Paradiso Time Quotes Page 3

This passage begins Canto XXV, where St. James tests Dante on hope. It is fitting that the canto begins with Dante's deepest personal hope, which is that he will one day be recognized by his own people (the Florentines) as a superb poet. Because of his virtue and God-given skill, Dante is certain that this day of "future glory" will come.

Adam's discussion of the transience of human language illustrates the concept that only God's creations are everlasting. Anything made by other powers – including human – must always "seek the new…shift their predilections," and eventually die.

This passage discusses the Ninth Heaven: the Primum Mobile. If we look at this sphere's name, it becomes obvious why "time has its roots within this vessel." "Primum Mobile" means "first moving" and as the highest and most blessed finite sphere, is the Heaven that God created first. And since His creation of the universe marked the beginning of time, we can assume that time began here. This implies that anything beyond this sphere is beyond time, and indeed the Empyrean – where God and his blessed reside – is timeless and eternal.