Beatrice concludes her monologue at the end of PURGATORIO with some dazzling metaphoric pyrotechnics, a slam on Dante's intellect, and a redefinition of this journey across the known universe. It's not just any old pilgrimage. It's a crusade.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the final images of her speech and discover its larger, structural details . . . which point us directly ahead to PARADISO.

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

[01:11] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 61 - 78. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation about this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:03] Fun calculations to discover how long Adam (and Eve) stayed in Limbo.

[07:52] Beatrice's assertions about the writing and reading of texts.

[13:33] References to the river Elsa and to Pyramus.

[17:10] A badly mixed metaphor that leads into questions of interiority.

[21:14] Rereading all of Beatrice's final monologue in PURGATORIO: XXXIII: 31 - 78.

[23:49] Four structural notes on this monologue.

Beatrice continues her discourse at the end of PURGATORIO by offering Dante classical examples of her own obscurity, Christian resonances for the very hope of writing, and a challenge for him to become her scribe, to take notes on her lectures.

This passage falls in the middle of her long monologue in the last canto of PURGATORIO and it forms the fulcrum that turns us from the apocalyptic vision to something much closer to Dante's own concerns: the craft of writing.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we tease out the difficulties in this notoriously challenging passage at the end of PURGATORIO.

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

[01:59] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 46 - 60. 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.

[03:24] The obscurity as the point.

[07:02] Themis and the Sphinx, early human riddles.

[10:02] Dante's well-intended mistake about the Naiads.

[13:41] Beatrice's theory of Dante's craft.

[15:59] The classical to the Christian: the dominant move in INFERNO and PURGATORIO.

[17:35] A twice-robbed tree--but how?

[19:50] The tree for God's sole use.

[21:58] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, lines 46 - 60.

As Beatrice and Dante continue to walk through Eden, she begins the final discourse that will end PURGATORIO: a cryptic, apocalyptic vision of the world (or maybe just the church?) set right. But by whom? Or when? And is the church destroyed? Or is it going to be rehabilitated?

Beatrice's vision is the capstone of PURGATORIO and prepares us for the elliptical and stylized poetry to come in PARADISO, just ahead of us. It's a test to see whether we can make it. Don't worry: We will!

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our final walk across one of the most difficult passages in PURGATORIO. Seven hundred years of commentary hasn't come to any agreement on these lines. Why should we?

To keep this podcast afloat, please consider a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend to underwrite its many fees. You can do so at this PayPal link.

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

[01:43] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 25 - 45. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by a comment on this episode, please find it on my website: markscarbrough.com.

[04:18] A reminder: the rigid and highly stylized manner code in the Middle Ages.

[08:46] Beatrice's redefinition of the terms: wakefulness rather than walking, the chariot as a vessel, the dragon as a serpent (from Eden?), and the chariot's possible, full destruction.

[14:18] A translation problem: the possible sop of bread. And difficult interpretations: God's vendetta and a future heir.

[18:30] Seven hundred years of commentary on the tough problem of "five hundred ten and five--God's messenger."

[27:42] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, lines 25 - 45.