By his voice alone did Dante recognize his kinsman Forese,
whose time in Purgatory had been shortened by the prayers of his wife
Nella. Forese talked with Dante for a while on the affairs of Florence,
and predicted the fall of his brother Corso Donati.
The dazzling splendor of the angel of the seventh terrace warned them of
his approach, and, lightened of one more "P," Dante and his companions
climbed to where two bands of spirits, lascivious on earth, moved through
paths of purifying flames, stopping as they passed to greet each other,
and singing penitential hymns. Here, Statius explained to Dante why the
shades of the sixth terrace were lean from want of food when they
possessed no longer their physical bodies. "After death the soul keeps its
memory, intelligence, and will more active than before, and as soon as it
reaches either the banks of Acheron or the Tiber, a shade form is attached
to it which acquires the soul's semblance, and has every sense given it,
even that of sight."
Guido Guinicelli, from out the flame-furnace, explained to Dante the
punishments of the terrace: "Thus are our base appetites burned out that
we may enjoy future happiness," and Arnaud the Troubadour, hating his past
follies, weeping and singing, implored Dante's prayers. It was only by
telling him that the fire lay between him and Beatrice that Vergil
prevailed on Dante to walk into the flames, which, though they tortured
him by the intensity of their heat, did not consume even his garments.
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