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