Divina Commedia: Fifth Sonnet - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

In the fifth sonnet of the cycle, Longfellow returns to the scene of the majestic cathedral, tying it in with Dante's experience of heavenly glory.

Divina Commedia: Fifth Sonnet

I lift mine eyes, and all the windows blaze
With forms of Saints and holy men who died,
Here martyred and hereafter glorified;
And the great Rose upon its leaves displays
Christ's Triumph, and the angelic roundelays,
With splendor upon splendor multiplied;
And Beatrice, again at Dante's side,
No more rebukes, but smiles her words of praise.
And then the organ sounds, and unseen choirs
Sing the old Latin hymns of peace and love
And benedictions of the Holy Ghost;
And the melodious bells among the spires
O'er all the house-tops and through heaven above
Proclaim the elevation of the Host!