però che 'l ben, ch'è del volere obietto,
tutto s'accoglie in lei...

Because the good, object of the will,
is here gathered...

Beauty is knowable
Good can be experienced 
Truth teases, tantalizes, tempts

A quella luce cotal si diventa,
che volgersi da lei per altro aspetto
è impossibil che mai si consenta;

In that light we are emerging
so that diverting to another aspect
we cannot possibly consent

We are made for more than
socio-biological achievement
breeding, eating, competing

We sense beauty
as clues to goodness
on the way to truth

 però che 'l ben, ch'è del volere obietto,
 tutto s'accoglie in lei,

Così la mente mia, tutta sospesa,
mirava fissa, immobile e attenta,
e sempre di mirar faceasi accesa.

So was my mind fully suspended,
steadfast, still and gazing;
and ever more enraptured in watching

We are fulfilled 
in finding that for 
which we were formed
.

sustanze e accidenti e lor costume,
quasi conflati insieme, per tal modo
che ciò ch'i' dico è un semplice lume.

La forma universal di questo nodo
credo ch'i' vidi, perché più di largo,
dicendo questo, mi sento ch'i' godo.

substances, accidents, and dispositions
as if conjoined so that what
I tell can cast only a simple light.

The universal form of this node
I believe I saw, because more fully
saying this I feel the same joy.

In the unity of experience
good, bad, and worse
we can know

the grace of God

Nel suo profondo vidi che s'interna
legato con amore in un volume,
ciò che per l'universo si squaderna:

In its profundity I saw ingathered
and bound by love into a single volume
what, in the universe, seems scattered

Division is deadly delusion
we share a common creation
we depend on a shared destiny

E io ch'al fine di tutt'i disii
appropinquava, sì com'io dovea,
l'ardor del desiderio in me finii.

And I nearing the end of all desires
approached,  even as I ought,
the ardor within me ended.

Wholeness emerges
as fear and fierce wanting
give way to love and thanks.

La tua benignità non pur soccorre
a chi domanda, ma molte fiate
liberamente al dimandar precorre.

Your loving-kindness does not only answer
the one who asks, but is often ready
to answer freely long before the asking.

In asking 
we affirm
our need

In thanking 
we confirm
a source beyond ourselves.

(Note: Dante is describing Mary.  Today is the feast day of the Queen of Heaven.)

Di tal fiumana uscian faville vive,
e d'ogne parte si mettìen ne' fiori,
quasi rubin che oro circunscrive;

poi, come inebriate da li odori,
riprofondavan sé nel miro gurge;
e s'una intrava, un'altra n'uscia fori.

Out of that stream there issued living sparks,
settling on flowers all about,
as rubies set in gold;

and then intoxicated with the odors, they
plunged into the amazing flood:
as one spark sank, another spark emerged.

Reality flows fast
setting fires as it 
claims us as kindling

e vidi lume in forma di rivera
fulvido di fulgore, intra due rive
dipinte di mirabil primavera.

and I saw light that took a river's form
light flashing, reddish-gold, between two banks
painted with wonderful spring flowerings.

Seek the maker of Pleiades and Orion
that turns deep darkness into morning
that darkens  the day into night

that calls for the water of the sea
and pours them upon the face of the earth

(Amos 5:8)

Come sùbito lampo che discetti
li spiriti visivi, sì che priva
da l'atto l'occhio di più forti obietti,

così mi circunfulse luce viva,
e lasciommi fasciato di tal velo
del suo fulgor, che nulla m'appariva.

Like sudden lightning scatters
the spirits of sight, so the eye is too weak
to act on what else it might see,

such was the living light encircling me,
leaving me so enveloped by its veil
of radiance I could see no thing.

Radiance blinds
so too darkness
obscures 

But reality persists 
seen or not 

«Noi siamo usciti fore
del maggior corpo al ciel ch'è pura luce:

luce intellettual, piena d'amore;
amor di vero ben, pien di letizia;
letizia che trascende ogne dolzore.

Now we have arrived from
densest matter to the heaven of pure light,

light of the intellect, light filled with love
love of true good, filled with happiness,
happiness surpassing every sweetness.

Love can emerge
from darkness,
even deep sadness

but wherever love begins
it travels toward light
bright with what is good, true, and beautiful

if what you call love
does not bend toward beauty
beware, it is not love

Vedi l'eccelso omai e la larghezza
de l'etterno valor, poscia che tanti
speculi fatti s'ha in che si spezza,

uno manendo in sé come davanti».

By now you see the height, you see the breadth,
of eternal goodness: It has made
so many mirrors dividing its light,

Yet one remains wholly itself

Reality is whole
even when perception
is fractured

pura potenza tenne la parte ima;
nel mezzo strinse potenza con atto
tal vime, che già mai non si divima.

pure potential kept to the deepest part
pressing into the middle potential joined with action
so tight, they will never part.

Potential is the bulb
unseen buried deep 
Action is sun and rain

Calling forth 
beauty
from the muck

Concreato fu ordine e costrutto
a le sustanze; e quelle furon cima
nel mondo in che puro atto fu produtto;

Co-created was order and expressed
as essentials, and the summit
of experience is pure action leading forth

Chaos is potential
To act is to shape
To create is to order

E come in vetro, in ambra o in cristallo
raggio resplende sì, che dal venire
a l'esser tutto non è intervallo,

così 'l triforme effetto del suo sire
ne l'esser suo raggiò insieme tutto
sanza distinzione in essordire.

And as in glass, amber, or crystal,
a ray flashes without interval
between its coming and lighting all

so did the three form matter,
being shining forth altogether
without distinction, all at once.

Creation came complete
from no thing
suddenly all things

Being becoming

Quinci si può veder come si fonda
l'essere beato ne l'atto che vede,
non in quel ch'ama, che poscia seconda;

e del vedere è misura mercede,
che grazia partorisce e buona voglia:
così di grado in grado si procede.

From this it is seen the foundation
of blessedness is the act of vision
not of love which is a consequence;

and seeing merit is the measure
produced by grace and good will
and so step by step unfolds.

What do I imagine
What do I see
What do I believe to be true

On this basis
For this purpose
I will choose

che la fortuna che tanto s'aspetta,
le poppe volgerà u' son le prore,
sì che la classe correrà diretta;

e vero frutto verrà dopo 'l fiore».

the tempest so long waited
will turn the sterns where are the prows
so the fleet runs straight;

and fine fruit follows the flower.

Distracted
I lost the way
choosing exactly wrong

Attracted
I can't yet say
this turn is any better

Ben fiorisce ne li uomini il volere;
ma la pioggia continua converte
in bozzacchioni le sosine vere.

Fairly blossoms the will in humankind;
but continual rain converts
sound plums into rotten, empty skins.

The deluge of life
a deficit of light
may reduce our zest

but our roots remain
and another season
beckons

e come il tempo tegna in cotal testo
le sue radici e ne li altri le fronde,
omai a te può esser manifesto.

and here time has been potted
its roots and all its leaves
now to you made manifest

Time too is measured by
light and love 
Soft shadows

Bright beings
dancing
through long days

Non è suo moto per altro distinto,
ma li altri son mensurati da questo,
sì come diece da mezzo e da quinto;

No other heaven measures this sphere's range,
but it serves as the measure for the rest,
even as half of ten and five make ten;

Light and love
measure what matters
the rest are but shadows

Luce e amor d'un cerchio lui comprende,
sì come questo li altri; e quel precinto
colui che 'l cinge solamente intende.

Light and love encircle and enclose,
even as the circle surrounds all, and that place
where the one who encircles is alone.

Cycle within cycle
path crossing path
merging diverging

Colliding subsiding
unfolding and holding
me you she he becoming...