Paradiso: Canto XXX -- The Mystic Rose
Dante's praise of Beatrice's beauty must reach its peak in this final heaven, for she has once again reached the sphere of her home, which completes her essence as "light of the intellect, which is love unending;/ love of the true good, which is wholly bliss; bliss beyond bliss, all other joys transcendng" (40-2). Until the bodies rise from their graves and the spiritual nature of humankind is reunited with its material, there is literally no greater perfection that Beatrice can achieve. Having seen how much she was transformed in the process of leading Dante from the garden, we have a clear understanding of how much she lost in descending so far and having to take on a form of being that could be tolerated by Dante's senses. In her continuous transformation, we have to also note that Dante's undergone a similar glorification as his body, which is still material, has become able to withstand the greatest bliss on the threshhold of God, on the banks of the celestial river that becomes the Mystic Rose.
Since Fr. Earl has brought up the point, and since it's quite relevant to my posting here, the end of the canto does seem out of joint with the fact that our godhead is drawing near. Beatrice's prophecy, the last denunciation in the Comedy, that Henry VII will enter the greatest sphere of heaven while Clement V will descend to the eighth circle of hell is a demonstration of the bicameral nature of earthly governance that is meant to be supported equally between an independent Church and an independent State. The good offices of the State, though, are thwarted by the malevolence of the Church leadership, by a bad pope who will push even Boniface VIII further into the simoniac font. The Aristotleian courage shown by Henry VII mirrors that described by St. Mark, who wrote that "this is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and . . . when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26-29). Cut down before his harvest, the good King Henry is unable "to bring law and order/ before the time is ripe to set things straight" (137-8). The contrast that Beatrice is showing results from Dante's notice of an empty throne that is about to be filled by one who thought he was working in unison with the Church to bring about "peace on earth," and it is only natural that the explanation of his being thwarted in that purpose would be attended by some explanation of how.
S.
Since Fr. Earl has brought up the point, and since it's quite relevant to my posting here, the end of the canto does seem out of joint with the fact that our godhead is drawing near. Beatrice's prophecy, the last denunciation in the Comedy, that Henry VII will enter the greatest sphere of heaven while Clement V will descend to the eighth circle of hell is a demonstration of the bicameral nature of earthly governance that is meant to be supported equally between an independent Church and an independent State. The good offices of the State, though, are thwarted by the malevolence of the Church leadership, by a bad pope who will push even Boniface VIII further into the simoniac font. The Aristotleian courage shown by Henry VII mirrors that described by St. Mark, who wrote that "this is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and . . . when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26-29). Cut down before his harvest, the good King Henry is unable "to bring law and order/ before the time is ripe to set things straight" (137-8). The contrast that Beatrice is showing results from Dante's notice of an empty throne that is about to be filled by one who thought he was working in unison with the Church to bring about "peace on earth," and it is only natural that the explanation of his being thwarted in that purpose would be attended by some explanation of how.
S.
posted by Sebastian Mahfood at 9:31 PM
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