Commentary Inf XXIV 119-120

The poet's exclamation is part of his presentation of himself not as a merely ingenious teller of fantastic tales, but as the scribe of God, only recording what he actually saw of God's just retaliation for sins performed against Him. See Romans 12:19, where Paul offers the words of God, 'scriptum est enim mihi vindictam ego retribuam dicit Dominus' (for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I shall repay," says the Lord'), a passage perhaps first cited in this context by Tommaseo (DDP Tommaseo.Inf.XXIV.118-120).