The sun's coming up. The sky is turning orange. And night is dropping the scales of Libra. Could it get better? Well, yes, the pilgrim Dante and his guide, Virgil, could have a clue about what to do next.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the opening prologue passage for Canto II of PURGATORIO. It's a moment of gorgeous poetry with no forward momentum. In the redeemed part of the afterlife? Apparently so.

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

[01:17] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto II, lines 1 - 12. If you'd like to read along, print it off, or drop a comment, please scroll down this page.

[02:27] My confession: too much talk about what's ahead in COMEDY--although such talk may be inevitable.

[05:13] PURGATORIO, Canto II is a mirror image of INFERNO, Canto II.

[06:35] The terrestrial/astronomical opening of PURGATORIO, Canto II.

[11:30] The zodiac skyscape is alive!

[14:33] The globe flips twice in the passage.

[15:18] Hesitancy is the primary thematic of PURGATORIO, Canto II--which may mean Virgil is not the best guide for Purgatory.

[18:14] What is this hesitancy? How can we interpret it? Metapoetics? Human motives? A mistake that's not a sin?

[22:36] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto II, lines 1 - 12.

And here’s my English translation of Purgatorio, Canto II, Lines 1 – 12

The sun had already gotten up to the horizon—

That is, at the meridian circle at which it stands

Up over Jerusalem at its highest point.

Likewise, midnight—that is, the circle coming around from the other side—

Was rising from the Ganges River with the scales of Libra,

Which fall from night’s hand as she takes on her full reign.

In just such a moment, just where I was,

The white and rosy cheeks of gorgeous Aurora

Were becoming orange as she aged.

But we were still hanging around on the seashore.

We were like people who think out the road ahead,

Whose hearts are moving on even as their bodies remain where they are.