Dante and Virgil have come across a group of souls who are hanging back against the cliff's steep rise. They're like shepherd-less sheep--which may indeed be the secret to living a life of the "quia," the "what is," the center of Virgil's despair.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore one of the most famous similes in PURGATORIO and find out how the pilgrim Dante and his guide navigate a new way to be: in congregation, reacting and moving, without truly knowing why.

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

[01:36] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto III, lines 79 - 102. If you'd like to read along, print it off to make notes, or drop a comment about this episode, scroll down this page.

[03:29] A famous pastoral simile from PURGATORIO, a similie that shows us a humble flock without a distinct shepherd.

[06:04] The flock lives in the "quia," the "what is," without a full understanding of the "why"--which is exactly the stance that Virgil exhorted humans to take and that left him in such despair earlier in Canto III.

[10:41] Virgil seems to be trying out a similar spell to one he often used in INFERNO.

[12:36] The flocks seems to accept Dante and Virgil as their leaders.

[15:28] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto III, lines 79 - 102.

And here’s my English translation of Purgatorio, Canto III, Lines 79 – 102

As little sheep come out of an enclosure,

First one, then two, then three, while the rest

Stand back shy, turning their eyes and snouts to the ground,

 

And what the first one does, the others do,

Bunching up behind him if he comes to a stop,

Simple and quiet, without really knowing why,

 

So I saw the happy flock’s lead guy

Move to come toward us.

They were modest in his bearing yet honorable in his gait.

 

The moment those in front saw the light

Broken on the ground in front of me on my right side,

So that my shadow stretched from me to the cliff,

 

They stopped and even backed up a bit,

As did even the ones coming on from behind,

Although they didn’t really know why.

 

“Without your asking, I confess to you

That this thing you see is indeed a human body,

Cutting off the sunlight from the ground.

 

“Don’t marvel at it but believe

That it is not without some power from heaven

That he’s trying to get up this pediment.”

 

So said my master [Virgil]. And the worthy people

Said, “Turn around and go on in front of us,”

Making a sign with the backs of their hands.