Dante Alighieri on Middle Ages

“Thou sayest, 'Well discern I what I hear;     But it is hidden from me why God willed     For our redemption only this one mode.' Buried remaineth, brother, this decree     Unto the eyes of every one whose nature     Is in the flame of love not yet adult. Verily, inasmuch as at this mark     One gazes long and little is discerned,     Wherefore this mode was worthiest will I say. Goodness Divine, which from itself doth spurn     All envy, burning in itself so sparkles     That the eternal beauties it unfolds. Whate'er from this immediately distils     Has afterwards no end, for ne'er removed     Is its impression when it sets its seal. Whate'er from this immediately rains down     Is wholly free, because it is not subject     Unto the influences of novel things.”

“Thou sayst: 'I see the air, I see the fire,     The water, and the earth, and all their mixtures     Come to corruption, and short while endure; And these things notwithstanding were created';     Therefore if that which I have said were true,     They should have been secure against corruption. The Angels, brother, and the land sincere     In which thou art, created may be called     Just as they are in their entire existence; But all the elements which thou hast named,     And all those things which out of them are made,     By a created virtue are informed. Created was the matter which they have;     Created was the informing influence     Within these stars that round about them go. The soul of every brute and of the plants     By its potential temperament attracts     The ray and motion of the holy lights; But your own life immediately inspires     Supreme Beneficence, and enamors it     So with herself, it evermore desires her. And thou from this mayst argue furthermore     Your resurrection, if thou think again     How human flesh was fashioned at that time When the first parents both of them were made."”