The Admiral Comes Into Her Ship: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 55 - 78

The Admiral Comes Into Her Ship: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 55 - 78

We finally hear the first words from Beatrice's mouth. (We've heard her before but as told by Virgil in INFERNO, Canto II.) She is certainly not person we expected. She's the admiral controlling her ship.

She names the pilgrim, names herself, and gets very close to blasphemy in a passage that defies our expectations, about as revelation should.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the moment that Beatrice takes center stage in Dante's masterwork, COMEDY.

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Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

[01:33] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 55 - 78. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please find its entry on my website: markscarbrough.com.

[04:41] The pilgrim finally named: Dante.

[09:03] The crux dilemma of orthodoxy: purity versus human feeling.

[13:44] Beatrice's ship, plus other ships in COMEDY.

[15:29] Beatrice, the admiral.

[17:34] Dante's difficulty in naming himself.

[20:20] Beatrice, Minerva, and our (or the pilgrim's?) expectations.

[23:42] Beatrice's curious blasphemy and questions.

[27:09] Dante as a rejuvenated Narcissus.

[30:32] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, lines 55 - 78.

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Seeing Is (Almost) Believing: PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 28 - 48

Seeing Is (Almost) Believing: PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 28 - 48

Beatrice begins to take apart the two questions (or doubts) that she has intuited the pilgrim Dante is holding in silence.She first takes on the one with more "poison" in this passage, in which she re...

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Paralyzed by Free Will: PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 1 - 27

Paralyzed by Free Will: PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 1 - 27

Piccarda may have vanished but questions remain. The pilgrim Dante is caught between them, unable to voice them.Beatrice to the rescue! She voices what he cannot say . . . or perhaps what he is afraid...

30 Syys 28min

The Expanding Community of Women in the Moon: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 109 - 130

The Expanding Community of Women in the Moon: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 109 - 130

Piccarda Donati doesn’t stop her monologue with the cryptic line about her life after the convent. She turns to another figure in the lunar landscape: Constance I of Sicily, the Holy Roman Empress and...

23 Syys 23min

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The Violent yet Elliptical End to Piccarda Donati's Story: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 88 - 108

Piccarda Donati finally answers the question about who she is. She's given her name but not much else about her. In twelve lines (or four tercets) she brings her personal story to its violent yet elli...

20 Syys 27min

Piccarda Donati's Apotheosis of the Will: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 58 - 87

Piccarda Donati's Apotheosis of the Will: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 58 - 87

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16 Syys 30min

The First Soul in Paradise, Piccarda Donati: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 34 - 57

The First Soul in Paradise, Piccarda Donati: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 34 - 57

At long last, the first soul--or "shade"--steps forward in Paradise. She's Piccarda Donati, a figure we've already encountered once (maybe even twice) in COMEDY.Dante flatters her to speak and she beg...

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Catching Feelings in the Sensual Sphere of the Moon: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 1 - 33

Catching Feelings in the Sensual Sphere of the Moon: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 1 - 33

Dante is about to meet the first souls in Paradise, emerging from the liquid light of the moon.The poetry is lush and sensuous. The metaphors are complex and compounded. And Beatrice is a bit chilly, ...

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The Souls of the Universe: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 127 - 148

The Souls of the Universe: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 127 - 148

Beatrice concludes her explanation for moon spots by veering away from them specifically to talk about the nature of the universe.Blessed movers turn the spheres. Or perhaps inhabit them. Or are bound...

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