Walking With Dante23 Jul 2023

Distractions And The Demands Of Writing About Purgatory: PURGATORIO, Canto V, Lines 1 - 21

Dante the pilgrim has had his last words with Belacqua and begins his journey on up the mountain. Or at least, laterally along the mountain of Purgatory.

But those negligent souls with Belacqua are not done with the pilgrim. They point him out and seem suddenly to leap into action . . . or at least, into words.

Dante is . . . flattered? Proud? Distracted. Virgil is having none of it. He reprimands the pilgrim and may give us a clue into the changing poetics of PURGATORIO.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we walk through the opening lines of canto V of PURGATORIO.

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

[01:03] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto V, lines 1 - 21. If you'd like to read along, print it off for notes, or continue the conversation with me, please go to my website: markscarbrough.com.

[03:01] PURGATORIO, Canto IV and the unity of the soul vs. PURGATORIO, Canto V and the apparent stability/ultimate fragility of the body.

[05:48] Canto V seems to open with more sardonic irony: a lot of activity from the negligent, lazy souls under the shadow of the rock with Belacqua.

[08:20] Virgil's reprimand is one of his most strident in COMEDY. It also recapitulates the argument about the unity of the soul.

[10:58] Dante the pilgrim may exhibit some hubris (or overreaching pride) in this passage. Or perhaps not. It's a tad unclear.

[13:53] Dante the pilgrim certainly sees Virgil's remarks as a reprimand. But can there be error in the redeemed part of the afterlife?

[17:15] Maybe Virgil is onto something about the writing of PURGATORIO. It cannot be "merely" about Dante the pilgrim's reactions.

[19:44] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto V, lines 1 - 21.

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