" Now in Purgatory there is amused
indulgence upon Dante's part as he addresses his former fellow citizen
"sitting and clasping his knees, holding his face down between them,
lazier than if sloth were his very sister" (IV, 10).
"His sluggish attitude and his curt words
A little unto laughter moved my lips
Then I began: 'Balaqua I grieve not
For thee henceforth; but tell me wherefore seated
In this place art thou? Waitest thou an escort?
Or has thy usual habit seized upon thee?'
And he: 'O brother, what's the use of climbing?
Since to my torment would not let me go
The angel of the Lord who sitteth at the gate.
First heaven must needs so long revolve me round
Outside thereof, as in my life it did,
Since the good sighs I to the end postponed,
Unless e'er that some prayer may bring me aid
Which rises from a heart that lives in grace."
(IV, 120.)
Unless assisted by the prayer of the sinless faithful upon earth,
Balaqua and his class must stay in Outer-Purgatory, each for a term
equal to the period of his natural life. The third and the fourth
classes in Outer-Purgatory, viz., those who died of violence, deferring
their repentance to the last hour, and kings and princes who because of
temporal concerns of state put off their conversion to the last--all
those also must remain in Outer-Purgatory for a period equal to that of
their lives upon earth, unless the time be shortened by intercessory
prayer.
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