The reunion is a scene of accusation, not of consolation. Beatrice appears in canto XXX, in a cloud of flowers, and Dante feels the old love before his eyes recognize her. As he turns to tell Virgil, he finds the place empty. She calls him by name, the only time the poem does so, says that he must weep for another sword, and accuses him before the angels.
The ice around Dante's heart melts only when the angels sing and seem to plead for mercy on him. In canto XXXI, Beatrice makes him confess, and Dante answers that present things, with their false pleasure, turned his steps as soon as her face was hidden. The pain of repentance knocks him down. Matelda gathers him up, immerses him in Lethe and leads him to Beatrice's eyes, where he sees the griffin now in one way, now in another.
In canto XXXII, seated at the root of the tree, Beatrice promises him citizenship of the Rome of which Christ is a Roman, and tells him to look at the chariot and write down what he sees. In canto XXXIII she prophesies in obscure figures and uses the forgetfulness of Lethe as proof that there was guilt. Then she hands Dante over to Matelda, who leads him to Eunoe.
The cantica closes with Dante renewed, like a plant that springs up again, pure and ready to rise to the stars.