Commentary Par XVII 112-120

Less an example of captatio benevolentiae than a sort of insistence on an inexcusable but necessary rudeness, this passage, recapitulating the journey until here and now, the midpoint of the third 'kingdom,' seeks our acceptance of the poet's revealing the harsh things that he has learned in Hell, Purgatory, and the first five of the heavens.  While he might have won the goodwill of some of us by gilding the lily, as it were, he would have lost his claim on the rest of us (we do indeed call Dante's time 'ancient,' do we not?).  For we want truth in our poetry, not blandishment.