Virgil To The Rescue, A Demon On The Run: Inferno, Canto XXI, Lines 22 - 45
Dante the poet has gotten caught up in his own simile, which is long, complicated, and unwieldy, enough so that it brings the plot to a standstill.But Virgil to the rescue! The classical poet gets us ...
12 Jan 202222min
Metaphors, Tautologies, And Pitch: Inferno, Canto XXI, Lines 1 - 21
WALKING WITH DANTE has been on a holiday hiatus. Now we're back at it, descending to Canto XXI of INFERNO, to the next malebolge, the fifth evil pouch among the sins of fraud.The opening of Canto XXI ...
9 Jan 202228min
Breaking Every Text, Even Your Own: Inferno, Canto XX, Lines 100 - 130
We come to the end of the fourth evil pouch, the fourth of the malebolge, in the eighth circle of Inferno, the circle of fraud. And we go out with a bang!Dante disses Virgil (who has already dissed Da...
22 Dec 202122min
Virgil And His Fraudulent Poem The Aeneid: Inferno, Canto XX, Lines 52 - 99
Virgil--and/or Dante, our poet--has already rewritten Ovid, Statius, and Lucan's poems. Now in a bit of insane daring, Virgil takes on this own poem, THE AENEID. He retells the story of the founding o...
19 Dec 202129min
For A Guy So Hard On Dante, Virgil Sure Doesn't Know His Classical Sources: Inferno, Canto XX, Lines 25 - 51
Our pilgrim Dante is crying at the distorted forms coming along in the fourth evil pouch (one of the malebolge) of the eighth circle of INFERNO. Or maybe he's crying because he knows the future: Class...
15 Dec 202124min
Poets, The Biggest Fraudsters Of All: Inferno, Canto XX, Lines 1 - 24
Canto XX of INFERNO is one that many skip. it's just too hard or too discursive or too long-winded. But others spend careers on. After Canto I, Canto XX stirs some of the most in-depth commentary of a...
12 Dec 202126min
A Look Back At The Structure, Beauty, And Engineering Of Inferno, Canto XIX
Inferno, Canto XIX, is one crazy canto, so gorgeously constructed, as thick as fine tapestry, woven with Biblical allusions, historical references, structural idiosyncrasies, and even one glaring faul...
8 Dec 202132min
Out Of Rage And Into Virgil's Arms: Inferno, Canto XIX, Lines 118 - 133
Our pilgrim, Dante, has finished his righteous rant. And after rage comes Virgil. More importantly, Virgil's embrace.The pilgrim ends the canto in the arms of his poetic master. A curious ending to a ...
5 Dec 202114min
