The Purgatorio Author:Dante (Translated by John Ciardi) In the Purgatorio Dante now describes his journey to the renunciation of sin. This second soaring canticle of his great work describes the soul's difficult ascent to purity. It is the journey up toward God. From the top of purgatory Dante rises as the soul made clean to enter the total presence of God. — Because there is both hope and suffering o... more »n the mountain of Purgatory, the Purgatorio is the most warmly human of Dante's canticles. In Hell the souls suffered to no end. Here the souls joyously accept their suffering in order to be made clean.
And here are found the Seven Deadly Sins from which the willing soul must free itself in pain. The Proud groan under the weight of enormous stone slabs as they crawl round and round the mountain. The Envious sit with their eyes sewn shut. The Gluttonous starve. The Lustful walk in fire. Yet all rejoice, for pain by pain they win to that purification that shall bring them in time to Divine Love.
John Ciardi's brilliant new translation renders this medieval masterpiece into modern English and crystallizes the power and beauty inherent in Dante's immortal conception of the aspiring soul.« less