hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: To Refocus Virgil And COMEDY In PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, Lines 109 - 123 - Walking With Dante

Episode 213

To Refocus Virgil And COMEDY: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, Lines 109 - 123

Published on: 1st October, 2025

We come to the climax of Virgil's character in the poem, the end of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII. Let's take this dramatic and chilling scene in two episodes, starting with the moment our pilgrim, Dante, wakes up from his third dream on the mountain.

Virgil steps forward to offer a grand and perhaps new hope. The journey is not about the need for justice. It's now about the search for peace.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this first of two passages where Virgil's character reaches its most accurate and compelling focus.

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

[02:26] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 109 -123. 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.

[03:58] Callbacks from previous passages in PURGATORIO as this one begins to wrap up the canticle so far.

[12:14] Omitting the erasure of the final "P" on the pilgrim's forehead.

[13:37] The only calm awakening from a dream in PURGATORIO.

[15:44] Virgil, finally and fully the father-guide the pilgrim has always needed.

[23:51] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 109 - 123.

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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!