"
To the next Heaven, the sphere of Mercury, Beatrice and Dante soar more
swiftly than an arrow attains its mark while the bow is still vibrating.
Increasing in loveliness as she ascends, Beatrice, in the second realm,
radiates such splendor that Mercury itself, apart from its own light,
gains such glory from her that it seems to glitter or smile from very
gladness.
"My lady there so joyful I beheld
As unto the brightness of that heaven she entered
More luminous thereat the planet grew,
And if the star itself was changed and smiled
What became I who by my nature am
Exceeding mutable in every guise?" (V, 97.)
Greeting the travellers, more than a thousand spirits joyfully exclaim:
"Lo, one who shall increase our loves!" The Saints in Mercury thus
testify to their delight that one (Dante) has come to be the fresh
object of their love, just as it is said that "there shall be joy before
the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance." (Luke XV, 10.) These
splendors in Mercury are the souls of those in whose virtue there was
the alloy of ambition and vainglory--a combination, according to Dante,
which makes "the rays of true love less vividly mount upwards." The poet
is addressed by a spirit who bids him ask any question he will and
Beatrice confirms the invitation.
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