How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Canto.Line). We used Allen Mandelbaum's translation.
Quote #16
But then my mind was struck by light that flashed
and, with this light, received what it had asked.
Here force failed my high fantasy; but my
desire and will were moved already – like
a wheel revolving uniformly – by
the Love that moves the sun and the other stars. (Par. XXXIII, 140-145)
Here, Dante achieves perfection because all his love ("desire and will") finally comes into complete accord with God's will. Of course this final achievement is represented in a flash of light that blinds Dante, an outburst of love so intense that Dante cannot describe it in language. As readers, we cannot comprehend what Dante sees and he cannot write it, so he necessarily falls into silence at the moment of his perfection.