Going In Circles To Go Forward: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, Lines 115 - 129

Our pilgrim, Virgil, and Statius arrive on the otherwise empty sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory. Virgil seems more hesitant. And our pilgrim, Dante, more passive, as he listens to the two older, wiser poets discuss the craft of poetry.

This passage represents the paradox of circularity and linearity, of stasis and advancement, that is the major structural (and thematic!) tension in COMEDY.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through a seemingy easy passage while the pilgrim learns the craft of poetry.

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

[02:01] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 115 - 129. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, find this episode on my website and drop down the page to see the translation and a place to start a conversation with a comment: markscarbrough.com.

[03:23] Circularity and linearity: the crux paradox of COMEDY.

[08:37] Marking the temporal as a reality claim in COMEDY.

[13:25] A possible change in Virgil's characterization.

[16:25] Learning the craft of poetry (to engage the play of quotation and interpretation).

[21:12] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 115 - 129.