PURGATORIO, Episode 228. The Conclusion (For Now) Of The Timeless Parade Of Revelation: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, Lines 121 - 154

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.

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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 scroll down this page.

[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.

My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, Lines 121 – 154:

Alongside the right wheel, three ladies

Came dancing in a circle. One [was] so red

She’d hardly have been noticed inside a fire.

The next one was as if her flesh and bones

Had been formed from emerald.

The third seemed like newly-fallen snow.

Now they seemed drawn by the white one,

Then again by the red one, and from the latter’s song

They modified their slow or rapid paces.

On the left side [of the chariot], four other women made merry,

Dressed in purple, following the tonal modalities

Of the one of them who had three eyes in her head.

Behind this whole crowd I’ve described,

I saw two old men, dressed differently,

But seemingly equal in bearing, both honorable and stalwart.

One of them appeared to be joined with the spirit

Of the great Hippocrates, who Nature

Crafted for the living beings she holds most dear.

The other seemed to have the opposite intent.

His sword was so bright and sharp

That it made me afraid even on my side of the stream.

Then I saw four of humble aspect,

And behind all of them an old man alone,

Coming along asleep but with his face alert.

And these seven were dressed like

That first regiment, although they had no lilies

To make garlands on their heads.

Instead, [they were crowned with] roses and other vermilion flowers.

If I’d been a little farther away, I’d have sworn

They were all ablaze above their brows.

And when the chariot was across from me,

A peal of thunder was heard and those worthy people

Seemed forbidden from going farther,

Stopping there along with those initial banners.