Purgatory, Canto 17SummaryON issuing from the Smoke-cloud, Dante sees in a vision examples of the sin of Wrath. The Angel of the Cornice meets the Poets, erases the third P from Dante’s forehead, and, having pronounced the Benediction, directs them to the next stairway. Night falls as they reach the top step, and, since the Law of the Mountain prevents them from ascending further, Virgil beguiles the time by explaining the arrangement of the Cornices and the nature of the sins purged on each of them.
The Prepatory LectureQuestions for Reflection
The Canticle in this Canto |
Purgatory, Canto 17 © Jan Hearn
The ImagesMiddle Purgatory: Love Defective.
Sloth, or Accidie: Sloth or Accidie (Acedia) is the failure to love any good object in its proper measure, and, especially, to love God actively with all one has and is. Mark Vernon's Lecture |