# Divine Comedy (Longfellow 1867)/Volume 3/Canto 17

As came to Clymene, to be made certain  Of that which he had heard against himself,  He who makes fathers chary still to children,
Even such was I, and such was I perceived  By Beatrice and by the holy light  That first on my account had changed its place.
Therefore my Lady said to me: "Send forth  The flame of thy desire, so that it issue  Imprinted well with the internal stamp;
Not that our knowledge may be greater made  By speech of thine, but to accustom thee  To tell thy thirst, that we may give thee drink."
"O my beloved tree, (that so dost lift thee,  That even as minds terrestrial perceive  No triangle containeth two obtuse,
So thou beholdest the contingent things  Ere in themselves they are, fixing thine eyes  Upon the point in which all times are present,)
While I was with Virgilius conjoined  Upon the mountain that the souls doth heal,  And when descending into the dead world,
Were spoken to me of my future life  Some grievous words; although I feel myself  In sooth foursquare against the blows of chance.
On this account my wish would be content  To hear what fortune is approaching me,  Because foreseen an arrow comes more slowly."
Thus did I say unto that selfsame light  That unto me had spoken before; and even  As Beatrice willed was my own will confessed.
Not in vague phrase, in which the foolish folk  Ensnared themselves of old, ere yet was slain  The Lamb of God who taketh sins away,
But with clear words and unambiguous  Language responded that paternal love,  Hid and revealed by its own proper smile:
"Contingency, that outside of the volume  Of your materiality extends not,  Is all depicted in the eternal aspect.
Necessity however thence it takes not,  Except as from the eye, in which 'tis mirrored,  A ship that with the current down descends.
From thence, e'en as there cometh to the ear  Sweet harmony from an organ, comes in sight  To me the time that is preparing for thee.
As forth from Athens went Hippolytus,  By reason of his step-dame false and cruel,  So thou from Florence must perforce depart.
Already this is willed, and this is sought for;  And soon it shall be done by him who thinks it,  Where every day the Christ is bought and sold.
The blame shall follow the offended party  In outcry as is usual; but the vengeance  Shall witness to the truth that doth dispense it.
Thou shalt abandon everything beloved  Most tenderly, and this the arrow is  Which first the bow of banishment shoots forth.
Thou shalt have proof how savoureth of salt  The bread of others, and how hard a road  The going down and up another's stairs.
And that which most shall weigh upon thy shoulders  Will be the bad and foolish company  With which into this valley thou shalt fall;
For all ingrate, all mad and impious  Will they become against thee; but soon after  They, and not thou, shall have the forehead scarlet.
Of their bestiality their own proceedings  Shall furnish proof; so 'twill be well for thee  A party to have made thee by thyself.
Thine earliest refuge and thine earliest inn  Shall be the mighty Lombard's courtesy,  Who on the Ladder bears the holy bird,
Who such benign regard shall have for thee  That 'twixt you twain, in doing and in asking,  That shall be first which is with others last.
With him shalt thou see one who at his birth  Has by this star of strength been so impressed,  That notable shall his achievements be.
Not yet the people are aware of him  Through his young age, since only nine years yet  Around about him have these wheels revolved.
But ere the Gascon cheat the noble Henry,  Some sparkles of his virtue shall appear  In caring not for silver nor for toil.
So recognized shall his magnificence  Become hereafter, that his enemies  Will not have power to keep mute tongues about it.
On him rely, and on his benefits;  By him shall many people be transformed,  Changing condition rich and mendicant;
And written in thy mind thou hence shalt bear  Of him, but shalt not say it"--and things said he  Incredible to those who shall be present.
Then added: "Son, these are the commentaries  On what was said to thee; behold the snares  That are concealed behind few revolutions;
Yet would I not thy neighbours thou shouldst envy,  Because thy life into the future reaches  Beyond the punishment of their perfidies."
When by its silence showed that sainted soul  That it had finished putting in the woof  Into that web which I had given it warped,
Began I, even as he who yearneth after,  Being in doubt, some counsel from a person  Who seeth, and uprightly wills, and loves:
"Well see I, father mine, how spurreth on  The time towards me such a blow to deal me  As heaviest is to him who most gives way.
Therefore with foresight it is well I arm me,  That, if the dearest place be taken from me,  I may not lose the others by my songs.
Down through the world of infinite bitterness,  And o'er the mountain, from whose beauteous summit  The eyes of my own Lady lifted me,
And afterward through heaven from light to light,  I have learned that which, if I tell again,  Will be a savour of strong herbs to many.
And if I am a timid friend to truth,  I fear lest I may lose my life with those  Who will hereafter call this time the olden."
The light in which was smiling my own treasure  Which there I had discovered, flashed at first  As in the sunshine doth a golden mirror;
Then made reply: "A conscience overcast  Or with its own or with another's shame,  Will taste forsooth the tartness of thy word;
But ne'ertheless, all falsehood laid aside,  Make manifest thy vision utterly,  And let them scratch wherever is the itch;
For if thine utterance shall offensive be  At the first taste, a vital nutriment  'Twill leave thereafter, when it is digested.
This cry of thine shall do as doth the wind,  Which smiteth most the most exalted summits,  And that is no slight argument of honour.
Therefore are shown to thee within these wheels,  Upon the mount and in the dolorous valley,  Only the souls that unto fame are known;
Because the spirit of the hearer rests not,  Nor doth confirm its faith by an example  Which has the root of it unknown and hidden,
Or other reason that is not apparent."