PURGATORIO, Episode 36. Belacqua, The King Of Misdirection Through Centuries Of Reading Dante's COMEDY: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 115 - 136

Belacqua has been the subject of hundreds of commentaries over centuries as readers have grappled with who this figure is and what purpose he serves in Dante's poem.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I offer you multiple ways to interpret this most intriguing figure in PURGATORIO, a favorite character Samuel Beckett--and for me, too. I see him as a parody of the contemplative life. Which means I see Beatrice--or a parody of her--in this passage.

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

[01:25] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, lines 115 - 139. If you'd like to print it off, read along, or continue the discussion with me about this episode, please scroll down this page.

[03:49] Several points in the passage to suggest Belacqua is an ironic figure of some sort.

[08:02] Who was Belacqua? The answer is surprisingly unclear.

[10:15] Belacqua is a favorite character for Samuel Beckett.

[11:18] How has Belacqua been interpreted over the centuries of commentary? And how do I read this most intriguing figure?

[15:56] Pain has a temporal component in PURGATORIO--indicating that redemptive pain has a time value.

[17:38] Beatrice may well be behind Belacqua's final words. Virgil certainly seems to hear an echo of her! And perhaps invokes Ulysses as a final stroke of irony.

[20:40] The structure of PURGATORIO, Canto IV.

[22:54] A vertical reading of INFERNO, Canto IV, and PURGATORIO, Canto IV.

[24:48] A progression in PURGATORIO, Cantos II through IV: Casella, Manfred, Belacqua.

[26:28] Rereading the entire Belacqua sequence: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, lines 97 - 139.

And here’s my English translation of Purgatorio, Canto IV, Lines 115 – 139

That’s when I recognized him. Even the pain

Caused by my shortness of breath

Didn’t stop me from going up to him—at which point,

When I got up to him, he barely raised his head

To say, “Have you clearly seen how the sun

Drives his chariot over your left shoulder?”

His lazy movements and curt words

Brought a little smile to my lips

And I started [by saying]: “Belacqua, now I’m not

Sad about your fate anymore. But tell me: Why are you

Sitting around here like this? Are you waiting for an escort?

Or have your usual ways caught up with you again?”

And he [said], “O brother, why should I bother with this climb?

I won’t be allowed to go to my martyrdom

Because of the angel of God who sits in front of the gate.

“First off, I have to endure as many turns of the heavens

On the outskirts here as I did in my past life,

For I staved off my good sighs to the very end.

“That is, unless I’m first helped by the prayers

Rising up here from a heart that lives in grace.

What’s the good of any other, if it can’t be heard in heaven?”

At this point, the poet [Virgil] had already started to climb without me,

Saying, “Come on! See how the meridian

Is now touched by the sun

And night uses her foot to shade the shores of Morocco.”