Commentary Inf XIV 85-93

Giovan Battista Gelli (DDP Gelli.Inf.XIV.85-93) paraphrases these three tercets as follows: 'When our poets arrived at this little stream, Dante relates how Virgil told him that, since he entered hell (access to which is denied no one who might wish to enter), he had not seen anything more worthy of note and study than this bank and this stream. Hearing these words, Dante, having become very keen to know why it was as it was, asks him to explain, employing this lovely metaphoric way of asking him to provide the food for which he had raised the appetite'. The protagonist's appetite to be informed about such things is put to the service of 'justifying' Virgil's second infernal lecture (for the first, see [Inf XI 16-66] and [Inf XI 76-111]).