Lyrics originally in Italian

Purgatorio: Cantos XXVIII and XXX

After Dante has successfully made it through the wall of fire on the seventh terrace, Virgil gives a beautiful and tear-jerking speech. They have now come to the point where Virgil can't continue much farther be he chose out of his own free will to damned to Hell's Limbo. He tells Dante that he's proud of him and that he has now formed his conscience and from now on can rely on it to be his guide. And so Virgil crowns Dante as ruler of himself. These are Virgil's last words to Dante but he sticks around for awhile and lingers in the background. Statius also is sill in the background.

After Dante sees the triumphal march of the Bible (see video 19 Spirit Spiral for further detail), the whole procession abruptly stops before him and Beatrice- his long lost love- appears riding on a griffon. Upon seeing her, he get's weak at his knees. In his nervousness, Dante turns to Virgil but finds to his dismay that he has left. Dante begins to cry. Beatrice, however, isn't thrilled. She tells Dante he mustn't cry over Virgil but over his sins. She asks him how he dares cry in such a happy place. She harshly points out all his sins and asks if she paints an accurate picture. Dante answers in the affirmative with a timid voice.