e questo cielo non ha altro dove
che la mente divina, in che s'accende
l'amor che 'l volge e la virtù ch'ei piove

This heaven has no other where than this:
the mind of God, in which are kindled both
the love that turns it and the virtue it rains.

God's reign
is as near
and needed

as summer rain

Oh gioia! oh ineffabile allegrezza!
oh vita intègra d'amore e di pace!
oh sanza brama sicura ricchezza!

O joy! O gladness words cannot say!
O life fulfilled by love and peace!
O richness assured day by day!

We daydream of  ecstatic
dramatic change
bestowed not built

Thy kingdom comes
minute by minute
with each choice 


God's choice 
is love
Ours often not

Ciò ch'io vedeva mi sembiava un riso
de l'universo; per che mia ebbrezza
intrava per l'udire e per lo viso.

What I saw seemed to be a smile
the universe had smiled; my rapture had
entered by way of hearing and of sight.

Smiling bright
as we rose above 
sea and city 

Lightness of being
in this moment
full of delight

Le fronde onde s'infronda tutto l'orto
de l'ortolano etterno, am'io cotanto
quanto da lui a lor di bene è porto»

The leaves enleaving the garden of
the eternal gardener, I love so much
the good source they share

Open the door
to find 
what more

the gardener
intends
for our care

con la predetta conoscenza viva,
tratto m'hanno del mar de l'amor torto,
e del diritto m'han posto a la riva.

with the promised living knowledge
I was drawn from the sea of twisted love
and straightened set on the shore.

What I know of love
is half wrong
even more

Loving
is worth more
than knowing

Dunque a l'essenza ov'è tanto avvantaggio,
che ciascun ben che fuor di lei si trova
altro non è ch'un lume di suo raggio,

più che in altra convien che si mova
la mente, amando, di ciascun che cerne
il vero in che si fonda questa prova.

So where is the essence of such advantage
from which every good unfolds
what is the lumen of its radius

through our needs it moves
the mind to loving, who discerns
the truth in which its source is proven

Recognizing ourselves
in our enemies
as in our beloved

We discern our
common creation
and shared purpose

E io: «Per filosofici argomenti
e per autorità che quinci scende
cotale amor convien che in me si 'mprenti:

ché 'l bene, in quanto ben, come s'intende,
così accende amore, e tanto maggio
quanto più di bontate in sé comprende.

And I: By philosophic arguments
and by authority whose source is here,
such love must be in me imprinted;

for the good, once it is understood as such,
enkindles love; and greater
goodness comes of greater love.

Faith hope and love
are verbs
responding to objects

Goodness truth and beauty
are objects
prompting action

«Spene», diss'io, «è uno attender certo
de la gloria futura, il qual produce
grazia divina e precedente merto.

I said: Hope is the certain expectation
of future glory; it is the result
of God's grace and of prior merit.

Hope is an uncertainty
seen, tasted, felt
often a companion of failure

but always welcome

Quest'è 'l principio, quest'è la favilla
che si dilata in fiamma poi vivace,
e come stella in cielo in me scintilla».

This is the origin, this is the spark
that extends into a living flame
and, like a star in heaven, glows in me.

Ego or opposite
I sense being
beyond me

in relationship to me

E io rispondo: Io credo in uno Dio
solo ed etterno, che tutto 'l ciel move,
non moto, con amore e con disio;

I answer: I believe in one God,
singular, eternal, who all the heavens move,
without moving, with love and love for Him;

Absence prompts desire
What I have not, I want
Hole made whole

che l'esser loro v'è in sola credenza,
sopra la qual si fonda l'alta spene;
e però di sustanza prende intenza.

E da questa credenza ci convene
silogizzar, sanz'avere altra vista:
però intenza d'argomento tene».

and on faith alone
is the highest hope founded;
and so faith is called a substance.

And from this faith we must
deduce what we can from syllogisms,
and so faith is also called evidence.

Premise, premise, conclusion
Accepted, accepted, proposed
Yes, yes, Oh!

E io appresso: «Le profonde cose
che mi largiscon qui la lor parvenza,
a li occhi di là giù son sì ascose,

And I said: The deep things
residing here are hid from sight below,
their being known by faith alone,

Can love be seen
measured, predicted
Does love exist

fede è sustanza di cose sperate
e argomento de le non parventi;
e questa pare a me sua quiditate».

Allora udi' : «Dirittamente senti,
se bene intendi perché la ripuose
tra le sustanze, e poi tra li argomenti»

Faith is the substance of the things hoped for
and the evidence of things not seen;
and this I take as its being.

And then I heard: You understand precisely,
if it is clear to you why he placed
it among the substances and as evidence.

Faith is relationship
being with being
ground of ultimate being

Our relationship 
is as being of one
substance with the Father

By whom all things were made

«Perché la faccia mia sì t'innamora,
che tu non ti rivolgi al bel giardino
che sotto i raggi di Cristo s'infiora?

Why are you so enraptured by my face
as to miss that fair garden
blossoming beneath Christ's rays?

Like a raven hiding treasures
in his nest among the spires
I do not know the cathedral 

in which I have made my home.

«Apri li occhi e riguarda qual son io;
tu hai vedute cose, che possente
se' fatto a sostener lo riso mio».

Open your eyes and see what I am;
what you have witnessed has made you strong
enough to bear the power of my smile.

What eye can see
what mind can know
the smile of God

Come foco di nube si diserra
per dilatarsi sì che non vi cape,
e fuor di sua natura in giù s'atterra,

la mente mia così, tra quelle dape
fatta più grande, di sé stessa uscìo,
e che si fesse rimembrar non sape.

Even as lightning breaking from a cloud,
expands so it cannot be pent
against its nature, down to earth descends,

so did my mind, confronted by that feast,
expand; and was carried past itself
becoming, I cannot recall.

Becoming is 
to move
beyond

to the other side

Quivi è la sapienza e la possanza
ch'aprì le strade tra 'l cielo e la terra,
onde fu già sì lunga disianza».

This is the wisdom and the potency
that opened roads between the earth and Heaven,
a way long yearned for

wisdom's way
unfolds as a wave
emerging from deep to shore

e tutti e sette mi si dimostraro
quanto son grandi e quanto son veloci
e come sono in distante riparo.

L'aiuola che ci fa tanto feroci,
volgendom'io con li etterni Gemelli,
tutta m'apparve da' colli a le foci;

poscia rivolsi li occhi a li occhi belli.

And all seven heavens showed to me
their magnitudes, their speeds,
the distances of each from each

This flower garden that makes us so fierce
while I turned with the eternal twins
was revealed to me from hills to river mouths

My eyes then turned again to the fair eyes.

Gentle generosity 
emerges from 
broad perspective

perché non è in loco e non s'impola;
e nostra scala infino ad essa varca,
onde così dal viso ti s'invola.

Because it is not in space and has no poles;
our ladder reaches up to it, and that
is why it now steals from your sight.

The beauty I seek
cannot be kept
but can be known

Ivi è perfetta, matura e intera
ciascuna disianza; in quella sola
è ogne parte là ove sempr'era,

There, each desire is perfect, ripe, intact;
and only there, within that final sphere,
is every part where it has always been.

May my desires ripen
may my desires transcend 
the hard sour nub of self

becoming full, fragrant
sweet with thanks, praise
and love

E come a buon cantor buon citarista
fa seguitar lo guizzo de la corda,
in che più di piacer lo canto acquista,

And as a fine singer, a fine harpist
pursue the twist of chord,
by which song acquires sweetest savor,

Twists and a certain tension
are at the core of more
than one kind of beauty

ed ènne dolce così fatto scemo,
perché il ben nostro in questo ben s'affina,
che quel che vole Iddio, e noi volemo».

We can be fooled by sweetness
because our good  is well refined.
God wills and we fly

God does not mislead
but I have mistaken
my pride for God's will

non a guisa che l'omo a l'om sobranza,
ma vince lei perché vuole esser vinta,
e, vinta, vince con sua beninanza.

not as man over man conquers:
it is won because it will be won
and won, won through benevolence.

God does not seek 
or offer conquest
God loves

Regnum celorum violenza pate
da caldo amore e da viva speranza
che vince la divina volontate:

Regnum celorum suffers violence
from ardent love and living hope,
these can conqueror Heaven's Will;

Heaven's reign unfolds
while I am distracted
by craving, complaining, and conspiring 

E avvegna ch'io fossi al dubbiar mio
lì quasi vetro a lo color ch'el veste,
tempo aspettar tacendo non patio,

ma de la bocca, «Che cose son queste?»,
mi pinse con la forza del suo peso:
per ch'io di coruscar vidi gran feste.

And notwithstanding my doubt
was as glass is to the color about it
I could not endure the time in silence

"What are these things?"
I exhorted with particular force
which in reply the lights glittered

I reflect
my place, my experience, 
the beliefs - and doubts - of others

Can I turn
to reflect the sky, sun
the stars glistening

Quale allodetta che 'n aere si spazia
prima cantando, e poi tace contenta
de l'ultima dolcezza che la sazia,

tal mi sembiò l'imago de la 'mprenta
de l'etterno piacere, al cui disio
ciascuna cosa qual ell'è diventa.

As a lark transposes air,
first singing then silent, contented
with a final sweetness that fulfills,

such seemed to me the image of the seal
of that eternal pleasure through whose will
each thing becoming what it is.

We each sing
our specific part
in a chorale of eternal pleasure

The excellence of each
is needed to fulfill
the composers will.

Ora conosce assai di quel che 'l mondo
veder non può de la divina grazia,
ben che sua vista non discerna il fondo»

Now he has learned the world
cannot perceive God's own grace,
nor discern its deepest source.

Yet we depend on the water
flowing from that source
breaking through the rock

of our fear and doubt

Assai t'è mo aperta la latebra
che t'ascondeva la giustizia viva,
di che facei question cotanto crebra;

Now is the hiding place laid open
that had concealed the living justice
which you so insistently questioned

What I seek
is hidden in plain sight
waiting recognition.

Però ne la giustizia sempiterna
la vista che riceve il vostro mondo,
com'occhio per lo mare, entro s'interna;

therefore, the vision of eternal justice
your world receives can fully see
no more than an eye can penetrate the sea;

Yet I can swim
descending
deeper

Dunque vostra veduta, che convene
esser alcun de' raggi de la mente
di che tutte le cose son ripiene,

non pò da sua natura esser possente
tanto, che suo principio discerna
molto di là da quel che l'è parvente.

In consequence our vision, which
must be some ray of the mind
with which all things are fulfilled,

cannot of its own nature be so potent,
to discern its own origin
beyond what is merely apparent.

I discern connections
that I cannot map
or prove

Is this pride greed
faith hope love
or a subtle empiricism

e quinci appar ch'ogne minor natura
è corto recettacolo a quel bene
che non ha fine e sé con sé misura.

Thus it is clear every lesser nature
is a scant receptacle for the Good
which is its own sole measure.

At my best
I cannot receive
the fullness of Good

nor can I fail
to taste
of its abundance