Purgatorio

As the group converses, they walk quickly, “like ships when driven by a favouring wind” (269). The watching souls marvel at Dante being alive. Dante asks after Forese’s sister, Piccarda, and whether he should recognize any of the souls. Forese explains that Piccarda is in Heaven and points out several familiar faces, including Bonagiunta of Lucca.

Bonagiunta predicts that a woman not yet born will “make my native place/a joy for you” (270), which he says will become clear later. He asks if Dante is the poet who penned “Ladies, who have intelligence of love” (270). Dante confirms that he penned it after spontaneous inspiration by love. Bonagiunta replies that he did not achieve “that sweet new style” (270), praising Dante above other poets.

As birds create formations in flight, the souls turn briskly away. Forese stays behind to ask Dante when he will see him again. Dante replies that he does not know when death will claim him, but he longs to return since “that place where it falls to me to live” has “set its mind on ruin and despair” (271). Forese agrees, and predicts that the person most at fault will end violently in Hell. Concerned that he is losing time, Forese departs as fast as knights eager to be the first to duel.

A second fruit tree appears, under which a group of souls calls out pleas “like silly, over-eager little tots” (272), then departs. A voice instructs Dante to move on; higher up, he will find the tree from which Eve once ate. As he, Virgil, and Statius move on, a voice tells them to recall centaurs and biblical figures, which are examples of gluttony. As they walk contemplatively along, a voice asks them what they are thinking, startling Dante as if he were an untamed animal. He sees a figure glowing redder than any metal or glass in a furnace, who points them to the path they must take. Its brightness blinds Dante, so he follows his guides by sound. Like a fragrant May breeze, wings brush Dante’s brow as he hears a blessing for those who regulate their food intake.

Drawing on the constellations, Dante notes that it is 2pm. His group passes single-file through a narrow passage. Like a young stork too timid to fly from the nest, Dante is afraid to speak. With Virgil’s encouragement, Dante asks how souls without bodies can become so thin.

Statius explains the biological process that generates the body in the womb, bringing it to life and bestowing a soul upon it. The soul animates all living beings. Humans differ due to what happens after the body has completed its development. God breathes “new breath of spirit filled with new power within,” which creates “a conscious self” (276). As the combination of sun and the juice of grapes transforms into wine, the conscious self does not exist within a specific organ but is the sum total of the human being. When “the soul leaves the flesh” (277) and lands in either Hell or Purgatory, a similar transformative process takes place, leading to the creation of the “soul’s shade,” a facsimile of the human body. This shade can then see, speak, laugh, or weep, as Dante has seen.

The group arrives at the final level and faces a wall of flames kept at bay by wind. Virgil warns that they will need to “keep a strict check on our eyes” because it will be easy “for them to stray” (277). From within the flames, Dante hears the hymn for sexual control. He sees spirits walking within the flames. When the hymn ends, they cry out, “Virum non cognosco” (I know not a man) (277), then a cry to Diana. They again begin to sing, calling for men and women who were chaste “as virtue and our marriage demand” (277). This song, sung as the flames scorch them, cleanses the final wound.

As they circle the mountain’s rim in single file, Virgil points out dangers to Dante. The sun beats down on his right-hand side, and his body casts shadows in the flames. A group of souls notices the shadows Dante casts and approaches. One asks him how he shields himself from the flames. Dante becomes distracted from answering by another group that has appeared. As the two groups pass each other, they briefly embrace, like columns of ants nuzzling each other. They call out references to Sodom and Gomorrah as well as Pasiphae and the bull. “As flocks of cranes divide” (280), the groups go in opposite directions, weeping).

The first group returns to Dante’s side, eager to hear his story. Dante explains that he is still in his mortal body. “A lady up above” (280) authorized his visit so that he can bring knowledge of virtue back to the mortal world. He expresses his wish for their eternal rest in Heaven and asks who they are.

The souls are at first dumbstruck “as mountain yokels” (281), then bless Dante and instruct him to listen for his benefit. The previous group were like Caesar, “who once heard/‘You queen!’” (281) and yelled “Sodom” to reprimand themselves and promote their purification. This group’s sin was heterosexual and bestial lust, as with Pasiphae and the bull. Among them is the poet Guido Guinizelli, who receives purification by mourning his sins.

Dante calls Guinizelli “the sire” of himself and all the “better men” who wrote poetry. Lost in thought, Dante cannot draw near because of the fire but pledges his service to Guinizelli, who asks in return why Dante holds him in such high regard. Dante praises Guinizelli’s poetry. Guinizelli points out a poet (Arnaut Daniel) who surpasses him, decries praise of lesser poets, and asks Dante to pray for him, then disappears into the flames like a fish into “the water’s depths” (283). Dante addresses Arnaut, who responds in Occitan that he recognizes his past sins and asks Dante to remember his suffering.