Beatrice

(FOR THE BEATRICE CELEBRATION, 1890)

Nine mystic revolutions of the spheres
Since Dante's birth, and lo! a star new-born
Shining in heaven: and like a lark at morn
Springing to meet it, straight in all men's ears,
A strange new song, which through the listening years
Grew deep as lonely sobbing from the thorn
Rising at eve, shot through with bitter scorn,
Full-throated with the ecstasy of tears.

Long since that star arose, that song upsprang,
That shine and sing in heaven above us yet;
Since thy white childhood, glorious Beatrice,
Dawned like a blessed angel upon his:
Thy star it was that did his song beget,
Star shining for us still because he sang.

Richard Le Gallienne

Richard Le Gallienne was an English author and poet born on January 20, 1866. Known for his lyrical poetry, he was a key figure in the literary circles of the fin de siècle. He contributed to the literary magazine 'The Yellow Book' and was involved with the Rhymers' Club, an influential group of London-based poets. His works often explored themes of beauty, love, and nature. His influence extended to both sides of the Atlantic, and he spent the latter part of his life in the United States, where he continued to write until his death on September 15, 1947.

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English

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Dante, sole standing on the heavenward height,
Beheld and heard one saying, "Behold me well:
I am, I am Beatrice." Heaven and hell
Kept silence, and the illimitable light
Of all the stars was darkness in his sight
Whose eyes beheld her eyes again, and fell
Shame-stricken. Since her soul took flight to dwell
In heaven, six hundred years have taken flight.
And now that heavenliest part of earth whereon
Shines yet their shadow as once their presence shone
To her bears witness for his sake, as he
For hers bare witness when her face was gone:
No slave, no hospice now for grief, but free
From shore to mountain and from Alp to sea.

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The Divine Comedy by Dante: The Vision Of Paradise: Canto XXIII

E'en as the bird, who midst the leafy bower
Has, in her nest, sat darkling through the night,
With her sweet brood, impatient to descry
Their wished looks, and to bring home their food,
In the fond quest unconscious of her toil:
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Removeth from the east her eager ken;
So stood the dame erect, and bent her glance
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Short space ensued; I was not held, I say,
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In fashion, as a snow-white rose, lay then
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Looking into his first-born with the love,
Which breathes from both eternal, the first Might
Ineffable, whence eye or mind
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Thy wonder of the mighty Architect,
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The Divine Comedy by Dante: The Vision Of Purgatory: Canto XXXI

"O Thou!" her words she thus without delay
Resuming, turn'd their point on me, to whom
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If this be true. A charge so grievous needs
Thine own avowal." On my faculty
Such strange amazement hung, the voice expir'd
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A little space refraining, then she spake:
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On thy remembrances of evil yet
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The Divine Comedy by Dante: The Vision Of Paradise: Canto V

"If beyond earthly wont, the flame of love
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Of vision, marvel not: but learn the cause
In that perfection of the sight, which soon
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"This would'st thou know, if failure of the vow
By other service may be so supplied,
As from self-question to assure the soul."

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