Or ever yet his warfare is completed. The other points, that not for knowledge' sake [58] Have been demanded, but that he report How much this virtue unto thee is pleasing, To him I leave; for hard he will not find them, Nor to be boasted of; them let him answer; And may the grace of God in this assist him!" As a disciple, who obeys his teacher, Ready and willing, where he is expert, So that his excellence may be revealed, "Hope," said I, "is the certain expectation [67] Of glory in the hereafter, which proceedeth From grace divine and merit precedent. From many stars this light comes unto me; But he instilled it first into my heart, Who was chief singer unto the chief captain. [72] _Hope they in thee_, in the high Theody He says, _all those who recognize thy name_; [74] And who does not, if he my faith possesses? [75] Thou didst instil me, then, with his instilling In the Epistle, so that I am full, And upon others rain again your rain." [78] While I was speaking, in the living bosom Of that effulgence quivered a sharp flash, Sudden and frequent, in the guise of lightning. Then breathed: "The love wherewith I am inflamed Towards the virtue still, which followed me Unto the palm and issue of the field, Wills that I whisper thee, thou take delight In her; and grateful to me is thy saying Whatever things Hope promises to thee." And I: "The ancient Scriptures and the new The mark establish, and this shows it me, [89] Of all the souls whom God has made his friends. Isaiah saith, that each one garmented In his own land shall be with twofold garments, [92] And his own land is this sweet life of yours. Thy brother, too, far more explicitly, There where he treateth of the robes of white, [95] This revelation manifests to us." And first, and near the ending of these words, _Sperent in te_ from over us was heard, To which responsive answered all the carols. [99] Thereafterward among them gleamed a light, [100] So that, if Cancer such a crystal had, Winter would have a month of one sole day. [102] And as uprises, goes, and enters the dance A joyous maiden, only to do honor To the new bride, and not from any failing, [105] So saw I the illuminated splendor Approach the two, who in a wheel revolved, [107] As was beseeming to their ardent love. It joined itself there in the song and music; And fixed on them my Lady kept her look, Even as a bride, silent and motionless. "This is the one who lay upon the breast Of him our Pelican; and this is he