hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: The Rage Comes To Rest (Sort Of) In PURGATORIO, Canto VI, Lines 127 - 151 - Walking With Dante

Episode 52

The Rage Comes To Rest (Sort Of): PURGATORIO, Canto VI, Lines 127 - 151

Published on: 8th October, 2023

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Dante's invective against political strife reaches its height by turning its rhetoric toward Dante's own experience--and maybe even his experience in writing COMEDY.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we watch Dante's poetic craft fall apart a bit and then turn back to the poet's own experience, all to find his stance as the prophet-poet he wants to be.

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

[02:40] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto VI, lines 127 - 151. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.

[05:05] The rage-filled sarcasm seems to go off the rails in a loss of good poetic craft.

[09:26] The invective turns to the poet's personal experience and a call-back to a previous moment in PURGATORIO, Canto VI.

[13:12] The invective ends with a terrific image of a feather bed and a sick woman as the summation of the political problems in Florence.

[15:48] PURGATORIO, Canto VI, is directly related to INFERNO, Canto VI.

[20:10] In PURGATORIO, Canto VI, Dante the poet may be learning how to become the prophet-poet he wants to be.

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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!