Commentary Purg XV 46-57

Virgil's gloss on Guido's words in the last canto distinguishes earthly desires for individual possessions from heavenly enjoyment of the common good.    Commentators, beginning with Pietro di Dante (DDP Pietro1.Purg.XV.43-57), cite the following passage from Augustine's City of God (XV.v): 'nullo [enim modo] fit minor, accedente seu permanente consorte, possessio bonitatis, quam tanto latius quanto concordius individua sociorum possidet charitas' ([goodness] is in no way lessened when it is shared, whether fleetingly or permanently, but grows the more the love of it spreads in others -- Latin quoted from the version found in Pietro's commentary).  While Picone (Pico.2001.2), pp. 231-32, prefers the candidacy of a passage in a sonnet of Giacomo da Lentini ('Or come pote sì gran donna entrare'), the context and expression are extremely close to the passage in Augustine.