# Purgatory Canto 22

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

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> 
> Canto XXII
> 
> Argument
> 
>      Dante, Virgil, and Statius mount to the sixth cornice, where the sin of
> gluttony is cleansed, the two Latin Poets discoursing by the way. Turning to
> the right, they find a tree hung with sweet - smelling fruit, and watered by a
> shower that issues from the rock. Voices are heard to proceed from among the
> leaves, recording examples of temperance.
> 
> Now we had left the Angel, who had turn'd
> To the sixth circle our ascending step;
> One gash from off my forehead razed; while they,
> Whose wishes tend to justice, shouted forth,
> "Blessed!"[1] and ended with "I thirst"; and I,
> More nimble than along the other straits,
> So journey'd, that, without the sense of toil,
> I follow'd upwards the swift - footed shades;
> When Virgil thus began: "Let its pure flame
> From virtue flow, and love can never fail
> To warm another's bosom, so the light
> Shine manifestly forth. Hence, from that hour,
> When, 'mongst us in the purlieus of the deep,
> Came down the spirit of Aquinum's bard,
> Who told of thine affection, my good will
> Hath been for thee of quality as strong
> As ever link'd itself to one not seen.
> Therefore these stairs will now seem short to me.
> But tell me: and, if too secure, I loose
> The rein with a friend's license, as a friend
> Forgive me, and speak now as with a friend:
> How chanced it covetous desire could find
> Place in that bosom, 'midst such ample store
> Of wisdom, as thy zeal had treasured there?"
> 
> [1: "Blessed." "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
> righteousness, for they shall be filled." - Matt. v. 6.]
> 
> First somewhat moved to laughter by his words,
> Statius replied: "Each syllable of thine
> Is a dear pledge of love. Things oft appear,
> That minister false matter to our doubts,
> When their true causes are removed from sight.
> Thy question doth assure me, thou believest
> I was on earth a covetous man; perhaps
> 
> Because thou found'st me in that circle placed.
> Know then I was too wide of avarice:
> And e'en for that excess, thousands of moons
> Have wax'd and waned upon my sufferings.
> And were it not that I with heedful care
> Noted, where thou exclaim'st, as if in ire,
> With human nature, 'Why, thou cursed thirst
> Of gold! dost not with juster measure guide
> The appetite of mortals?' I had met
> The fierce encounter of the voluble rock.
> Then was I ware that, with too ample wing,
> The hands may haste to lavishment; and turn'd,
> As from my other evil, so from this,
> In penitence. How many from their grave
> Shall with shorn locks[2] arise, who living, ay,
> And at life's last extreme, of this offence,
> Through ignorance, did not repent! And know,
> The fault, which lies direct from any sin
> In level opposition, here, with that,
> Wastes its green rankness on one common heap.
> Therefore, if I have been with those, who wail
> Their avarice, to cleanse me; through reverse
> Of their transgression, such hath been my lot."
> 
> [2: "With shorn locks." See Hell, Canto vii, 58.]
> 
> To whom the sovran of the pastoral song:
> "While thou didst sing that cruel warfare waged
> By the twin sorrow of Jocasta's womb[3]
> From thy discourse with Clio there, it seems
> As faith had not been thine; without the which,
> Good deeds suffice not. And if so, what sun
> Rose on thee, or what candle pierced the dark,
> That thou didst after see to hoise the sail,
> And follow where the fisherman had led?"
> 
> [3: "The twin sorrow of Jocasta's womb." Eteocles and Polynices.]
> 
> He answering thus: "By thee conducted first,
> I enter'd the Parnassian grots, and quaff'd
> Of the clear spring: illumined first by thee,
> Open'd mine eyes to God. Thou didst, as one
> Who, journeying through the darkness, bears a light
> Behind, that profits not himself, but makes
> 
> His followers wise, when thou exclaimed'st, 'Lo!
> A renovated world, Justice return'd,
> Times of primeval innocence restored,
> And a new race descended from above.'
> Poet and Christian both to thee I owed.
> That thou mayst mark more clearly what I trace,
> My hand shall stretch forth to inform the lines
> With livelier colouring. Soon o'er all the world,
> By messengers from Heaven, the true belief
> Teem'd now prolific; and that word of thine,
> Accordant, to the new instructors chimed.
> Induced by which agreement, I was wont
> Resort to them; and soon their sanctity
> So won upon me, that, Domitian's rage
> Pursuing them, I mix'd my tears with theirs;
> And, while on earth I stay'd, still succor'd them;
> And their most righteous customs made me scorn
> All sects besides. Before I led the Greeks,
> In tuneful fiction, to the streams of Thebes,
> I was baptized; but secretly, through fear,
> Remain'd a Christian, and conform'd long time
> To Pagan rites. Four centuries and more,
> I, for that lukewarmness, was fain to pace
> Round the fourth circle. Thou then, who hast raised
> The covering which did hide such blessing from me,
> Whilst much of this ascent is yet to climb,
> Say, if thou know, where our old Terence bides,
> Caecilius, Plautus, Varro: if condemn'd
> They dwell, and in what province of the deep."
> "These," said my guide, "with Persius and myself,
> And others many more, are with that Greek,[4]
> Of mortals, the most cherish'd by the Nine,
> In the first ward[5] of darkness. There, oft - times,
> We of that mount hold converse, on whose top
> For aye our nurses live. We have the bard
> Of Pella,[6] and the Teian,[7] Agatho,
> Simonides, and many a Grecian else
> Ingarlanded with laurel. Of thy train,
> 
> [4: "That Greek." Homer.]
> 
> [5: "In the first ward." In Limbo.]
> 
> [6: Euripides.]
> 
> [7: "The Teian." Anacreon.]
> 
> Antigone is there, Deiphile,
> Argia, and as sorrowful as erst
> Ismene, and who show'd Langia's wave:[8]
> Deidamia with her sisters there,
> And blind Tiresias' daughter,[9] and the bride
> Sea - born of Peleus."[10] Either poet now
> Was silent; and no longer by the ascent
> Or the steep walls obstructed, round them cast
> Inquiring eyes. Four handmaids of the day
> Had finish'd now their office, and the fifth
> Was at the chariot - beam, directing still
> Its flamy point aloof; when thus my guide:
> "Methinks, it well behoves us to the brink
> Bend the right shoulder, circuiting the mount,
> As we have ever used." So custom there
> Was usher to the road; the which we chose
> Less doubtful, as that worthy shade[11] complied.
> 
> [8: Hypsipile.]
> 
> [9: "Tiresias' daughter." Dante, as some have thought, had forgotten
> that he had placed Manto, the daughter of Tiresias, among the sorcerers. See
> Hell, Canto xx. Vellutello endeavors to reconcile the apparent inconsistency,
> by observing, that although she was placed there as a sinner, yet, as one of
> famous memory, she had also a place among the worthies in Limbo.]
> 
> [10: Thetis.]
> 
> [11: "That worthy shade." Statius.]
> 
> They on before me went: I sole pursued,
> Listening their speech, that to my thoughts convey'd
> Mysterious lessons of sweet poesy.
> But soon they ceased; for midway of the road
> A tree we found, with goodly fruitage hung,
> And pleasant to the smell: and as a fir,
> Upward from bough to bough, less ample spreads;
> So downward this less ample spread; that none,
> Methinks, aloft may climb. Upon the side,
> That closed our path, a liquid crystal fell
> From the steep rock, and through the sprays above
> Stream'd showering. With associate step the bards
> Drew near the plant; and, from amidst the leaves,
> A voice was heard: "Ye shall be chary of me;"
> And after added: "Mary took more thought
> For joy and honour of the nuptial feast,
> Than for herself, who answers now for you.
> 
> The women of old Rome were satisfied
> With water for their beverage. Daniel[12] fed
> On pulse, and wisdom gain'd. The primal age
> Was beautiful as gold: and hunger then
> Made acorns tasteful; thirst, each rivulet
> Run nectar. Honey and locusts were the food,
> Whereon the Baptist in the wilderness
> Fed, and that eminence of glory reach'd
> And greatness, which the Evangelist records."
> 
> [12: "Daniel." "Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the
> eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Michael, and Azariah, 'Prove thy
> servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and
> water to drink.'" - Dan. i. II, 12. "Thus Melzar took away the portion of
> their meat, and the wine that they should drink: and gave them pulse. As for
> these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and
> wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams." - Ibid. 16,
> 17.]
>
> — *Purgatory Canto 22*