All 11 Uses of
purge
in
Dante's Purgatory -- translated by Norton
- —Vision of examples of Anger—Ascent to the Fourth Ledge, where Sloth is purged—Second Nightfall—Virgil explains how Love is the root of Virtue and of Sin.†
Canto T.O.
- I have shown to him all the guilty people; and now I intend to show him those spirits that purge themselves under thy ward.†
Canto 1-11 *
- And one began, "Each of us trusts in thy good turn without thy swearing it, provided want of power cut not off the will; wherefore I, who alone before the others speak, pray thee, if ever thou see that land that sits between Romagna and the land of Charles,[2] that thou be courteous to me with thy prayers in Fano, so that for me good orisons be made, whereby I may purge away my grave offences.†
Canto 1-11
- Thus praying for themselves and us good speed, those souls were going under the weight, like that of which one sometimes dreams, unequally in anguish, all of them round and round, and weary, along the first cornice, purging away the mists of the world.†
Canto 1-11
- As Dante passes from each round of Purgatory, an angel removes the P which denotes the special sin there purged away.†
Canto 12-22
- —Ascent to the Fourth Ledge, where Sloth is purged.†
Canto 12-22
- Then I turned to my Master, and said, "My sweet Father, say what offence is purged here in the circle where we are: if the feet are stopped, let not thy discourse stop."†
Canto 12-22
- [1] It is the round on which the sin of acedie, sloth, is purged away.†
Canto 12-22
- [3] This," and he pointed with his finger, "is Bonagiunta,[4] Bonagiunta of Lucca; and that face beyond him, more sharpened than the others, had the Holy Church in his arms:[5]from Tours he was; and by fasting he purges the eels of Bolsena, and the Vernaccia wine."†
Canto 23-33
- , applying it to those who are purging themselves from the inordinate desire for riches; he there omits the word "hunger," as here he omits the "and thirst."†
Canto 23-33
- [2] The first words of the seventh verse of the fifty-first Psalm: "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."†
Canto 23-33
Definition:
-
(purge) get rid of things thought undesirableThe exact meaning of purge can depend upon its context. For example:
- "purge the government of our enemies" -- get rid of people for political reasons
- "purge my closet of everything I haven't worn in a year" -- get rid of undesired things
- "To purge yourself of crippling sorrow, you'll need to express it." -- get rid of unwanted feelings
- "I'm doing a 24-hour purge and then starting a new diet." -- emptying the intestinal tract