Commentary Purg X 138

A small but continuing dispute in the commentaries debates whether pazïenza should be interpreted as 'suffering' or 'patience.'  Philologically there is probably no advantage to either solution.  However, poetic logic points to a simple explanation (one shared by the vast majority of the commentators): what we face here is a relation of paradox rather than similarity.  Even the most stoical of the sinners seemed to be expressing the thought (another case of 'speech made visible') 'I can no more.'  Of course the one who suffered most would be saying such a thing; that would not be worth mentioning.  The point is that even the penitent least crushed by the weight of his former pride is suffering as much as one can possibly suffer.

      Gerard Manley Hopkins offered, whether he wished to or not, a perfectly Dantean gloss to this verse.  In his 'terrible sonnet' named 'Carrion Comfort' by Robert Bridges, Hopkins, more likely citing Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (IV.xv.59) than Dante, has his speaking voice cry out, 'Not, I'll not... cry I can no more.  I can.'  While Antony says 'I can no more' and dies, Hopkins' persona does not give in to despair and continues to strive toward God.  Here, the penitents all seem to insist that they are at the end of their strength, yet all continue on the road toward making restitution to God by giving satisfaction for their sins and thus obtain their final absolution.