ii THE TRULY BEAUTIFUL 283 



sees the living Lord of these beautiful forms, of beauty 

 incomparably greater, he lets go all care or thought of 

 them, intent wholly on this one, their source. Such is 

 the difference between the earthly state, when we see 

 the divine beauty in intelligible or abstract forms, 

 derived from its effects, its works, masterpieces, its 

 shadows and similitudes, and the perfect state, when we 

 are allowed to behold it in its real presence. 1 The 

 " intelligible species " of this conception, which Bruno 

 derives from Neoplatonism, are simply the ideas of the 

 " speculative sciences," which include, however, what 

 would now be called the natural sciences. Human 

 Perfection consists in a form of knowledge, a system 

 of thought, by which the knower becomes one. with 

 the mind in which this thought-system originated, the 

 mind of God. Our knowledge that is, our perfection 

 can never, however, be complete, since the object, the 

 knowable, can never be perfectly comprehended. But 

 it may be made complete so far as our vision extends ; 

 and herein lies a saving clause for the " ordinary " 

 man. Few can reach the goal, but all may run ; it is 

 enough that each do his best possible. The generous 

 spirit prefers to fail nobly in the pursuit of the highest 

 rather than to succeed in inferior and baser enterprises. 2 

 Acteon typifies the human intellect in its pursuit of 

 the divine wisdom and capture of divine beauty. 3 

 The wild beasts whom he tracks down are the " in- 



1 Lag. 646, 647. 



2 647. 34 ff. j cf. the Sonnet (Tansillo's) on p. 648 : 



Poi che spiegat 'ho' 1'ali al bel desio, 

 Quanto piu sott' il pie 1' aria mi scorgo, 

 Piu le veloci penne al vento porgo, 

 Et spreggio 51 mondo, et vers' il ciel m' invio. 



Fendi sicur le nubi, et muor contento j 

 S' il ciel si illustre morte ne destina. 



3 Alle sel-ve i mast mi e /' veltrl slaccia II grovan Atteon, etc., p. 651. 



