hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: Look To The Heavens In PURGATORIO, Canto XIX, Lines 52 - 69 - Walking With Dante

Episode 152

Look To The Heavens: PURGATORIO, Canto XIX, Lines 52 - 69

Published on: 2nd March, 2025

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 his dream.

Virgil again comes to the rescue. He reinterprets the dream for the pilgrim (leaving us with quite a few questions!) and commands the pilgrim to direct his eyes up to the heavens, the ultimate lure to God.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this passage that brings us to the cusp of the fifth circle of Mount Purgatory.

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

[01:35] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIX, lines 52 - 69. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation, please find this episode's listing on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:23] Possible structural changes in the canto breaks in PURGATORIO.

[05:51] Dante the pilgrim as the mourner.

[07:02] The dream as a "new vision."

[09:39] The question of what exactly is "above us."

[12:22] The open interpretative space in Virgil's interpretation of Dante's dream.

[17:00] Virgil's impatience, the workings of desire, and the rocky landscape of Purgatory.

[20:02] The second major instance of falconry imagery in COMEDY.

[22:31] The heavens as the ultimate lure.

[25:10] Rereading this passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIX, lines 52 - 69.

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About the Podcast

Walking With Dante
A passage-by-passage stroll through Dante’s DIVINE COMEDY with Mark Scarbrough
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.
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About your host

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Mark Scarbrough

Former lit professor, current cookbook writer, creator of two podcasts, writer of thirty-five (and counting) cookbooks, author of one memoir (coming soon!), married to a chef (my cookbook co-writer, Bruce Weinstein), and with him, the owner of two collies, all in a very rural spot in New England. My life's full and I'm up for more challenges!