Observations placeholder
Dante - Paradiso - The second kingdom
Identifier
014644
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Dante – The Divine Comedy
And as an arrow, which will strike the target
Before the string of the bow has come to rest
So we sped onwards to the second kingdom
There I saw my lady was so glad
As she entered the light of this heaven
That the planet itself shone more brightly for it;
And if the star so changed itself and laughed
What did I do, whose nature is such that I
Am liable to change in every way!
As in a fishpond which is still and clear
The fish are drawn to anything dropped in
So that they think it might be something to eat,
So I saw far more than a thousand brilliances
Drawn towards us, and in each one I heard
'There is someone who will increase our loves'
And as each one of them came near to us
The shadow appeared, full of happiness
In the clear radiance which issued from it