Commentary Inf IV 19-21

Virgil makes plain the reason for his pallor: he is feeling pity for those who dwell in Limbo (and thus himself as well), not fear. That much seems plain enough. But there has been controversy over the centuries as to whether Virgil refers only to the inhabitants of Limbo or to all the damned. Mazzoni (Mazz.1965.1), pp. 58-65, offers a careful review of the problem and concludes that the better reading is the former, demonstrating that (Mazzoni [p. 64] is opposing those who read the noun angoscia as being too strongly negative to describe the feelings of the denizens of Limbo) Dante has, in five passages in earlier works, made sighs (sospiri) the result of feeling anguish (angoscia) -- as they are here ([Inf IV 26]). This is a good example of a crux interpretum that is the creation of commentators; the meaning of the text is clear enough.