XXIV
I have feather-wings fleeter than a bird's,
With which I may fly far from the earth
Over the high roof of the heaven above us;
But oh! that I might your mind furnish,
Your inmost wit, with these my wings,
Until you might on this world of mortals,
On all that there lives, look down easily!
Then you might mount on pinions
Straight over heaven, soaring upwards
Wind through the clouds, and then witness
All from above. You could also fly
Over the fire that long has fared,
Many a year, mid air and heaven,
Even as the Father at first appointed.
Then could you after the course follow
That the sun takes between the lights of heaven,
And onward speeding reach the sphere
Far up aloft; then in order
That star all cold, alone in station,
Which is the highest of heavenly bodies,
By sea-dwellers beneath the sky
Saturn called; cold is that star,
Wholly ice-bound, and highest wanders
Over all others up in heaven.
Yes, even then, when you have passed
High over Saturn, you may still journey,
And then will soon be above the sphere
