, giving colour to his +thought and sketching his idea. The philosophy of Bruno is based upon +that of Pythagoras, whose system penetrates the social and intellectual +history of Italy, both ancient and modern. The method of Pythagoras is +not confined, as most philosophies are, to pure metaphysical +speculations, but connects these with scientific observations and social +practice. Bruno having resuscitated these doctrines, stamps them with a +wider scope, giving them a more positive direction; and he may with +propriety be called the second Pythagoras. The primal idea of +Pythagoras, which Bruno worked out to a more distinct development is +this: numbers are the beginning of things; in other words numbers are +the cause of the existence of material things; they are not final, but +are always changing position and attributes; they are variable and +relative. Beyond and above this mutability there must be the Immutable, +the All, the One. + +The Infinite must be one, as one is the absolute number; in the original +One is contained all the numbers; in the One is contained all the +elements of the Universe. + +This abstract doctrine required to be elucidated and fixed. From a +hypothesis to concentrate and reduce it to a reality was the great work +of Bruno. + +One is the perfect number; it is the primitive monad. As from the One +proceeds the infinite series of numbers which again withdraw and are +resolved into the One; so from Substance, which is one, proceed the +myriads of worlds; from the worlds proceed myriads of living creatures; +and from the union of one with the diverse is generated the Universe. +Hence the progression from ascent to descent, from spirit to that which +we call matter; from the cause to the origin, and the process of +metaphysics, which, from the finite world of sense rises to the +intelligent, passing through the intermediate numbers of infinite +substance to active being and cosmic reason. + +From the absolute One, the sun of the sensible and intellectual world, +millions of stars and suns are produced or developed. Each sun is the +centre of as many worlds which are distributed in as many distinct +series in an infinite number of concentric centres and systems. Each +system is attracted, repelled, and moved by an infinite, internal +passion, or attraction; each turns round its own centre, and moves in a +spiral towards the centre of the whole, towards which centre they all +tend with infinite passional ardour. For in this centre resides the sun +of suns, the unity of unities, the temple, the altar of the universe, +the sacred fire of Vesta, the vital principle of the universe. + +That which occurs in the world of stars is reflected in the telluric +world; everything has its centre, towards which it is attracted with +fervour. All is thought, passion, and aspiration. + +From this unity, which governs variety, from this movement of every +world around its sun, of every sun around its centre sun--the sun of +suns--which informs all with the rays of the spirit, with the light of +thought--is generated that perfect harmony of colours, sounds, forms, +which strike the sight and captivate and enthrall the intellect. That +which in the heavens is harmony becomes, in the individual, morality, +and in companies of human beings, law. That which is light in the +spheres becomes intelligence and science in the world of the spirit and +in humanity. We must study this harmony that rules the celestial worlds +in order to deduce the laws which should govern civil bodies. + +In the science of numbers dwells harmony, and therefore it behoves us to +identify ourselves with this harmony, because from it is derived the +harmonic law which draws men together into companies. Through the +revolution of the worlds through space around their suns, from their +order, their constancy and their measure, the mind comprehends the +progress and conditions of men, and their duties towards each other. The +Bible, the sacred book of man, is in the heavens; there does man find +written the word of God. + +Human souls are lights, distinct from the universal soul, which is +diffused over all and penetrates everything. A purifying process guides +them from one existence to another, from one form to another, from one +world to another. The life of man is more than an experience or trial; +it is an effort, a struggle to reproduce and represent upon earth some +of that goodness, beauty, and truth which are diffused over the universe +and constitute its harmony. + +Long, slow, and full of opposition is this educational process of the +soul. As the terraqueous globe becomes formed, changed, and perfected, +little by little, through the cataclysms and convulsions which, by means +of fire, flood, earthquake, and irruptions, transform the earth, so it +is with humanity. Through struggle is man educated, fortified, and +raised. + +In the midst of social cataclysms and revolutions humanity has one +guiding star, a beacon which shows its light above the storms and +tempests, a mystical thread running through the labyrinth of +history--namely, the religion of philosophy and of thought. The vulgar +creeds would not, and have not dared to reveal the Truth in its purity +and essence. They covered it with veils with allegories, with myths and +mysteries, which they called sacred; they enshrouded thought with a +double veil, and called it Revelation. Humanity, deceived by a +seductive form, adored the veil, but did not lift itself up to the idea +behind it; it saw the shadow, not the light. + +But we must return to our wandering hero. + +Bruno was about thirty-six years old when he left Paris and went to +England. He was invited to visit the University of Oxford, and opened +his lectures there with two subjects which, apparently diverse, are in +reality intimately connected with each other--namely, on the Quadruple +Sphere and on the Immortality of the Soul. Speaking of the immortality +of the soul, he maintained that nothing in the universe is lost, +everything changes and is transformed; therefore, soul and body, spirit +and matter, are equally immortal. The body dissolves, and is +transformed; the soul transmigrates, and, drawing round itself atom to +atom, it reconstructs for itself a new body. The spirit that animates +and moves all things is one; everything differentiates according to the +different forms and bodies in which it operates. Hence, of animate +things some are inferior by reason of the meanness of the organ in which +they operate; others are superior through the richness of the same. Thus +we see that Bruno anticipates the doctrine, proclaimed later by Goethe +and by Darwin, of the transformation of species and of the organic unity +of the animal world; and this alternation from segregation to +aggregation, which we call death and life, is no other than mutation of +form. + +After having criticised and scourged the religions of chimera, of +ignorance, and hypocrisy, in "Lo Spaccio della Bestia Trionfante" and in +"L'Asino Cillenico," the author, in "Gli Eroici Furori," lays down the +basis for the religion of thought and of science. In place of the +so-called Christian perfections (resignation, devotion, and ignorance), +Bruno would put intelligence and the progress of the intellect in the +world of physics, metaphysics, and morals; the true aim being +illumination, the true morality the practice of justice, the true +redemption the liberation of the soul from error, its elevation and +union with God upon the wings of thought. This idea is developed in the +work in question, which is dedicated to Sir Philip Sidney. After +treating of the infinite universe, and contemplating the innumerable +worlds in other works, he comes, in "Gli Eroici Furori," to the +consideration of virtue in the individual, and demonstrates the potency +of the human faculties. After the Cosmos, the Microcosm; after the +infinitely great, the infinitely small. The body is in the soul, the +soul is in the mind, the mind is in God. The life of the soul is the +true life of the man. Of all his various faculties, that which rules +all, that which exalts our nature, is Thought. By means of it we rise to +the contemplation of the universe, and becoming in our turn creators, we +raise the edifice of science; through the intellect the affections +become purified, the will becomes strengthened. True liberty is +acquired, and will and action becoming one through thought, we become +heroes. + +This education of the soul, or rather this elevation and glory of +thought, which draws with it the will and the affections, not by means +of blind faith or supernatural grace, not through an irrational and +mystical impulse, but by the strength of a reformed intellect and by a +palpable and well-considered enthusiasm, which science and the +contemplation of Nature alone can give, this is the keynote of the poem. +It is composed of two parts, each of which is divided into five +dialogues: the first part, which may be called psychological, shows, by +means of various figures and symbols drawn from Nature, how the divine +light is always present to us, is inherent in man; it presents itself to +the senses and to the comprehension: man constantly rejects and ignores +it; sometimes the soul strives to rise up to it, and the poet describes +the struggle with the opposing affections which are involved in this +effort, and shows how at last the man of intelligence overcomes these +contending powers and fatal impulses which conflict within us, and by +virtue of harmony and the fusion of the opposites the intellect becomes +one with the affections, and man realizes the good and rises to the +knowledge of the true. All conflicting desires being at last united, +they become fixed upon one object, one great intent--the love of the +Divine, which is the highest truth and the highest good. In "Gli Eroici +Furori" we see Bruno as a man, as a philosopher, and as a believer: here +he reveals himself as the hero of thought. Even as Christ was the hero +of faith, and sacrificed himself for it, so Bruno declares himself ready +to sacrifice himself for science. It is also a literary, a +philosophical, and a religious work; form, however, is sacrificed to the +idea--so absorbed is the author in the idea that he often ignores form +altogether. An exile wandering from place to place, he wrote hurriedly +and seldom or ever had he the opportunity of revising what he had +written down. His mind in the impulsiveness of its improvisation was +like the volcano of his native soil, which, rent by subterranean +flames, sends forth from its vortices of fire, at the same time smoke, +ashes, turbid floods, stones, and lava. He contemplates the soul, and +seeks to understand its language; he is a physiologist and a naturalist, +merged in the mystic and the enlightened devotee. + +Bruno might have made a fixed home for himself in England, as so many of +his compatriots had done, and have continued to enjoy the society of +such men as Sir Philip Sydney, Fulke Greville, and, perchance, also of +Shakespeare himself, who was in London about that time; but his +self-imposed mission allowed him no rest; he must go forth, and carry +his doctrines to the world, and forget the pleasures of friendship and +the ties of comfort in the larger love of humanity; his work was to +awaken souls out of their lethargy, to inspire them with the love of the +highest good and of truth; to teach that God is to be found in the study +of Nature, that the laws of the visible world will explain those of the +invisible, the union of science and humanity with Nature and with God. + +Bruno returned to Paris in 1585, being at that time tutor in the family +of Mauvissier, who had been recalled from England by his Sovereign. +During Bruno's second sojourn in Paris efforts were made by Mendoza, +the Spanish ambassador, and others, to induce him to return to his +allegiance to the Church, and to be reconciled to the Pope; but Bruno +declined these overtures, and soon after left Paris for Germany, where +he arrived on foot, his only burden being a few books. + +He visited Marburg and Wurtemburg, remaining in the latter place two +years, earning his bread by teaching. + +Prague and Frankfort were next visited; ever the same courage and +boldness characterised his teaching, and ever the same scanty welcome +was accorded to it, although in every city and university crowds of the +intelligent listened to his lectures; but the Church never lost sight of +Bruno, he was always under surveillance, and few dared to show +themselves openly his friends. Absorbed in his studies and intent upon +his work, writing with feverish haste, he observed nothing of the +invisible net which his enemies kept spread about him, and while his +slanderers were busy in doing him injury he was occupied in teaching the +mnemonic art, and explaining his system of philosophy to the young +Lutherans who attended his lectures; in settling the basis of a new and +rational religion, and in writing Latin verses; using ever greater +diligence with his work, almost as if he felt that the time was drawing +near in which he would be no longer at liberty to work and teach. + +It was during the early part of the pontificate of Gregory XIV. that +Bruno received letters from Mocenigo in Venice, urging him to return to +Italy, and to go and stay with him in Venice, and instruct him in the +secrets of science. Bruno was beginning to tire of this perpetually +wandering life, and after several letters from Mocenigo, full of fine +professions of friendship and protection, Bruno, longing to see his +country again, turned his face towards Venice. + +In those days men of superior intellect were often considered to be +magicians or sorcerers; Mocenigo, after enticing Bruno to Venice, +insisted upon his teaching him "the secret of memory and other things +that he knew." + +The philosopher with untiring patience tried to instil into this dull +head the principles of logic, the elements of mathematics, and the +rudiments of the mnemonic art; but the pupil hated study, and had no +faculty of thought; yet he insisted that Bruno should make science +clearly known to him! But this was probably only to initiate a quarrel +with Bruno, whom he intended afterwards to betray, and deliver into the +hands of the Church. + +The Holy Office would have laid hands on Bruno immediately on his +arrival in Italy, but being assured by Mocenigo that he could not +escape, they left him a certain liberty, so that he might more surely +compromise himself, while his enemies were busy collecting evidence +against him. When at last his eyes became opened to what was going on +about him, and he could no longer ignore the peril of his position, it +was too late; Bruno could not get away, and was told by Mocenigo that if +he stayed not by his own will and pleasure, he would be compelled to +remain where he was. Bruno, however, made his preparations for +departure, and sent his things on to Frankfort, intending to leave the +next day himself; but in the morning, while he was still in bed, +Mocenigo entered the chamber, pretending that he wished to speak with +him; then calling his servant Bartolo and five or six gondoliers, who +waited without, they forced Bruno to rise, and conducted him to a +garret, and locked him in. There he passed the first day of that +imprisonment which was to last for eight years. The next day he went +over the lagoon in a gondola, in the company of his jailors, who took +him to the prison of the Holy Office, and left him there. Levi devotes +many pages to the accusations brought against Giordano Bruno by the +Inquisitors, and the depositions and denunciations made against him by +his enemies. The Court was opened without delay, and most of the +provinces of Italy were represented by their delegates in the early part +of the trial; Bruno himself, being interrogated, gave an account in +detail of his life, of his wanderings, of his occupations and works: +serene and dignified before this terrible tribunal, he expounded his +doctrine, its principles, and logical consequences. He spoke of the +universe, of the infinite worlds in infinite space, of the divinity in +all things, of the unity of all things, the dependence and +inter-dependence of all things, and of the existence of God in all. +After nine months' imprisonment in Venice, towards the end of January +1593, Bruno, in chains, was conveyed from the Bridge of Sighs through +the lagoons to Ancona, where he remained incarcerated until the prison +of the Roman Inquisition received him. If we look upon "Gli Eroici +Furori" as a prophetical poem, we see that his sufferings in the +loneliness of his prison and in the torture-chamber of the Inquisition +passed by anticipation before his mind in the book written when he was +free and a wanderer in strange lands. + + "By what condition, nature, or fell chance, + In living death, dead life I live?" + +he writes eight years and more before he ever breathed the stifling air +of a dungeon; and again: + + "The soul nor yields nor bends to these rough blows, + But bears, exulting, this long martyrdom, + And makes a harmony of these sharp pangs." + +Further details of the trial of Giordano Bruno are to be found in Levi's +book. It is well known how he received the sentence of death passed upon +him, saying: "You, O judges! feel perchance more terror in pronouncing +this judgment than I do in hearing it." The day fixed for the burning, +which was to take place in the Campo dei Fiori, was the 17th February in +the year 1600. Rome was full of pilgrims from all parts, come to +celebrate the jubilee of Pope Clement VIII. Bruno was hardly fifty years +old at this time; his face was thin and pale, with dark, fiery eyes; the +forehead luminous with thought, his body frail and bearing the signs of +torture; his hands in chains, his feet bare, he walked with slow steps +in the early morning towards the funeral pile. Brightly shone the sun, +and the flames leapt upwards and mingled with his ardent rays; Bruno +stood in the midst with his arms crossed, his head raised, his eyes +open; when all was consumed, a monk took a handful of the ashes and +scattered them in the wind. A month later, the Bishop of Sidonia +presented himself at the Treasury of the Pope, and demanded two scudi in +payment for having degraded Fra Giordano the heretic. + + "L'incendio è tal, ch'io m'ardo e non mi sfaccio." + + EROICI FURORI. + + + + +THE + +HEROIC ENTHUSIASTS. + + + + +=First Dialogue.= + +TANSILLO, CICADA. + + +TANS. The enthusiasms most suitable to be first brought forward and +considered are those that I now place before you in the order that seems +to me most fitting. + +CIC. Begin, then, to read. + +TANSILLO. + +1. + + Ye Muses, that so oft I have repulsed, + That, now importuned, haste to cure my pain, + And to console me in my woes + With verses, rhymes, and exaltation + Such as to others ye did never show, + Who yet do vaunt themselves of laurel and of myrtle + Be near me now, my anchor and my port, + Lest I for sport should towards some others turn. + + O Mount! O Goddesses! O Fountain! + Where and with whom I dwell, converse and nourish me, + Where peacefully I ponder and grow fair; + I rise, I live: heart, spirit, brows adorn; + Death, cypresses, and hells + You change to life, to laurels, and eternal stars! + +It is to be supposed that he oftimes and for divers reasons had repulsed +the Muses; first, because he could not be idle as a priest of the Muses +should be, for idleness cannot exist there, where the ministers and +servants of envy, ignorance, and malignity are to be combated. Moreover, +he could not force himself to the study of philosophies, which though +they be not the most mature, yet ought, as kindred of the Muses, to +precede them. Besides which, being drawn on one side by the tragic +Melpomene, with more matter than spirit, and on the other side by the +comic Thalia, with more spirit than matter, it came to pass that, +oscillating between the two, he remained neutral and inactive, rather +than operative. Finally, the dictum of the censors, who, restraining him +from that which was high and worthy, and towards which he was naturally +inclined, sought to enslave his genius, and from being free in virtue +they would have rendered him contemptible under a most vile and stupid +hypocrisy. At last, in the great whirl of annoyances by which he was +surrounded, it happened that, not having wherewith to console him, he +listened to those who are said to intoxicate him with such exaltation, +verses, and rhymes, as they had never demonstrated to others; because +this work shines more by its originality than by its conventionality. + +CIC. Say, what do you mean by those who vaunt themselves of myrtle and +laurel? + +TANS. Those may and do boast of the myrtle who sing of love: if they +bear themselves nobly, they may wear a crown of that plant consecrated +to Venus, of which they know the potency. Those may boast of the laurel +who sing worthily of things pertaining to heroes, substituting heroic +souls for speculative and moral philosophy, and praising them and +setting as mirrors and exemplars for political and civil actions. + +CIC. There are then many species of poets and crowns? + +TANS. Not only as many as there are Muses, but a great many more; for +although genius is to be met with, yet certain modes and species of +human ingenuity cannot be thus classified. + +CIC. There are certain schoolmen who barely allow Homer to be a poet, +and set down Virgil, Ovid, Martial, Hesiod, Lucretius, and many others +as versifiers, judging them by the rules of poetry of Aristotle. + +TANS. Know for certain, my brother, that such as these are beasts. They +do not consider that those rules serve principally as a frame for the +Homeric poetry, and for other similar to it, and they set up one as a +great poet, high as Homer, and disallow those of other vein, and art, +and enthusiasm, who in their various kinds are equal, similar, or +greater. + +CIC. So that Homer was not a poet who depended upon rules, but was the +cause of the rules which serve for those who are more apt at imitation +than invention, and they have been used by him who, being no poet, yet +knew how to take the rules of Homeric poetry into service, so as to +become, not a poet or a Homer, but one who apes the Muse of others? + +TANS. Thou dost well conclude that poetry is not born in rules, or only +slightly and accidentally so; the rules are derived from the poetry, and +there are as many kinds and sorts of true rules as there are kinds and +sorts of true poets. + +CIC. How then are the true poets to be known? + +TANS. By the singing of their verses; in that singing they give delight, +or they edify, or they edify and delight together. + +CIC. To whom then are the rules of Aristotle useful? + +TANS. To him who, unlike Homer, Hesiod, Orpheus, and others, could not +sing without the rules of Aristotle, and who, having no Muse of his own, +would coquette with that of Homer. + +CIC. Then they are wrong, those stupid pedants of our days, who exclude +from the number of poets those who do not use words and metaphors +conformable to, or whose principles are not in union with, those of +Homer and Virgil; or because they do not observe the custom of +invocation, or because they weave one history or tale with another, or +because they finish the song with an epilogue on what has been said and +a prelude on what is to be said, and many other kinds of criticism and +censure, from whence it seems they would imply that they themselves, if +the fancy took them, could be the true poets; and yet in fact they are +no other than worms, that know not how to do anything well, but are born +only to gnaw and befoul the studies and labours of others; and not being +able to attain celebrity by their own virtue and ingenuity, seek to put +themselves in the front, by hook or by crook, through the defects and +errors of others. + +TANS. Now, to return from this long digression, I say that there are as +many sorts of poets as there are human sentiments and ideas; and to +these it is possible to adapt garlands, not only of every species of +plant, but also of other kinds of material. So the crowns of poets are +made not only of myrtle and of laurel, but of vine leaves for the +white-wine verses, and of ivy for the bacchanals; of olive for sacrifice +and laws; of poplar, of elm, and of corn for agriculture; of cypress for +funerals, and innumerable others for other occasions; and, if it please +you, also of that material signified by a good fellow when he exclaimed: + + O Friar Leek! O Poetaster! + That in Milan didst buckle on thy wreath + Composed of salad, sausage, and the pepper-caster. + +CIC. Now surely he of divers moods, which he exhibits in various ways, +may cover himself with the branches of different plants, and may hold +discourse worthily with the Muses, for they are his aura or comforter, +his anchor or support, and his harbour, to which he retires in times of +labour, of agitation, and storm. Hence he cries: "O mountain of +Parnassus, where I abide! Muses, with whom I converse! Fountain of +Helicon, where I am nourished. Mountain, that affordest me a quiet +dwelling-place! Muses, that inspire me with profound doctrines. +Fountain, that cleanses me! Mountain, on whose ascent my heart uprises! +Muses, that in discourse revive my spirit. Well, whose arbours cool my +brows! Change my death into life, my cypress to laurels, and my hells +into heavens: that is, give me immortality, make me poet, render me +illustrious!" + +TANS. Well; because to those whom Heaven favours the greatest evils turn +to greatest good, for needs or necessities bring forth labours and +studies, and these most often bring the glory of immortal splendour. + +CIC. For to die in one age makes us live in all the rest. Go on. + +TANS. Then follows: + +2. + + In form and place like to Parnassus is my heart, + And up unto this mount for safety I ascend; + My Muses are my thoughts, and they present to me + At every hour new beauties counted out. + The frequent tears that from my eyes do pour, + These make my fount of Helicon. + By such a mount, such nymphs, such floods, + As Heaven did please, was I a poet born. + No king of any kingdom, + No favouring hand of emperor, + No highest priest nor great pastor, + Has given to me such graces, honours, privileges, + As are those laurel leaves with which + O'ershadowed are my heart, my thoughts, my tears. + +Here he declares his mountain to be the exalted affection of his heart, +his Muses he calls the beauties and attributes of the object of his +affections, and the fountain is his tears. In that mountain affection is +kindled; through those beauties enthusiasm is conceived, and by those +tears the enthusiastic affection is demonstrated; and he esteems himself +not less grandly crowned by his heart, his thoughts, and his tears than +others are by the hand of kings, emperors, and popes. + +CIC. Explain to me what he means by his heart being in form like +Parnassus. + +TANS. Because the human heart has two summits, which terminate in one +base or root; and, spiritually, from one affection of the heart proceed +two opposites, love and hate; and the mountain of Parnassus has two +summits and one base. + +CIC. On to the next! + +3. + + The captain calls his warriors to arms, + And at the trumpet's sound they all + Under one sign and standard come. + But yet for some in vain the call is heard, + Heedless and unprepared, they mind it not. + One foe he kills, and the insane unborn, + He banishes from out the camp in scorn. + And thus the soul, when foiled her high designs, + Would have all those opponents dead or gone; + One object only I regard, + One face alone my mind does fill, + One beauty keeps me fixed and still; + One arrow pierced my heart, and one + The fire with which alone I burn, + And towards one paradise I turn. + +This captain is the human will, which dwells in the depths of the soul +with the small helm of reason to govern and guide the interior powers +against the wave of natural impulses. He, with the sound of the +trumpet--that is, by fixed resolve--calls all the warriors or invokes +all the powers; called warriors because they are in continual strife and +opposition; and their affections, which are all contrary thoughts, some +towards one and some towards the other side inclining, and he tries to +bring them all under one flag--one settled end and aim. Some are called +in vain to put in a ready appearance, and are chiefly those which +proceed from the lower instincts, and which obey the reason either not +at all, or very little; and forcing himself to prevent their actions and +condemn those which cannot be prevented, he shows himself as one who +would kill those and banish these, now by the scourge of scorn, now by +the sword of anger. One only is the object of his regards, and on this +he is intently fixed; one prospect delights and fills his imagination, +one beauty pleases, and he rests in that, because the operation of the +intelligence is not a work of movement but of quiet; from thence alone +he derives that barb which, killing him, constitutes the consummation of +perfection. He burns with one fire alone; that is, one affection +consumes him. + +CIC. Why is love symbolized by fire? + +TANS. For many reasons, but at present let this one suffice thee: that +as love converts the thing loved into the lover, so amongst the elements +fire is active and potent to convert all the others, simple and +composite, into itself. + +CIC. Go on. + +TANS. He knows one paradise--that is, one consummation, because paradise +commonly signifies the end; which is again distinguished from that which +is absolute in truth and essence from that which is so in appearance and +shadow or form. Of the first there can only be one, as there can be only +one ultimate and one primal good. Of the second the modes are infinite. + +4. + + Love, Fate, Love's object, and cold Jealousy, + Delight me, and torment, content me, and afflict. + The insensate boy, the blind and sinister, + The loftiest beauty, and my death alone + Show to me paradise, and take away, + Present me with all good, and steal it from me, + So that the heart, the mind, the spirit, and the soul, + Have joy, pain, cold, and weight in their control. + Who will deliver me from war? + Who give to me the fruit of love in peace? + And that which vexes that which pleases me + (Opening the gates of heaven and closing them) + Who will set far apart + To make acceptable my fires and tears? + +He shows the reason and origin of passion; and whence it is conceived; +and how enthusiasm is born, by ploughing the field of the Muses and +scattering the seed of his thoughts and waiting for the fruitful +harvest, discovering in himself the fervour of the affections instead of +in the sun, and in place of the rain is the moisture of his eyes. He +brings forward four things: Love, Fate, the Object, and Jealousy. Here +love is not a low, ignoble, and unworthy motor, but a noble lord and +chief. Fate is none other than the pre-ordained disposition and order of +casualties to which he is subject by his destiny. The object is the +thing loved and the correlative of the lover. Jealousy, it is clear, +must be the ardour of the lover about the thing loved, of which it boots +not to speak to him who knows what love is, and which it is vain to try +to explain to others. Love delights, because to him who loves it is a +pleasure to love; and he who really loves would not cease from loving. +This is referred to in the following sonnet: + +5. + + Beloved, sweet, and honourable wound, + From fairest dart that love did choose, + Lofty, most beauteous and potential zeal, + That makes the soul in its own flames find weal! + What power or spell of herb or magic art + Can tear thee from the centre of my heart, + Since he, who with an ever-growing zest, + Tormenting most, yet most does make me blest? + How can I of this weight unburdened be, + If pain the cure, and joy the sore give me? + Sweet is my pain: to this world new and rare. + Eyes! ye are the bow and torches of my lord! + Double the flames and arrows in my breast, + For languishing is sweet and burning best. + +Fate vexes and grieves by undesirable and unfortunate events, or because +it makes the subject feel unworthy of the object, and out of proportion +with the dignity of the latter, or because a perfect sympathy does not +exist, or for other reasons and obstacles that arise. The object +satisfies the subject, which is nourished by no other, seeks no other, +is occupied by no other, and banishes every other thought. Jealousy +torments, because although she is the daughter of Love, and is derived +from him, and is his companion who always goes with him, and is a sign +of the same, being understood as a necessary consequence wherever love +is found (as may be observed of whole generations who, from the coldness +of the region and lateness of development, learn little, love less, and +of jealousy know nothing), yet, notwithstanding its kinship, +association, and signification, jealousy comes to trouble and poisons +all that it finds of beautiful and of good in Love. Therefore I said in +another sonnet: + +6. + + Oh, wicked child of Envy and of Love! + That turnest into pain thy father's joys, + To evil Argus-eyed, but blind as mole to good. + Minister of torment! Jealousy! + Fetid harpy! Tisiphone infernal! + Who steals and poisons others' good, + Under thy cruel breath does languish + The sweetest flower of all my hopes. + Proud of thyself, unlovely one, + Bird of sorrow and harbinger of ill, + The heart thou visitest by thousand doors; + If entrance unto thee could be denied, + The reign of Love would so much fairer be, + As would this world were death and hate away. + +To the above is added, that Jealousy not only is sometimes the ruin and +death of the lover, but often kills Love itself, because Love comes to +be so much under its influence that it is impelled to despise the +object, and in fact becomes alienated from it, especially when it +engenders disdain. + +CIC. Explain now the ideas which follow. Why is Love called the +"insensate boy"? + +TANS. I will tell you. Love is called the insensate boy, not because he +is so of himself, but because he brings certain ones into subjection, +and dwells in such subjects, since the more intellectual and speculative +one is, the more Love raises the genius and purifies the intellect, +rendering it alert, studious, and circumspect, promoting a condition of +valorous animosity and an emulation of virtues and dignities by the +desire to please and to make itself worthy of the thing loved; others, +and they are the largest number, call him mad and foolish, because he +drives them distracted, and hurries them into excesses, by which the +spirit, soul, and body become sickly, and inept to consider and +distinguish that which is seemly from that which is distorted; thus +rendering them subject to scorn, derision, and reproach. + +CIC. It is commonly said that love makes fools of the old and makes the +young wise. + +TANS. That drawback does not happen to all the aged, nor that advantage +to all the young; the one is true of the weak, and the other of the +robust. One thing is certain, that he who loves wisely in youth will in +age not go astray. But derision is for those of mature age, into whose +hands Love puts the alphabet. + +CIC. Tell me now why Fate is called blind and bad. + +TANS. Again, blind and bad is not said of Destiny itself, because it is +of the same order and number and measure as the universe; but as to the +subjects it is said to be blind, for they are blind to fate, she being +so uncertain. So also is Fate said to be evil, because every living +mortal who laments and complains, blames her. As the Apulian poet says: + + How is it, or what means it, Mæcenas, + That none on earth contented with that fate appear, + Which Reason or Heaven has assigned to them? + +In the same way he calls the object the highest beauty, as it is that +alone which has power of attracting him to itself; and thus he holds it +more worthy, more noble, and feels it predominant and superior as he +becomes subject and captive to it. "My death itself," he says of +Jealousy, because as Love has no more close companion than she, so also +he feels he has no greater enemy; as nothing is more hurtful to iron +than rust, which is produced by it. + +CIC. Now, since you have begun so, continue to show bit by bit that +which remains. + +TANS. So will I. He says next of Love: he shows me Paradise, in order to +prove that Love himself is not blind, and does not himself render any +lovers blind, except through the ignoble characteristics of the subject; +even as the birds of night become blind in the sunshine. As for himself, +Love brightens, clears, and opens the intellect, permeating all and +producing miraculous effects. + +CIC. Much of this, it seems to me, the Nolano demonstrates in another +sonnet: + +7. + + Love, through whom high truth I do discern, + Thou openest the black diamond doors; + Through the eyes enters my deity, and through seeing + Is born, lives, is nourished, and has eternal reign; + Shows forth what heaven holds, earth and hell: + Makes present true images of the absent; + Gains strength: and drawing with straight aim, + Wounds, lays bare and frets the inmost heart. + Attend now, thou base hind unto the truth, + Bend down the ear to my unerring word; + Open, open, if thou canst the eyes, foolish perverted one! + Thou understanding little, call'st him child, + Because thou swiftly changest, fugitive he seems, + Thyself not seeing, call'st him blind. + +Love shows Paradise in order that the highest things may be heard, +understood, and accomplished; or it makes the things loved, grand--at +least in appearance. He says, Fate takes love away; because, often in +spite of the lover, it does not concede, and that which he sees and +desires is distant and adverse to him. Every good he sets before me, he +says of the object, because that which is indicated by the finger of +Love seems to him the only thing, the principal, and the whole. "Steals +it from me," he says of Jealousy, not simply in order that it may not be +present to me; removing it from my eyesight, but in order that good may +not be good, but an acute evil; sweet, not sweet, but an agonized +longing; while the heart--that is, the will, has joy by the great force +of love, whatever may be the result; the mind--that is, the intellectual +part, has pain through the Fear of Fate, which fate does not favour the +lover; the spirit--that is, the natural affections, are cold because +they are snatched from the object which gives joy to the heart, and +which might give pleasure to the mind; the soul--that is, the suffering +and sensitive soul, is heavy--that is, finds itself oppressed with the +heavy burden of jealousy which torments it. To this consideration of his +state he adds a tearful lament, and says: "Who will deliver me from +war, and give me peace? or who will separate that which pains and +injures me from that which I so love, and which opens to me the gates of +heaven, so that the fervid flames in my heart may be acceptable, and +fortunate the fountains of my tears?" Continuing this proposition, he +adds: + +8. + + Ah me! oppress some other, spiteful Fate! + Jealousy, get thee hence--begone! away! + These may suffice to show me all the grace + Of changeful Love, and of that noble face. + He takes my life, she gives me death, + She wings, he burns my heart, + He murders it, and she revives the soul: + My succour she, my grievous burden he! + But what say I of Love? + If he and she one subject be, or form, + If with one empire and one rule they stamp + One sole impression in my heart of hearts, + Then are they two, yet one, on which do wait + The mirth and melancholy of my state! + +Four beginnings and extremes of two opposites he would reduce to two +beginnings and one opposite: he says, then, oppress others--that is, let +it suffice thee, O my Fate! that thou hast so much oppressed me; and +since thou canst not exist without exercise of thyself, turn elsewhere +thy anger. Get thee hence out of the world, thou Jealousy, because one +of those two others which remain can supply your functions and offices; +yet, O Fate! thou art none other than my love; and thou, Jealousy, art +not external to the substance of the same. He alone, then, remains to +deprive me of life, to burn me, to give me death, and to be to me the +burden of my bones; for he delivers me from death--wings, enlivens, and +sustains. Then two beginnings and one opposite he reduces to one +beginning and one result, exclaiming: But what do I say of Love? If this +presence, this object, is his empire, and appears none other than the +empire of Love, the rule of Love and its own rule; the impression of +Love which appears in the substance of my heart, is then no other +impression than its own, and therefore after having said "Noble face," +replies "Inconstant Love."[A] + +[A] Vago amore. + + + + +=Second Dialogue.= + +TANSILLO. + + +Now begins the enthusiast to display the affections and uncover the +wounds which are for a sign in his body, and in substance or essence in +his soul, and he says thus: + +9. + + Of Love the standard-bearer I; + My hopes are ice, and glowing my desires. + At once I tremble, sparkle, freeze, and burn; + Am mute, and fill the air with clamorous plaints. + Water my eyes distil, sparks from my heart. + I live, I die, make merry and lament. + Living the waters, the burning never dies, + For in my eyes is Thetys, and Vulcan in my heart. + Others I love; myself I hate. + If I be winged, others are changed to stone; + They high as heaven, if I be lowly set. + I cease not to pursue, they ever flee away; + If I do call, yet none will answer me. + The more I search, the more is hid from me. + +In accordance with this, I will continue with that which just before I +said to thee, that one should not strive so hard to prove that which is +so very evident--namely, that there is nothing pure and unalloyed; and +some have said that no mixed thing is a real entity, as alloyed gold is +not real gold, manufactured wine is not real simple wine. Almost all +things are made up of opposites, whence it comes that the success of our +affections, through the mixture that is in things, can afford no +pleasure without some bitterness; and more than this, I will say, that +were it not for the bitter, there would be no sweet; seeing that it is +through fatigue that we find pleasure in repose; separation is the cause +of our pleasure in union; and, examining generally, we shall ever find +that one opposite is the reason that the other opposite pleases and is +desired. + +CIC. Then there is no delight without the contrary? + +TANS. Certainly not; as without the opposite there is no pain; as is +shown by that golden Pythagorean poet when he says: + + Hinc metuunt cupiuntque, dolent gaudentque, nec + Respiciunt, clausæ tenebris, e carcere cæco. + +This, then, is what the mixture of things causes, and hence it is that +no one is pleased with his own state, except some senseless blockhead, +who is so all the more the deeper is the degree of obscure folly in +which he is sunk; then he has little or no apprehension of pain; he +enjoys the actual present without fearing the future; he enjoys that +which is and that in which he finds himself, and has neither care nor +sorrow for what may be; and, in short, has no sense of that opposition +which is symbolized by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. + +CIC. From this we see that ignorance is the mother of sensual felicity +and beatitude, and this same is the garden of paradise of the animals; +as is made clear in the dialogues of the Kabala of the horse Pegasus; +and as says the wise Solomon, "Whoso increases knowledge increases +sorrow." + +TANS. Hence it appears that heroic love is a torment, because it does +not enjoy the present, as does animal love, but is of the future and the +absent; and, on the contrary, it feels ambition, emulation, suspicion +and dread. One evening, after supper, a certain neighbour of ours said: +"Never was I more jolly than I am now." John Bruno, father of the +Nolano, answered him: "Never wert thou more foolish than now." + +CIC. You would imply, then, that he who is sad is wise, and that other +who is more sad is wiser? + +TANS. On the contrary, I mean that there is in these another species of +foolishness and a worse. + +CIC. Who, then, is wise, if foolish is he who is content, and foolish he +who is sad? + +TANS. He who is neither merry nor sad. + +CIC. Who? He who sleeps? He who is without feeling--who is dead? + +TANS. No; but he who is quick, both seeing and hearing, and who, +considering evil and good, estimating the one and the other as variable, +and consistent in motion, mutation, and vicissitude, in such wise that +the end of one opposite is the commencement of another, and the extreme +of the one is the beginning of the other; whose spirit is neither +depressed nor elated, but is moderate in inclinations and temperate in +desires; to him pleasure is not pleasure, having ever present the end of +it; equally, pain to him is not pain, because by the force of reasoning +he has present the end of that too. So the sage holds all mutable things +as things that are not, and affirms that they are no other than vanity +and nothingness, because time has to eternity the proportion of the +point to the line. + +CIC. So that we can never hold the proposition of being contented or +discontented, without holding the proposition of our own foolishness, +which we thereby confess; therefore no one who reasons, and +consequently no one who participates, can be wise; in short, all men are +fools. + +TANS. I do not intend to infer that; for I will hold of highest wisdom +him who could really say at one time the opposite of what he says at +another--never was I less gay than now; or, never was I less sad than at +present. + +CIC. How? Do you not make two contrary qualities where there are two +opposite affections? Why, I say, do you take as two virtues, and not as +one vice and one virtue, the being less gay and the being less sad? + +TANS. Because both the contraries in excess--that is, in so far as they +exceed--are vices, because they pass the line; and the same, in so far +as they diminish, come to be virtues, because they are contained within +limits. + +CIC. How? The being less merry and the being less sad are not one virtue +and one vice, but are two virtues? + +TANS. On the contrary, I say they are one and the same virtue; because +the vice is there where the opposite is; the opposite is chiefly there +where the extreme is; the greatest opposite is the nearest to the +extreme; the least or nothing is in the middle, where the opposites +meet, and are one and identical; as between the coldest and hottest and +the hotter and colder, in the middle point is that which you may call +hot and cold, or neither hot nor cold, without contradiction. In that +way whoso is least content and least joyful is in the degree of +indifference, and finds himself in the habitation of temperance, where +the virtue and condition of a strong soul exist, which bends not to the +south wind nor to the north. This, then, to return to the point, is how +this enthusiastic hero, who explains himself in the present part, is +different from the other baser ones--not as virtue from vice, but as a +vice which exists in a subject more divine or divinely, from a vice +which exists in a subject more savage or savagely; so that the +difference is according to the different subjects and modes, and not +according to the form of vice. + +CIC. I can very well conceive, from what you have said, the condition of +that heroic enthusiast, who says, "My hopes are ice and my desires are +glowing," because he is not in the temperance of mediocrity, but, in the +excess of contradictions, his soul is discordant, he shivers in his +frozen hopes and burns in his glowing desires; in his eagerness he is +clamorous, and he is mute from fear; his heart burns in its affection +for others, and for compassion of himself he sheds tears from his eyes; +dying in the laughter of others, he is alive in his own lamentations; +and like him who no longer belongs to himself, he loves others and hates +himself; because matter, as say the physicists, with that measure with +which it loves the absent form, hates the present one. And so in the +octave finishes the war which the soul has within itself; and when he +says in the sistina, but if I be winged, others change to stone and that +which follows; he shows his passion for the warfare which he wages with +external contradictions. I remember having read in Jamblichus, where he +treats of the Egyptian mysteries, this sentence: "Impius animam +dissidentem habet: unde nec secum ipse convenire potest, neque cum +aliis." + +TANS. Now listen to another sonnet, as sequel to what has been said: + +10. + + By what condition, nature, or fell chance, + In living death, dead life I live? + Love has me dead, alack! and such a death, + That death and life together I must lose. + Devoid of hope, I reach the gates of hell, + And laden with desire arrive at heaven: + Thus am I subject to eternal opposites, + And, banished both from heaven and from hell, + No pause nor rest my torments know, + Because between two running wheels I go, + Of which one here, the other there compels, + And like Ixion I pursue and flee; + For to the double discourse do I fit + The crosswise lesson of the spur and bit. + +He shows how much he suffers from this dislocation and distraction in +himself; while the affections, leaving the mean and middle way of +temperance, tend towards the one and the other extreme, and so are +wafted on high or towards the right, and are also transported downwards +to the left. + +CIC. How is it that, not being really of one or the other extreme, it +does not come to be in the conditions or terms of virtue? + +TANS. It is then in a state of virtue when it keeps to the middle, +declining from one to the other opposite; but when it leads towards the +extremes, inclining to one or the other of those, it fails so entirely +from being virtue, that it is a double vice, which consists in this, +that the thing recedes from its nature, the perfection of which consists +in unity, and there where the opposites meet, its composition and virtue +exist. This, then, is how he is dead alive, or living dying; whence he +says, "In a living death a dead life I live." He is not dead, because +he lives in the object; not alive, because he is dead in himself; +deprived of death, because he gives birth to thoughts; deprived of life, +because he does not grow or feel in himself. He is now most dejected +through meditating on the high intelligence, and the perceived +feebleness of power; and most elated by the aspiration of heroic +longing, which passes far beyond his limits, and is most exalted by the +intellectual appetite; which has not for its fashion or aim to add +number to number, is most dejected by the violence done to him by the +sensual opposite which drags him down towards hell. So that, finding +himself thus ascending and descending, he feels within his soul the +greatest dissension that is possible to be felt, and he remains in a +state of confusion through this rebellion of the senses, which urge him +thither where reason restrains, and _vice versâ_. This same is +thoroughly demonstrated in the following sentences, where the Reason, +under the name of "Filenio" asks, and the enthusiast replies under the +name of "Shepherd," who labours in the care of the flocks and herds of +his thoughts, which he nourishes in the submission to and service of his +nymph, which is the affection of that object to which he is captive. + +11. + +FILENIO. Shepherd! + +SHEPHERD. What wilt thou? + +F. What doest thou? + +S. I suffer. + +F. Wherefore? + +S. Because neither life has me for his own, nor death. + +F. Who's to blame? + +S. Love. + +F. That rascal? + +S. That rascal. + +F. Where is he? + +S. He holds me tight in my heart's core. + +F. What does he? + +S. Wounds me. + +F. Who? + +S. Me. + +F. Thee? + +S. Yes. + +F. With what? + +S. With the eyes, the gates of heaven and of hell. + +F. Dost hope? + +S. I hope. + +F. For pity? + +S. For pity. + +F. From whom? + +S. From him who racks me night and day. + +F. Has he any? + +S. I know not. + +F. Thou art a fool. + +S. How if such folly be pleasing to my soul? + +F. Does he promise? + +S. No. + +F. Does he deny? + +S. Not at all. + +F. Is he silent? + +S. Yes, for so much purity (_onestà_) robs me of my boldness. + +F. Thou ravest. + +S. How so? + +F. In vain efforts. + +S. His scorn more than my torments do I fear. + +Here he says that he craves for love, and he complains of it, yet not +because he loves--seeing that to no true lover can love be displeasing; +but because he loves unhappily, whilst those beams which are the rays of +those lights, and which themselves, according as they are perverse and +antagonistic, or really kind and gracious, become the gates which lead +towards heaven or towards hell. In this way he is kept in hope of future +and uncertain mercy, but actually in a state of present and certain +torment, and although he sees his folly quite clearly, nevertheless he +does not care to correct himself in it, or even to feel displeased with +it, but rather does he feel satisfied with it, as he shows when he says: + + Never let me of Love complain, + For Love alone can ease my pain. + +Here is shown another species of enthusiasm born from the light of +reason, which excites fear and suppresses the aforesaid reason in order +not to commit any action which might vex or irritate the thing loved. +He says, then, that hope rests in the future, without anything being +promised or denied; therefore, he is silent and asks nothing, for fear +of offending purity (_l'onestade_). He does not venture to explain +himself and make a proposition, lest he be rejected with repugnance or +accepted with reserve; for he thinks the evil that there might be in the +one would be over-balanced by the good in the other. He shows himself, +then, ready to suffer for ever his own torment, rather than to open the +door to an opportunity through which the thing loved might be perturbed +and saddened. + +CIC. Herein he proves that his love is truly heroic; because he proposes +to himself as the chief aim, not corporeal beauty, but rather the grace +of the spirit, and the inclination of the affections in which, rather +than in the beauty of the body, that love that has in it the divine, is +eternal. + +TANS. Thou knowest that, as the Platonic ideas are divided into three +species, of which one tends to the contemplative or speculative life, +one to active morality, and the third to the idle and voluptuous, so are +there three species of love, of which one raises itself from the +contemplation of bodily form to the consideration of the spiritual and +divine; the other only continues in the delight of seeing and +conversing; the third from seeing proceeds to precipitate into the +concupiscence of touch. Of these three modes others are composed, +according as the first may be coupled with the second or the third, or +as all the three modes may combine together, of which one and all may be +divided into others, according to the affections of the enthusiast, as +these tend more towards the spiritual object, or more towards the +corporeal, or equally towards the one and the other. Hence it comes, +that of those who find themselves in this warfare, and are entangled in +the meshes of love, some aim at enjoying, and they are incited to pluck +the apple from the tree of corporeal beauty, without which acquisition, +or at least the hope of it, they hold vain and worthy only of derision +every amorous care; and in such-wise run all those who are of a +barbarous nature, who neither do nor can seek to exalt themselves by +loving worthy things, and aspiring to illustrious things, and higher +still to things divine, by suitable studies and exercises, to which +nothing can more richly and easily supply the wings than heroic love; +others put before themselves the fruit of delight, which they take in +the aspect of the beauty and grace of the spirit, which glitters and +shines in the beauty of the body, and certain of these, although they +love the body and greatly desire to be united to it, bewailing its +absence and being afflicted by separation, at the same time fear, lest +presuming in this they may be deprived of that affability, conversation, +friendship, and sympathy which are most precious to them; because to +attempt this there cannot be more guarantee of success than there is +risk of forfeiting that favour, which appears before the eyes of thought +as a thing so glorious and worthy. + +CIC. It is a worthy thing, oh Tansillo! for its many virtues and +perfections, and it behoves human genius to seek, accept, nourish, and +preserve a love like that; but one should take great care not to bow +down or become enslaved to an object unworthy and base, lest we become +sharers of the baseness and unworthiness of the same: appositely the +Ferrarese poet says + + Who sets his foot upon the amorous snare, + Lest he besmear his wings, let him beware. + +TANS. To say the truth, that object, which beyond the beauty of the body +has no other splendour, is not worthy of being loved otherwise than to +make the race; and it seems to me the work of a pig or a horse to +torment one's self about it, and as to myself, never was I more +fascinated by such things than I am now fascinated by some statue or +picture to which I am indifferent. It would then be a great dishonour to +a generous soul, if, of a foul, vile, loose, and ignoble nature, +although hid under an excellent symbol, it should be said: "I fear his +scorn more than my torment." + + + + +=Third Dialogue.= + +TANSILLO. + + +There are several varieties of enthusiasts, which may all be reduced to +two kinds. While some only display blindness, stupidity, and irrational +impetuosity, which tend towards savage madness, others by divine +abstraction become in reality superior to ordinary men. And these again +are of two kinds, for some having become the habitation of gods or +divine spirits, speak and perform wonderful things, without themselves +understanding the reason. Many such have been uncultured and ignorant +persons, into whom, being void of spirit and sense of their own, as into +an empty chamber, the divine spirit and sense intrude, as it would have +less power to show itself in those who are full of their own reason and +sense. This divine spirit often desires that the world should know for +certain, that those do not speak from their own knowledge and +experience, but speak and act through some superior intelligence; for +such, the mass of men vouchsafe more admiration and faith, while others, +being skilful in contemplation and possessing innately a clear +intellectual spirit, have an internal stimulus and natural fervour, +excited by the love of the divine, of justice, of truth, of glory, and +by the fire of desire and the breath of intention, sharpen their senses, +and in the sulphur of the cogitative faculty, these kindle the rational +light, with which they see more than ordinarily; and they come in the +end to speak and act, not as vessels and instruments, but as chief +artificers and experts. + +CIC. Of these two which dost thou esteem higher? + +TANS. The first have more dignity, power, and efficacy within +themselves, because they have the divinity; the second _are_ themselves +worthy, potential, and efficacious, and _are_ divine. The first are +worthy, as is the ass which carries the sacraments; the second are as a +sacred thing. In the first is contemplated and seen in effect the +divinity, and that is beheld, adored, and obeyed; in the second is +contemplated and seen the excellency of humanity itself. But now to the +question. These enthusiasms of which we speak, and which we see +exemplified in these sentences, are not oblivion, but a memory; they +are not neglect of one's self, but love and desire of the beautiful and +good, by means of which we are able to make ourselves perfect, by +transforming and assimilating ourselves to it. It is not a +precipitation, under the laws of a tyrannous fate, into the noose of +animal affections, but a rational impetus, which follows the +intellectual apprehension of the beautiful and the good, which knows +whom it wishes to obey and to please, so that, by its nobility and +light, it kindles and invests itself with qualities and conditions +through which it appears illustrious and worthy. He (the enthusiast) +becomes a god by intellectual contact with the divine object, and he has +no thought for other than divine things, and shows himself insensible +and impassive towards those things which are commonly felt, and about +which others are mostly tormented; he fears nothing, and for love of the +divine he despises other pleasures and gives no thought to this life. It +is not a fury of black bile which sends him drifting outside of +judgment, reason, and acts of prudence, and tossed by the discordant +tempest, like those who, having violated certain laws of the divine +Adrastia, are condemned to be scourged by the Furies, in order that they +may be excited by a dissonance as corporeal through seditions, +destructions, and plagues, as it is spiritual, through the forfeiture of +harmony between the perceptive and enjoying powers; but it is aglow +kindled by the intellectual sun in the soul, and a divine impetus which +lends it wings, with which, drawing nearer and nearer to the +intellectual sun, and ridding itself of the rust of human cares, it +becomes a gold tried and pure, has the perception of divine and internal +harmony, and its thoughts and acts accord with the symmetry of the law, +innate in all things. Not, as drunk from the cups of Circe, does he go +dashing and stumbling, now in this and then in that ditch, now against +this or that rock, or like a shifting Proteus, changing now to this, now +to the other aspect, never finding place, fashion, or ground to stay and +settle in; but, without spoiling the harmony, conquers and overcomes the +horrid monsters, and however much he may swerve, he easily returns to +himself[B] by means of those inward instincts that, like the nine Muses, +dance and sing round the splendours of the universal Apollo, and under +tangible images and material things, he comes to comprehend divine laws +and counsels. It is true that sometimes, having love for his trusty +escort, who is double, and because sometimes through occasional +impediments he finds himself defrauded of his strength, then, as one +insane and furious, he squanders away the love of that which he cannot +comprehend; whence, confused by the obscurity of the divinity, he +sometimes abandons the work, and then again returns, to force himself +with his will thither, where he cannot arrive with the intellect. It is +true also that he commonly wanders, and transports himself, now into +one, now into another form of the double Eros; therefore, the principal +lesson that Love gives to him is, that he contemplate the divine beauty +in shadow, when he cannot do so in the mirror, and, like the suitors of +Penelope, he entertain himself with the maids when he is not permitted +to converse with the mistress. Now, in conclusion, you can comprehend, +from what has been said, what is this enthusiast whose picture is put +forth, when it is said: + +12. + + If towards the shining light the butterfly, + Winging his way knows not the burning flame, + And if the thirsty stag, unmindful of the dart, + Runs fainting to the brook, + Or unicorn, unto the chaste breast running, + Ignores the snare that is for him prepared, + I, in the light, the fount, the bosom of my love + Behold the flames, the arrows, and the chains. + If it be sweet in plaintiveness to droop, + Why does that lofty splendour dazzle me? + Wherefore the sacred arrow sweetly wound? + Why in this knot is my desire involved? + And why to me eternal irksomeness + Flames to my heart, darts to my breast and snares unto my soul? + +[B] Facilmente ritorna al sesso. + +Here he shows his love not to be like that of the butterfly, of the +stag, and of the unicorn, who would flee away if they had knowledge of +the fire, of the arrow, and of the snares, and who have no other sense +than that of pleasure; but he is moved by a most sensible and only too +evident passion, which forces him to love that fire more than any +coolness; more that wound than any wholeness; more those fetters than +any liberty. For this evil is not absolutely evil, but, through +comparison with good (according to opinion), it is deceptive, like the +sauce that old Saturn gets when he devours his own sons; for this evil +absolutely in the eye of the Eternal, is comprehended either for good, +or for guide which conduces to it, since this fire is the ardent desire +of divine things, this arrow is the impression of the ray of the beauty +of supernal light, these snares are the species of truth which unite our +mind to the primal verity, and the species of good which unite and join +to the primal and highest good. To that meaning I approached when I +said: + +13. + + With such a fire and such a noble noose, + Beauty enkindles me, and pureness binds, + So that in flames and servitude I take delight, + Liberty takes flight and dreads the ice. + Such is the heat, that though I burn yet am I not destroyed, + The tie is such, the world with me gives praise. + Fear cannot freeze, nor pain unshackle me; + For soothing is the ardour, sweet the smart. + So high the light that burns me I discern, + And of so rich a thread the noose contrived + That, thought being born, the longing dies. + And since, within my heart shines such pure flames, + And so supreme a tie compels my will, + Let my shade serve, and let my ashes burn. + +All the loves, if they be heroic and not purely animal, or what is +called natural, and slaves to generation, as instruments of nature in a +certain way, have for object the divinity, tend towards divine beauty, +which first is communicated to souls and shines in them, and from them, +or rather through them, it is communicated to bodies; whence it is that +well-ordered affection loves the body or corporeal beauty, insomuch as +it is an indication of beauty of spirit. Thus that which causes the +attraction of love to the body is a certain spirituality which we see in +it, and which is called beauty, and which does not consist in major or +minor dimensions, nor in determined colours or forms, but in harmony and +consonance of members and colours. This shows an affinity between the +spirit and the most acute and penetrative senses; whence it follows that +such become more easily and intensely enamoured, and also more easily +and intensely disgusted, which might be through a change of the deformed +spirit, which in some gesture and expressed intention reveals itself in +such wise that this deformity extends from the soul to the body, and +makes it appear no longer beautiful as before. The beauty, then, of the +body has power to kindle, but not to bind, and the lover, unless aided +by the graces of the spirit, such as purity, gratitude, courtesy, +circumspection, is unable to escape. Therefore, said I, beautiful is +that fire which burns me, and noble that tie which binds. + +CIC. I do not believe it is always like that, Tansillo; because, +sometimes, notwithstanding that we discover the spirit to be vicious, we +remain heated and entangled; so that, although reason perceives the evil +and unworthiness of such a love, it yet has not power to alienate the +disordered appetite. In this disposition, I believe, was the Nolano when +he said: + +14. + + Woe's me! my fury forces me + To union with the bad within, + And makes it seem a love supreme and good. + Wearied, my soul cares nought + That I opposing counsels entertain, + And with the savage tyrant + Nourished with want, + And made to put myself in exile, + More than with liberty contented am. + I spread my sails to the wind, + To draw me forth from this detested bliss, + And to reclaim me from the cloying hurt. + +TANS. This occurs when spirits are vicious and tinged as with the same +hue; since, through conformity, love is excited, enkindled, and +confirmed. Thus the vicious easily concur in acts of the same vice; and +I will not refrain from repeating that which I know by experience, for +although I may have discovered in a soul vices very much abominated by +me--as, for instance, filthy avarice, base greediness for money, +ingratitude for favours and courtesies received, or a love of quite vile +persons, of which this last most displeases, because it takes away the +hope from the lover, that by becoming or making himself more worthy he +may become more acceptable--in spite of all this, it is true that I did +burn for corporeal beauty. But how? I loved against my will; for, were +it not so, I should have been more saddened than cheered by troubles and +misfortunes. + +CIC. It is a very proper and nice distinction that is made between +loving and liking. + +TANS. Truly; because we like many--that is, we desire that they be wise +and just; but we love them not because they are unjust and ignorant; +many we love because they are beautiful, but we do not like them, +because they do not deserve it; and amongst other things of which the +lover deems the loved one undeserving, the first is, being loved; and +yet, although he cannot abstain from loving, nevertheless he regrets it, +and shows his regret like him who said, "Woe is me! who am compelled by +passion to coalesce with evil." In the opposite mood was he, either +through some corporeal object in similitude or through a divine subject +in reality, when he said: + +15. + + Although to many pains thou dost subject me, + Yet do I thank thee, love, and owe thee much, + That thou my breast dost cleave with noble wound, + And then dost take my heart and master it. + Thus true it is, that I, on earth, adore + A living object, image most beautiful of God. + Let him who will think that my fate is bad + That kills in hope and quickens in desire. + My pasture is the high emprise, + And though the end desired be not attained, + And though my soul in many thoughts is spent, + Enough that she enkindle noble fire, + Enough that she has lifted me on high, + And from the ignoble crowd has severed me. + +Here his love is entirely heroic and divine, and as such, I wish it to +be understood; although he says that through it he is subject to many +pangs, every lover who is separated from the thing loved (to which being +joined by affection he would also wish to be actually), being in anguish +and pain, he torments himself, not forsooth because he loves, since he +feels his love is engaged most worthily and most nobly, but because he +feels deprived of that fruition which he would obtain if he arrived at +that end to which he tends. He suffers, not from the desire which +animates him, but from the difficulty in the cultivation of it which so +tortures him. Others esteem him unhappy through this appearance of an +evil destiny, as being condemned to these pangs, for he will never cease +from acknowledging the obligation he is under to love, nor cease from +rendering thanks to him because he has presented before the eyes of his +mind such an intelligible conception through which, in this earthly +life, shut in this prison of the flesh, wrapped in these nerves and +supported by these bones, it is permitted to him to contemplate the +divinity in a more suitable manner than if other conceptions and +similitudes than these had offered themselves. + +CIC. The divine and living object, then, of which he speaks, is the +highest intelligible conception that he has been able to form to himself +of the divinity, and is not some corporeal beauty which might overshadow +his thought and appear superficially to the senses. + +TANS. Even so; because no tangible thing nor conception of such can +raise itself to so much dignity. + +CIC. Why, then, does he mention that conception as the object, if, as +appears to me, the true object is the divinity itself? + +TANS. The divinity is the final object, the ultimate and most perfect, +but not in this state, where we cannot see God except as in a shadow or +a mirror, and therefore He cannot be the object except in some +similitude, but not in such as may be extracted or acquired from +corporeal beauty and excellence, by virtue of the senses, but such as +may be formed in the mind, by virtue of the intellect. In which state, +finding himself, he comes to lose the love and affection for every other +thing senseful as well as intellectual, because this, conjoined to that +light, itself also becomes light, and in consequence becomes a god: +because it contracts the divinity into itself, it being in God through +the intention with which it penetrates into the divinity so far as it +can, and God being in it, so that after penetrating, it comes to +conceive, and so far as it can, receive and comprehend the divinity in +its conception. Now in such conceptions and similitudes the human +intellect of this lower world nourishes itself, till such time as it +will be lawful to behold with purer eye the beauty of the divinity. As +happens to him, who, absorbed in the contemplation of some elaborate +architectural work, goes on examining one thing after another in it, +enchanted and feeding in a wonder of delight; but if it should happen +that he sees the lord of all those pictures, who is of a beauty +incomparably greater, leaving all care and thought of them, he is turned +intently to the examination of him. Here, then, is the difference +between that state where we see divine beauty in intelligible +conceptions apart from the effects, labours, works, shadows, and +similitudes of it, and that other state in which it is lawful to behold +it in real presence. He says: "My pasture is the high emprise," because +as the Pythagoreans remark, "The soul moves and turns round God, as the +body round the soul." + +CIC. Then the body is not the habitation of the soul? + +TANS. No; because the soul is not in the body locally, but as intrinsic +form and extrinsic framer, as that which forms the limbs indicates the +internal and external composition. The body, then, is in the soul, the +soul in the mind, the mind either is God or is in God, as Plotinus said. +As in its essence it is in God who is its life, similarly through the +intellectual operation, and the will consequent upon such operation, it +agrees with its bright and beatific object. Fitly, therefore, this +rapture of heroic enthusiasm feeds on such "high emprise." For the +object is infinite, and in action most simple, and our intellectual +power cannot apprehend the infinite except in speech or in a certain +manner of speech, so to say in a certain potential or relative +inference, as one who proposes to himself the infinity, so that he may +constitute for himself a finality where no finality is. + +CIC. Fitly so, because the ultimate ought not to have an end seeing +that it is ultimate. For it is infinite in intention, in perfection, in +essence, and in any other manner whatsoever of being final. + +TANS. Thou sayest truly. Now in this life, that food is such that +excites more than it can appease, as that divine poet shows when he +says: "My soul is wearied, longing for the living God," and in another +place; "Attenuati sunt oculi mei suspicientes in excelsa." Therefore he +says, "And though the end desired be not attained, And that my soul in +many thoughts is spent, Enough that she enkindle noble fire:" meaning to +say that the soul comforts itself, and receives all the glory which it +is able in that state to receive, and that it is a participator in that +ultimate enthusiasm of man, in so far as he is a man in this present +condition, as we see him. + +CIC. It appears to me that the Peripatetics, as explained by Averroes, +mean this, when they say that the highest felicity of man consists in +perfection through the speculative sciences. + +TANS. It is true, and they say well; because we, in this state, cannot +desire nor obtain greater perfection than that in which we are, when our +intellect, by means of some noble and intelligible conception, unites +itself either to the substance of things hoped for, as those say, or to +the divine mind, as it is the fashion to say of the Platonists. For the +present, I will leave reasoning about the soul, or man in another state +or mode of being than he can find himself or believe himself to be in. + +CIC. But what perfection or satisfaction can man find in that knowledge +which is not perfect? + +TANS. It will never be perfect, so far as understanding the highest +object is concerned; but in so far as our intellect can understand it. +Let it suffice that in this and other states there be present to him the +divine beauty so far as the horizon of his vision extends. + +CIC. But all men cannot arrive at that, which one or two may reach. + +TANS. Let it suffice that all "run well," and that each does his utmost, +for the heroic nature is content and shows its dignity rather in +falling, or in failing worthily in the high undertaking, in which it +shows the dignity of its spirit, than in succeeding to perfection in +lower and less noble things. + +CIC. Truly a dignified and heroic death is better than a mean, low +triumph. + +TANS. On that theme I made this sonnet: + +16. + + Since I have spread my wings to my desire, + The more I feel the air beneath my feet, + So much the more towards the wind I bend + My swiftest pinions, + And spurn the world and up towards heaven I go. + Not the sad fate of Daedalus's son + Does warn me to turn downwards, + But ever higher will I rise. + Well do I see, I shall fall dead to earth; + But what life is there can compare with this my death? + Out on the air my heart's voice do I hear: + "Whither dost thou carry me, thou fearless one? + Turn back. Such over-boldness rarely grief escapes." + "Fear not the utmost ruin then," I said, + "Cleave confident the clouds and die content, + That heaven has destined thee to such illustrious death." + +CIC. I understand when you say: "Enough that thou hast lifted me on +high;" but not: "And from the ignoble crowd hast severed me;" unless it +means his having come out from the Platonic groove on account of the +stupid and low condition of the crowd; for those that find profit in +this contemplation cannot be numerous. + +TANS. Thou understandest well; but thou mayst also understand, by the +"ignoble crowd," the body, and sensual cognition, from which he must +arise and free himself who would unite with a nature of a contrary +kind. + +CIC. The Platonists say there are two kinds of knots which link the soul +to the body. One is a certain vivifying action which from the soul +descends into the body, like a ray; the other is a certain vital +quality, which is produced from that action in the body. Now this active +and most noble number, which is the soul, in what way do you understand +that it may be severed from the ignoble number, which is the body? + +TANS. Certainly it was not understood according to any of these modes, +but according to that mode whereby those powers which are not +comprehended and imprisoned in the womb of matter, sometimes as if +inebriated and stupefied, find that they also are occupied in the +formation of matter and in the vivification of the body; then, as if +awakened and brought to themselves, recognizing its principle and +genius, they turn towards superior things and force themselves on the +intelligible world as to their native abode, and from thence, through +their conversion to inferior things, they are thrust into the fate and +conditions of generation. These two impulses are symbolized in the two +kinds of metamorphosis expressed in the following: + +17. + + That god who shakes the sounding thunder, + Asteria as a furtive eagle saw; + Mnemosyne as shepherd; Danae gold; + Alcmene as a fish; Antiope a goat; + Cadmus and his sister a white bull; + Leda as swan, and Dolida as dragon; + And through the lofty object I become, + From subject viler still, a god. + A horse was Saturn; + And in a calf and dolphin Neptune dwelt; + Ibis and shepherd Mercury became; + Bacchus a grape; Apollo was a crow; + And I by help of love, + From an inferior thing, do change me to a god. + +In Nature is one revolution and one circle, by means of which, for the +perfection and help of others, superior things lower themselves to +things inferior, and, by their own excellence and felicity, inferior +things raise themselves to superior ones. Therefore the Pythagoreans and +Platonists say it is given to the soul that at certain times, not only +by spontaneous will, which turns it towards the comprehension of Nature, +but also by the necessity of an internal law, written and registered by +the destined decree, they seek their own justly determined fate; and +they also say that souls, not so much by determination of their own will +as through a certain order, by which they become inclined towards +matter, decline as rebels from divinity; wherefore, not by free +intention, but by a certain occult consequence, they fall. And this is +the inclination that they have to generation, as towards a minor good. +Minor, I say, in so far as it appertains to that particular nature; not +in so far as it appertains to the universal nature, where nothing +happens without the highest aim, and which disposes of all things +according to justice. In which generation finding themselves once more +through the changes which permutably succeed, they return again to the +superior forms. + +CIC. So that they mean, that souls are impelled by the necessity of +fate, and have no proper counsel which guides them at all. + +TANS. Necessity, fate, nature, counsel, will, those things, justly and +rightfully ordained, all agree in one. Besides which, as Plotinus +relates, some believe that certain souls can escape from their own evil, +if knowing the danger, they seek refuge in the mind before the corporeal +habit is confirmed; because the mind raises to things sublime, as the +imagination lowers to inferior things. The mind always understands one, +as the imagination is one in movement and in diversity; the mind always +understands one, as the imagination is always inventing for itself +various images. In the midst is the rational faculty, which is a +mixture of all, like that in which the one agrees with the many, +sameness with variety, movement with fixedness, the inferior with the +superior. Now these transmutations and conversions are symbolized in the +wheel of metamorphosis, where man sits on the upper part, a beast lies +at the bottom, a half-man, half-beast descends from the left, and a +half-beast, half-man ascends from the right. This transmutation is shown +where Jove, according to the diversity of the affections and the +behaviour of those towards inferior things, invests himself with divers +figures, entering into the form of beasts; and so also the other gods +transmigrate into base and alien forms. And, on the contrary, through +the knowledge of their own nobility, they re-take their own divine form; +as the passionate hero, raising himself through conceived kinds of +divine beauty and goodness, with the wings of the intellect and rational +will, rises to the divinity, leaving the form of the lower subject. And +therefore he said, "I become from subject viler still, a god. From an +inferior thing do change me to a god." + + + + +=Fourth Dialogue.= + +TANSILLO. + + +Thus is described the discourse of heroic love, in all which tends to +its own object, which is the highest good; and heroic intellect, which +devotes itself to the study of its own object, which is the primal +verity, or absolute truth. Now the first discourse holds the sum of this +and the intention, the order of which is described in five others +following: + +18. + + To the woods, the mastiffs and the greyhounds young Actæon leads, + When destiny directs him into the doubtful and neglected way, + Upon the track of savage beasts in forests wild. + And here, between the waters, he sees a bust and face more beautiful + than e'er was seen + By mortal or divine, of scarlet, alabaster, and fine gold; + He sees, and the great hunter straight becomes that which he hunts. + The stag, that towards still thicker shades now goes with lighter + steps, + His own great dogs swiftly devour. + So I extend my thoughts to higher prey, and these + Now turning on me give me death with cruel savage bite. + +Actæon signifies the intellect, intent on the pursuit of divine wisdom +and the comprehension of divine beauty. He lets loose the mastiffs and +the greyhounds, of whom the latter are more swift and the former more +strong, because the operation of the intellect precedes that of the +will; but this is more vigorous and effectual than that; seeing that, to +the human intellect, divine goodness and beauty are more loveable than +comprehensible, and love it is that moves and urges the intellect, and +precedes it as a lantern. The woods, uncultivated and solitary places, +visited and penetrated by few, and where there are few traces of men. +The youth of little skill and practice, as of one of short life and of +wavering enthusiasm. In the doubtful road of uncertain and distorted +reason--a disposition assigned to the character of Pythagoras--where you +see the most thorny, uncultivated, and deserted to be the right and +difficult path, where he lets loose the greyhounds and the mastiffs upon +the track of savage beasts, that is, the intelligible kinds of ideal +conceptions, which are occult, followed by few, visited but rarely, and +which do not disclose themselves to all those who seek them. Here, +amongst the waters,--that is, in the mirror of similitude, in those +works where shines the brightness of divine goodness and splendour, +which works are symbolized by the waters superior and inferior, which +are above and below the firmament, he sees the most beautiful bust and +face--that is, external power and operation, which it is possible to +see, by the habit and act of contemplation and the application of mortal +or divine mind, of man or any god. + +CIC. I do not believe that he makes a comparison, nor puts as the same +kind the divine and the human mode of comprehending, which are very +diverse, but as to the subject they are the same. + +TANS. So it is. He says "of red and alabaster and gold," because that +which in bodily beauty is red, white, and fair, in divinity signifies +the scarlet of divine vigorous power, the gold of divine wisdom, the +alabaster of divine beauty, through the contemplation of which the +Pythagoreans, Chaldeans, Platonists, and others, strive in the best way +that they can to elevate themselves. "The great hunter saw," he +understood as much as was possible, and became the hunted. He went out +for prey, and this hunter became himself the prey, by the operation of +the intellect converting the things learned into itself. + +CIC. I understand. He forms intelligible conceptions in his own way and +proportions them to his capacity, so that they are received according to +the manner of the recipient. + +TANS. And does he hunt through the operation of the will, by the act of +which he converts himself into the object? + +CIC. As I understand: because love transforms and converts into the +thing loved. + +TANS. Well dost thou know that the intellect learns things +intelligibly--_i.e._, in its own way, and the will pursues things +naturally, that is, according to the reason that is in themselves. So +Actæon with those thoughts--those dogs--which hunted outside themselves +for goodness, wisdom, and beauty, thus came into the presence of the +same, and ravished out of himself by so much splendour, he became the +prey, saw himself converted into that for which he was seeking, and +perceived, that of his dogs or thoughts, he himself came to be the +longed-for prey; for having absorbed the divinity into himself it was +not necessary to search outside himself for it. + +CIC. For this reason it is said "the kingdom of Heaven is in us;" +divinity dwells within through the reformed intellect and will. + +TANS. It is so. See then, Actæon hunted by his own dogs--pursued by his +own thoughts--runs and directs these novel paces, invigorated so as to +proceed divinely and "more easily," that is, with greater facility and +with refreshed vigour "towards the denser places," to the deserts and +the region of things incomprehensible. From being such as he first was, +a common ordinary man, he becomes rare and heroic, his habits and ideas +are strange, and he leads an unusual life. Here his great dogs "give him +death," and thus ends his life according to the mad, sensual, blind, and +fantastic world, and he begins to live intellectually; he lives the life +of the gods, fed on ambrosia and drunk with nectar. + +Next we see under the form of another similitude the manner in which he +arms himself to obtain the object. He says: + +19. + + My solitary bird! away unto that region + Which overshadows and which occupies my thought, + Go swiftly, and there nestle; there every + Need of thine be strengthened, + There all thy industry and art be spent! + There be thou born again, and there on high, + Gather and train up thy wandering fledglings + Since adverse fate has drawn away the bars + With which she ever sought to block thy way. + Go! I desire for thee a nobler dwelling-place, + And thou shalt have for guide a god, + Who is called blind by him who nothing sees. + Go! and ever be by thee revered, + Each deity of that wide sphere, + And come not back to me till thou art mine. + +The progress symbolized above by the hunter who excites his dogs, is +here illustrated by a winged heart, which is sent out of the cage, in +which it lived idle and quiet, to make its nest on high and bring up its +fledglings, its thoughts, the time being come in which those impediments +are removed, which were caused, externally, in a thousand different +ways, and internally by natural feebleness. He dismisses his heart then +to make more magnificent surroundings, urging him to the highest +propositions and intentions, now that those powers of the soul are more +fully fledged, which Plato signifies by the two wings, and he commits +him to the guidance of that god, who, by the unseeing crowd, is +considered insane and blind, that is Love, who, by the mercy and favour +of heaven, has power to transform him into that nature towards which he +aspires, or into that state from which, a pilgrim, he is banished. +Whence he says, "Come not back to me till thou art mine," and not +unworthily may I say with that other-- + + Thou has left me, oh, my heart, + And thou, light of my eyes, art no more with me. + +Here he describes the death of the soul, which by the Kabbalists is +called the death by kisses, symbolized in the Song of Solomon, where the +friend says: + + Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, + For, when he wounds me, + I suffer with a cruel love. + +By others it is called sleep; the Psalmist says: + + It shall be, that I give sleep unto mine eyes, + And mine eyelids shall slumber, + And I shall have in him peaceful repose. + +The soul then is said to be faint, because it is dead in itself, and +alive in the object: + +20. + + Give heed, enthusiasts, unto the heart! + For mine condemns me to a life apart, + Bound by unmerciful and cruel ties, + He dwells with joy, there where he faints and dies. + At every hour I call him back by thoughts: + A rebel he, like gerfalcon insane, + He feels no more the hand that did restrain, + And is gone forth not to return again. + Thou beauteous beast that dost in punishment + Knit up the soul, spirit and heart content'st + With pricks, with lightnings, and with chains! + From looks, from accents, and from usages, + Which faint and burn and keep thee bound, + Where shall he that heals, that cools, and loosens thee be found? + +Here the soul, sorrowful, not from real discontent, but on account of +pains which she suffers, directs the discourse to those who are affected +by passions similar to her own: as if she had not of her own free will +and of her own desire dismissed her heart, which goes running whither it +cannot arrive, stretches out to that which it cannot reach, and tries to +enfold that which it cannot comprehend, and with this, because he vainly +separates from her, ever more and more goes on aspiring towards the +infinite. + +CIC. Whence comes it, oh Tansillo, that the soul in such progression +delights in its own torments? Whence comes that spur which urges it ever +beyond that which it possesses? + +TANS. From this, which I will tell thee now. The intellect being +developed to the comprehension of a certain definite and specific form, +and the will to a love commensurate with such comprehension; the +intellect does not stop there, but by its own light it is prompted to +think of this: that it contains within itself the germ of everything +intelligible and desirable, until it comes to comprehend with the +intellect the depth of the fountain of ideas, the ocean of every truth +and goodness. So that it happens, that whatever conception is presented +to the mind, and becomes understood by it, from that which is so +presented and comprehended it judges, that above it, is other greater +and greater, and finds itself ever in a certain way discoursing and +moving with it. Because it sees that all which it possesses is only a +limited thing, and therefore cannot be sufficient of itself, nor good of +itself, nor beautiful of itself; because it is not the universal nor the +absolute entity; but contracted into being this nature, this species, +this form, represented to the intellect and present to the soul. Then +from the beautiful that is understood, and consequently limited, and +therefore beautiful through participation, it progresses towards that +which is really beautiful, which has no margin, nor any boundaries. + +CIC. This progression appears to me useless. + +TANS. Not so. For it is not natural nor suitable that the infinite be +restricted, nor give itself definitely, for it would not then be +infinite. To be infinite, it must be infinitely pursued with that form +of pursuit which is not incited physically, but metaphysically, and is +not from imperfect to perfect, but goes circulating through the grades +of perfection to arrive at that infinite centre which is not form, and +is not formed. + +CIC. I should like to know how, by circumambulating, one is to arrive at +the centre? + +TANS. I cannot know that. + +CIC. Why do you say it? + +TANS. I can say it, and leave it to you to consider. + +CIC. If you do not mean that he who pursues the infinite is like him who +talks about the circumference when he is seeking for the centre, I do +not know what you mean. + +TANS. Quite the contrary. + +CIC. Now if you will not explain yourself, I cannot understand you; but +tell me, prythee, what he means by saying the heart is bound by cruel, +spiteful bonds. + +TANS. He speaks in similitude or metaphor; as you would say, cruel was +one who did not allow a full enjoyment, and who lives more in the desire +than in possession, and who, partially possessing, is not content, but +desires, faints, and dies. + +CIC. What are those thoughts that call him back from the noble +enterprise? + +TANS. The sensual and natural affections, which regard the government of +the body. + +CIC. What have they to do with it, that in no way can either help or +favour it? + +TANS. They have not to do with it, but with the soul, which, being so +absorbed in one work or study, becomes remiss and careless in others. + +CIC. Why does he call him insane? + +TANS. Because he surpasses in knowledge. + +CIC. It is usual to call insane those who know nothing. + +TANS. On the contrary. Those are called insane who know not in the +ordinary way, or who rise above the ordinary from having more intellect. + +CIC. I perceive that thou sayest truly. Now tell me what are the pricks, +the lightnings, and the chains? + +TANS. Pricks are those experiences that stimulate and awaken the +affection, to make it on the alert; lightnings are the rays of the +present beauty, which enlighten those who watch and wait for them; +chains are those effects and circumstances which keep fixed the eyes of +attention and unite together the object and the powers. + +CIC. What are the looks, the accents, and the customs? + +TANS. Looks are the means by which the object is made present to us; +accents are the means through which we are inspired and informed; +customs are the circumstances which are most pleasant and agreeable to +us. So that the heart that gently suffers, patiently burns and +constantly perseveres in the work, fears that its hurt will heal, its +fire be extinguished, and its bands be loosened. + +CIC. Now relate that which follows. + +TANS.: + +21. + + Lofty, profound, and stirring thoughts of mine, + Ye long to sever the maternal ties + Of the afflicted soul, and like to proud + And able bowmen, draw at the mark, + Which is the germ of all your high conceits. + In those steep paths where cruel beasts may be, + Let not heaven leave ye! + Remember to return, and summon back + The heart that tarries with the wild wood nymph; + Arm ye with love, + Warm with the flame of domesticity, + And with strong repression guard thy sight, + That strangers keep thee not companioned with my heart; + At least bring news of that, + Which unto him is such delight and joy. + +Here he describes the natural solicitude of the attentive soul on the +subject, of its inclination towards generation, which it has contracted +with matter. She dispatches the armed thoughts, which, solicited and +urged by disagreement with the inferior nature, are sent to recall the +heart. The soul instructs them how they should conduct themselves, so +that, being allured and attracted by the object, they do not become +induced to remain, they also, captive and companions of the heart. She +says, then, they are to arm themselves with love, with that love that is +fired by the domestic flame; that is, the friend of generation, to whom +they are bound, and in whose jurisdiction, ministry, and warfare they +find themselves. Anon she orders them to repress their eyesight and to +close their eyes, so that they may not behold other beauty or goodness +than that which is present, friend and mother; and concludes at last +with this, that if no other reason will cause them to return, they +should at least do so, to give account of the discourse and of the state +of the heart. + +CIC. Before you proceed further, I would understand from you what is +that which the soul means when she tells the thoughts to repress the +sight vigorously. + +TANS. I will tell thee. All love proceeds from seeing: intelligent love, +from seeing intelligently; sensuous love, from seeing sensuously. Now +this seeing has two meanings: either it means the visual power, that is +the sight, which is the intellect, or truly the sense; or it means the +act of that power, that is, that application which the eye or the +intellect makes to the material or intellectual object. When the +thoughts are counselled to repress the sight, it is not the first, but +the second, mode that is meant, because that is the father of the +subsequent affection of the sensuous or intellectual desire. + +CIC. This is what I wished to hear from you. Now, if the act of the +visual power is the cause of the evil or good which proceed from seeing, +whence comes it that in things divine we have more love than knowledge? + +TANS. We desire to see, because in some way we perceive the value of +seeing. We are aware that, through the act of seeing, beautiful things +offer themselves to us; and therefore we desire beautiful things. + +CIC. We desire the beautiful and the good; but seeing is not beautiful +nor good; rather is it the touchstone or light by which we see, not only +the beautiful and good, but also the evil and bad. Therefore it seems to +me that seeing may be equally beautiful or good, as the thing seen may +be white or black. If, then, the sight, which is an act, is not +beautiful nor good, how can it fall into desire? + +TANS. If not for itself, yet certainly for some other reason, it is +desired, seeing that there can be no apprehension of that other without +it. + +CIC. What wilt thou say, if that other is not within the knowledge of +the senses nor of the intellect? How, I say, can that be desired which +is not seen, if there is no knowledge whatever of it--if towards it +neither the intellect nor the sense has exercised any act whatever; but, +on the contrary, it is even dubious whether it be intellectual or +sensuous, whether a thing corporeal or incorporeal, whether it be one or +two or more, or of one fashion or of another? + +TANS. I answer, that in the sense and the intellect there is one desire +and one impulse to the sensuous in general; because the intellect will +hear the whole truth, so that it may learn all that is beautiful or good +intelligently; the power of the senses will inform itself of all that is +sensuous, so that it may know all that is good and beautiful in the +world of the senses. Hence it follows that not less do we desire to see +things unknown and unseen than those known and seen. And from this it +does not follow that the desire does not proceed from cognition, and +that we desire something that is not known; but I say that it is certain +and sure that we do not desire unknown things. Because, if they be +occult as to particulars, they are not occult as to generals; as in the +entire visual power is found the whole of the visible appositely, and in +the intellect all the intelligible. Therefore, as the inclination to the +act lies in its appropriateness, the result is that both these powers +incline towards the universal action, as to a thing naturally +comprehended as good. The soul, then, did not speak to the deaf or the +blind when she counselled her thoughts to repress the sight, which, +although it may not be the immediate cause of the will, is yet the +primal and principal cause. + +CIC. What do you mean by this last saying? + +TANS. I mean that it is not the figure or the conception, sensibly or +intelligently represented, which of itself moves us; because while one +stands beholding the figure manifested to the eyes, he does not yet +arrive at loving; but from that instant that the soul conceives within +itself that figure, not visible, but thinkable; no longer dividual, but +individual; no longer classed among things in general, but among things +good and beautiful; then immediately love is born. Now this is the +seeing, from which the soul desires to divert the eyes of her thoughts. +Here the sight usually moves the affection to a greater love than the +love of that which is seen; for, as I have just said, it always +considers, through the universal knowledge that it holds of the +beautiful and the good, that, besides the degrees of known conceptions +of goodness and beauty, there are others and yet others _ad infinitum_. + +CIC. How is it that after we become informed of that conception of the +beautiful which is begotten in the soul, we yet desire to satisfy the +exterior vision? + +TANS. From this, that the soul would ever love that which it loves, and +ever see that which it sees. Therefore she wills that, the conception +which has been produced in her through seeing, should not become +weakened, enervated and lost; but would ever see more and more, and that +which becomes obscure in the interior affection, should be frequently +brightened by the exterior aspect, which as it is the principle of +being, must also be the principle of conservation. This results +proportionately in the act of understanding and of considering, for as +the sight has reference to visible things, so has the intellect to +intelligible things. I believe now that you understand to what end and +in what manner the soul tends, when she says "repress the sight." + +CIC. I understand very well. Now continue to unfold what happens to +these thoughts. + +TANS. Now follows the disagreement between the mother and the aforesaid +children, who having, contrary to her orders, opened their eyes, and, +having fixed them on the splendour of the object, they remained in +company with the heart. + +22. + + Cruel sons are ye to me, me whom ye left + Still farther to exasperate my pain; + And ever without cease ye weary me, + Taking away from me my every hope! + Why should the sense remain? oh, grasping heavens! + Wherefore these broken ruined powers, if not + To make me subject and exemplar + Of such heavy martyrdom, such lengthened pain? + Leave, dear sons, my winged fire enchained, + And let me, some of you once more behold, + Come back to me from those retaining claws! + Oh, weariness! not one returns + To bring a late refreshment to my pains. + +Behold me, miserable one, deprived of heart, abandoned of thoughts, left +by hope, I, who had fixed my all in them. Nothing is left to me but the +sense of my poverty, my unhappiness and misery; why does not this too +leave me? Why does not death succour me, now that I am deprived of life? +To what use do I possess these natural powers if I be deprived of the +use of them? How can I alone nourish myself with intelligible +conceptions as with intellectual bread, if the substance of this bread +be composed of this contingency. How can I linger in the intimacy of +these friendly and dear members which I have woven round me, adjusting +them with the symmetry of the elementary conditions, if my thoughts and +all my affections abandon me, intent upon the care of the bread that is +immaterial and divine? Up, up; oh my flying thoughts; up, oh my rebel +heart; let live the sense of things that are felt, and the understanding +of things intelligible, come to the succour of the body with matter and +corporeal subject, and let the understanding delight in its own objects, +to the end that this composition of the body may be realized, that this +machine dissolve not, in which, by means of the spirit, the soul is +united to the body. Why, unhappy as I am (more through domestic +circumstances than through external violence), am I doomed to see this +horrible divorce between my parts and members? Why does the intellect +trouble itself to give laws to the sense and yet deprive it of its food? +and this, on the other hand, resists; desiring to live according to its +own decrees, and not according to the decree of others; for these and +not those are able to maintain and bless it, therefore it ought to +attend to its own comfort and life, and not to that of others. There is +no harmony and concord where there is only one, where one individual +absorbs the whole being, but where there is order and analogy in things +diverse; where each thing serves its own nature. Therefore let the sense +feed according to the law of things that can be felt, the flesh be +obedient to the law of the spirit, the reason to its own law. Let them +not be confounded nor mixed. Enough that one neither mar nor prejudice +the law of the other, since it is not just that the sense outrage the +law of reason. And verily it is a shameful thing that one should +tyrannize over the other, particularly where the intellect is a pilgrim +and strange, and the sense is more domesticated and at home. I am forced +by you, my thoughts, to remain at home in charge of the house, while +others may wander wherever they will. This is a law of Nature, and +therefore a law of the author and originator of Nature. Sin on then, now +that all of you, seduced by the charm of the intellect, leave the other +part of me to the peril of death. How have you gotten this melancholy +and perverse humour, which breaks the certain and natural laws of the +true life, and which is in your own hands, for one, uncertain, and which +has no existence except in shadow, beyond the limits of fantastic +thought? Seems it to you a natural thing that they should live divinely +and not as animals and humanly, they being not gods, but men and +animals? It is a law of fate and Nature that everything should adapt +itself to the condition of its own being, wherefore then, while you +follow after the niggard nectar of the gods, do you lose that which is +present and is your own, and trouble yourself about the vain hopes of +others? Ought not Nature to refuse to give you the other good, if that +which she at present offers to you, you stupidly despise? + + Heaven the second gift denies, + To him who does the first despise. + +With these and similar reasons the soul, taking part with the weakest, +seeks to recall the thoughts to the care of the body. And these, +although late, come and show themselves, but not in that form in which +they departed, but only to declare their rebellion, and force her to +follow. And the sorrowing one thus laments: + +23. + + Ah, dogs of Actæon, ah, proud ingrates! + Whom to the abode of my divinity I sent; + Without hope do ye return to me; + And, coming to the mother's side, ye bring + Back unto me a too unhappy boon; + Ye mangle me, and will that I live not. + Leave me, life, that I may mount up to my sun, + A double streamlet, mad, without my fount! + When shall this ponderous mass of me dissolve? + When shall it be, that, taking myself hence, + And swiftly rising to the heights above, + Together with my heart I may abide, + And with my thoughts I may be deified? + +The Platonists say that the soul, as to its superior part, always +consists in the intellect, in which it has more of understanding than of +soul, seeing that it is called soul only in so far as it vivifies the +body and sustains it. So here, the same essence which nourishes and +maintains the thoughts on high, together with the exalted heart, is +induced by the inferior part to afflict itself, and recall them as +rebels. + +CIC. So that they are not two contrary existences, but one, subject to +two contradictory terms? + +TANS. So it is, precisely. As the ray of the sun which touches the +earth, and is joined to obscure and to inferior things, which it +brightens, vivifies, and kindles, and is then joined to the element of +fire--that is, to the star, whence it proceeds, and has its beginning, +and is diffused, and in which it has its own and original +subsistence--so the soul, which is in the horizon of Nature, is +corporeal and incorporeal, and contains that with which it rises to +superior things and declines to things inferior. And this, you may +perceive, does not happen by reason and order of local motion, but +solely through the impulse of one and of another power or faculty. As +when the sense rises to the imagination, the imagination to the reason, +the reason to the intellect, the intellect to the mind, then the whole +soul is converted into God, and inhabits the intelligible world; whence, +on the other hand, she descends in an inverse manner to the world of +feeling, through the intellect, reason, imagination, sense, vegetation. + +CIC. It is true that I have heard that the soul, in order to put itself +in the ultimate degree of divine things, descends into the mortal body, +and from this goes up again to the divine degrees, which are three +degrees of intelligence. For there are others in which the intellectual +surpasses the animal, which are said to be the celestial intelligences; +and others in which the animal surpasses the intellectual, which are the +human intelligences; others there are, of which those things are equal, +as those of demons or heroes. + +TANS. The mind then cannot desire except that which is near, close, +known, and familiar. The pig cannot desire to be a man, nor wish for +those things that are suitable to the human appetite. He likes better +to turn about in mud than in a bed of linen, he would prefer a sow to +the most beautiful of women, because the affection follows the reason of +the species. And amongst men the same thing is seen, according as some +resemble one species of brute beast and some another: these having +something of the quadruped, and those of birds, and, may be, some +affinity, which I will not explain, but through which those have been +known who are affected by certain sorts of beasts. Now, it is lawful for +the mind which finds itself oppressed by the material conjunction of the +soul, to raise itself to the contemplation of another state, to which +the soul may arrive, comparing the two, and so through the future +despise the present. If a beast had a sense of the difference which +exists between his own condition and that of man, and the meanness of +his own state with the nobility of the human state, which he would deem +it not impossible to be able to reach, he would love death, which would +open to him that road, more than that life which keeps him in the +present state of being. When the soul complains, saying, "Ah! dogs of +Actæon!" she is represented as a thing which appears only in the +inferior powers, and against which the mind rebels for having taken away +the heart with it; that is to say, the entire affections, with all the +army of the thoughts. So that, having a knowledge of the present state, +and being ignorant of every other, and not believing that others exist +about which she can have any knowledge, she complains of her thoughts, +which, tardily turning towards her, come rather to draw her up than to +make themselves accepted by her. And through the distraction which she +endures on account of the ordinary love of the material and of things +intelligible, she feels herself lacerated and mangled, so that at last +she is forced to yield to the more vigorous impulse. And if, by virtue +of contemplation, she rises or is caught up above the horizon of the +natural affections, whence with purer eye she learns the difference +between the one life and the other, then, vanquished by the lofty +thoughts, and, as if dead to the body, she aspires to that which is +elevated, and, although alive in the body, she vegetates there as if +dead, being present as an animating principle and absent in operative +activity; not because she does not act while the body is alive, but that +the actions of this mass are intermittent, weak, and, as it were, +purposeless. + +CIC. Thus a certain theologian, who was said to be transported to the +third heaven and enchanted with the view of it, said that what he +desired was the dissolution of his body. + +TANS. So; first complaining of the heart and quarrelling with the +thoughts, she now desires to rise on high with them, and exhibits her +regret for the connection and familiarity contracted with corporeal +matter, and says: "Leave me life (corporeal), and do not impede my +progress upwards to my native home, to my sun. Leave me now, for no +longer do my eyes weep tears; neither because I cannot succour them (the +thoughts), nor because I cannot remain divided from my happiness. Leave +me, for it is not fit nor possible that these two streams should run +without their source, that is, without the heart. I will not, I say, +make two rivers of tears here below, while my heart, which is the source +of such rivers, is flown away on high with its nymphs, which are my +thoughts." Thus, little by little, from dislike and regret, she proceeds +to the hatred of inferior things, which she partly shows, saying, "When +shall this ponderous mass of me dissolve?" and that which follows. + +CIC. This I understand right well, and also that which you would infer +about the principal intention; that is to say, that these are the +degrees of the loves, of the affections, and of the enthusiasms, +according to the degrees of greater and lesser light, of cognition, and +of intelligence. + +TANS. Thou understandest rightly. From this thou oughtest to learn that +doctrine taken from the Pythagoreans and Platonists, which is, that the +soul makes the two progressions of ascent and descent, by the care that +it has of itself and of matter; being moved by its own proper love of +good, and being urged by the providence of fate. + +CIC. But, prythee, tell me briefly what you mean about the soul of the +world, if she can neither ascend nor descend? + +TANS. If you ask of the world, according to the common +signification--that is, in so far as it signifies what is called the +universe--I say that, being infinite, it has no dimension or measure, is +immobile, inanimate, and without form, notwithstanding it is the place +of infinite moving worlds and is infinite space, in which are so many +large animals that are called stars. If you ask according to the +signification held by the true philosophers--that is, in so far as it +signifies every globe, every star, such as this earth, the body of the +sun, moon, and others--I say that such soul does not ascend nor descend, +but turns in a circle. Thus, being compounded of superior and inferior +powers, with the superior it turns round the divinity, and with the +inferior, towards the mass of the worlds, which is by it vivified and +maintained between the tropics of generation and the corruption of +living things in those worlds, serving its own life eternally; because +the act of the divine providence, always preserves it with divine heat +and light, with the same order and measure, in the ordinary and +self-same being. + +CIC. I have now heard enough upon this subject. + +TANS. It happens then that individual souls come to be influenced +differently as to their habits and inclinations, according to the +diverse degrees of ascension and descension, and come to display various +kinds and orders of enthusiasms, of loves, and of senses, not only in +the scale of Nature according to the orders of diverse lives which the +soul takes up in different bodies, as is expressly declared by the +Pythagoreans, Saduchimi and others, and by implication, Plato, and those +who dive more profoundly into it, but still more in the scale of human +affections, which has as many degrees as the scale of Nature; for man, +in all his powers, displays every species of being. + +CIC. Therefore from the affections one may know souls, whether they are +going up or down, or whether they are from above or from below, whether +they are going on towards becoming beasts or towards divine beings, +according to the specific being as the Pythagoreans understood it; or +according to the similitude of the affections only, as is commonly +believed, the human soul not being able, (so long as it is truly human) +to become soul of a brute, as Plotinus and other Platonists well said, +on account of the quality of its beginning. + +TANS. Now to come to the proposition: From animal enthusiasm, this soul, +as described, is promoted to heroic enthusiasm, saying, "When shall it +be that I rise up to the height of the object, there to dwell in company +with my heart and with my fledglings[C] and his?" This same proposition +he continues when he says: + +24. + + Destiny, when, shall I that mountain mount, + Which, blissful to the high gates bringing, bring, + Where those rare beauties I shall counting, count, + When _he_ my pain with comfort comforting, + Who my disjointed members joined, + And leaves my dying powers not dead? + My spirit's rival more than rivalled is + If, far from sin, it unassailed may sail, + If thither tending, it may waiting, wait, + And up with that high object rising, rise, + And if my good alone, alone I take, + For which I sure remove of each defect effect, + And so at last may come to enjoy with joy, + As he who all foretells can tell. + +[C] Pulcini. + +O Destiny! O Fate! O divine immutable Providence! when shall it be that +I shall climb that mount--that is, that I may arrive at such altitude of +mind, as transporting me shall bring me into those outer and inner +courts where I may behold and count those rare beauties? When shall it +be, that he will effectually comfort my pain, loosening me from the +tightened bonds of those cares in which I find myself, he, who formed +and united my members, which before were disunited and disjoined: that +is Love; he who has joined together these corporeal parts, which were as +far divided as one opposite is divided from another; so that these +intellectual powers which, through his action he has extinguished, +should not be left quite dead, but be again re-animated and made to +aspire on high? When, I say, will he fully comfort me, and give my +powers free and speedy flight, by which means my substance may go and +nestle there, where, by my efforts, I may make amends and correct my +defects, and where (if I arrive) my spirit will be made effectual or +prevail over my rival, because there, no excess will oppose, no +opposition overcome, no error assail? Oh! if by force he may arrive +there, at that height which he is waiting to reach, he will remain on +high, at the elevation of his object, and he will take that good that +cannot be comprehended by any other than one, that is, by himself, +seeing that every other has it in the measure of his own capacity, and +this one alone has it in all its fulness. Then will happiness come to me +in that manner which he says, "who all foretells"; that is, at that +elevation in which the saying all and the doing all is the same thing; +in that manner that he says and does who all foretells, that is, who is +sufficient for all things and primary, and whose word and pre-ordaining +is the true doing and beginning. This is how, in the scale of things +superior and inferior, the affection of Love proceeds, as the intellect +or sentiment proceeds from these intelligible or knowable objects, to +those, or from those to these. + +CIC. Thus the greater number of sages believe that Nature delights in +this changeful circulation which is seen in the whirling of her wheel. + + + + +=Fifth Dialogue.= + + +I. + +CIC. Now show me how I may be able for myself to consider the conditions +of these enthusiasts, through that which appears in the order of the +warfare here described. + +TANS. Behold how they carry the ensign of their affections or fortunes. +Let us leave the consideration of their names and habits; enough that we +stand upon the meaning of the undertaking and the intelligibility of the +writing, alike that which is put for the form of the body of the figure, +as well as that which is mostly put as an elucidation of the +undertaking. + +CIC. Thus will we do. Here then is the first, who carries a shield +divided into four colours, and in the crest is depicted a flame under +the head of bronze, from the holes in which, issue in great force a +smoky wind, and about it is written: "At regna senserunt tria." + +TANS. For the explanation of this I would say: that the fire there is +that which heats the globe, inside of it is the water, and it happens +that this humid element, being rarefied and attenuated by virtue of the +heat, and thus resolved into vapour, it requires much greater space to +contain it, therefore if it does not find easy exit, it goes on with +extreme force, noise, and destruction to break the vessel; but if it +finds space and easy exit, so that it can evaporate, it goes out with +less violence, little by little, and, according as the water is resolved +into vapour, it is dissipated in puffs into the air. Here is signified +the heart of the enthusiast where, by a cleverly planned allurement +being caught by the amorous flame, it happens that some of the vital +substance sparkles with fire, while some in the form of tearful cries +rends the bosom, and some other by the expulsion of gusty sighs agitates +the air. Therefore he says: "At regna senserunt tria." Now this "at" +supposes a difference, or diversity, or opposite; as one might almost +say there exists something which might have the same sense, but has it +not, which is very well explained in the following rhymes: + +25. + + From these twin lights of me--a little earth-- + My wonted tears stream freely to the sea. + The greedy air receives from out my breast + No niggard part of all that breast contains; + And from my heart the lightnings are unlocked + That rise to heaven, and yet diminish not. + Thus pay I to the air, the sea, the fire, + The tribute of my sighs, my tears, my zeal. + The sea, the air, the fire, accept a part of me, + But my divinity no favour shows. + Unkind she turns away. Near her + My tears find no response; + My voice she will not hear, + Nor pitifully will she turn to note my zeal. + +Here the subject matter signified by "earth" is the substance of the +enthusiast, which is poured from the twin lights--that is, from the +eyes--in copious tears that flow to the sea; he sends forth from his +breast into the wide air sighs in a great multitude, and the lightnings +from his heart, not like a little spark or a weak flame, which, cooling +itself in the air, smokes, and transmigrates into other beings; but, +potent and vigorous--rather acquiring from others than losing of its +own--it joins its congenial sphere. + +CIC. I understand it all. To the next. + + +II. + +TANS. Close by is portrayed one who has on his shield a crest, also +divided into four colours. There is a sun whose rays extend to the back +of the earth, and there is a legend which says: "Idem semper ubique +totum." + +CIC. I perceive that the interpretation of it will be difficult. + +TANS. The more excellent the meaning the less obvious is it, and you +will see that it is unequalled, unique, and not strained. You are to +consider that the sun, although with regard to the various regions of +the earth he is for each one different as to time, place, and degree, +yet in respect of the whole globe as such, he always and in every place +accomplishes everything, for in whatever part of the ecliptic he is to +be found, he makes winter, summer, autumn, and spring, and makes the +whole globe of the earth to receive within itself the aforesaid four +seasons; for never is it hot at one side unless it is cold on the other; +when it is to us very hot in the tropic of Cancer it is very cold in the +tropic of Capricorn; so that for the same reason it is winter in that +part when it is summer in this, and to those who are in the middle, it +is temperate according to the aspect, vernal or autumnal. So the earth +always feels the rains, the winds, the heat, the cold; nor would it be +damp here if it were not dry in another part, and the sun would not warm +it on this side if it had not already left off warming it on the other. + +CIC. Even before you have finished, I understand what you would say. You +mean that as the sun gives all the impressions to the earth, and this +receives them whole and entire, so the Object of the enthusiast, with +its active splendour, makes him the passive subject of tears, which are +the waters, of ardours, which are the fires, and of sighs, which are +certain vapours, which partake of both, which leave the fire, and go to +the waters, or leave the waters and go to the fire. + +TANS. This is well explained below. + +26. + + When as the sun towards Capricorn declines, + Then do the rains enrich the streams, + As towards the line he goes, or thence returns, + More felt is each Æolian messenger, + Warming the more with every lengthening day + What time towards burning Cancer he remounts. + And equal to this heat, this cold, this zeal + Are these my tears, my sighs, the ardour that I feel. + My constant sighs, my never waning flames + Are only equal to my tears. + My floods and flames howe'er intense they be, + Are never more so than my sighs; + I burn with fervid heat, + And, firmly fixed, I ever sigh and weep. + +CIC. This does not so much declare the meaning of the coat of arms, as +the preceding discourse did, but it rather supplements or accompanies +that discourse. + +TANS. Say, rather, that the figure is latent in the first part, and the +legend is well explained in the second; as both the one and the other +are very properly signified in the type of the sun and of the earth. + +CIC. Pass on to the third. + + +III. + +TANS. The third bears on his shield a naked child, stretched upon the +green turf, who rests his head upon his arm, with his eyes turned +towards the sky to certain edifices, towers, gardens, and orchards, +which are above the clouds, and there is a castle of which the material +is fire, and in the middle is the sign inscribed: "Mutuo fulcimur." + +CIC. What does that mean? + +TANS. It means that enthusiast, signified by the naked child as simple, +pure, and exposed to all the accidents of Nature and of fortune, who at +the same time by the force of thought, constructs castles in the air, +and amongst other things a tower, of which the architect is Love, the +material is the amorous fire, and the builder is himself, who says: +"Mutuo fulcimur"--that is, I build and uphold you there with my +thought, and you uphold me here with hope; you would not be in existence +were it not for the imagination and the thought with which I form and +uphold you, and I should not be alive were it not for the refreshment +and comfort that I receive through your means. + +CIC. It is true that there is no fancy so vain and so chimerical that +may not be a more real and true medicine for an enthusiastic heart than +any herb, mineral, oil, or other sort of thing that Nature produces. + +TANS. Magicians can do more by means of faith than physicians by the +truth; and in the worst diseases the patients benefit more by believing +this or that which the former say, than in understanding that which the +latter do. Now let the rhymes be read. + +27. + + Above the clouds in that high place, + When oft with dreaming I am fired, + For comfort and refreshment of my soul + An airy castle from my fires I build, + And if my adverse fate incline awhile, + And without scorn or ire will understand + This lofty grace for which I die, + Oh happy then my pains, happy my death. + The ardour of those flames she does not feel, + Nor is she hindered by those snares + With which, oh boy! thou'rt wont to enslave + And lead into captivity both men and gods; + By pity's hand alone, oh Love, + By showing all my woe, thou shalt prevail. + +CIC. He shows that which feeds his fancy and bathes his spirit; yet, +inasmuch as he is without courage to explain himself and make known his +sufferings, although he is so deeply subjected to that anguish, if it +should happen that his hard, uncompromising fate should bend a little +(as, in the end, fate must soothe him, by showing itself without scorn +or anger for the high object), he would consider no happiness so great, +no life so blessed, as in such a case would be his happiness in his +woes, and his blessedness in his death. + +TANS. And with this he comes to declare to Love that the means by which +he will gain access to that breast, is not in the ordinary way by the +arms with which he usually captivates men and gods, but only by causing +the fiery heart and his troubled spirit, to be laid bare, to obtain +sight of which it is necessary that compassion open the way, and +introduce him to that secret chamber. + + +IV. + +CIC. What is the meaning of that butterfly which flutters round the +flame, and almost burns itself? and what means that legend, "Hostis non +hostis?" + +TANS. The meaning of the butterfly is not difficult, which, seduced by +the fascinations of splendour, goes innocently and amicably to meet its +death in the devouring flames. Thus, "hostis" stands written for the +effect of the fire; "non hostis" for the inclination of the fly. +"Hostis," the fly passively; "non hostis," actively. "Hostis," the +flame, through its ardour; "non hostis," through its splendour. + +CIC. Now what is that which is written on the tablet? + +TANS.: + +28. + + Be it far from me to make complaint of love, + Love, without whom I will not happy be, + And though through him these weary toils I bear. + Yet what is given my will shall not reject. + Be clear the sky or dark, burning or cold, + To that one phoenix e'er the same I'll be, + No fate nor destiny can e'er untie + That knot which death unable is to loose; + To heart, to spirit, and to soul, + No pleasure is, no liberty, no life, + No smile, no rapture, no delight, + So sweet, so grateful, so divine, + As these hard bonds, this death of mine, + To which by fate, by will, by nature I incline. + +Here, in the figure, he shows the resemblance between the enthusiast +and the butterfly attracted towards the light; in the sonnet, however, +he demonstrates rather difference and dissimilarity; as it is commonly +believed, that if the butterfly foresaw its destruction, it would fly +from the light more eagerly than it now pursues it, and would consider +it an evil to lose its life through being absorbed into that hostile +fire. But to him (the enthusiast) it is no less pleasing to perish in +the flames of amorous ardour than to be drawn to the contemplation of +the beauty of that rare splendour, under which, by natural inclination, +by voluntary election, and by disposition of fate, he labours, serves, +and dies more gaily, more resolutely, and more courageously than under +whatsoever other pleasure which may offer itself to the heart, liberty +which may be conceded to the spirit, and life which may be discovered in +the soul. + +CIC. Tell me why he says, "ever the same I'll be?" + +TANS. Because it seems suitable to bring forward a reason for his +constancy, seeing that the sage does not change with the moon, although +the fool does so. Thus he is unique, as the phoenix is unique. + + +V. + +CIC. But what signifies that branch of palm, around which is the legend, +"Cæsar adest?" + +TANS. Without further talk, all may be understood by that which is +written on the tablet: + +29. + + Unconquered victor of Pharsalia, + Though all thy warriors be well-nigh spent, + At sight of thee they rise once more; + Their strength returns, they conquer their proud foes; + So does my love--that equals love of heaven-- + Become a living presence through my thoughts; + Thoughts that my haughty soul had killed with scorn, + Love brings again stronger than love himself; + Thy presence is enough, oh memory! + These to reanimate in all their strength, + And with imperious sov'reignty they rule + And govern each opposing force. + May I be happy in this governance + And with these bonds, and may that light ne'er cease. + +There are times when the inferior powers of the soul--like a vigorous +and hostile army, which finds itself in its own country practised, +expert, and ready--revolt against the foreign adversary, who comes down +from the height of the intelligence to curb the people of the valley and +of the boggy plains, where, through the baneful presence of the enemies +and of such obstacles as deep ditches, advancing they lose themselves, +and would be entirely lost, if there were not a certain conversion +towards the splendour of intellectual things through the act of +contemplation, by means of which they are converted from inferior +degrees to superior ones. + +CIC. What degrees are these? + +TANS. The degrees of contemplation are like the degrees of light, which +exist not at all in the darkness, slightly in shade, more in colours, +according to their orders, from one opposite which is black to the other +which is white; but more fully do they exist in the splendour diffused +over pure transparent bodies, as in a looking-glass and in the moon, and +still more brightly in the rays diffused by the sun, but principally and +most brilliantly in the sun itself. Now the perceptive and the +affectional powers are ordered in this way; the next following always +has affinity for the next preceding, and by means of conversion to that +which elevates it, it becomes fortified against the inferior, which +lowers it; as the reason, through its conversion to the intellect, is +not seduced or vanquished by knowledge or comprehension or by passionate +affection, but rather, according to the law of the intellect, it is +brought to govern and correct the same. It comes to this, therefore, +that when the rational appetite strives against sensual concupiscence, +if, by the act of conversion, the intellectual light is presented to +the eyes, it causes the above appetite to take up again the lost virtue, +and giving fresh strength to the nerves, it alarms and puts to rout the +enemy. + +CIC. In what manner do you mean that such a conversion takes place? + +TANS. With three preparatives, which are noted by the contemplative +Plotinus in the book of "Intellectual Beauty;" and, of these, the first +is by proposing to conform himself to a divine pattern, diverting the +sight from things which stand between him and his own perfection, and +which are common to those things which are equal and inferior. The +second is by applying himself, with full intention and attention, to +superior things. The third is by bringing into captivity to God the +whole will and affection: for from this it comes to pass that, without +doubt, the divinity will influence him; who is everywhere present, and +ready to come to the aid of whosoever turns to Him through the act of +the intelligence, and who unreservedly presents himself with the +affection of the will. + +CIC. It is not then corporeal beauty which can allure such an one? + +TANS. No, certes; because in that there is no true nor constant beauty, +and for this reason it cannot evoke true nor constant love. That beauty, +which is seen in bodies is accidental and transitory, and is like those +which are absorbed, changed, and spoiled by the changing of the subject, +which very often, from being beautiful, becomes ugly, without any change +taking place in the soul. The reason then comprehends the truest beauty, +through conversion, to that which makes the beauty of the body, and +forms it in loveliness--it is the soul which has thus built and designed +it. Now does the intellect rise still higher, and learns that the soul +is incomparably more beautiful than any beauty that may be in bodies; +but yet it cannot persuade itself that it is beautiful of itself and +primarily, for if it be so, what is the cause of that difference which +exists in the quality of souls, by which some are wise, amiable, and +beautiful, others stupid, odious, and ugly. We must then raise ourselves +to that superior intellect which is beautiful in itself and good in +itself. This is that sole supreme captain who alone, placed before the +eyes of the militant thoughts, enlivens, encourages, strengthens them, +and renders them victorious above the scorn of every other beauty and +the repudiation of every other good whatsoever. This is the presence +which causes every difficulty to be overcome and all opposition to be +subdued. + +CIC. I understand it all; but what is the meaning of, "May I be happy in +this governance and with these bonds, and may that light not cease?" + +TANS. He means, and he proves, that every sort of love, the greater its +dominion and the surer its hold, the more tight are the bonds, and the +more firm the yoke, and the more ardent the flames that are felt, as +compared with the ordinary princes and tyrants, who adopt a greater +rigour wherever they see they have less hold. + +CIC. Go on. + + +VI. + +TANS. Here we see described the idea of a flying phoenix, towards which +is turned a boy who is burning in the midst of flames; and there is the +legend, "Fata obstant." But in order better to understand it, let us +read the tablet: + +30. + + Sole bird of the sun, thou wandering phoenix! + That measurest thy days as does the world + With lofty summits of Arabia Felix. + Thou art the same thou wast, but I what I was not: + I through the fire of love, unhappy die; + But thee the sun with his warm rays revives; + Thou burn'st in one, and I, in every place; + Eros my fire, while thine Apollo gives. + Predestined is the term of thy long life; + Short span is mine, + And menaced by a thousand ills. + Nor do I know how I have lived, nor how shall live, + Me does blind fate conduct; + But thou wilt come again, again behold thy light. + +From the meaning of these lines, you will see that in the figure is +drawn the comparison between the fate of the phoenix and that of the +enthusiast; and the legend, "Fata obstant," does not signify that the +fates are adverse either to the boy, or to the phoenix, or to both; but +that the fatal decrees for each are not the same, but are diverse and +opposite. The phoenix is that which it was, because the same matter, by +means of the fire, renews itself, and becomes again the body of the +phoenix, and the same spirit and soul come to inhabit it. The enthusiast +is that which he was not, because the subject, which is a man, was first +of some other species, according to innumerable differentiations. So +that what the phoenix was, is known, and what it will be, is known; but +this subject cannot return, except through many and uncertain means, to +invest the same or a similar natural form. Then the phoenix, through the +sun's presence, changes death into life, and that other, by the +presence of love, transmutes life into death. The one kindles his fire +on the aromatic altar, the other finds it ever present with him and +carries it wherever he goes. The one again, has certain conditions of a +long life; but the other, through the infinite differences of time and +innumerable circumstances, has the mutable conditions of a short life. +The one kindles with certainty, the other with doubt as to whether he +will see the sun again. + +CIC. What do you think that this means? + +TANS. It means the difference that exists between the lower intellect +called the intellect of power, either possible or passive, which is +uncertain, multifarious, and multiform, and the higher intellect, which, +perhaps, is like that which is said by the Peripatetics to be the lowest +of the intelligences, and which exerts an immediate influence over all +the individuals of the human species, and is called the active and +acting intellect. This special human intelligence which influences all +individuals is like the moon, which partakes of no other species but +that one alone which always renews itself by the transmutation caused in +it by the sun, which is the primal and universal intelligence; but the +human intellect, both individual and collective, turns as do the eyes +towards innumerable and most diverse objects; whence, according to the +infinite degrees which exist, it takes on all the natural forms. Hence +it is that this particular intellect may be as enthusiastic, vague, and +uncertain, as that universal one is quiet, fixed, and certain, whether +as regards the desire or the comprehension. Now therefore, as you may +very well perceive for yourself, it means that the nature of the +comprehension of sense and its varied appetite, is vague, inconstant, +and uncertain, and the conception and definite appetite of the +intelligence is firm and stable. This is the difference between sensual +love, which has no stability nor discretion as to its object, and +intellectual love, which aims only at one, sure and fixed, towards which +it turns, through which it is illuminated in its conception, by which, +being kindled in its affections, it becomes inflamed and brightened, and +is maintained in unity and identity of condition. + + +VII. + +CIC. But what is the meaning of that figure of the sun, with a circle +inside and another outside, with the legend "Circuit." + +TANS. The meaning of this I am certain I should never have understood if +I had not heard it from the designer of it himself. Now you must know +that "Circuit" has reference to the movement the sun makes round the +circle which is drawn inside and outside, in order to signify that the +movement both makes and is made; and hence, as a consequence, the sun is +to be found in every part of those circles; so that, if he moves and is +moved, and is over the whole circumference of the circle equally, then +you find in him both movement and rest. + +CIC. This I understood in the dialogues on the infinite universe and the +innumerable worlds, where it is declared that the divine wisdom is +extremely mobile, as Solomon said, and also that the same is most +stable, as all those declare who know. Now go on and make me understand +the proposition. + +TANS. It means that [D]his sun is not like this one, which is commonly +believed to go round the earth with the daily movement in twenty-four +hours, and with the planetary movement in twelve months, and by which he +causes the four seasons of the year to be felt, according as he is found +to be in the four cardinal points of the zodiac; but he is such an one, +that, being the ethereal eternity itself, and consequently an entire and +complete totality, he contains the winter, the spring, the summer, the +autumn, together with the day and the night, for he is all and for all, +in all points and places. + +[D] Il suo sole. + +CIC. Now apply that which you have said to the figure. + +TANS. It being impossible here to design the entire sun in every point +of the circle, two circles are delineated; one which contains the sun to +signify that the movement is made through him, the other which is +contained by the sun to show that he is moved by it. + +CIC. But this explanation is not very clear and appropriate. + +TANS. Suffice it that it is the clearest and most appropriate that he +was able to make. If you can make a better one, you shall have +permission to remove this one and put it in its place, for this has only +been put in, so that the soul should not be without a body. + +CIC. What do you say about that "Circuit?" + +TANS. That legend contains all the meaning of the thing in so far as it +can be explained, for it means that he turns and is turned, that is to +say movement present and accomplished. + +CIC. Excellent! And therefore those circles which so ill explain the +circumstance of movement and rest, we can say are placed there to +signify the circulation only. Thus am I satisfied with the subject and +with the form of the heroic device. Now read the lines. + +TANS.: + +31. + + Mild are thy rays, oh, Sol! from Taurus sent, + And from the Lion thy beams mature and burn, + And when thy light from pungent Scorpion darts + Transcendent is the ardour of thy flames. + From fierce Deucalion all is struck with cold, + Stiffened the lakes and locked the running streams. + With spring, with summer, autumn, and with winter, + I warm, I kindle, burn and blaze for ever. + So ardent my desire, + The object so supreme for which I burn; + Glowing and unencumbered I behold, + And make my lightnings flash unto the stars. + No moment can I count in all the year + To change the[E] inexorable cross I bear. + +Here observe that the four seasons of the year are signified, not by +four movable signs, which are Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, but +by the four which are called fixed--namely, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and +Aquarius, to signify the condition, fervour, and perfection of those +seasons. Note further, that in virtue of those apostrophes, which are in +the eighth line, you can read: I warm, kindle, burn, blaze; or, be thou +warmed, kindled, burning, blazing; or, let him warm, kindle, burn, +blaze. + +[E] Sordi affanni. + +You have farther to consider that these are not four synonyms, but four +different terms, which signify so many degrees of the effects of the +fire, which first warms, secondly kindles, thirdly burns, and fourthly +blazes or inflames that which it has warmed, kindled, and burnt. And +thus are denoted in the enthusiast, desire, attention, study, affection, +in which he never for a moment feels any change. + +CIC. Why does he put them under the title of a cross? + +TANS. Because the object, which is the divine light, is, in this life, +more felt as a painful longing than in quiet fruition, because our mind +is towards that, as the eyes of night birds to the sun. + +CIC. Proceed; for from what you have said I understand all. + + +VIII. + +TANS. On the next crest there is painted a full moon and the legend: +"Talis mihi semper ut astro," which means that to the star--that is, to +the sun--she is ever such as she here shows herself, full and clear in +the entire circumference of the circle, which, in order that you may +better understand, I will let you hear that which is written on the +tablet. + +32. + + Oh, changeful moon, inconstant moon! + With horns now full, now void, thou wanderest. + Mounting, thy sphere now white now dark appears. + The mountains and the valleys of the north thou brightenest, + And turning by thy dust-encumbered steps, + Thou lightest in the south the Lybian heights. + My moon for my continual pain. + Is constant ever, ever full. + So is my star, + Which ever from me takes and nothing gives, + For ever burns and ever shines, + Cruel always yet always beautiful. + This noble light of mine + Torments me still and still delights me. + +It seems to me, that it means that his particular intelligence is to the +universal intelligence ever the same--that is to say, the one is ever +illuminated by the other, over the whole hemisphere; notwithstanding +that to the inferior powers, and according to the influence of his +actions, it appears now dark, and now more and less clear. Or perhaps it +means that his speculative intellect, which is ever invariable in its +action, is always turned and affected towards the human intelligence +signified by the moon. Because, as this is said to be the lowest of all +the stars, and is nearest to us, so the illuminating intelligence of all +of us in this state is the last in order of the other intelligences, as +Averroes and the more subtle Peripatetics say. That intelligence, in so +far as it is not in any act, goes down before, or sets to the potential +intellect, or as if so to say, it emerged from the bottom of the occult +hemisphere, and showed itself now void, now full, according as it gives +more or less light of intelligence. Now its sphere is dark, now light, +because sometimes it shows itself as a shadow, a semblance, and a +vestige, and sometimes more and more openly: now it declines towards the +south, now it mounts towards the north--that is, now it removes farther +and farther away, and now it approaches nearer and nearer. But the +intellect, active with its continual grief--seeing that it is not +through its human condition and nature that it finds itself so wretched, +so opposed, courted, solicited, distracted, and, as it were, torn by the +inferior powers--sees its object stable, fixed and constant, and ever +full, and in the same splendour of beauty. Thus it ever takes away, in +so far as it does not concede, and ever gives, in so far as it concedes. +It ever burns in the affection in so far as it shines in thoughts, and +is always cruel in withdrawing itself through that which withdraws +itself; as it is always beautiful in communication with, that to which +it presents itself. Always does it torment when it is divided from him +by difference of locality, as always it delights him being joined to it +by affection. + +CIC. Now apply your intelligence to the legend. + +TANS. He says then, "talis mihi semper;" that is, because of the +continual application of my intellect, my memory, and my will, because I +will remember, understand and desire no other; she is ever the same to +me, and in so far as I can understand her, she is entirely present, and +is not separated from me by any distraction of my thoughts, nor does she +become darkened to me through any want of attention, for there is no +thought that can divert me from that light nor any necessity of nature +which forces me to a less constant attention; "talis mihi semper" on her +side, because she is invariable in substance, in virtue, in beauty, and +in effect, towards those things that are constant and invariable towards +her. She says further, "ut astro," because in respect of the sun, the +illuminator of her, she is ever equally luminous, seeing that she is +ever turned equally towards him, and he at the same time diffuses his +rays equally. As, physically, this moon that we see with the eyes, +although towards the earth she appears now dark, now shining, now more, +now less illuminated and illuminating, yet is she ever equally +irradiated by the sun, because she always reflects his rays over at +least the whole of her hemisphere. So also is the hemisphere of this +earth ever equally irradiated, although from the watery surfaces she +from time to time sends her splendours unequally to the moon,--which +like innumerable other stars we consider as another earth--in the same +manner, she also sends hers to the earth, on account of the periodical +changes which both experience in finding themselves now the one, now the +other, nearer to the sun. + +CIC. How can this intelligence be signified by the moon which lights up +the hemisphere? + +TANS. All the intelligences are signified by the moon, in so far as they +are sharers in act and in power, in so far as they have the light +materially and by participation, receiving it from another; I say that, +as not being lights of themselves, nor by their own nature, but by +reflection from the sun, which is the first intelligence, which is pure +and absolute light, as it is also pure and absolute action. + +CIC. All those things, then, that are dependent, and are not the first +act and cause, are they composed of light and shade, of matter and +form, of power and action? + +TANS. It is so. Furthermore this soul of ours, in all its substance, is +signified by the moon which shines through the hemisphere of the +superior powers, by which it is turned towards the light of the +intelligible world, and is dark through the inferior powers, by which it +is occupied with material things. + + +IX. + +CIC. It seems to me that what has just been said has some connection and +analogy with the impression that I see on the next shield, where stands +a gnarled and rugged oak, against which the wind is raging, and it is +circumscribed by the legend, "ut robori robur," and here is the tablet, +which says: + +33. + + Old oak, that spread'st thy branches to the air, + And firmly in the earth dost fix thy roots; + No shifting of the land, no mighty elements, + Which Heaven from the stormy north unlocks; + Nor whatso'er the gruesome winter sends, + Can tear thee from the spot where thou art chained. + Thou art the veritable portrait of my faith, + Which, fixed, remains 'gainst every casual chance. + Ever the self-same ground dost thou + Grasp, cultivate and comprehend; and stretch + Thy grateful roots unto the generous breast. + Upon one only object I + Have fixed my spirit, sense, and intellect. + +TANS. The legend is clear, by which the enthusiast boasts of having the +strength and vigour of the oak, and as before said of being ever the +same in respect to the one only phoenix, and in the next preceding one, +conforming himself to that moon which ever shines so brightly and is so +beautiful, and also in that he does not resemble this antichthon between +our earth and the sun in so far as it changes to our eyes, but in that +it ever receives within itself an equal amount of the solar splendour, +and through this remains constant and firm against the rough winds and +tempests of winter, through the stability that he has in his star, in +which he is planted by affection and intention, as the roots of the oak +twist and weave themselves into the veins of the earth. + +CIC. I hold it better worth living in quiet and without vexation than to +be forced to endure so much. + +TANS. That is a maxim of the Epicureans which, being well understood, +would not be considered so unworthy as the ignorant hold it to be, +seeing that it does not detract from what I have called virtue, nor +does it impair the perfection of firmness, but it rather adds to that +perfection as it is understood by the vulgar, for Epicurus does not hold +that, a true and complete strength and firmness which feels and bears +inconveniences, but that which bears them and feels them not. He does +not consider him perfect in divine heroic love, who feels the spur, the +check, or remorse or trouble about other love; but him who has no +feeling of other affections; so that being fixed in one pleasure, there +is no displeasure that has any power to jostle him or dislodge him from +his place. And this it is to touch the highest blessedness of this +state, to have rapture and no sense of pain. + +CIC. The ignorant do not believe in this meaning of Epicurus. + +TANS. Because they neither read his own books, nor those that report his +maxims without invidiousness, but there are those who read the course of +his life and the conditions of his death, where with these words he +dictated the beginning of his testament: "Being in the last, and at the +same time, the happiest day of our life, we have ordained this with a +healthy, tranquil mind at rest; for whatever acute sorrow may torment us +from one side, that torment is entirely annulled by the pleasure of our +own inventions and the consideration of our end." And it is manifest +that he no longer felt more pleasure than sorrow in eating, drinking, +repose, and in generating, but in not feeling hunger, nor thirst, nor +fatigue, nor sensuality. From this may be understood what is according +to us the perfection of firmness; not in this, that the tree neither +bends nor breaks, nor is rent, but in that it does not so much as stir, +and its prototype keeps spirit, sense, and intellect, fixed there, where +the shock of the tempest is not felt. + +CIC. Do you then think it is a thing to be desired, to bear shocks in +order to prove that you are strong? + +TANS. You say "to bear;" and this is a part of firmness, but it is not +the whole of that virtue, which consists in bearing strongly, as I say, +or in not feeling, as Epicurus said. Now this loss of feeling is caused +by being entirely absorbed in the cultivation of virtue, or of real good +and felicity, in such wise that Regulus did not feel the chest, Lucretia +the dagger, Socrates the poison, Anaxagoras the mortar, Scævola the +fire, Cocles the abyss, and other worthies felt not those things which +would torment and fill with terror the vulgar crowd. + +CIC. Now pass on. + + +X. + +TANS. Look at this other who bears the device of an anvil and a hammer, +round which is the legend "ab Aetna!" But here Vulcan is introduced: + +34. + + Not now to my Sicilian mount I turn, + Where thou dost forge the thunderbolts of Jove, + Here, rugged Vulcan will I stay; + Here, where a prouder giant moves, + Who burns and rages against Heaven in vain, + Soliciting new cares and divers trials. + Here is a better smith and Mongibello[F] + A better anvil, better forge and hammer; + For here behold a bosom full of sighs, + Which blows the furnace and the fire revives. + The soul nor yields nor bends to these rough blows, + But bears exulting this long martyrdom, + And makes a harmony from these sharp pangs. + +[F] Mount Etna. + +Here are shown the pains and troubles which beset love, principally love +of a low kind, which is no other than the forge of Vulcan, that smith +who makes the bolts of Jove which torment offending souls. For +ill-ordered love has in itself the beginning of its own pain, seeing +that there is a God near us, in us, and with us. There is in us a +certain sacred mind and intelligence, which supplies an affection of its +own, which has its own avenger, which, through remorse for certain +shortcomings, flagellates the transgressing spirit as with a hammer. It +notes our actions and our affections, and as it is treated by us, so are +we treated by it. In every lover I say there is this smith Vulcan, and +as there is no man that has not a god within him, so there is no lover +that has not a god within him, and no lover within whom this god is not. +Most certainly there is a god in every man, but what god it is in each +one is not so easy to know. And even though we should examine and +distinguish, yet do I believe that none other than Love could declare +it, he being the one who pulls the oars, and fills the sails, and +modifies this compound, so that it comes to be well or ill affected. I +say well or ill affected as to that which it puts in execution through +the moral actions and through contemplation; for the rest, all lovers +are apt to experience some difficulties, things being as they are, so +entangled; there being no good whatever, either of conception or of the +affections, which is not joined to or stands in opposition to evil, as +there is no truth which is not joined or opposed to what is false, so +there is no love without fear, ardour, jealousy, rancour, and other +passions, which proceed from their opposites, and which disturb us, as +the other opposite causes satisfaction. Thus the soul striving to +recover its natural beauty seeks to purify itself, to heal itself, and +to reform itself, and to this end it uses fire, because, being like +gold, mixed with earth and crude, with a certain rigour it tries to +liberate itself from defilement, and this result is obtained when the +intellect, the real smith of Jove, puts itself to the work and causes an +active exercise of the intellectual powers. + +CIC. It seems to me that this is referred to in the "Banquet" of Plato, +where it says that Love has inherited from his mother, Poverty, that +dried-up, thin, pale, bare-footed, and submissive condition without a +home, without anything, and through these is signified the torture of +the soul that is torn with contrary affections. + +TANS. So it is; because the spirit, full of this enthusiasm, becomes +absorbed in profound thoughts, stricken with urgent cares, kindled with +fervent desires, excited by frequent crises: whence the soul, finding +itself in suspense, becomes less diligent and active in the government +of the body through the acts of the vegetative power; thus the body +becomes lean, ill-nourished, attenuated, poor in blood, and rich in +melancholy humours, and these, if they do not administer to the +disciplined soul, or to a clear and lucid spirit, may lead to insanity, +folly, and brutal fury, or at least to a certain disregard of self, and +a contempt of its own being, which is symbolized by Plato in the bare +feet. Love becomes subjected and flies suddenly down to earth when it is +attached to low things, but flies high when it is fixed upon more worthy +enterprises. In conclusion, whatever love it may be, it is ever +afflicted and tormented in such a way that it cannot fail to supply +material for the forge of Vulcan; because the soul, being a divine +thing, and by nature, not a servant but the mistress of corporeal +matter, she becomes troubled in that she voluntarily serves the body +wherein she finds nothing to satisfy her, and albeit, fixed in the thing +loved, yet now and then she becomes agitated, and fluctuates amidst the +waves of hope, fear, doubt, ardour, conscience, remorse, determination, +repentance, and other scourges, which are the bellows, the coals, the +forge, the hammer, the pincers, and other instruments which are found in +the workshop of the sordid grimy consort of Venus. + +CIC. Enough has been said upon this subject. Let us see what follows. + + +XI. + +TANS. Here is a golden apple, rich with various kinds of precious +enamel, and there is a legend about it which says, "Pulchriori detur." + +CIC. The allusion to the fact of the three goddesses who submitted +themselves to the judgment of Paris is very common. But read the lines +which more specifically disclose the meaning of the present enthusiast. + +TANS.: + +35. + + Venus, the goddess of the third heaven + (Mother of the archer blind, who conquers all), + She whose father is the head of Zeus, + And Juno, most majestic wife of Jove, + These call the Trojan shepherd to be judge, + And to the fairest give the ruddy sphere. + Compared with Venus, Pallas, and the Queen of Heaven, + My perfect goddess bears away the palm. + The Cyprian queen may boast her royal limbs, + Minerva charm with her transcendent wit, + And Juno with a majesty supreme; + But she who holds my heart all these excels + In wisdom, majesty, and loveliness. + +Here he makes a comparison between his object (or ideal) which comprises +all circumstances, all conditions, and all kinds of beauty, in one +subject, and others which exhibit each only one, and that through +various hypotheses, as with corporeal beauty, all the conditions of +which Apelles could not find in one, but in many virgins. Now here, +where there are three kinds of the beautiful, although it seems that all +of these exist in each of the three goddesses--Venus not being found +wanting in wisdom and majesty, Juno not lacking loveliness and wisdom, +and Pallas being full of majesty and beauty, in each case it is a fact +that one quality exceeds the others, so that it comes to be held as +distinctive of the one, and the other as incidental to all, seeing that +of those three gifts, one predominates in each and proclaims her +sovereign over the others. And the cause of this difference lies in the +fact of possessing these qualities, not primarily and in their essence, +but by participation and derivation; as in all things which are +dependent, their perfection depends upon the degrees of major and minor +and more and less. But in the simplicity of the divine essence, all +exists in totality, and not according to any measure, and therefore +wisdom is not greater than beauty and majesty, and goodness is not +greater than strength: not only are till the attributes equal, they are +one and the same thing. As in the sphere all the dimensions are not only +equal, the length being equal to the depth and breadth, but are also +identical, seeing that what in a sphere is called deep, may also be +called long and wide. Likewise is it, as to height in divine wisdom, +which is the same as the depth of power and the breadth of goodness. All +these perfections are equal, because they are infinite. Of necessity, +one is according to the sum of the other, seeing that where things are +finite it may result in this, that it is more wise than beautiful or +good, more good and beautiful than wise, more wise and good than +powerful, and more powerful than good or wise. But where there is +infinite wisdom there cannot be other than infinite power, otherwise +there would be no infinite knowledge. Where there is infinite goodness +there must be infinite wisdom, otherwise there would be no infinite +goodness. Where there is infinite power there must be infinite goodness +and wisdom, because there is the being able to know and the knowing to +be able. Now, observe how the object of this enthusiast, who is, as it +were, inebriated with the drink of the gods, is incomparably higher +than others which are different. I mean to say that the divine essence +comprehends in the very highest degree perfection of all kinds, so that +according to the degree in which this particular form may have +participated, he can understand all, do all, and be such an attached +friend to one that he may come to feel contempt and indifference towards +every other beauty. Therefore to her should be consecrated the spherical +apple as to her who seems to be all in all; not to Venus, who is +beautiful but is surpassed in wisdom by Minerva, and by Juno in majesty; +not to Pallas than whom Venus is more beautiful, and the other more +magnificent; not to Juno, who is not the goddess of intelligence or of +love. + +CIC. Truly, as are the degrees of Nature and of the essences, so in +proportion are the degrees of the intelligible orders and the glories of +the amorous affections and enthusiasms. + + +XII. + +CIC. The following bears a head with four faces, which blow towards the +four corners of the heavens, and are four winds in one subject; above +these stand two stars, and in the centre the legend "Novae ortae +aeoliae." I would like to know what that signifies. + +TANS. I think that the meaning of this device is consequent upon that +which precedes it, for, as there the object is declared to be infinite +beauty, so here is proposed what may be called a similar aspiration, +study, affection, and desire. I believe that these winds are set to +signify sighs; but this we shall see when we come to read the lines: + +36. + + Sons of the Titan Astræus and Aurora, + Who trouble heaven, earth, and the wide sea, + Leave now this stormy war of elements, + And fight anon with the high gods. + No more in my Æolian caves ye dwell, + No more does my restraining power compel; + But caught are ye and closed within that breast, + With moans and sobs and bitter sighs opprest. + Turbulent brothers of the stars, + Companions of the tempests of the seas, + Those lights are all that may avail + Peace to restore; murderous yet innocent; + Which, open or concealed, + Will bless with calm, or curse with pride. + +Evidently, here, Æolus is introduced as speaking to the winds, which he +declares are no longer tempered by him in the Æolian caverns, but by two +stars in the breast of this enthusiast. Here, the two stars do not mean +the two eyes which are in the forehead, but the two appreciable kinds of +divine beauty and goodness, of that infinite splendour, which so +influences intellectual and rational desire, that it brings him to a +condition of infinite aspiration, according to the way and the degree +with which he comes to comprehend that glorious light. For love, while +it is finite, contented, and fixed in a certain measure, is not in the +form of the species of divine beauty, but as it goes on with ever higher +aspirations, it may be said to verge towards the infinite. + +CIC.. How is breathing made to mean aspiring? What relation has desire +with the winds? + +TANS. Whosoever in this present condition aspires, also sighs, and the +same breathes; and therefore the vehemence of the aspiration is noted by +the hieroglyph of strong breathing. + +CIC. But there is a difference between sighing and breathing. + +TANS. Therefore it is not put as if one stood for the other, or as being +identical, but as being similar. + +CIC. Go on then with our proposition. + +TANS. The infinite aspiration then, indicated by the sighs and +symbolized by the winds, is not under the dominion of Æolus in the Æolic +caverns, but of the aforementioned two lights, which are not only +blameless, but benevolent in killing the enthusiast, inasmuch as they +cause him to die to every other thing, except the absorbing affection; +at the same time, they, being closed and concealed, render him unquiet, +and being open, they will tranquillize him, because at this time, when +the eyes of the human mind in this body are covered with a nebulous +veil, the soul, through such studies, becomes troubled and harassed, and +he being thus torn and goaded, will attain only that amount of quiet as +will satisfy the condition of his nature. + +CIC.. How can our finite intellect follow after the infinite ideal? + +TANS. Through the infinite potency it possesses. + +CIC. This would be useless, if ever it came into effect. + +TANS. It would be useless, if it had to do with a finite action, where +infinite potency would be wanting, but not with the infinite action +where infinite potency is positive perfection. + +CIC. If the human intellect is finite in nature and in act, how can it +have an infinite potency? + +TANS. Because it is eternal, and in this ever has delight, so that it +enjoys happiness without end or measure; and because, as it is finite +in itself, so it may be infinite in the object. + +CIC. What difference is there between the infinity of the object and the +infinity of the potentiality? + +TANS. This is finitely infinite, and that infinitely infinite. But to +return to ourselves. The legend there says: "Novæ Liparææ æoliæ," +because it seems as if we are to believe that all the winds which are in +the abysmal caverns of Æolus were converted into sighs, if we include +those which proceed from the affection, which aspires continually to the +highest good and to the infinite beauty. + + +XIII. + +CIC. Here we see the signification of that burning light around which is +written: "Ad vitam, non ad horam." + +TANS. Persistence in such a love and ardent desire of true goodness, by +which in this temporal state the enthusiast is consumed. This, I think, +is shown in the following tablet: + +37.[Transcribers Note: Original source said 34] + + [G]What time the day removes the orient vault, + The rustic peasant leaves his humble home, + And when the sun with fiercer tangent strikes, + Fatigued and parched, he sits him in the shade; + Then plods again with hard, laborious toil, + Until black night the hemisphere enshrouds. + And then he rests. But I must ever chafe + At morning, noon-day, evening, and at night. + These fiery rays + Which stream from those two arches of my sun, + Ne'er fade from the horizon of my soul. + So wills my fate; + But blazing every hour + From their meridian they burn the afflicted heart. + +[G] Quando il sen d'oriente il giorno sgombra. + +CIC. This tablet expresses with greater truth than perspicacity the +sense of the figure. + +TANS.. It is not necessary for me to make any effort to point out to you +the appropriateness, as it only requires a little attentive +consideration. The rays of the sun are the ways in which the divine +beauty and goodness manifest themselves to us; and they are fiery +because they cannot be comprehended by the intellect without at the same +time kindling the affections. The two arches of the sun are the two +kinds of revelation, that scholastic theologians call early and late, +whence our illuminating intelligence, as an airy medium, deduces that +species, either in virtue, which it contemplates in itself, or in +efficacy, which it beholds in its effects. The horizon of the soul, in +this place, is that part of the superior potentialities where the +vigorous impulse of the affection comes to aid the lively comprehension +of the intellect, being signified by the heart, which, burning at all +hours, torments itself; because all those fruits of love that we can +gather in this state are not so sweet that they have not united with +them a certain affliction, which proceeds from the fear of imperfect +fruition: as especially occurs in the fruits of natural affection, the +condition of which I cannot do better than explain in the words of the +Epicurean poet: + + Ex hominis vera facie, pulchroque colore + Nil datur in corpus præter simulacra fruendum + Tenuia, quæ vento spes captat sæpe misella. + Ut bibere in somnis sitiens cum quærit, et humor + Non datur, ardorem in membris qui stinguere possit, + Sed laticum simulacra petit, frustraque laborat, + In medioque sitit torrenti flumine potans: + Sic in amore Venus simulacris ludit amantis, + Nec satiare queunt spectando corpora coram, + Nec manibus quicquam teneris abradere membris + Possunt, errantes incerti corpore toto. + Denique cum membris conlatis flore fruuntur + Ætatis, dum jam præsagit gaudia corpus, + Atque in eo est Venus, ut muliebria conserat arva, + Adfigunt avide corpus, iunguntque salivas + Oris, et inspirant pressantes dentibus ora, + Necquiquam, quoniam nihil inde abradere possunt, + Nec penetrare, et abire in corpus corpore toto. + +In the same way, he judges as to the kind of taste that we can have of +divine things, which, while we force ourselves to penetrate, and unite +with them, we find that we have more pain in the desire than pleasure +in the realization. And this may have been the reason why that wise +Hebrew said that he who increases knowledge increases pain; because +from, the greater comprehension grows the greater desire. And this is +followed by greater vexation and grief for the deprivation of the thing +desired. So the Epicurean, who led a most tranquil life, said +opportunely: + + Sed fugitare decet simulacra, et pabula amoris + Abstergere sibi, atque alio convertere mentem, + Nec servare sibi curam certumque dolorem: + Ulcus enim virescit, et inveterascit alendo, + Inque dies gliscit furor, atque ærumna gravescit. + Nec Veneris fructu caret is, qui vitat amorem, + Sed potius, quæ sunt, sine poena, commoda sumit. + +CIC. What is meant by the meridian of the heart? + +TANS. That part or region of the will which is highest and most exalted, +and where it becomes most strongly, clearly, and effectually kindled. He +means that such affection is not as in its beginning, where it stirs, +nor as at the end, where it reposes, but as in the middle, where it +becomes fervid. + + +XIV. + +CIC. But what means that glowing arrow, which has flames in place of a +hard point, around which is encircled a noose with the legend: "Amor +instat ut instans"? Say, what does it mean? + +TANS. It seems to me to mean that love never leaves him, and at the same +time eternally afflicts him. + +CIC. I see the noose, the arrow, and the fire. I understand that which +is written: "Amor instat"; but that which follows I cannot +understand--that is, that love as an instant, or persisting, persists; +which has the same poverty of idea as if one said: "This undertaking he +has feigned as a feint; he bears it as he bears it, understands it as he +understands it, values it as he values it, and esteems it as he who +esteems it." + +TANS. It is easy for him to decide and condemn who does not even +consider. That "instans" is not an adjective from the verb "instare," +but it is a noun substantive used for the instant of time. + +CIC. Now, what is the meaning of the phrase "love endures as an +instant?" + +TANS.. What does Aristotle mean in his book on Time, when he says that +eternity is an instant, and that all time is no more than an instant? + +CIC. How can this be, seeing that there is no time so short that it +cannot be divided into seconds? Perhaps he would say that in one instant +there is the Flood, the Trojan war, and we who exist now; I should like +to know how this instant is divided into so many centuries and years, +and whether, by the same rule, we might not say that the line is a +point? + +TANS. If time be one, but in different temporal subjects, so the instant +is one in different and all parts of time. As I am the same I was, am, +and shall be; so I myself am always the same in the house, in the +temple, in the field, and wheresoever I am. + +CIC. Why do you wish to make out that the instant is the whole of time? + +TANS. Because if it were not an instant, it would not be time; therefore +time in essence and substance is no other than an instant, and let this +suffice, if you understand it, because I do not intend to perorate upon +the entire physics; so that you must understand that he means to say +that the whole of love is no less present than the whole of time; +because this "instans" does not mean a moment of time. + +CIC. This meaning must be specified in some way, if we do not wish to +see the motto invalidated by equivocation, by which we are free to +suppose that he meant to say that his love was but for an instant--that +is, for an atom of time, and of nothing more, or that he means that it +is as you interpret it, everlasting. + +TANS. Surely, if these two contrary meanings were implied, the legend +would be nonsense. But it is not so, if you consider well, for it cannot +be that in one instant, which is an atom or point, love persists or +endures; therefore one must of necessity understand the instant in +another signification. And for the sake of getting out of the mesh, read +the stanza: + +38. + + One time scatters and one gathers; + One builds, one breaks; one weeps, one laughs; + One time to sadness, one to gaiety inclines; + One labours and one rests; one stands, one sits; + One proffers and one takes away; + One stays and one removes; one animates, one kills. + In all the years, the months, the days, the hours, + Love waits on me, strikes, binds, and burns. + To me continual dissolution, + Continual weeping holds me and destroys. + All times to me are full of woe; + All things time takes from me, + And gives me naught, not even death. + +CIC. I understand the meaning quite perfectly, and confess that all +things agree very well. It is time to proceed to the next. + +XV. + +TANS. Here behold a serpent languishing in the snow, where a labourer +has thrown it, and a naked child burning in the midst of the fire, with +certain other details and circumstances, with the legend which says: +"Idem, itidem non idem." This seems more like an enigma than anything +else, and I do not feel sure that I can explain it at all; yet I do +believe that it means that the same fate vexes, and the same torments +both the one and the other--that is, immeasurably, without mercy and +unto death, by means of various instruments or contrary principles, +showing itself the same whether cold or hot. But this, it seems to me, +requires longer and special consideration. + +CIC. Some other time. Read the lines: + +39. + + Limp snake, that writhest in the snow, + Twisting and turning here and there + To find some ease from the tormenting cold, + If the congealing ice could know thy pain, + Or had the sense to feel thy smart, + And thou couldst find a voice for thy complaint, + I do believe thy argument would make it pitiful. + I with eternal fire am scourged, am burnt, and bitten, + And in the iciness of my divinity find no deliverance, + No pity does she feel, nor can she know, alas! + The rigorous ardour of my flames. + +40. + + Serpent, thou fain wouldst flee, but canst not; + Try for thy hiding-place, it is no more; + Recall thy strength, 'tis spent; + Wait for the sun, behind thick fog he hides; + Cry mercy of the hind, he fears thy tooth. + Fortune invoke, she hears thee not, the jade! + Nor flight, nor place, nor star, nor man, nor fate + Can bring to thee deliverance from death. + Thou dost become congealed. Melting am I. + I like thy rigours, thee my ardour pleases; + Help have I none for thee, and thou hast none for me. + Clear is our evil fate--all hope resign. + +CIC. Let us go, and by the way we will seek to untie this knot--if +possible. + +TANS. So be it. + + +PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. LONDON AND EDINBURGH THE APOLOGY +OF THE NOLAN + + +TO THE MOST VIRTUOUS AND LOVELY LADIES. + + O lovely, graceful nymphs of England! + Not in repugnance nor in scorn + Our spirit holds you, + Nor would our pen abase you + More than it must--to call you feminine! + Exemption I am sure you would not claim, + Being subject to the common influence; + Shining on earth as do the stars in heaven. + Your sov'reign beauty, ladies, our austerity + Cannot depreciate, nor would do so, + For we have not in view a superhuman kind, + Such poison,[H] therefore, far from you be set, + For here we see the one, the great Diana, + Who is to you as sun amongst the stars. + Wit, words, learning and art, + And whatsoe'er is mine of scribbling faculty, + I humbly place before you. + +[H] Arsenico. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Heroic Enthusiasts,(1 of 2) (Gli +Eroici Furori), by Giordano Bruno + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROIC ENTHUSIASTS *** + +***** This file should be named 19817-8.txt or 19817-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/8/1/19817/ + +Produced by Sjaani, Ted Garvin and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Heroic Enthusiasts,(1 of 2) (Gli Eroici Furori) + An Ethical Poem + +Author: Giordano Bruno + +Translator: L. Williams + +Release Date: November 15, 2006 [EBook #19817] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROIC ENTHUSIASTS *** + + + + +Produced by Sjaani, Ted Garvin and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h3>THE</h3> + +<h1>HEROIC ENTHUSIASTS</h1> + +<h3>(<i>GLI EROICI FURORI</i>)</h3> + +<h3><em><strong>An Ethical poem</strong></em></h3> + +<h2>BY GIORDANO BRUNO</h2> + +<h3>PART THE FIRST</h3> + +<h4>TRANSLATED BY</h4> + +<h3>L. WILLIAMS</h3> + +<p class="style1a">WITH AN INTRODUCTION, COMPILED CHIEFLY FROM<br /> +DAVID LEVI'S GIORDANO BRUNO O LA RELIGIONE DEL PENSIERO</p> + + +<p class="style1">LONDON<br /> +GEORGE REDWAY<br /> +YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN<br /> +1887<br /> +</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Not in original document. --> +<p class="center"> +<a href="#INTRODUCTION"><b>INTRODUCTION.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#First"><b>First Dialogue.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Second"><b>Second Dialogue.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Third"><b>Third Dialogue.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Fourth"><b>Fourth Dialogue.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#Fifth"><b>Fifth Dialogue.</b></a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><strong>PREFACE.</strong></p> + + +<p>When this Translation was begun, more than two +years ago, for my own pleasure, in leisure hours, +I had no knowledge of the difficulty I should find +in the work, nor any thought of ever having it +printed; but as "Gli Eroici Furori" of Giordano +Bruno has never appeared in English, I decided to +publish that portion of it which I have finished.</p> + +<p>I wish to thank those friends who have so kindly +looked over my work from time to time, and given +me their help in the choice of words and phrases. +I must, moreover, confess that I am keenly alive to +the shortcomings and defects of this Translation.</p> + +<p>I have used the word "Enthusiasts" in the title, +rather than "Enthusiasms," because it seemed to me +more appropriate.</p> + +<p> +L. W.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Folkestone</span>, <i>September 1887</i>.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +ERRATA<br /> +<br /> +Page 3, line 10, <i>for</i> "also mother" <i>read</i> "also my mother."<br /> +Page 47, line 9, <i>for</i> "poisons" <i>read</i> "poison."<br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + + +<p>Nola, a city founded by the Chalcidian Greeks, at a +short distance from Naples and from Vesuvius, was +the birth-place of Giordano Bruno. It is described +by David Levi as a city which from ancient times +had always been consecrated to science and letters. +From the time of the Romans to that of the +Barbarians and of the Middle Ages, Nola was +conspicuous for culture and refinement, and its +inhabitants were in all times remarkable for their +courteous manners, for valour, and for keenness of +perception. They were, moreover, distinguished by +their love for and study of philosophy; so that this +city was ever a favourite dwelling-place for the +choice spirits of the Renaissance. It may also be +asserted that Nola was the only city of Magna +Græcia which, in spite of the persecutions of Pagan +emperors and Christian princes and clergy, always +preserved the philosophical traditions of the Pytha<!-- Page 2 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>goreans, +and never was the sacred fire on the altar +of Vesta suffered to become entirely extinct. Such +was the intellectual and moral atmosphere in which +Bruno passed his childhood. His paternal home was +situated at the foot of Mount Cicada, celebrated for +its fruitful soil. From early youth his pleasure +was to pass the night out on the mountain, now +watching the stars, now contemplating the arid, +desolate sides of Vesuvius. He tells how, in +recalling those days—the only peaceful ones of his +life—he used to think, as he looked up at the +infinite expanse of heaven and the confines of the +horizon, with the towering volcano, that this must +be the ultimate end of the earth, and it appeared as +if neither tree nor grass refreshed the dreary space +which stretched out to the foot of the bare smoky +mountain. When, grown older, he came nearer to +it, and saw the mountain so different from what it +had appeared, and the intervening space that, seen +from afar, had looked so bare and sterile, all covered +with fruit-trees and enriched with vineyards, he +began to see how illusory the judgment of the +senses may be; and the first doubt was planted in +his young soul as he perceived that, while the mind +may grasp Nature in her grandeur and majesty, the +work of the sage must be to examine her in detail,<!-- Page 3 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +and penetrate to the cause of things. When he +appeared before the tribunal of the Holy Office +at Venice, being asked to declare who and what he +was, he said: "My name is Giordano, of the family +of Bruno, of the city of Nola, twelve miles from +Naples. There was I born and brought up. My +profession has been and is that of letters, and of all +the sciences. My father's name was Giovanni, and +my mother was Francesca Savolini; and my father +was a soldier. He is dead, and also mother. I +am forty-four years old, having been born in 1548." +He always regarded Nola with patriotic pride, and +he received his first instruction in his father's +house and in the public schools. Of a sad disposition, +and gifted with a most lively imagination, he +was from his earliest years given to meditation and +to poetry. The early years of Bruno's life were +times of agitation and misfortune, and not propitious +to study. The Neapolitan provinces were +disturbed by constant earthquakes, and devastated +by pestilence and famine. The Turks fought, and +ravaged the country, and made slaves of the inhabitants; +the neighbouring provinces were still +more harassed by hordes of bandits and outlaws, +who invested Calabria, led by a terrible chief called +Marcone. The Inquisition stood prepared to light<!-- Page 4 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +its fires and slaughter the heretic. The Waldensians, +who had lately been driven out of Piedmont, +and had sought a shelter in the Calabrian territory, +were hunted down and given over to the executioner.</p> + +<p>The convent was the only refuge from violence, +and Bruno, either from religious enthusiasm, or in +order to be able to devote himself to study, became +a friar at the age of fifteen. There, in the quiet +cloister of the convent of St. Dominic at Naples, +his mind was nourished and his intellect developed; +the cloistral and monkish education failed to enslave +his thought, and he emerged from this tutelage the +boldest and least fettered of philosophers. Everything +about this church and this convent, famous as +having been the abode of Thomas Aquinas, was +calculated to fire the enthusiasm of Bruno's soul; +the leisure and quiet, far from inducing habits of +indolence, or the sterile practices of asceticism, were +stimulants to austere study, and to the fervour of +mystical speculations. Here he passed nearly +thirteen years of early manhood, until his intellect +strengthened by study he began to long for independence +of thought, and becoming, as he said +himself, solicitous about the food of the soul and +the culture of the mind, he found it irksome to go +through automatically the daily vulgar routine of<!-- Page 5 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +the convent; the pure flame of an elevated +religious feeling being kindled in his soul, he tried +to evade the vain exercises of the monks, the puerile +gymnastics, and the adoration of so-called relics. +His character was frank and open, and he was +unable to hide his convictions; he put some of his +doubts before his companions, and these hastened to +refer them to the superiors; and thus was material +found to institute a cause against him. It became +known, that he had praised the methods used by the +Arians or Unitarians in expounding their doctrines, +adding that they refer all things to the ultimate +cause, which is the Father: this, with other heretical +propositions, being brought to the notice of the +Holy Office, Bruno found himself in the position of +being first observed and then threatened. He was +warned of the danger that hung over him by some +friends, and decided to quit Naples. He fled from +the convent, and took the road to Rome, and was +there received in the monastery of the Minerva. A +few days after his arrival in Rome he learned that +instructions for his arrest had been forwarded from +Naples; he tarried not, but got away secretly, throwing +aside the monk's habiliments by the way. He +wandered for some days about the Roman Campagna, +his destitute condition proving a safeguard against<!-- Page 6 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +the bands of brigands that infested those lands, until +arriving near Civita Vecchia, he was taken on board +a Genoese vessel, and carried to the Ligurian port, +where he hoped to find a refuge from his enemies; but +the city of Geneva was devastated by pestilence and +civil war, and after a sojourn of a few days he pursued +once more the road of exile. Seeking for a +place wherein he might settle for a short time and +hide from his pursuers, he stayed his steps at Noli, +situated at a short distance from Savona, on the +Riviera: this town, nestled in a little bay surrounded +by high hills crowned by feudal castles and towers, +was only accessible on the shore side, and offered a +grateful retreat to our philosopher. At Noli, Bruno +obtained permission of the magistracy to teach +grammar to children, and thus secured the means +of subsistence by the small remuneration he received; +but this modest employment did not occupy him +sufficiently, and he gathered round him a few +gentlemen of the district, to whom he taught the +science of the Sphere. Bruno also wrote a book +upon the Sphere, which was lost. He expounded +the system of Copernicus, and talked to his pupils +with enthusiasm about the movement of the earth +and of the plurality of worlds.</p> + +<p>As in that same Liguria Columbus first divined<!-- Page 7 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +another hemisphere outside the Pillars of Hercules, +so Bruno discovered to those astonished minds the +myriads of worlds which fill the immensity of +space. Columbus was derided and banished by his +fellow-citizens, and the fate of our philosopher was +similar to his. In the humble schoolmaster who +taught grammar to the children, the bishop, the +clergy, and the nobles, who listened eagerly to his +lectures on the Sphere, began to suspect the heretic +and the innovator. After five months it behoved +him to leave Noli; he took the road to Savona, +crossed the Apennines, and arrived at Turin. In +Turin at that time reigned the great Duke Emanuele +Filiberto, a man of strong character—one of those +men who know how to found a dynasty and to fix +the destiny of a people; at that time, when Central +and Southern Italy were languishing under home +and foreign tyranny, he laid the foundations of the +future Italy.</p> + +<p>He was warrior, artist, mechanic, and scholar. +Intrepid on the field of battle, he would retire from +deeds of arms to the silence of his study, and cause +the works of Aristotle to be read to him; he spoke +all the European languages; he worked at artillery, +at models of fortresses, and at the smith's craft; he +brought together around him, from all sides of Italy,<!-- Page 8 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +artisans and scientists to promote industry, commerce, +and science; he gathered together in Piedmont +the most excellent compositors of Italy, and +sanctioned a printer's company.</p> + +<p>Bruno, attracted to Turin by the favour that was +shown to letters and philosophy, hoped to get occupation +as press reader; but it was precisely at that +time that the Duke, instigated by France, was combating, +with every kind of weapon, the Waldensian +and Huguenot heresies, and had invited the Jesuits +to Turin, offering them a substantial subsidy; so +that on Bruno's arrival he found the place he had +hoped for, as teacher in the university, occupied by +his enemies, and he therefore moved on with little +delay, and embarked for Venice.</p> + +<p>Berti, in his Life of Bruno, remarks that when +the latter sought refuge in Turin, Torquato Tasso, +also driven by adverse fortune, arrived in the same +place, and he notes the affinity between them—both +so great, both subject to every species of misfortune +and persecution in life, and destined to immortal +honours after their death: the light of genius +burned in them both, the fire of enthusiasm flamed +in each alike, and on the forehead of each one was +set the sign of sorrow and of pain.</p> + +<p>Both Bruno and Tasso entered the cloister as<!-- Page 9 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +boys: the one joined the Dominicans, the other the +Jesuits; and in the souls of both might be discerned +the impress of the Order to which they belonged. +Both went forth from their native place longing to +find a broader field of action and greater scope for +their intellectual powers. The one left Naples +carrying in his heart the Pagan and Christian traditions +of the noble enterprises and the saintly +heroism of Olympus and of Calvary, of Homer and +the Fathers, of Plato and St. Ignatius; the other +was filled with the philosophical thought of the +primitive Italian and Pythagorean epochs, fecundated +by his own conceptions and by the new age; philosopher +and apostle of an idea, Bruno consecrated +his life to the development of it in his writings and +to the propagation of his principles in Europe by the +fire of enthusiasm. The one surprised the world +with the melody of his songs; being, as Dante +says, the "dolce sirena che i marinari in mezzo al mare +smaga," he lulled the anguish that lacerated Italy, +and gilded the chains which bound her; the other +tried to shake her; to recall her to life with the +vigour of thought, with the force of reason, with the +sacrifice of himself. The songs of Tasso were heard +and sung from one end of Italy to the other, and +the poet dwelt in palaces and received the caress and<!-- Page 10 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +smile of princes; while Bruno, discoursing in the +name of reason and of science, was rejected, persecuted, +and scourged, and only after three centuries +of ingratitude, of calumny, and of forgetfulness, does +his country show signs of appreciating him and of +doing justice to his memory. In Tasso the poet predominates +over the philosopher, in Bruno the philosopher +predominates over and eclipses the poet. The +first sacrifices thought to form; the second is careful +only of the idea. Again, both are full of a conception +of the Divine, but the God that the dying +Tasso confessed is a god that is expected and comes +not; while the god that Bruno proclaims he already +finds within himself. Tasso dies in his bed in the +cloister, uneasy as on a bed of thorns; Bruno, amidst +the flames, stands out as on a pedestal, and dies +serene and calm. We must now follow our fugitive +to Venice.</p> + +<p>At the time Giordano Bruno arrived in Venice +that city was the most important typographical +centre of Europe; the commerce in books extended +through the Levant, Germany, and France, and the +philosopher hoped that here he might find some +means of subsistence. The plague at that time was +devastating Venice, and in less than one year had +claimed forty-two thousand victims; but Bruno felt<!-- Page 11 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +no fear, and he took a lodging in that part of +Venice called the Frezzeria, and was soon busy +preparing for the press a work called "Segni del +Tempo," hoping that the sale of it would bring a +little money for daily needs. This work was lost, +as were all those which he published in Italy, and +which it was to the interest of Rome to destroy. +Disappointed at not finding work to do in Venice, +he next went to Padua, which was the intellectual +centre of Europe, as Venice was the centre of printing +and publishing; the most celebrated professors +of that epoch were to be found in the University of +Padua, but at the time of Bruno's sojourn there, +Padua, like Venice, was ravaged by the plague; the +university was closed, and the printing-house was +not in operation. He remained there only a few +days, lodging with some monks of the Order of St. +Dominic, who, he relates, "persuaded me to wear +the dress again, even though I would not profess +the religion it implied, because they said it would +aid me in my wayfaring to be thus attired; and so +I got a white cloth robe, and I put on the hood +which I had preserved when I left Rome." Thus +habited he wandered for several months about the +cities of Venetia and Lombardy; and although he +contrived for a time to evade his persecutors, he<!-- Page 12 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +finally decided to leave Italy, as it was repugnant to +his disposition to live in forced dissimulation, and he +felt that he could do no good either for himself or +for his country, which was then overrun with +Spaniards and scourged by petty tyrants; and with +the lower orders sunk in ignorance, and the upper +classes illiterate, uncultivated, and corrupt, the mission +of Giordano Bruno was impossible. "Altiora +Peto" was Bruno's motto, and to realize it he had +gone forth with the pilgrim's staff in his hand, +sometimes covered with the cowl of the monk, at +others wearing the simple habit of a schoolmaster, +or, again, clothed with the doublet of the mechanic: +he had found no resting-place—nowhere to lay his +head, no one who could understand him, but always +many ready to denounce him. He turned his back +at last on his country, crossed the Alps on foot, and +directed his steps towards Switzerland. He visited +the universities in different towns of Switzerland, +France, and Germany, and wherever he went he left +behind him traces of his visit in some hurried +writings. The only work of the Nolan, written in +Italy, which has survived is "Il Candelajo," which +was published in Paris. Levi, in his Life of +Bruno, passes in review his various works; but it +will suffice here to reproduce what he says of the<!-- Page 13 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +"Eroici Furori," the first part of which I have +translated, and to note his remarks upon the style +of Bruno, which presents many difficulties to the +translator on account of its formlessness. Goethe +says of Bruno's writings: "Zu allgemeiner Betrachtung +und Erhebung der Geistes eigneten sich die +Schriften des Jordanus Brunous von Nola; aber +freilich das gediegene Gold and Silber aus der Masse +jener zo ungleich begabten Erzgänge auszuscheiden +und unter den Hammer zu bringen erfordert fast +mehr als menschliche Kräfte vermögen."</p> + +<p>I believe that no translation of Giordano Bruno's +works has ever been brought out in English, or, at +any rate, no translation of the "Eroici Furori," and +therefore I have had no help from previous renderings. +I have, for the most part, followed the text +as closely as possible, especially in the sonnets, which +are frequently rendered line for line. Form is lacking +in the original, and would, owing to the unusual +and often fantastic clothing of the ideas, be difficult +to apply in the translation. He seems to have +written down his grand ideas hurriedly, and, as Levi +says, probably intended to retouch the work before +printing.</p> + +<p>Following the order of Levi's Life of Bruno, we +next find the fugitive at Geneva. He was hardly<!-- Page 14 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +thirty-one years old when he quitted his country +and crossed the Alps, and his first stopping-place +was Chambery, where he was received in a convent +of the Order of Predicatori; he proposed going on to +Lyons, but being told by an Italian priest, whom he +met there, that he was not likely to find countenance +or support, either in the place he was in or in any +other place, however far he might travel, he changed +his course and made for Geneva.</p> + +<p>The name of Giordano Bruno was not unknown +to the Italian colony who had fled from papal persecution +to this stronghold of religious reform. He +went to lodge at an inn, and soon received visits +from the Marchese di Vico Napoletano, Pietro Martire +Vermigli, and other refugees, who welcomed him +with affection, inquiring whether he intended to embrace +the religion of Calvin, to which Bruno replied +that he did not intend to make profession of that +religion, as he did not know of what kind it was, +and he only desired to live in Geneva in freedom. +He was then advised to doff the Dominican habit, +which he still wore; this he was quite willing to +do, only he had no money to buy other clothing, +and was forced to have some made of the cloth +of his monkish robes, and his new friends presented +him with a sword and a hat; they also<!-- Page 15 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +procured some work for him in correcting press +errors.</p> + +<p>The term of Bruno's sojourn in Geneva seems +doubtful, and the precise nature of his employment +when there is also uncertain; but his independent +spirit brought him into dispute with the rigid Calvinists +of that city, who preached and exacted a blind +faith, absolute and compulsory. Bruno could not +accept any of the existing positive religions; he professed +the cult of philosophy and science, nor was his +character of that mould that would have enabled +him to hide his principles. It was made known to +him that he must either adopt Calvinism or leave +Geneva: he declined the former, and had no choice +as to the latter; poor he had entered Geneva, and +poor he left it, and now turned his steps towards +France.</p> + +<p>He reached Lyons, which was also at that time a +city of refuge against religious persecutions, and he +addressed himself to his compatriots, begging for +work from the publishers, Aldo and Grifi; but not +succeeding in gaining enough to enable him to +subsist, after a few days he left, and went on his +way to Toulouse, where there was a famous university; +and having made acquaintance with several +men of intellect, Bruno was invited to lecture on the<!-- Page 16 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +Sphere, which he did, with various other subjects, for +six months, when the chair of Philosophy becoming +vacant, he took the degree of Doctor, and competed +for it; and he continued for two years in that place, +teaching the philosophy of Aristotle and of others. +He took for the text of his lectures the treatise of +Aristotle, "De Anima," and this gave him the +opportunity of introducing and discussing the deepest +questions—upon the Origin and Destiny of Humanity; +The Soul, is it Matter or Spirit? Potentiality or +Reality? Individual or Universal? Mortal or +Eternal? Is Man alone gifted with Soul, or are +all beings equally so? Bruno's system was in his +mind complete and mature; he taught that everything +in Nature has a soul, one universal mind, +penetrates and moves all things; the world itself is a +<i>sacrum animal</i>. Nothing is lost, but all transmutes +and becomes. This vast field afforded him scope +for teaching his doctrines upon the world, on the +movement of the earth, and on the universal soul. +The novelty and boldness of his opinions roused the +animosity of the clergy against him, and after living +two years and six months at Toulouse, he felt it +wise to retire, and leaving the capital of the +Languedoc, he set his face towards Paris.</p> + +<p>The two books—the fruit of his lectures—which<!-- Page 17 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +he published in Toulouse, "De Anima" and "De +Clavis Magis," were lost.</p> + +<p>The title of Doctor, or as he said himself, +"Maestro delle Arti," which Bruno had obtained at +Toulouse, gave him the faculty of teaching publicly +in Paris, and he says: "I went to Paris, where I set +myself to read a most unusual lecture, in order to +make myself known and to attract attention." He +gave thirty lectures on the thirty Divine attributes, +dividing and distributing them according to the +method of St. Thomas Aquinas: these lectures +excited much attention amongst the scholars of the +Sorbonne, who went in crowds to hear him; and he +introduced, as usual, his own ideas while apparently +teaching the doctrines of St. Thomas. His extraordinary +memory and his eloquence caused great astonishment; +and the fame of Bruno reached the ears of +King Henry III., who sent for him to the Court, and +being filled with admiration of his learning, he offered +him a substantial subsidy.</p> + +<p>During his stay at Paris, although he was much +at Court, he spent many hours in his study, writing +the works that he afterwards published.</p> + +<p>Philosophical questions were discussed at the Sorbonne +with much freedom: Bruno showed himself no +partisan of either the Platonic or the Peripatetic<!-- Page 18 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +school; he was not exclusive either in philosophy or +in religion; he did not favour the Huguenot faction +more than the Catholic league; and precisely by +reason of this independent attitude, which kept him +free of the shackles of the sects, did he obtain the +faculty of lecturing at the Sorbonne. Nor can we +ascribe this aloofness to religious indifference, but to +the fact that he sought for higher things and longed +for nobler ones. The humiliating spectacle which +the positive religions, both Catholic and Reformed, +presented at that time—the hatreds, the civil wars, the +assassinations which they instigated—had disgusted +men of noble mould, and had turned them against +these so-called religions; so that in Naples, in Tuscany, +in Venice, in Switzerland, France, and England, +there were to be found societies of philosophers, of +free-thinkers, and politicians, who repudiated every +positive religion and professed a pure Theism.</p> + +<p>In the "Spaccio della Bestia Trionfante" he +declares that he cannot ally himself either to the +Catholic or the Lutheran Church, because he professes +a more pure and complete faith than these—to +wit, the love of humanity and the love of wisdom; +and Mocenigo, the disciple who ultimately betrayed +and sold him to the Holy Office, declares in his deposition +that Bruno sought to make himself the<!-- Page 19 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +author of a new religion under the name of "Philosophy." +He was not a man to conceal his ideas, +and in the fervour of his improvisation he no doubt +revealed what he was; some tumult resulted from +this free speaking of Bruno's, and he was forced to +discontinue his lectures at the Sorbonne.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of the year 1583 the King +became enthralled by religious enthusiasm, and +nothing was talked of in Paris but the conversion +of King Henry. This fact changed the aspect of +affairs as far as Bruno was concerned; he judged it +prudent to leave Paris, and he travelled to England.</p> + +<p>The principal works published by Bruno during +his stay in Paris are "Il Candelajo" and "Umbrae +Idearum." The former, says Levi, is a work of +criticism and of demolition; in this comedy he sets +in groups the principal types of hypocrisy, stupidity, +and rascality, and exhibiting them in their true +colours, he lashes them with ridicule. In the +"Umbrae Idearum" he initiates the work of reconstruction, +giving colour to his thought and sketching +his idea. The philosophy of Bruno is based upon +that of Pythagoras, whose system penetrates the +social and intellectual history of Italy, both ancient +and modern. The method of Pythagoras is not confined, +as most philosophies are, to pure metaphysical<!-- Page 20 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +speculations, but connects these with scientific observations +and social practice. Bruno having resuscitated +these doctrines, stamps them with a wider +scope, giving them a more positive direction; and he +may with propriety be called the second Pythagoras. +The primal idea of Pythagoras, which Bruno worked +out to a more distinct development is this: numbers +are the beginning of things; in other words numbers +are the cause of the existence of material +things; they are not final, but are always changing +position and attributes; they are variable and +relative. Beyond and above this mutability there +must be the Immutable, the All, the One.</p> + +<p>The Infinite must be one, as one is the absolute +number; in the original One is contained all the +numbers; in the One is contained all the elements +of the Universe.</p> + +<p>This abstract doctrine required to be elucidated +and fixed. From a hypothesis to concentrate and +reduce it to a reality was the great work of Bruno.</p> + +<p>One is the perfect number; it is the primitive +monad. As from the One proceeds the infinite +series of numbers which again withdraw and are +resolved into the One; so from Substance, which is +one, proceed the myriads of worlds; from the +worlds proceed myriads of living creatures; and from<!-- Page 21 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +the union of one with the diverse is generated the +Universe. Hence the progression from ascent to +descent, from spirit to that which we call matter; +from the cause to the origin, and the process of +metaphysics, which, from the finite world of sense +rises to the intelligent, passing through the intermediate +numbers of infinite substance to active being +and cosmic reason.</p> + +<p>From the absolute One, the sun of the sensible +and intellectual world, millions of stars and suns +are produced or developed. Each sun is the centre +of as many worlds which are distributed in as many +distinct series in an infinite number of concentric +centres and systems. Each system is attracted, +repelled, and moved by an infinite, internal passion, +or attraction; each turns round its own centre, and +moves in a spiral towards the centre of the whole, +towards which centre they all tend with infinite +passional ardour. For in this centre resides the +sun of suns, the unity of unities, the temple, the +altar of the universe, the sacred fire of Vesta, the +vital principle of the universe.</p> + +<p>That which occurs in the world of stars is reflected +in the telluric world; everything has its +centre, towards which it is attracted with fervour. +All is thought, passion, and aspiration.<!-- Page 22 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + +<p>From this unity, which governs variety, from this +movement of every world around its sun, of every +sun around its centre sun—the sun of suns—which +informs all with the rays of the spirit, with the light +of thought—is generated that perfect harmony of +colours, sounds, forms, which strike the sight and +captivate and enthrall the intellect. That which in +the heavens is harmony becomes, in the individual, +morality, and in companies of human beings, law. +That which is light in the spheres becomes intelligence +and science in the world of the spirit and in +humanity. We must study this harmony that rules +the celestial worlds in order to deduce the laws +which should govern civil bodies.</p> + +<p>In the science of numbers dwells harmony, and +therefore it behoves us to identify ourselves with this +harmony, because from it is derived the harmonic +law which draws men together into companies. +Through the revolution of the worlds through space +around their suns, from their order, their constancy +and their measure, the mind comprehends the progress +and conditions of men, and their duties towards +each other. The Bible, the sacred book of +man, is in the heavens; there does man find written +the word of God.</p> + +<p>Human souls are lights, distinct from the<!-- Page 23 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +universal soul, which is diffused over all and +penetrates everything. A purifying process guides +them from one existence to another, from one form to +another, from one world to another. The life of man +is more than an experience or trial; it is an effort, +a struggle to reproduce and represent upon earth +some of that goodness, beauty, and truth which are +diffused over the universe and constitute its harmony.</p> + +<p>Long, slow, and full of opposition is this educational +process of the soul. As the terraqueous +globe becomes formed, changed, and perfected, little +by little, through the cataclysms and convulsions +which, by means of fire, flood, earthquake, and +irruptions, transform the earth, so it is with +humanity. Through struggle is man educated, +fortified, and raised.</p> + +<p>In the midst of social cataclysms and revolutions +humanity has one guiding star, a beacon which +shows its light above the storms and tempests, a +mystical thread running through the labyrinth of +history—namely, the religion of philosophy and +of thought. The vulgar creeds would not, and have +not dared to reveal the Truth in its purity and +essence. They covered it with veils with allegories, +with myths and mysteries, which they called +sacred; they enshrouded thought with a double<!-- Page 24 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +veil, and called it Revelation. Humanity, deceived +by a seductive form, adored the veil, but did not +lift itself up to the idea behind it; it saw the +shadow, not the light.</p> + +<p>But we must return to our wandering hero.</p> + +<p>Bruno was about thirty-six years old when he +left Paris and went to England. He was invited to +visit the University of Oxford, and opened his +lectures there with two subjects which, apparently +diverse, are in reality intimately connected with +each other—namely, on the Quadruple Sphere and +on the Immortality of the Soul. Speaking of the +immortality of the soul, he maintained that nothing +in the universe is lost, everything changes and is +transformed; therefore, soul and body, spirit and +matter, are equally immortal. The body dissolves, +and is transformed; the soul transmigrates, and, +drawing round itself atom to atom, it reconstructs +for itself a new body. The spirit that animates +and moves all things is one; everything differentiates +according to the different forms and bodies +in which it operates. Hence, of animate things +some are inferior by reason of the meanness of the +organ in which they operate; others are superior +through the richness of the same. Thus we see +that Bruno anticipates the doctrine, proclaimed later<!-- Page 25 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +by Goethe and by Darwin, of the transformation of +species and of the organic unity of the animal +world; and this alternation from segregation to +aggregation, which we call death and life, is no +other than mutation of form.</p> + +<p>After having criticised and scourged the religions +of chimera, of ignorance, and hypocrisy, in +"Lo Spaccio della Bestia Trionfante" and in +"L'Asino Cillenico," the author, in "Gli Eroici +Furori," lays down the basis for the religion of +thought and of science. In place of the so-called +Christian perfections (resignation, devotion, and +ignorance), Bruno would put intelligence and the +progress of the intellect in the world of physics, +metaphysics, and morals; the true aim being +illumination, the true morality the practice of +justice, the true redemption the liberation of the +soul from error, its elevation and union with God +upon the wings of thought. This idea is developed +in the work in question, which is dedicated to +Sir Philip Sidney. After treating of the infinite +universe, and contemplating the innumerable worlds +in other works, he comes, in "Gli Eroici Furori," +to the consideration of virtue in the individual, and +demonstrates the potency of the human faculties. +After the Cosmos, the Microcosm; after the in<!-- Page 26 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>finitely +great, the infinitely small. The body is in +the soul, the soul is in the mind, the mind is in +God. The life of the soul is the true life of the +man. Of all his various faculties, that which rules +all, that which exalts our nature, is Thought. By +means of it we rise to the contemplation of the +universe, and becoming in our turn creators, we +raise the edifice of science; through the intellect +the affections become purified, the will becomes +strengthened. True liberty is acquired, and will +and action becoming one through thought, we +become heroes.</p> + +<p>This education of the soul, or rather this elevation +and glory of thought, which draws with it the will +and the affections, not by means of blind faith or +supernatural grace, not through an irrational and +mystical impulse, but by the strength of a reformed +intellect and by a palpable and well-considered +enthusiasm, which science and the contemplation of +Nature alone can give, this is the keynote of the +poem. It is composed of two parts, each of which +is divided into five dialogues: the first part, which +may be called psychological, shows, by means of +various figures and symbols drawn from Nature, how +the divine light is always present to us, is inherent +in man; it presents itself to the senses and to the<!-- Page 27 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +comprehension: man constantly rejects and ignores +it; sometimes the soul strives to rise up to it, and +the poet describes the struggle with the opposing +affections which are involved in this effort, and shows +how at last the man of intelligence overcomes these +contending powers and fatal impulses which conflict +within us, and by virtue of harmony and the fusion +of the opposites the intellect becomes one with the +affections, and man realizes the good and rises to +the knowledge of the true. All conflicting desires +being at last united, they become fixed upon one +object, one great intent—the love of the Divine, +which is the highest truth and the highest good. +In "Gli Eroici Furori" we see Bruno as a man, as +a philosopher, and as a believer: here he reveals +himself as the hero of thought. Even as Christ +was the hero of faith, and sacrificed himself for it, so +Bruno declares himself ready to sacrifice himself for +science. It is also a literary, a philosophical, and a +religious work; form, however, is sacrificed to the +idea—so absorbed is the author in the idea that he +often ignores form altogether. An exile wandering +from place to place, he wrote hurriedly and seldom +or ever had he the opportunity of revising what +he had written down. His mind in the impulsiveness +of its improvisation was like the volcano of<!-- Page 28 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +his native soil, which, rent by subterranean flames, +sends forth from its vortices of fire, at the same +time smoke, ashes, turbid floods, stones, and lava. +He contemplates the soul, and seeks to understand +its language; he is a physiologist and a naturalist, +merged in the mystic and the enlightened devotee.</p> + +<p>Bruno might have made a fixed home for himself +in England, as so many of his compatriots had +done, and have continued to enjoy the society of +such men as Sir Philip Sydney, Fulke Greville, +and, perchance, also of Shakespeare himself, who was +in London about that time; but his self-imposed +mission allowed him no rest; he must go forth, and +carry his doctrines to the world, and forget the +pleasures of friendship and the ties of comfort in the +larger love of humanity; his work was to awaken +souls out of their lethargy, to inspire them with the +love of the highest good and of truth; to teach +that God is to be found in the study of Nature, that +the laws of the visible world will explain those of +the invisible, the union of science and humanity +with Nature and with God.</p> + +<p>Bruno returned to Paris in 1585, being at that +time tutor in the family of Mauvissier, who had been +recalled from England by his Sovereign. During +Bruno's second sojourn in Paris efforts were made<!-- Page 29 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +by Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador, and others, +to induce him to return to his allegiance to the +Church, and to be reconciled to the Pope; but +Bruno declined these overtures, and soon after left +Paris for Germany, where he arrived on foot, his +only burden being a few books.</p> + +<p>He visited Marburg and Wurtemburg, remaining +in the latter place two years, earning his bread by +teaching.</p> + +<p>Prague and Frankfort were next visited; ever +the same courage and boldness characterised his +teaching, and ever the same scanty welcome was +accorded to it, although in every city and university +crowds of the intelligent listened to his lectures; +but the Church never lost sight of Bruno, he was +always under surveillance, and few dared to show +themselves openly his friends. Absorbed in his +studies and intent upon his work, writing with +feverish haste, he observed nothing of the invisible +net which his enemies kept spread about him, and +while his slanderers were busy in doing him injury +he was occupied in teaching the mnemonic art, and +explaining his system of philosophy to the young +Lutherans who attended his lectures; in settling the +basis of a new and rational religion, and in writing +Latin verses; using ever greater diligence with his<!-- Page 30 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +work, almost as if he felt that the time was drawing +near in which he would be no longer at liberty to +work and teach.</p> + +<p>It was during the early part of the pontificate +of Gregory XIV. that Bruno received letters from +Mocenigo in Venice, urging him to return to +Italy, and to go and stay with him in Venice, and +instruct him in the secrets of science. Bruno was +beginning to tire of this perpetually wandering +life, and after several letters from Mocenigo, full of +fine professions of friendship and protection, Bruno, +longing to see his country again, turned his face +towards Venice.</p> + +<p>In those days men of superior intellect were +often considered to be magicians or sorcerers; +Mocenigo, after enticing Bruno to Venice, insisted +upon his teaching him "the secret of memory and +other things that he knew."</p> + +<p>The philosopher with untiring patience tried to +instil into this dull head the principles of logic, the +elements of mathematics, and the rudiments of the +mnemonic art; but the pupil hated study, and had +no faculty of thought; yet he insisted that Bruno +should make science clearly known to him! But this +was probably only to initiate a quarrel with Bruno,<!-- Page 31 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +whom he intended afterwards to betray, and deliver +into the hands of the Church.</p> + +<p>The Holy Office would have laid hands on Bruno +immediately on his arrival in Italy, but being assured +by Mocenigo that he could not escape, they left him +a certain liberty, so that he might more surely +compromise himself, while his enemies were busy +collecting evidence against him. When at last his +eyes became opened to what was going on about +him, and he could no longer ignore the peril of his +position, it was too late; Bruno could not get away, +and was told by Mocenigo that if he stayed not by +his own will and pleasure, he would be compelled +to remain where he was. Bruno, however, made +his preparations for departure, and sent his things +on to Frankfort, intending to leave the next day +himself; but in the morning, while he was still in +bed, Mocenigo entered the chamber, pretending that +he wished to speak with him; then calling his +servant Bartolo and five or six gondoliers, who +waited without, they forced Bruno to rise, and conducted +him to a garret, and locked him in. There +he passed the first day of that imprisonment which +was to last for eight years. The next day he went +over the lagoon in a gondola, in the company of<!-- Page 32 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +his jailors, who took him to the prison of the Holy +Office, and left him there. Levi devotes many +pages to the accusations brought against Giordano +Bruno by the Inquisitors, and the depositions and +denunciations made against him by his enemies. +The Court was opened without delay, and most of +the provinces of Italy were represented by their +delegates in the early part of the trial; Bruno +himself, being interrogated, gave an account in +detail of his life, of his wanderings, of his occupations +and works: serene and dignified before this +terrible tribunal, he expounded his doctrine, its +principles, and logical consequences. He spoke of +the universe, of the infinite worlds in infinite space, +of the divinity in all things, of the unity of all +things, the dependence and inter-dependence of all +things, and of the existence of God in all. After +nine months' imprisonment in Venice, towards the +end of January 1593, Bruno, in chains, was conveyed +from the Bridge of Sighs through the lagoons +to Ancona, where he remained incarcerated until +the prison of the Roman Inquisition received him. +If we look upon "Gli Eroici Furori" as a prophetical +poem, we see that his sufferings in the +loneliness of his prison and in the torture-chamber +of the Inquisition passed by anticipation before his<!-- Page 33 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +mind in the book written when he was free and a +wanderer in strange lands.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"By what condition, nature, or fell chance,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In living death, dead life I live?"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>he writes eight years and more before he ever +breathed the stifling air of a dungeon; and again:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The soul nor yields nor bends to these rough blows,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But bears, exulting, this long martyrdom,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And makes a harmony of these sharp pangs."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Further details of the trial of Giordano Bruno +are to be found in Levi's book. It is well known +how he received the sentence of death passed upon +him, saying: "You, O judges! feel perchance more +terror in pronouncing this judgment than I do in +hearing it." The day fixed for the burning, which +was to take place in the Campo dei Fiori, was the +17th February in the year 1600. Rome was full +of pilgrims from all parts, come to celebrate the +jubilee of Pope Clement VIII. Bruno was hardly +fifty years old at this time; his face was thin and +pale, with dark, fiery eyes; the forehead luminous +with thought, his body frail and bearing the signs +of torture; his hands in chains, his feet bare, he +walked with slow steps in the early morning towards +the funeral pile. Brightly shone the sun, and the<!-- Page 34 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +flames leapt upwards and mingled with his ardent +rays; Bruno stood in the midst with his arms +crossed, his head raised, his eyes open; when all +was consumed, a monk took a handful of the ashes +and scattered them in the wind. A month later, +the Bishop of Sidonia presented himself at the +Treasury of the Pope, and demanded two scudi in +payment for having degraded Fra Giordano the +heretic.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"L'incendio è tal, ch'io m'ardo e non mi sfaccio."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Eroici Furori.</span><br /></span> +<!-- Page 35 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE" id="THE"></a>THE</h2> + +<h2>HEROIC ENTHUSIASTS.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><a name="First" id="First"></a><b>First Dialogue.</b></p> + +<p><span class="style3">Tansillo, Cicada.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> The enthusiasms most suitable to be first +brought forward and considered are those that I +now place before you in the order that seems to me +most fitting.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Begin, then, to read.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Tansillo.</span></p> + +<p>1.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ye Muses, that so oft I have repulsed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That, now importuned, haste to cure my pain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And to console me in my woes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With verses, rhymes, and exaltation<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Such as to others ye did never show,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who yet do vaunt themselves of laurel and of myrtle<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Be near me now, my anchor and my port,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lest I for sport should towards some others turn.<br /></span> +<!-- Page 36 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Mount! O Goddesses! O Fountain!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where and with whom I dwell, converse and nourish me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where peacefully I ponder and grow fair;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I rise, I live: heart, spirit, brows adorn;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Death, cypresses, and hells<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You change to life, to laurels, and eternal stars!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It is to be supposed that he oftimes and for +divers reasons had repulsed the Muses; first, because +he could not be idle as a priest of the Muses +should be, for idleness cannot exist there, where the +ministers and servants of envy, ignorance, and +malignity are to be combated. Moreover, he could +not force himself to the study of philosophies, which +though they be not the most mature, yet ought, as +kindred of the Muses, to precede them. Besides +which, being drawn on one side by the tragic Melpomene, +with more matter than spirit, and on the +other side by the comic Thalia, with more spirit than +matter, it came to pass that, oscillating between the +two, he remained neutral and inactive, rather than +operative. Finally, the dictum of the censors, who, +restraining him from that which was high and +worthy, and towards which he was naturally inclined, +sought to enslave his genius, and from being free in +virtue they would have rendered him contemptible +under a most vile and stupid hypocrisy. At last, +in the great whirl of annoyances by which he was<!-- Page 37 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +surrounded, it happened that, not having wherewith +to console him, he listened to those who are said to +intoxicate him with such exaltation, verses, and +rhymes, as they had never demonstrated to others; +because this work shines more by its originality +than by its conventionality.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Say, what do you mean by those who vaunt +themselves of myrtle and laurel?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Those may and do boast of the myrtle who +sing of love: if they bear themselves nobly, they may +wear a crown of that plant consecrated to Venus, of +which they know the potency. Those may boast of +the laurel who sing worthily of things pertaining +to heroes, substituting heroic souls for speculative +and moral philosophy, and praising them and setting +as mirrors and exemplars for political and civil +actions.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> There are then many species of poets and +crowns?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Not only as many as there are Muses, but +a great many more; for although genius is to be +met with, yet certain modes and species of human +ingenuity cannot be thus classified.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> There are certain schoolmen who barely +allow Homer to be a poet, and set down Virgil, +Ovid, Martial, Hesiod, Lucretius, and many others<!-- Page 38 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +as versifiers, judging them by the rules of poetry of +Aristotle.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Know for certain, my brother, that such as +these are beasts. They do not consider that those +rules serve principally as a frame for the Homeric +poetry, and for other similar to it, and they set up +one as a great poet, high as Homer, and disallow +those of other vein, and art, and enthusiasm, who in +their various kinds are equal, similar, or greater.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> So that Homer was not a poet who depended +upon rules, but was the cause of the rules +which serve for those who are more apt at imitation +than invention, and they have been used by him +who, being no poet, yet knew how to take the rules +of Homeric poetry into service, so as to become, not +a poet or a Homer, but one who apes the Muse of +others?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Thou dost well conclude that poetry is not +born in rules, or only slightly and accidentally so; +the rules are derived from the poetry, and there are +as many kinds and sorts of true rules as there are +kinds and sorts of true poets.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> How then are the true poets to be known?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> By the singing of their verses; in that +singing they give delight, or they edify, or they +edify and delight together.<!-- Page 39 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> To whom then are the rules of Aristotle +useful?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> To him who, unlike Homer, Hesiod, +Orpheus, and others, could not sing without the +rules of Aristotle, and who, having no Muse of his +own, would coquette with that of Homer.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Then they are wrong, those stupid pedants +of our days, who exclude from the number of poets +those who do not use words and metaphors conformable +to, or whose principles are not in union with, +those of Homer and Virgil; or because they do not +observe the custom of invocation, or because they +weave one history or tale with another, or because +they finish the song with an epilogue on what has +been said and a prelude on what is to be said, and +many other kinds of criticism and censure, from +whence it seems they would imply that they themselves, +if the fancy took them, could be the true +poets; and yet in fact they are no other than worms, +that know not how to do anything well, but are +born only to gnaw and befoul the studies and +labours of others; and not being able to attain +celebrity by their own virtue and ingenuity, seek to +put themselves in the front, by hook or by crook, +through the defects and errors of others.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Now, to return from this long digression,<!-- Page 40 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +I say that there are as many sorts of poets as there +are human sentiments and ideas; and to these it is +possible to adapt garlands, not only of every species +of plant, but also of other kinds of material. So +the crowns of poets are made not only of myrtle and +of laurel, but of vine leaves for the white-wine verses, +and of ivy for the bacchanals; of olive for sacrifice and +laws; of poplar, of elm, and of corn for agriculture; +of cypress for funerals, and innumerable others for +other occasions; and, if it please you, also of that +material signified by a good fellow when he exclaimed:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Friar Leek! O Poetaster!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That in Milan didst buckle on thy wreath<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Composed of salad, sausage, and the pepper-caster.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Now surely he of divers moods, which he +exhibits in various ways, may cover himself with +the branches of different plants, and may hold +discourse worthily with the Muses, for they are his +aura or comforter, his anchor or support, and his +harbour, to which he retires in times of labour, of +agitation, and storm. Hence he cries: "O mountain +of Parnassus, where I abide! Muses, with +whom I converse! Fountain of Helicon, where I +am nourished. Mountain, that affordest me a quiet +dwelling-place! Muses, that inspire me with pro<!-- Page 41 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>found +doctrines. Fountain, that cleanses me! +Mountain, on whose ascent my heart uprises! +Muses, that in discourse revive my spirit. Well, +whose arbours cool my brows! Change my death +into life, my cypress to laurels, and my hells into +heavens: that is, give me immortality, make me +poet, render me illustrious!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Well; because to those whom Heaven +favours the greatest evils turn to greatest good, +for needs or necessities bring forth labours and +studies, and these most often bring the glory of +immortal splendour.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> For to die in one age makes us live in all +the rest. Go on.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Then follows:</p> + +<p>2.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In form and place like to Parnassus is my heart,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And up unto this mount for safety I ascend;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My Muses are my thoughts, and they present to me<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At every hour new beauties counted out.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The frequent tears that from my eyes do pour,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">These make my fount of Helicon.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By such a mount, such nymphs, such floods,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As Heaven did please, was I a poet born.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No king of any kingdom,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No favouring hand of emperor,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No highest priest nor great pastor,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Has given to me such graces, honours, privileges,<br /></span> +<!-- Page 42 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span><span class="i0">As are those laurel leaves with which<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O'ershadowed are my heart, my thoughts, my tears.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Here he declares his mountain to be the exalted +affection of his heart, his Muses he calls the beauties +and attributes of the object of his affections, and +the fountain is his tears. In that mountain affection +is kindled; through those beauties enthusiasm +is conceived, and by those tears the enthusiastic +affection is demonstrated; and he esteems himself +not less grandly crowned by his heart, his thoughts, +and his tears than others are by the hand of kings, +emperors, and popes.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Explain to me what he means by his heart +being in form like Parnassus.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Because the human heart has two summits, +which terminate in one base or root; and, spiritually, +from one affection of the heart proceed two opposites, +love and hate; and the mountain of Parnassus +has two summits and one base.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> On to the next!</p> + +<p>3.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The captain calls his warriors to arms,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And at the trumpet's sound they all<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Under one sign and standard come.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But yet for some in vain the call is heard,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Heedless and unprepared, they mind it not.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One foe he kills, and the insane unborn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He banishes from out the camp in scorn.<br /></span> +<!-- Page 43 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span><span class="i0">And thus the soul, when foiled her high designs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Would have all those opponents dead or gone;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One object only I regard,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One face alone my mind does fill,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One beauty keeps me fixed and still;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One arrow pierced my heart, and one<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The fire with which alone I burn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And towards one paradise I turn.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This captain is the human will, which dwells in the +depths of the soul with the small helm of reason to +govern and guide the interior powers against the +wave of natural impulses. He, with the sound of +the trumpet—that is, by fixed resolve—calls all the +warriors or invokes all the powers; called warriors +because they are in continual strife and opposition; +and their affections, which are all contrary thoughts, +some towards one and some towards the other side +inclining, and he tries to bring them all under one +flag—one settled end and aim. Some are called in +vain to put in a ready appearance, and are chiefly +those which proceed from the lower instincts, and +which obey the reason either not at all, or very +little; and forcing himself to prevent their actions +and condemn those which cannot be prevented, +he shows himself as one who would kill those and +banish these, now by the scourge of scorn, now +by the sword of anger. One only is the object of<!-- Page 44 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +his regards, and on this he is intently fixed; one +prospect delights and fills his imagination, one +beauty pleases, and he rests in that, because the +operation of the intelligence is not a work of +movement but of quiet; from thence alone he +derives that barb which, killing him, constitutes +the consummation of perfection. He burns with one +fire alone; that is, one affection consumes him.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Why is love symbolized by fire?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> For many reasons, but at present let this +one suffice thee: that as love converts the thing +loved into the lover, so amongst the elements fire is +active and potent to convert all the others, simple +and composite, into itself.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Go on.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> He knows one paradise—that is, one consummation, +because paradise commonly signifies the +end; which is again distinguished from that which +is absolute in truth and essence from that which is +so in appearance and shadow or form. Of the first +there can only be one, as there can be only one +ultimate and one primal good. Of the second the +modes are infinite.</p> + +<p>4.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Love, Fate, Love's object, and cold Jealousy,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Delight me, and torment, content me, and afflict.<br /></span> +<!-- Page 45 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span><span class="i0">The insensate boy, the blind and sinister,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The loftiest beauty, and my death alone<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Show to me paradise, and take away,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Present me with all good, and steal it from me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So that the heart, the mind, the spirit, and the soul,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Have joy, pain, cold, and weight in their control.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who will deliver me from war?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who give to me the fruit of love in peace?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And that which vexes that which pleases me<br /></span> +<span class="i0">(Opening the gates of heaven and closing them)<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who will set far apart<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To make acceptable my fires and tears?<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He shows the reason and origin of passion; and +whence it is conceived; and how enthusiasm is +born, by ploughing the field of the Muses and +scattering the seed of his thoughts and waiting for +the fruitful harvest, discovering in himself the fervour +of the affections instead of in the sun, and in +place of the rain is the moisture of his eyes. He +brings forward four things: Love, Fate, the Object, +and Jealousy. Here love is not a low, ignoble, and +unworthy motor, but a noble lord and chief. Fate +is none other than the pre-ordained disposition and +order of casualties to which he is subject by his +destiny. The object is the thing loved and the +correlative of the lover. Jealousy, it is clear, must +be the ardour of the lover about the thing loved, of +which it boots not to speak to him who knows what<!-- Page 46 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +love is, and which it is vain to try to explain to +others. Love delights, because to him who loves +it is a pleasure to love; and he who really loves +would not cease from loving. This is referred to +in the following sonnet:</p> + +<p>5.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Beloved, sweet, and honourable wound,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From fairest dart that love did choose,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lofty, most beauteous and potential zeal,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That makes the soul in its own flames find weal!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What power or spell of herb or magic art<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Can tear thee from the centre of my heart,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Since he, who with an ever-growing zest,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tormenting most, yet most does make me blest?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How can I of this weight unburdened be,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If pain the cure, and joy the sore give me?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sweet is my pain: to this world new and rare.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Eyes! ye are the bow and torches of my lord!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Double the flames and arrows in my breast,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For languishing is sweet and burning best.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Fate vexes and grieves by undesirable and unfortunate +events, or because it makes the subject feel +unworthy of the object, and out of proportion with +the dignity of the latter, or because a perfect +sympathy does not exist, or for other reasons and +obstacles that arise. The object satisfies the subject, +which is nourished by no other, seeks no other, +is occupied by no other, and banishes every other +thought. Jealousy torments, because although she<!-- Page 47 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +is the daughter of Love, and is derived from him, +and is his companion who always goes with him, +and is a sign of the same, being understood as a +necessary consequence wherever love is found (as +may be observed of whole generations who, from the +coldness of the region and lateness of development, +learn little, love less, and of jealousy know nothing), +yet, notwithstanding its kinship, association, and +signification, jealousy comes to trouble and poisons +all that it finds of beautiful and of good in Love. +Therefore I said in another sonnet:</p> + +<p>6.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh, wicked child of Envy and of Love!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That turnest into pain thy father's joys,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To evil Argus-eyed, but blind as mole to good.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Minister of torment! Jealousy!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fetid harpy! Tisiphone infernal!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who steals and poisons others' good,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Under thy cruel breath does languish<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The sweetest flower of all my hopes.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Proud of thyself, unlovely one,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bird of sorrow and harbinger of ill,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The heart thou visitest by thousand doors;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If entrance unto thee could be denied,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The reign of Love would so much fairer be,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As would this world were death and hate away.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>To the above is added, that Jealousy not only is +sometimes the ruin and death of the lover, but<!-- Page 48 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +often kills Love itself, because Love comes to be so +much under its influence that it is impelled to +despise the object, and in fact becomes alienated +from it, especially when it engenders disdain.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Explain now the ideas which follow. Why is +Love called the "insensate boy"?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> I will tell you. Love is called the insensate +boy, not because he is so of himself, but because +he brings certain ones into subjection, and dwells +in such subjects, since the more intellectual and +speculative one is, the more Love raises the genius +and purifies the intellect, rendering it alert, studious, +and circumspect, promoting a condition of valorous +animosity and an emulation of virtues and dignities +by the desire to please and to make itself worthy of +the thing loved; others, and they are the largest +number, call him mad and foolish, because he drives +them distracted, and hurries them into excesses, +by which the spirit, soul, and body become sickly, +and inept to consider and distinguish that +which is seemly from that which is distorted; thus +rendering them subject to scorn, derision, and +reproach.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> It is commonly said that love makes fools of +the old and makes the young wise.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> That drawback does not happen to all the<!-- Page 49 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +aged, nor that advantage to all the young; the one +is true of the weak, and the other of the robust. +One thing is certain, that he who loves wisely in +youth will in age not go astray. But derision is +for those of mature age, into whose hands Love puts +the alphabet.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Tell me now why Fate is called blind and +bad.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Again, blind and bad is not said of Destiny +itself, because it is of the same order and number +and measure as the universe; but as to the subjects +it is said to be blind, for they are blind to fate, she +being so uncertain. So also is Fate said to be evil, +because every living mortal who laments and complains, +blames her. As the Apulian poet says:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">How is it, or what means it, Mæcenas,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That none on earth contented with that fate appear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which Reason or Heaven has assigned to them?<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In the same way he calls the object the highest +beauty, as it is that alone which has power of +attracting him to itself; and thus he holds it more +worthy, more noble, and feels it predominant and +superior as he becomes subject and captive to it. +"My death itself," he says of Jealousy, because as +Love has no more close companion than she, so also +he feels he has no greater enemy; as nothing is<!-- Page 50 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +more hurtful to iron than rust, which is produced +by it.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Now, since you have begun so, continue to +show bit by bit that which remains.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> So will I. He says next of Love: he +shows me Paradise, in order to prove that Love +himself is not blind, and does not himself render +any lovers blind, except through the ignoble characteristics +of the subject; even as the birds of night +become blind in the sunshine. As for himself, Love +brightens, clears, and opens the intellect, permeating +all and producing miraculous effects.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Much of this, it seems to me, the Nolano +demonstrates in another sonnet:</p> + +<p>7.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Love, through whom high truth I do discern,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou openest the black diamond doors;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Through the eyes enters my deity, and through seeing<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is born, lives, is nourished, and has eternal reign;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shows forth what heaven holds, earth and hell:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Makes present true images of the absent;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gains strength: and drawing with straight aim,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wounds, lays bare and frets the inmost heart.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Attend now, thou base hind unto the truth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bend down the ear to my unerring word;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Open, open, if thou canst the eyes, foolish perverted one!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou understanding little, call'st him child,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Because thou swiftly changest, fugitive he seems,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thyself not seeing, call'st him blind.<br /></span><!-- Page 51 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Love shows Paradise in order that the highest things +may be heard, understood, and accomplished; or it +makes the things loved, grand—at least in appearance. +He says, Fate takes love away; because, +often in spite of the lover, it does not concede, and +that which he sees and desires is distant and +adverse to him. Every good he sets before me, he +says of the object, because that which is indicated +by the finger of Love seems to him the only thing, +the principal, and the whole. "Steals it from me," +he says of Jealousy, not simply in order that it +may not be present to me; removing it from my +eyesight, but in order that good may not be +good, but an acute evil; sweet, not sweet, but an +agonized longing; while the heart—that is, the will, +has joy by the great force of love, whatever may be +the result; the mind—that is, the intellectual part, +has pain through the Fear of Fate, which fate does +not favour the lover; the spirit—that is, the natural +affections, are cold because they are snatched from +the object which gives joy to the heart, and which +might give pleasure to the mind; the soul—that is, +the suffering and sensitive soul, is heavy—that is, +finds itself oppressed with the heavy burden of +jealousy which torments it. To this consideration of +his state he adds a tearful lament, and says: "Who<!-- Page 52 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +will deliver me from war, and give me peace? or +who will separate that which pains and injures me +from that which I so love, and which opens to me +the gates of heaven, so that the fervid flames in my +heart may be acceptable, and fortunate the fountains +of my tears?" Continuing this proposition, he adds:</p> + +<p>8.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ah me! oppress some other, spiteful Fate!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jealousy, get thee hence—begone! away!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">These may suffice to show me all the grace<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of changeful Love, and of that noble face.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He takes my life, she gives me death,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She wings, he burns my heart,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He murders it, and she revives the soul:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My succour she, my grievous burden he!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But what say I of Love?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If he and she one subject be, or form,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If with one empire and one rule they stamp<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One sole impression in my heart of hearts,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then are they two, yet one, on which do wait<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The mirth and melancholy of my state!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Four beginnings and extremes of two opposites he +would reduce to two beginnings and one opposite: he +says, then, oppress others—that is, let it suffice thee, +O my Fate! that thou hast so much oppressed me; +and since thou canst not exist without exercise of +thyself, turn elsewhere thy anger. Get thee hence +out of the world, thou Jealousy, because one of those<!-- Page 53 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +two others which remain can supply your functions +and offices; yet, O Fate! thou art none other than +my love; and thou, Jealousy, art not external to the +substance of the same. He alone, then, remains to +deprive me of life, to burn me, to give me death, +and to be to me the burden of my bones; for he +delivers me from death—wings, enlivens, and sustains. +Then two beginnings and one opposite he +reduces to one beginning and one result, exclaiming: +But what do I say of Love? If this presence, this +object, is his empire, and appears none other than +the empire of Love, the rule of Love and its own +rule; the impression of Love which appears in the +substance of my heart, is then no other impression +than its own, and therefore after having said +"Noble face," replies "Inconstant Love."[A]</p> + +<p>[A] Vago amore.<!-- Page 54 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><a name="Second" id="Second"></a><b>Second Dialogue.</b></p> + +<p><span class="style3">Tansillo.</span></p> + + +<p>Now begins the enthusiast to display the affections +and uncover the wounds which are for a sign in +his body, and in substance or essence in his soul, +and he says thus:</p> + +<p>9.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Of Love the standard-bearer I;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My hopes are ice, and glowing my desires.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At once I tremble, sparkle, freeze, and burn;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Am mute, and fill the air with clamorous plaints.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Water my eyes distil, sparks from my heart.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I live, I die, make merry and lament.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Living the waters, the burning never dies,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For in my eyes is Thetys, and Vulcan in my heart.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Others I love; myself I hate.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If I be winged, others are changed to stone;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They high as heaven, if I be lowly set.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I cease not to pursue, they ever flee away;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If I do call, yet none will answer me.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The more I search, the more is hid from me.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In accordance with this, I will continue with that +which just before I said to thee, that one should<!-- Page 55 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +not strive so hard to prove that which is so very +evident—namely, that there is nothing pure and +unalloyed; and some have said that no mixed +thing is a real entity, as alloyed gold is not real +gold, manufactured wine is not real simple wine. +Almost all things are made up of opposites, whence +it comes that the success of our affections, through +the mixture that is in things, can afford no pleasure +without some bitterness; and more than this, I will +say, that were it not for the bitter, there would be +no sweet; seeing that it is through fatigue that we +find pleasure in repose; separation is the cause of +our pleasure in union; and, examining generally, +we shall ever find that one opposite is the reason +that the other opposite pleases and is desired.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Then there is no delight without the contrary?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Certainly not; as without the opposite there +is no pain; as is shown by that golden Pythagorean +poet when he says:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Hinc metuunt cupiuntque, dolent gaudentque, nec<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Respiciunt, clausæ tenebris, e carcere cæco.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This, then, is what the mixture of things causes, and +hence it is that no one is pleased with his own +state, except some senseless blockhead, who is so all +the more the deeper is the degree of obscure folly<!-- Page 56 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +in which he is sunk; then he has little or no apprehension +of pain; he enjoys the actual present without +fearing the future; he enjoys that which is and that +in which he finds himself, and has neither care nor +sorrow for what may be; and, in short, has no sense +of that opposition which is symbolized by the tree +of the knowledge of good and evil.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> From this we see that ignorance is the +mother of sensual felicity and beatitude, and this +same is the garden of paradise of the animals; as is +made clear in the dialogues of the Kabala of the +horse Pegasus; and as says the wise Solomon, +"Whoso increases knowledge increases sorrow."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Hence it appears that heroic love is a +torment, because it does not enjoy the present, as +does animal love, but is of the future and the absent; +and, on the contrary, it feels ambition, emulation, +suspicion and dread. One evening, after supper, a +certain neighbour of ours said: "Never was I more +jolly than I am now." John Bruno, father of the +Nolano, answered him: "Never wert thou more +foolish than now."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> You would imply, then, that he who is +sad is wise, and that other who is more sad is +wiser?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> On the contrary, I mean that there<!-- Page 57 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +is in these another species of foolishness and a +worse.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Who, then, is wise, if foolish is he who is +content, and foolish he who is sad?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> He who is neither merry nor sad.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Who? He who sleeps? He who is without +feeling—who is dead?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> No; but he who is quick, both seeing and +hearing, and who, considering evil and good, estimating +the one and the other as variable, and consistent +in motion, mutation, and vicissitude, in such +wise that the end of one opposite is the commencement +of another, and the extreme of the one is the +beginning of the other; whose spirit is neither +depressed nor elated, but is moderate in inclinations +and temperate in desires; to him pleasure is not +pleasure, having ever present the end of it; equally, +pain to him is not pain, because by the force of +reasoning he has present the end of that too. So +the sage holds all mutable things as things that are +not, and affirms that they are no other than vanity +and nothingness, because time has to eternity the +proportion of the point to the line.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> So that we can never hold the proposition +of being contented or discontented, without holding +the proposition of our own foolishness, which we<!-- Page 58 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +thereby confess; therefore no one who reasons, and +consequently no one who participates, can be wise; +in short, all men are fools.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> I do not intend to infer that; for I will +hold of highest wisdom him who could really say at +one time the opposite of what he says at another—never +was I less gay than now; or, never was I +less sad than at present.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> How? Do you not make two contrary qualities +where there are two opposite affections? Why, +I say, do you take as two virtues, and not as one +vice and one virtue, the being less gay and the +being less sad?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Because both the contraries in excess—that +is, in so far as they exceed—are vices, because they +pass the line; and the same, in so far as they +diminish, come to be virtues, because they are contained +within limits.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> How? The being less merry and the being +less sad are not one virtue and one vice, but are two +virtues?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> On the contrary, I say they are one and +the same virtue; because the vice is there where +the opposite is; the opposite is chiefly there where +the extreme is; the greatest opposite is the nearest +to the extreme; the least or nothing is in the<!-- Page 59 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +middle, where the opposites meet, and are one and +identical; as between the coldest and hottest and +the hotter and colder, in the middle point is that +which you may call hot and cold, or neither hot nor +cold, without contradiction. In that way whoso is +least content and least joyful is in the degree of +indifference, and finds himself in the habitation of +temperance, where the virtue and condition of a +strong soul exist, which bends not to the south wind +nor to the north. This, then, to return to the point, +is how this enthusiastic hero, who explains himself +in the present part, is different from the other baser +ones—not as virtue from vice, but as a vice which +exists in a subject more divine or divinely, from a +vice which exists in a subject more savage or +savagely; so that the difference is according to the +different subjects and modes, and not according to +the form of vice.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> I can very well conceive, from what you +have said, the condition of that heroic enthusiast, +who says, "My hopes are ice and my desires are +glowing," because he is not in the temperance of +mediocrity, but, in the excess of contradictions, his +soul is discordant, he shivers in his frozen hopes +and burns in his glowing desires; in his eagerness +he is clamorous, and he is mute from fear; his<!-- Page 60 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +heart burns in its affection for others, and for compassion +of himself he sheds tears from his eyes; +dying in the laughter of others, he is alive in his +own lamentations; and like him who no longer +belongs to himself, he loves others and hates himself; +because matter, as say the physicists, with +that measure with which it loves the absent form, +hates the present one. And so in the octave +finishes the war which the soul has within itself; +and when he says in the sistina, but if I be winged, +others change to stone and that which follows; he +shows his passion for the warfare which he wages +with external contradictions. I remember having +read in Jamblichus, where he treats of the Egyptian +mysteries, this sentence: "Impius animam dissidentem +habet: unde nec secum ipse convenire +potest, neque cum aliis."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Now listen to another sonnet, as sequel to +what has been said:</p> + +<p>10.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">By what condition, nature, or fell chance,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In living death, dead life I live?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Love has me dead, alack! and such a death,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That death and life together I must lose.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Devoid of hope, I reach the gates of hell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And laden with desire arrive at heaven:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thus am I subject to eternal opposites,<br /></span><!-- Page 61 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +<span class="i0">And, banished both from heaven and from hell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No pause nor rest my torments know,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Because between two running wheels I go,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of which one here, the other there compels,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And like Ixion I pursue and flee;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For to the double discourse do I fit<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The crosswise lesson of the spur and bit.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He shows how much he suffers from this dislocation +and distraction in himself; while the affections, +leaving the mean and middle way of temperance, +tend towards the one and the other extreme, and so +are wafted on high or towards the right, and are also +transported downwards to the left.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> How is it that, not being really of one or +the other extreme, it does not come to be in the +conditions or terms of virtue?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> It is then in a state of virtue when it +keeps to the middle, declining from one to the other +opposite; but when it leads towards the extremes, +inclining to one or the other of those, it fails so +entirely from being virtue, that it is a double vice, +which consists in this, that the thing recedes from +its nature, the perfection of which consists in unity, +and there where the opposites meet, its composition +and virtue exist. This, then, is how he is dead +alive, or living dying; whence he says, "In a living +death a dead life I live." He is not dead, because<!-- Page 62 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +he lives in the object; not alive, because he is +dead in himself; deprived of death, because he gives +birth to thoughts; deprived of life, because he does +not grow or feel in himself. He is now most +dejected through meditating on the high intelligence, +and the perceived feebleness of power; and +most elated by the aspiration of heroic longing, which +passes far beyond his limits, and is most exalted +by the intellectual appetite; which has not for its +fashion or aim to add number to number, is most +dejected by the violence done to him by the sensual +opposite which drags him down towards hell. So +that, finding himself thus ascending and descending, +he feels within his soul the greatest dissension that +is possible to be felt, and he remains in a state of +confusion through this rebellion of the senses, which +urge him thither where reason restrains, and <i>vice +versâ</i>. This same is thoroughly demonstrated in +the following sentences, where the Reason, under +the name of "Filenio" asks, and the enthusiast +replies under the name of "Shepherd," who labours +in the care of the flocks and herds of his thoughts, +which he nourishes in the submission to and service +of his nymph, which is the affection of that object +to which he is captive.<!-- Page 63 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<p>11.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Filenio.</span> Shepherd!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Shepherd.</span> What wilt thou?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> What doest thou?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> I suffer.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> Wherefore?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> Because neither life has me for his own, nor death.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> Who's to blame?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> Love.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> That rascal?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> That rascal.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> Where is he?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> He holds me tight in my heart's core.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> What does he?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> Wounds me.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> Who?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> Me.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> Thee?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> Yes.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> With what?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> With the eyes, the gates of heaven and of hell.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> Dost hope?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> I hope.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> For pity?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> For pity.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> From whom?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> From him who racks me night and day.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> Has he any?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> I know not.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> Thou art a fool.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> How if such folly be pleasing to my soul?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> Does he promise?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> No.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> Does he deny?<!-- Page 64 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> Not at all.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> Is he silent?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> Yes, for so much purity (<i>onestà</i>) robs me of my boldness.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> Thou ravest.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> How so?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">F.</span> In vain efforts.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">S.</span> His scorn more than my torments do I fear.</p> + +<p>Here he says that he craves for love, and he complains +of it, yet not because he loves—seeing that +to no true lover can love be displeasing; but because +he loves unhappily, whilst those beams which +are the rays of those lights, and which themselves, +according as they are perverse and antagonistic, or +really kind and gracious, become the gates which +lead towards heaven or towards hell. In this way +he is kept in hope of future and uncertain mercy, +but actually in a state of present and certain torment, +and although he sees his folly quite clearly, +nevertheless he does not care to correct himself in +it, or even to feel displeased with it, but rather does +he feel satisfied with it, as he shows when he says:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Never let me of Love complain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For Love alone can ease my pain.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Here is shown another species of enthusiasm born +from the light of reason, which excites fear and +suppresses the aforesaid reason in order not to<!-- Page 65 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +commit any action which might vex or irritate +the thing loved. He says, then, that hope rests +in the future, without anything being promised +or denied; therefore, he is silent and asks nothing, +for fear of offending purity (<i>l'onestade</i>). He does +not venture to explain himself and make a proposition, +lest he be rejected with repugnance or +accepted with reserve; for he thinks the evil +that there might be in the one would be over-balanced +by the good in the other. He shows himself, +then, ready to suffer for ever his own torment, +rather than to open the door to an opportunity +through which the thing loved might be perturbed +and saddened.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Herein he proves that his love is truly +heroic; because he proposes to himself as the chief +aim, not corporeal beauty, but rather the grace of +the spirit, and the inclination of the affections in +which, rather than in the beauty of the body, that +love that has in it the divine, is eternal.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Thou knowest that, as the Platonic ideas +are divided into three species, of which one tends to +the contemplative or speculative life, one to active +morality, and the third to the idle and voluptuous, +so are there three species of love, of which one raises +itself from the contemplation of bodily form to the<!-- Page 66 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +consideration of the spiritual and divine; the other +only continues in the delight of seeing and conversing; +the third from seeing proceeds to precipitate +into the concupiscence of touch. Of these +three modes others are composed, according as the +first may be coupled with the second or the third, +or as all the three modes may combine together, of +which one and all may be divided into others, +according to the affections of the enthusiast, as +these tend more towards the spiritual object, or +more towards the corporeal, or equally towards the +one and the other. Hence it comes, that of those +who find themselves in this warfare, and are entangled +in the meshes of love, some aim at enjoying, +and they are incited to pluck the apple from the +tree of corporeal beauty, without which acquisition, +or at least the hope of it, they hold vain and worthy +only of derision every amorous care; and in such-wise +run all those who are of a barbarous nature, who +neither do nor can seek to exalt themselves by loving +worthy things, and aspiring to illustrious things, and +higher still to things divine, by suitable studies and +exercises, to which nothing can more richly and +easily supply the wings than heroic love; others put +before themselves the fruit of delight, which they +take in the aspect of the beauty and grace of the<!-- Page 67 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +spirit, which glitters and shines in the beauty of +the body, and certain of these, although they love +the body and greatly desire to be united to it, +bewailing its absence and being afflicted by separation, +at the same time fear, lest presuming in this +they may be deprived of that affability, conversation, +friendship, and sympathy which are most precious +to them; because to attempt this there cannot be +more guarantee of success than there is risk of forfeiting +that favour, which appears before the eyes of +thought as a thing so glorious and worthy.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> It is a worthy thing, oh Tansillo! for its +many virtues and perfections, and it behoves human +genius to seek, accept, nourish, and preserve a love +like that; but one should take great care not to +bow down or become enslaved to an object unworthy +and base, lest we become sharers of the baseness +and unworthiness of the same: appositely the +Ferrarese poet says</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Who sets his foot upon the amorous snare,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lest he besmear his wings, let him beware.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> To say the truth, that object, which beyond +the beauty of the body has no other splendour, is +not worthy of being loved otherwise than to make +the race; and it seems to me the work of a pig or<!-- Page 68 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +a horse to torment one's self about it, and as to myself, +never was I more fascinated by such things +than I am now fascinated by some statue or picture +to which I am indifferent. It would then be a +great dishonour to a generous soul, if, of a foul, vile, +loose, and ignoble nature, although hid under an +excellent symbol, it should be said: "I fear his +scorn more than my torment."<!-- Page 69 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><a name="Third" id="Third"></a><strong>Third Dialogue.</strong></p> +<p><span class="style3">Tansillo</span>.</p> + + +<p>There are several varieties of enthusiasts, which +may all be reduced to two kinds. While some +only display blindness, stupidity, and irrational impetuosity, +which tend towards savage madness, others +by divine abstraction become in reality superior to +ordinary men. And these again are of two kinds, +for some having become the habitation of gods or +divine spirits, speak and perform wonderful things, +without themselves understanding the reason. Many +such have been uncultured and ignorant persons, +into whom, being void of spirit and sense of their +own, as into an empty chamber, the divine spirit +and sense intrude, as it would have less power +to show itself in those who are full of their own +reason and sense. This divine spirit often desires +that the world should know for certain, that those do +not speak from their own knowledge and experience,<!-- Page 70 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +but speak and act through some superior intelligence; +for such, the mass of men vouchsafe more +admiration and faith, while others, being skilful in +contemplation and possessing innately a clear intellectual +spirit, have an internal stimulus and natural +fervour, excited by the love of the divine, of justice, +of truth, of glory, and by the fire of desire and the +breath of intention, sharpen their senses, and in the +sulphur of the cogitative faculty, these kindle the +rational light, with which they see more than ordinarily; +and they come in the end to speak and act, +not as vessels and instruments, but as chief artificers +and experts.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Of these two which dost thou esteem +higher?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> The first have more dignity, power, and +efficacy within themselves, because they have the +divinity; the second <i>are</i> themselves worthy, potential, +and efficacious, and <i>are</i> divine. The first are +worthy, as is the ass which carries the sacraments; +the second are as a sacred thing. In the first is +contemplated and seen in effect the divinity, and +that is beheld, adored, and obeyed; in the second is +contemplated and seen the excellency of humanity +itself. But now to the question. These enthusiasms +of which we speak, and which we see exemplified in<!-- Page 71 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +these sentences, are not oblivion, but a memory; +they are not neglect of one's self, but love and desire +of the beautiful and good, by means of which we are +able to make ourselves perfect, by transforming and +assimilating ourselves to it. It is not a precipitation, +under the laws of a tyrannous fate, into the noose +of animal affections, but a rational impetus, which +follows the intellectual apprehension of the beautiful +and the good, which knows whom it wishes to obey +and to please, so that, by its nobility and light, it +kindles and invests itself with qualities and conditions +through which it appears illustrious and +worthy. He (the enthusiast) becomes a god by +intellectual contact with the divine object, and he has +no thought for other than divine things, and shows +himself insensible and impassive towards those +things which are commonly felt, and about which +others are mostly tormented; he fears nothing, and +for love of the divine he despises other pleasures +and gives no thought to this life. It is not a fury +of black bile which sends him drifting outside of +judgment, reason, and acts of prudence, and tossed by +the discordant tempest, like those who, having violated +certain laws of the divine Adrastia, are condemned +to be scourged by the Furies, in order that +they may be excited by a dissonance as corporeal<!-- Page 72 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +through seditions, destructions, and plagues, as it +is spiritual, through the forfeiture of harmony between +the perceptive and enjoying powers; but it is +aglow kindled by the intellectual sun in the soul, +and a divine impetus which lends it wings, with +which, drawing nearer and nearer to the intellectual +sun, and ridding itself of the rust of human cares, it +becomes a gold tried and pure, has the perception of +divine and internal harmony, and its thoughts and +acts accord with the symmetry of the law, innate in +all things. Not, as drunk from the cups of Circe, +does he go dashing and stumbling, now in this +and then in that ditch, now against this or +that rock, or like a shifting Proteus, changing +now to this, now to the other aspect, never +finding place, fashion, or ground to stay and +settle in; but, without spoiling the harmony, +conquers and overcomes the horrid monsters, +and however much he may swerve, he easily returns +to himself[A] by means of those inward instincts +that, like the nine Muses, dance and sing round the +splendours of the universal Apollo, and under tangible +images and material things, he comes to comprehend +divine laws and counsels. It is true that<!-- Page 73 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +sometimes, having love for his trusty escort, who is +double, and because sometimes through occasional impediments +he finds himself defrauded of his strength, +then, as one insane and furious, he squanders away +the love of that which he cannot comprehend; +whence, confused by the obscurity of the divinity, +he sometimes abandons the work, and then again +returns, to force himself with his will thither, where +he cannot arrive with the intellect. It is true also +that he commonly wanders, and transports himself, +now into one, now into another form of the double +Eros; therefore, the principal lesson that Love gives +to him is, that he contemplate the divine beauty +in shadow, when he cannot do so in the mirror, and, +like the suitors of Penelope, he entertain himself +with the maids when he is not permitted to converse +with the mistress. Now, in conclusion, you +can comprehend, from what has been said, what +is this enthusiast whose picture is put forth, when +it is said:</p> + +<p>12.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">If towards the shining light the butterfly,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Winging his way knows not the burning flame,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And if the thirsty stag, unmindful of the dart,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Runs fainting to the brook,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or unicorn, unto the chaste breast running,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ignores the snare that is for him prepared,<br /></span><!-- Page 74 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +<span class="i0">I, in the light, the fount, the bosom of my love<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Behold the flames, the arrows, and the chains.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If it be sweet in plaintiveness to droop,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why does that lofty splendour dazzle me?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wherefore the sacred arrow sweetly wound?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why in this knot is my desire involved?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And why to me eternal irksomeness<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Flames to my heart, darts to my breast and snares unto my soul?<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>[A] Facilmente ritorna al sesso.</p> + +<p>Here he shows his love not to be like that of +the butterfly, of the stag, and of the unicorn, +who would flee away if they had knowledge of the +fire, of the arrow, and of the snares, and who +have no other sense than that of pleasure; but +he is moved by a most sensible and only too evident +passion, which forces him to love that fire +more than any coolness; more that wound than +any wholeness; more those fetters than any liberty. +For this evil is not absolutely evil, but, through +comparison with good (according to opinion), it +is deceptive, like the sauce that old Saturn gets +when he devours his own sons; for this evil absolutely +in the eye of the Eternal, is comprehended +either for good, or for guide which conduces to +it, since this fire is the ardent desire of divine +things, this arrow is the impression of the ray of +the beauty of supernal light, these snares are +the species of truth which unite our mind to the<!-- Page 75 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +primal verity, and the species of good which unite +and join to the primal and highest good. To that +meaning I approached when I said:</p> + +<p>13.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">With such a fire and such a noble noose,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beauty enkindles me, and pureness binds,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So that in flames and servitude I take delight,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Liberty takes flight and dreads the ice.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Such is the heat, that though I burn yet am I not destroyed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The tie is such, the world with me gives praise.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fear cannot freeze, nor pain unshackle me;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For soothing is the ardour, sweet the smart.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So high the light that burns me I discern,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And of so rich a thread the noose contrived<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That, thought being born, the longing dies.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And since, within my heart shines such pure flames,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And so supreme a tie compels my will,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let my shade serve, and let my ashes burn.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>All the loves, if they be heroic and not purely +animal, or what is called natural, and slaves to generation, +as instruments of nature in a certain way, +have for object the divinity, tend towards divine +beauty, which first is communicated to souls and +shines in them, and from them, or rather through +them, it is communicated to bodies; whence it is +that well-ordered affection loves the body or corporeal +beauty, insomuch as it is an indication of beauty of<!-- Page 76 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +spirit. Thus that which causes the attraction of +love to the body is a certain spirituality which we +see in it, and which is called beauty, and which does +not consist in major or minor dimensions, nor in +determined colours or forms, but in harmony and +consonance of members and colours. This shows +an affinity between the spirit and the most acute +and penetrative senses; whence it follows that such +become more easily and intensely enamoured, and +also more easily and intensely disgusted, which +might be through a change of the deformed spirit, +which in some gesture and expressed intention +reveals itself in such wise that this deformity +extends from the soul to the body, and makes it +appear no longer beautiful as before. The beauty, +then, of the body has power to kindle, but not +to bind, and the lover, unless aided by the graces of +the spirit, such as purity, gratitude, courtesy, circumspection, +is unable to escape. Therefore, said I, +beautiful is that fire which burns me, and noble that +tie which binds.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> I do not believe it is always like that, +Tansillo; because, sometimes, notwithstanding that +we discover the spirit to be vicious, we remain +heated and entangled; so that, although reason +perceives the evil and unworthiness of such a love,<!-- Page 77 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +it yet has not power to alienate the disordered appetite. +In this disposition, I believe, was the Nolano +when he said:</p> + +<p>14.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Woe's me! my fury forces me<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To union with the bad within,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And makes it seem a love supreme and good.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wearied, my soul cares nought<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That I opposing counsels entertain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And with the savage tyrant<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nourished with want,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And made to put myself in exile,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">More than with liberty contented am.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I spread my sails to the wind,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To draw me forth from this detested bliss,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And to reclaim me from the cloying hurt.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> This occurs when spirits are vicious and +tinged as with the same hue; since, through conformity, +love is excited, enkindled, and confirmed. +Thus the vicious easily concur in acts of the +same vice; and I will not refrain from repeating +that which I know by experience, for although I +may have discovered in a soul vices very much +abominated by me—as, for instance, filthy avarice, +base greediness for money, ingratitude for favours +and courtesies received, or a love of quite vile +persons, of which this last most displeases, because +it takes away the hope from the lover, that<!-- Page 78 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +by becoming or making himself more worthy he +may become more acceptable—in spite of all this, it +is true that I did burn for corporeal beauty. But +how? I loved against my will; for, were it not so, +I should have been more saddened than cheered by +troubles and misfortunes.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> It is a very proper and nice distinction that +is made between loving and liking.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Truly; because we like many—that is, we +desire that they be wise and just; but we love them +not because they are unjust and ignorant; many we +love because they are beautiful, but we do not like +them, because they do not deserve it; and amongst +other things of which the lover deems the loved one +undeserving, the first is, being loved; and yet, +although he cannot abstain from loving, nevertheless +he regrets it, and shows his regret like him who +said, "Woe is me! who am compelled by passion to +coalesce with evil." In the opposite mood was he, +either through some corporeal object in similitude +or through a divine subject in reality, when he +said:</p> + +<p>15.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Although to many pains thou dost subject me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet do I thank thee, love, and owe thee much,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That thou my breast dost cleave with noble wound,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And then dost take my heart and master it.<br /></span><!-- Page 79 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +<span class="i0">Thus true it is, that I, on earth, adore<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A living object, image most beautiful of God.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let him who will think that my fate is bad<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That kills in hope and quickens in desire.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My pasture is the high emprise,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And though the end desired be not attained,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And though my soul in many thoughts is spent,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Enough that she enkindle noble fire,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Enough that she has lifted me on high,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And from the ignoble crowd has severed me.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Here his love is entirely heroic and divine, and +as such, I wish it to be understood; although he +says that through it he is subject to many pangs, +every lover who is separated from the thing loved +(to which being joined by affection he would also +wish to be actually), being in anguish and pain, +he torments himself, not forsooth because he loves, +since he feels his love is engaged most worthily and +most nobly, but because he feels deprived of that +fruition which he would obtain if he arrived at that +end to which he tends. He suffers, not from the +desire which animates him, but from the difficulty +in the cultivation of it which so tortures him. +Others esteem him unhappy through this appearance +of an evil destiny, as being condemned to these +pangs, for he will never cease from acknowledging +the obligation he is under to love, nor cease from +rendering thanks to him because he has presented<!-- Page 80 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +before the eyes of his mind such an intelligible +conception through which, in this earthly life, shut +in this prison of the flesh, wrapped in these nerves +and supported by these bones, it is permitted to +him to contemplate the divinity in a more suitable +manner than if other conceptions and similitudes +than these had offered themselves.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> The divine and living object, then, of which +he speaks, is the highest intelligible conception that +he has been able to form to himself of the divinity, +and is not some corporeal beauty which might overshadow +his thought and appear superficially to the +senses.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Even so; because no tangible thing nor +conception of such can raise itself to so much +dignity.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Why, then, does he mention that conception +as the object, if, as appears to me, the true object is +the divinity itself?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. The divinity is the final object, the ultimate +and most perfect, but not in this state, where +we cannot see God except as in a shadow or a +mirror, and therefore He cannot be the object +except in some similitude, but not in such as may +be extracted or acquired from corporeal beauty and +excellence, by virtue of the senses, but such as may<!-- Page 81 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +be formed in the mind, by virtue of the intellect. In +which state, finding himself, he comes to lose the love +and affection for every other thing senseful as well +as intellectual, because this, conjoined to that light, +itself also becomes light, and in consequence becomes +a god: because it contracts the divinity into itself, +it being in God through the intention with which it +penetrates into the divinity so far as it can, and God +being in it, so that after penetrating, it comes to +conceive, and so far as it can, receive and comprehend +the divinity in its conception. Now in such +conceptions and similitudes the human intellect of +this lower world nourishes itself, till such time as it +will be lawful to behold with purer eye the beauty +of the divinity. As happens to him, who, absorbed +in the contemplation of some elaborate architectural +work, goes on examining one thing after +another in it, enchanted and feeding in a wonder +of delight; but if it should happen that he sees +the lord of all those pictures, who is of a beauty incomparably +greater, leaving all care and thought of +them, he is turned intently to the examination of +him. Here, then, is the difference between that +state where we see divine beauty in intelligible +conceptions apart from the effects, labours, works, +shadows, and similitudes of it, and that other state<!-- Page 82 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +in which it is lawful to behold it in real presence. +He says: "My pasture is the high emprise," because +as the Pythagoreans remark, "The soul +moves and turns round God, as the body round +the soul."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Then the body is not the habitation of the +soul?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. No; because the soul is not in the body +locally, but as intrinsic form and extrinsic framer, +as that which forms the limbs indicates the internal +and external composition. The body, then, is in the +soul, the soul in the mind, the mind either is God +or is in God, as Plotinus said. As in its essence it +is in God who is its life, similarly through the +intellectual operation, and the will consequent upon +such operation, it agrees with its bright and beatific +object. Fitly, therefore, this rapture of heroic enthusiasm +feeds on such "high emprise." For the +object is infinite, and in action most simple, and +our intellectual power cannot apprehend the infinite +except in speech or in a certain manner of +speech, so to say in a certain potential or relative +inference, as one who proposes to himself the +infinity, so that he may constitute for himself a +finality where no finality is.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Fitly so, because the ultimate ought not to<!-- Page 83 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +have an end seeing that it is ultimate. For it is +infinite in intention, in perfection, in essence, and in +any other manner whatsoever of being final.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Thou sayest truly. Now in this life, that +food is such that excites more than it can appease, +as that divine poet shows when he says: "My soul +is wearied, longing for the living God," and in +another place; "Attenuati sunt oculi mei suspicientes +in excelsa." Therefore he says, "And +though the end desired be not attained, And that +my soul in many thoughts is spent, Enough that she +enkindle noble fire:" meaning to say that the soul +comforts itself, and receives all the glory which it is +able in that state to receive, and that it is a participator +in that ultimate enthusiasm of man, in so +far as he is a man in this present condition, as we +see him.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. It appears to me that the Peripatetics, as +explained by Averroes, mean this, when they say +that the highest felicity of man consists in perfection +through the speculative sciences.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. It is true, and they say well; because we, +in this state, cannot desire nor obtain greater perfection +than that in which we are, when our intellect, +by means of some noble and intelligible conception, +unites itself either to the substance of things hoped<!-- Page 84 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +for, as those say, or to the divine mind, as it is the +fashion to say of the Platonists. For the present, +I will leave reasoning about the soul, or man in +another state or mode of being than he can find +himself or believe himself to be in.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. But what perfection or satisfaction can man +find in that knowledge which is not perfect?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. It will never be perfect, so far as understanding +the highest object is concerned; but in so +far as our intellect can understand it. Let it suffice +that in this and other states there be present to him +the divine beauty so far as the horizon of his vision +extends.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. But all men cannot arrive at that, which one +or two may reach.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Let it suffice that all "run well," and that +each does his utmost, for the heroic nature is content +and shows its dignity rather in falling, or in failing +worthily in the high undertaking, in which it shows +the dignity of its spirit, than in succeeding to perfection +in lower and less noble things.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Truly a dignified and heroic death is better +than a mean, low triumph.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. On that theme I made this sonnet:<!-- Page 85 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>16.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Since I have spread my wings to my desire,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The more I feel the air beneath my feet,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So much the more towards the wind I bend<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My swiftest pinions,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And spurn the world and up towards heaven I go.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Not the sad fate of Daedalus's son<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Does warn me to turn downwards,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But ever higher will I rise.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Well do I see, I shall fall dead to earth;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But what life is there can compare with this my death?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Out on the air my heart's voice do I hear:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Whither dost thou carry me, thou fearless one?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Turn back. Such over-boldness rarely grief escapes."<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Fear not the utmost ruin then," I said,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Cleave confident the clouds and die content,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That heaven has destined thee to such illustrious death."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. I understand when you say: "Enough that +thou hast lifted me on high;" but not: "And from +the ignoble crowd hast severed me;" unless it means +his having come out from the Platonic groove on +account of the stupid and low condition of the +crowd; for those that find profit in this contemplation +cannot be numerous.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Thou understandest well; but thou mayst +also understand, by the "ignoble crowd," the body, +and sensual cognition, from which he must arise and +free himself who would unite with a nature of a +contrary kind.<!-- Page 86 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. The Platonists say there are two kinds of +knots which link the soul to the body. One is a +certain vivifying action which from the soul descends +into the body, like a ray; the other is a certain vital +quality, which is produced from that action in the +body. Now this active and most noble number, +which is the soul, in what way do you understand +that it may be severed from the ignoble number, +which is the body?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Certainly it was not understood according +to any of these modes, but according to that mode +whereby those powers which are not comprehended +and imprisoned in the womb of matter, sometimes +as if inebriated and stupefied, find that they also +are occupied in the formation of matter and in the +vivification of the body; then, as if awakened and +brought to themselves, recognizing its principle and +genius, they turn towards superior things and force +themselves on the intelligible world as to their +native abode, and from thence, through their conversion +to inferior things, they are thrust into the +fate and conditions of generation. These two impulses +are symbolized in the two kinds of metamorphosis +expressed in the following:<!-- Page 87 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + +<p>17.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">That god who shakes the sounding thunder,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Asteria as a furtive eagle saw;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mnemosyne as shepherd; Danae gold;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Alcmene as a fish; Antiope a goat;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cadmus and his sister a white bull;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Leda as swan, and Dolida as dragon;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And through the lofty object I become,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From subject viler still, a god.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A horse was Saturn;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in a calf and dolphin Neptune dwelt;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ibis and shepherd Mercury became;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bacchus a grape; Apollo was a crow;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And I by help of love,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From an inferior thing, do change me to a god.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In Nature is one revolution and one circle, by means +of which, for the perfection and help of others, +superior things lower themselves to things inferior, +and, by their own excellence and felicity, inferior +things raise themselves to superior ones. Therefore +the Pythagoreans and Platonists say it is given to the +soul that at certain times, not only by spontaneous +will, which turns it towards the comprehension of +Nature, but also by the necessity of an internal law, +written and registered by the destined decree, they +seek their own justly determined fate; and they also +say that souls, not so much by determination of their +own will as through a certain order, by which they +become inclined towards matter, decline as rebels<!-- Page 88 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +from divinity; wherefore, not by free intention, but +by a certain occult consequence, they fall. And +this is the inclination that they have to generation, +as towards a minor good. Minor, I say, in so +far as it appertains to that particular nature; not +in so far as it appertains to the universal nature, +where nothing happens without the highest aim, and +which disposes of all things according to justice. +In which generation finding themselves once more +through the changes which permutably succeed, they +return again to the superior forms.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. So that they mean, that souls are impelled +by the necessity of fate, and have no proper counsel +which guides them at all.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Necessity, fate, nature, counsel, will, those +things, justly and rightfully ordained, all agree in +one. Besides which, as Plotinus relates, some believe +that certain souls can escape from their own +evil, if knowing the danger, they seek refuge in the +mind before the corporeal habit is confirmed; +because the mind raises to things sublime, as the +imagination lowers to inferior things. The mind +always understands one, as the imagination is one in +movement and in diversity; the mind always understands +one, as the imagination is always inventing +for itself various images. In the midst is the<!-- Page 89 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +rational faculty, which is a mixture of all, like that +in which the one agrees with the many, sameness +with variety, movement with fixedness, the inferior +with the superior. Now these transmutations and +conversions are symbolized in the wheel of metamorphosis, +where man sits on the upper part, a beast +lies at the bottom, a half-man, half-beast descends +from the left, and a half-beast, half-man ascends +from the right. This transmutation is shown +where Jove, according to the diversity of the affections +and the behaviour of those towards inferior +things, invests himself with divers figures, entering +into the form of beasts; and so also the other gods +transmigrate into base and alien forms. And, on +the contrary, through the knowledge of their own +nobility, they re-take their own divine form; as the +passionate hero, raising himself through conceived +kinds of divine beauty and goodness, with the wings +of the intellect and rational will, rises to the divinity, +leaving the form of the lower subject. And therefore +he said, "I become from subject viler still, a +god. From an inferior thing do change me to a +god."<!-- Page 90 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><a name="Fourth" id="Fourth"></a><strong>Fourth Dialogue.</strong></p> +<p><span class="style3">Tansillo</span>.</p> + +<p>Thus is described the discourse of heroic love, in all +which tends to its own object, which is the highest +good; and heroic intellect, which devotes itself to +the study of its own object, which is the primal +verity, or absolute truth. Now the first discourse +holds the sum of this and the intention, the order of +which is described in five others following:</p> + +<p>18.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">To the woods, the mastiffs and the greyhounds young Actæon leads,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When destiny directs him into the doubtful and neglected way,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Upon the track of savage beasts in forests wild.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And here, between the waters, he sees a bust and face more beautiful than e'er was seen<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By mortal or divine, of scarlet, alabaster, and fine gold;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He sees, and the great hunter straight becomes that which he hunts.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The stag, that towards still thicker shades now goes with lighter steps,<br /></span><!-- Page 91 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +<span class="i0">His own great dogs swiftly devour.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So I extend my thoughts to higher prey, and these<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now turning on me give me death with cruel savage bite.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Actæon signifies the intellect, intent on the pursuit +of divine wisdom and the comprehension of divine +beauty. He lets loose the mastiffs and the greyhounds, +of whom the latter are more swift and the +former more strong, because the operation of the +intellect precedes that of the will; but this is more +vigorous and effectual than that; seeing that, to +the human intellect, divine goodness and beauty are +more loveable than comprehensible, and love it is +that moves and urges the intellect, and precedes it +as a lantern. The woods, uncultivated and solitary +places, visited and penetrated by few, and where +there are few traces of men. The youth of little +skill and practice, as of one of short life and of +wavering enthusiasm. In the doubtful road of uncertain +and distorted reason—a disposition assigned +to the character of Pythagoras—where you see the +most thorny, uncultivated, and deserted to be the +right and difficult path, where he lets loose the greyhounds +and the mastiffs upon the track of savage +beasts, that is, the intelligible kinds of ideal conceptions, +which are occult, followed by few, visited +but rarely, and which do not disclose themselves to<!-- Page 92 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +all those who seek them. Here, amongst the waters,—that +is, in the mirror of similitude, in those works +where shines the brightness of divine goodness and +splendour, which works are symbolized by the waters +superior and inferior, which are above and below +the firmament, he sees the most beautiful bust and +face—that is, external power and operation, which +it is possible to see, by the habit and act of contemplation +and the application of mortal or divine mind, +of man or any god.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> I do not believe that he makes a comparison, +nor puts as the same kind the divine and the human +mode of comprehending, which are very diverse, but +as to the subject they are the same.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> So it is. He says "of red and alabaster +and gold," because that which in bodily beauty is +red, white, and fair, in divinity signifies the scarlet +of divine vigorous power, the gold of divine wisdom, +the alabaster of divine beauty, through the contemplation +of which the Pythagoreans, Chaldeans, +Platonists, and others, strive in the best way that +they can to elevate themselves. "The great hunter +saw," he understood as much as was possible, and +became the hunted. He went out for prey, and this +hunter became himself the prey, by the operation of +the intellect converting the things learned into itself.<!-- Page 93 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> I understand. He forms intelligible conceptions +in his own way and proportions them to +his capacity, so that they are received according to +the manner of the recipient.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> And does he hunt through the operation of +the will, by the act of which he converts himself +into the object?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> As I understand: because love transforms +and converts into the thing loved.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Well dost thou know that the intellect +learns things intelligibly—<i>i.e.</i>, in its own way, and +the will pursues things naturally, that is, according +to the reason that is in themselves. So Actæon +with those thoughts—those dogs—which hunted +outside themselves for goodness, wisdom, and beauty, +thus came into the presence of the same, and +ravished out of himself by so much splendour, he +became the prey, saw himself converted into that +for which he was seeking, and perceived, that of his +dogs or thoughts, he himself came to be the longed-for +prey; for having absorbed the divinity into +himself it was not necessary to search outside himself +for it.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> For this reason it is said "the kingdom of +Heaven is in us;" divinity dwells within through +the reformed intellect and will.<!-- Page 94 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> It is so. See then, Actæon hunted by his +own dogs—pursued by his own thoughts—runs and +directs these novel paces, invigorated so as to proceed +divinely and "more easily," that is, with +greater facility and with refreshed vigour "towards +the denser places," to the deserts and the region of +things incomprehensible. From being such as he +first was, a common ordinary man, he becomes rare +and heroic, his habits and ideas are strange, and +he leads an unusual life. Here his great dogs +"give him death," and thus ends his life according +to the mad, sensual, blind, and fantastic world, +and he begins to live intellectually; he lives the +life of the gods, fed on ambrosia and drunk with +nectar.</p> + +<p>Next we see under the form of another similitude +the manner in which he arms himself to obtain the +object. He says:</p> + +<p>19.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">My solitary bird! away unto that region<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which overshadows and which occupies my thought,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Go swiftly, and there nestle; there every<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Need of thine be strengthened,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There all thy industry and art be spent!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There be thou born again, and there on high,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gather and train up thy wandering fledglings<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Since adverse fate has drawn away the bars<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With which she ever sought to block thy way.<br /></span><!-- Page 95 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +<span class="i0">Go! I desire for thee a nobler dwelling-place,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And thou shalt have for guide a god,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who is called blind by him who nothing sees.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Go! and ever be by thee revered,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Each deity of that wide sphere,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And come not back to me till thou art mine.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The progress symbolized above by the hunter who +excites his dogs, is here illustrated by a winged +heart, which is sent out of the cage, in which it +lived idle and quiet, to make its nest on high and +bring up its fledglings, its thoughts, the time being +come in which those impediments are removed, +which were caused, externally, in a thousand different +ways, and internally by natural feebleness. He +dismisses his heart then to make more magnificent +surroundings, urging him to the highest propositions +and intentions, now that those powers of the soul +are more fully fledged, which Plato signifies by the +two wings, and he commits him to the guidance of +that god, who, by the unseeing crowd, is considered +insane and blind, that is Love, who, by the mercy +and favour of heaven, has power to transform him +into that nature towards which he aspires, or into +that state from which, a pilgrim, he is banished. +Whence he says, "Come not back to me till thou +art mine," and not unworthily may I say with that +other—<!-- Page 96 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thou has left me, oh, my heart,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And thou, light of my eyes, art no more with me.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Here he describes the death of the soul, which by +the Kabbalists is called the death by kisses, symbolized +in the Song of Solomon, where the friend +says:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For, when he wounds me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I suffer with a cruel love.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>By others it is called sleep; the Psalmist says:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">It shall be, that I give sleep unto mine eyes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And mine eyelids shall slumber,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And I shall have in him peaceful repose.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The soul then is said to be faint, because it is dead +in itself, and alive in the object:</p> + +<p>20.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Give heed, enthusiasts, unto the heart!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For mine condemns me to a life apart,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bound by unmerciful and cruel ties,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He dwells with joy, there where he faints and dies.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At every hour I call him back by thoughts:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A rebel he, like gerfalcon insane,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He feels no more the hand that did restrain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And is gone forth not to return again.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou beauteous beast that dost in punishment<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Knit up the soul, spirit and heart content'st<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With pricks, with lightnings, and with chains!<br /></span><!-- Page 97 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +<span class="i0">From looks, from accents, and from usages,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which faint and burn and keep thee bound,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where shall he that heals, that cools, and loosens thee be found?<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Here the soul, sorrowful, not from real discontent, +but on account of pains which she suffers, directs +the discourse to those who are affected by passions +similar to her own: as if she had not of her own +free will and of her own desire dismissed her heart, +which goes running whither it cannot arrive, +stretches out to that which it cannot reach, and +tries to enfold that which it cannot comprehend, +and with this, because he vainly separates from her, +ever more and more goes on aspiring towards the +infinite.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Whence comes it, oh Tansillo, that the soul +in such progression delights in its own torments? +Whence comes that spur which urges it ever beyond +that which it possesses?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> From this, which I will tell thee now. +The intellect being developed to the comprehension +of a certain definite and specific form, and the will +to a love commensurate with such comprehension; +the intellect does not stop there, but by its own +light it is prompted to think of this: that it contains +within itself the germ of everything intelligible +and desirable, until it comes to comprehend with the<!-- Page 98 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +intellect the depth of the fountain of ideas, the ocean +of every truth and goodness. So that it happens, that +whatever conception is presented to the mind, and +becomes understood by it, from that which is so +presented and comprehended it judges, that above it, +is other greater and greater, and finds itself ever in a +certain way discoursing and moving with it. Because +it sees that all which it possesses is only a limited +thing, and therefore cannot be sufficient of itself, nor +good of itself, nor beautiful of itself; because it is +not the universal nor the absolute entity; but contracted +into being this nature, this species, this +form, represented to the intellect and present to the +soul. Then from the beautiful that is understood, +and consequently limited, and therefore beautiful +through participation, it progresses towards that +which is really beautiful, which has no margin, nor +any boundaries.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> This progression appears to me useless.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Not so. For it is not natural nor suitable +that the infinite be restricted, nor give itself definitely, +for it would not then be infinite. To be +infinite, it must be infinitely pursued with that form +of pursuit which is not incited physically, but metaphysically, +and is not from imperfect to perfect, but +goes circulating through the grades of perfection to<!-- Page 99 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +arrive at that infinite centre which is not form, and +is not formed.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> I should like to know how, by circumambulating, +one is to arrive at the centre?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> I cannot know that.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Why do you say it?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> I can say it, and leave it to you to consider.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> If you do not mean that he who pursues the +infinite is like him who talks about the circumference +when he is seeking for the centre, I do not know +what you mean.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Quite the contrary.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Now if you will not explain yourself, I cannot +understand you; but tell me, prythee, what he means +by saying the heart is bound by cruel, spiteful +bonds.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> He speaks in similitude or metaphor; as +you would say, cruel was one who did not allow a +full enjoyment, and who lives more in the desire +than in possession, and who, partially possessing, is +not content, but desires, faints, and dies.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> What are those thoughts that call him back +from the noble enterprise?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> The sensual and natural affections, which +regard the government of the body.<!-- Page 100 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. What have they to do with it, that in no way +can either help or favour it?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. They have not to do with it, but with the +soul, which, being so absorbed in one work or study, +becomes remiss and careless in others.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Why does he call him insane?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Because he surpasses in knowledge.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. It is usual to call insane those who know +nothing.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. On the contrary. Those are called insane +who know not in the ordinary way, or who rise +above the ordinary from having more intellect.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. I perceive that thou sayest truly. Now tell me +what are the pricks, the lightnings, and the chains?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Pricks are those experiences that stimulate +and awaken the affection, to make it on the alert; +lightnings are the rays of the present beauty, which +enlighten those who watch and wait for them; +chains are those effects and circumstances which +keep fixed the eyes of attention and unite together +the object and the powers.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. What are the looks, the accents, and the +customs?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Looks are the means by which the object is +made present to us; accents are the means through +which we are inspired and informed; customs are<!-- Page 101 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +the circumstances which are most pleasant and +agreeable to us. So that the heart that gently +suffers, patiently burns and constantly perseveres in +the work, fears that its hurt will heal, its fire be +extinguished, and its bands be loosened.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Now relate that which follows.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>.:</p> + +<p>21.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Lofty, profound, and stirring thoughts of mine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ye long to sever the maternal ties<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the afflicted soul, and like to proud<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And able bowmen, draw at the mark,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which is the germ of all your high conceits.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In those steep paths where cruel beasts may be,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let not heaven leave ye!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Remember to return, and summon back<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The heart that tarries with the wild wood nymph;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Arm ye with love,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Warm with the flame of domesticity,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And with strong repression guard thy sight,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That strangers keep thee not companioned with my heart;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At least bring news of that,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which unto him is such delight and joy.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Here he describes the natural solicitude of the attentive +soul on the subject, of its inclination towards +generation, which it has contracted with matter. +She dispatches the armed thoughts, which, solicited +and urged by disagreement with the inferior nature,<!-- Page 102 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +are sent to recall the heart. The soul instructs +them how they should conduct themselves, so that, +being allured and attracted by the object, they do +not become induced to remain, they also, captive and +companions of the heart. She says, then, they are +to arm themselves with love, with that love that is +fired by the domestic flame; that is, the friend of +generation, to whom they are bound, and in whose +jurisdiction, ministry, and warfare they find themselves. +Anon she orders them to repress their +eyesight and to close their eyes, so that they may +not behold other beauty or goodness than that which +is present, friend and mother; and concludes at last +with this, that if no other reason will cause them to +return, they should at least do so, to give account of +the discourse and of the state of the heart.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Before you proceed further, I would understand +from you what is that which the soul means +when she tells the thoughts to repress the sight +vigorously.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. I will tell thee. All love proceeds from +seeing: intelligent love, from seeing intelligently; +sensuous love, from seeing sensuously. Now this +seeing has two meanings: either it means the visual +power, that is the sight, which is the intellect, or +truly the sense; or it means the act of that power,<!-- Page 103 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +that is, that application which the eye or the intellect +makes to the material or intellectual object. +When the thoughts are counselled to repress the +sight, it is not the first, but the second, mode that +is meant, because that is the father of the subsequent +affection of the sensuous or intellectual +desire.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. This is what I wished to hear from you. +Now, if the act of the visual power is the cause of +the evil or good which proceed from seeing, whence +comes it that in things divine we have more love +than knowledge?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. We desire to see, because in some way we +perceive the value of seeing. We are aware that, +through the act of seeing, beautiful things offer +themselves to us; and therefore we desire beautiful +things.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. We desire the beautiful and the good; but +seeing is not beautiful nor good; rather is it the +touchstone or light by which we see, not only the +beautiful and good, but also the evil and bad. +Therefore it seems to me that seeing may be equally +beautiful or good, as the thing seen may be white or +black. If, then, the sight, which is an act, is not +beautiful nor good, how can it fall into desire?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. If not for itself, yet certainly for some<!-- Page 104 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +other reason, it is desired, seeing that there can be +no apprehension of that other without it.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. What wilt thou say, if that other is not +within the knowledge of the senses nor of the intellect? +How, I say, can that be desired which is not +seen, if there is no knowledge whatever of it—if +towards it neither the intellect nor the sense has +exercised any act whatever; but, on the contrary, +it is even dubious whether it be intellectual or +sensuous, whether a thing corporeal or incorporeal, +whether it be one or two or more, or of one fashion +or of another?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. I answer, that in the sense and the intellect +there is one desire and one impulse to the +sensuous in general; because the intellect will hear +the whole truth, so that it may learn all that is +beautiful or good intelligently; the power of the +senses will inform itself of all that is sensuous, so +that it may know all that is good and beautiful in +the world of the senses. Hence it follows that not +less do we desire to see things unknown and unseen +than those known and seen. And from this it does +not follow that the desire does not proceed from +cognition, and that we desire something that is not +known; but I say that it is certain and sure that +we do not desire unknown things. Because, if they<!-- Page 105 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +be occult as to particulars, they are not occult as to +generals; as in the entire visual power is found the +whole of the visible appositely, and in the intellect +all the intelligible. Therefore, as the inclination to +the act lies in its appropriateness, the result is that +both these powers incline towards the universal +action, as to a thing naturally comprehended as +good. The soul, then, did not speak to the deaf or +the blind when she counselled her thoughts to +repress the sight, which, although it may not be the +immediate cause of the will, is yet the primal and +principal cause.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. What do you mean by this last saying?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. I mean that it is not the figure or the +conception, sensibly or intelligently represented, +which of itself moves us; because while one stands +beholding the figure manifested to the eyes, he does +not yet arrive at loving; but from that instant that +the soul conceives within itself that figure, not +visible, but thinkable; no longer dividual, but individual; +no longer classed among things in general, +but among things good and beautiful; then immediately +love is born. Now this is the seeing, from +which the soul desires to divert the eyes of her +thoughts. Here the sight usually moves the affection +to a greater love than the love of that which is<!-- Page 106 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +seen; for, as I have just said, it always considers, +through the universal knowledge that it holds of the +beautiful and the good, that, besides the degrees of +known conceptions of goodness and beauty, there +are others and yet others <i>ad infinitum</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. How is it that after we become informed of +that conception of the beautiful which is begotten +in the soul, we yet desire to satisfy the exterior +vision?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. From this, that the soul would ever love +that which it loves, and ever see that which it sees. +Therefore she wills that, the conception which has +been produced in her through seeing, should not +become weakened, enervated and lost; but would +ever see more and more, and that which becomes +obscure in the interior affection, should be frequently +brightened by the exterior aspect, which as it is +the principle of being, must also be the principle of +conservation. This results proportionately in the +act of understanding and of considering, for as the +sight has reference to visible things, so has the intellect +to intelligible things. I believe now that you +understand to what end and in what manner the +soul tends, when she says "repress the sight."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. I understand very well. Now continue to +unfold what happens to these thoughts.<!-- Page 107 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Now follows the disagreement between the +mother and the aforesaid children, who having, +contrary to her orders, opened their eyes, and, +having fixed them on the splendour of the object, +they remained in company with the heart.</p> + +<p>22.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Cruel sons are ye to me, me whom ye left<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Still farther to exasperate my pain;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And ever without cease ye weary me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Taking away from me my every hope!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why should the sense remain? oh, grasping heavens!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wherefore these broken ruined powers, if not<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To make me subject and exemplar<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of such heavy martyrdom, such lengthened pain?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Leave, dear sons, my winged fire enchained,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And let me, some of you once more behold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Come back to me from those retaining claws!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh, weariness! not one returns<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To bring a late refreshment to my pains.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Behold me, miserable one, deprived of heart, abandoned +of thoughts, left by hope, I, who had fixed my +all in them. Nothing is left to me but the sense of +my poverty, my unhappiness and misery; why does +not this too leave me? Why does not death succour +me, now that I am deprived of life? To what use +do I possess these natural powers if I be deprived +of the use of them? How can I alone nourish<!-- Page 108 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +myself with intelligible conceptions as with intellectual +bread, if the substance of this bread be composed +of this contingency. How can I linger in the intimacy +of these friendly and dear members which I have +woven round me, adjusting them with the symmetry +of the elementary conditions, if my thoughts and all +my affections abandon me, intent upon the care of +the bread that is immaterial and divine? Up, up; +oh my flying thoughts; up, oh my rebel heart; let +live the sense of things that are felt, and the understanding +of things intelligible, come to the succour of +the body with matter and corporeal subject, and let +the understanding delight in its own objects, to the +end that this composition of the body may be realized, +that this machine dissolve not, in which, by means of +the spirit, the soul is united to the body. Why, +unhappy as I am (more through domestic circumstances +than through external violence), am I doomed +to see this horrible divorce between my parts and +members? Why does the intellect trouble itself to +give laws to the sense and yet deprive it of its food? +and this, on the other hand, resists; desiring to live +according to its own decrees, and not according to +the decree of others; for these and not those are +able to maintain and bless it, therefore it ought to +attend to its own comfort and life, and not to that<!-- Page 109 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +of others. There is no harmony and concord where +there is only one, where one individual absorbs the +whole being, but where there is order and analogy in +things diverse; where each thing serves its own nature. +Therefore let the sense feed according to the law of +things that can be felt, the flesh be obedient to the +law of the spirit, the reason to its own law. Let +them not be confounded nor mixed. Enough that +one neither mar nor prejudice the law of the other, +since it is not just that the sense outrage the law of +reason. And verily it is a shameful thing that one +should tyrannize over the other, particularly where +the intellect is a pilgrim and strange, and the sense +is more domesticated and at home. I am forced by +you, my thoughts, to remain at home in charge of the +house, while others may wander wherever they will. +This is a law of Nature, and therefore a law of the +author and originator of Nature. Sin on then, now +that all of you, seduced by the charm of the intellect, +leave the other part of me to the peril of death. +How have you gotten this melancholy and perverse +humour, which breaks the certain and natural laws +of the true life, and which is in your own hands, for +one, uncertain, and which has no existence except in +shadow, beyond the limits of fantastic thought? +Seems it to you a natural thing that they should<!-- Page 110 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +live divinely and not as animals and humanly, they +being not gods, but men and animals? It is a law +of fate and Nature that everything should adapt itself +to the condition of its own being, wherefore then, +while you follow after the niggard nectar of the gods, +do you lose that which is present and is your own, +and trouble yourself about the vain hopes of others? +Ought not Nature to refuse to give you the other +good, if that which she at present offers to you, +you stupidly despise?</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Heaven the second gift denies,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To him who does the first despise.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>With these and similar reasons the soul, taking part +with the weakest, seeks to recall the thoughts to the +care of the body. And these, although late, come +and show themselves, but not in that form in which +they departed, but only to declare their rebellion, +and force her to follow. And the sorrowing one +thus laments:</p> + +<p>23.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ah, dogs of Actæon, ah, proud ingrates!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whom to the abode of my divinity I sent;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Without hope do ye return to me;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, coming to the mother's side, ye bring<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Back unto me a too unhappy boon;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ye mangle me, and will that I live not.<br /></span><!-- Page 111 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +<span class="i0">Leave me, life, that I may mount up to my sun,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A double streamlet, mad, without my fount!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When shall this ponderous mass of me dissolve?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When shall it be, that, taking myself hence,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And swiftly rising to the heights above,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Together with my heart I may abide,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And with my thoughts I may be deified?<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The Platonists say that the soul, as to its superior +part, always consists in the intellect, in which it has +more of understanding than of soul, seeing that it +is called soul only in so far as it vivifies the body +and sustains it. So here, the same essence which +nourishes and maintains the thoughts on high, +together with the exalted heart, is induced by the +inferior part to afflict itself, and recall them as +rebels.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> So that they are not two contrary existences, +but one, subject to two contradictory terms?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> So it is, precisely. As the ray of the sun +which touches the earth, and is joined to obscure +and to inferior things, which it brightens, vivifies, and +kindles, and is then joined to the element of fire—that +is, to the star, whence it proceeds, and has its +beginning, and is diffused, and in which it has its +own and original subsistence—so the soul, which is +in the horizon of Nature, is corporeal and incorporeal, +and contains that with which it rises to superior<!-- Page 112 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +things and declines to things inferior. And this, +you may perceive, does not happen by reason and +order of local motion, but solely through the impulse +of one and of another power or faculty. As +when the sense rises to the imagination, the imagination +to the reason, the reason to the intellect, the +intellect to the mind, then the whole soul is converted +into God, and inhabits the intelligible world; +whence, on the other hand, she descends in an +inverse manner to the world of feeling, through the +intellect, reason, imagination, sense, vegetation.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> It is true that I have heard that the soul, in +order to put itself in the ultimate degree of divine +things, descends into the mortal body, and from this +goes up again to the divine degrees, which are three +degrees of intelligence. For there are others in +which the intellectual surpasses the animal, which +are said to be the celestial intelligences; and others +in which the animal surpasses the intellectual, which +are the human intelligences; others there are, of +which those things are equal, as those of demons or +heroes.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> The mind then cannot desire except that +which is near, close, known, and familiar. The pig +cannot desire to be a man, nor wish for those things +that are suitable to the human appetite. He likes<!-- Page 113 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +better to turn about in mud than in a bed of linen, +he would prefer a sow to the most beautiful of +women, because the affection follows the reason of +the species. And amongst men the same thing is +seen, according as some resemble one species of +brute beast and some another: these having something +of the quadruped, and those of birds, and, +may be, some affinity, which I will not explain, but +through which those have been known who are +affected by certain sorts of beasts. Now, it is +lawful for the mind which finds itself oppressed by +the material conjunction of the soul, to raise itself +to the contemplation of another state, to which the +soul may arrive, comparing the two, and so through +the future despise the present. If a beast had a +sense of the difference which exists between his own +condition and that of man, and the meanness of +his own state with the nobility of the human state, +which he would deem it not impossible to be able +to reach, he would love death, which would open to +him that road, more than that life which keeps him +in the present state of being. When the soul complains, +saying, "Ah! dogs of Actæon!" she is represented +as a thing which appears only in the inferior +powers, and against which the mind rebels for +having taken away the heart with it; that is to<!-- Page 114 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +say, the entire affections, with all the army of the +thoughts. So that, having a knowledge of the +present state, and being ignorant of every other, +and not believing that others exist about which she +can have any knowledge, she complains of her +thoughts, which, tardily turning towards her, come +rather to draw her up than to make themselves +accepted by her. And through the distraction +which she endures on account of the ordinary love +of the material and of things intelligible, she feels +herself lacerated and mangled, so that at last she is +forced to yield to the more vigorous impulse. And +if, by virtue of contemplation, she rises or is caught +up above the horizon of the natural affections, whence +with purer eye she learns the difference between the +one life and the other, then, vanquished by the lofty +thoughts, and, as if dead to the body, she aspires to +that which is elevated, and, although alive in the +body, she vegetates there as if dead, being present +as an animating principle and absent in operative +activity; not because she does not act while the +body is alive, but that the actions of this mass are +intermittent, weak, and, as it were, purposeless.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Thus a certain theologian, who was said to +be transported to the third heaven and enchanted +with the view of it, said that what he desired was +the dissolution of his body.<!-- Page 115 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> So; first complaining of the heart and +quarrelling with the thoughts, she now desires to +rise on high with them, and exhibits her regret for +the connection and familiarity contracted with corporeal +matter, and says: "Leave me life (corporeal), +and do not impede my progress upwards to my native +home, to my sun. Leave me now, for no longer do +my eyes weep tears; neither because I cannot succour +them (the thoughts), nor because I cannot remain +divided from my happiness. Leave me, for it is +not fit nor possible that these two streams should +run without their source, that is, without the heart. +I will not, I say, make two rivers of tears here below, +while my heart, which is the source of such rivers, +is flown away on high with its nymphs, which are my +thoughts." Thus, little by little, from dislike and +regret, she proceeds to the hatred of inferior things, +which she partly shows, saying, "When shall this +ponderous mass of me dissolve?" and that which +follows.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> This I understand right well, and also that +which you would infer about the principal intention; +that is to say, that these are the degrees of the +loves, of the affections, and of the enthusiasms, +according to the degrees of greater and lesser light, +of cognition, and of intelligence.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Thou understandest rightly. From this<!-- Page 116 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +thou oughtest to learn that doctrine taken from the +Pythagoreans and Platonists, which is, that the soul +makes the two progressions of ascent and descent, +by the care that it has of itself and of matter; being +moved by its own proper love of good, and being +urged by the providence of fate.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> But, prythee, tell me briefly what you mean +about the soul of the world, if she can neither ascend +nor descend?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> If you ask of the world, according to the +common signification—that is, in so far as it signifies +what is called the universe—I say that, being infinite, +it has no dimension or measure, is immobile, +inanimate, and without form, notwithstanding it is +the place of infinite moving worlds and is infinite +space, in which are so many large animals that are +called stars. If you ask according to the signification +held by the true philosophers—that is, in so +far as it signifies every globe, every star, such as this +earth, the body of the sun, moon, and others—I say +that such soul does not ascend nor descend, but +turns in a circle. Thus, being compounded of superior +and inferior powers, with the superior it turns +round the divinity, and with the inferior, towards +the mass of the worlds, which is by it vivified and +maintained between the tropics of generation and<!-- Page 117 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +the corruption of living things in those worlds, serving +its own life eternally; because the act of the +divine providence, always preserves it with divine +heat and light, with the same order and measure, +in the ordinary and self-same being.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> I have now heard enough upon this subject.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> It happens then that individual souls come +to be influenced differently as to their habits and +inclinations, according to the diverse degrees of +ascension and descension, and come to display +various kinds and orders of enthusiasms, of loves, +and of senses, not only in the scale of Nature +according to the orders of diverse lives which the +soul takes up in different bodies, as is expressly +declared by the Pythagoreans, Saduchimi and +others, and by implication, Plato, and those who +dive more profoundly into it, but still more in +the scale of human affections, which has as many +degrees as the scale of Nature; for man, in all +his powers, displays every species of being.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Therefore from the affections one may know +souls, whether they are going up or down, or +whether they are from above or from below, whether +they are going on towards becoming beasts or +towards divine beings, according to the specific<!-- Page 118 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +being as the Pythagoreans understood it; or according +to the similitude of the affections only, as is +commonly believed, the human soul not being able, +(so long as it is truly human) to become soul of +a brute, as Plotinus and other Platonists well said, +on account of the quality of its beginning.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Now to come to the proposition: From +animal enthusiasm, this soul, as described, is promoted +to heroic enthusiasm, saying, "When shall it +be that I rise up to the height of the object, there +to dwell in company with my heart and with my +fledglings[A] and his?" This same proposition he +continues when he says:</p> + +<p>24.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Destiny, when, shall I that mountain mount,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which, blissful to the high gates bringing, bring,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where those rare beauties I shall counting, count,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When <i>he</i> my pain with comfort comforting,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who my disjointed members joined,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And leaves my dying powers not dead?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My spirit's rival more than rivalled is<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If, far from sin, it unassailed may sail,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If thither tending, it may waiting, wait,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And up with that high object rising, rise,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And if my good alone, alone I take,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For which I sure remove of each defect effect,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And so at last may come to enjoy with joy,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As he who all foretells can tell.<br /></span><!-- Page 119 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>[A] Pulcini.</p> + +<p>O Destiny! O Fate! O divine immutable Providence! +when shall it be that I shall climb that mount—that +is, that I may arrive at such altitude of mind, as +transporting me shall bring me into those outer and +inner courts where I may behold and count those +rare beauties? When shall it be, that he will +effectually comfort my pain, loosening me from the +tightened bonds of those cares in which I find +myself, he, who formed and united my members, +which before were disunited and disjoined: that is +Love; he who has joined together these corporeal +parts, which were as far divided as one opposite is +divided from another; so that these intellectual powers +which, through his action he has extinguished, should +not be left quite dead, but be again re-animated +and made to aspire on high? When, I say, will +he fully comfort me, and give my powers free and +speedy flight, by which means my substance may go +and nestle there, where, by my efforts, I may make +amends and correct my defects, and where (if I +arrive) my spirit will be made effectual or prevail +over my rival, because there, no excess will oppose, +no opposition overcome, no error assail? Oh! if by +force he may arrive there, at that height which he +is waiting to reach, he will remain on high, at the +elevation of his object, and he will take that good<!-- Page 120 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +that cannot be comprehended by any other than +one, that is, by himself, seeing that every other has +it in the measure of his own capacity, and this one +alone has it in all its fulness. Then will happiness +come to me in that manner which he says, "who +all foretells"; that is, at that elevation in which the +saying all and the doing all is the same thing; in +that manner that he says and does who all foretells, +that is, who is sufficient for all things and primary, +and whose word and pre-ordaining is the true doing +and beginning. This is how, in the scale of things +superior and inferior, the affection of Love proceeds, +as the intellect or sentiment proceeds from these +intelligible or knowable objects, to those, or from +those to these.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Thus the greater number of sages believe +that Nature delights in this changeful circulation +which is seen in the whirling of her wheel.<!-- Page 121 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><a name="Fifth" id="Fifth"></a><strong>Fifth Dialogue.</strong></p> +<p>I.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Now show me how I may be able for myself to +consider the conditions of these enthusiasts, through +that which appears in the order of the warfare here +described.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Behold how they carry the ensign of their +affections or fortunes. Let us leave the consideration +of their names and habits; enough that we stand +upon the meaning of the undertaking and the +intelligibility of the writing, alike that which is put +for the form of the body of the figure, as well as +that which is mostly put as an elucidation of the +undertaking.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Thus will we do. Here then is the first, +who carries a shield divided into four colours, and +in the crest is depicted a flame under the head of +bronze, from the holes in which, issue in great force +a smoky wind, and about it is written: "At regna +senserunt tria."<!-- Page 122 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. For the explanation of this I would say: +that the fire there is that which heats the globe, +inside of it is the water, and it happens that this +humid element, being rarefied and attenuated by +virtue of the heat, and thus resolved into vapour, it +requires much greater space to contain it, therefore +if it does not find easy exit, it goes on with extreme +force, noise, and destruction to break the vessel; +but if it finds space and easy exit, so that it can +evaporate, it goes out with less violence, little by +little, and, according as the water is resolved into +vapour, it is dissipated in puffs into the air. Here +is signified the heart of the enthusiast where, by a +cleverly planned allurement being caught by the +amorous flame, it happens that some of the vital +substance sparkles with fire, while some in the form +of tearful cries rends the bosom, and some other by +the expulsion of gusty sighs agitates the air. Therefore +he says: "At regna senserunt tria." Now this +"at" supposes a difference, or diversity, or opposite; +as one might almost say there exists something which +might have the same sense, but has it not, which is +very well explained in the following rhymes:</p> + +<p>25.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">From these twin lights of me—a little earth—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My wonted tears stream freely to the sea.<br /></span><!-- Page 123 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +<span class="i0">The greedy air receives from out my breast<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No niggard part of all that breast contains;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And from my heart the lightnings are unlocked<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That rise to heaven, and yet diminish not.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thus pay I to the air, the sea, the fire,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The tribute of my sighs, my tears, my zeal.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The sea, the air, the fire, accept a part of me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But my divinity no favour shows.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Unkind she turns away. Near her<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My tears find no response;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My voice she will not hear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor pitifully will she turn to note my zeal.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Here the subject matter signified by "earth" is the +substance of the enthusiast, which is poured from +the twin lights—that is, from the eyes—in copious +tears that flow to the sea; he sends forth from his +breast into the wide air sighs in a great multitude, +and the lightnings from his heart, not like a little +spark or a weak flame, which, cooling itself in the +air, smokes, and transmigrates into other beings; but, +potent and vigorous—rather acquiring from others +than losing of its own—it joins its congenial sphere.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. I understand it all. To the next.</p> + + +<p>II.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Close by is portrayed one who has on his +shield a crest, also divided into four colours. There +is a sun whose rays extend to the back of the earth,<!-- Page 124 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +and there is a legend which says: "Idem semper +ubique totum."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. I perceive that the interpretation of it will +be difficult.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. The more excellent the meaning the less +obvious is it, and you will see that it is unequalled, +unique, and not strained. You are to consider that +the sun, although with regard to the various regions +of the earth he is for each one different as to time, +place, and degree, yet in respect of the whole globe +as such, he always and in every place accomplishes +everything, for in whatever part of the ecliptic he is +to be found, he makes winter, summer, autumn, and +spring, and makes the whole globe of the earth to +receive within itself the aforesaid four seasons; for +never is it hot at one side unless it is cold on the +other; when it is to us very hot in the tropic of +Cancer it is very cold in the tropic of Capricorn; so +that for the same reason it is winter in that part +when it is summer in this, and to those who are in +the middle, it is temperate according to the aspect, +vernal or autumnal. So the earth always feels the +rains, the winds, the heat, the cold; nor would it +be damp here if it were not dry in another part, and +the sun would not warm it on this side if it had +not already left off warming it on the other.<!-- Page 125 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Even before you have finished, I understand +what you would say. You mean that as the sun +gives all the impressions to the earth, and this +receives them whole and entire, so the Object of the +enthusiast, with its active splendour, makes him the +passive subject of tears, which are the waters, of +ardours, which are the fires, and of sighs, which +are certain vapours, which partake of both, which +leave the fire, and go to the waters, or leave the +waters and go to the fire.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> This is well explained below.</p> + +<p>26.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When as the sun towards Capricorn declines,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then do the rains enrich the streams,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As towards the line he goes, or thence returns,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">More felt is each Æolian messenger,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Warming the more with every lengthening day<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What time towards burning Cancer he remounts.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And equal to this heat, this cold, this zeal<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are these my tears, my sighs, the ardour that I feel.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My constant sighs, my never waning flames<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are only equal to my tears.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My floods and flames howe'er intense they be,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are never more so than my sighs;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I burn with fervid heat,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, firmly fixed, I ever sigh and weep.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> This does not so much declare the meaning<!-- Page 126 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +of the coat of arms, as the preceding discourse did, +but it rather supplements or accompanies that +discourse.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Say, rather, that the figure is latent in the first +part, and the legend is well explained in the second; +as both the one and the other are very properly signified +in the type of the sun and of the earth.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Pass on to the third.</p> + + +<p>III.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. The third bears on his shield a naked +child, stretched upon the green turf, who rests his +head upon his arm, with his eyes turned towards the +sky to certain edifices, towers, gardens, and orchards, +which are above the clouds, and there is a castle of +which the material is fire, and in the middle is the +sign inscribed: "Mutuo fulcimur."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. What does that mean?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. It means that enthusiast, signified by the +naked child as simple, pure, and exposed to all the +accidents of Nature and of fortune, who at the same +time by the force of thought, constructs castles in +the air, and amongst other things a tower, of which +the architect is Love, the material is the amorous +fire, and the builder is himself, who says: "Mutuo +fulcimur"—that is, I build and uphold you there with<!-- Page 127 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +my thought, and you uphold me here with hope; +you would not be in existence were it not for the +imagination and the thought with which I form and +uphold you, and I should not be alive were it not for +the refreshment and comfort that I receive through +your means.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. It is true that there is no fancy so vain +and so chimerical that may not be a more real and +true medicine for an enthusiastic heart than any +herb, mineral, oil, or other sort of thing that Nature +produces.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Magicians can do more by means of faith +than physicians by the truth; and in the worst +diseases the patients benefit more by believing this +or that which the former say, than in understanding +that which the latter do. Now let the rhymes be +read.</p> + +<p>27.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Above the clouds in that high place,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When oft with dreaming I am fired,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For comfort and refreshment of my soul<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An airy castle from my fires I build,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And if my adverse fate incline awhile,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And without scorn or ire will understand<br /></span> +<span class="i0">This lofty grace for which I die,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh happy then my pains, happy my death.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The ardour of those flames she does not feel,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor is she hindered by those snares<br /></span><!-- Page 128 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +<span class="i0">With which, oh boy! thou'rt wont to enslave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And lead into captivity both men and gods;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By pity's hand alone, oh Love,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By showing all my woe, thou shalt prevail.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. He shows that which feeds his fancy and +bathes his spirit; yet, inasmuch as he is without +courage to explain himself and make known his +sufferings, although he is so deeply subjected to that +anguish, if it should happen that his hard, uncompromising +fate should bend a little (as, in the end, +fate must soothe him, by showing itself without +scorn or anger for the high object), he would consider +no happiness so great, no life so blessed, as in +such a case would be his happiness in his woes, and +his blessedness in his death.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. And with this he comes to declare to Love +that the means by which he will gain access to that +breast, is not in the ordinary way by the arms with +which he usually captivates men and gods, but only +by causing the fiery heart and his troubled spirit, to +be laid bare, to obtain sight of which it is necessary +that compassion open the way, and introduce him +to that secret chamber.</p> + + +<p>IV.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. What is the meaning of that butterfly which<!-- Page 129 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +flutters round the flame, and almost burns itself? +and what means that legend, "Hostis non hostis?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. The meaning of the butterfly is not difficult, +which, seduced by the fascinations of splendour, +goes innocently and amicably to meet its death in +the devouring flames. Thus, "hostis" stands written +for the effect of the fire; "non hostis" for the inclination +of the fly. "Hostis," the fly passively; +"non hostis," actively. "Hostis," the flame, through +its ardour; "non hostis," through its splendour.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Now what is that which is written on the +tablet?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>.:</p> + +<p>28.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Be it far from me to make complaint of love,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Love, without whom I will not happy be,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And though through him these weary toils I bear.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet what is given my will shall not reject.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Be clear the sky or dark, burning or cold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To that one ph[oe]nix e'er the same I'll be,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No fate nor destiny can e'er untie<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That knot which death unable is to loose;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To heart, to spirit, and to soul,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No pleasure is, no liberty, no life,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No smile, no rapture, no delight,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So sweet, so grateful, so divine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As these hard bonds, this death of mine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To which by fate, by will, by nature I incline.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Here, in the figure, he shows the resemblance<!-- Page 130 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +between the enthusiast and the butterfly attracted +towards the light; in the sonnet, however, he demonstrates +rather difference and dissimilarity; as it is +commonly believed, that if the butterfly foresaw its +destruction, it would fly from the light more eagerly +than it now pursues it, and would consider it an +evil to lose its life through being absorbed into that +hostile fire. But to him (the enthusiast) it is no less +pleasing to perish in the flames of amorous ardour +than to be drawn to the contemplation of the beauty +of that rare splendour, under which, by natural inclination, +by voluntary election, and by disposition +of fate, he labours, serves, and dies more gaily, more +resolutely, and more courageously than under whatsoever +other pleasure which may offer itself to the +heart, liberty which may be conceded to the spirit, +and life which may be discovered in the soul.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Tell me why he says, "ever the same I'll be?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Because it seems suitable to bring forward +a reason for his constancy, seeing that the sage does +not change with the moon, although the fool does +so. Thus he is unique, as the ph[oe]nix is unique.</p> + + +<p>V.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. But what signifies that branch of palm, +around which is the legend, "Cæsar adest?"<!-- Page 131 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Without further talk, all may be understood +by that which is written on the tablet:</p> + +<p>29.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Unconquered victor of Pharsalia,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Though all thy warriors be well-nigh spent,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At sight of thee they rise once more;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their strength returns, they conquer their proud foes;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So does my love—that equals love of heaven—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Become a living presence through my thoughts;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thoughts that my haughty soul had killed with scorn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Love brings again stronger than love himself;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thy presence is enough, oh memory!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">These to reanimate in all their strength,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And with imperious sov'reignty they rule<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And govern each opposing force.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">May I be happy in this governance<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And with these bonds, and may that light ne'er cease.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>There are times when the inferior powers of the +soul—like a vigorous and hostile army, which finds +itself in its own country practised, expert, and +ready—revolt against the foreign adversary, who +comes down from the height of the intelligence to +curb the people of the valley and of the boggy +plains, where, through the baneful presence of the +enemies and of such obstacles as deep ditches, advancing +they lose themselves, and would be entirely +lost, if there were not a certain conversion towards<!-- Page 132 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +the splendour of intellectual things through the +act of contemplation, by means of which they +are converted from inferior degrees to superior +ones.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> What degrees are these?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> The degrees of contemplation are like the +degrees of light, which exist not at all in the darkness, +slightly in shade, more in colours, according +to their orders, from one opposite which is black to +the other which is white; but more fully do they +exist in the splendour diffused over pure transparent +bodies, as in a looking-glass and in the moon, and +still more brightly in the rays diffused by the sun, +but principally and most brilliantly in the sun itself. +Now the perceptive and the affectional powers are +ordered in this way; the next following always +has affinity for the next preceding, and by means +of conversion to that which elevates it, it becomes +fortified against the inferior, which lowers it; as +the reason, through its conversion to the intellect, +is not seduced or vanquished by knowledge or comprehension +or by passionate affection, but rather, +according to the law of the intellect, it is brought +to govern and correct the same. It comes to this, +therefore, that when the rational appetite strives +against sensual concupiscence, if, by the act of con<!-- Page 133 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>version, +the intellectual light is presented to the +eyes, it causes the above appetite to take up +again the lost virtue, and giving fresh strength +to the nerves, it alarms and puts to rout the +enemy.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> In what manner do you mean that such a +conversion takes place?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> With three preparatives, which are noted +by the contemplative Plotinus in the book of "Intellectual +Beauty;" and, of these, the first is by +proposing to conform himself to a divine pattern, +diverting the sight from things which stand between +him and his own perfection, and which are common +to those things which are equal and inferior. The +second is by applying himself, with full intention +and attention, to superior things. The third is by +bringing into captivity to God the whole will and +affection: for from this it comes to pass that, +without doubt, the divinity will influence him; who +is everywhere present, and ready to come to the aid +of whosoever turns to Him through the act of the +intelligence, and who unreservedly presents himself +with the affection of the will.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> It is not then corporeal beauty which can +allure such an one?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> No, certes; because in that there is no<!-- Page 134 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +true nor constant beauty, and for this reason it +cannot evoke true nor constant love. That beauty, +which is seen in bodies is accidental and transitory, +and is like those which are absorbed, changed, and +spoiled by the changing of the subject, which very +often, from being beautiful, becomes ugly, without +any change taking place in the soul. The reason +then comprehends the truest beauty, through conversion, +to that which makes the beauty of the +body, and forms it in loveliness—it is the soul +which has thus built and designed it. Now does +the intellect rise still higher, and learns that the +soul is incomparably more beautiful than any beauty +that may be in bodies; but yet it cannot persuade +itself that it is beautiful of itself and primarily, for +if it be so, what is the cause of that difference +which exists in the quality of souls, by which some +are wise, amiable, and beautiful, others stupid, +odious, and ugly. We must then raise ourselves to +that superior intellect which is beautiful in itself +and good in itself. This is that sole supreme +captain who alone, placed before the eyes of the +militant thoughts, enlivens, encourages, strengthens +them, and renders them victorious above the scorn +of every other beauty and the repudiation of every +other good whatsoever. This is the presence which<!-- Page 135 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +causes every difficulty to be overcome and all opposition +to be subdued.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> I understand it all; but what is the meaning +of, "May I be happy in this governance and with +these bonds, and may that light not cease?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> He means, and he proves, that every sort +of love, the greater its dominion and the surer its +hold, the more tight are the bonds, and the more +firm the yoke, and the more ardent the flames that +are felt, as compared with the ordinary princes and +tyrants, who adopt a greater rigour wherever they +see they have less hold.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Go on.</p> + + +<p>VI.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Here we see described the idea of a flying +ph[oe]nix, towards which is turned a boy who is +burning in the midst of flames; and there is the +legend, "Fata obstant." But in order better to +understand it, let us read the tablet:</p> + +<p>30.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sole bird of the sun, thou wandering ph[oe]nix!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That measurest thy days as does the world<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With lofty summits of Arabia Felix.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou art the same thou wast, but I what I was not:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I through the fire of love, unhappy die;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But thee the sun with his warm rays revives;<br /></span><!-- Page 136 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +<span class="i0">Thou burn'st in one, and I, in every place;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Eros my fire, while thine Apollo gives.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Predestined is the term of thy long life;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Short span is mine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And menaced by a thousand ills.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor do I know how I have lived, nor how shall live,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Me does blind fate conduct;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But thou wilt come again, again behold thy light.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>From the meaning of these lines, you will see that +in the figure is drawn the comparison between the +fate of the ph[oe]nix and that of the enthusiast; and +the legend, "Fata obstant," does not signify that +the fates are adverse either to the boy, or to the +ph[oe]nix, or to both; but that the fatal decrees for +each are not the same, but are diverse and opposite. +The ph[oe]nix is that which it was, because the same +matter, by means of the fire, renews itself, and +becomes again the body of the ph[oe]nix, and the +same spirit and soul come to inhabit it. The +enthusiast is that which he was not, because the +subject, which is a man, was first of some other +species, according to innumerable differentiations. +So that what the ph[oe]nix was, is known, and +what it will be, is known; but this subject cannot +return, except through many and uncertain means, +to invest the same or a similar natural form. Then +the ph[oe]nix, through the sun's presence, changes<!-- Page 137 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +death into life, and that other, by the presence of +love, transmutes life into death. The one kindles +his fire on the aromatic altar, the other finds it ever +present with him and carries it wherever he goes. +The one again, has certain conditions of a long +life; but the other, through the infinite differences +of time and innumerable circumstances, has the +mutable conditions of a short life. The one kindles +with certainty, the other with doubt as to whether +he will see the sun again.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> What do you think that this means?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> It means the difference that exists between +the lower intellect called the intellect of power, +either possible or passive, which is uncertain, multifarious, +and multiform, and the higher intellect, +which, perhaps, is like that which is said by the +Peripatetics to be the lowest of the intelligences, +and which exerts an immediate influence over all +the individuals of the human species, and is called +the active and acting intellect. This special human +intelligence which influences all individuals is like +the moon, which partakes of no other species but +that one alone which always renews itself by the +transmutation caused in it by the sun, which is the +primal and universal intelligence; but the human +intellect, both individual and collective, turns as do<!-- Page 138 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +the eyes towards innumerable and most diverse +objects; whence, according to the infinite degrees +which exist, it takes on all the natural forms. +Hence it is that this particular intellect may be as +enthusiastic, vague, and uncertain, as that universal +one is quiet, fixed, and certain, whether as regards +the desire or the comprehension. Now therefore, +as you may very well perceive for yourself, it means +that the nature of the comprehension of sense and +its varied appetite, is vague, inconstant, and uncertain, +and the conception and definite appetite of +the intelligence is firm and stable. This is the difference +between sensual love, which has no stability +nor discretion as to its object, and intellectual love, +which aims only at one, sure and fixed, towards +which it turns, through which it is illuminated in +its conception, by which, being kindled in its affections, +it becomes inflamed and brightened, and is +maintained in unity and identity of condition.</p> + + +<p>VII.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> But what is the meaning of that figure of +the sun, with a circle inside and another outside, +with the legend "Circuit."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> The meaning of this I am certain I should +never have understood if I had not heard it from<!-- Page 139 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +the designer of it himself. Now you must know +that "Circuit" has reference to the movement the +sun makes round the circle which is drawn inside +and outside, in order to signify that the movement +both makes and is made; and hence, as a +consequence, the sun is to be found in every part of +those circles; so that, if he moves and is moved, and +is over the whole circumference of the circle equally, +then you find in him both movement and rest.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> This I understood in the dialogues on the +infinite universe and the innumerable worlds, where +it is declared that the divine wisdom is extremely +mobile, as Solomon said, and also that the same is +most stable, as all those declare who know. Now +go on and make me understand the proposition.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> It means that [A]his sun is not like this +one, which is commonly believed to go round the +earth with the daily movement in twenty-four hours, +and with the planetary movement in twelve months, +and by which he causes the four seasons of the +year to be felt, according as he is found to be in +the four cardinal points of the zodiac; but he is +such an one, that, being the ethereal eternity itself, +and consequently an entire and complete totality, +he contains the winter, the spring, the summer,<!-- Page 140 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +the autumn, together with the day and the night, +for he is all and for all, in all points and places.</p> + +<p>[A] Il suo sole.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Now apply that which you have said to the +figure.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> It being impossible here to design the +entire sun in every point of the circle, two circles +are delineated; one which contains the sun to +signify that the movement is made through him, +the other which is contained by the sun to show +that he is moved by it.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> But this explanation is not very clear and +appropriate.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Suffice it that it is the clearest and most +appropriate that he was able to make. If you can +make a better one, you shall have permission to +remove this one and put it in its place, for this has +only been put in, so that the soul should not be +without a body.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> What do you say about that "Circuit?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> That legend contains all the meaning of +the thing in so far as it can be explained, for it +means that he turns and is turned, that is to say +movement present and accomplished.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Excellent! And therefore those circles +which so ill explain the circumstance of movement +and rest, we can say are placed there to<!-- Page 141 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +signify the circulation only. Thus am I satisfied +with the subject and with the form of the heroic +device. Now read the lines.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span>:</p> + +<p>31.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Mild are thy rays, oh, Sol! from Taurus sent,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And from the Lion thy beams mature and burn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And when thy light from pungent Scorpion darts<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Transcendent is the ardour of thy flames.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From fierce Deucalion all is struck with cold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Stiffened the lakes and locked the running streams.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With spring, with summer, autumn, and with winter,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I warm, I kindle, burn and blaze for ever.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So ardent my desire,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The object so supreme for which I burn;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Glowing and unencumbered I behold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And make my lightnings flash unto the stars.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No moment can I count in all the year<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To change the[A] inexorable cross I bear.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Here observe that the four seasons of the year are +signified, not by four movable signs, which are Aries, +Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, but by the four which +are called fixed—namely, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, +and Aquarius, to signify the condition, fervour, and +perfection of those seasons. Note further, that in +virtue of those apostrophes, which are in the eighth +line, you can read: I warm, kindle, burn, blaze; or, +be thou warmed, kindled, burning, blazing; or, let +him warm, kindle, burn, blaze.<!-- Page 142 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<p>[A] Sordi affanni.</p> + +<p>You have farther to consider that these are not +four synonyms, but four different terms, which +signify so many degrees of the effects of the fire, +which first warms, secondly kindles, thirdly burns, +and fourthly blazes or inflames that which it has +warmed, kindled, and burnt. And thus are denoted +in the enthusiast, desire, attention, study, affection, +in which he never for a moment feels any change.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Why does he put them under the title of a +cross?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Because the object, which is the divine +light, is, in this life, more felt as a painful longing +than in quiet fruition, because our mind is towards +that, as the eyes of night birds to the sun.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Proceed; for from what you have said I +understand all.</p> + + +<p>VIII.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> On the next crest there is painted a full +moon and the legend: "Talis mihi semper ut astro," +which means that to the star—that is, to the sun—she +is ever such as she here shows herself, full and +clear in the entire circumference of the circle, +which, in order that you may better understand, +I will let you hear that which is written on the +tablet.<!-- Page 143 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + +<p>32.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh, changeful moon, inconstant moon!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With horns now full, now void, thou wanderest.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mounting, thy sphere now white now dark appears.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The mountains and the valleys of the north thou brightenest,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And turning by thy dust-encumbered steps,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou lightest in the south the Lybian heights.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My moon for my continual pain.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is constant ever, ever full.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So is my star,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which ever from me takes and nothing gives,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For ever burns and ever shines,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cruel always yet always beautiful.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">This noble light of mine<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Torments me still and still delights me.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It seems to me, that it means that his particular +intelligence is to the universal intelligence ever the +same—that is to say, the one is ever illuminated +by the other, over the whole hemisphere; notwithstanding +that to the inferior powers, and +according to the influence of his actions, it appears +now dark, and now more and less clear. Or perhaps +it means that his speculative intellect, which is +ever invariable in its action, is always turned and +affected towards the human intelligence signified by +the moon. Because, as this is said to be the lowest +of all the stars, and is nearest to us, so the illuminating +intelligence of all of us in this state is<!-- Page 144 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +the last in order of the other intelligences, as +Averroes and the more subtle Peripatetics say. +That intelligence, in so far as it is not in any act, +goes down before, or sets to the potential intellect, +or as if so to say, it emerged from the bottom of +the occult hemisphere, and showed itself now void, +now full, according as it gives more or less light of +intelligence. Now its sphere is dark, now light, +because sometimes it shows itself as a shadow, a +semblance, and a vestige, and sometimes more and +more openly: now it declines towards the south, +now it mounts towards the north—that is, now +it removes farther and farther away, and now it +approaches nearer and nearer. But the intellect, +active with its continual grief—seeing that it is not +through its human condition and nature that it finds +itself so wretched, so opposed, courted, solicited, +distracted, and, as it were, torn by the inferior +powers—sees its object stable, fixed and constant, +and ever full, and in the same splendour of beauty. +Thus it ever takes away, in so far as it does not +concede, and ever gives, in so far as it concedes. +It ever burns in the affection in so far as it shines +in thoughts, and is always cruel in withdrawing +itself through that which withdraws itself; as it is +always beautiful in communication with that to<!-- Page 145 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +which it presents itself. Always does it torment +when it is divided from him by difference of locality, +as always it delights him being joined to it by +affection.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Now apply your intelligence to the legend.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> He says then, "talis mihi semper;" that +is, because of the continual application of my intellect, +my memory, and my will, because I will +remember, understand and desire no other; she is +ever the same to me, and in so far as I can understand +her, she is entirely present, and is not separated +from me by any distraction of my thoughts, +nor does she become darkened to me through any +want of attention, for there is no thought that can +divert me from that light nor any necessity of +nature which forces me to a less constant attention; +"talis mihi semper" on her side, because she is +invariable in substance, in virtue, in beauty, and in +effect, towards those things that are constant and +invariable towards her. She says further, "ut +astro," because in respect of the sun, the illuminator +of her, she is ever equally luminous, seeing that she +is ever turned equally towards him, and he at the +same time diffuses his rays equally. As, physically, +this moon that we see with the eyes, although +towards the earth she appears now dark, now<!-- Page 146 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +shining, now more, now less illuminated and illuminating, +yet is she ever equally irradiated by the +sun, because she always reflects his rays over at +least the whole of her hemisphere. So also is the +hemisphere of this earth ever equally irradiated, +although from the watery surfaces she from time to +time sends her splendours unequally to the moon,—which +like innumerable other stars we consider +as another earth—in the same manner, she also +sends hers to the earth, on account of the periodical +changes which both experience in finding themselves +now the one, now the other, nearer to the +sun.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> How can this intelligence be signified by +the moon which lights up the hemisphere?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> All the intelligences are signified by the +moon, in so far as they are sharers in act and in +power, in so far as they have the light materially +and by participation, receiving it from another; I +say that, as not being lights of themselves, nor by +their own nature, but by reflection from the sun, +which is the first intelligence, which is pure and +absolute light, as it is also pure and absolute +action.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> All those things, then, that are dependent, +and are not the first act and cause, are they composed<!-- Page 147 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +of light and shade, of matter and form, of power +and action?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> It is so. Furthermore this soul of ours, +in all its substance, is signified by the moon which +shines through the hemisphere of the superior +powers, by which it is turned towards the light +of the intelligible world, and is dark through the +inferior powers, by which it is occupied with material +things.</p> + + +<p>IX.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> It seems to me that what has just been said +has some connection and analogy with the impression +that I see on the next shield, where stands a +gnarled and rugged oak, against which the wind +is raging, and it is circumscribed by the legend, +"ut robori robur," and here is the tablet, which +says:</p> + +<p>33.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Old oak, that spread'st thy branches to the air,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And firmly in the earth dost fix thy roots;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No shifting of the land, no mighty elements,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which Heaven from the stormy north unlocks;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor whatso'er the gruesome winter sends,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Can tear thee from the spot where thou art chained.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou art the veritable portrait of my faith,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which, fixed, remains 'gainst every casual chance.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ever the self-same ground dost thou<br /></span><!-- Page 148 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +<span class="i0">Grasp, cultivate and comprehend; and stretch<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thy grateful roots unto the generous breast.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Upon one only object I<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Have fixed my spirit, sense, and intellect.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> The legend is clear, by which the enthusiast +boasts of having the strength and vigour of +the oak, and as before said of being ever the same +in respect to the one only ph[oe]nix, and in the next +preceding one, conforming himself to that moon +which ever shines so brightly and is so beautiful, +and also in that he does not resemble this antichthon +between our earth and the sun in so far as it +changes to our eyes, but in that it ever receives +within itself an equal amount of the solar splendour, +and through this remains constant and firm +against the rough winds and tempests of winter, +through the stability that he has in his star, in +which he is planted by affection and intention, as +the roots of the oak twist and weave themselves into +the veins of the earth.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> I hold it better worth living in quiet and +without vexation than to be forced to endure so +much.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> That is a maxim of the Epicureans which, +being well understood, would not be considered so +unworthy as the ignorant hold it to be, seeing that<!-- Page 149 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +it does not detract from what I have called virtue, +nor does it impair the perfection of firmness, but it +rather adds to that perfection as it is understood by +the vulgar, for Epicurus does not hold that, a true +and complete strength and firmness which feels +and bears inconveniences, but that which bears +them and feels them not. He does not consider +him perfect in divine heroic love, who feels the +spur, the check, or remorse or trouble about other +love; but him who has no feeling of other affections; +so that being fixed in one pleasure, there is +no displeasure that has any power to jostle him or +dislodge him from his place. And this it is to +touch the highest blessedness of this state, to have +rapture and no sense of pain.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> The ignorant do not believe in this meaning +of Epicurus.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Because they neither read his own books, +nor those that report his maxims without invidiousness, +but there are those who read the course of +his life and the conditions of his death, where with +these words he dictated the beginning of his testament: +"Being in the last, and at the same time, +the happiest day of our life, we have ordained this +with a healthy, tranquil mind at rest; for whatever +acute sorrow may torment us from one side, that<!-- Page 150 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +torment is entirely annulled by the pleasure of our +own inventions and the consideration of our end." +And it is manifest that he no longer felt more pleasure +than sorrow in eating, drinking, repose, and in +generating, but in not feeling hunger, nor thirst, +nor fatigue, nor sensuality. From this may be +understood what is according to us the perfection +of firmness; not in this, that the tree neither bends +nor breaks, nor is rent, but in that it does not so +much as stir, and its prototype keeps spirit, sense, +and intellect, fixed there, where the shock of the +tempest is not felt.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Do you then think it is a thing to be +desired, to bear shocks in order to prove that you +are strong?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> You say "to bear;" and this is a part of +firmness, but it is not the whole of that virtue, which +consists in bearing strongly, as I say, or in not +feeling, as Epicurus said. Now this loss of feeling +is caused by being entirely absorbed in the cultivation +of virtue, or of real good and felicity, in +such wise that Regulus did not feel the chest, +Lucretia the dagger, Socrates the poison, Anaxagoras +the mortar, Scævola the fire, Cocles the +abyss, and other worthies felt not those things<!-- Page 151 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +which would torment and fill with terror the vulgar +crowd.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Now pass on.</p> + + +<p>X.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Look at this other who bears the device +of an anvil and a hammer, round which is the +legend "ab Aetna!" But here Vulcan is introduced:</p> + +<p>34.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Not now to my Sicilian mount I turn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where thou dost forge the thunderbolts of Jove,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Here, rugged Vulcan will I stay;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Here, where a prouder giant moves,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who burns and rages against Heaven in vain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Soliciting new cares and divers trials.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Here is a better smith and Mongibello[A]<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A better anvil, better forge and hammer;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For here behold a bosom full of sighs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which blows the furnace and the fire revives.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The soul nor yields nor bends to these rough blows,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But bears exulting this long martyrdom,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And makes a harmony from these sharp pangs.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>[A] Mount Etna.</p> + +<p>Here are shown the pains and troubles which beset +love, principally love of a low kind, which is no +other than the forge of Vulcan, that smith who makes +the bolts of Jove which torment offending souls. +For ill-ordered love has in itself the beginning of its<!-- Page 152 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +own pain, seeing that there is a God near us, in us, +and with us. There is in us a certain sacred mind +and intelligence, which supplies an affection of its +own, which has its own avenger, which, through +remorse for certain shortcomings, flagellates the +transgressing spirit as with a hammer. It notes +our actions and our affections, and as it is treated +by us, so are we treated by it. In every lover +I say there is this smith Vulcan, and as there is +no man that has not a god within him, so there +is no lover that has not a god within him, and no +lover within whom this god is not. Most certainly +there is a god in every man, but what god it is +in each one is not so easy to know. And even +though we should examine and distinguish, yet do +I believe that none other than Love could declare +it, he being the one who pulls the oars, and fills the +sails, and modifies this compound, so that it comes +to be well or ill affected. I say well or ill affected +as to that which it puts in execution through the +moral actions and through contemplation; for the +rest, all lovers are apt to experience some difficulties, +things being as they are, so entangled; there being +no good whatever, either of conception or of the +affections, which is not joined to or stands in opposition +to evil, as there is no truth which is not<!-- Page 153 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +joined or opposed to what is false, so there is no +love without fear, ardour, jealousy, rancour, and +other passions, which proceed from their opposites, +and which disturb us, as the other opposite causes +satisfaction. Thus the soul striving to recover its +natural beauty seeks to purify itself, to heal itself, +and to reform itself, and to this end it uses fire, +because, being like gold, mixed with earth and +crude, with a certain rigour it tries to liberate +itself from defilement, and this result is obtained +when the intellect, the real smith of Jove, puts +itself to the work and causes an active exercise of +the intellectual powers.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> It seems to me that this is referred to in +the "Banquet" of Plato, where it says that Love +has inherited from his mother, Poverty, that dried-up, +thin, pale, bare-footed, and submissive condition +without a home, without anything, and through +these is signified the torture of the soul that is +torn with contrary affections.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> So it is; because the spirit, full of this +enthusiasm, becomes absorbed in profound thoughts, +stricken with urgent cares, kindled with fervent +desires, excited by frequent crises: whence the soul, +finding itself in suspense, becomes less diligent and +active in the government of the body through the<!-- Page 154 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +acts of the vegetative power; thus the body becomes +lean, ill-nourished, attenuated, poor in blood, and +rich in melancholy humours, and these, if they do +not administer to the disciplined soul, or to a clear +and lucid spirit, may lead to insanity, folly, and +brutal fury, or at least to a certain disregard of +self, and a contempt of its own being, which is +symbolized by Plato in the bare feet. Love becomes +subjected and flies suddenly down to earth when it +is attached to low things, but flies high when it is +fixed upon more worthy enterprises. In conclusion, +whatever love it may be, it is ever afflicted and tormented +in such a way that it cannot fail to supply +material for the forge of Vulcan; because the soul, +being a divine thing, and by nature, not a servant +but the mistress of corporeal matter, she becomes +troubled in that she voluntarily serves the body +wherein she finds nothing to satisfy her, and albeit, +fixed in the thing loved, yet now and then she +becomes agitated, and fluctuates amidst the waves +of hope, fear, doubt, ardour, conscience, remorse, +determination, repentance, and other scourges, +which are the bellows, the coals, the forge, the +hammer, the pincers, and other instruments which +are found in the workshop of the sordid grimy +consort of Venus.<!-- Page 155 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Enough has been said upon this subject. +Let us see what follows.</p> + + +<p>XI.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Here is a golden apple, rich with various +kinds of precious enamel, and there is a legend +about it which says, "Pulchriori detur."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. The allusion to the fact of the three goddesses +who submitted themselves to the judgment +of Paris is very common. But read the lines +which more specifically disclose the meaning of the +present enthusiast.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>.:</p> + +<p>35.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Venus, the goddess of the third heaven<br /></span> +<span class="i0">(Mother of the archer blind, who conquers all),<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She whose father is the head of Zeus,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And Juno, most majestic wife of Jove,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">These call the Trojan shepherd to be judge,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And to the fairest give the ruddy sphere.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Compared with Venus, Pallas, and the Queen of Heaven,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My perfect goddess bears away the palm.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Cyprian queen may boast her royal limbs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Minerva charm with her transcendent wit,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And Juno with a majesty supreme;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But she who holds my heart all these excels<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In wisdom, majesty, and loveliness.<br /></span><!-- Page 156 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Here he makes a comparison between his object +(or ideal) which comprises all circumstances, all +conditions, and all kinds of beauty, in one +subject, and others which exhibit each only one, +and that through various hypotheses, as with +corporeal beauty, all the conditions of which +Apelles could not find in one, but in many virgins. +Now here, where there are three kinds of the +beautiful, although it seems that all of these exist +in each of the three goddesses—Venus not being +found wanting in wisdom and majesty, Juno not +lacking loveliness and wisdom, and Pallas being +full of majesty and beauty, in each case it is a +fact that one quality exceeds the others, so that it +comes to be held as distinctive of the one, and the +other as incidental to all, seeing that of those three +gifts, one predominates in each and proclaims her +sovereign over the others. And the cause of this +difference lies in the fact of possessing these +qualities, not primarily and in their essence, but +by participation and derivation; as in all things +which are dependent, their perfection depends upon +the degrees of major and minor and more and less. +But in the simplicity of the divine essence, all +exists in totality, and not according to any measure, +and therefore wisdom is not greater than beauty and<!-- Page 157 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +majesty, and goodness is not greater than strength: +not only are till the attributes equal, they are one +and the same thing. As in the sphere all the +dimensions are not only equal, the length being +equal to the depth and breadth, but are also +identical, seeing that what in a sphere is called +deep, may also be called long and wide. Likewise +is it, as to height in divine wisdom, which is +the same as the depth of power and the breadth of +goodness. All these perfections are equal, because +they are infinite. Of necessity, one is according +to the sum of the other, seeing that where things +are finite it may result in this, that it is more wise +than beautiful or good, more good and beautiful than +wise, more wise and good than powerful, and more +powerful than good or wise. But where there is +infinite wisdom there cannot be other than infinite +power, otherwise there would be no infinite knowledge. +Where there is infinite goodness there must +be infinite wisdom, otherwise there would be no infinite +goodness. Where there is infinite power there +must be infinite goodness and wisdom, because +there is the being able to know and the knowing +to be able. Now, observe how the object of this +enthusiast, who is, as it were, inebriated with the +drink of the gods, is incomparably higher than<!-- Page 158 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +others which are different. I mean to say that +the divine essence comprehends in the very highest +degree perfection of all kinds, so that according +to the degree in which this particular form +may have participated, he can understand all, do +all, and be such an attached friend to one that +he may come to feel contempt and indifference +towards every other beauty. Therefore to her +should be consecrated the spherical apple as to her +who seems to be all in all; not to Venus, who is +beautiful but is surpassed in wisdom by Minerva, +and by Juno in majesty; not to Pallas than whom +Venus is more beautiful, and the other more +magnificent; not to Juno, who is not the goddess +of intelligence or of love.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Truly, as are the degrees of Nature and of +the essences, so in proportion are the degrees of the +intelligible orders and the glories of the amorous +affections and enthusiasms.</p> + + +<p>XII.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> The following bears a head with four faces, +which blow towards the four corners of the heavens, +and are four winds in one subject; above these +stand two stars, and in the centre the legend<!-- Page 159 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +"Novae ortae aeoliae." I would like to know what +that signifies.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> I think that the meaning of this device is +consequent upon that which precedes it, for, as +there the object is declared to be infinite beauty, so +here is proposed what may be called a similar +aspiration, study, affection, and desire. I believe +that these winds are set to signify sighs; but this +we shall see when we come to read the lines:</p> + +<p>36.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sons of the Titan Astræus and Aurora,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who trouble heaven, earth, and the wide sea,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Leave now this stormy war of elements,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And fight anon with the high gods.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No more in my Æolian caves ye dwell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No more does my restraining power compel;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But caught are ye and closed within that breast,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With moans and sobs and bitter sighs opprest.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Turbulent brothers of the stars,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Companions of the tempests of the seas,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Those lights are all that may avail<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Peace to restore; murderous yet innocent;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which, open or concealed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Will bless with calm, or curse with pride.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Evidently, here, Æolus is introduced as speaking +to the winds, which he declares are no longer +tempered by him in the Æolian caverns, but by +two stars in the breast of this enthusiast. Here,<!-- Page 160 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +the two stars do not mean the two eyes which are +in the forehead, but the two appreciable kinds of +divine beauty and goodness, of that infinite +splendour, which so influences intellectual and +rational desire, that it brings him to a condition +of infinite aspiration, according to the way and the +degree with which he comes to comprehend that +glorious light. For love, while it is finite, contented, +and fixed in a certain measure, is not in the +form of the species of divine beauty, but as it goes +on with ever higher aspirations, it may be said to +verge towards the infinite.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span>. How is breathing made to mean aspiring? +What relation has desire with the winds?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Whosoever in this present condition aspires, +also sighs, and the same breathes; and therefore +the vehemence of the aspiration is noted by the +hieroglyph of strong breathing.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> But there is a difference between sighing +and breathing.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Therefore it is not put as if one stood for +the other, or as being identical, but as being similar.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Go on then with our proposition.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> The infinite aspiration then, indicated by +the sighs and symbolized by the winds, is not +under the dominion of Æolus in the Æolic caverns,<!-- Page 161 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +but of the aforementioned two lights, which are +not only blameless, but benevolent in killing the +enthusiast, inasmuch as they cause him to die to +every other thing, except the absorbing affection; +at the same time, they, being closed and concealed, +render him unquiet, and being open, they will tranquillize +him, because at this time, when the eyes +of the human mind in this body are covered with +a nebulous veil, the soul, through such studies, +becomes troubled and harassed, and he being thus +torn and goaded, will attain only that amount +of quiet as will satisfy the condition of his +nature.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span>. How can our finite intellect follow after the +infinite ideal?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Through the infinite potency it possesses.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> This would be useless, if ever it came into +effect.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> It would be useless, if it had to do with a +finite action, where infinite potency would be wanting, +but not with the infinite action where infinite +potency is positive perfection.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> If the human intellect is finite in nature and +in act, how can it have an infinite potency?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Because it is eternal, and in this ever has +delight, so that it enjoys happiness without end or<!-- Page 162 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +measure; and because, as it is finite in itself, so it +may be infinite in the object.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> What difference is there between the infinity +of the object and the infinity of the potentiality?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> This is finitely infinite, and that infinitely +infinite. But to return to ourselves. The legend +there says: "Novæ Liparææ æoliæ," because it seems +as if we are to believe that all the winds which are +in the abysmal caverns of Æolus were converted +into sighs, if we include those which proceed from +the affection, which aspires continually to the highest +good and to the infinite beauty.</p> + + +<p>XIII.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Here we see the signification of that burning +light around which is written: "Ad vitam, non ad +horam."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Persistence in such a love and ardent +desire of true goodness, by which in this temporal +state the enthusiast is consumed. This, I think, is +shown in the following tablet:</p> + +<p><ins class="correction" + title="Transcriber's note: Original source said '34'"> +37.</ins></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">[A]What time the day removes the orient vault,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The rustic peasant leaves his humble home,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And when the sun with fiercer tangent strikes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fatigued and parched, he sits him in the shade;<br /></span><!-- Page 163 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +<span class="i0">Then plods again with hard, laborious toil,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Until black night the hemisphere enshrouds.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And then he rests. But I must ever chafe<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At morning, noon-day, evening, and at night.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">These fiery rays<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which stream from those two arches of my sun,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ne'er fade from the horizon of my soul.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So wills my fate;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But blazing every hour<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From their meridian they burn the afflicted heart.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>[A] Quando il sen d'oriente il giorno sgombra.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> This tablet expresses with greater truth than +perspicacity the sense of the figure.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span>. It is not necessary for me to make any +effort to point out to you the appropriateness, as it +only requires a little attentive consideration. The +rays of the sun are the ways in which the divine +beauty and goodness manifest themselves to us; and +they are fiery because they cannot be comprehended +by the intellect without at the same time kindling +the affections. The two arches of the sun are the +two kinds of revelation, that scholastic theologians call +early and late, whence our illuminating intelligence, +as an airy medium, deduces that species, either in +virtue, which it contemplates in itself, or in efficacy, +which it beholds in its effects. The horizon of the +soul, in this place, is that part of the superior potentialities +where the vigorous impulse of the affection +comes to aid the lively comprehension of the intellect,<!-- Page 164 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +being signified by the heart, which, burning at all +hours, torments itself; because all those fruits of +love that we can gather in this state are not so +sweet that they have not united with them a certain +affliction, which proceeds from the fear of imperfect +fruition: as especially occurs in the fruits of natural +affection, the condition of which I cannot do better +than explain in the words of the Epicurean poet:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ex hominis vera facie, pulchroque colore<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nil datur in corpus præter simulacra fruendum<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tenuia, quæ vento spes captat sæpe misella.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ut bibere in somnis sitiens cum quærit, et humor<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Non datur, ardorem in membris qui stinguere possit,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sed laticum simulacra petit, frustraque laborat,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In medioque sitit torrenti flumine potans:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sic in amore Venus simulacris ludit amantis,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nec satiare queunt spectando corpora coram,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nec manibus quicquam teneris abradere membris<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Possunt, errantes incerti corpore toto.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Denique cum membris conlatis flore fruuntur<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ætatis, dum jam præsagit gaudia corpus,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Atque in eo est Venus, ut muliebria conserat arva,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Adfigunt avide corpus, iunguntque salivas<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oris, et inspirant pressantes dentibus ora,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Necquiquam, quoniam nihil inde abradere possunt,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nec penetrare, et abire in corpus corpore toto.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In the same way, he judges as to the kind of taste +that we can have of divine things, which, while we +force ourselves to penetrate, and unite with them, +we find that we have more pain in the desire than<!-- Page 165 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +pleasure in the realization. And this may have been +the reason why that wise Hebrew said that he who +increases knowledge increases pain; because from, +the greater comprehension grows the greater desire. +And this is followed by greater vexation and grief +for the deprivation of the thing desired. So the +Epicurean, who led a most tranquil life, said opportunely:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sed fugitare decet simulacra, et pabula amoris<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Abstergere sibi, atque alio convertere mentem,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nec servare sibi curam certumque dolorem:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ulcus enim virescit, et inveterascit alendo,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Inque dies gliscit furor, atque ærumna gravescit.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nec Veneris fructu caret is, qui vitat amorem,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sed potius, quæ sunt, sine poena, commoda sumit.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> What is meant by the meridian of the +heart?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> That part or region of the will which is +highest and most exalted, and where it becomes most +strongly, clearly, and effectually kindled. He means +that such affection is not as in its beginning, where +it stirs, nor as at the end, where it reposes, but as in +the middle, where it becomes fervid.</p> + + +<p>XIV.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> But what means that glowing arrow, which +has flames in place of a hard point, around which<!-- Page 166 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +is encircled a noose with the legend: "Amor instat +ut instans"? Say, what does it mean?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> It seems to me to mean that love never +leaves him, and at the same time eternally afflicts +him.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> I see the noose, the arrow, and the fire. I +understand that which is written: "Amor instat"; +but that which follows I cannot understand—that is, +that love as an instant, or persisting, persists; which +has the same poverty of idea as if one said: "This +undertaking he has feigned as a feint; he bears it as +he bears it, understands it as he understands it, +values it as he values it, and esteems it as he who +esteems it."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> It is easy for him to decide and condemn +who does not even consider. That "instans" is not +an adjective from the verb "instare," but it is a +noun substantive used for the instant of time.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Now, what is the meaning of the phrase +"love endures as an instant?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span>. What does Aristotle mean in his book on +Time, when he says that eternity is an instant, and +that all time is no more than an instant?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> How can this be, seeing that there is no time +so short that it cannot be divided into seconds? +Perhaps he would say that in one instant there is<!-- Page 167 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +the Flood, the Trojan war, and we who exist now; +I should like to know how this instant is divided +into so many centuries and years, and whether, by +the same rule, we might not say that the line is a +point?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. If time be one, but in different temporal +subjects, so the instant is one in different and all +parts of time. As I am the same I was, am, and +shall be; so I myself am always the same in the +house, in the temple, in the field, and wheresoever +I am.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Why do you wish to make out that the +instant is the whole of time?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. Because if it were not an instant, it would +not be time; therefore time in essence and substance +is no other than an instant, and let this suffice, if +you understand it, because I do not intend to perorate +upon the entire physics; so that you must +understand that he means to say that the whole +of love is no less present than the whole of time; +because this "instans" does not mean a moment of +time.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. This meaning must be specified in some +way, if we do not wish to see the motto invalidated +by equivocation, by which we are free to suppose +that he meant to say that his love was but for an<!-- Page 168 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +instant—that is, for an atom of time, and of +nothing more, or that he means that it is as you +interpret it, everlasting.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Surely, if these two contrary meanings +were implied, the legend would be nonsense. But +it is not so, if you consider well, for it cannot be +that in one instant, which is an atom or point, love +persists or endures; therefore one must of necessity +understand the instant in another signification. +And for the sake of getting out of the mesh, read +the stanza:</p> + +<p>38.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">One time scatters and one gathers;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One builds, one breaks; one weeps, one laughs;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One time to sadness, one to gaiety inclines;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One labours and one rests; one stands, one sits;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One proffers and one takes away;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One stays and one removes; one animates, one kills.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In all the years, the months, the days, the hours,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Love waits on me, strikes, binds, and burns.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To me continual dissolution,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Continual weeping holds me and destroys.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All times to me are full of woe;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All things time takes from me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And gives me naught, not even death.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> I understand the meaning quite perfectly, +and confess that all things agree very well. It is +time to proceed to the next.<!-- Page 169 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>XV.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans.</span> Here behold a serpent languishing in the +snow, where a labourer has thrown it, and a naked +child burning in the midst of the fire, with certain +other details and circumstances, with the legend +which says: "Idem, itidem non idem." This seems +more like an enigma than anything else, and I do +not feel sure that I can explain it at all; yet I do +believe that it means that the same fate vexes, and +the same torments both the one and the other—that +is, immeasurably, without mercy and unto death, +by means of various instruments or contrary principles, +showing itself the same whether cold or hot. +But this, it seems to me, requires longer and special +consideration.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic.</span> Some other time. Read the lines:</p> + +<p>39.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Limp snake, that writhest in the snow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Twisting and turning here and there<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To find some ease from the tormenting cold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If the congealing ice could know thy pain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or had the sense to feel thy smart,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And thou couldst find a voice for thy complaint,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I do believe thy argument would make it pitiful.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I with eternal fire am scourged, am burnt, and bitten,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in the iciness of my divinity find no deliverance,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No pity does she feel, nor can she know, alas!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The rigorous ardour of my flames.<br /></span><!-- Page 170 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>40.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Serpent, thou fain wouldst flee, but canst not;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Try for thy hiding-place, it is no more;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Recall thy strength, 'tis spent;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wait for the sun, behind thick fog he hides;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cry mercy of the hind, he fears thy tooth.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fortune invoke, she hears thee not, the jade!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor flight, nor place, nor star, nor man, nor fate<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Can bring to thee deliverance from death.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou dost become congealed. Melting am I.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I like thy rigours, thee my ardour pleases;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Help have I none for thee, and thou hast none for me.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Clear is our evil fate—all hope resign.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cic</span>. Let us go, and by the way we will seek to +untie this knot—if possible.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tans</span>. So be it.</p> + + +<p class="style1">PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. +LONDON AND EDINBURGH</p> +<p> <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> + +<p class="center"><strong>THE APOLOGY OF THE NOLAN</strong></p> + +<p class="center style4">TO THE MOST VIRTUOUS AND LOVELY LADIES.</p> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O lovely, graceful nymphs of England!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Not in repugnance nor in scorn<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Our spirit holds you,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor would our pen abase you<br /></span> +<span class="i0">More than it must—to call you feminine!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Exemption I am sure you would not claim,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Being subject to the common influence;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shining on earth as do the stars in heaven.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Your sov'reign beauty, ladies, our austerity<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cannot depreciate, nor would do so,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For we have not in view a superhuman kind,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Such poison,[A] therefore, far from you be set,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For here we see the one, the great Diana,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who is to you as sun amongst the stars.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wit, words, learning and art,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And whatsoe'er is mine of scribbling faculty,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I humbly place before you.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>[A] Arsenico.</p> +<p>Transcribers Notes:</p> +<p><a href="#Page_162">Page 162: Original source said 34</a></p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Heroic Enthusiasts,(1 of 2) (Gli +Eroici Furori), by Giordano Bruno + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROIC ENTHUSIASTS *** + +***** This file should be named 19817-h.htm or 19817-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/8/1/19817/ + +Produced by Sjaani, Ted Garvin and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Heroic Enthusiasts,(1 of 2) (Gli Eroici Furori) + An Ethical Poem + +Author: Giordano Bruno + +Translator: L. Williams + +Release Date: November 15, 2006 [EBook #19817] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROIC ENTHUSIASTS *** + + + + +Produced by Sjaani, Ted Garvin and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +THE + +HEROIC ENTHUSIASTS + +(_GLI EROICI FURORI_) + +An Ethical poem + +BY GIORDANO BRUNO + +PART THE FIRST + +TRANSLATED BY + +L. WILLIAMS + +_WITH AN INTRODUCTION, COMPILED CHIEFLY FROM DAVID LEVI'S +GIORDANO BRUNO O LA RELIGIONE DEL PENSIERO_ + + +LONDON +GEORGE REDWAY +YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN +1887 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +When this Translation was begun, more than two years ago, for my own +pleasure, in leisure hours, I had no knowledge of the difficulty I +should find in the work, nor any thought of ever having it printed; but +as "Gli Eroici Furori" of Giordano Bruno has never appeared in English, +I decided to publish that portion of it which I have finished. + +I wish to thank those friends who have so kindly looked over my work +from time to time, and given me their help in the choice of words and +phrases. I must, moreover, confess that I am keenly alive to the +shortcomings and defects of this Translation. + +I have used the word "Enthusiasts" in the title, rather than +"Enthusiasms," because it seemed to me more appropriate. + +L. W. + +FOLKSTONE, _September 1887_. + + + + +ERRATA + +Page 3, line 10, _for_ "also mother" _read_ "also my mother." +Page 47, line 9, _for_ "poisons" _read_ "poison." + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Nola, a city founded by the Chalcidian Greeks, at a short distance from +Naples and from Vesuvius, was the birth-place of Giordano Bruno. It is +described by David Levi as a city which from ancient times had always +been consecrated to science and letters. From the time of the Romans to +that of the Barbarians and of the Middle Ages, Nola was conspicuous for +culture and refinement, and its inhabitants were in all times remarkable +for their courteous manners, for valour, and for keenness of perception. +They were, moreover, distinguished by their love for and study of +philosophy; so that this city was ever a favourite dwelling-place for +the choice spirits of the Renaissance. It may also be asserted that Nola +was the only city of Magna Graecia which, in spite of the persecutions of +Pagan emperors and Christian princes and clergy, always preserved the +philosophical traditions of the Pythagoreans, and never was the sacred +fire on the altar of Vesta suffered to become entirely extinct. Such was +the intellectual and moral atmosphere in which Bruno passed his +childhood. His paternal home was situated at the foot of Mount Cicada, +celebrated for its fruitful soil. From early youth his pleasure was to +pass the night out on the mountain, now watching the stars, now +contemplating the arid, desolate sides of Vesuvius. He tells how, in +recalling those days--the only peaceful ones of his life--he used to +think, as he looked up at the infinite expanse of heaven and the +confines of the horizon, with the towering volcano, that this must be +the ultimate end of the earth, and it appeared as if neither tree nor +grass refreshed the dreary space which stretched out to the foot of the +bare smoky mountain. When, grown older, he came nearer to it, and saw +the mountain so different from what it had appeared, and the intervening +space that, seen from afar, had looked so bare and sterile, all covered +with fruit-trees and enriched with vineyards, he began to see how +illusory the judgment of the senses may be; and the first doubt was +planted in his young soul as he perceived that, while the mind may grasp +Nature in her grandeur and majesty, the work of the sage must be to +examine her in detail, and penetrate to the cause of things. When he +appeared before the tribunal of the Holy Office at Venice, being asked +to declare who and what he was, he said: "My name is Giordano, of the +family of Bruno, of the city of Nola, twelve miles from Naples. There +was I born and brought up. My profession has been and is that of +letters, and of all the sciences. My father's name was Giovanni, and my +mother was Francesca Savolini; and my father was a soldier. He is dead, +and also mother. I am forty-four years old, having been born in 1548." +He always regarded Nola with patriotic pride, and he received his first +instruction in his father's house and in the public schools. Of a sad +disposition, and gifted with a most lively imagination, he was from his +earliest years given to meditation and to poetry. The early years of +Bruno's life were times of agitation and misfortune, and not propitious +to study. The Neapolitan provinces were disturbed by constant +earthquakes, and devastated by pestilence and famine. The Turks fought, +and ravaged the country, and made slaves of the inhabitants; the +neighbouring provinces were still more harassed by hordes of bandits and +outlaws, who invested Calabria, led by a terrible chief called Marcone. +The Inquisition stood prepared to light its fires and slaughter the +heretic. The Waldensians, who had lately been driven out of Piedmont, +and had sought a shelter in the Calabrian territory, were hunted down +and given over to the executioner. + +The convent was the only refuge from violence, and Bruno, either from +religious enthusiasm, or in order to be able to devote himself to study, +became a friar at the age of fifteen. There, in the quiet cloister of +the convent of St. Dominic at Naples, his mind was nourished and his +intellect developed; the cloistral and monkish education failed to +enslave his thought, and he emerged from this tutelage the boldest and +least fettered of philosophers. Everything about this church and this +convent, famous as having been the abode of Thomas Aquinas, was +calculated to fire the enthusiasm of Bruno's soul; the leisure and +quiet, far from inducing habits of indolence, or the sterile practices +of asceticism, were stimulants to austere study, and to the fervour of +mystical speculations. Here he passed nearly thirteen years of early +manhood, until his intellect strengthened by study he began to long for +independence of thought, and becoming, as he said himself, solicitous +about the food of the soul and the culture of the mind, he found it +irksome to go through automatically the daily vulgar routine of the +convent; the pure flame of an elevated religious feeling being kindled +in his soul, he tried to evade the vain exercises of the monks, the +puerile gymnastics, and the adoration of so-called relics. His character +was frank and open, and he was unable to hide his convictions; he put +some of his doubts before his companions, and these hastened to refer +them to the superiors; and thus was material found to institute a cause +against him. It became known, that he had praised the methods used by +the Arians or Unitarians in expounding their doctrines, adding that they +refer all things to the ultimate cause, which is the Father: this, with +other heretical propositions, being brought to the notice of the Holy +Office, Bruno found himself in the position of being first observed and +then threatened. He was warned of the danger that hung over him by some +friends, and decided to quit Naples. He fled from the convent, and took +the road to Rome, and was there received in the monastery of the +Minerva. A few days after his arrival in Rome he learned that +instructions for his arrest had been forwarded from Naples; he tarried +not, but got away secretly, throwing aside the monk's habiliments by the +way. He wandered for some days about the Roman Campagna, his destitute +condition proving a safeguard against the bands of brigands that +infested those lands, until arriving near Civita Vecchia, he was taken +on board a Genoese vessel, and carried to the Ligurian port, where he +hoped to find a refuge from his enemies; but the city of Geneva was +devastated by pestilence and civil war, and after a sojourn of a few +days he pursued once more the road of exile. Seeking for a place wherein +he might settle for a short time and hide from his pursuers, he stayed +his steps at Noli, situated at a short distance from Savona, on the +Riviera: this town, nestled in a little bay surrounded by high hills +crowned by feudal castles and towers, was only accessible on the shore +side, and offered a grateful retreat to our philosopher. At Noli, Bruno +obtained permission of the magistracy to teach grammar to children, and +thus secured the means of subsistence by the small remuneration he +received; but this modest employment did not occupy him sufficiently, +and he gathered round him a few gentlemen of the district, to whom he +taught the science of the Sphere. Bruno also wrote a book upon the +Sphere, which was lost. He expounded the system of Copernicus, and +talked to his pupils with enthusiasm about the movement of the earth and +of the plurality of worlds. + +As in that same Liguria Columbus first divined another hemisphere +outside the Pillars of Hercules, so Bruno discovered to those astonished +minds the myriads of worlds which fill the immensity of space. Columbus +was derided and banished by his fellow-citizens, and the fate of our +philosopher was similar to his. In the humble schoolmaster who taught +grammar to the children, the bishop, the clergy, and the nobles, who +listened eagerly to his lectures on the Sphere, began to suspect the +heretic and the innovator. After five months it behoved him to leave +Noli; he took the road to Savona, crossed the Apennines, and arrived at +Turin. In Turin at that time reigned the great Duke Emanuele Filiberto, +a man of strong character--one of those men who know how to found a +dynasty and to fix the destiny of a people; at that time, when Central +and Southern Italy were languishing under home and foreign tyranny, he +laid the foundations of the future Italy. + +He was warrior, artist, mechanic, and scholar. Intrepid on the field of +battle, he would retire from deeds of arms to the silence of his study, +and cause the works of Aristotle to be read to him; he spoke all the +European languages; he worked at artillery, at models of fortresses, and +at the smith's craft; he brought together around him, from all sides of +Italy, artisans and scientists to promote industry, commerce, and +science; he gathered together in Piedmont the most excellent compositors +of Italy, and sanctioned a printer's company. + +Bruno, attracted to Turin by the favour that was shown to letters and +philosophy, hoped to get occupation as press reader; but it was +precisely at that time that the Duke, instigated by France, was +combating, with every kind of weapon, the Waldensian and Huguenot +heresies, and had invited the Jesuits to Turin, offering them a +substantial subsidy; so that on Bruno's arrival he found the place he +had hoped for, as teacher in the university, occupied by his enemies, +and he therefore moved on with little delay, and embarked for Venice. + +Berti, in his Life of Bruno, remarks that when the latter sought refuge +in Turin, Torquato Tasso, also driven by adverse fortune, arrived in the +same place, and he notes the affinity between them--both so great, both +subject to every species of misfortune and persecution in life, and +destined to immortal honours after their death: the light of genius +burned in them both, the fire of enthusiasm flamed in each alike, and on +the forehead of each one was set the sign of sorrow and of pain. + +Both Bruno and Tasso entered the cloister as boys: the one joined the +Dominicans, the other the Jesuits; and in the souls of both might be +discerned the impress of the Order to which they belonged. Both went +forth from their native place longing to find a broader field of action +and greater scope for their intellectual powers. The one left Naples +carrying in his heart the Pagan and Christian traditions of the noble +enterprises and the saintly heroism of Olympus and of Calvary, of Homer +and the Fathers, of Plato and St. Ignatius; the other was filled with +the philosophical thought of the primitive Italian and Pythagorean +epochs, fecundated by his own conceptions and by the new age; +philosopher and apostle of an idea, Bruno consecrated his life to the +development of it in his writings and to the propagation of his +principles in Europe by the fire of enthusiasm. The one surprised the +world with the melody of his songs; being, as Dante says, the "dolce +sirena che i marinari in mezzo al mare smaga," he lulled the anguish +that lacerated Italy, and gilded the chains which bound her; the other +tried to shake her; to recall her to life with the vigour of thought, +with the force of reason, with the sacrifice of himself. The songs of +Tasso were heard and sung from one end of Italy to the other, and the +poet dwelt in palaces and received the caress and smile of princes; +while Bruno, discoursing in the name of reason and of science, was +rejected, persecuted, and scourged, and only after three centuries of +ingratitude, of calumny, and of forgetfulness, does his country show +signs of appreciating him and of doing justice to his memory. In Tasso +the poet predominates over the philosopher, in Bruno the philosopher +predominates over and eclipses the poet. The first sacrifices thought to +form; the second is careful only of the idea. Again, both are full of a +conception of the Divine, but the God that the dying Tasso confessed is +a god that is expected and comes not; while the god that Bruno proclaims +he already finds within himself. Tasso dies in his bed in the cloister, +uneasy as on a bed of thorns; Bruno, amidst the flames, stands out as on +a pedestal, and dies serene and calm. We must now follow our fugitive to +Venice. + +At the time Giordano Bruno arrived in Venice that city was the most +important typographical centre of Europe; the commerce in books extended +through the Levant, Germany, and France, and the philosopher hoped that +here he might find some means of subsistence. The plague at that time +was devastating Venice, and in less than one year had claimed forty-two +thousand victims; but Bruno felt no fear, and he took a lodging in that +part of Venice called the Frezzeria, and was soon busy preparing for the +press a work called "Segni del Tempo," hoping that the sale of it would +bring a little money for daily needs. This work was lost, as were all +those which he published in Italy, and which it was to the interest of +Rome to destroy. Disappointed at not finding work to do in Venice, he +next went to Padua, which was the intellectual centre of Europe, as +Venice was the centre of printing and publishing; the most celebrated +professors of that epoch were to be found in the University of Padua, +but at the time of Bruno's sojourn there, Padua, like Venice, was +ravaged by the plague; the university was closed, and the printing-house +was not in operation. He remained there only a few days, lodging with +some monks of the Order of St. Dominic, who, he relates, "persuaded me +to wear the dress again, even though I would not profess the religion it +implied, because they said it would aid me in my wayfaring to be thus +attired; and so I got a white cloth robe, and I put on the hood which I +had preserved when I left Rome." Thus habited he wandered for several +months about the cities of Venetia and Lombardy; and although he +contrived for a time to evade his persecutors, he finally decided to +leave Italy, as it was repugnant to his disposition to live in forced +dissimulation, and he felt that he could do no good either for himself +or for his country, which was then overrun with Spaniards and scourged +by petty tyrants; and with the lower orders sunk in ignorance, and the +upper classes illiterate, uncultivated, and corrupt, the mission of +Giordano Bruno was impossible. "Altiora Peto" was Bruno's motto, and to +realize it he had gone forth with the pilgrim's staff in his hand, +sometimes covered with the cowl of the monk, at others wearing the +simple habit of a schoolmaster, or, again, clothed with the doublet of +the mechanic: he had found no resting-place--nowhere to lay his head, no +one who could understand him, but always many ready to denounce him. He +turned his back at last on his country, crossed the Alps on foot, and +directed his steps towards Switzerland. He visited the universities in +different towns of Switzerland, France, and Germany, and wherever he +went he left behind him traces of his visit in some hurried writings. +The only work of the Nolan, written in Italy, which has survived is "Il +Candelajo," which was published in Paris. Levi, in his Life of Bruno, +passes in review his various works; but it will suffice here to +reproduce what he says of the "Eroici Furori," the first part of which +I have translated, and to note his remarks upon the style of Bruno, +which presents many difficulties to the translator on account of its +formlessness. Goethe says of Bruno's writings: "Zu allgemeiner +Betrachtung und Erhebung der Geistes eigneten sich die Schriften des +Jordanus Brunous von Nola; aber freilich das gediegene Gold and Silber +aus der Masse jener zo ungleich begabten Erzgaenge auszuscheiden und +unter den Hammer zu bringen erfordert fast mehr als menschliche Kraefte +vermoegen." + +I believe that no translation of Giordano Bruno's works has ever been +brought out in English, or, at any rate, no translation of the "Eroici +Furori," and therefore I have had no help from previous renderings. I +have, for the most part, followed the text as closely as possible, +especially in the sonnets, which are frequently rendered line for line. +Form is lacking in the original, and would, owing to the unusual and +often fantastic clothing of the ideas, be difficult to apply in the +translation. He seems to have written down his grand ideas hurriedly, +and, as Levi says, probably intended to retouch the work before +printing. + +Following the order of Levi's Life of Bruno, we next find the fugitive +at Geneva. He was hardly thirty-one years old when he quitted his +country and crossed the Alps, and his first stopping-place was Chambery, +where he was received in a convent of the Order of Predicatori; he +proposed going on to Lyons, but being told by an Italian priest, whom he +met there, that he was not likely to find countenance or support, either +in the place he was in or in any other place, however far he might +travel, he changed his course and made for Geneva. + +The name of Giordano Bruno was not unknown to the Italian colony who had +fled from papal persecution to this stronghold of religious reform. He +went to lodge at an inn, and soon received visits from the Marchese di +Vico Napoletano, Pietro Martire Vermigli, and other refugees, who +welcomed him with affection, inquiring whether he intended to embrace +the religion of Calvin, to which Bruno replied that he did not intend to +make profession of that religion, as he did not know of what kind it +was, and he only desired to live in Geneva in freedom. He was then +advised to doff the Dominican habit, which he still wore; this he was +quite willing to do, only he had no money to buy other clothing, and was +forced to have some made of the cloth of his monkish robes, and his new +friends presented him with a sword and a hat; they also procured some +work for him in correcting press errors. + +The term of Bruno's sojourn in Geneva seems doubtful, and the precise +nature of his employment when there is also uncertain; but his +independent spirit brought him into dispute with the rigid Calvinists of +that city, who preached and exacted a blind faith, absolute and +compulsory. Bruno could not accept any of the existing positive +religions; he professed the cult of philosophy and science, nor was his +character of that mould that would have enabled him to hide his +principles. It was made known to him that he must either adopt Calvinism +or leave Geneva: he declined the former, and had no choice as to the +latter; poor he had entered Geneva, and poor he left it, and now turned +his steps towards France. + +He reached Lyons, which was also at that time a city of refuge against +religious persecutions, and he addressed himself to his compatriots, +begging for work from the publishers, Aldo and Grifi; but not succeeding +in gaining enough to enable him to subsist, after a few days he left, +and went on his way to Toulouse, where there was a famous university; +and having made acquaintance with several men of intellect, Bruno was +invited to lecture on the Sphere, which he did, with various other +subjects, for six months, when the chair of Philosophy becoming vacant, +he took the degree of Doctor, and competed for it; and he continued for +two years in that place, teaching the philosophy of Aristotle and of +others. He took for the text of his lectures the treatise of Aristotle, +"De Anima," and this gave him the opportunity of introducing and +discussing the deepest questions--upon the Origin and Destiny of +Humanity; The Soul, is it Matter or Spirit? Potentiality or Reality? +Individual or Universal? Mortal or Eternal? Is Man alone gifted with +Soul, or are all beings equally so? Bruno's system was in his mind +complete and mature; he taught that everything in Nature has a soul, one +universal mind, penetrates and moves all things; the world itself is a +_sacrum animal_. Nothing is lost, but all transmutes and becomes. This +vast field afforded him scope for teaching his doctrines upon the world, +on the movement of the earth, and on the universal soul. The novelty and +boldness of his opinions roused the animosity of the clergy against him, +and after living two years and six months at Toulouse, he felt it wise +to retire, and leaving the capital of the Languedoc, he set his face +towards Paris. + +The two books--the fruit of his lectures--which he published in +Toulouse, "De Anima" and "De Clavis Magis," were lost. + +The title of Doctor, or as he said himself, "Maestro delle Arti," which +Bruno had obtained at Toulouse, gave him the faculty of teaching +publicly in Paris, and he says: "I went to Paris, where I set myself to +read a most unusual lecture, in order to make myself known and to +attract attention." He gave thirty lectures on the thirty Divine +attributes, dividing and distributing them according to the method of +St. Thomas Aquinas: these lectures excited much attention amongst the +scholars of the Sorbonne, who went in crowds to hear him; and he +introduced, as usual, his own ideas while apparently teaching the +doctrines of St. Thomas. His extraordinary memory and his eloquence +caused great astonishment; and the fame of Bruno reached the ears of +King Henry III., who sent for him to the Court, and being filled with +admiration of his learning, he offered him a substantial subsidy. + +During his stay at Paris, although he was much at Court, he spent many +hours in his study, writing the works that he afterwards published. + +Philosophical questions were discussed at the Sorbonne with much +freedom: Bruno showed himself no partisan of either the Platonic or the +Peripatetic school; he was not exclusive either in philosophy or in +religion; he did not favour the Huguenot faction more than the Catholic +league; and precisely by reason of this independent attitude, which kept +him free of the shackles of the sects, did he obtain the faculty of +lecturing at the Sorbonne. Nor can we ascribe this aloofness to +religious indifference, but to the fact that he sought for higher things +and longed for nobler ones. The humiliating spectacle which the positive +religions, both Catholic and Reformed, presented at that time--the +hatreds, the civil wars, the assassinations which they instigated--had +disgusted men of noble mould, and had turned them against these +so-called religions; so that in Naples, in Tuscany, in Venice, in +Switzerland, France, and England, there were to be found societies of +philosophers, of free-thinkers, and politicians, who repudiated every +positive religion and professed a pure Theism. + +In the "Spaccio della Bestia Trionfante" he declares that he cannot ally +himself either to the Catholic or the Lutheran Church, because he +professes a more pure and complete faith than these--to wit, the love of +humanity and the love of wisdom; and Mocenigo, the disciple who +ultimately betrayed and sold him to the Holy Office, declares in his +deposition that Bruno sought to make himself the author of a new +religion under the name of "Philosophy." He was not a man to conceal his +ideas, and in the fervour of his improvisation he no doubt revealed what +he was; some tumult resulted from this free speaking of Bruno's, and he +was forced to discontinue his lectures at the Sorbonne. + +Towards the end of the year 1583 the King became enthralled by religious +enthusiasm, and nothing was talked of in Paris but the conversion of +King Henry. This fact changed the aspect of affairs as far as Bruno was +concerned; he judged it prudent to leave Paris, and he travelled to +England. + +The principal works published by Bruno during his stay in Paris are "Il +Candelajo" and "Umbrae Idearum." The former, says Levi, is a work of +criticism and of demolition; in this comedy he sets in groups the +principal types of hypocrisy, stupidity, and rascality, and exhibiting +them in their true colours, he lashes them with ridicule. In the "Umbrae +Idearum" he initiates the work of reconstruction, giving colour to his +thought and sketching his idea. The philosophy of Bruno is based upon +that of Pythagoras, whose system penetrates the social and intellectual +history of Italy, both ancient and modern. The method of Pythagoras is +not confined, as most philosophies are, to pure metaphysical +speculations, but connects these with scientific observations and social +practice. Bruno having resuscitated these doctrines, stamps them with a +wider scope, giving them a more positive direction; and he may with +propriety be called the second Pythagoras. The primal idea of +Pythagoras, which Bruno worked out to a more distinct development is +this: numbers are the beginning of things; in other words numbers are +the cause of the existence of material things; they are not final, but +are always changing position and attributes; they are variable and +relative. Beyond and above this mutability there must be the Immutable, +the All, the One. + +The Infinite must be one, as one is the absolute number; in the original +One is contained all the numbers; in the One is contained all the +elements of the Universe. + +This abstract doctrine required to be elucidated and fixed. From a +hypothesis to concentrate and reduce it to a reality was the great work +of Bruno. + +One is the perfect number; it is the primitive monad. As from the One +proceeds the infinite series of numbers which again withdraw and are +resolved into the One; so from Substance, which is one, proceed the +myriads of worlds; from the worlds proceed myriads of living creatures; +and from the union of one with the diverse is generated the Universe. +Hence the progression from ascent to descent, from spirit to that which +we call matter; from the cause to the origin, and the process of +metaphysics, which, from the finite world of sense rises to the +intelligent, passing through the intermediate numbers of infinite +substance to active being and cosmic reason. + +From the absolute One, the sun of the sensible and intellectual world, +millions of stars and suns are produced or developed. Each sun is the +centre of as many worlds which are distributed in as many distinct +series in an infinite number of concentric centres and systems. Each +system is attracted, repelled, and moved by an infinite, internal +passion, or attraction; each turns round its own centre, and moves in a +spiral towards the centre of the whole, towards which centre they all +tend with infinite passional ardour. For in this centre resides the sun +of suns, the unity of unities, the temple, the altar of the universe, +the sacred fire of Vesta, the vital principle of the universe. + +That which occurs in the world of stars is reflected in the telluric +world; everything has its centre, towards which it is attracted with +fervour. All is thought, passion, and aspiration. + +From this unity, which governs variety, from this movement of every +world around its sun, of every sun around its centre sun--the sun of +suns--which informs all with the rays of the spirit, with the light of +thought--is generated that perfect harmony of colours, sounds, forms, +which strike the sight and captivate and enthrall the intellect. That +which in the heavens is harmony becomes, in the individual, morality, +and in companies of human beings, law. That which is light in the +spheres becomes intelligence and science in the world of the spirit and +in humanity. We must study this harmony that rules the celestial worlds +in order to deduce the laws which should govern civil bodies. + +In the science of numbers dwells harmony, and therefore it behoves us to +identify ourselves with this harmony, because from it is derived the +harmonic law which draws men together into companies. Through the +revolution of the worlds through space around their suns, from their +order, their constancy and their measure, the mind comprehends the +progress and conditions of men, and their duties towards each other. The +Bible, the sacred book of man, is in the heavens; there does man find +written the word of God. + +Human souls are lights, distinct from the universal soul, which is +diffused over all and penetrates everything. A purifying process guides +them from one existence to another, from one form to another, from one +world to another. The life of man is more than an experience or trial; +it is an effort, a struggle to reproduce and represent upon earth some +of that goodness, beauty, and truth which are diffused over the universe +and constitute its harmony. + +Long, slow, and full of opposition is this educational process of the +soul. As the terraqueous globe becomes formed, changed, and perfected, +little by little, through the cataclysms and convulsions which, by means +of fire, flood, earthquake, and irruptions, transform the earth, so it +is with humanity. Through struggle is man educated, fortified, and +raised. + +In the midst of social cataclysms and revolutions humanity has one +guiding star, a beacon which shows its light above the storms and +tempests, a mystical thread running through the labyrinth of +history--namely, the religion of philosophy and of thought. The vulgar +creeds would not, and have not dared to reveal the Truth in its purity +and essence. They covered it with veils with allegories, with myths and +mysteries, which they called sacred; they enshrouded thought with a +double veil, and called it Revelation. Humanity, deceived by a +seductive form, adored the veil, but did not lift itself up to the idea +behind it; it saw the shadow, not the light. + +But we must return to our wandering hero. + +Bruno was about thirty-six years old when he left Paris and went to +England. He was invited to visit the University of Oxford, and opened +his lectures there with two subjects which, apparently diverse, are in +reality intimately connected with each other--namely, on the Quadruple +Sphere and on the Immortality of the Soul. Speaking of the immortality +of the soul, he maintained that nothing in the universe is lost, +everything changes and is transformed; therefore, soul and body, spirit +and matter, are equally immortal. The body dissolves, and is +transformed; the soul transmigrates, and, drawing round itself atom to +atom, it reconstructs for itself a new body. The spirit that animates +and moves all things is one; everything differentiates according to the +different forms and bodies in which it operates. Hence, of animate +things some are inferior by reason of the meanness of the organ in which +they operate; others are superior through the richness of the same. Thus +we see that Bruno anticipates the doctrine, proclaimed later by Goethe +and by Darwin, of the transformation of species and of the organic unity +of the animal world; and this alternation from segregation to +aggregation, which we call death and life, is no other than mutation of +form. + +After having criticised and scourged the religions of chimera, of +ignorance, and hypocrisy, in "Lo Spaccio della Bestia Trionfante" and in +"L'Asino Cillenico," the author, in "Gli Eroici Furori," lays down the +basis for the religion of thought and of science. In place of the +so-called Christian perfections (resignation, devotion, and ignorance), +Bruno would put intelligence and the progress of the intellect in the +world of physics, metaphysics, and morals; the true aim being +illumination, the true morality the practice of justice, the true +redemption the liberation of the soul from error, its elevation and +union with God upon the wings of thought. This idea is developed in the +work in question, which is dedicated to Sir Philip Sidney. After +treating of the infinite universe, and contemplating the innumerable +worlds in other works, he comes, in "Gli Eroici Furori," to the +consideration of virtue in the individual, and demonstrates the potency +of the human faculties. After the Cosmos, the Microcosm; after the +infinitely great, the infinitely small. The body is in the soul, the +soul is in the mind, the mind is in God. The life of the soul is the +true life of the man. Of all his various faculties, that which rules +all, that which exalts our nature, is Thought. By means of it we rise to +the contemplation of the universe, and becoming in our turn creators, we +raise the edifice of science; through the intellect the affections +become purified, the will becomes strengthened. True liberty is +acquired, and will and action becoming one through thought, we become +heroes. + +This education of the soul, or rather this elevation and glory of +thought, which draws with it the will and the affections, not by means +of blind faith or supernatural grace, not through an irrational and +mystical impulse, but by the strength of a reformed intellect and by a +palpable and well-considered enthusiasm, which science and the +contemplation of Nature alone can give, this is the keynote of the poem. +It is composed of two parts, each of which is divided into five +dialogues: the first part, which may be called psychological, shows, by +means of various figures and symbols drawn from Nature, how the divine +light is always present to us, is inherent in man; it presents itself to +the senses and to the comprehension: man constantly rejects and ignores +it; sometimes the soul strives to rise up to it, and the poet describes +the struggle with the opposing affections which are involved in this +effort, and shows how at last the man of intelligence overcomes these +contending powers and fatal impulses which conflict within us, and by +virtue of harmony and the fusion of the opposites the intellect becomes +one with the affections, and man realizes the good and rises to the +knowledge of the true. All conflicting desires being at last united, +they become fixed upon one object, one great intent--the love of the +Divine, which is the highest truth and the highest good. In "Gli Eroici +Furori" we see Bruno as a man, as a philosopher, and as a believer: here +he reveals himself as the hero of thought. Even as Christ was the hero +of faith, and sacrificed himself for it, so Bruno declares himself ready +to sacrifice himself for science. It is also a literary, a +philosophical, and a religious work; form, however, is sacrificed to the +idea--so absorbed is the author in the idea that he often ignores form +altogether. An exile wandering from place to place, he wrote hurriedly +and seldom or ever had he the opportunity of revising what he had +written down. His mind in the impulsiveness of its improvisation was +like the volcano of his native soil, which, rent by subterranean +flames, sends forth from its vortices of fire, at the same time smoke, +ashes, turbid floods, stones, and lava. He contemplates the soul, and +seeks to understand its language; he is a physiologist and a naturalist, +merged in the mystic and the enlightened devotee. + +Bruno might have made a fixed home for himself in England, as so many of +his compatriots had done, and have continued to enjoy the society of +such men as Sir Philip Sydney, Fulke Greville, and, perchance, also of +Shakespeare himself, who was in London about that time; but his +self-imposed mission allowed him no rest; he must go forth, and carry +his doctrines to the world, and forget the pleasures of friendship and +the ties of comfort in the larger love of humanity; his work was to +awaken souls out of their lethargy, to inspire them with the love of the +highest good and of truth; to teach that God is to be found in the study +of Nature, that the laws of the visible world will explain those of the +invisible, the union of science and humanity with Nature and with God. + +Bruno returned to Paris in 1585, being at that time tutor in the family +of Mauvissier, who had been recalled from England by his Sovereign. +During Bruno's second sojourn in Paris efforts were made by Mendoza, +the Spanish ambassador, and others, to induce him to return to his +allegiance to the Church, and to be reconciled to the Pope; but Bruno +declined these overtures, and soon after left Paris for Germany, where +he arrived on foot, his only burden being a few books. + +He visited Marburg and Wurtemburg, remaining in the latter place two +years, earning his bread by teaching. + +Prague and Frankfort were next visited; ever the same courage and +boldness characterised his teaching, and ever the same scanty welcome +was accorded to it, although in every city and university crowds of the +intelligent listened to his lectures; but the Church never lost sight of +Bruno, he was always under surveillance, and few dared to show +themselves openly his friends. Absorbed in his studies and intent upon +his work, writing with feverish haste, he observed nothing of the +invisible net which his enemies kept spread about him, and while his +slanderers were busy in doing him injury he was occupied in teaching the +mnemonic art, and explaining his system of philosophy to the young +Lutherans who attended his lectures; in settling the basis of a new and +rational religion, and in writing Latin verses; using ever greater +diligence with his work, almost as if he felt that the time was drawing +near in which he would be no longer at liberty to work and teach. + +It was during the early part of the pontificate of Gregory XIV. that +Bruno received letters from Mocenigo in Venice, urging him to return to +Italy, and to go and stay with him in Venice, and instruct him in the +secrets of science. Bruno was beginning to tire of this perpetually +wandering life, and after several letters from Mocenigo, full of fine +professions of friendship and protection, Bruno, longing to see his +country again, turned his face towards Venice. + +In those days men of superior intellect were often considered to be +magicians or sorcerers; Mocenigo, after enticing Bruno to Venice, +insisted upon his teaching him "the secret of memory and other things +that he knew." + +The philosopher with untiring patience tried to instil into this dull +head the principles of logic, the elements of mathematics, and the +rudiments of the mnemonic art; but the pupil hated study, and had no +faculty of thought; yet he insisted that Bruno should make science +clearly known to him! But this was probably only to initiate a quarrel +with Bruno, whom he intended afterwards to betray, and deliver into the +hands of the Church. + +The Holy Office would have laid hands on Bruno immediately on his +arrival in Italy, but being assured by Mocenigo that he could not +escape, they left him a certain liberty, so that he might more surely +compromise himself, while his enemies were busy collecting evidence +against him. When at last his eyes became opened to what was going on +about him, and he could no longer ignore the peril of his position, it +was too late; Bruno could not get away, and was told by Mocenigo that if +he stayed not by his own will and pleasure, he would be compelled to +remain where he was. Bruno, however, made his preparations for +departure, and sent his things on to Frankfort, intending to leave the +next day himself; but in the morning, while he was still in bed, +Mocenigo entered the chamber, pretending that he wished to speak with +him; then calling his servant Bartolo and five or six gondoliers, who +waited without, they forced Bruno to rise, and conducted him to a +garret, and locked him in. There he passed the first day of that +imprisonment which was to last for eight years. The next day he went +over the lagoon in a gondola, in the company of his jailors, who took +him to the prison of the Holy Office, and left him there. Levi devotes +many pages to the accusations brought against Giordano Bruno by the +Inquisitors, and the depositions and denunciations made against him by +his enemies. The Court was opened without delay, and most of the +provinces of Italy were represented by their delegates in the early part +of the trial; Bruno himself, being interrogated, gave an account in +detail of his life, of his wanderings, of his occupations and works: +serene and dignified before this terrible tribunal, he expounded his +doctrine, its principles, and logical consequences. He spoke of the +universe, of the infinite worlds in infinite space, of the divinity in +all things, of the unity of all things, the dependence and +inter-dependence of all things, and of the existence of God in all. +After nine months' imprisonment in Venice, towards the end of January +1593, Bruno, in chains, was conveyed from the Bridge of Sighs through +the lagoons to Ancona, where he remained incarcerated until the prison +of the Roman Inquisition received him. If we look upon "Gli Eroici +Furori" as a prophetical poem, we see that his sufferings in the +loneliness of his prison and in the torture-chamber of the Inquisition +passed by anticipation before his mind in the book written when he was +free and a wanderer in strange lands. + + "By what condition, nature, or fell chance, + In living death, dead life I live?" + +he writes eight years and more before he ever breathed the stifling air +of a dungeon; and again: + + "The soul nor yields nor bends to these rough blows, + But bears, exulting, this long martyrdom, + And makes a harmony of these sharp pangs." + +Further details of the trial of Giordano Bruno are to be found in Levi's +book. It is well known how he received the sentence of death passed upon +him, saying: "You, O judges! feel perchance more terror in pronouncing +this judgment than I do in hearing it." The day fixed for the burning, +which was to take place in the Campo dei Fiori, was the 17th February in +the year 1600. Rome was full of pilgrims from all parts, come to +celebrate the jubilee of Pope Clement VIII. Bruno was hardly fifty years +old at this time; his face was thin and pale, with dark, fiery eyes; the +forehead luminous with thought, his body frail and bearing the signs of +torture; his hands in chains, his feet bare, he walked with slow steps +in the early morning towards the funeral pile. Brightly shone the sun, +and the flames leapt upwards and mingled with his ardent rays; Bruno +stood in the midst with his arms crossed, his head raised, his eyes +open; when all was consumed, a monk took a handful of the ashes and +scattered them in the wind. A month later, the Bishop of Sidonia +presented himself at the Treasury of the Pope, and demanded two scudi in +payment for having degraded Fra Giordano the heretic. + + "L'incendio e tal, ch'io m'ardo e non mi sfaccio." + + EROICI FURORI. + + + + +THE + +HEROIC ENTHUSIASTS. + + + + +=First Dialogue.= + +TANSILLO, CICADA. + + +TANS. The enthusiasms most suitable to be first brought forward and +considered are those that I now place before you in the order that seems +to me most fitting. + +CIC. Begin, then, to read. + +TANSILLO. + +1. + + Ye Muses, that so oft I have repulsed, + That, now importuned, haste to cure my pain, + And to console me in my woes + With verses, rhymes, and exaltation + Such as to others ye did never show, + Who yet do vaunt themselves of laurel and of myrtle + Be near me now, my anchor and my port, + Lest I for sport should towards some others turn. + + O Mount! O Goddesses! O Fountain! + Where and with whom I dwell, converse and nourish me, + Where peacefully I ponder and grow fair; + I rise, I live: heart, spirit, brows adorn; + Death, cypresses, and hells + You change to life, to laurels, and eternal stars! + +It is to be supposed that he oftimes and for divers reasons had repulsed +the Muses; first, because he could not be idle as a priest of the Muses +should be, for idleness cannot exist there, where the ministers and +servants of envy, ignorance, and malignity are to be combated. Moreover, +he could not force himself to the study of philosophies, which though +they be not the most mature, yet ought, as kindred of the Muses, to +precede them. Besides which, being drawn on one side by the tragic +Melpomene, with more matter than spirit, and on the other side by the +comic Thalia, with more spirit than matter, it came to pass that, +oscillating between the two, he remained neutral and inactive, rather +than operative. Finally, the dictum of the censors, who, restraining him +from that which was high and worthy, and towards which he was naturally +inclined, sought to enslave his genius, and from being free in virtue +they would have rendered him contemptible under a most vile and stupid +hypocrisy. At last, in the great whirl of annoyances by which he was +surrounded, it happened that, not having wherewith to console him, he +listened to those who are said to intoxicate him with such exaltation, +verses, and rhymes, as they had never demonstrated to others; because +this work shines more by its originality than by its conventionality. + +CIC. Say, what do you mean by those who vaunt themselves of myrtle and +laurel? + +TANS. Those may and do boast of the myrtle who sing of love: if they +bear themselves nobly, they may wear a crown of that plant consecrated +to Venus, of which they know the potency. Those may boast of the laurel +who sing worthily of things pertaining to heroes, substituting heroic +souls for speculative and moral philosophy, and praising them and +setting as mirrors and exemplars for political and civil actions. + +CIC. There are then many species of poets and crowns? + +TANS. Not only as many as there are Muses, but a great many more; for +although genius is to be met with, yet certain modes and species of +human ingenuity cannot be thus classified. + +CIC. There are certain schoolmen who barely allow Homer to be a poet, +and set down Virgil, Ovid, Martial, Hesiod, Lucretius, and many others +as versifiers, judging them by the rules of poetry of Aristotle. + +TANS. Know for certain, my brother, that such as these are beasts. They +do not consider that those rules serve principally as a frame for the +Homeric poetry, and for other similar to it, and they set up one as a +great poet, high as Homer, and disallow those of other vein, and art, +and enthusiasm, who in their various kinds are equal, similar, or +greater. + +CIC. So that Homer was not a poet who depended upon rules, but was the +cause of the rules which serve for those who are more apt at imitation +than invention, and they have been used by him who, being no poet, yet +knew how to take the rules of Homeric poetry into service, so as to +become, not a poet or a Homer, but one who apes the Muse of others? + +TANS. Thou dost well conclude that poetry is not born in rules, or only +slightly and accidentally so; the rules are derived from the poetry, and +there are as many kinds and sorts of true rules as there are kinds and +sorts of true poets. + +CIC. How then are the true poets to be known? + +TANS. By the singing of their verses; in that singing they give delight, +or they edify, or they edify and delight together. + +CIC. To whom then are the rules of Aristotle useful? + +TANS. To him who, unlike Homer, Hesiod, Orpheus, and others, could not +sing without the rules of Aristotle, and who, having no Muse of his own, +would coquette with that of Homer. + +CIC. Then they are wrong, those stupid pedants of our days, who exclude +from the number of poets those who do not use words and metaphors +conformable to, or whose principles are not in union with, those of +Homer and Virgil; or because they do not observe the custom of +invocation, or because they weave one history or tale with another, or +because they finish the song with an epilogue on what has been said and +a prelude on what is to be said, and many other kinds of criticism and +censure, from whence it seems they would imply that they themselves, if +the fancy took them, could be the true poets; and yet in fact they are +no other than worms, that know not how to do anything well, but are born +only to gnaw and befoul the studies and labours of others; and not being +able to attain celebrity by their own virtue and ingenuity, seek to put +themselves in the front, by hook or by crook, through the defects and +errors of others. + +TANS. Now, to return from this long digression, I say that there are as +many sorts of poets as there are human sentiments and ideas; and to +these it is possible to adapt garlands, not only of every species of +plant, but also of other kinds of material. So the crowns of poets are +made not only of myrtle and of laurel, but of vine leaves for the +white-wine verses, and of ivy for the bacchanals; of olive for sacrifice +and laws; of poplar, of elm, and of corn for agriculture; of cypress for +funerals, and innumerable others for other occasions; and, if it please +you, also of that material signified by a good fellow when he exclaimed: + + O Friar Leek! O Poetaster! + That in Milan didst buckle on thy wreath + Composed of salad, sausage, and the pepper-caster. + +CIC. Now surely he of divers moods, which he exhibits in various ways, +may cover himself with the branches of different plants, and may hold +discourse worthily with the Muses, for they are his aura or comforter, +his anchor or support, and his harbour, to which he retires in times of +labour, of agitation, and storm. Hence he cries: "O mountain of +Parnassus, where I abide! Muses, with whom I converse! Fountain of +Helicon, where I am nourished. Mountain, that affordest me a quiet +dwelling-place! Muses, that inspire me with profound doctrines. +Fountain, that cleanses me! Mountain, on whose ascent my heart uprises! +Muses, that in discourse revive my spirit. Well, whose arbours cool my +brows! Change my death into life, my cypress to laurels, and my hells +into heavens: that is, give me immortality, make me poet, render me +illustrious!" + +TANS. Well; because to those whom Heaven favours the greatest evils turn +to greatest good, for needs or necessities bring forth labours and +studies, and these most often bring the glory of immortal splendour. + +CIC. For to die in one age makes us live in all the rest. Go on. + +TANS. Then follows: + +2. + + In form and place like to Parnassus is my heart, + And up unto this mount for safety I ascend; + My Muses are my thoughts, and they present to me + At every hour new beauties counted out. + The frequent tears that from my eyes do pour, + These make my fount of Helicon. + By such a mount, such nymphs, such floods, + As Heaven did please, was I a poet born. + No king of any kingdom, + No favouring hand of emperor, + No highest priest nor great pastor, + Has given to me such graces, honours, privileges, + As are those laurel leaves with which + O'ershadowed are my heart, my thoughts, my tears. + +Here he declares his mountain to be the exalted affection of his heart, +his Muses he calls the beauties and attributes of the object of his +affections, and the fountain is his tears. In that mountain affection is +kindled; through those beauties enthusiasm is conceived, and by those +tears the enthusiastic affection is demonstrated; and he esteems himself +not less grandly crowned by his heart, his thoughts, and his tears than +others are by the hand of kings, emperors, and popes. + +CIC. Explain to me what he means by his heart being in form like +Parnassus. + +TANS. Because the human heart has two summits, which terminate in one +base or root; and, spiritually, from one affection of the heart proceed +two opposites, love and hate; and the mountain of Parnassus has two +summits and one base. + +CIC. On to the next! + +3. + + The captain calls his warriors to arms, + And at the trumpet's sound they all + Under one sign and standard come. + But yet for some in vain the call is heard, + Heedless and unprepared, they mind it not. + One foe he kills, and the insane unborn, + He banishes from out the camp in scorn. + And thus the soul, when foiled her high designs, + Would have all those opponents dead or gone; + One object only I regard, + One face alone my mind does fill, + One beauty keeps me fixed and still; + One arrow pierced my heart, and one + The fire with which alone I burn, + And towards one paradise I turn. + +This captain is the human will, which dwells in the depths of the soul +with the small helm of reason to govern and guide the interior powers +against the wave of natural impulses. He, with the sound of the +trumpet--that is, by fixed resolve--calls all the warriors or invokes +all the powers; called warriors because they are in continual strife and +opposition; and their affections, which are all contrary thoughts, some +towards one and some towards the other side inclining, and he tries to +bring them all under one flag--one settled end and aim. Some are called +in vain to put in a ready appearance, and are chiefly those which +proceed from the lower instincts, and which obey the reason either not +at all, or very little; and forcing himself to prevent their actions and +condemn those which cannot be prevented, he shows himself as one who +would kill those and banish these, now by the scourge of scorn, now by +the sword of anger. One only is the object of his regards, and on this +he is intently fixed; one prospect delights and fills his imagination, +one beauty pleases, and he rests in that, because the operation of the +intelligence is not a work of movement but of quiet; from thence alone +he derives that barb which, killing him, constitutes the consummation of +perfection. He burns with one fire alone; that is, one affection +consumes him. + +CIC. Why is love symbolized by fire? + +TANS. For many reasons, but at present let this one suffice thee: that +as love converts the thing loved into the lover, so amongst the elements +fire is active and potent to convert all the others, simple and +composite, into itself. + +CIC. Go on. + +TANS. He knows one paradise--that is, one consummation, because paradise +commonly signifies the end; which is again distinguished from that which +is absolute in truth and essence from that which is so in appearance and +shadow or form. Of the first there can only be one, as there can be only +one ultimate and one primal good. Of the second the modes are infinite. + +4. + + Love, Fate, Love's object, and cold Jealousy, + Delight me, and torment, content me, and afflict. + The insensate boy, the blind and sinister, + The loftiest beauty, and my death alone + Show to me paradise, and take away, + Present me with all good, and steal it from me, + So that the heart, the mind, the spirit, and the soul, + Have joy, pain, cold, and weight in their control. + Who will deliver me from war? + Who give to me the fruit of love in peace? + And that which vexes that which pleases me + (Opening the gates of heaven and closing them) + Who will set far apart + To make acceptable my fires and tears? + +He shows the reason and origin of passion; and whence it is conceived; +and how enthusiasm is born, by ploughing the field of the Muses and +scattering the seed of his thoughts and waiting for the fruitful +harvest, discovering in himself the fervour of the affections instead of +in the sun, and in place of the rain is the moisture of his eyes. He +brings forward four things: Love, Fate, the Object, and Jealousy. Here +love is not a low, ignoble, and unworthy motor, but a noble lord and +chief. Fate is none other than the pre-ordained disposition and order of +casualties to which he is subject by his destiny. The object is the +thing loved and the correlative of the lover. Jealousy, it is clear, +must be the ardour of the lover about the thing loved, of which it boots +not to speak to him who knows what love is, and which it is vain to try +to explain to others. Love delights, because to him who loves it is a +pleasure to love; and he who really loves would not cease from loving. +This is referred to in the following sonnet: + +5. + + Beloved, sweet, and honourable wound, + From fairest dart that love did choose, + Lofty, most beauteous and potential zeal, + That makes the soul in its own flames find weal! + What power or spell of herb or magic art + Can tear thee from the centre of my heart, + Since he, who with an ever-growing zest, + Tormenting most, yet most does make me blest? + How can I of this weight unburdened be, + If pain the cure, and joy the sore give me? + Sweet is my pain: to this world new and rare. + Eyes! ye are the bow and torches of my lord! + Double the flames and arrows in my breast, + For languishing is sweet and burning best. + +Fate vexes and grieves by undesirable and unfortunate events, or because +it makes the subject feel unworthy of the object, and out of proportion +with the dignity of the latter, or because a perfect sympathy does not +exist, or for other reasons and obstacles that arise. The object +satisfies the subject, which is nourished by no other, seeks no other, +is occupied by no other, and banishes every other thought. Jealousy +torments, because although she is the daughter of Love, and is derived +from him, and is his companion who always goes with him, and is a sign +of the same, being understood as a necessary consequence wherever love +is found (as may be observed of whole generations who, from the coldness +of the region and lateness of development, learn little, love less, and +of jealousy know nothing), yet, notwithstanding its kinship, +association, and signification, jealousy comes to trouble and poisons +all that it finds of beautiful and of good in Love. Therefore I said in +another sonnet: + +6. + + Oh, wicked child of Envy and of Love! + That turnest into pain thy father's joys, + To evil Argus-eyed, but blind as mole to good. + Minister of torment! Jealousy! + Fetid harpy! Tisiphone infernal! + Who steals and poisons others' good, + Under thy cruel breath does languish + The sweetest flower of all my hopes. + Proud of thyself, unlovely one, + Bird of sorrow and harbinger of ill, + The heart thou visitest by thousand doors; + If entrance unto thee could be denied, + The reign of Love would so much fairer be, + As would this world were death and hate away. + +To the above is added, that Jealousy not only is sometimes the ruin and +death of the lover, but often kills Love itself, because Love comes to +be so much under its influence that it is impelled to despise the +object, and in fact becomes alienated from it, especially when it +engenders disdain. + +CIC. Explain now the ideas which follow. Why is Love called the +"insensate boy"? + +TANS. I will tell you. Love is called the insensate boy, not because he +is so of himself, but because he brings certain ones into subjection, +and dwells in such subjects, since the more intellectual and speculative +one is, the more Love raises the genius and purifies the intellect, +rendering it alert, studious, and circumspect, promoting a condition of +valorous animosity and an emulation of virtues and dignities by the +desire to please and to make itself worthy of the thing loved; others, +and they are the largest number, call him mad and foolish, because he +drives them distracted, and hurries them into excesses, by which the +spirit, soul, and body become sickly, and inept to consider and +distinguish that which is seemly from that which is distorted; thus +rendering them subject to scorn, derision, and reproach. + +CIC. It is commonly said that love makes fools of the old and makes the +young wise. + +TANS. That drawback does not happen to all the aged, nor that advantage +to all the young; the one is true of the weak, and the other of the +robust. One thing is certain, that he who loves wisely in youth will in +age not go astray. But derision is for those of mature age, into whose +hands Love puts the alphabet. + +CIC. Tell me now why Fate is called blind and bad. + +TANS. Again, blind and bad is not said of Destiny itself, because it is +of the same order and number and measure as the universe; but as to the +subjects it is said to be blind, for they are blind to fate, she being +so uncertain. So also is Fate said to be evil, because every living +mortal who laments and complains, blames her. As the Apulian poet says: + + How is it, or what means it, Maecenas, + That none on earth contented with that fate appear, + Which Reason or Heaven has assigned to them? + +In the same way he calls the object the highest beauty, as it is that +alone which has power of attracting him to itself; and thus he holds it +more worthy, more noble, and feels it predominant and superior as he +becomes subject and captive to it. "My death itself," he says of +Jealousy, because as Love has no more close companion than she, so also +he feels he has no greater enemy; as nothing is more hurtful to iron +than rust, which is produced by it. + +CIC. Now, since you have begun so, continue to show bit by bit that +which remains. + +TANS. So will I. He says next of Love: he shows me Paradise, in order to +prove that Love himself is not blind, and does not himself render any +lovers blind, except through the ignoble characteristics of the subject; +even as the birds of night become blind in the sunshine. As for himself, +Love brightens, clears, and opens the intellect, permeating all and +producing miraculous effects. + +CIC. Much of this, it seems to me, the Nolano demonstrates in another +sonnet: + +7. + + Love, through whom high truth I do discern, + Thou openest the black diamond doors; + Through the eyes enters my deity, and through seeing + Is born, lives, is nourished, and has eternal reign; + Shows forth what heaven holds, earth and hell: + Makes present true images of the absent; + Gains strength: and drawing with straight aim, + Wounds, lays bare and frets the inmost heart. + Attend now, thou base hind unto the truth, + Bend down the ear to my unerring word; + Open, open, if thou canst the eyes, foolish perverted one! + Thou understanding little, call'st him child, + Because thou swiftly changest, fugitive he seems, + Thyself not seeing, call'st him blind. + +Love shows Paradise in order that the highest things may be heard, +understood, and accomplished; or it makes the things loved, grand--at +least in appearance. He says, Fate takes love away; because, often in +spite of the lover, it does not concede, and that which he sees and +desires is distant and adverse to him. Every good he sets before me, he +says of the object, because that which is indicated by the finger of +Love seems to him the only thing, the principal, and the whole. "Steals +it from me," he says of Jealousy, not simply in order that it may not be +present to me; removing it from my eyesight, but in order that good may +not be good, but an acute evil; sweet, not sweet, but an agonized +longing; while the heart--that is, the will, has joy by the great force +of love, whatever may be the result; the mind--that is, the intellectual +part, has pain through the Fear of Fate, which fate does not favour the +lover; the spirit--that is, the natural affections, are cold because +they are snatched from the object which gives joy to the heart, and +which might give pleasure to the mind; the soul--that is, the suffering +and sensitive soul, is heavy--that is, finds itself oppressed with the +heavy burden of jealousy which torments it. To this consideration of his +state he adds a tearful lament, and says: "Who will deliver me from +war, and give me peace? or who will separate that which pains and +injures me from that which I so love, and which opens to me the gates of +heaven, so that the fervid flames in my heart may be acceptable, and +fortunate the fountains of my tears?" Continuing this proposition, he +adds: + +8. + + Ah me! oppress some other, spiteful Fate! + Jealousy, get thee hence--begone! away! + These may suffice to show me all the grace + Of changeful Love, and of that noble face. + He takes my life, she gives me death, + She wings, he burns my heart, + He murders it, and she revives the soul: + My succour she, my grievous burden he! + But what say I of Love? + If he and she one subject be, or form, + If with one empire and one rule they stamp + One sole impression in my heart of hearts, + Then are they two, yet one, on which do wait + The mirth and melancholy of my state! + +Four beginnings and extremes of two opposites he would reduce to two +beginnings and one opposite: he says, then, oppress others--that is, let +it suffice thee, O my Fate! that thou hast so much oppressed me; and +since thou canst not exist without exercise of thyself, turn elsewhere +thy anger. Get thee hence out of the world, thou Jealousy, because one +of those two others which remain can supply your functions and offices; +yet, O Fate! thou art none other than my love; and thou, Jealousy, art +not external to the substance of the same. He alone, then, remains to +deprive me of life, to burn me, to give me death, and to be to me the +burden of my bones; for he delivers me from death--wings, enlivens, and +sustains. Then two beginnings and one opposite he reduces to one +beginning and one result, exclaiming: But what do I say of Love? If this +presence, this object, is his empire, and appears none other than the +empire of Love, the rule of Love and its own rule; the impression of +Love which appears in the substance of my heart, is then no other +impression than its own, and therefore after having said "Noble face," +replies "Inconstant Love."[A] + +[A] Vago amore. + + + + +=Second Dialogue.= + +TANSILLO. + + +Now begins the enthusiast to display the affections and uncover the +wounds which are for a sign in his body, and in substance or essence in +his soul, and he says thus: + +9. + + Of Love the standard-bearer I; + My hopes are ice, and glowing my desires. + At once I tremble, sparkle, freeze, and burn; + Am mute, and fill the air with clamorous plaints. + Water my eyes distil, sparks from my heart. + I live, I die, make merry and lament. + Living the waters, the burning never dies, + For in my eyes is Thetys, and Vulcan in my heart. + Others I love; myself I hate. + If I be winged, others are changed to stone; + They high as heaven, if I be lowly set. + I cease not to pursue, they ever flee away; + If I do call, yet none will answer me. + The more I search, the more is hid from me. + +In accordance with this, I will continue with that which just before I +said to thee, that one should not strive so hard to prove that which is +so very evident--namely, that there is nothing pure and unalloyed; and +some have said that no mixed thing is a real entity, as alloyed gold is +not real gold, manufactured wine is not real simple wine. Almost all +things are made up of opposites, whence it comes that the success of our +affections, through the mixture that is in things, can afford no +pleasure without some bitterness; and more than this, I will say, that +were it not for the bitter, there would be no sweet; seeing that it is +through fatigue that we find pleasure in repose; separation is the cause +of our pleasure in union; and, examining generally, we shall ever find +that one opposite is the reason that the other opposite pleases and is +desired. + +CIC. Then there is no delight without the contrary? + +TANS. Certainly not; as without the opposite there is no pain; as is +shown by that golden Pythagorean poet when he says: + + Hinc metuunt cupiuntque, dolent gaudentque, nec + Respiciunt, clausae tenebris, e carcere caeco. + +This, then, is what the mixture of things causes, and hence it is that +no one is pleased with his own state, except some senseless blockhead, +who is so all the more the deeper is the degree of obscure folly in +which he is sunk; then he has little or no apprehension of pain; he +enjoys the actual present without fearing the future; he enjoys that +which is and that in which he finds himself, and has neither care nor +sorrow for what may be; and, in short, has no sense of that opposition +which is symbolized by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. + +CIC. From this we see that ignorance is the mother of sensual felicity +and beatitude, and this same is the garden of paradise of the animals; +as is made clear in the dialogues of the Kabala of the horse Pegasus; +and as says the wise Solomon, "Whoso increases knowledge increases +sorrow." + +TANS. Hence it appears that heroic love is a torment, because it does +not enjoy the present, as does animal love, but is of the future and the +absent; and, on the contrary, it feels ambition, emulation, suspicion +and dread. One evening, after supper, a certain neighbour of ours said: +"Never was I more jolly than I am now." John Bruno, father of the +Nolano, answered him: "Never wert thou more foolish than now." + +CIC. You would imply, then, that he who is sad is wise, and that other +who is more sad is wiser? + +TANS. On the contrary, I mean that there is in these another species of +foolishness and a worse. + +CIC. Who, then, is wise, if foolish is he who is content, and foolish he +who is sad? + +TANS. He who is neither merry nor sad. + +CIC. Who? He who sleeps? He who is without feeling--who is dead? + +TANS. No; but he who is quick, both seeing and hearing, and who, +considering evil and good, estimating the one and the other as variable, +and consistent in motion, mutation, and vicissitude, in such wise that +the end of one opposite is the commencement of another, and the extreme +of the one is the beginning of the other; whose spirit is neither +depressed nor elated, but is moderate in inclinations and temperate in +desires; to him pleasure is not pleasure, having ever present the end of +it; equally, pain to him is not pain, because by the force of reasoning +he has present the end of that too. So the sage holds all mutable things +as things that are not, and affirms that they are no other than vanity +and nothingness, because time has to eternity the proportion of the +point to the line. + +CIC. So that we can never hold the proposition of being contented or +discontented, without holding the proposition of our own foolishness, +which we thereby confess; therefore no one who reasons, and +consequently no one who participates, can be wise; in short, all men are +fools. + +TANS. I do not intend to infer that; for I will hold of highest wisdom +him who could really say at one time the opposite of what he says at +another--never was I less gay than now; or, never was I less sad than at +present. + +CIC. How? Do you not make two contrary qualities where there are two +opposite affections? Why, I say, do you take as two virtues, and not as +one vice and one virtue, the being less gay and the being less sad? + +TANS. Because both the contraries in excess--that is, in so far as they +exceed--are vices, because they pass the line; and the same, in so far +as they diminish, come to be virtues, because they are contained within +limits. + +CIC. How? The being less merry and the being less sad are not one virtue +and one vice, but are two virtues? + +TANS. On the contrary, I say they are one and the same virtue; because +the vice is there where the opposite is; the opposite is chiefly there +where the extreme is; the greatest opposite is the nearest to the +extreme; the least or nothing is in the middle, where the opposites +meet, and are one and identical; as between the coldest and hottest and +the hotter and colder, in the middle point is that which you may call +hot and cold, or neither hot nor cold, without contradiction. In that +way whoso is least content and least joyful is in the degree of +indifference, and finds himself in the habitation of temperance, where +the virtue and condition of a strong soul exist, which bends not to the +south wind nor to the north. This, then, to return to the point, is how +this enthusiastic hero, who explains himself in the present part, is +different from the other baser ones--not as virtue from vice, but as a +vice which exists in a subject more divine or divinely, from a vice +which exists in a subject more savage or savagely; so that the +difference is according to the different subjects and modes, and not +according to the form of vice. + +CIC. I can very well conceive, from what you have said, the condition of +that heroic enthusiast, who says, "My hopes are ice and my desires are +glowing," because he is not in the temperance of mediocrity, but, in the +excess of contradictions, his soul is discordant, he shivers in his +frozen hopes and burns in his glowing desires; in his eagerness he is +clamorous, and he is mute from fear; his heart burns in its affection +for others, and for compassion of himself he sheds tears from his eyes; +dying in the laughter of others, he is alive in his own lamentations; +and like him who no longer belongs to himself, he loves others and hates +himself; because matter, as say the physicists, with that measure with +which it loves the absent form, hates the present one. And so in the +octave finishes the war which the soul has within itself; and when he +says in the sistina, but if I be winged, others change to stone and that +which follows; he shows his passion for the warfare which he wages with +external contradictions. I remember having read in Jamblichus, where he +treats of the Egyptian mysteries, this sentence: "Impius animam +dissidentem habet: unde nec secum ipse convenire potest, neque cum +aliis." + +TANS. Now listen to another sonnet, as sequel to what has been said: + +10. + + By what condition, nature, or fell chance, + In living death, dead life I live? + Love has me dead, alack! and such a death, + That death and life together I must lose. + Devoid of hope, I reach the gates of hell, + And laden with desire arrive at heaven: + Thus am I subject to eternal opposites, + And, banished both from heaven and from hell, + No pause nor rest my torments know, + Because between two running wheels I go, + Of which one here, the other there compels, + And like Ixion I pursue and flee; + For to the double discourse do I fit + The crosswise lesson of the spur and bit. + +He shows how much he suffers from this dislocation and distraction in +himself; while the affections, leaving the mean and middle way of +temperance, tend towards the one and the other extreme, and so are +wafted on high or towards the right, and are also transported downwards +to the left. + +CIC. How is it that, not being really of one or the other extreme, it +does not come to be in the conditions or terms of virtue? + +TANS. It is then in a state of virtue when it keeps to the middle, +declining from one to the other opposite; but when it leads towards the +extremes, inclining to one or the other of those, it fails so entirely +from being virtue, that it is a double vice, which consists in this, +that the thing recedes from its nature, the perfection of which consists +in unity, and there where the opposites meet, its composition and virtue +exist. This, then, is how he is dead alive, or living dying; whence he +says, "In a living death a dead life I live." He is not dead, because +he lives in the object; not alive, because he is dead in himself; +deprived of death, because he gives birth to thoughts; deprived of life, +because he does not grow or feel in himself. He is now most dejected +through meditating on the high intelligence, and the perceived +feebleness of power; and most elated by the aspiration of heroic +longing, which passes far beyond his limits, and is most exalted by the +intellectual appetite; which has not for its fashion or aim to add +number to number, is most dejected by the violence done to him by the +sensual opposite which drags him down towards hell. So that, finding +himself thus ascending and descending, he feels within his soul the +greatest dissension that is possible to be felt, and he remains in a +state of confusion through this rebellion of the senses, which urge him +thither where reason restrains, and _vice versa_. This same is +thoroughly demonstrated in the following sentences, where the Reason, +under the name of "Filenio" asks, and the enthusiast replies under the +name of "Shepherd," who labours in the care of the flocks and herds of +his thoughts, which he nourishes in the submission to and service of his +nymph, which is the affection of that object to which he is captive. + +11. + +FILENIO. Shepherd! + +SHEPHERD. What wilt thou? + +F. What doest thou? + +S. I suffer. + +F. Wherefore? + +S. Because neither life has me for his own, nor death. + +F. Who's to blame? + +S. Love. + +F. That rascal? + +S. That rascal. + +F. Where is he? + +S. He holds me tight in my heart's core. + +F. What does he? + +S. Wounds me. + +F. Who? + +S. Me. + +F. Thee? + +S. Yes. + +F. With what? + +S. With the eyes, the gates of heaven and of hell. + +F. Dost hope? + +S. I hope. + +F. For pity? + +S. For pity. + +F. From whom? + +S. From him who racks me night and day. + +F. Has he any? + +S. I know not. + +F. Thou art a fool. + +S. How if such folly be pleasing to my soul? + +F. Does he promise? + +S. No. + +F. Does he deny? + +S. Not at all. + +F. Is he silent? + +S. Yes, for so much purity (_onesta_) robs me of my boldness. + +F. Thou ravest. + +S. How so? + +F. In vain efforts. + +S. His scorn more than my torments do I fear. + +Here he says that he craves for love, and he complains of it, yet not +because he loves--seeing that to no true lover can love be displeasing; +but because he loves unhappily, whilst those beams which are the rays of +those lights, and which themselves, according as they are perverse and +antagonistic, or really kind and gracious, become the gates which lead +towards heaven or towards hell. In this way he is kept in hope of future +and uncertain mercy, but actually in a state of present and certain +torment, and although he sees his folly quite clearly, nevertheless he +does not care to correct himself in it, or even to feel displeased with +it, but rather does he feel satisfied with it, as he shows when he says: + + Never let me of Love complain, + For Love alone can ease my pain. + +Here is shown another species of enthusiasm born from the light of +reason, which excites fear and suppresses the aforesaid reason in order +not to commit any action which might vex or irritate the thing loved. +He says, then, that hope rests in the future, without anything being +promised or denied; therefore, he is silent and asks nothing, for fear +of offending purity (_l'onestade_). He does not venture to explain +himself and make a proposition, lest he be rejected with repugnance or +accepted with reserve; for he thinks the evil that there might be in the +one would be over-balanced by the good in the other. He shows himself, +then, ready to suffer for ever his own torment, rather than to open the +door to an opportunity through which the thing loved might be perturbed +and saddened. + +CIC. Herein he proves that his love is truly heroic; because he proposes +to himself as the chief aim, not corporeal beauty, but rather the grace +of the spirit, and the inclination of the affections in which, rather +than in the beauty of the body, that love that has in it the divine, is +eternal. + +TANS. Thou knowest that, as the Platonic ideas are divided into three +species, of which one tends to the contemplative or speculative life, +one to active morality, and the third to the idle and voluptuous, so are +there three species of love, of which one raises itself from the +contemplation of bodily form to the consideration of the spiritual and +divine; the other only continues in the delight of seeing and +conversing; the third from seeing proceeds to precipitate into the +concupiscence of touch. Of these three modes others are composed, +according as the first may be coupled with the second or the third, or +as all the three modes may combine together, of which one and all may be +divided into others, according to the affections of the enthusiast, as +these tend more towards the spiritual object, or more towards the +corporeal, or equally towards the one and the other. Hence it comes, +that of those who find themselves in this warfare, and are entangled in +the meshes of love, some aim at enjoying, and they are incited to pluck +the apple from the tree of corporeal beauty, without which acquisition, +or at least the hope of it, they hold vain and worthy only of derision +every amorous care; and in such-wise run all those who are of a +barbarous nature, who neither do nor can seek to exalt themselves by +loving worthy things, and aspiring to illustrious things, and higher +still to things divine, by suitable studies and exercises, to which +nothing can more richly and easily supply the wings than heroic love; +others put before themselves the fruit of delight, which they take in +the aspect of the beauty and grace of the spirit, which glitters and +shines in the beauty of the body, and certain of these, although they +love the body and greatly desire to be united to it, bewailing its +absence and being afflicted by separation, at the same time fear, lest +presuming in this they may be deprived of that affability, conversation, +friendship, and sympathy which are most precious to them; because to +attempt this there cannot be more guarantee of success than there is +risk of forfeiting that favour, which appears before the eyes of thought +as a thing so glorious and worthy. + +CIC. It is a worthy thing, oh Tansillo! for its many virtues and +perfections, and it behoves human genius to seek, accept, nourish, and +preserve a love like that; but one should take great care not to bow +down or become enslaved to an object unworthy and base, lest we become +sharers of the baseness and unworthiness of the same: appositely the +Ferrarese poet says + + Who sets his foot upon the amorous snare, + Lest he besmear his wings, let him beware. + +TANS. To say the truth, that object, which beyond the beauty of the body +has no other splendour, is not worthy of being loved otherwise than to +make the race; and it seems to me the work of a pig or a horse to +torment one's self about it, and as to myself, never was I more +fascinated by such things than I am now fascinated by some statue or +picture to which I am indifferent. It would then be a great dishonour to +a generous soul, if, of a foul, vile, loose, and ignoble nature, +although hid under an excellent symbol, it should be said: "I fear his +scorn more than my torment." + + + + +=Third Dialogue.= + +TANSILLO. + + +There are several varieties of enthusiasts, which may all be reduced to +two kinds. While some only display blindness, stupidity, and irrational +impetuosity, which tend towards savage madness, others by divine +abstraction become in reality superior to ordinary men. And these again +are of two kinds, for some having become the habitation of gods or +divine spirits, speak and perform wonderful things, without themselves +understanding the reason. Many such have been uncultured and ignorant +persons, into whom, being void of spirit and sense of their own, as into +an empty chamber, the divine spirit and sense intrude, as it would have +less power to show itself in those who are full of their own reason and +sense. This divine spirit often desires that the world should know for +certain, that those do not speak from their own knowledge and +experience, but speak and act through some superior intelligence; for +such, the mass of men vouchsafe more admiration and faith, while others, +being skilful in contemplation and possessing innately a clear +intellectual spirit, have an internal stimulus and natural fervour, +excited by the love of the divine, of justice, of truth, of glory, and +by the fire of desire and the breath of intention, sharpen their senses, +and in the sulphur of the cogitative faculty, these kindle the rational +light, with which they see more than ordinarily; and they come in the +end to speak and act, not as vessels and instruments, but as chief +artificers and experts. + +CIC. Of these two which dost thou esteem higher? + +TANS. The first have more dignity, power, and efficacy within +themselves, because they have the divinity; the second _are_ themselves +worthy, potential, and efficacious, and _are_ divine. The first are +worthy, as is the ass which carries the sacraments; the second are as a +sacred thing. In the first is contemplated and seen in effect the +divinity, and that is beheld, adored, and obeyed; in the second is +contemplated and seen the excellency of humanity itself. But now to the +question. These enthusiasms of which we speak, and which we see +exemplified in these sentences, are not oblivion, but a memory; they +are not neglect of one's self, but love and desire of the beautiful and +good, by means of which we are able to make ourselves perfect, by +transforming and assimilating ourselves to it. It is not a +precipitation, under the laws of a tyrannous fate, into the noose of +animal affections, but a rational impetus, which follows the +intellectual apprehension of the beautiful and the good, which knows +whom it wishes to obey and to please, so that, by its nobility and +light, it kindles and invests itself with qualities and conditions +through which it appears illustrious and worthy. He (the enthusiast) +becomes a god by intellectual contact with the divine object, and he has +no thought for other than divine things, and shows himself insensible +and impassive towards those things which are commonly felt, and about +which others are mostly tormented; he fears nothing, and for love of the +divine he despises other pleasures and gives no thought to this life. It +is not a fury of black bile which sends him drifting outside of +judgment, reason, and acts of prudence, and tossed by the discordant +tempest, like those who, having violated certain laws of the divine +Adrastia, are condemned to be scourged by the Furies, in order that they +may be excited by a dissonance as corporeal through seditions, +destructions, and plagues, as it is spiritual, through the forfeiture of +harmony between the perceptive and enjoying powers; but it is aglow +kindled by the intellectual sun in the soul, and a divine impetus which +lends it wings, with which, drawing nearer and nearer to the +intellectual sun, and ridding itself of the rust of human cares, it +becomes a gold tried and pure, has the perception of divine and internal +harmony, and its thoughts and acts accord with the symmetry of the law, +innate in all things. Not, as drunk from the cups of Circe, does he go +dashing and stumbling, now in this and then in that ditch, now against +this or that rock, or like a shifting Proteus, changing now to this, now +to the other aspect, never finding place, fashion, or ground to stay and +settle in; but, without spoiling the harmony, conquers and overcomes the +horrid monsters, and however much he may swerve, he easily returns to +himself[B] by means of those inward instincts that, like the nine Muses, +dance and sing round the splendours of the universal Apollo, and under +tangible images and material things, he comes to comprehend divine laws +and counsels. It is true that sometimes, having love for his trusty +escort, who is double, and because sometimes through occasional +impediments he finds himself defrauded of his strength, then, as one +insane and furious, he squanders away the love of that which he cannot +comprehend; whence, confused by the obscurity of the divinity, he +sometimes abandons the work, and then again returns, to force himself +with his will thither, where he cannot arrive with the intellect. It is +true also that he commonly wanders, and transports himself, now into +one, now into another form of the double Eros; therefore, the principal +lesson that Love gives to him is, that he contemplate the divine beauty +in shadow, when he cannot do so in the mirror, and, like the suitors of +Penelope, he entertain himself with the maids when he is not permitted +to converse with the mistress. Now, in conclusion, you can comprehend, +from what has been said, what is this enthusiast whose picture is put +forth, when it is said: + +12. + + If towards the shining light the butterfly, + Winging his way knows not the burning flame, + And if the thirsty stag, unmindful of the dart, + Runs fainting to the brook, + Or unicorn, unto the chaste breast running, + Ignores the snare that is for him prepared, + I, in the light, the fount, the bosom of my love + Behold the flames, the arrows, and the chains. + If it be sweet in plaintiveness to droop, + Why does that lofty splendour dazzle me? + Wherefore the sacred arrow sweetly wound? + Why in this knot is my desire involved? + And why to me eternal irksomeness + Flames to my heart, darts to my breast and snares unto my soul? + +[B] Facilmente ritorna al sesso. + +Here he shows his love not to be like that of the butterfly, of the +stag, and of the unicorn, who would flee away if they had knowledge of +the fire, of the arrow, and of the snares, and who have no other sense +than that of pleasure; but he is moved by a most sensible and only too +evident passion, which forces him to love that fire more than any +coolness; more that wound than any wholeness; more those fetters than +any liberty. For this evil is not absolutely evil, but, through +comparison with good (according to opinion), it is deceptive, like the +sauce that old Saturn gets when he devours his own sons; for this evil +absolutely in the eye of the Eternal, is comprehended either for good, +or for guide which conduces to it, since this fire is the ardent desire +of divine things, this arrow is the impression of the ray of the beauty +of supernal light, these snares are the species of truth which unite our +mind to the primal verity, and the species of good which unite and join +to the primal and highest good. To that meaning I approached when I +said: + +13. + + With such a fire and such a noble noose, + Beauty enkindles me, and pureness binds, + So that in flames and servitude I take delight, + Liberty takes flight and dreads the ice. + Such is the heat, that though I burn yet am I not destroyed, + The tie is such, the world with me gives praise. + Fear cannot freeze, nor pain unshackle me; + For soothing is the ardour, sweet the smart. + So high the light that burns me I discern, + And of so rich a thread the noose contrived + That, thought being born, the longing dies. + And since, within my heart shines such pure flames, + And so supreme a tie compels my will, + Let my shade serve, and let my ashes burn. + +All the loves, if they be heroic and not purely animal, or what is +called natural, and slaves to generation, as instruments of nature in a +certain way, have for object the divinity, tend towards divine beauty, +which first is communicated to souls and shines in them, and from them, +or rather through them, it is communicated to bodies; whence it is that +well-ordered affection loves the body or corporeal beauty, insomuch as +it is an indication of beauty of spirit. Thus that which causes the +attraction of love to the body is a certain spirituality which we see in +it, and which is called beauty, and which does not consist in major or +minor dimensions, nor in determined colours or forms, but in harmony and +consonance of members and colours. This shows an affinity between the +spirit and the most acute and penetrative senses; whence it follows that +such become more easily and intensely enamoured, and also more easily +and intensely disgusted, which might be through a change of the deformed +spirit, which in some gesture and expressed intention reveals itself in +such wise that this deformity extends from the soul to the body, and +makes it appear no longer beautiful as before. The beauty, then, of the +body has power to kindle, but not to bind, and the lover, unless aided +by the graces of the spirit, such as purity, gratitude, courtesy, +circumspection, is unable to escape. Therefore, said I, beautiful is +that fire which burns me, and noble that tie which binds. + +CIC. I do not believe it is always like that, Tansillo; because, +sometimes, notwithstanding that we discover the spirit to be vicious, we +remain heated and entangled; so that, although reason perceives the evil +and unworthiness of such a love, it yet has not power to alienate the +disordered appetite. In this disposition, I believe, was the Nolano when +he said: + +14. + + Woe's me! my fury forces me + To union with the bad within, + And makes it seem a love supreme and good. + Wearied, my soul cares nought + That I opposing counsels entertain, + And with the savage tyrant + Nourished with want, + And made to put myself in exile, + More than with liberty contented am. + I spread my sails to the wind, + To draw me forth from this detested bliss, + And to reclaim me from the cloying hurt. + +TANS. This occurs when spirits are vicious and tinged as with the same +hue; since, through conformity, love is excited, enkindled, and +confirmed. Thus the vicious easily concur in acts of the same vice; and +I will not refrain from repeating that which I know by experience, for +although I may have discovered in a soul vices very much abominated by +me--as, for instance, filthy avarice, base greediness for money, +ingratitude for favours and courtesies received, or a love of quite vile +persons, of which this last most displeases, because it takes away the +hope from the lover, that by becoming or making himself more worthy he +may become more acceptable--in spite of all this, it is true that I did +burn for corporeal beauty. But how? I loved against my will; for, were +it not so, I should have been more saddened than cheered by troubles and +misfortunes. + +CIC. It is a very proper and nice distinction that is made between +loving and liking. + +TANS. Truly; because we like many--that is, we desire that they be wise +and just; but we love them not because they are unjust and ignorant; +many we love because they are beautiful, but we do not like them, +because they do not deserve it; and amongst other things of which the +lover deems the loved one undeserving, the first is, being loved; and +yet, although he cannot abstain from loving, nevertheless he regrets it, +and shows his regret like him who said, "Woe is me! who am compelled by +passion to coalesce with evil." In the opposite mood was he, either +through some corporeal object in similitude or through a divine subject +in reality, when he said: + +15. + + Although to many pains thou dost subject me, + Yet do I thank thee, love, and owe thee much, + That thou my breast dost cleave with noble wound, + And then dost take my heart and master it. + Thus true it is, that I, on earth, adore + A living object, image most beautiful of God. + Let him who will think that my fate is bad + That kills in hope and quickens in desire. + My pasture is the high emprise, + And though the end desired be not attained, + And though my soul in many thoughts is spent, + Enough that she enkindle noble fire, + Enough that she has lifted me on high, + And from the ignoble crowd has severed me. + +Here his love is entirely heroic and divine, and as such, I wish it to +be understood; although he says that through it he is subject to many +pangs, every lover who is separated from the thing loved (to which being +joined by affection he would also wish to be actually), being in anguish +and pain, he torments himself, not forsooth because he loves, since he +feels his love is engaged most worthily and most nobly, but because he +feels deprived of that fruition which he would obtain if he arrived at +that end to which he tends. He suffers, not from the desire which +animates him, but from the difficulty in the cultivation of it which so +tortures him. Others esteem him unhappy through this appearance of an +evil destiny, as being condemned to these pangs, for he will never cease +from acknowledging the obligation he is under to love, nor cease from +rendering thanks to him because he has presented before the eyes of his +mind such an intelligible conception through which, in this earthly +life, shut in this prison of the flesh, wrapped in these nerves and +supported by these bones, it is permitted to him to contemplate the +divinity in a more suitable manner than if other conceptions and +similitudes than these had offered themselves. + +CIC. The divine and living object, then, of which he speaks, is the +highest intelligible conception that he has been able to form to himself +of the divinity, and is not some corporeal beauty which might overshadow +his thought and appear superficially to the senses. + +TANS. Even so; because no tangible thing nor conception of such can +raise itself to so much dignity. + +CIC. Why, then, does he mention that conception as the object, if, as +appears to me, the true object is the divinity itself? + +TANS. The divinity is the final object, the ultimate and most perfect, +but not in this state, where we cannot see God except as in a shadow or +a mirror, and therefore He cannot be the object except in some +similitude, but not in such as may be extracted or acquired from +corporeal beauty and excellence, by virtue of the senses, but such as +may be formed in the mind, by virtue of the intellect. In which state, +finding himself, he comes to lose the love and affection for every other +thing senseful as well as intellectual, because this, conjoined to that +light, itself also becomes light, and in consequence becomes a god: +because it contracts the divinity into itself, it being in God through +the intention with which it penetrates into the divinity so far as it +can, and God being in it, so that after penetrating, it comes to +conceive, and so far as it can, receive and comprehend the divinity in +its conception. Now in such conceptions and similitudes the human +intellect of this lower world nourishes itself, till such time as it +will be lawful to behold with purer eye the beauty of the divinity. As +happens to him, who, absorbed in the contemplation of some elaborate +architectural work, goes on examining one thing after another in it, +enchanted and feeding in a wonder of delight; but if it should happen +that he sees the lord of all those pictures, who is of a beauty +incomparably greater, leaving all care and thought of them, he is turned +intently to the examination of him. Here, then, is the difference +between that state where we see divine beauty in intelligible +conceptions apart from the effects, labours, works, shadows, and +similitudes of it, and that other state in which it is lawful to behold +it in real presence. He says: "My pasture is the high emprise," because +as the Pythagoreans remark, "The soul moves and turns round God, as the +body round the soul." + +CIC. Then the body is not the habitation of the soul? + +TANS. No; because the soul is not in the body locally, but as intrinsic +form and extrinsic framer, as that which forms the limbs indicates the +internal and external composition. The body, then, is in the soul, the +soul in the mind, the mind either is God or is in God, as Plotinus said. +As in its essence it is in God who is its life, similarly through the +intellectual operation, and the will consequent upon such operation, it +agrees with its bright and beatific object. Fitly, therefore, this +rapture of heroic enthusiasm feeds on such "high emprise." For the +object is infinite, and in action most simple, and our intellectual +power cannot apprehend the infinite except in speech or in a certain +manner of speech, so to say in a certain potential or relative +inference, as one who proposes to himself the infinity, so that he may +constitute for himself a finality where no finality is. + +CIC. Fitly so, because the ultimate ought not to have an end seeing +that it is ultimate. For it is infinite in intention, in perfection, in +essence, and in any other manner whatsoever of being final. + +TANS. Thou sayest truly. Now in this life, that food is such that +excites more than it can appease, as that divine poet shows when he +says: "My soul is wearied, longing for the living God," and in another +place; "Attenuati sunt oculi mei suspicientes in excelsa." Therefore he +says, "And though the end desired be not attained, And that my soul in +many thoughts is spent, Enough that she enkindle noble fire:" meaning to +say that the soul comforts itself, and receives all the glory which it +is able in that state to receive, and that it is a participator in that +ultimate enthusiasm of man, in so far as he is a man in this present +condition, as we see him. + +CIC. It appears to me that the Peripatetics, as explained by Averroes, +mean this, when they say that the highest felicity of man consists in +perfection through the speculative sciences. + +TANS. It is true, and they say well; because we, in this state, cannot +desire nor obtain greater perfection than that in which we are, when our +intellect, by means of some noble and intelligible conception, unites +itself either to the substance of things hoped for, as those say, or to +the divine mind, as it is the fashion to say of the Platonists. For the +present, I will leave reasoning about the soul, or man in another state +or mode of being than he can find himself or believe himself to be in. + +CIC. But what perfection or satisfaction can man find in that knowledge +which is not perfect? + +TANS. It will never be perfect, so far as understanding the highest +object is concerned; but in so far as our intellect can understand it. +Let it suffice that in this and other states there be present to him the +divine beauty so far as the horizon of his vision extends. + +CIC. But all men cannot arrive at that, which one or two may reach. + +TANS. Let it suffice that all "run well," and that each does his utmost, +for the heroic nature is content and shows its dignity rather in +falling, or in failing worthily in the high undertaking, in which it +shows the dignity of its spirit, than in succeeding to perfection in +lower and less noble things. + +CIC. Truly a dignified and heroic death is better than a mean, low +triumph. + +TANS. On that theme I made this sonnet: + +16. + + Since I have spread my wings to my desire, + The more I feel the air beneath my feet, + So much the more towards the wind I bend + My swiftest pinions, + And spurn the world and up towards heaven I go. + Not the sad fate of Daedalus's son + Does warn me to turn downwards, + But ever higher will I rise. + Well do I see, I shall fall dead to earth; + But what life is there can compare with this my death? + Out on the air my heart's voice do I hear: + "Whither dost thou carry me, thou fearless one? + Turn back. Such over-boldness rarely grief escapes." + "Fear not the utmost ruin then," I said, + "Cleave confident the clouds and die content, + That heaven has destined thee to such illustrious death." + +CIC. I understand when you say: "Enough that thou hast lifted me on +high;" but not: "And from the ignoble crowd hast severed me;" unless it +means his having come out from the Platonic groove on account of the +stupid and low condition of the crowd; for those that find profit in +this contemplation cannot be numerous. + +TANS. Thou understandest well; but thou mayst also understand, by the +"ignoble crowd," the body, and sensual cognition, from which he must +arise and free himself who would unite with a nature of a contrary +kind. + +CIC. The Platonists say there are two kinds of knots which link the soul +to the body. One is a certain vivifying action which from the soul +descends into the body, like a ray; the other is a certain vital +quality, which is produced from that action in the body. Now this active +and most noble number, which is the soul, in what way do you understand +that it may be severed from the ignoble number, which is the body? + +TANS. Certainly it was not understood according to any of these modes, +but according to that mode whereby those powers which are not +comprehended and imprisoned in the womb of matter, sometimes as if +inebriated and stupefied, find that they also are occupied in the +formation of matter and in the vivification of the body; then, as if +awakened and brought to themselves, recognizing its principle and +genius, they turn towards superior things and force themselves on the +intelligible world as to their native abode, and from thence, through +their conversion to inferior things, they are thrust into the fate and +conditions of generation. These two impulses are symbolized in the two +kinds of metamorphosis expressed in the following: + +17. + + That god who shakes the sounding thunder, + Asteria as a furtive eagle saw; + Mnemosyne as shepherd; Danae gold; + Alcmene as a fish; Antiope a goat; + Cadmus and his sister a white bull; + Leda as swan, and Dolida as dragon; + And through the lofty object I become, + From subject viler still, a god. + A horse was Saturn; + And in a calf and dolphin Neptune dwelt; + Ibis and shepherd Mercury became; + Bacchus a grape; Apollo was a crow; + And I by help of love, + From an inferior thing, do change me to a god. + +In Nature is one revolution and one circle, by means of which, for the +perfection and help of others, superior things lower themselves to +things inferior, and, by their own excellence and felicity, inferior +things raise themselves to superior ones. Therefore the Pythagoreans and +Platonists say it is given to the soul that at certain times, not only +by spontaneous will, which turns it towards the comprehension of Nature, +but also by the necessity of an internal law, written and registered by +the destined decree, they seek their own justly determined fate; and +they also say that souls, not so much by determination of their own will +as through a certain order, by which they become inclined towards +matter, decline as rebels from divinity; wherefore, not by free +intention, but by a certain occult consequence, they fall. And this is +the inclination that they have to generation, as towards a minor good. +Minor, I say, in so far as it appertains to that particular nature; not +in so far as it appertains to the universal nature, where nothing +happens without the highest aim, and which disposes of all things +according to justice. In which generation finding themselves once more +through the changes which permutably succeed, they return again to the +superior forms. + +CIC. So that they mean, that souls are impelled by the necessity of +fate, and have no proper counsel which guides them at all. + +TANS. Necessity, fate, nature, counsel, will, those things, justly and +rightfully ordained, all agree in one. Besides which, as Plotinus +relates, some believe that certain souls can escape from their own evil, +if knowing the danger, they seek refuge in the mind before the corporeal +habit is confirmed; because the mind raises to things sublime, as the +imagination lowers to inferior things. The mind always understands one, +as the imagination is one in movement and in diversity; the mind always +understands one, as the imagination is always inventing for itself +various images. In the midst is the rational faculty, which is a +mixture of all, like that in which the one agrees with the many, +sameness with variety, movement with fixedness, the inferior with the +superior. Now these transmutations and conversions are symbolized in the +wheel of metamorphosis, where man sits on the upper part, a beast lies +at the bottom, a half-man, half-beast descends from the left, and a +half-beast, half-man ascends from the right. This transmutation is shown +where Jove, according to the diversity of the affections and the +behaviour of those towards inferior things, invests himself with divers +figures, entering into the form of beasts; and so also the other gods +transmigrate into base and alien forms. And, on the contrary, through +the knowledge of their own nobility, they re-take their own divine form; +as the passionate hero, raising himself through conceived kinds of +divine beauty and goodness, with the wings of the intellect and rational +will, rises to the divinity, leaving the form of the lower subject. And +therefore he said, "I become from subject viler still, a god. From an +inferior thing do change me to a god." + + + + +=Fourth Dialogue.= + +TANSILLO. + + +Thus is described the discourse of heroic love, in all which tends to +its own object, which is the highest good; and heroic intellect, which +devotes itself to the study of its own object, which is the primal +verity, or absolute truth. Now the first discourse holds the sum of this +and the intention, the order of which is described in five others +following: + +18. + + To the woods, the mastiffs and the greyhounds young Actaeon leads, + When destiny directs him into the doubtful and neglected way, + Upon the track of savage beasts in forests wild. + And here, between the waters, he sees a bust and face more beautiful + than e'er was seen + By mortal or divine, of scarlet, alabaster, and fine gold; + He sees, and the great hunter straight becomes that which he hunts. + The stag, that towards still thicker shades now goes with lighter + steps, + His own great dogs swiftly devour. + So I extend my thoughts to higher prey, and these + Now turning on me give me death with cruel savage bite. + +Actaeon signifies the intellect, intent on the pursuit of divine wisdom +and the comprehension of divine beauty. He lets loose the mastiffs and +the greyhounds, of whom the latter are more swift and the former more +strong, because the operation of the intellect precedes that of the +will; but this is more vigorous and effectual than that; seeing that, to +the human intellect, divine goodness and beauty are more loveable than +comprehensible, and love it is that moves and urges the intellect, and +precedes it as a lantern. The woods, uncultivated and solitary places, +visited and penetrated by few, and where there are few traces of men. +The youth of little skill and practice, as of one of short life and of +wavering enthusiasm. In the doubtful road of uncertain and distorted +reason--a disposition assigned to the character of Pythagoras--where you +see the most thorny, uncultivated, and deserted to be the right and +difficult path, where he lets loose the greyhounds and the mastiffs upon +the track of savage beasts, that is, the intelligible kinds of ideal +conceptions, which are occult, followed by few, visited but rarely, and +which do not disclose themselves to all those who seek them. Here, +amongst the waters,--that is, in the mirror of similitude, in those +works where shines the brightness of divine goodness and splendour, +which works are symbolized by the waters superior and inferior, which +are above and below the firmament, he sees the most beautiful bust and +face--that is, external power and operation, which it is possible to +see, by the habit and act of contemplation and the application of mortal +or divine mind, of man or any god. + +CIC. I do not believe that he makes a comparison, nor puts as the same +kind the divine and the human mode of comprehending, which are very +diverse, but as to the subject they are the same. + +TANS. So it is. He says "of red and alabaster and gold," because that +which in bodily beauty is red, white, and fair, in divinity signifies +the scarlet of divine vigorous power, the gold of divine wisdom, the +alabaster of divine beauty, through the contemplation of which the +Pythagoreans, Chaldeans, Platonists, and others, strive in the best way +that they can to elevate themselves. "The great hunter saw," he +understood as much as was possible, and became the hunted. He went out +for prey, and this hunter became himself the prey, by the operation of +the intellect converting the things learned into itself. + +CIC. I understand. He forms intelligible conceptions in his own way and +proportions them to his capacity, so that they are received according to +the manner of the recipient. + +TANS. And does he hunt through the operation of the will, by the act of +which he converts himself into the object? + +CIC. As I understand: because love transforms and converts into the +thing loved. + +TANS. Well dost thou know that the intellect learns things +intelligibly--_i.e._, in its own way, and the will pursues things +naturally, that is, according to the reason that is in themselves. So +Actaeon with those thoughts--those dogs--which hunted outside themselves +for goodness, wisdom, and beauty, thus came into the presence of the +same, and ravished out of himself by so much splendour, he became the +prey, saw himself converted into that for which he was seeking, and +perceived, that of his dogs or thoughts, he himself came to be the +longed-for prey; for having absorbed the divinity into himself it was +not necessary to search outside himself for it. + +CIC. For this reason it is said "the kingdom of Heaven is in us;" +divinity dwells within through the reformed intellect and will. + +TANS. It is so. See then, Actaeon hunted by his own dogs--pursued by his +own thoughts--runs and directs these novel paces, invigorated so as to +proceed divinely and "more easily," that is, with greater facility and +with refreshed vigour "towards the denser places," to the deserts and +the region of things incomprehensible. From being such as he first was, +a common ordinary man, he becomes rare and heroic, his habits and ideas +are strange, and he leads an unusual life. Here his great dogs "give him +death," and thus ends his life according to the mad, sensual, blind, and +fantastic world, and he begins to live intellectually; he lives the life +of the gods, fed on ambrosia and drunk with nectar. + +Next we see under the form of another similitude the manner in which he +arms himself to obtain the object. He says: + +19. + + My solitary bird! away unto that region + Which overshadows and which occupies my thought, + Go swiftly, and there nestle; there every + Need of thine be strengthened, + There all thy industry and art be spent! + There be thou born again, and there on high, + Gather and train up thy wandering fledglings + Since adverse fate has drawn away the bars + With which she ever sought to block thy way. + Go! I desire for thee a nobler dwelling-place, + And thou shalt have for guide a god, + Who is called blind by him who nothing sees. + Go! and ever be by thee revered, + Each deity of that wide sphere, + And come not back to me till thou art mine. + +The progress symbolized above by the hunter who excites his dogs, is +here illustrated by a winged heart, which is sent out of the cage, in +which it lived idle and quiet, to make its nest on high and bring up its +fledglings, its thoughts, the time being come in which those impediments +are removed, which were caused, externally, in a thousand different +ways, and internally by natural feebleness. He dismisses his heart then +to make more magnificent surroundings, urging him to the highest +propositions and intentions, now that those powers of the soul are more +fully fledged, which Plato signifies by the two wings, and he commits +him to the guidance of that god, who, by the unseeing crowd, is +considered insane and blind, that is Love, who, by the mercy and favour +of heaven, has power to transform him into that nature towards which he +aspires, or into that state from which, a pilgrim, he is banished. +Whence he says, "Come not back to me till thou art mine," and not +unworthily may I say with that other-- + + Thou has left me, oh, my heart, + And thou, light of my eyes, art no more with me. + +Here he describes the death of the soul, which by the Kabbalists is +called the death by kisses, symbolized in the Song of Solomon, where the +friend says: + + Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, + For, when he wounds me, + I suffer with a cruel love. + +By others it is called sleep; the Psalmist says: + + It shall be, that I give sleep unto mine eyes, + And mine eyelids shall slumber, + And I shall have in him peaceful repose. + +The soul then is said to be faint, because it is dead in itself, and +alive in the object: + +20. + + Give heed, enthusiasts, unto the heart! + For mine condemns me to a life apart, + Bound by unmerciful and cruel ties, + He dwells with joy, there where he faints and dies. + At every hour I call him back by thoughts: + A rebel he, like gerfalcon insane, + He feels no more the hand that did restrain, + And is gone forth not to return again. + Thou beauteous beast that dost in punishment + Knit up the soul, spirit and heart content'st + With pricks, with lightnings, and with chains! + From looks, from accents, and from usages, + Which faint and burn and keep thee bound, + Where shall he that heals, that cools, and loosens thee be found? + +Here the soul, sorrowful, not from real discontent, but on account of +pains which she suffers, directs the discourse to those who are affected +by passions similar to her own: as if she had not of her own free will +and of her own desire dismissed her heart, which goes running whither it +cannot arrive, stretches out to that which it cannot reach, and tries to +enfold that which it cannot comprehend, and with this, because he vainly +separates from her, ever more and more goes on aspiring towards the +infinite. + +CIC. Whence comes it, oh Tansillo, that the soul in such progression +delights in its own torments? Whence comes that spur which urges it ever +beyond that which it possesses? + +TANS. From this, which I will tell thee now. The intellect being +developed to the comprehension of a certain definite and specific form, +and the will to a love commensurate with such comprehension; the +intellect does not stop there, but by its own light it is prompted to +think of this: that it contains within itself the germ of everything +intelligible and desirable, until it comes to comprehend with the +intellect the depth of the fountain of ideas, the ocean of every truth +and goodness. So that it happens, that whatever conception is presented +to the mind, and becomes understood by it, from that which is so +presented and comprehended it judges, that above it, is other greater +and greater, and finds itself ever in a certain way discoursing and +moving with it. Because it sees that all which it possesses is only a +limited thing, and therefore cannot be sufficient of itself, nor good of +itself, nor beautiful of itself; because it is not the universal nor the +absolute entity; but contracted into being this nature, this species, +this form, represented to the intellect and present to the soul. Then +from the beautiful that is understood, and consequently limited, and +therefore beautiful through participation, it progresses towards that +which is really beautiful, which has no margin, nor any boundaries. + +CIC. This progression appears to me useless. + +TANS. Not so. For it is not natural nor suitable that the infinite be +restricted, nor give itself definitely, for it would not then be +infinite. To be infinite, it must be infinitely pursued with that form +of pursuit which is not incited physically, but metaphysically, and is +not from imperfect to perfect, but goes circulating through the grades +of perfection to arrive at that infinite centre which is not form, and +is not formed. + +CIC. I should like to know how, by circumambulating, one is to arrive at +the centre? + +TANS. I cannot know that. + +CIC. Why do you say it? + +TANS. I can say it, and leave it to you to consider. + +CIC. If you do not mean that he who pursues the infinite is like him who +talks about the circumference when he is seeking for the centre, I do +not know what you mean. + +TANS. Quite the contrary. + +CIC. Now if you will not explain yourself, I cannot understand you; but +tell me, prythee, what he means by saying the heart is bound by cruel, +spiteful bonds. + +TANS. He speaks in similitude or metaphor; as you would say, cruel was +one who did not allow a full enjoyment, and who lives more in the desire +than in possession, and who, partially possessing, is not content, but +desires, faints, and dies. + +CIC. What are those thoughts that call him back from the noble +enterprise? + +TANS. The sensual and natural affections, which regard the government of +the body. + +CIC. What have they to do with it, that in no way can either help or +favour it? + +TANS. They have not to do with it, but with the soul, which, being so +absorbed in one work or study, becomes remiss and careless in others. + +CIC. Why does he call him insane? + +TANS. Because he surpasses in knowledge. + +CIC. It is usual to call insane those who know nothing. + +TANS. On the contrary. Those are called insane who know not in the +ordinary way, or who rise above the ordinary from having more intellect. + +CIC. I perceive that thou sayest truly. Now tell me what are the pricks, +the lightnings, and the chains? + +TANS. Pricks are those experiences that stimulate and awaken the +affection, to make it on the alert; lightnings are the rays of the +present beauty, which enlighten those who watch and wait for them; +chains are those effects and circumstances which keep fixed the eyes of +attention and unite together the object and the powers. + +CIC. What are the looks, the accents, and the customs? + +TANS. Looks are the means by which the object is made present to us; +accents are the means through which we are inspired and informed; +customs are the circumstances which are most pleasant and agreeable to +us. So that the heart that gently suffers, patiently burns and +constantly perseveres in the work, fears that its hurt will heal, its +fire be extinguished, and its bands be loosened. + +CIC. Now relate that which follows. + +TANS.: + +21. + + Lofty, profound, and stirring thoughts of mine, + Ye long to sever the maternal ties + Of the afflicted soul, and like to proud + And able bowmen, draw at the mark, + Which is the germ of all your high conceits. + In those steep paths where cruel beasts may be, + Let not heaven leave ye! + Remember to return, and summon back + The heart that tarries with the wild wood nymph; + Arm ye with love, + Warm with the flame of domesticity, + And with strong repression guard thy sight, + That strangers keep thee not companioned with my heart; + At least bring news of that, + Which unto him is such delight and joy. + +Here he describes the natural solicitude of the attentive soul on the +subject, of its inclination towards generation, which it has contracted +with matter. She dispatches the armed thoughts, which, solicited and +urged by disagreement with the inferior nature, are sent to recall the +heart. The soul instructs them how they should conduct themselves, so +that, being allured and attracted by the object, they do not become +induced to remain, they also, captive and companions of the heart. She +says, then, they are to arm themselves with love, with that love that is +fired by the domestic flame; that is, the friend of generation, to whom +they are bound, and in whose jurisdiction, ministry, and warfare they +find themselves. Anon she orders them to repress their eyesight and to +close their eyes, so that they may not behold other beauty or goodness +than that which is present, friend and mother; and concludes at last +with this, that if no other reason will cause them to return, they +should at least do so, to give account of the discourse and of the state +of the heart. + +CIC. Before you proceed further, I would understand from you what is +that which the soul means when she tells the thoughts to repress the +sight vigorously. + +TANS. I will tell thee. All love proceeds from seeing: intelligent love, +from seeing intelligently; sensuous love, from seeing sensuously. Now +this seeing has two meanings: either it means the visual power, that is +the sight, which is the intellect, or truly the sense; or it means the +act of that power, that is, that application which the eye or the +intellect makes to the material or intellectual object. When the +thoughts are counselled to repress the sight, it is not the first, but +the second, mode that is meant, because that is the father of the +subsequent affection of the sensuous or intellectual desire. + +CIC. This is what I wished to hear from you. Now, if the act of the +visual power is the cause of the evil or good which proceed from seeing, +whence comes it that in things divine we have more love than knowledge? + +TANS. We desire to see, because in some way we perceive the value of +seeing. We are aware that, through the act of seeing, beautiful things +offer themselves to us; and therefore we desire beautiful things. + +CIC. We desire the beautiful and the good; but seeing is not beautiful +nor good; rather is it the touchstone or light by which we see, not only +the beautiful and good, but also the evil and bad. Therefore it seems to +me that seeing may be equally beautiful or good, as the thing seen may +be white or black. If, then, the sight, which is an act, is not +beautiful nor good, how can it fall into desire? + +TANS. If not for itself, yet certainly for some other reason, it is +desired, seeing that there can be no apprehension of that other without +it. + +CIC. What wilt thou say, if that other is not within the knowledge of +the senses nor of the intellect? How, I say, can that be desired which +is not seen, if there is no knowledge whatever of it--if towards it +neither the intellect nor the sense has exercised any act whatever; but, +on the contrary, it is even dubious whether it be intellectual or +sensuous, whether a thing corporeal or incorporeal, whether it be one or +two or more, or of one fashion or of another? + +TANS. I answer, that in the sense and the intellect there is one desire +and one impulse to the sensuous in general; because the intellect will +hear the whole truth, so that it may learn all that is beautiful or good +intelligently; the power of the senses will inform itself of all that is +sensuous, so that it may know all that is good and beautiful in the +world of the senses. Hence it follows that not less do we desire to see +things unknown and unseen than those known and seen. And from this it +does not follow that the desire does not proceed from cognition, and +that we desire something that is not known; but I say that it is certain +and sure that we do not desire unknown things. Because, if they be +occult as to particulars, they are not occult as to generals; as in the +entire visual power is found the whole of the visible appositely, and in +the intellect all the intelligible. Therefore, as the inclination to the +act lies in its appropriateness, the result is that both these powers +incline towards the universal action, as to a thing naturally +comprehended as good. The soul, then, did not speak to the deaf or the +blind when she counselled her thoughts to repress the sight, which, +although it may not be the immediate cause of the will, is yet the +primal and principal cause. + +CIC. What do you mean by this last saying? + +TANS. I mean that it is not the figure or the conception, sensibly or +intelligently represented, which of itself moves us; because while one +stands beholding the figure manifested to the eyes, he does not yet +arrive at loving; but from that instant that the soul conceives within +itself that figure, not visible, but thinkable; no longer dividual, but +individual; no longer classed among things in general, but among things +good and beautiful; then immediately love is born. Now this is the +seeing, from which the soul desires to divert the eyes of her thoughts. +Here the sight usually moves the affection to a greater love than the +love of that which is seen; for, as I have just said, it always +considers, through the universal knowledge that it holds of the +beautiful and the good, that, besides the degrees of known conceptions +of goodness and beauty, there are others and yet others _ad infinitum_. + +CIC. How is it that after we become informed of that conception of the +beautiful which is begotten in the soul, we yet desire to satisfy the +exterior vision? + +TANS. From this, that the soul would ever love that which it loves, and +ever see that which it sees. Therefore she wills that, the conception +which has been produced in her through seeing, should not become +weakened, enervated and lost; but would ever see more and more, and that +which becomes obscure in the interior affection, should be frequently +brightened by the exterior aspect, which as it is the principle of +being, must also be the principle of conservation. This results +proportionately in the act of understanding and of considering, for as +the sight has reference to visible things, so has the intellect to +intelligible things. I believe now that you understand to what end and +in what manner the soul tends, when she says "repress the sight." + +CIC. I understand very well. Now continue to unfold what happens to +these thoughts. + +TANS. Now follows the disagreement between the mother and the aforesaid +children, who having, contrary to her orders, opened their eyes, and, +having fixed them on the splendour of the object, they remained in +company with the heart. + +22. + + Cruel sons are ye to me, me whom ye left + Still farther to exasperate my pain; + And ever without cease ye weary me, + Taking away from me my every hope! + Why should the sense remain? oh, grasping heavens! + Wherefore these broken ruined powers, if not + To make me subject and exemplar + Of such heavy martyrdom, such lengthened pain? + Leave, dear sons, my winged fire enchained, + And let me, some of you once more behold, + Come back to me from those retaining claws! + Oh, weariness! not one returns + To bring a late refreshment to my pains. + +Behold me, miserable one, deprived of heart, abandoned of thoughts, left +by hope, I, who had fixed my all in them. Nothing is left to me but the +sense of my poverty, my unhappiness and misery; why does not this too +leave me? Why does not death succour me, now that I am deprived of life? +To what use do I possess these natural powers if I be deprived of the +use of them? How can I alone nourish myself with intelligible +conceptions as with intellectual bread, if the substance of this bread +be composed of this contingency. How can I linger in the intimacy of +these friendly and dear members which I have woven round me, adjusting +them with the symmetry of the elementary conditions, if my thoughts and +all my affections abandon me, intent upon the care of the bread that is +immaterial and divine? Up, up; oh my flying thoughts; up, oh my rebel +heart; let live the sense of things that are felt, and the understanding +of things intelligible, come to the succour of the body with matter and +corporeal subject, and let the understanding delight in its own objects, +to the end that this composition of the body may be realized, that this +machine dissolve not, in which, by means of the spirit, the soul is +united to the body. Why, unhappy as I am (more through domestic +circumstances than through external violence), am I doomed to see this +horrible divorce between my parts and members? Why does the intellect +trouble itself to give laws to the sense and yet deprive it of its food? +and this, on the other hand, resists; desiring to live according to its +own decrees, and not according to the decree of others; for these and +not those are able to maintain and bless it, therefore it ought to +attend to its own comfort and life, and not to that of others. There is +no harmony and concord where there is only one, where one individual +absorbs the whole being, but where there is order and analogy in things +diverse; where each thing serves its own nature. Therefore let the sense +feed according to the law of things that can be felt, the flesh be +obedient to the law of the spirit, the reason to its own law. Let them +not be confounded nor mixed. Enough that one neither mar nor prejudice +the law of the other, since it is not just that the sense outrage the +law of reason. And verily it is a shameful thing that one should +tyrannize over the other, particularly where the intellect is a pilgrim +and strange, and the sense is more domesticated and at home. I am forced +by you, my thoughts, to remain at home in charge of the house, while +others may wander wherever they will. This is a law of Nature, and +therefore a law of the author and originator of Nature. Sin on then, now +that all of you, seduced by the charm of the intellect, leave the other +part of me to the peril of death. How have you gotten this melancholy +and perverse humour, which breaks the certain and natural laws of the +true life, and which is in your own hands, for one, uncertain, and which +has no existence except in shadow, beyond the limits of fantastic +thought? Seems it to you a natural thing that they should live divinely +and not as animals and humanly, they being not gods, but men and +animals? It is a law of fate and Nature that everything should adapt +itself to the condition of its own being, wherefore then, while you +follow after the niggard nectar of the gods, do you lose that which is +present and is your own, and trouble yourself about the vain hopes of +others? Ought not Nature to refuse to give you the other good, if that +which she at present offers to you, you stupidly despise? + + Heaven the second gift denies, + To him who does the first despise. + +With these and similar reasons the soul, taking part with the weakest, +seeks to recall the thoughts to the care of the body. And these, +although late, come and show themselves, but not in that form in which +they departed, but only to declare their rebellion, and force her to +follow. And the sorrowing one thus laments: + +23. + + Ah, dogs of Actaeon, ah, proud ingrates! + Whom to the abode of my divinity I sent; + Without hope do ye return to me; + And, coming to the mother's side, ye bring + Back unto me a too unhappy boon; + Ye mangle me, and will that I live not. + Leave me, life, that I may mount up to my sun, + A double streamlet, mad, without my fount! + When shall this ponderous mass of me dissolve? + When shall it be, that, taking myself hence, + And swiftly rising to the heights above, + Together with my heart I may abide, + And with my thoughts I may be deified? + +The Platonists say that the soul, as to its superior part, always +consists in the intellect, in which it has more of understanding than of +soul, seeing that it is called soul only in so far as it vivifies the +body and sustains it. So here, the same essence which nourishes and +maintains the thoughts on high, together with the exalted heart, is +induced by the inferior part to afflict itself, and recall them as +rebels. + +CIC. So that they are not two contrary existences, but one, subject to +two contradictory terms? + +TANS. So it is, precisely. As the ray of the sun which touches the +earth, and is joined to obscure and to inferior things, which it +brightens, vivifies, and kindles, and is then joined to the element of +fire--that is, to the star, whence it proceeds, and has its beginning, +and is diffused, and in which it has its own and original +subsistence--so the soul, which is in the horizon of Nature, is +corporeal and incorporeal, and contains that with which it rises to +superior things and declines to things inferior. And this, you may +perceive, does not happen by reason and order of local motion, but +solely through the impulse of one and of another power or faculty. As +when the sense rises to the imagination, the imagination to the reason, +the reason to the intellect, the intellect to the mind, then the whole +soul is converted into God, and inhabits the intelligible world; whence, +on the other hand, she descends in an inverse manner to the world of +feeling, through the intellect, reason, imagination, sense, vegetation. + +CIC. It is true that I have heard that the soul, in order to put itself +in the ultimate degree of divine things, descends into the mortal body, +and from this goes up again to the divine degrees, which are three +degrees of intelligence. For there are others in which the intellectual +surpasses the animal, which are said to be the celestial intelligences; +and others in which the animal surpasses the intellectual, which are the +human intelligences; others there are, of which those things are equal, +as those of demons or heroes. + +TANS. The mind then cannot desire except that which is near, close, +known, and familiar. The pig cannot desire to be a man, nor wish for +those things that are suitable to the human appetite. He likes better +to turn about in mud than in a bed of linen, he would prefer a sow to +the most beautiful of women, because the affection follows the reason of +the species. And amongst men the same thing is seen, according as some +resemble one species of brute beast and some another: these having +something of the quadruped, and those of birds, and, may be, some +affinity, which I will not explain, but through which those have been +known who are affected by certain sorts of beasts. Now, it is lawful for +the mind which finds itself oppressed by the material conjunction of the +soul, to raise itself to the contemplation of another state, to which +the soul may arrive, comparing the two, and so through the future +despise the present. If a beast had a sense of the difference which +exists between his own condition and that of man, and the meanness of +his own state with the nobility of the human state, which he would deem +it not impossible to be able to reach, he would love death, which would +open to him that road, more than that life which keeps him in the +present state of being. When the soul complains, saying, "Ah! dogs of +Actaeon!" she is represented as a thing which appears only in the +inferior powers, and against which the mind rebels for having taken away +the heart with it; that is to say, the entire affections, with all the +army of the thoughts. So that, having a knowledge of the present state, +and being ignorant of every other, and not believing that others exist +about which she can have any knowledge, she complains of her thoughts, +which, tardily turning towards her, come rather to draw her up than to +make themselves accepted by her. And through the distraction which she +endures on account of the ordinary love of the material and of things +intelligible, she feels herself lacerated and mangled, so that at last +she is forced to yield to the more vigorous impulse. And if, by virtue +of contemplation, she rises or is caught up above the horizon of the +natural affections, whence with purer eye she learns the difference +between the one life and the other, then, vanquished by the lofty +thoughts, and, as if dead to the body, she aspires to that which is +elevated, and, although alive in the body, she vegetates there as if +dead, being present as an animating principle and absent in operative +activity; not because she does not act while the body is alive, but that +the actions of this mass are intermittent, weak, and, as it were, +purposeless. + +CIC. Thus a certain theologian, who was said to be transported to the +third heaven and enchanted with the view of it, said that what he +desired was the dissolution of his body. + +TANS. So; first complaining of the heart and quarrelling with the +thoughts, she now desires to rise on high with them, and exhibits her +regret for the connection and familiarity contracted with corporeal +matter, and says: "Leave me life (corporeal), and do not impede my +progress upwards to my native home, to my sun. Leave me now, for no +longer do my eyes weep tears; neither because I cannot succour them (the +thoughts), nor because I cannot remain divided from my happiness. Leave +me, for it is not fit nor possible that these two streams should run +without their source, that is, without the heart. I will not, I say, +make two rivers of tears here below, while my heart, which is the source +of such rivers, is flown away on high with its nymphs, which are my +thoughts." Thus, little by little, from dislike and regret, she proceeds +to the hatred of inferior things, which she partly shows, saying, "When +shall this ponderous mass of me dissolve?" and that which follows. + +CIC. This I understand right well, and also that which you would infer +about the principal intention; that is to say, that these are the +degrees of the loves, of the affections, and of the enthusiasms, +according to the degrees of greater and lesser light, of cognition, and +of intelligence. + +TANS. Thou understandest rightly. From this thou oughtest to learn that +doctrine taken from the Pythagoreans and Platonists, which is, that the +soul makes the two progressions of ascent and descent, by the care that +it has of itself and of matter; being moved by its own proper love of +good, and being urged by the providence of fate. + +CIC. But, prythee, tell me briefly what you mean about the soul of the +world, if she can neither ascend nor descend? + +TANS. If you ask of the world, according to the common +signification--that is, in so far as it signifies what is called the +universe--I say that, being infinite, it has no dimension or measure, is +immobile, inanimate, and without form, notwithstanding it is the place +of infinite moving worlds and is infinite space, in which are so many +large animals that are called stars. If you ask according to the +signification held by the true philosophers--that is, in so far as it +signifies every globe, every star, such as this earth, the body of the +sun, moon, and others--I say that such soul does not ascend nor descend, +but turns in a circle. Thus, being compounded of superior and inferior +powers, with the superior it turns round the divinity, and with the +inferior, towards the mass of the worlds, which is by it vivified and +maintained between the tropics of generation and the corruption of +living things in those worlds, serving its own life eternally; because +the act of the divine providence, always preserves it with divine heat +and light, with the same order and measure, in the ordinary and +self-same being. + +CIC. I have now heard enough upon this subject. + +TANS. It happens then that individual souls come to be influenced +differently as to their habits and inclinations, according to the +diverse degrees of ascension and descension, and come to display various +kinds and orders of enthusiasms, of loves, and of senses, not only in +the scale of Nature according to the orders of diverse lives which the +soul takes up in different bodies, as is expressly declared by the +Pythagoreans, Saduchimi and others, and by implication, Plato, and those +who dive more profoundly into it, but still more in the scale of human +affections, which has as many degrees as the scale of Nature; for man, +in all his powers, displays every species of being. + +CIC. Therefore from the affections one may know souls, whether they are +going up or down, or whether they are from above or from below, whether +they are going on towards becoming beasts or towards divine beings, +according to the specific being as the Pythagoreans understood it; or +according to the similitude of the affections only, as is commonly +believed, the human soul not being able, (so long as it is truly human) +to become soul of a brute, as Plotinus and other Platonists well said, +on account of the quality of its beginning. + +TANS. Now to come to the proposition: From animal enthusiasm, this soul, +as described, is promoted to heroic enthusiasm, saying, "When shall it +be that I rise up to the height of the object, there to dwell in company +with my heart and with my fledglings[C] and his?" This same proposition +he continues when he says: + +24. + + Destiny, when, shall I that mountain mount, + Which, blissful to the high gates bringing, bring, + Where those rare beauties I shall counting, count, + When _he_ my pain with comfort comforting, + Who my disjointed members joined, + And leaves my dying powers not dead? + My spirit's rival more than rivalled is + If, far from sin, it unassailed may sail, + If thither tending, it may waiting, wait, + And up with that high object rising, rise, + And if my good alone, alone I take, + For which I sure remove of each defect effect, + And so at last may come to enjoy with joy, + As he who all foretells can tell. + +[C] Pulcini. + +O Destiny! O Fate! O divine immutable Providence! when shall it be that +I shall climb that mount--that is, that I may arrive at such altitude of +mind, as transporting me shall bring me into those outer and inner +courts where I may behold and count those rare beauties? When shall it +be, that he will effectually comfort my pain, loosening me from the +tightened bonds of those cares in which I find myself, he, who formed +and united my members, which before were disunited and disjoined: that +is Love; he who has joined together these corporeal parts, which were as +far divided as one opposite is divided from another; so that these +intellectual powers which, through his action he has extinguished, +should not be left quite dead, but be again re-animated and made to +aspire on high? When, I say, will he fully comfort me, and give my +powers free and speedy flight, by which means my substance may go and +nestle there, where, by my efforts, I may make amends and correct my +defects, and where (if I arrive) my spirit will be made effectual or +prevail over my rival, because there, no excess will oppose, no +opposition overcome, no error assail? Oh! if by force he may arrive +there, at that height which he is waiting to reach, he will remain on +high, at the elevation of his object, and he will take that good that +cannot be comprehended by any other than one, that is, by himself, +seeing that every other has it in the measure of his own capacity, and +this one alone has it in all its fulness. Then will happiness come to me +in that manner which he says, "who all foretells"; that is, at that +elevation in which the saying all and the doing all is the same thing; +in that manner that he says and does who all foretells, that is, who is +sufficient for all things and primary, and whose word and pre-ordaining +is the true doing and beginning. This is how, in the scale of things +superior and inferior, the affection of Love proceeds, as the intellect +or sentiment proceeds from these intelligible or knowable objects, to +those, or from those to these. + +CIC. Thus the greater number of sages believe that Nature delights in +this changeful circulation which is seen in the whirling of her wheel. + + + + +=Fifth Dialogue.= + + +I. + +CIC. Now show me how I may be able for myself to consider the conditions +of these enthusiasts, through that which appears in the order of the +warfare here described. + +TANS. Behold how they carry the ensign of their affections or fortunes. +Let us leave the consideration of their names and habits; enough that we +stand upon the meaning of the undertaking and the intelligibility of the +writing, alike that which is put for the form of the body of the figure, +as well as that which is mostly put as an elucidation of the +undertaking. + +CIC. Thus will we do. Here then is the first, who carries a shield +divided into four colours, and in the crest is depicted a flame under +the head of bronze, from the holes in which, issue in great force a +smoky wind, and about it is written: "At regna senserunt tria." + +TANS. For the explanation of this I would say: that the fire there is +that which heats the globe, inside of it is the water, and it happens +that this humid element, being rarefied and attenuated by virtue of the +heat, and thus resolved into vapour, it requires much greater space to +contain it, therefore if it does not find easy exit, it goes on with +extreme force, noise, and destruction to break the vessel; but if it +finds space and easy exit, so that it can evaporate, it goes out with +less violence, little by little, and, according as the water is resolved +into vapour, it is dissipated in puffs into the air. Here is signified +the heart of the enthusiast where, by a cleverly planned allurement +being caught by the amorous flame, it happens that some of the vital +substance sparkles with fire, while some in the form of tearful cries +rends the bosom, and some other by the expulsion of gusty sighs agitates +the air. Therefore he says: "At regna senserunt tria." Now this "at" +supposes a difference, or diversity, or opposite; as one might almost +say there exists something which might have the same sense, but has it +not, which is very well explained in the following rhymes: + +25. + + From these twin lights of me--a little earth-- + My wonted tears stream freely to the sea. + The greedy air receives from out my breast + No niggard part of all that breast contains; + And from my heart the lightnings are unlocked + That rise to heaven, and yet diminish not. + Thus pay I to the air, the sea, the fire, + The tribute of my sighs, my tears, my zeal. + The sea, the air, the fire, accept a part of me, + But my divinity no favour shows. + Unkind she turns away. Near her + My tears find no response; + My voice she will not hear, + Nor pitifully will she turn to note my zeal. + +Here the subject matter signified by "earth" is the substance of the +enthusiast, which is poured from the twin lights--that is, from the +eyes--in copious tears that flow to the sea; he sends forth from his +breast into the wide air sighs in a great multitude, and the lightnings +from his heart, not like a little spark or a weak flame, which, cooling +itself in the air, smokes, and transmigrates into other beings; but, +potent and vigorous--rather acquiring from others than losing of its +own--it joins its congenial sphere. + +CIC. I understand it all. To the next. + + +II. + +TANS. Close by is portrayed one who has on his shield a crest, also +divided into four colours. There is a sun whose rays extend to the back +of the earth, and there is a legend which says: "Idem semper ubique +totum." + +CIC. I perceive that the interpretation of it will be difficult. + +TANS. The more excellent the meaning the less obvious is it, and you +will see that it is unequalled, unique, and not strained. You are to +consider that the sun, although with regard to the various regions of +the earth he is for each one different as to time, place, and degree, +yet in respect of the whole globe as such, he always and in every place +accomplishes everything, for in whatever part of the ecliptic he is to +be found, he makes winter, summer, autumn, and spring, and makes the +whole globe of the earth to receive within itself the aforesaid four +seasons; for never is it hot at one side unless it is cold on the other; +when it is to us very hot in the tropic of Cancer it is very cold in the +tropic of Capricorn; so that for the same reason it is winter in that +part when it is summer in this, and to those who are in the middle, it +is temperate according to the aspect, vernal or autumnal. So the earth +always feels the rains, the winds, the heat, the cold; nor would it be +damp here if it were not dry in another part, and the sun would not warm +it on this side if it had not already left off warming it on the other. + +CIC. Even before you have finished, I understand what you would say. You +mean that as the sun gives all the impressions to the earth, and this +receives them whole and entire, so the Object of the enthusiast, with +its active splendour, makes him the passive subject of tears, which are +the waters, of ardours, which are the fires, and of sighs, which are +certain vapours, which partake of both, which leave the fire, and go to +the waters, or leave the waters and go to the fire. + +TANS. This is well explained below. + +26. + + When as the sun towards Capricorn declines, + Then do the rains enrich the streams, + As towards the line he goes, or thence returns, + More felt is each AEolian messenger, + Warming the more with every lengthening day + What time towards burning Cancer he remounts. + And equal to this heat, this cold, this zeal + Are these my tears, my sighs, the ardour that I feel. + My constant sighs, my never waning flames + Are only equal to my tears. + My floods and flames howe'er intense they be, + Are never more so than my sighs; + I burn with fervid heat, + And, firmly fixed, I ever sigh and weep. + +CIC. This does not so much declare the meaning of the coat of arms, as +the preceding discourse did, but it rather supplements or accompanies +that discourse. + +TANS. Say, rather, that the figure is latent in the first part, and the +legend is well explained in the second; as both the one and the other +are very properly signified in the type of the sun and of the earth. + +CIC. Pass on to the third. + + +III. + +TANS. The third bears on his shield a naked child, stretched upon the +green turf, who rests his head upon his arm, with his eyes turned +towards the sky to certain edifices, towers, gardens, and orchards, +which are above the clouds, and there is a castle of which the material +is fire, and in the middle is the sign inscribed: "Mutuo fulcimur." + +CIC. What does that mean? + +TANS. It means that enthusiast, signified by the naked child as simple, +pure, and exposed to all the accidents of Nature and of fortune, who at +the same time by the force of thought, constructs castles in the air, +and amongst other things a tower, of which the architect is Love, the +material is the amorous fire, and the builder is himself, who says: +"Mutuo fulcimur"--that is, I build and uphold you there with my +thought, and you uphold me here with hope; you would not be in existence +were it not for the imagination and the thought with which I form and +uphold you, and I should not be alive were it not for the refreshment +and comfort that I receive through your means. + +CIC. It is true that there is no fancy so vain and so chimerical that +may not be a more real and true medicine for an enthusiastic heart than +any herb, mineral, oil, or other sort of thing that Nature produces. + +TANS. Magicians can do more by means of faith than physicians by the +truth; and in the worst diseases the patients benefit more by believing +this or that which the former say, than in understanding that which the +latter do. Now let the rhymes be read. + +27. + + Above the clouds in that high place, + When oft with dreaming I am fired, + For comfort and refreshment of my soul + An airy castle from my fires I build, + And if my adverse fate incline awhile, + And without scorn or ire will understand + This lofty grace for which I die, + Oh happy then my pains, happy my death. + The ardour of those flames she does not feel, + Nor is she hindered by those snares + With which, oh boy! thou'rt wont to enslave + And lead into captivity both men and gods; + By pity's hand alone, oh Love, + By showing all my woe, thou shalt prevail. + +CIC. He shows that which feeds his fancy and bathes his spirit; yet, +inasmuch as he is without courage to explain himself and make known his +sufferings, although he is so deeply subjected to that anguish, if it +should happen that his hard, uncompromising fate should bend a little +(as, in the end, fate must soothe him, by showing itself without scorn +or anger for the high object), he would consider no happiness so great, +no life so blessed, as in such a case would be his happiness in his +woes, and his blessedness in his death. + +TANS. And with this he comes to declare to Love that the means by which +he will gain access to that breast, is not in the ordinary way by the +arms with which he usually captivates men and gods, but only by causing +the fiery heart and his troubled spirit, to be laid bare, to obtain +sight of which it is necessary that compassion open the way, and +introduce him to that secret chamber. + + +IV. + +CIC. What is the meaning of that butterfly which flutters round the +flame, and almost burns itself? and what means that legend, "Hostis non +hostis?" + +TANS. The meaning of the butterfly is not difficult, which, seduced by +the fascinations of splendour, goes innocently and amicably to meet its +death in the devouring flames. Thus, "hostis" stands written for the +effect of the fire; "non hostis" for the inclination of the fly. +"Hostis," the fly passively; "non hostis," actively. "Hostis," the +flame, through its ardour; "non hostis," through its splendour. + +CIC. Now what is that which is written on the tablet? + +TANS.: + +28. + + Be it far from me to make complaint of love, + Love, without whom I will not happy be, + And though through him these weary toils I bear. + Yet what is given my will shall not reject. + Be clear the sky or dark, burning or cold, + To that one phoenix e'er the same I'll be, + No fate nor destiny can e'er untie + That knot which death unable is to loose; + To heart, to spirit, and to soul, + No pleasure is, no liberty, no life, + No smile, no rapture, no delight, + So sweet, so grateful, so divine, + As these hard bonds, this death of mine, + To which by fate, by will, by nature I incline. + +Here, in the figure, he shows the resemblance between the enthusiast +and the butterfly attracted towards the light; in the sonnet, however, +he demonstrates rather difference and dissimilarity; as it is commonly +believed, that if the butterfly foresaw its destruction, it would fly +from the light more eagerly than it now pursues it, and would consider +it an evil to lose its life through being absorbed into that hostile +fire. But to him (the enthusiast) it is no less pleasing to perish in +the flames of amorous ardour than to be drawn to the contemplation of +the beauty of that rare splendour, under which, by natural inclination, +by voluntary election, and by disposition of fate, he labours, serves, +and dies more gaily, more resolutely, and more courageously than under +whatsoever other pleasure which may offer itself to the heart, liberty +which may be conceded to the spirit, and life which may be discovered in +the soul. + +CIC. Tell me why he says, "ever the same I'll be?" + +TANS. Because it seems suitable to bring forward a reason for his +constancy, seeing that the sage does not change with the moon, although +the fool does so. Thus he is unique, as the phoenix is unique. + + +V. + +CIC. But what signifies that branch of palm, around which is the legend, +"Caesar adest?" + +TANS. Without further talk, all may be understood by that which is +written on the tablet: + +29. + + Unconquered victor of Pharsalia, + Though all thy warriors be well-nigh spent, + At sight of thee they rise once more; + Their strength returns, they conquer their proud foes; + So does my love--that equals love of heaven-- + Become a living presence through my thoughts; + Thoughts that my haughty soul had killed with scorn, + Love brings again stronger than love himself; + Thy presence is enough, oh memory! + These to reanimate in all their strength, + And with imperious sov'reignty they rule + And govern each opposing force. + May I be happy in this governance + And with these bonds, and may that light ne'er cease. + +There are times when the inferior powers of the soul--like a vigorous +and hostile army, which finds itself in its own country practised, +expert, and ready--revolt against the foreign adversary, who comes down +from the height of the intelligence to curb the people of the valley and +of the boggy plains, where, through the baneful presence of the enemies +and of such obstacles as deep ditches, advancing they lose themselves, +and would be entirely lost, if there were not a certain conversion +towards the splendour of intellectual things through the act of +contemplation, by means of which they are converted from inferior +degrees to superior ones. + +CIC. What degrees are these? + +TANS. The degrees of contemplation are like the degrees of light, which +exist not at all in the darkness, slightly in shade, more in colours, +according to their orders, from one opposite which is black to the other +which is white; but more fully do they exist in the splendour diffused +over pure transparent bodies, as in a looking-glass and in the moon, and +still more brightly in the rays diffused by the sun, but principally and +most brilliantly in the sun itself. Now the perceptive and the +affectional powers are ordered in this way; the next following always +has affinity for the next preceding, and by means of conversion to that +which elevates it, it becomes fortified against the inferior, which +lowers it; as the reason, through its conversion to the intellect, is +not seduced or vanquished by knowledge or comprehension or by passionate +affection, but rather, according to the law of the intellect, it is +brought to govern and correct the same. It comes to this, therefore, +that when the rational appetite strives against sensual concupiscence, +if, by the act of conversion, the intellectual light is presented to +the eyes, it causes the above appetite to take up again the lost virtue, +and giving fresh strength to the nerves, it alarms and puts to rout the +enemy. + +CIC. In what manner do you mean that such a conversion takes place? + +TANS. With three preparatives, which are noted by the contemplative +Plotinus in the book of "Intellectual Beauty;" and, of these, the first +is by proposing to conform himself to a divine pattern, diverting the +sight from things which stand between him and his own perfection, and +which are common to those things which are equal and inferior. The +second is by applying himself, with full intention and attention, to +superior things. The third is by bringing into captivity to God the +whole will and affection: for from this it comes to pass that, without +doubt, the divinity will influence him; who is everywhere present, and +ready to come to the aid of whosoever turns to Him through the act of +the intelligence, and who unreservedly presents himself with the +affection of the will. + +CIC. It is not then corporeal beauty which can allure such an one? + +TANS. No, certes; because in that there is no true nor constant beauty, +and for this reason it cannot evoke true nor constant love. That beauty, +which is seen in bodies is accidental and transitory, and is like those +which are absorbed, changed, and spoiled by the changing of the subject, +which very often, from being beautiful, becomes ugly, without any change +taking place in the soul. The reason then comprehends the truest beauty, +through conversion, to that which makes the beauty of the body, and +forms it in loveliness--it is the soul which has thus built and designed +it. Now does the intellect rise still higher, and learns that the soul +is incomparably more beautiful than any beauty that may be in bodies; +but yet it cannot persuade itself that it is beautiful of itself and +primarily, for if it be so, what is the cause of that difference which +exists in the quality of souls, by which some are wise, amiable, and +beautiful, others stupid, odious, and ugly. We must then raise ourselves +to that superior intellect which is beautiful in itself and good in +itself. This is that sole supreme captain who alone, placed before the +eyes of the militant thoughts, enlivens, encourages, strengthens them, +and renders them victorious above the scorn of every other beauty and +the repudiation of every other good whatsoever. This is the presence +which causes every difficulty to be overcome and all opposition to be +subdued. + +CIC. I understand it all; but what is the meaning of, "May I be happy in +this governance and with these bonds, and may that light not cease?" + +TANS. He means, and he proves, that every sort of love, the greater its +dominion and the surer its hold, the more tight are the bonds, and the +more firm the yoke, and the more ardent the flames that are felt, as +compared with the ordinary princes and tyrants, who adopt a greater +rigour wherever they see they have less hold. + +CIC. Go on. + + +VI. + +TANS. Here we see described the idea of a flying phoenix, towards which +is turned a boy who is burning in the midst of flames; and there is the +legend, "Fata obstant." But in order better to understand it, let us +read the tablet: + +30. + + Sole bird of the sun, thou wandering phoenix! + That measurest thy days as does the world + With lofty summits of Arabia Felix. + Thou art the same thou wast, but I what I was not: + I through the fire of love, unhappy die; + But thee the sun with his warm rays revives; + Thou burn'st in one, and I, in every place; + Eros my fire, while thine Apollo gives. + Predestined is the term of thy long life; + Short span is mine, + And menaced by a thousand ills. + Nor do I know how I have lived, nor how shall live, + Me does blind fate conduct; + But thou wilt come again, again behold thy light. + +From the meaning of these lines, you will see that in the figure is +drawn the comparison between the fate of the phoenix and that of the +enthusiast; and the legend, "Fata obstant," does not signify that the +fates are adverse either to the boy, or to the phoenix, or to both; but +that the fatal decrees for each are not the same, but are diverse and +opposite. The phoenix is that which it was, because the same matter, by +means of the fire, renews itself, and becomes again the body of the +phoenix, and the same spirit and soul come to inhabit it. The enthusiast +is that which he was not, because the subject, which is a man, was first +of some other species, according to innumerable differentiations. So +that what the phoenix was, is known, and what it will be, is known; but +this subject cannot return, except through many and uncertain means, to +invest the same or a similar natural form. Then the phoenix, through the +sun's presence, changes death into life, and that other, by the +presence of love, transmutes life into death. The one kindles his fire +on the aromatic altar, the other finds it ever present with him and +carries it wherever he goes. The one again, has certain conditions of a +long life; but the other, through the infinite differences of time and +innumerable circumstances, has the mutable conditions of a short life. +The one kindles with certainty, the other with doubt as to whether he +will see the sun again. + +CIC. What do you think that this means? + +TANS. It means the difference that exists between the lower intellect +called the intellect of power, either possible or passive, which is +uncertain, multifarious, and multiform, and the higher intellect, which, +perhaps, is like that which is said by the Peripatetics to be the lowest +of the intelligences, and which exerts an immediate influence over all +the individuals of the human species, and is called the active and +acting intellect. This special human intelligence which influences all +individuals is like the moon, which partakes of no other species but +that one alone which always renews itself by the transmutation caused in +it by the sun, which is the primal and universal intelligence; but the +human intellect, both individual and collective, turns as do the eyes +towards innumerable and most diverse objects; whence, according to the +infinite degrees which exist, it takes on all the natural forms. Hence +it is that this particular intellect may be as enthusiastic, vague, and +uncertain, as that universal one is quiet, fixed, and certain, whether +as regards the desire or the comprehension. Now therefore, as you may +very well perceive for yourself, it means that the nature of the +comprehension of sense and its varied appetite, is vague, inconstant, +and uncertain, and the conception and definite appetite of the +intelligence is firm and stable. This is the difference between sensual +love, which has no stability nor discretion as to its object, and +intellectual love, which aims only at one, sure and fixed, towards which +it turns, through which it is illuminated in its conception, by which, +being kindled in its affections, it becomes inflamed and brightened, and +is maintained in unity and identity of condition. + + +VII. + +CIC. But what is the meaning of that figure of the sun, with a circle +inside and another outside, with the legend "Circuit." + +TANS. The meaning of this I am certain I should never have understood if +I had not heard it from the designer of it himself. Now you must know +that "Circuit" has reference to the movement the sun makes round the +circle which is drawn inside and outside, in order to signify that the +movement both makes and is made; and hence, as a consequence, the sun is +to be found in every part of those circles; so that, if he moves and is +moved, and is over the whole circumference of the circle equally, then +you find in him both movement and rest. + +CIC. This I understood in the dialogues on the infinite universe and the +innumerable worlds, where it is declared that the divine wisdom is +extremely mobile, as Solomon said, and also that the same is most +stable, as all those declare who know. Now go on and make me understand +the proposition. + +TANS. It means that [D]his sun is not like this one, which is commonly +believed to go round the earth with the daily movement in twenty-four +hours, and with the planetary movement in twelve months, and by which he +causes the four seasons of the year to be felt, according as he is found +to be in the four cardinal points of the zodiac; but he is such an one, +that, being the ethereal eternity itself, and consequently an entire and +complete totality, he contains the winter, the spring, the summer, the +autumn, together with the day and the night, for he is all and for all, +in all points and places. + +[D] Il suo sole. + +CIC. Now apply that which you have said to the figure. + +TANS. It being impossible here to design the entire sun in every point +of the circle, two circles are delineated; one which contains the sun to +signify that the movement is made through him, the other which is +contained by the sun to show that he is moved by it. + +CIC. But this explanation is not very clear and appropriate. + +TANS. Suffice it that it is the clearest and most appropriate that he +was able to make. If you can make a better one, you shall have +permission to remove this one and put it in its place, for this has only +been put in, so that the soul should not be without a body. + +CIC. What do you say about that "Circuit?" + +TANS. That legend contains all the meaning of the thing in so far as it +can be explained, for it means that he turns and is turned, that is to +say movement present and accomplished. + +CIC. Excellent! And therefore those circles which so ill explain the +circumstance of movement and rest, we can say are placed there to +signify the circulation only. Thus am I satisfied with the subject and +with the form of the heroic device. Now read the lines. + +TANS.: + +31. + + Mild are thy rays, oh, Sol! from Taurus sent, + And from the Lion thy beams mature and burn, + And when thy light from pungent Scorpion darts + Transcendent is the ardour of thy flames. + From fierce Deucalion all is struck with cold, + Stiffened the lakes and locked the running streams. + With spring, with summer, autumn, and with winter, + I warm, I kindle, burn and blaze for ever. + So ardent my desire, + The object so supreme for which I burn; + Glowing and unencumbered I behold, + And make my lightnings flash unto the stars. + No moment can I count in all the year + To change the[E] inexorable cross I bear. + +Here observe that the four seasons of the year are signified, not by +four movable signs, which are Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, but +by the four which are called fixed--namely, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and +Aquarius, to signify the condition, fervour, and perfection of those +seasons. Note further, that in virtue of those apostrophes, which are in +the eighth line, you can read: I warm, kindle, burn, blaze; or, be thou +warmed, kindled, burning, blazing; or, let him warm, kindle, burn, +blaze. + +[E] Sordi affanni. + +You have farther to consider that these are not four synonyms, but four +different terms, which signify so many degrees of the effects of the +fire, which first warms, secondly kindles, thirdly burns, and fourthly +blazes or inflames that which it has warmed, kindled, and burnt. And +thus are denoted in the enthusiast, desire, attention, study, affection, +in which he never for a moment feels any change. + +CIC. Why does he put them under the title of a cross? + +TANS. Because the object, which is the divine light, is, in this life, +more felt as a painful longing than in quiet fruition, because our mind +is towards that, as the eyes of night birds to the sun. + +CIC. Proceed; for from what you have said I understand all. + + +VIII. + +TANS. On the next crest there is painted a full moon and the legend: +"Talis mihi semper ut astro," which means that to the star--that is, to +the sun--she is ever such as she here shows herself, full and clear in +the entire circumference of the circle, which, in order that you may +better understand, I will let you hear that which is written on the +tablet. + +32. + + Oh, changeful moon, inconstant moon! + With horns now full, now void, thou wanderest. + Mounting, thy sphere now white now dark appears. + The mountains and the valleys of the north thou brightenest, + And turning by thy dust-encumbered steps, + Thou lightest in the south the Lybian heights. + My moon for my continual pain. + Is constant ever, ever full. + So is my star, + Which ever from me takes and nothing gives, + For ever burns and ever shines, + Cruel always yet always beautiful. + This noble light of mine + Torments me still and still delights me. + +It seems to me, that it means that his particular intelligence is to the +universal intelligence ever the same--that is to say, the one is ever +illuminated by the other, over the whole hemisphere; notwithstanding +that to the inferior powers, and according to the influence of his +actions, it appears now dark, and now more and less clear. Or perhaps it +means that his speculative intellect, which is ever invariable in its +action, is always turned and affected towards the human intelligence +signified by the moon. Because, as this is said to be the lowest of all +the stars, and is nearest to us, so the illuminating intelligence of all +of us in this state is the last in order of the other intelligences, as +Averroes and the more subtle Peripatetics say. That intelligence, in so +far as it is not in any act, goes down before, or sets to the potential +intellect, or as if so to say, it emerged from the bottom of the occult +hemisphere, and showed itself now void, now full, according as it gives +more or less light of intelligence. Now its sphere is dark, now light, +because sometimes it shows itself as a shadow, a semblance, and a +vestige, and sometimes more and more openly: now it declines towards the +south, now it mounts towards the north--that is, now it removes farther +and farther away, and now it approaches nearer and nearer. But the +intellect, active with its continual grief--seeing that it is not +through its human condition and nature that it finds itself so wretched, +so opposed, courted, solicited, distracted, and, as it were, torn by the +inferior powers--sees its object stable, fixed and constant, and ever +full, and in the same splendour of beauty. Thus it ever takes away, in +so far as it does not concede, and ever gives, in so far as it concedes. +It ever burns in the affection in so far as it shines in thoughts, and +is always cruel in withdrawing itself through that which withdraws +itself; as it is always beautiful in communication with, that to which +it presents itself. Always does it torment when it is divided from him +by difference of locality, as always it delights him being joined to it +by affection. + +CIC. Now apply your intelligence to the legend. + +TANS. He says then, "talis mihi semper;" that is, because of the +continual application of my intellect, my memory, and my will, because I +will remember, understand and desire no other; she is ever the same to +me, and in so far as I can understand her, she is entirely present, and +is not separated from me by any distraction of my thoughts, nor does she +become darkened to me through any want of attention, for there is no +thought that can divert me from that light nor any necessity of nature +which forces me to a less constant attention; "talis mihi semper" on her +side, because she is invariable in substance, in virtue, in beauty, and +in effect, towards those things that are constant and invariable towards +her. She says further, "ut astro," because in respect of the sun, the +illuminator of her, she is ever equally luminous, seeing that she is +ever turned equally towards him, and he at the same time diffuses his +rays equally. As, physically, this moon that we see with the eyes, +although towards the earth she appears now dark, now shining, now more, +now less illuminated and illuminating, yet is she ever equally +irradiated by the sun, because she always reflects his rays over at +least the whole of her hemisphere. So also is the hemisphere of this +earth ever equally irradiated, although from the watery surfaces she +from time to time sends her splendours unequally to the moon,--which +like innumerable other stars we consider as another earth--in the same +manner, she also sends hers to the earth, on account of the periodical +changes which both experience in finding themselves now the one, now the +other, nearer to the sun. + +CIC. How can this intelligence be signified by the moon which lights up +the hemisphere? + +TANS. All the intelligences are signified by the moon, in so far as they +are sharers in act and in power, in so far as they have the light +materially and by participation, receiving it from another; I say that, +as not being lights of themselves, nor by their own nature, but by +reflection from the sun, which is the first intelligence, which is pure +and absolute light, as it is also pure and absolute action. + +CIC. All those things, then, that are dependent, and are not the first +act and cause, are they composed of light and shade, of matter and +form, of power and action? + +TANS. It is so. Furthermore this soul of ours, in all its substance, is +signified by the moon which shines through the hemisphere of the +superior powers, by which it is turned towards the light of the +intelligible world, and is dark through the inferior powers, by which it +is occupied with material things. + + +IX. + +CIC. It seems to me that what has just been said has some connection and +analogy with the impression that I see on the next shield, where stands +a gnarled and rugged oak, against which the wind is raging, and it is +circumscribed by the legend, "ut robori robur," and here is the tablet, +which says: + +33. + + Old oak, that spread'st thy branches to the air, + And firmly in the earth dost fix thy roots; + No shifting of the land, no mighty elements, + Which Heaven from the stormy north unlocks; + Nor whatso'er the gruesome winter sends, + Can tear thee from the spot where thou art chained. + Thou art the veritable portrait of my faith, + Which, fixed, remains 'gainst every casual chance. + Ever the self-same ground dost thou + Grasp, cultivate and comprehend; and stretch + Thy grateful roots unto the generous breast. + Upon one only object I + Have fixed my spirit, sense, and intellect. + +TANS. The legend is clear, by which the enthusiast boasts of having the +strength and vigour of the oak, and as before said of being ever the +same in respect to the one only phoenix, and in the next preceding one, +conforming himself to that moon which ever shines so brightly and is so +beautiful, and also in that he does not resemble this antichthon between +our earth and the sun in so far as it changes to our eyes, but in that +it ever receives within itself an equal amount of the solar splendour, +and through this remains constant and firm against the rough winds and +tempests of winter, through the stability that he has in his star, in +which he is planted by affection and intention, as the roots of the oak +twist and weave themselves into the veins of the earth. + +CIC. I hold it better worth living in quiet and without vexation than to +be forced to endure so much. + +TANS. That is a maxim of the Epicureans which, being well understood, +would not be considered so unworthy as the ignorant hold it to be, +seeing that it does not detract from what I have called virtue, nor +does it impair the perfection of firmness, but it rather adds to that +perfection as it is understood by the vulgar, for Epicurus does not hold +that, a true and complete strength and firmness which feels and bears +inconveniences, but that which bears them and feels them not. He does +not consider him perfect in divine heroic love, who feels the spur, the +check, or remorse or trouble about other love; but him who has no +feeling of other affections; so that being fixed in one pleasure, there +is no displeasure that has any power to jostle him or dislodge him from +his place. And this it is to touch the highest blessedness of this +state, to have rapture and no sense of pain. + +CIC. The ignorant do not believe in this meaning of Epicurus. + +TANS. Because they neither read his own books, nor those that report his +maxims without invidiousness, but there are those who read the course of +his life and the conditions of his death, where with these words he +dictated the beginning of his testament: "Being in the last, and at the +same time, the happiest day of our life, we have ordained this with a +healthy, tranquil mind at rest; for whatever acute sorrow may torment us +from one side, that torment is entirely annulled by the pleasure of our +own inventions and the consideration of our end." And it is manifest +that he no longer felt more pleasure than sorrow in eating, drinking, +repose, and in generating, but in not feeling hunger, nor thirst, nor +fatigue, nor sensuality. From this may be understood what is according +to us the perfection of firmness; not in this, that the tree neither +bends nor breaks, nor is rent, but in that it does not so much as stir, +and its prototype keeps spirit, sense, and intellect, fixed there, where +the shock of the tempest is not felt. + +CIC. Do you then think it is a thing to be desired, to bear shocks in +order to prove that you are strong? + +TANS. You say "to bear;" and this is a part of firmness, but it is not +the whole of that virtue, which consists in bearing strongly, as I say, +or in not feeling, as Epicurus said. Now this loss of feeling is caused +by being entirely absorbed in the cultivation of virtue, or of real good +and felicity, in such wise that Regulus did not feel the chest, Lucretia +the dagger, Socrates the poison, Anaxagoras the mortar, Scaevola the +fire, Cocles the abyss, and other worthies felt not those things which +would torment and fill with terror the vulgar crowd. + +CIC. Now pass on. + + +X. + +TANS. Look at this other who bears the device of an anvil and a hammer, +round which is the legend "ab Aetna!" But here Vulcan is introduced: + +34. + + Not now to my Sicilian mount I turn, + Where thou dost forge the thunderbolts of Jove, + Here, rugged Vulcan will I stay; + Here, where a prouder giant moves, + Who burns and rages against Heaven in vain, + Soliciting new cares and divers trials. + Here is a better smith and Mongibello[F] + A better anvil, better forge and hammer; + For here behold a bosom full of sighs, + Which blows the furnace and the fire revives. + The soul nor yields nor bends to these rough blows, + But bears exulting this long martyrdom, + And makes a harmony from these sharp pangs. + +[F] Mount Etna. + +Here are shown the pains and troubles which beset love, principally love +of a low kind, which is no other than the forge of Vulcan, that smith +who makes the bolts of Jove which torment offending souls. For +ill-ordered love has in itself the beginning of its own pain, seeing +that there is a God near us, in us, and with us. There is in us a +certain sacred mind and intelligence, which supplies an affection of its +own, which has its own avenger, which, through remorse for certain +shortcomings, flagellates the transgressing spirit as with a hammer. It +notes our actions and our affections, and as it is treated by us, so are +we treated by it. In every lover I say there is this smith Vulcan, and +as there is no man that has not a god within him, so there is no lover +that has not a god within him, and no lover within whom this god is not. +Most certainly there is a god in every man, but what god it is in each +one is not so easy to know. And even though we should examine and +distinguish, yet do I believe that none other than Love could declare +it, he being the one who pulls the oars, and fills the sails, and +modifies this compound, so that it comes to be well or ill affected. I +say well or ill affected as to that which it puts in execution through +the moral actions and through contemplation; for the rest, all lovers +are apt to experience some difficulties, things being as they are, so +entangled; there being no good whatever, either of conception or of the +affections, which is not joined to or stands in opposition to evil, as +there is no truth which is not joined or opposed to what is false, so +there is no love without fear, ardour, jealousy, rancour, and other +passions, which proceed from their opposites, and which disturb us, as +the other opposite causes satisfaction. Thus the soul striving to +recover its natural beauty seeks to purify itself, to heal itself, and +to reform itself, and to this end it uses fire, because, being like +gold, mixed with earth and crude, with a certain rigour it tries to +liberate itself from defilement, and this result is obtained when the +intellect, the real smith of Jove, puts itself to the work and causes an +active exercise of the intellectual powers. + +CIC. It seems to me that this is referred to in the "Banquet" of Plato, +where it says that Love has inherited from his mother, Poverty, that +dried-up, thin, pale, bare-footed, and submissive condition without a +home, without anything, and through these is signified the torture of +the soul that is torn with contrary affections. + +TANS. So it is; because the spirit, full of this enthusiasm, becomes +absorbed in profound thoughts, stricken with urgent cares, kindled with +fervent desires, excited by frequent crises: whence the soul, finding +itself in suspense, becomes less diligent and active in the government +of the body through the acts of the vegetative power; thus the body +becomes lean, ill-nourished, attenuated, poor in blood, and rich in +melancholy humours, and these, if they do not administer to the +disciplined soul, or to a clear and lucid spirit, may lead to insanity, +folly, and brutal fury, or at least to a certain disregard of self, and +a contempt of its own being, which is symbolized by Plato in the bare +feet. Love becomes subjected and flies suddenly down to earth when it is +attached to low things, but flies high when it is fixed upon more worthy +enterprises. In conclusion, whatever love it may be, it is ever +afflicted and tormented in such a way that it cannot fail to supply +material for the forge of Vulcan; because the soul, being a divine +thing, and by nature, not a servant but the mistress of corporeal +matter, she becomes troubled in that she voluntarily serves the body +wherein she finds nothing to satisfy her, and albeit, fixed in the thing +loved, yet now and then she becomes agitated, and fluctuates amidst the +waves of hope, fear, doubt, ardour, conscience, remorse, determination, +repentance, and other scourges, which are the bellows, the coals, the +forge, the hammer, the pincers, and other instruments which are found in +the workshop of the sordid grimy consort of Venus. + +CIC. Enough has been said upon this subject. Let us see what follows. + + +XI. + +TANS. Here is a golden apple, rich with various kinds of precious +enamel, and there is a legend about it which says, "Pulchriori detur." + +CIC. The allusion to the fact of the three goddesses who submitted +themselves to the judgment of Paris is very common. But read the lines +which more specifically disclose the meaning of the present enthusiast. + +TANS.: + +35. + + Venus, the goddess of the third heaven + (Mother of the archer blind, who conquers all), + She whose father is the head of Zeus, + And Juno, most majestic wife of Jove, + These call the Trojan shepherd to be judge, + And to the fairest give the ruddy sphere. + Compared with Venus, Pallas, and the Queen of Heaven, + My perfect goddess bears away the palm. + The Cyprian queen may boast her royal limbs, + Minerva charm with her transcendent wit, + And Juno with a majesty supreme; + But she who holds my heart all these excels + In wisdom, majesty, and loveliness. + +Here he makes a comparison between his object (or ideal) which comprises +all circumstances, all conditions, and all kinds of beauty, in one +subject, and others which exhibit each only one, and that through +various hypotheses, as with corporeal beauty, all the conditions of +which Apelles could not find in one, but in many virgins. Now here, +where there are three kinds of the beautiful, although it seems that all +of these exist in each of the three goddesses--Venus not being found +wanting in wisdom and majesty, Juno not lacking loveliness and wisdom, +and Pallas being full of majesty and beauty, in each case it is a fact +that one quality exceeds the others, so that it comes to be held as +distinctive of the one, and the other as incidental to all, seeing that +of those three gifts, one predominates in each and proclaims her +sovereign over the others. And the cause of this difference lies in the +fact of possessing these qualities, not primarily and in their essence, +but by participation and derivation; as in all things which are +dependent, their perfection depends upon the degrees of major and minor +and more and less. But in the simplicity of the divine essence, all +exists in totality, and not according to any measure, and therefore +wisdom is not greater than beauty and majesty, and goodness is not +greater than strength: not only are till the attributes equal, they are +one and the same thing. As in the sphere all the dimensions are not only +equal, the length being equal to the depth and breadth, but are also +identical, seeing that what in a sphere is called deep, may also be +called long and wide. Likewise is it, as to height in divine wisdom, +which is the same as the depth of power and the breadth of goodness. All +these perfections are equal, because they are infinite. Of necessity, +one is according to the sum of the other, seeing that where things are +finite it may result in this, that it is more wise than beautiful or +good, more good and beautiful than wise, more wise and good than +powerful, and more powerful than good or wise. But where there is +infinite wisdom there cannot be other than infinite power, otherwise +there would be no infinite knowledge. Where there is infinite goodness +there must be infinite wisdom, otherwise there would be no infinite +goodness. Where there is infinite power there must be infinite goodness +and wisdom, because there is the being able to know and the knowing to +be able. Now, observe how the object of this enthusiast, who is, as it +were, inebriated with the drink of the gods, is incomparably higher +than others which are different. I mean to say that the divine essence +comprehends in the very highest degree perfection of all kinds, so that +according to the degree in which this particular form may have +participated, he can understand all, do all, and be such an attached +friend to one that he may come to feel contempt and indifference towards +every other beauty. Therefore to her should be consecrated the spherical +apple as to her who seems to be all in all; not to Venus, who is +beautiful but is surpassed in wisdom by Minerva, and by Juno in majesty; +not to Pallas than whom Venus is more beautiful, and the other more +magnificent; not to Juno, who is not the goddess of intelligence or of +love. + +CIC. Truly, as are the degrees of Nature and of the essences, so in +proportion are the degrees of the intelligible orders and the glories of +the amorous affections and enthusiasms. + + +XII. + +CIC. The following bears a head with four faces, which blow towards the +four corners of the heavens, and are four winds in one subject; above +these stand two stars, and in the centre the legend "Novae ortae +aeoliae." I would like to know what that signifies. + +TANS. I think that the meaning of this device is consequent upon that +which precedes it, for, as there the object is declared to be infinite +beauty, so here is proposed what may be called a similar aspiration, +study, affection, and desire. I believe that these winds are set to +signify sighs; but this we shall see when we come to read the lines: + +36. + + Sons of the Titan Astraeus and Aurora, + Who trouble heaven, earth, and the wide sea, + Leave now this stormy war of elements, + And fight anon with the high gods. + No more in my AEolian caves ye dwell, + No more does my restraining power compel; + But caught are ye and closed within that breast, + With moans and sobs and bitter sighs opprest. + Turbulent brothers of the stars, + Companions of the tempests of the seas, + Those lights are all that may avail + Peace to restore; murderous yet innocent; + Which, open or concealed, + Will bless with calm, or curse with pride. + +Evidently, here, AEolus is introduced as speaking to the winds, which he +declares are no longer tempered by him in the AEolian caverns, but by two +stars in the breast of this enthusiast. Here, the two stars do not mean +the two eyes which are in the forehead, but the two appreciable kinds of +divine beauty and goodness, of that infinite splendour, which so +influences intellectual and rational desire, that it brings him to a +condition of infinite aspiration, according to the way and the degree +with which he comes to comprehend that glorious light. For love, while +it is finite, contented, and fixed in a certain measure, is not in the +form of the species of divine beauty, but as it goes on with ever higher +aspirations, it may be said to verge towards the infinite. + +CIC.. How is breathing made to mean aspiring? What relation has desire +with the winds? + +TANS. Whosoever in this present condition aspires, also sighs, and the +same breathes; and therefore the vehemence of the aspiration is noted by +the hieroglyph of strong breathing. + +CIC. But there is a difference between sighing and breathing. + +TANS. Therefore it is not put as if one stood for the other, or as being +identical, but as being similar. + +CIC. Go on then with our proposition. + +TANS. The infinite aspiration then, indicated by the sighs and +symbolized by the winds, is not under the dominion of AEolus in the AEolic +caverns, but of the aforementioned two lights, which are not only +blameless, but benevolent in killing the enthusiast, inasmuch as they +cause him to die to every other thing, except the absorbing affection; +at the same time, they, being closed and concealed, render him unquiet, +and being open, they will tranquillize him, because at this time, when +the eyes of the human mind in this body are covered with a nebulous +veil, the soul, through such studies, becomes troubled and harassed, and +he being thus torn and goaded, will attain only that amount of quiet as +will satisfy the condition of his nature. + +CIC.. How can our finite intellect follow after the infinite ideal? + +TANS. Through the infinite potency it possesses. + +CIC. This would be useless, if ever it came into effect. + +TANS. It would be useless, if it had to do with a finite action, where +infinite potency would be wanting, but not with the infinite action +where infinite potency is positive perfection. + +CIC. If the human intellect is finite in nature and in act, how can it +have an infinite potency? + +TANS. Because it is eternal, and in this ever has delight, so that it +enjoys happiness without end or measure; and because, as it is finite +in itself, so it may be infinite in the object. + +CIC. What difference is there between the infinity of the object and the +infinity of the potentiality? + +TANS. This is finitely infinite, and that infinitely infinite. But to +return to ourselves. The legend there says: "Novae Liparaeae aeoliae," +because it seems as if we are to believe that all the winds which are in +the abysmal caverns of AEolus were converted into sighs, if we include +those which proceed from the affection, which aspires continually to the +highest good and to the infinite beauty. + + +XIII. + +CIC. Here we see the signification of that burning light around which is +written: "Ad vitam, non ad horam." + +TANS. Persistence in such a love and ardent desire of true goodness, by +which in this temporal state the enthusiast is consumed. This, I think, +is shown in the following tablet: + +37.[Transcribers Note: Original source said 34] + + [G]What time the day removes the orient vault, + The rustic peasant leaves his humble home, + And when the sun with fiercer tangent strikes, + Fatigued and parched, he sits him in the shade; + Then plods again with hard, laborious toil, + Until black night the hemisphere enshrouds. + And then he rests. But I must ever chafe + At morning, noon-day, evening, and at night. + These fiery rays + Which stream from those two arches of my sun, + Ne'er fade from the horizon of my soul. + So wills my fate; + But blazing every hour + From their meridian they burn the afflicted heart. + +[G] Quando il sen d'oriente il giorno sgombra. + +CIC. This tablet expresses with greater truth than perspicacity the +sense of the figure. + +TANS.. It is not necessary for me to make any effort to point out to you +the appropriateness, as it only requires a little attentive +consideration. The rays of the sun are the ways in which the divine +beauty and goodness manifest themselves to us; and they are fiery +because they cannot be comprehended by the intellect without at the same +time kindling the affections. The two arches of the sun are the two +kinds of revelation, that scholastic theologians call early and late, +whence our illuminating intelligence, as an airy medium, deduces that +species, either in virtue, which it contemplates in itself, or in +efficacy, which it beholds in its effects. The horizon of the soul, in +this place, is that part of the superior potentialities where the +vigorous impulse of the affection comes to aid the lively comprehension +of the intellect, being signified by the heart, which, burning at all +hours, torments itself; because all those fruits of love that we can +gather in this state are not so sweet that they have not united with +them a certain affliction, which proceeds from the fear of imperfect +fruition: as especially occurs in the fruits of natural affection, the +condition of which I cannot do better than explain in the words of the +Epicurean poet: + + Ex hominis vera facie, pulchroque colore + Nil datur in corpus praeter simulacra fruendum + Tenuia, quae vento spes captat saepe misella. + Ut bibere in somnis sitiens cum quaerit, et humor + Non datur, ardorem in membris qui stinguere possit, + Sed laticum simulacra petit, frustraque laborat, + In medioque sitit torrenti flumine potans: + Sic in amore Venus simulacris ludit amantis, + Nec satiare queunt spectando corpora coram, + Nec manibus quicquam teneris abradere membris + Possunt, errantes incerti corpore toto. + Denique cum membris conlatis flore fruuntur + AEtatis, dum jam praesagit gaudia corpus, + Atque in eo est Venus, ut muliebria conserat arva, + Adfigunt avide corpus, iunguntque salivas + Oris, et inspirant pressantes dentibus ora, + Necquiquam, quoniam nihil inde abradere possunt, + Nec penetrare, et abire in corpus corpore toto. + +In the same way, he judges as to the kind of taste that we can have of +divine things, which, while we force ourselves to penetrate, and unite +with them, we find that we have more pain in the desire than pleasure +in the realization. And this may have been the reason why that wise +Hebrew said that he who increases knowledge increases pain; because +from, the greater comprehension grows the greater desire. And this is +followed by greater vexation and grief for the deprivation of the thing +desired. So the Epicurean, who led a most tranquil life, said +opportunely: + + Sed fugitare decet simulacra, et pabula amoris + Abstergere sibi, atque alio convertere mentem, + Nec servare sibi curam certumque dolorem: + Ulcus enim virescit, et inveterascit alendo, + Inque dies gliscit furor, atque aerumna gravescit. + Nec Veneris fructu caret is, qui vitat amorem, + Sed potius, quae sunt, sine poena, commoda sumit. + +CIC. What is meant by the meridian of the heart? + +TANS. That part or region of the will which is highest and most exalted, +and where it becomes most strongly, clearly, and effectually kindled. He +means that such affection is not as in its beginning, where it stirs, +nor as at the end, where it reposes, but as in the middle, where it +becomes fervid. + + +XIV. + +CIC. But what means that glowing arrow, which has flames in place of a +hard point, around which is encircled a noose with the legend: "Amor +instat ut instans"? Say, what does it mean? + +TANS. It seems to me to mean that love never leaves him, and at the same +time eternally afflicts him. + +CIC. I see the noose, the arrow, and the fire. I understand that which +is written: "Amor instat"; but that which follows I cannot +understand--that is, that love as an instant, or persisting, persists; +which has the same poverty of idea as if one said: "This undertaking he +has feigned as a feint; he bears it as he bears it, understands it as he +understands it, values it as he values it, and esteems it as he who +esteems it." + +TANS. It is easy for him to decide and condemn who does not even +consider. That "instans" is not an adjective from the verb "instare," +but it is a noun substantive used for the instant of time. + +CIC. Now, what is the meaning of the phrase "love endures as an +instant?" + +TANS.. What does Aristotle mean in his book on Time, when he says that +eternity is an instant, and that all time is no more than an instant? + +CIC. How can this be, seeing that there is no time so short that it +cannot be divided into seconds? Perhaps he would say that in one instant +there is the Flood, the Trojan war, and we who exist now; I should like +to know how this instant is divided into so many centuries and years, +and whether, by the same rule, we might not say that the line is a +point? + +TANS. If time be one, but in different temporal subjects, so the instant +is one in different and all parts of time. As I am the same I was, am, +and shall be; so I myself am always the same in the house, in the +temple, in the field, and wheresoever I am. + +CIC. Why do you wish to make out that the instant is the whole of time? + +TANS. Because if it were not an instant, it would not be time; therefore +time in essence and substance is no other than an instant, and let this +suffice, if you understand it, because I do not intend to perorate upon +the entire physics; so that you must understand that he means to say +that the whole of love is no less present than the whole of time; +because this "instans" does not mean a moment of time. + +CIC. This meaning must be specified in some way, if we do not wish to +see the motto invalidated by equivocation, by which we are free to +suppose that he meant to say that his love was but for an instant--that +is, for an atom of time, and of nothing more, or that he means that it +is as you interpret it, everlasting. + +TANS. Surely, if these two contrary meanings were implied, the legend +would be nonsense. But it is not so, if you consider well, for it cannot +be that in one instant, which is an atom or point, love persists or +endures; therefore one must of necessity understand the instant in +another signification. And for the sake of getting out of the mesh, read +the stanza: + +38. + + One time scatters and one gathers; + One builds, one breaks; one weeps, one laughs; + One time to sadness, one to gaiety inclines; + One labours and one rests; one stands, one sits; + One proffers and one takes away; + One stays and one removes; one animates, one kills. + In all the years, the months, the days, the hours, + Love waits on me, strikes, binds, and burns. + To me continual dissolution, + Continual weeping holds me and destroys. + All times to me are full of woe; + All things time takes from me, + And gives me naught, not even death. + +CIC. I understand the meaning quite perfectly, and confess that all +things agree very well. It is time to proceed to the next. + +XV. + +TANS. Here behold a serpent languishing in the snow, where a labourer +has thrown it, and a naked child burning in the midst of the fire, with +certain other details and circumstances, with the legend which says: +"Idem, itidem non idem." This seems more like an enigma than anything +else, and I do not feel sure that I can explain it at all; yet I do +believe that it means that the same fate vexes, and the same torments +both the one and the other--that is, immeasurably, without mercy and +unto death, by means of various instruments or contrary principles, +showing itself the same whether cold or hot. But this, it seems to me, +requires longer and special consideration. + +CIC. Some other time. Read the lines: + +39. + + Limp snake, that writhest in the snow, + Twisting and turning here and there + To find some ease from the tormenting cold, + If the congealing ice could know thy pain, + Or had the sense to feel thy smart, + And thou couldst find a voice for thy complaint, + I do believe thy argument would make it pitiful. + I with eternal fire am scourged, am burnt, and bitten, + And in the iciness of my divinity find no deliverance, + No pity does she feel, nor can she know, alas! + The rigorous ardour of my flames. + +40. + + Serpent, thou fain wouldst flee, but canst not; + Try for thy hiding-place, it is no more; + Recall thy strength, 'tis spent; + Wait for the sun, behind thick fog he hides; + Cry mercy of the hind, he fears thy tooth. + Fortune invoke, she hears thee not, the jade! + Nor flight, nor place, nor star, nor man, nor fate + Can bring to thee deliverance from death. + Thou dost become congealed. Melting am I. + I like thy rigours, thee my ardour pleases; + Help have I none for thee, and thou hast none for me. + Clear is our evil fate--all hope resign. + +CIC. Let us go, and by the way we will seek to untie this knot--if +possible. + +TANS. So be it. + + +PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. LONDON AND EDINBURGH THE APOLOGY +OF THE NOLAN + + +TO THE MOST VIRTUOUS AND LOVELY LADIES. + + O lovely, graceful nymphs of England! + Not in repugnance nor in scorn + Our spirit holds you, + Nor would our pen abase you + More than it must--to call you feminine! + Exemption I am sure you would not claim, + Being subject to the common influence; + Shining on earth as do the stars in heaven. + Your sov'reign beauty, ladies, our austerity + Cannot depreciate, nor would do so, + For we have not in view a superhuman kind, + Such poison,[H] therefore, far from you be set, + For here we see the one, the great Diana, + Who is to you as sun amongst the stars. + Wit, words, learning and art, + And whatsoe'er is mine of scribbling faculty, + I humbly place before you. + +[H] Arsenico. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Heroic Enthusiasts,(1 of 2) (Gli +Eroici Furori), by Giordano Bruno + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROIC ENTHUSIASTS *** + +***** This file should be named 19817.txt or 19817.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/8/1/19817/ + +Produced by Sjaani, Ted Garvin and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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