Vergine madre, figlia del tuo figlio

Dante Alighieri

from Paradiso, Canto XXXIII

Vergine madre, figlia del tuo figlio,
umile e alta piú che creatura,
termine fisso d’eterno consiglio,
Virgin mother, daughter of your son,
humbler, yet higher than any creature,
fixed point of the eternal plan,
tu se’ colei che l’umana natura
nobilitasti sí, che ’l suo fattore
non disdegnó di farsi sua fattura
you are she who so ennobled
human nature, that its fashioner
disdained not to fashion himself of its fashion.
Nel ventre tuo si raccese l’amore
per lo cui caldo ne l’eterna pace
cosí é germinato questo fiore.
In your womb was rekindled the love
through whose radiance in the eternal peace
sprouted this flower.
Qui se’ a noi meridíana face
di caritate, e giuso, intra i mortali,
se’ di speranza fontana vivace.
Here [in paradise] you are to us
the face of charity, and down among the mortals
you are the fountain of living hope.
Donna, se’ tanto grande e tanto vali,
che qual vuol grazia ed a te non ricorre,
sua disíanza vuol volar sanz’ali.
Woman, you are so grand and worth so much,
that whoso desires grace and runs not to you
has a desire that desires to fly without wings.
La tua benignitá non pur soccorre
a chi domanda, ma molte fíate,
liberamente al dimandar precorre.
Your benignity not only aids
whoever asks, but freely anticipates
and gives breath to the petitioner.
In te misericordia, in te pietate,
in te magnificenza, in te s’aduna
quantunque in creatura é di bontate.
In you mercy, in you piety,
in you magnificence, in you come together
whatever is good in creation.