PURGATORIO, Episode 223. Let The Apocalypse Roll: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, Lines 1 - 30

Our pilgrim, Dante, and the beautiful lady across Lethe walk on for a bit before the stream bends and the pilgrim ends up facing the right way to see the first flash of light that will signal the great apocalyptic parade in Eden.

The opening of PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, brings us back to the pastoral world of Guido Cavalcanti's poem before launching us into allegory, theology, morality, and even misogyny.

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The segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

[01:27] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, Lines 1 - 30. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation by dropping a comment, please scroll down this page.

[04:07] An introduction to PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX.

[06:59] The only canto in COMEDY that begins with a derivative of the word "canto."

[08:24] More references to Guido Calvalcanti's pastoral poem.

[11:44] A psalm retrofitted to become a beatitude, moving us from the classical world to divine revelation.

[14:31] The symbolism (and allegory?) of their paces and the stream's bend.

[18:00] Sight and hearing as the basis but not nearly enough, as with Guido Cavalcanti's poem.

[19:02] The lady's reaction ("brother") and the pilgrim's reaction (a lack of fear).

[21:45] The misogyny from the initial flash of light.

[28:59] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, lines 1 - 30.

My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, Lines 1 – 30:

Singing as a lady in love [would],

At the end of her words she continued,

“Beati quorum tecta sunt peccata!”

And like nymphs who once walked alone

Through the forest shadows—some wanting to see the sun,

Others wanting to flee [it]—

She then moved counter to the stream, walking

Above the banks; and I, along with her,

Following her little steps with my little steps.

There hadn’t been a hundred paces between hers and mine

When the two banks made parallel turns,

So that I was again turned toward the east.

We hadn’t taken our way much farther

When the lady turned directly toward me

And said, “My brother, look and listen.”

And behold! A light suddenly shot through

The great forest on all sides—

Such that I wondered if it were perhaps lightning.

But because lightning, as it comes, subsides

While this stuck around, shining brighter and brighter,

I said in my thoughts, “What’s this all about?”

A sweet melody also ran

Through the dazzling air, whereupon righteous zeal

Made me rebuke Eve’s raw ambition.

There at that spot, where heaven and earth obeyed,

A woman, on her own and just newly made,

Couldn’t be bothered to stay behind her veil.

If she’d stayed quietly under it,

I would have felt those ineffable delights

From the start and for a much longer time.