And o'er my spirit that so long a time
Had from her presence felt no shuddering dread,
Albeit my eyes discovered her not, there moved
A hidden virtue from her, at whose touch
The power of ancient love was strong within me.[3]
But when he who has said so much beholds her face to face, he is stricken dumb.
Beatrice receives Dante from his guide and herself unveils to him the mysteries of life. Similarly Margaret beseeches the Virgin:
To guide him, be it given to me
Still dazzles him the new-born day!
and receives from on high the command which the symbolically burdened Beatrice knows intuitively: