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.