Beatrice finishes her first indictment of Dante by showing him the fit subject matter for his abundant talent: her and the damned.

She accuses him of chasing after false images, then of discounting her own inspiration in dreams. She ends with her final hope: to descend to the doorway of the dead and get the pilgrim started across the known universe.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the final lines of PURGATORIO, Canto XXX: Beatrice's first indictment of Dante.

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

[01:25] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 127 - 145. If you'd like to read along or continue the discussion with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:16] In praise of Beatrice's elevated rhetoric.

[05:20] The erotic tension between Beatrice and Dante.

[07:59] First callback in the passage: to either the Siren in PURGATORIO XIX or to the second woman in the VITA NUOVA.

[10:22] Second callback: to either Beatrice's eyes or her appearance in a dream toward the end of the VITA NUOVA.

[13:43] Third callback: to Limbo (and Virgil).

[15:37] Dante's search for the subject matter that will fit his talent.

[16:47] Four levels of interpretation for Beatrice's first indictment: literal, moral, allegorical, and anagogical.

[21:31] When was Dante supposed to purse these failings on the mountain?

[23:27] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, lines 127 - 145.

Beatrice is now fully in charge . . . so much so that she can even tell the angels in the chariot with her what they can't understand.

She launches into her first indictment of the pilgrim, Dante. Here, she claims that he hasn't fulfilled his talent.

He hasn't? With so much of COMEDY behind us?

And what if then the point of this journey? Is it poetic craft or personal redemption?

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we comb through the first of Beatrice's condemnations of Dante's many failings that have led him to the top of Mount Purgatory.

If you'd like to help support this podcast with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend, please consider donating what you can through this PayPal link right here.

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

[01:41] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 100 - 126. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:23] What can the angels in the chariot not know?

[08:13] What germinates from heaven, far above the seeds that blow out of the Garden of Eden?

[11:15] What was Dante supposed to have done?

[15:19] What good was this journey across the known universe?

[18:40] How do you stay open to the grace you get but perhaps don't expect?

[20:02] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, lines 100 - 126.

Beatrice has offered her first condemnation of Dante, just as his salve and mentor, Virgil, has left the scene. He's stuck across Lethe with the ice sheet encasing his heart. Even the angels surrounding Beatrice in the chariot seem dumbfounded by her vitriol and offer the pilgrim a psalm of consolation . . . which finally makes the ice that has surrounded his heart melt. He ends up wailing.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this brilliant passage about interiority from the very top of Mount Purgatorio in the Garden of Eden.

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

[01:34] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 79 - 99. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website: markscarbrough.com.

[03:53] One textual reference in the passage: Psalm 30/31: 1 - 8.

[07:46] A second textual reference in the passage: Augustine's CONFESSIONS, Book VIII.

[09:07] One metaphoric rearrangement in the passage: Beatrice as mother and Dante as son.

[11:55] A second metaphoric rearrangement: the melting ice inside of Dante.

[19:28] Allegory as art.

[22:30] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, lines 79 - 99.

We finally hear the first words from Beatrice's mouth. (We've heard her before but as told by Virgil in INFERNO, Canto II.) She is certainly not person we expected. She's the admiral controlling her ship.

She names the pilgrim, names herself, and gets very close to blasphemy in a passage that defies our expectations, about as revelation should.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the moment that Beatrice takes center stage in Dante's masterwork, COMEDY.

If you'd like to help underwrite this podcast, please consider 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:

[01:33] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 55 - 78. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please find its entry on my website: markscarbrough.com.

[04:41] The pilgrim finally named: Dante.

[09:03] The crux dilemma of orthodoxy: purity versus human feeling.

[13:44] Beatrice's ship, plus other ships in COMEDY.

[15:29] Beatrice, the admiral.

[17:34] Dante's difficulty in naming himself.

[20:20] Beatrice, Minerva, and our (or the pilgrim's?) expectations.

[23:42] Beatrice's curious blasphemy and questions.

[27:09] Dante as a rejuvenated Narcissus.

[30:32] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, lines 55 - 78.

The parade of revelation has stopped and everything holds its breath for what comes next.

She's veiled, behind scattered flowers. But Beatrice arrives, in the place of Jesus Christ, her second coming, her advent in the victory chariot.

And as she arrives, Virgil disappears from COMEDY. (Statius, too, even if he's still standing next to the pilgrim.)

This moment is perhaps the climax of the poem as we have understood it up until now. From here on, everything changes. We have moved out of time and into a world beyond human reason. It's a cause for rejoicing but also for great sadness.

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

[01:13] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 22 - 54. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:14] Word choices in the passage that reflect its thematic and emotional space.

[07:04] The Vita Nuova as foundational to Beatrice's appearance.

[12:00] Beatrice's colors and the parade of revelation.

[13:39] Christological confusions with Beatrice.

[16:48] Gender confusions during her arrival.

[19:10] The pilgrim's imagined dialogue with a (mis)quote from The Aeneid.

[23:03] The sad, quiet disappearance of Virgil and the pilgrim's pronounced, loud interiority.

[29:02] The silent, almost unnoticed departure of Statius from the poem.

[31:06] The cleansing of the pilgrim as a bookend for the work of PURGATORIO.

[32:39] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, lines 22 - 54

The grand parade of revelation has come to a stop across Lethe from our pilgrim, Virgil, and Statius. Everything seems to hold its breath: the constellations stop moving, the crowd goes quiet, one voice calls out for the bride, then a hundred angels appear, calling out for the groom . . . which is surely Jesus, right?

We seem to be on the verge of a celestial marriage ceremony, the mystic union of Jesus and his church . . . except Virgil's AENEID gets the last word and darkens the scene considerably.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we stand in expectation at the top of Mount Purgatory for the arrival of . . . somebody.

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

[01:24] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 1 - 21. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by dropping a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website: markscarbrough.com.

[04:33] The Little Dipper, the North Star, the chariot, a griffin, and the Bible, all bound up in the longest sentence in COMEDY.

[13:59] The resurrection with a reclothed voice (that is, the stuff of poetry).

[16:38] Many angels in a very small cart.

[19:32] Quoting the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (here and in The Vita Nuova).

[21:44] Quoting the tragic prophecy about Marcellus from THE AENEID.

[24:43] Inserting Dante and Virgil into Biblical citations.

[26:59] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, lines 1 - 21.

As we have done throughout PURGATORIO, let's read through a chunk of the canticle to get the plot down so that we can then focus on the many moving parts that comprise it.

Here are cantos XXX and XXXI, in many ways the climax of the first part of COMEDY: the arrival of Beatrice, long awaited since INFERNO, Canto II.

Her arrival is like nothing we can expect. In fact, it's her second coming . . . like Christ, in judgment.

Get ready. She's not one to be toyed with!

[01:29] A read-through of PURGATORIO, Cantos XXX and XXXI.

The pilgrim has found the perfect perch to see the full scope and length of the parade of allegories at the top of the Mount Purgatory in the garden of Eden.

After the griffin and its chariot come seven merry women and seven more somber men. They are complex allegories that have inspired much debate.

More than that, they are also an atemporal moment, something outside of chronological time, the way revelation most often happens.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look more closely at the end of the (first half of the) apocalyptic parade our pilgrim witnesses from across the river Lethe.

If you'd like to help with the many costs of this podcast, please consider a very small monthly stipend or a one-time gift, using this PayPal link right here.

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

[01:13] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, Lines 121 - 154. 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.

[04:34] The three theological virtues (or colors)--which cause a rereading of previous moments in the great parade.

[09:02] The four cardinal or philosophical virtues, clothed in purple, a deep, imperial red.

[12:00] The seven men who end the parade as seen through the now standard (or consensus) interpretation: the latter books of the New Testament.

[16:06] Alternate interpretations: the allegories as a parade of revelation, rather than strictly the books of the Bible.

[20:38] The metapoetics of living, walking books.

[21:24] The temporal anomaly of the grand parade.

[24:11] Rereading the entire parade: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, lines 43 - 154.