PURGATORIO, Episode 135. Drowsy Yet Vigilant, Slothful Yet Expectant: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 73 - 90

Welcome to the fourth terrace of Purgatory proper!

Dante and Virgil reach the top of the stairs just as night falls and the pilgim loses all possibility of forward momentum. He hesitates--from sloth?--and turns to Virgil--still damned!--to explain where they are.

Virgil, the guide of Purgatory. It's still as shocking as it was sixteen cantos ago!

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we stop at the cusp of the fourth terrace of Purgatory proper.

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

[01:29] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, lines 73 - 90. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please scroll down this page.

[03:12] What truce has been called when it comes to the pilgrim's legs? And why does this fourth terrace of Purgatory seem so very silent and empty?

[07:33] Is Dante the pilgrim hesitant? Or slothful?

[08:59] Why is Virgil's explanation of the terrace so opaque, so poetic?

[10:25] Is COMEDY beginning to value opacity?

[12:37] What is the medieval understanding of sloth? How would Dante define it?

[17:26] How does PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, match two cantos in INFERNO (XI and XVII)?

[21:02] Reading the passage again: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, lines 73 - 90.

And here’s my English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, lines 73 - 90:

[First the tercet before the passage for this episode, lines 70 - 72:

The last rays [of the sun] were already so high

Above us that night was coming on

And the stars were becoming apparent on many sides.]

 Then . . .

“O my strength, why do you disappear so quickly?”

I kept saying to myself, because I felt some truce

Had been called when it came to what was possible with my legs.

We were just at the spot where the stairway

Climbed no farther, yet we were moored

Like a ship that has come to shore.

So I waited a bit to hear

Something from this new circle.

Then I turned to my master and said,

“My sweet father, tell me, which offense

Is cleared up in this ring where we’re standing.

Even if our feet stay still, don’t let your discourse do the same.”

And he to me: “Having tripped away from its duty,

The love of all that’s good is restored right here.

They continually ply the oar they once made slack.

But so that you can yet more understand these things,

Direct your mind toward me and you’ll then take

Some good fruit from our detainment.”