Readings On the Purgatorio of Dante Author:Dante Alighieri, William Warren Vernon, William Warren Benvenutus Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CANTO XVIII. The Fourth Cornice.—Accidie.—The Nature Of Love.—Love And Free Will.—Spirits Of The Slothful Running In Haste, As The Penalty For Accidie.—The Ab... more »bot Of San Zeno. — The Scaligeri. — Dante Falls Asleep. In the last Canto Dante showed how all sins have their origin in some kind of Love. In this Canto he describes the faults of purgation of Accidie or Spiritual Sloth, which comes from some remissness in Love for the only True Good. Benvenuto divides the Canto into five parts. In the First Division, from v. 1 to v. 39, Virgil, at Dante's request, continues his profound disquisition, and gives a definition of Love. In the Second Division, from v. 40 to v. 75, Virgil clears up a doubt which has arisen in Dante's mind in consequence of the definition. In the Third Division, from v. 76 to v. 105, the penalty of the Slothful is described, after that Dante has given an indication as to the time of day. In the Fourth Division, from v. 106 to v. 129, Dante relates his conversation with the Abbot of St. Zeno at Verona. In the Fifth Division, from v. 130 to v. 145, Virgil, by way of teaching Dante how Accidie is to be avoided, shows him some of its unfortunate effects. Division I. Dante's mental questionings have been partly quieted, partly aroused. What is that Love, the right or wrong direction of which is the cause, on the one hand of all holiness, on the other of all evil ? He still has some doubts on the subject, and leaves it to be inferred that he has reasoned within himself as to whether enough has been said on what the Scholiasts termed the "Matter of Love," and has come to the conclusion that there has not. He adds that Virgil restores his confidence by telling him, in words which he does not quote, that he need not be afraid to speak out the dou...« less