Purgatorio, Canto 23
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Dante lingers over the gluttony tree until Virgil, more than father, recalls him to the useful spending of time. The three poets hear the penitents singing through tears, and a swift, silent, devout crowd passes them with eyes hollow, faces pale, and skin shaped by bone. Their wasting prompts the Erisichthon, Mary of Jerusalem, and omo images before Forese Donati recognizes Dante by grace. Dante cannot know him by sight, but the voice rekindles recognition. Forese asks Dante not to dwell on his ravaged body and presses him to explain the two guides. Dante, grieving the face he once wept for dead, asks what strips the souls so bare. Forese explains that eternal counsel gives power to the tree and water: those who followed the throat beyond measure are made holy again in hunger and thirst. Their pain is also delight because the will that draws them to the trees is joined to Christ's willing thirst on the cross. Dante asks how Forese has risen so quickly, expecting him still among delayed penitents. Forese answers that Nella's tears, prayers, and sighs drew him from the waiting slope and the other rounds. He praises her solitary good works, then turns bitterly against the shameless women of Florence and prophesies their near sorrow. Seeing all the souls stare where Dante blocks the sun, Forese asks him to hide himself no longer. Dante recalls their old life together, explains Virgil's rescue from that life through the night of the true dead, names the mountain as straightening those the world made crooked, identifies Beatrice as the coming limit of Virgil's guidance, and points to Statius as the shade whose release shook the realm.
Narrative arc
- Virgil turns Dante from the tree leaves and the penitents' song is heard
- The wasted gluttonous souls pass with Erisichthon, Jerusalem, and omo imagery
- Forese recognizes Dante, and Dante recognizes the altered face by voice
- Forese explains hunger, thirst, tree, water, and cross-shaped delight
- Dante questions Forese's swift ascent, and Nella's prayers answer it
- Nella's solitary goodness and Forese's rebuke of Florentine women
- Forese asks Dante to uncover himself, and Dante names Virgil's rescue
- Dante explains the mountain, Beatrice's handoff, Virgil, and Statius
Central themes
- hunger
- friendship
Virgil turns Dante from the tree leaves and the penitents' song is heard XXIII.1–15
1Mentre che li occhi per la fronda verde
ficcava ïo sì come far suole
chi dietro a li uccellin sua vita perde,
lo più che padre mi dicea: «Figliuole,
5vienne oramai, ché ’l tempo che n’è imposto
più utilmente compartir si vuole».
Io volsi ’l viso, e ’l passo non men tosto,
appresso i savi, che parlavan sìe,
che l’andar mi facean di nullo costo.
10Ed ecco piangere e cantar s’udìe
‘Labïa mëa, Domine’ per modo
tal, che diletto e doglia parturìe.
«O dolce padre, che è quel ch’i’ odo?»,
comincia’ io; ed elli: «Ombre che vanno
15forse di lor dover solvendo il nodo».
1While I was fixing my eyes on the green leaves
as one is accustomed to do
who wastes his life after little birds,
my more-than-father said to me: "Son,
5come now, for the time assigned to us
must be apportioned more usefully."
I turned my face, and my step no less quickly,
after the sages, who were speaking so
that they made the going cost me nothing.
10And behold, we heard weeping and singing
`Labia mea, Domine` in such a way
that it brought forth delight and grief.
"O sweet father, what is that which I hear?"
I began; and he: "Shades who go
15perhaps loosening the knot of what they owe."
Commentary
The passage moves from Dante staring into the tree leaves to Virgil's practical correction, then into the gluttons' mixed weeping and song. The translation keeps Virgil as more-than-father and keeps the Latin incipit visible because the terrace is purifying appetite, speech, and praise together.
XXIII.10–12 The penitents sing the opening words of Psalm 51:15, fitting souls whose mouths and appetites are being retrained.
XXIII.10–12 The penitents sing the opening words of Psalm 51:15, fitting souls whose mouths and appetites are being retrained. Line 11: The penitents sing the opening words of Psalm 51:15, fitting souls whose mouths and appetites are being retrained.
XXIII.11 The penitents sing the opening words of Psalm 51:15, fitting souls whose mouths and appetites are being retrained. The penitents sing the opening words of Psalm 51:15, fitting souls whose mouths and appetites are being retrained.
XXIII.13–15 The knot image keeps purgation as debt, duty, and release without reducing it to external punishment.
XXIII.13–15 The knot image keeps purgation as debt, duty, and release without reducing it to external punishment. Line 15: The knot image keeps purgation as debt, duty, and release without reducing it to external punishment.
XXIII.15 The knot image keeps purgation as debt, duty, and release without reducing it to external punishment. The knot image keeps purgation as debt, duty, and release without reducing it to external punishment.
The wasted gluttonous souls pass with Erisichthon, Jerusalem, and `omo` imagery XXIII.16–39
16Sì come i peregrin pensosi fanno,
giugnendo per cammin gente non nota,
che si volgono ad essa e non restanno,
così di retro a noi, più tosto mota,
20venendo e trapassando ci ammirava
d’anime turba tacita e devota.
Ne li occhi era ciascuna oscura e cava,
palida ne la faccia, e tanto scema
che da l’ossa la pelle s’informava.
25Non credo che così a buccia strema
Erisittone fosse fatto secco,
per digiunar, quando più n’ebbe tema.
Io dicea fra me stesso pensando: ‘Ecco
la gente che perdé Ierusalemme,
30quando Maria nel figlio diè di becco!’
Parean l’occhiaie anella sanza gemme:
chi nel viso de li uomini legge ‘omo’
ben avria quivi conosciuta l’emme.
Chi crederebbe che l’odor d’un pomo
35sì governasse, generando brama,
e quel d’un’acqua, non sappiendo como?
Già era in ammirar che sì li affama,
per la cagione ancor non manifesta
di lor magrezza e di lor trista squama,
16As thoughtful pilgrims do,
coming upon people unknown along the road,
who turn toward them and do not stop,
so behind us, moving more swiftly,
20coming and passing on, gazed at us
a crowd of souls, silent and devout.
Each was dark and hollow in the eyes,
pale in the face, and so shrunken
that the skin took shape from the bones.
25I do not think Erisichthon was so dried
down to his outer rind
by fasting, when he most feared it.
I said to myself, thinking: "Behold
the people who lost Jerusalem,
30when Mary drove her beak into her son!"
Their eye sockets seemed rings without gems:
whoever reads `omo` in the face of men
would surely have recognized the `m` there.
Who would believe the scent of an apple
35so governed them, generating craving,
and that of water, without knowing how?
Already I was wondering what so famished them,
the cause still not manifest
of their leanness and their sad scaling,
Commentary
The passage gives the pilgrim-simile sequence and the wasted appearance of the gluttonous souls. The translation preserves the Erisichthon, Mary of Jerusalem, and omo images because the canto makes appetite legible in the face before explaining its cause.
XXIII.25–27 Erisichthon, punished in classical story with insatiable hunger, is used as a benchmark for wasting appetite.
XXIII.25–27 Erisichthon, punished in classical story with insatiable hunger, is used as a benchmark for wasting appetite. Line 25: Erisichthon, punished in classical story with insatiable hunger, is used as a benchmark for wasting appetite.
XXIII.25 Erisichthon, punished in classical story with insatiable hunger, is used as a benchmark for wasting appetite. Erisichthon, punished in classical story with insatiable hunger, is used as a benchmark for wasting appetite.
XXIII.28–30 Mary of Jerusalem evokes the famine cannibalism reported by Josephus during the siege.
XXIII.28–30 Mary of Jerusalem evokes the famine cannibalism reported by Josephus during the siege. Line 30: Mary of Jerusalem evokes the famine cannibalism reported by Josephus during the siege.
XXIII.30 Mary of Jerusalem evokes the famine cannibalism reported by Josephus during the siege. Mary of Jerusalem evokes the famine cannibalism reported by Josephus during the siege.
XXIII.31–33 The omo image reads human form in the face: eyes as o-shapes and brows/nose forming the m.
XXIII.31–33 The omo image reads human form in the face: eyes as o-shapes and brows/nose forming the m. Line 32: The omo image reads human form in the face: eyes as o-shapes and brows/nose forming the m.
XXIII.32 The omo image reads human form in the face: eyes as o-shapes and brows/nose forming the m. The omo image reads human form in the face: eyes as o-shapes and brows/nose forming the m.
XXIII.37–39 Trista squama names the visible scaly wasting of the gluttonous souls; the cause is not yet explained.
XXIII.37–39 Trista squama names the visible scaly wasting of the gluttonous souls; the cause is not yet explained. Line 39: Trista squama names the visible scaly wasting of the gluttonous souls; the cause is not yet explained.
XXIII.39 Trista squama names the visible scaly wasting of the gluttonous souls; the cause is not yet explained. Trista squama names the visible scaly wasting of the gluttonous souls; the cause is not yet explained.
Forese recognizes Dante, and Dante recognizes the altered face by voice XXIII.40–60
40ed ecco del profondo de la testa
volse a me li occhi un’ombra e guardò fiso;
poi gridò forte: «Qual grazia m’è questa?».
Mai non l’avrei riconosciuto al viso;
ma ne la voce sua mi fu palese
45ciò che l’aspetto in sé avea conquiso.
Questa favilla tutta mi raccese
mia conoscenza a la cangiata labbia,
e ravvisai la faccia di Forese.
«Deh, non contendere a l’asciutta scabbia
50che mi scolora», pregava, «la pelle,
né a difetto di carne ch’io abbia;
ma dimmi il ver di te, dì chi son quelle
due anime che là ti fanno scorta;
non rimaner che tu non mi favelle!».
55«La faccia tua, ch’io lagrimai già morta,
mi dà di pianger mo non minor doglia»,
rispuos’ io lui, «veggendola sì torta.
Però mi dì, per Dio, che sì vi sfoglia;
non mi far dir mentr’ io mi maraviglio,
60ché mal può dir chi è pien d’altra voglia».
40when behold, from the depth of his head
a shade turned his eyes to me and looked fixedly;
then cried aloud: "What grace is this to me?"
Never would I have recognized him by his face;
but in his voice was made plain to me
45what his appearance had suppressed within itself.
This spark wholly rekindled in me
my knowledge of the changed features,
and I recognized the face of Forese.
"Ah, do not dwell on the dry scab
50that discolors my skin," he begged,
"nor on the lack of flesh I have;
but tell me the truth of yourself; say who those
two souls are who there make you an escort;
do not stay without speaking to me!"
55"Your face, which I once wept for dead,
gives me no lesser grief for weeping now,"
I answered him, "seeing it so distorted.
Therefore tell me, by God, what so strips you;
do not make me speak while I marvel,
60for he speaks badly who is full of another desire."
Commentary
Forese is recognized by voice before face. The translation treats contendere as dwelling on or struggling over the disfigured surface, preserving the pressure between visual recognition, friendship, and urgent speech.
XXIII.46–48 Forese Donati, Dante's friend and kinsman by marriage, begins the personal recognition scene.
XXIII.46–48 Forese Donati, Dante's friend and kinsman by marriage, begins the personal recognition scene. Line 48: Forese Donati, Dante's friend and kinsman by marriage, begins the personal recognition scene.
XXIII.48 Forese Donati, Dante's friend and kinsman by marriage, begins the personal recognition scene. Forese Donati, Dante's friend and kinsman by marriage, begins the personal recognition scene.
XXIII.49–51 Contendere is rendered as not dwelling on or struggling over the disfiguring surface before speaking.
XXIII.49–51 Contendere is rendered as not dwelling on or struggling over the disfiguring surface before speaking. Line 49: Contendere is rendered as not dwelling on or struggling over the disfiguring surface before speaking.
XXIII.49 Contendere is rendered as not dwelling on or struggling over the disfiguring surface before speaking. Contendere is rendered as not dwelling on or struggling over the disfiguring surface before speaking.
Forese explains hunger, thirst, tree, water, and cross-shaped delight XXIII.61–75
61Ed elli a me: «De l’etterno consiglio
cade vertù ne l’acqua e ne la pianta
rimasa dietro ond’ io sì m’assottiglio.
Tutta esta gente che piangendo canta
65per seguitar la gola oltra misura,
in fame e ’n sete qui si rifà santa.
Di bere e di mangiar n’accende cura
l’odor ch’esce del pomo e de lo sprazzo
che si distende su per sua verdura.
70E non pur una volta, questo spazzo
girando, si rinfresca nostra pena:
io dico pena, e dovria dir sollazzo,
ché quella voglia a li alberi ci mena
che menò Cristo lieto a dire ‘Elì’,
75quando ne liberò con la sua vena».
61And he to me: "From the eternal counsel
power falls into the water and into the tree
left behind, by which I am made so thin.
All these people who, weeping, sing,
65because they followed the throat beyond measure,
here are made holy again in hunger and thirst.
A longing to drink and eat is kindled in us
by the scent that issues from the apple and the spray
that spreads itself over its green leaves.
70And not just once, as we circle this floor,
is our pain refreshed:
I say pain, and ought to say delight,
for that will leads us to the trees
that led Christ joyfully to say `Eli`,
75when he freed us with his blood."
Commentary
Forese explains that eternal counsel gives purgative power to the water and tree. The translation keeps gola as throat, hunger and thirst as sanctifying discipline, and the turn from pain to delight through Christ's cross-thirst.
XXIII.61–63 The purgative power comes from eternal counsel, not from the tree or water as natural causes alone.
XXIII.61–63 The purgative power comes from eternal counsel, not from the tree or water as natural causes alone. Line 61: The purgative power comes from eternal counsel, not from the tree or water as natural causes alone.
XXIII.61 The purgative power comes from eternal counsel, not from the tree or water as natural causes alone. The purgative power comes from eternal counsel, not from the tree or water as natural causes alone.
XXIII.64–66 The translation keeps gola as "throat" to preserve the bodily appetite field behind gluttony.
XXIII.64–66 The translation keeps gola as "throat" to preserve the bodily appetite field behind gluttony. Line 65: The translation keeps gola as "throat" to preserve the bodily appetite field behind gluttony.
XXIII.65 The translation keeps gola as "throat" to preserve the bodily appetite field behind gluttony. The translation keeps gola as "throat" to preserve the bodily appetite field behind gluttony.
XXIII.70–72 Forese corrects pain into delight because the same hunger trains the will toward Christ.
XXIII.70–72 Forese corrects pain into delight because the same hunger trains the will toward Christ. Line 72: Forese corrects pain into delight because the same hunger trains the will toward Christ.
XXIII.72 Forese corrects pain into delight because the same hunger trains the will toward Christ. Forese corrects pain into delight because the same hunger trains the will toward Christ.
XXIII.73–75 Eli recalls Christ's cry from the cross; the gluttons' hunger and thirst are aligned with redemptive thirst rather than mere deprivation.
XXIII.73–75 Eli recalls Christ's cry from the cross; the gluttons' hunger and thirst are aligned with redemptive thirst rather than mere deprivation. Line 74: Eli recalls Christ's cry from the cross; the gluttons' hunger and thirst are aligned with redemptive thirst rather than mere deprivation.
XXIII.74 Eli recalls Christ's cry from the cross; the gluttons' hunger and thirst are aligned with redemptive thirst rather than mere deprivation. Eli recalls Christ's cry from the cross; the gluttons' hunger and thirst are aligned with redemptive thirst rather than mere deprivation.
Dante questions Forese's swift ascent, and Nella's prayers answer it XXIII.76–90
76E io a lui: «Forese, da quel dì
nel qual mutasti mondo a miglior vita,
cinqu’ anni non son vòlti infino a qui.
Se prima fu la possa in te finita
80di peccar più, che sovvenisse l’ora
del buon dolor ch’a Dio ne rimarita,
come se’ tu qua sù venuto ancora?
Io ti credea trovar là giù di sotto,
dove tempo per tempo si ristora».
85Ond’ elli a me: «Sì tosto m’ha condotto
a ber lo dolce assenzo d’i martìri
la Nella mia con suo pianger dirotto.
Con suoi prieghi devoti e con sospiri
tratto m’ha de la costa ove s’aspetta,
90e liberato m’ha de li altri giri.
76And I to him: "Forese, from that day
on which you changed worlds for a better life,
five years have not turned round up to here.
If first the power in you had ended
80to sin further, before the hour came
of the good sorrow that remarries us to God,
how have you come up here so soon?
I thought to find you down below,
where time is restored for time."
85Whereon he to me: "So soon has brought me
to drink the sweet wormwood of these torments
my Nella, with her gushing tears.
With her devout prayers and sighs
she has drawn me from the slope where one waits,
90and freed me from the other rounds.
Commentary
Dante is surprised that Forese has ascended so quickly, and Nella's prayers are the reason. The translation keeps good sorrow, time restored for time, and sweet wormwood as core purgatorial terms rather than smoothing the paradox.
XXIII.79–81 The "good sorrow" is contrition that remarries the soul to God.
XXIII.79–81 The "good sorrow" is contrition that remarries the soul to God. Line 81: The "good sorrow" is contrition that remarries the soul to God.
XXIII.81 The "good sorrow" is contrition that remarries the soul to God. The "good sorrow" is contrition that remarries the soul to God.
XXIII.85–87 Dante expected Forese to be delayed below; Nella's prayers explain the unusually swift ascent. "Sweet wormwood" preserves the paradox of bitter purgative torment willingly accepted as healing.
XXIII.85–87 Dante expected Forese to be delayed below; Nella's prayers explain the unusually swift ascent. Line 85: Dante expected Forese to be delayed below; Nella's prayers explain the unusually swift ascent. Line 86: "Sweet wormwood" preserves the paradox of bitter purgative torment willingly accepted as healing.
XXIII.85 Dante expected Forese to be delayed below; Nella's prayers explain the unusually swift ascent. Dante expected Forese to be delayed below; Nella's prayers explain the unusually swift ascent.
XXIII.86 "Sweet wormwood" preserves the paradox of bitter purgative torment willingly accepted as healing. "Sweet wormwood" preserves the paradox of bitter purgative torment willingly accepted as healing.
Nella's solitary goodness and Forese's rebuke of Florentine women XXIII.91–111
91Tanto è a Dio più cara e più diletta
la vedovella mia, che molto amai,
quanto in bene operare è più soletta;
ché la Barbagia di Sardigna assai
95ne le femmine sue più è pudica
che la Barbagia dov’ io la lasciai.
O dolce frate, che vuo’ tu ch’io dica?
Tempo futuro m’è già nel cospetto,
cui non sarà quest’ ora molto antica,
100nel qual sarà in pergamo interdetto
a le sfacciate donne fiorentine
l’andar mostrando con le poppe il petto.
Quai barbare fuor mai, quai saracine,
cui bisognasse, per farle ir coperte,
105o spiritali o altre discipline?
Ma se le svergognate fosser certe
di quel che ’l ciel veloce loro ammanna,
già per urlare avrian le bocche aperte;
ché, se l’antiveder qui non m’inganna,
110prima fien triste che le guance impeli
colui che mo si consola con nanna.
91So much dearer and more beloved of God
is my little widow, whom I loved so much,
as she is more alone in doing good;
for the Barbagia of Sardinia
95is much more modest in its women
than the Barbagia where I left her.
O sweet brother, what do you want me to say?
A future time is already in my sight,
to which this hour will not be very old,
100in which from the pulpit it will be forbidden
to the shameless Florentine women
to go showing the breast with the paps.
What barbarian women, what Saracen women
ever were there, who needed, to make them go covered,
105spiritual or other disciplines?
But if the shameless ones were sure
of what swift Heaven prepares for them,
already they would have their mouths open to howl;
for, if foresight here does not deceive me,
110they will be sad before the cheeks are feathered
of him who now is soothed with lullaby.
Commentary
Forese praises Nella severely and rebukes Florentine women. The translation keeps the Barbagia comparison, pulpit prohibition, shamelessness, and near-future prophecy without modernizing Dante's medieval civic and moral frame.
XXIII.94–96 Barbagia names both Sardinian barbarity and, by bitter comparison, Florence's moral disorder.
XXIII.94–96 Barbagia names both Sardinian barbarity and, by bitter comparison, Florence's moral disorder. Line 94: Barbagia names both Sardinian barbarity and, by bitter comparison, Florence's moral disorder.
XXIII.94 Barbagia names both Sardinian barbarity and, by bitter comparison, Florence's moral disorder. Barbagia names both Sardinian barbarity and, by bitter comparison, Florence's moral disorder.
XXIII.109–111 Forese's prophecy concerns imminent grief for the shameless Florentine women; the child now soothed by lullaby will not yet be bearded.
XXIII.109–111 Forese's prophecy concerns imminent grief for the shameless Florentine women; the child now soothed by lullaby will not yet be bearded. Line 109: Forese's prophecy concerns imminent grief for the shameless Florentine women; the child now soothed by lullaby will not yet be bearded.
XXIII.109 Forese's prophecy concerns imminent grief for the shameless Florentine women; the child now soothed by lullaby will not yet be bearded. Forese's prophecy concerns imminent grief for the shameless Florentine women; the child now soothed by lullaby will not yet be bearded.
Forese asks Dante to uncover himself, and Dante names Virgil's rescue XXIII.112–123
112Deh, frate, or fa che più non mi ti celi!
vedi che non pur io, ma questa gente
tutta rimira là dove ’l sol veli».
115Per ch’io a lui: «Se tu riduci a mente
qual fosti meco, e qual io teco fui,
ancor fia grave il memorar presente.
Di quella vita mi volse costui
che mi va innanzi, l’altr’ ier, quando tonda
120vi si mostrò la suora di colui»,
e ’l sol mostrai; «costui per la profonda
notte menato m’ha d’i veri morti
con questa vera carne che ’l seconda.
112Ah, brother, now see that you hide yourself from me no more!
see that not only I, but all these people
are all gazing where you veil the sun."
115Wherefore I to him: "If you bring back to mind
what you were with me, and what I was with you,
the present memory will still be heavy.
From that life this one turned me,
who goes before me, the other day, when round
120the sister of that one showed herself to you,"
and I showed the sun; "this one through the deep
night has led me from the true dead,
with this true flesh that follows him.
Commentary
This passage covers forese asks Dante to uncover himself, and Dante names Virgil's rescue.
XXIII.112–114 Dante's living body blocks the sun, making his embodied exception visible to the penitents.
XXIII.112–114 Dante's living body blocks the sun, making his embodied exception visible to the penitents. Line 114: Dante's living body blocks the sun, making his embodied exception visible to the penitents.
XXIII.114 Dante's living body blocks the sun, making his embodied exception visible to the penitents. Dante's living body blocks the sun, making his embodied exception visible to the penitents.
XXIII.118–120 The moon is named indirectly as the sister of the sun; Dante marks the time of Virgil's rescue.
XXIII.118–120 The moon is named indirectly as the sister of the sun; Dante marks the time of Virgil's rescue. Line 120: The moon is named indirectly as the sister of the sun; Dante marks the time of Virgil's rescue.
XXIII.120 The moon is named indirectly as the sister of the sun; Dante marks the time of Virgil's rescue. The moon is named indirectly as the sister of the sun; Dante marks the time of Virgil's rescue.
Dante explains the mountain, Beatrice's handoff, Virgil, and Statius XXIII.124–133
124Indi m’han tratto sù li suoi conforti,
125salendo e rigirando la montagna
che drizza voi che ’l mondo fece torti.
Tanto dice di farmi sua compagna
che io sarò là dove fia Beatrice;
quivi convien che sanza lui rimagna.
130Virgilio è questi che così mi dice»,
e addita’lo; «e quest’ altro è quell’ ombra
per cuï scosse dianzi ogne pendice
lo vostro regno, che da sé lo sgombra».
124From there his comforts have drawn me upward,
125ascending and circling the mountain
that straightens you whom the world made crooked.
He says he will make me his companion
until I am where Beatrice will be;
there I must remain without him.
130Virgil is this one who says this to me,"
and I pointed to him; "and this other is that shade
because of whom just now every slope shook
of your realm, which discharges him from itself."
Commentary
This passage covers dante explains the mountain, Beatrice's handoff, Virgil, and Statius.
XXIII.124–126 The mountain "straightens" souls whom the world made crooked, preserving purgation as re-ordering.
XXIII.124–126 The mountain "straightens" souls whom the world made crooked, preserving purgation as re-ordering. Line 126: The mountain "straightens" souls whom the world made crooked, preserving purgation as re-ordering.
XXIII.126 The mountain "straightens" souls whom the world made crooked, preserving purgation as re-ordering. The mountain "straightens" souls whom the world made crooked, preserving purgation as re-ordering.
XXIII.127–129 Beatrice marks the handoff where Virgil's rational guidance will reach its limit.
XXIII.127–129 Beatrice marks the handoff where Virgil's rational guidance will reach its limit. Line 128: Beatrice marks the handoff where Virgil's rational guidance will reach its limit.
XXIII.128 Beatrice marks the handoff where Virgil's rational guidance will reach its limit. Beatrice marks the handoff where Virgil's rational guidance will reach its limit.
XXIII.130–132 The other shade is Statius, whose completed purification caused the mountain-wide tremor in Purgatorio XX.
XXIII.130–132 The other shade is Statius, whose completed purification caused the mountain-wide tremor in Purgatorio XX. Line 132: The other shade is Statius, whose completed purification caused the mountain-wide tremor in Purgatorio XX.
XXIII.132 The other shade is Statius, whose completed purification caused the mountain-wide tremor in Purgatorio XX. The other shade is Statius, whose completed purification caused the mountain-wide tremor in Purgatorio XX.