A Polyvocal Passage With All Its Dissonances: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 13 - 36

Dante moves from his scholastic and even (medieval) scientific introduction to PARADISO and into an invocation . . . to Apollo? How is a pagan god the object of his prayers in this most Christian part of his poem, COMEDY? This passage is polyvocal, an uneasy alliance of Christian and classical texts, resulting in striking dissonances throughout.

Paradiso Cantos I - VIIMark ScarbroughJuly 29, 2026Ovid, Apollo, St Paul, desire, poetic laurelsComment