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Virgil has come in for a bit of a whipping. But no worries! All is forgiven. Dante still sees Virgil as his liege in a feudal context, his ultimate guide.

And together, they find a solitary soul on the slopes of Mount Purgatory: Sordello, a troubadour poet and Dante's second guide across the known universe.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this intriguing figure who sits by himself, isolated and uncategorized in COMEDY's schematics.

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

[01:52] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto VI, lines 49 - 75. If you'd like to read along, print it off, or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please scroll down this page.

[04:27] How does Virgil know what he knows?

[09:47] The poet Dante strangely interrupts the narrative sequence in this passage.

[12:38] A busking break!

[13:36] The soul ahead is not only solitary physically, but also emotionally.

[16:50] Who is Sordello? Dante's second guide across the known universe, a figure deeply connected to others across COMEDY, and a distinguished, late troubadour poet from Italy.

[25:07] A read-through of the narrative section of PURGATORIO, Canto VI: lines 1 - 75.

And here’s my English translation of Purgatorio, Canto VI, Lines 49 – 75

And I [replied], “My liege, let’s go a little faster,

Because I’m not as worn out as I was before.

Look! The hill is now casting a shadow.”

 

“We’re going to keep going for the rest of this day,”

He responded, “as far as we now are able.

But the facts aren’t in the form you think you know.

 

“Before you’re finally up top, you’ll see again

The one that’s hidden by this slope,

Whose rays you don’t interrupt at the moment.

 

“But look at that soul over there, sitting all alone,

With his gaze turned toward us.

That one will tell us about the quickest route.”

 

We came up to him. O Lombard soul,

How you bore yourself so upright and disdainful.

In your eyes I could see such honor and caution.

 

That one didn’t speak a word to us,

But let us approach, simply watching us

Like a lion in its crouch.

 

In any event, Virgil stepped up to him, begging

That he tell us the best way up.

To this request, he didn’t utter a word—

 

Instead, he asked about our country and what life

We’d had there. My sweet guide had no sooner said

“Mantua,” than that shade, who’d seemed all pulled into himself,

 

Jumped up from his spot and cried out,

“O Mantuan, I am Sordello,

From your own city!” And they embraced each other.