Commentary Purg XIX 43-45

The Angel of Zeal's words ('Come, here is the passage') may not be like any heard here on earth, but they do resemble those spoken by Beatrice when she was described by Virgil as being 'soave e piana' (gentle and clear) in her speech ([Inf II 56]), as Poletto (DDP Poletto.Purg.XIX.40-45) suggested.

      As for the word marca, commentators point out that it is of feudal (Carolingian) origin, and referred to the borderline that a lord established for his terrain; in Dante's use of the extended sense of the word (which had come simply to mean 'region') there may reside some sense of the original term: our earth is like a small fiefdom when compared with God's kingdom.