LAO. Tell me, how did the eyes respond to the heart?
58.
_First response of the eyes to the heart._
Thy passion does confuse thee, on my heart,
The path of truth thou hast entirely lost;
That which in us is seen--that which is hid--
Is seed of oceans. Neptune, if by fate
His kingdom he should lose, would find it here entire.
How does the burning flame from us derive
Who of the sea the double parent are?
So senseless thou'rt become!
Dost thou believe the flame will pass
And leave the doors all wet behind
That thou may'st feel the ardour of the same?
As splendour through a glass, dost thou
Believe that it through us will penetrate?
Now I will not begin to philosophize about the identity of opposites
which I have studied in the book De Principio ed uno, and I will
suppose that which is usually received, that the opposites in the same
genus are quite separate (distantissimi), so that the meaning of this
response is more easily learned where the eyes call themselves the seed
or founts in the virtual potentiality of which is the sea; so that if
Neptune should lose all the waters, he could recall them into action by
their own potentiality, where they are as in the beginning, medium and
material. But it is not urged as a necessity, when they say it cannot
be, that the flame passes over to the heart through their room (stanza e
cortile) and courtyard leaving so many waters behind, for two reasons.
Pages:
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75