Canto VII. Sordello explains the rule of the mountain to the poets. Progress, any movement, is only possible in the day. After nightfall the soul must stop, since its will can no longer move it. Sordello points the poets to a valley where they can spend the night. In it are souls of late repentant who were preoccupied with their responsibilities, those mentioned are rulers of various European dynasties.

This canto emphasises a point that Dante is sometimes accused of neglecting: the absolute dependence of the souls in Purgatory on Divine grace for their progress. The souls of the preoccupied have a prayer the Salve Regina. Theirs is a better condition than the other late-repentant since their lack was through their diligence. None the less, this canto reminds us the importance of finding the space and time for prayer and the sacraments if the pursuit of the task to hand is not to become the fraught and ultimately frustrated experience that it clearly is for most of these souls. The one exception is Henry III of England, who, it is suggested, sits somewhat apart from the others for failing to balance responsibility with devotion by neglecting his responsibilities in order to pray.