An Interpolated Episode: A Look Back At INFERNO, Canto I, And Look Around The Entire Poem

Let's pause to look back over INFERNO, Canto I. I'll read it through for its scope and arc. Then we'll set about exploring this piece of architecture, not just the first canto, but the whole of Dante's COMEDY.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I give Inferno's first canto a backward glance, then look ahead to the glorious poetry across COMEDY.

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

[00:59] The whole of INFERNO, Canto I. For a study guide to this first canto, complete with translation and interpretation questions, please find the various episodes listed under the header "INFERNO, Cantos I - IV" on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[07:38] The overall structure of Dante's COMEDY.

[11:23] The canto and stanza structure of COMEDY.

[23:08] Even deeper in, the structure of the individual lines of COMEDY.

[26:54] Everyone fences in the world to make their own pasture. Problem is, we often mistake our pasture for the world. So we must discover both Dante's fence and his pasture. But our poet goes beyond what most of us are willing to do. Again and again in COMEDY, he moves his fences to make his pasture bigger and bigger.