The Poet Loses His Words: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 1 - 21
Walking With Dante25 Tammi

The Poet Loses His Words: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 1 - 21

Wailing, Dante comes in for Beatrice's impatience. He hasn't responded yet to her charges, so she turns the spear point of her words on him.

He cracks . . . and in doing so, loses language, words, the very things that are the heart of his craft.

Canto XXXI opens with an intensely emotional scene, meant to bring the pilgrim right to the brink of his ability to handle things . . . about like what happened with Francesca in INFERNO, Canto V.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the second canto of PURGATORIO that is centered on the pilgim Dante's interiority . . . and his craft as a poet.

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

[01:49] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 1 - 21. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:36] Prefatory remarks on PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI.

[07:02] A node of Dantean irony in a very serious canto.

[10:14] Confession, the first step to forgiveness for Dante (but not for the church).

[15:49] The master poet and the failure of his language.

[24:29] Dante, the cracked crossbow.

[28:15] The return of Francesca.

[30:34] Rereading PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, lines 1 - 21.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(498)

Go Home: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 1 - 18

Go Home: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 1 - 18

Our poet steps out of the shadows with an important message: "Go home."Because PARADISO is hard. Because we might get lost. Because we're not prepared.The stark address to all readers--or perhaps to a...

16 Elo 25min

Of Natural Instincts and Their Natural Ends: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 115 - 142

Of Natural Instincts and Their Natural Ends: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 115 - 142

Beatrice continues in her discourse about our natural instincts, making the bold claim that they can lead us to our natural ends . . . which are the good, not the catastrophic bad.Her Scholastic theol...

12 Elo 23min

Sailing Across the Great Sea of "To Be": PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 94 - 114

Sailing Across the Great Sea of "To Be": PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 94 - 114

Beatrice has answered Dante's first doubt, but he has another. He can't quite understand how he, maybe in his body, can make his way across the universe.She doesn't have a quick answer. Instead, she h...

9 Elo 25min

Returning Home Through the Music of the Spheres: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 61 - 93

Returning Home Through the Music of the Spheres: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 61 - 93

Our pilgrim finds everything doubled in brightness . . . because he's begun to fly up to the heavens, although he doesn't know it at first.He's too busy figuring out all that light . . . and listening...

5 Elo 37min

Staring at the Sun: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 37 - 60

Staring at the Sun: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 37 - 60

The plot gets underway in PARADISO.Our pilgrim Dante turns to Beatrice . . . who is paying him no attention. She's staring at the sun.So he does the same! He hasn't even left earth, yet the miraculous...

2 Elo 36min

A Polyvocal Passage With All Its Dissonances: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 13 - 36

A Polyvocal Passage With All Its Dissonances: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 13 - 36

Our poet moves from his scholastic and even (medieval) scientific opening of PARADISO into his invocation . . . to Apollo?This passage has often embarrassed Dante scholars who feel the need to excuse ...

29 Heinä 41min

Welcome to a Renegotiated Poem: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 1 - 12

Welcome to a Renegotiated Poem: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 1 - 12

From its opening lines, it's clear that PARADISO is not like what has come before in COMEDY. Dante seems to be renegotiating the terms of his poem, establishing a new voice, a new model, and a new met...

26 Heinä 37min

Final Thoughts On PURGATORIO

Final Thoughts On PURGATORIO

We've reached the end of our time on the great mountain of Purgatory . . . and in the great second canticle of COMEDY.Here are some final thoughts, an attempt to bring our time with this part of the p...

26 Huhti 19min