We've finished the giant conversation between the pilgrim Dante and Forese Donati, complete with its interruption by the shade of the poet Bonagiunta of Lucca.

Let's look back over the entire scope of the conversation to discover its construction, its architecture, and the way meaning is made and moves through the words.

We'll start by reading the entire thing in my English language translation. Then we'll move on to a couple of small points, followed by some much larger implications of the construction and imaginative landscape of this interchange.

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

[02:06] Reading the entire conversation between Forese Donati and the pilgrim Dante in PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, line 40, to Canto XXIV, line 99.

[13:27] The conversation starts and ends with references to shores.

[14:51] The pilgrim Dante is not cleansing his sins in this walk up Mount Purgatory.

[17:08] There are three balanced prophecies in this conversation.

[20:54] The conversation is constructed from friendship to poetic craft to chivalric exaltation.

[24:55] This conversation may represent Dante's attempt at political and personal reconciliation.

We've come to the end of the long conversation between Forese Donati and Dante (as well as others) on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory among the penance of the gluttons.

Dante the pilgrim hedges the question of when he will die, then Forese leaps into an apocalyptic vision of the ruin of someone closely connected to Florence--that is, his own brother, Corso Donati.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this apocalyptic prophecy about Corso's ruin, fit it into its historical context, and finally are left with the pilgrim, Virgil, and Statius on the terrace, all caught in a host of military images.

If you'd like to help defray the many fees associated with this podcast, including hosting, editing, domain registrations, and my subscriptions to a host of academic journals, please consider offering a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.

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

[01:29] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 76 - 99. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode of the podcast on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:43] A couple of problems with what the pilgrim Dante could know and the beginning of the military images in the passage.

[08:53] Forese Donati's apocalyptic prophecy of the very near future.

[13:28] The story of Corso Donati, Forese's brother and a key leader of the Black Guelphs in Florence.

[19:25] The military imagery for Forese's triumph (which reminds us of Brunetto's exit in INFERNO XV), as well as that imagery for Virgil and Statius, standing near the pilgrim on the terrace.

[23:56] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 76 - 99.

Dante the pilgrim has claimed that indeed he is the one who is inspired by love, who writes what love breathes into him and then makes meaning from that.

Bongiunta is not finished with that discussion. Instead, he goes on to name this inspiration the "sweet new style" (or the "dolce stil novo"), thereby igniting over seven hundred years of commentary and controversy.

And Bonagiunta himself seems to throw some fuel on that fire, given his apparent satisfaction with himself. And Dante the poet may add some fuel, too, given his citation of classical sources, hardly breathed-in inspiration.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this most daunting passage in all of PURGATORIO, striking near the heart of what Dante the poet believes he's doing . . . and what generations of critics and thinkers believe he's doing.

If you'd like to help support this podcast, please consider a very small monthly stipend or a one-time donation through this PayPal link right here. Your contribution helps me pay the many fees associated with keeping this podcast going.

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

[01:48] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 55 - 75. If you'd like to read along or to continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:02] Bonagiunta's imaginative landscape: brothers and knots.

[07:17] Bonagiunta's peers (or perhaps his school?): Giacomo da Lentini and Giuttone d'Arezzo.

[11:41] The "sweet new style" and the taproot of Italian literature.

[16:27] Problems with the "sweet new style": its membership, its final relationship to Bonagiunta, and its meaning sewn into the text over generations.

[24:55] Two similes that comment on or even challenge this "sweet new style."

[30:00] Forese's poignant question and its link to INFERNO X.

[31:56] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 55 - 75.