The transhumanism of nature and grace

      "Beatrice was standing with her eyes all fixed upon the eternal wheels, and I fixed mine upon her, withdrawn from there above.  Gazing upon her I became within me such as Glaucus became on tasting of the grass that made him sea-fellow of the other gods.  The passing beyond humanity [(transumanar)] may not be set forth in words; therefore let the example suffice any for whom grace [(grazia)] reserves that experience."

     Dante, Paradisio I.64-72, trans. Charles S. Singleton.  Beatrice:  "'You are not on earth, as you believe; but lightning, fleeing its proper site [(il proprio sito)], never darted so fast as you are returning to yours" (91-93).  "All things have order among themselves, and this is the form that makes the universe like God. . . .  all natures are inclined by different lots, nearer and less near unto their principle; wherefore they move to different ports over the great sea of being [(a diversi porti | per lo gran mar de l'essere)], each with an instinct given [(istinto . . . dato)] it to bear it on:  this bears fire upwards toward the moon; this is the motive force in mortal creatures; this binds together and unites the earth.  And not only does this bow [(arco)] shoot those creatures that lack intelligence, but also those that have intellect and love.  The Providence which ordains all this, with Its light makes ever quiet that heaven within which revolves the sphere that has the greatest speed; and thither now, as to a place decreed [(come a sito decreto)], the virtue of that bowstring [(corda)] bears us on, which aims at a joyful target [(segno)] whatever it shoots.
     "'To be sure, even as a shape often does not accord with the intention of the art, because the material is deaf to respond, so the creature sometimes departs from this course, having the power, thus impelled, to swerve toward some other part; and even as the fire from a cloud may be seen to fall downwards, so the primal impulse, diverted by false pleasure, is turned toward earth.  You should not wonder more at your rising, if I deem aright, than at a stream that falls from a mountain top to the base.  It would be a marvel if you, being freed from hindrance, had settled down below, even as stillness would be in living fire on earth'" (91-141).