_La sua forma
invisibil
d'aria cinse,
Ed al senso mortal la sottopose_:
Umane membra, aspetto uman si finse,
Ma di celeste maesta il compose.
Ed al senso mortal la sottopose_:
Umane membra, aspetto uman si finse,
Ma di celeste maesta il compose.
John Donne
3.
ll. 23-4. _Then as an Angell face and wings
Of aire, not pure as it, yet pure doth weare. _
St. Thomas (_Summa Theol. _ I. li. 2) discusses the nature of the body
assumed by Angels when they appear to men, seeing that naturally they
are incorporeal. There being four elements, this body must consist of
one of these, but 'Angeli non assumunt corpora de terra vel aqua: quia
non subito disparerent. Neque iterum de igne: quia comburerent ea
quae contingerent. Neque iterum ex aere: quia aer infigurabilis est
et incolorabilis'. To this Aquinas replies, 'Quod licet aer in sua
raritate manens non retineat figuram neque colorem: quando tamen
condensatur, et figurari et colorari potest: sicut patet in nubibus.
Et sic Angeli assumunt corpora ex aere, condensando ipsum virtute
divina, quantum necesse est ad corporis assumendi formationem. '
Tasso, familiar like Donne with Catholic doctrine, thus clothes his
angels:
Cosi parlogli, e Gabriel s' accinse
Veloce ad eseguir l' imposte cose.
_La sua forma invisibil d'aria cinse,
Ed al senso mortal la sottopose_:
Umane membra, aspetto uman si finse,
Ma di celeste maesta il compose.
Tra giovane e fanciullo eta confine
Prese, ed orno di raggi il biondo crine.
_Gerus. Lib. _ I. 13.
Fairfax translates the relevant lines:
In form of airy members fair imbared,
His spirits pure were subject to our sight.
Milton's language is vague and inconsistent, but his angels are
indubitably corporeal. When Satan is wounded,
the ethereal substance closed,
Not long divisible; and from the gash
A stream of nectarous humour issuing flowed
Sanguine, such as celestial Spirits may bleed.
. . . . . . .
ll. 23-4. _Then as an Angell face and wings
Of aire, not pure as it, yet pure doth weare. _
St. Thomas (_Summa Theol. _ I. li. 2) discusses the nature of the body
assumed by Angels when they appear to men, seeing that naturally they
are incorporeal. There being four elements, this body must consist of
one of these, but 'Angeli non assumunt corpora de terra vel aqua: quia
non subito disparerent. Neque iterum de igne: quia comburerent ea
quae contingerent. Neque iterum ex aere: quia aer infigurabilis est
et incolorabilis'. To this Aquinas replies, 'Quod licet aer in sua
raritate manens non retineat figuram neque colorem: quando tamen
condensatur, et figurari et colorari potest: sicut patet in nubibus.
Et sic Angeli assumunt corpora ex aere, condensando ipsum virtute
divina, quantum necesse est ad corporis assumendi formationem. '
Tasso, familiar like Donne with Catholic doctrine, thus clothes his
angels:
Cosi parlogli, e Gabriel s' accinse
Veloce ad eseguir l' imposte cose.
_La sua forma invisibil d'aria cinse,
Ed al senso mortal la sottopose_:
Umane membra, aspetto uman si finse,
Ma di celeste maesta il compose.
Tra giovane e fanciullo eta confine
Prese, ed orno di raggi il biondo crine.
_Gerus. Lib. _ I. 13.
Fairfax translates the relevant lines:
In form of airy members fair imbared,
His spirits pure were subject to our sight.
Milton's language is vague and inconsistent, but his angels are
indubitably corporeal. When Satan is wounded,
the ethereal substance closed,
Not long divisible; and from the gash
A stream of nectarous humour issuing flowed
Sanguine, such as celestial Spirits may bleed.
. . . . . . .
