(2) Whoso lamenteth him that here we die That we may live above, has never there Seen the refreshment of the eternal rain. The One and Two and Three who ever liveth, And reigneth ever in Three and Two and One, Not circumscribed and all things circumscribing, Three several times was chanted by each one Among those spirits, with such melody That for all merit it were just reward; And, in the lustre most divine of all The lesser ring, I heard a modest voice, Such as perhaps the Angel's was to Mary, Answer: "As long as the festivity Of Paradise shall be, so long our love Shall radiate round about us such a vesture. Its brightness is proportioned to the ardour, The ardour to the vision; and the vision Equals what grace it has above its worth. When, glorious and sanctified, our flesh Is reassumed, then shall our persons be More pleasing by their being all complete; For will increase whate'er bestows on us Of light gratuitous the Good Supreme, Light which enables us to look on Him;

(50) What is Paradise? All things that are; for all are goodly and pleasant, and therefore may fitly be called a Paradise. It is said also, that Paradise is an outer court of Heaven. Even so this world is verily an outer court of the Eternal, or of Eternity, and specially whatever in Time, or any temporal things or creatures, manifesteth or remindeth us of God or Eternity; for the creatures are a guide and a path unto God and Eternity. Thus this world is an outer court of Eternity, and therefore it may well be called a Paradise, for it is such in truth. And in this Paradise, all things are lawful, save one tree and the fruits thereof. That is to say: of all things that are, nothing is forbidden and nothing is contrary to God but one thing only: that is, Self-will, or to will otherwise than as the Eternal Will would have it. Remember this. For God saith to Adam, that is, to every man, “Whatever thou art, or doest, or leavest undone, or whatever cometh to pass, is all lawful and not forbidden if it be not done from or according to thy will, but for the sake of and according to My will. But all that is done from thine own Will is contrary to the Eternal Will.” It is not that every work which is thus wrought is in itself contrary to the Eternal Will, but in so far as it is wrought from a different will, or otherwise than from the Eternal and Divine Will.

(34) This is heavenly music, for here every one singeth according to the voice of his quality, and the prince leadeth the choir or chorus, as a chanter or singing-master with his scholars; and the king rejoiceth and jubilateth with his angels, to the honour of the great God, and to the increasing and multiplying of the heavenly joys, and that is in the heart of God as a holy sport or scene; and to that end also are they created for the joy and honour of God.

(43) Then the holy angels also walk and converse one with another friendly, graciously, amiably and blessedly in the heavenly circumference or region, and do behold the wonderful and pleasant form or prospect of heaven, and eat of the gracious, amiable, blessed and delicate fruits of life. Now thou wilt ask: Question. What do they talk of one with another? Answer.

(1) "Glory be to the Father, to the Son, And Holy Ghost!" all Paradise began, So that the melody inebriate made me. What I beheld seemed unto me a smile Of the universe; for my inebriation Found entrance through the hearing and the sight. O joy! O gladness inexpressible! O perfect life of love and peacefulness! O riches without hankering secure! Before mine eyes were standing the four torches Enkindled, and the one that first had come Began to make itself more luminous; And even such in semblance it became As Jupiter would become, if he and Mars Were birds, and they should interchange their feathers. That Providence, which here distributeth Season and service, in the blessed choir Had silence upon every side imposed. When I heard say: "If I my colour change, Marvel not at it; for while I am speaking Thou shalt behold all these their colour change. He who usurps upon the earth my place, My place, my place, which vacant has become Before the presence of the Son of God,

(4) If to be more exalted we aspired, Discordant would our aspirations be Unto the will of Him who here secludes us; Which thou shalt see finds no place in these circles, If being in charity is needful here, And if thou lookest well into its nature; Nay, 'tis essential to this blest existence To keep itself within the will divine, Whereby our very wishes are made one; So that, as we are station above station Throughout this realm, to all the realm 'tis pleasing, As to the King, who makes his will our will. And his will is our peace; this is the sea To which is moving onward whatsoever It doth create, and all that nature makes." Then it was clear to me how everywhere In heaven is Paradise, although the grace Of good supreme there rain not in one measure. But as it comes to pass, if one food sates, And for another still remains the longing, We ask for this, and that decline with thanks, E'en thus did I; with gesture and with word, To learn from her what was the web wherein She did not ply the shuttle to the end.