PURGATORIO, Episode 219. The Many Contraditions In Eden: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVIII, Lines 67 - 84

The lady in the forest has come to face the pilgrim and his poets across the stream in the forest.

The pilgrim clearly feels a sexual attraction toward her, one that might even make us think of his reactions to Beatrice.

She, however, has other ideas, like answering their many questions. Except in so doing, she raises even more questions than she has time to answer.

The segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

[01:37] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVIII, lines 67 - 84. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by dropping a comment on this episode, please scroll down this page.

[03:38] Upright and flirty: the many contradictions of the lady in the forest.

[07:04] A rare misstep in COMEDY.

[08:06] A tough tangle of references from Ovid and the Bible: from pride to sexual attraction to (thwarted) redemption.

[15:28] The tenuous connections between the lady's laugh and their doubts, as well as her words and Virgil's presence.

[21:17] Her purpose: to offer answers (but not to remove sexual tension).

[23:39] The Garden of Eden, utterly reimagined by Dante.

[28:23] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVIII, lines 67 - 84.

My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVIII, Lines 67 – 84

Upright on the other bank, she laughed,

Arranging the many colors in her hands

That this high ground scatters without seeds.

The stream separated us by three paces,

But the Hellespont—where Xerxes traversed

With his rein gripped on all of human pride—

Brought no more contempt to Leander

When it was at full flood between Sestos and Abydos

Than that stream [brought] to me for not parting then and there.

“You guys are new,” she began, “and perhaps

Because I laugh in this place chosen

As the nest of human nature,

“Some doubt keeps each of you in a state of wonder.

In any event, light comes from the psalm Delectasti.

It can de-cloud each of your intellects.

“And you [there] who stand out in front and beg me [to come near],

Tell me if you want to hear more; for I come ready

For each of your questions . . . or at least enough [to satisfy you].”