Commentary Par XXXI 55-58

Compare the similar scene in [Purg XXX 43-54], when the protagonist turns back to speak to Virgil, only to find him gone.  This scene, clearly reflective of that one, is much briefer and in an altogether different key.  That one is three times as long, and in the tragic mode.  Here, the disappearance of Beatrice has a quite different tonality.  Among the differences is that she disappears from the 'floor of the arena' only to reappear in her place in the Rose (see [Par XXXI 71]).