Commentary Par XXIV 31-33

And now Dante does reassume his role as scribe, setting down the words that Peter uttered after he had finished his (unrecorded) song.  No other section of the poem has more uses of the noun for 'breath,' spiro, and the verb for 'inspire' or 'breathe into,' spirare ([Par XXIII 104], [Par XXIV 82], [Par XXV 82], [Par XXV 132], [Par XXVI 3], [Par XXVI 103]).  The self-consciousness of these lines is telling: Peter, inspired (the word the poet uses for his breath, spiro, is nearly surely intended to remind us of the spiration of the Holy Spirit), utters words that Dante, his scribe, can tell us (and just has).  See C.Purg.XXIV.55-63 and C.Par.VI.88.