INFERNO, Episode 176. Bertran de Born, The Rationale For Inferno, & The Dangers Of Poetry: Inferno, Canto XXVIII, Lines 112 - 142

We end the crowded ninth evil pouch of the schismatics with . . . a poet: Bertran de Born. A poet Dante had previously praised. A poet who wrote poetry that is a direct influence on Dante's earlier works. And a poet who has actually been with us throughout Inferno, Canto XXVIII, even if we didn't realize it.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the historical and meta-literary details in his complicated passage--and then turn to an exploration of Bertran's use of a word that has come to dominate Dante criticism: "contrapasso."

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

[02:40] My English translation of this passage: Inferno, Canto XXVIII, lines 112 - 142. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment on this episode, just scroll down this page.

[06:09] Who was Bertran de Born?

[10:26] Who was "the young king" Bertran de Born speaks about?

[14:02] What was Bertran de Born's place in the English/French civil wars?

[15:55] The first Biblical citation in the passage: Ahitophel, Absalom, and David.

[17:36] The second Biblical citation in the passage: See if there is any sorrow like my sorrow.

[21:53] Dante has twice mentioned Bertran de Born in other works.

[23:11] Why does this passage begin with a veracity problem?

[25:43] Bertran de Born's poetry has been in Canto XXVIII all along.

[28:04] Why is Bertran de Born here?

[30:59] What is "contrapasso"? And what are the limits of its meaning?

[36:11] There may be two types of "contrapasso": actual and metaphorical.

[42:48] Muhammad may bookend Canto XXVIII.

[46:19] Rereading Inferno, Canto XXVIII, lines 112 - 142.

My English translation of Inferno, Canto XXVIII, Lines 112 – 142

I stuck around to watch the company

And I saw something, which made me afraid

To even mention it without further proof.

Even so, what bucks me up is conscience,

The good compatriot that makes a man brave

Under the armor of his own truly-felt purity.

Honestly, I saw—and I still seem to see—

A torso without a head, coming along

Just like the others in that sad-sack crowd.

He held his uncoupled head by its hair,

Swinging it from his hand like a lantern.

The head took one look at us and said, “Oh, me.”

He had made a lamp out of himself,

So that they were two in one and one in two.

How could this be? Only he who orders it knows.

When this one had gotten right up to the foot of the bridge,

He raised his arm carrying the whole head high

To make his words unmistakable—

Which were, “Now look at my deadly pain,

You there, breathing away as you gawk at the dead.

See if any other torment is as great as mine.

“So that you may carry back news of me,

Know that I am Bertran de Born,

Who gave the young king the bad counsel.

“I led the father and son into open rebellion with each other.

Ahitophel did no more to Absalom

And David with his wicked nudging.

“Since I divided otherwise joined persons,

I carry my own brain divided—alas!—

From its origin point on this torso.

This is how the contrapasso is made manifest in me.”