Look To The Heavens: PURGATORIO, Canto XIX, Lines 52 - 69
Dante the pilgrim has had a "P" wiped off his forehead by the angel at the stairs. He's started his climb to the next terrace. All seems well, but he's still sad, bent over with worry, troubled about ...
2 Mars 202527min
Expecting Those Ladies Of Consolation: PURGATORIO, Canto XIX, Lines 34 - 51
Awakened from his dream by a foul odor, Dante the pilgrim finds himself fully out of tune with his surroundings: a bright new day on the mountain of Purgatory, beautiful sunshine at his back, and an a...
26 Feb 202528min
Let's Compare The First Two Dreams In PURGATORIO
We've had two dreams in PURGATORIO, one at Canto IX and one at Canto XIX (although it actually started in the last line of Canto XVIII).Let's take a moment to compare and contrast these two dreams. Wh...
23 Feb 202520min
The Siren, The Lady, And Virgil: PURGATORIO, Canto XIX, Lines 16 - 33
Here's the second episode on the pilgrim's second dream in PURGATORIO. Things get wilder after the ugly lady becomes beautiful under the pilgrim Dante's gaze.She begins to sing. She identifies herself...
19 Feb 202530min
Chilly Dreams Before The Fifth Terrace Of Purgatory: PURGATORIO, Canto XIX, Lines 1- 15
Our pilgrim has fallen asleep on the edge of the fourth terrace of Mount Purgatory. He's seen the racing slothful but night has gotten the better of him . . . so he begins to dream.That dream is all a...
16 Feb 202527min
Greedy Beasts That Refuse The Lure: A Read-Through Of The Fifth Terrace Of PURGATORIO, Cantos XIX - XXI
We've climbed up to the fifth terrace of Purgatory proper and come among the avaricious. These three cantos become increasingly complex and daring: in their theology, in their poetics, and in their my...
18 Dec 202427min
Fear, New Thoughts, And Dreams: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, Lines 130 - 145
The zealous slothful have run on, although there are still two coming in the rear, "biting" the penitents from behind with warnings about sloth.After that, the pilgrim Dante has a new thought--curious...
15 Dec 202420min
Speaking Truth To Power: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, Lines 97 - 129
At last, the slothful penitents arrive. They're a roiling horde in a crazy rush, whipped around the terrace to make up for the ways they were negligent in life.As these frantic souls pass by, one of t...
11 Dec 202427min
