Virgil listens intently for the arrival of the angel because he can't see through the heavy mist. He regrets that he and Dante couldn't enter the gates by themselves, but they were promised help, though it seems long delayed. Dante is alarmed and asks his guide, in a roundabout way, if anyone from the upper circles has ever made this descent. Virgil answers that he was once sent to summon a shade from the circle of Judas, far below here, so he knows the way well.