Purgatorio

Like a hunter tracking small birds, Dante fixes his eyes on the tree’s leaves. Virgil gently reminds him to use their time well. Dante returns his attention to Virgil and Statius, then hears voices weeping and singing “Labia mea, Domine” (Oh Lord, open thou my lips) (265). Virgil tells Dante they may be penitents seeking to unknot “what their debts have tied” (265). Like souls who do not stop when they pass unknown groups, the penitents quickly pass Dante and his guides, gazing back as they go. Dante compares their skeletal appearance to classical and Biblical figures. He marvels that the tree’s scent could provoke such craving in them and wonders why they are starving.

One of the souls cries out in recognition. From his voice, Dante gathers that it’s his old friend Forese Donati, who has become so skinny that his face is unrecognizable. He asks Dante who his guides are. Dante replies that his friend’s suffering provokes the same desire to weep for him as did his death. Forese tells him that the tree is sharpening and paring him, in the process purifying him of his excess consumption in life.