Walking With Dante

Mark Scarbrough
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Ever wanted to read Dante's Divine Comedy? Come along with us! We're not lost in the scholarly weeds. (Mostly.) We're strolling through the greatest work (to date) of Western literature. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I take on this masterpiece passage by passage. I'll give you my rough English translation, show you some of the interpretive knots in the lines, let you in on the 700 years of commentary, and connect Dante's work to our modern world. The pilgrim comes awake in a dark wood, then walks across the known universe. New episodes every Sunday and Wednesday.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    Beatrice And The Griffin: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 112 - 126

    Dante has now crossed Lethe and is ready to face Beatrice head on. She has moved to get ready for this eye-to-eye conversation. She's positioned nearer the griffin, a complicated symbol that may have more than one interpretation. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore both Beatrice (particularly her emerald eyes) and this dual-natured beast that seems to become more difficult to interpret with its every move in the poem. To support this podcast, consider a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend through this PayPal link right here. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:19] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 112 - 126. 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. [02:44] Beatrice has moved . . . but where? [05:09] With her emerald eyes, Beatrice and Dante finally escape the Francesca episode. [09:15] Dante is the Orpheus who can look into the eyes of his Eurydice. [10:49] Here are at least two additional interpretations for the griffin. [13:58] Beatrice's eyes are the methodology of revelation (and mystery). [16:41] The passage drops the first hint about Jesus' transfiguration. [18:50] Reflection is transfiguring, as in the craft of poetry. [19:34] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, lines 112 - 126.

    21 min

  2. 4 DAYS AGO

    Washed Clean In Lethe: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 91 - 111

    Dante wakes up in the arms of the young woman who first welcomed him to the Garden of Eden. She's dragging him through Lethe before she forcefully pushes him underwater. This scene is deeply symbolic and allegorical . . . although it raises many more questions than it answers. In fact, it seems to want to leave many things open-ended, a cue that Dante wants us in the poem, working on solutions to the many puzzles he has set. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we see the pilgrim Dante cleansed and ready to dance with the seven virtues around Beatrice's chariot. To support this work, consider a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend. You can make either contribution at this PayPal link right here. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:29] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 91 - 111. 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. [03:43] Two notes on the first nine lines: the heart and the shuttle. [06:33] Is this a baptism? [09:46] Three questions that surround the Latin line from the Psalms. [13:43] Why is the dunking so forceful? [15:45] What sign do the four women make over Dante? [17:41] The seven women fill in the details from PURGATORIO, Cantos I and VIII. [19:56] The four women are linked to the classical world; the three women, to the contemplative life. [22:43] Does everything happen to Statius, too? And to other penitent souls? [26:23] How do you express the inexpressible? [28:28] Must our poet forget the CONVIVIO in Lethe? [29:39] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, lines 91 - 111.

    32 min

  3. 4 FEB

    Dante Faints For The Third Time In COMEDY: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 64 - 90

    Beatrice has finished her case against the pilgim Dante. All that's left is for him to find his way beyond confession and into confession . . . which he does with a major crack-up that leads him to faint for the third time in COMEDY. Before he collapses, the poem begins a series of inversions or reversals that both increase the ironic valences of the passage and give its reader an almost vertigo-inducing sense of Dante's emotional landscape. A difficult passage in the Garden of Eden, here Beatrice accomplishes what she came for. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the slow build-up to the final moment of contrition . . . which mimics the moment when Dante gives way in front of Francesca, back in INFERNO's circle of lust. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:20] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 64 - 90. 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. [04:15] Dante, from boy to man. [07:26] Recognition, the key to the passage, to contrition, and a possible node of irony. [10:38] The "unbearded" oak and the final crack-up. [13:49] Iarbas and Dido v. Dante and the new Dido. [16:28] Beatrice's venom. [17:27] Dante's beard. [20:00] The angels' departure? [21:16] The meaning of the beast's two natures. [23:53] Glossing the end of the passage: lines 82 - 90. [27:57] Francesca and her physical seduction v. Beatrice and her physical-theological seduction. [33:01] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, lines 64 - 90.

    35 min

  4. 1 FEB

    Absence Becomes Elevated, High-Style Presence: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 49 - 63

    Beatrice continues to lead Dante toward contrition, pointing out both the purposes of her body (or corpse) and the ways he has failed to followed her lofty beauty. She finishes her second salvo at the pilgrim with a rhetorical flourish, showing the reader (and Dante) that she is a master of rhetoric, someone who commands a high, elevated style of poetry--that is, a fusion of the literal and the metaphoric that will become increasingly necessary to describe the PARADISO experience. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the conclusion of Beatrice's second run at the pilgrim Dante and find the ways that she is directing both him and his poetry. To support the work of this podcast with a small monthly stipend or a one-time gift, please visit this PayPal link right here. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:09] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 49 - 63. 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. [03:19] Glossing the full passage: "beauty" three times, high rhetorical style, low vulgar vocabulary, and an aphoristic ending. [13:15] Rereading Beatrice's second salvo at Dante: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, lines 22 - 63. [15:22] The uneasy but crucial balance between allegorical/metaphorical language and literal/realistic language. [18:57] Beatrice: negative space made flesh. [23:38] Renegotiating COMEDY v. intending these revelations all along. [28:06] High rhetorical style in Dante's vernacular mouth.

    31 min

  5. 28 JAN

    At Long Last, Dante's Confession: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 22 - 48

    Ever since INFERNO, Canto I, we've never fully understood why Dante woke up lost in that dark wood. Now, in the Garden of Eden, Beatrice brings him to the point where he can voice what he did wrong. He can finally offer his confession. It was all about her all along. And maybe about what he wrote. And maybe about another woman who caught his eye. Or maybe all of it at once. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the moment in PURGATORIO in which Beatrice finally brings the pilgrim to his full confession. If you'd like to support this podcast, consider a small monthly stipend or a one-time donation, using this PayPal link right here. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:12] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 22 - 48. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find this episode's entry on my website, markscarbrough.com. [03:16] An easy outline of this passage. [04:27] Recasting Dante's faults into metaphoric language. [09:18] Dante's confession. [12:40] Beatrice and the formal form of "you." [14:34] Her acceptance of Dante's confession, leading him to contrition. [18:15] Beatrice: allegory v. realism. [23:15] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, lines 22 - 48.

    26 min

  6. 25 JAN

    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.

    33 min

  7. 21 JAN

    Finding The Fit For Your Talent: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 127 - 145

    Beatrice finishes her first indictment of Dante by showing him the fit subject matter for his abundant talent: her and the damned. She accuses him of chasing after false images, then of discounting her own inspiration in dreams. She ends with her final hope: to descend to the doorway of the dead and get the pilgrim started across the known universe. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the final lines of PURGATORIO, Canto XXX: Beatrice's first indictment of Dante. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:25] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 127 - 145. If you'd like to read along or continue the discussion with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com. [03:16] In praise of Beatrice's elevated rhetoric. [05:20] The erotic tension between Beatrice and Dante. [07:59] First callback in the passage: to either the Siren in PURGATORIO XIX or to the second woman in the VITA NUOVA. [10:22] Second callback: to either Beatrice's eyes or her appearance in a dream toward the end of the VITA NUOVA. [13:43] Third callback: to Limbo (and Virgil). [15:37] Dante's search for the subject matter that will fit his talent. [16:47] Four levels of interpretation for Beatrice's first indictment: literal, moral, allegorical, and anagogical. [21:31] When was Dante supposed to purse these failings on the mountain? [23:27] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, lines 127 - 145.

    26 min

  8. 18 JAN

    When You Don't Get The Redemption You Want: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 100 - 126

    Beatrice is now fully in charge . . . so much so that she can even tell the angels in the chariot with her what they can't understand. She launches into her first indictment of the pilgrim, Dante. Here, she claims that he hasn't fulfilled his talent. He hasn't? With so much of COMEDY behind us? And what if then the point of this journey? Is it poetic craft or personal redemption? Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we comb through the first of Beatrice's condemnations of Dante's many failings that have led him to the top of Mount Purgatory. If you'd like to help support this podcast with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend, please consider donating what you can through this PayPal link right here. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:41] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 100 - 126. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com. [04:23] What can the angels in the chariot not know? [08:13] What germinates from heaven, far above the seeds that blow out of the Garden of Eden? [11:15] What was Dante supposed to have done? [15:19] What good was this journey across the known universe? [18:40] How do you stay open to the grace you get but perhaps don't expect? [20:02] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, lines 100 - 126.

    23 min
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About

Ever wanted to read Dante's Divine Comedy? Come along with us! We're not lost in the scholarly weeds. (Mostly.) We're strolling through the greatest work (to date) of Western literature. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I take on this masterpiece passage by passage. I'll give you my rough English translation, show you some of the interpretive knots in the lines, let you in on the 700 years of commentary, and connect Dante's work to our modern world. The pilgrim comes awake in a dark wood, then walks across the known universe. New episodes every Sunday and Wednesday.

Information

  • Creator
    Mark Scarbrough
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    472
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Mark Scarbrough
  • Show Website
    Walking With Dante