Climbing out of Hell, Dante in the Purgatorio reaches an island set in the southern ocean. This is Mount Purgatory, which he ascends in the course of three days and nights. Here he encounters the penitents who heroically endure their sufferings, and speak of their time on earth, their aspirations and hope for new life; The mountain landscape, strange and fresh at every turn, is evoked in terms of intense physical sensation. At the summit, before rising to Heaven, Dante enters the Earthly Paradise where he is movingly reunited with his lost love, Beatrice. Dante's portrayal of the search for redemption transformed the traditional conception of Purgatory and affirmed/in brilliantly nuanced conversations, the dignity of human will and the value of compassion.<BR>Robin Kirkpatrick's new translation reflects the imaginative subtlety of the central sequence of the Commedia, and captures the vitality of Dante's Italian, which is printed on facing pages. This edition includes an introduction and diagrams of Mount Purgatory and astronomical features. Commentaries on each canto explain the work's ethical, theological and political subtexts.