Temptation is also exhibited in Ante-Purgatorio and that is the
more remarkable because both as a theologian and a poet Dante holds that
the present life is the end of man's probation and that as a
consequence, temptation is not to be encountered in the next life. Why
it is put forth in Ante-Purgatorio is explained by the theory that our
poet here nods, that he means, not the actual Purgatory of disembodied
spirits, but moral Purgatory, _i.e._, the present life wherein man,
striving upward, is attacked by temptation to keep him from the end for
which God created him.
Showing temptation in Ante-Purgatorio, the poet gives us a picture of
souls protected by two angels against the serpent. Here is the scene:
"Now was the hour that wakens fond desire
In men at sea, and melts their thoughtful heart
Who in the morn have bid sweet friends farewell,
And pilgrim newly on his road with love
Thrills, if he hear the vesper bell from far,
That seems to mourn for the expiring day":
A band of souls approach:
"I saw that gentle band silently next
Look up, as if in expectation held,
Pale and in lowly guise; and, from on high,
I saw, forth issuing descend beneath,
Two angels, with two flame-illumined swords,
Broken and mutilated of their points.
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