Episode 96. Erasing God's Writing And Virgil's Smile: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 118 - 139

Dante the pilgrim and Virgil have a little ways to go before they finally exit the terrace of pride. In fact, Dante has to come to a surprising revelation: It's getting easier. And Virgil has to explain why: Desire is being purified. How? By erasing what God has written.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the interpretive dilemmas and philosophical quagmires of the final moments on the terrace of pride, the first of the terraces of Purgatory proper in Dante's PURGATORIO.

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

[01:12] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 118 - 139. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please scroll down this page.

[03:36] The climb in hell and in Purgatory both involve the notion of a throat.

[06:44] Pride is the primary sin and delight is the primary motivation forward. But has it always been this way in COMEDY?

[12:57] Canto XII ends on a light-hearted note . . . perhaps for poetic reasons.

[16:32] First hard question: Is Dante the pilgrim truly expunged of pride?

[19:51] Second hard question: Has Dante the poet moved the fence of his world to include himself in his own schematics?

[24:56] Third hard question: Why does God's writing have to be erased?

[30:53] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 118 - 139.

And here’s my English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 118 - 139

 Now as we were climbing up the consecrated stairs,

I seemed to be much lighter than I’d been before,

Even back when the ground was level.

So I said, “Master, tell me, what heaviness

Has been lifted from me, such that going along

Requires barely any effort?”

He replied, “When the P’s that remain

On your brow, though already faint,

Will have been erased as the first has been,

A properly directed volition will so rein in your feet

That they will feel it’s no sweat to ascend.

In fact, they’ll delight in being urged up that way.”

Then I did as those who walk along

With something they don’t know about on their heads.

They only know about it because the actions of others make them curious about what’s going on.

I reached up for answers with my hand.

By touching and feeling around, it accomplished

What sight couldn’t at that moment.

Spreading out the fingers of my right hand,

I found that only six of the seven letters were left,

The ones he of the keys had traced on my forehead.

Watching me do this, my leader smiled.