Virgil asks for assistance, and one penitent, the Abbot of San Zeno, introduces himself and runs forward. One mentions Mary, and another mentions Caesar. Suddenly, “a throng” of runners rush past them: these are the slothful, now made to run continually in a vigorous sprint.
This ability to refrain, he says, is free will. Virgil explains that while desire may not be controlled, one can refrain from acting on one's desires. These natural inclinations rise “as fire” towards love of God, “where matter lives the longest.” Yet Dante wonders how this love could result in sin, if desire is natural and uncontrollable. Virgil says that the mind is “disposed to love at its creation” and that, after forming mental images from “real forms,” it will become inclined to that thing in natural love. Dante hopes he’ll further explain this love. Yet Virgil anticipates his curiosity and prods him to ask. As Canto XVIII begins, Dante thinks to ask Virgil another question but holds back.
0 kommentar(er)
