Virgil seems to refer to "eternal fire" as Inferno, as the pain in Inferno is never ending (with the exception to people being brought out of Hell for extenuating reasons, like Dante himself) and "temporary fire" as Purgatorio, where the pain is only temporary as your move your way towards Paradiso after your time there. Virgil says that Dante will reach a place where his "powers cannot see", because he is only knowledgeable about Inferno because he is from Limbo. He has limited knowledge on Purgatorio, and perhaps knows little to none about Paradiso, and feels unqualified to lead him through.

"The natural way is always without error" -- mother nature is not wrong in its way, just because it hurts mankind. There is always a good reason why nature does things the way it does, and humans are not qualified to ask, or perhaps even to know. "Mental love", however, is something that is created by the human mind and is what drives human emotions like desire and judgement (a small reference to Inferno 5). It drives humans away from the truth, "the natural", and may bring us to wrong deeds and lead us to take the wrong paths.

This reminds me of the original Adam and Eve story, where their arrogance led them to go against God's wishes and ate the devil's fruit. Dante warns the figures to not let their hearts waver from what is right and just, unless they want to be see their "evil path" just like what Eve had done by doing the wrong thing.

It seems here that Dante is intrigued by the speech and bits of information that Fra Alberigo has given him, now knowing that it is possible that even if one is living well and healthy on earth, his soul is already being waited on in Hell (at the mention of 'Cocytus').

It seems here that Dante is intrigued by the speech and bits of information that Fra Alberigo has given him, now knowing that it is possible that even if one is living well and healthy on earth, his soul is already being waited on in Hell (at the mention of 'Cocytus').

The talk of a spirit and body -- how there's two separate entities within a single bodily form, comes up again. The "fair body" and the "gentle heart" has been affected by love, but how physical are these? How can you have a wound, when there is no physical form in Hell, where Dante describes Hell's citizens as souls and not bodies? Perhaps it is to say that even if the physical form has left the lustful, love still "wounds" the soul even in the afterlife, for they are forever reminded by the punishments they receive.

The talk of a spirit and body -- how there's two separate entities within a single bodily form, comes up again. The "fair body" and the "gentle heart" has been affected by love, but how physical are these? How can you have a wound, when there is no physical form in Hell, where Dante describes Hell's citizens as souls and not bodies? Perhaps it is to say that even if the physical form has left the lustful, love still "wounds" the soul even in the afterlife, for they are forever reminded by the punishments they receive.

This passage reminds me of the analogies made in the earlier cantos, how each level of hell had souls that were tormented based on what their sin was. "Ruled" reminds me of canto 5, where the lustful were constantly buffeted by wind as an analogy to their lack of self-control and impaired self-judgement. They are ruled by their desire, therefore ruled by their punishment, and of "different decrees", because of the variety of sins they have committed which also goes the same for any other sin in any other level of Hell.

This passage reminds me of the analogies made in the earlier cantos, how each level of hell had souls that were tormented based on what their sin was. "Ruled" reminds me of canto 5, where the lustful were constantly buffeted by wind as an analogy to their lack of self-control and impaired self-judgement. They are ruled by their desire, therefore ruled by their punishment, and of "different decrees", because of the variety of sins they have committed which also goes the same for any other sin in any other level of Hell.