The Abundance Of The Poet's Imagination In Eden: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVIII, Lines 109 - 133

The lady across the stream continues her answer to the pilgrim Dante's question about the breeze and the water. In this case, she explains the ecology of Eden, offers an understanding of global botany, and finally layers the meaning thick over the rivers of Eden, one of which is the poet's utter invention.

The landscape itself is becoming allegorical, moral, theological, even anagogical, all while remaining true to its pastoral form (and roots).

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we delve deeper into the lady's capacious answers and the poet's ever-widening imagination.

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

[01:31] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVIII, lines 109 - 133. 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.

[04:09] The botany of both Eden and our own world.

[07:28] The ecology of Eden: abundance.

[11:05] The hydrology of Eden.

[14:03] The strange placement of Lethe in Dante's afterlife.

[17:15] The poet's reimagination of Eden, including an unprecedented river.

[20:23] The vertical layering of meaning onto the pastoral form.

[23:09] The inevitable logical faults of an imagined landscape.

[25:48] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVIII, lines 109 - 133.