PURGATORIO, Episode 105. Sapía, Part Three: Rhetorical Games Reveal Both The Penitent And The Pilgrim: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 133 - 154

In the concluding moments of Sapía's speech, we find her in dialogue with Dante the pilgrim . . . who is both forthcoming in his confessional stance and also cagey with his hiding his guide, Virgil.

She, too, is caught in her own rhetoric: getting what she wants but ultimately revealing herself as a soul who still has a lot more purging ahead.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the final words of one of the most intriguing characters in PURGATORIO, if not in all of COMEDY.

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

[00:58] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, lines 133 - 154. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation, please scroll down this page to find the passage and the comment section.

[03:18] Dante's reply to Sapía is both cagey and confessional. Did she manipulate him into this ambiguous spot?

[09:27] Does Sapía misunderstand his place in the afterlife? But how can she, since she's already figured out that he's breathing?

[13:03] She turns his confession of pride into . . . comedy or flattery?

[14:12] Her changing notions of prayer exemplify the theological problems of prayer as a Christian act. Meanwhile, she lets the pilgrim know that she's figured him out even more.

[19:36] Sapía is going to spend a lot more time on the terrace of the envious, given her joy over Siena's misfortunes.

[24:59] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, lines 133 - 154.

And here’s my English translation of Purgatorio, Canto XIII, Lines 133 - 154

“My eyes,” I said, “will only be taken from me here

For only a little time because they haven’t given much offense

From having been turned to envy.

“I’ve got a lot more fear pressing on my soul

When it comes to the torments down below us.

That tonnage already weighs on me.”

And she [said] to me, “Then who has gotten you up this far

Among us, if you believe you’re going to return down there?”

And I: “The one who is with me. He doesn’t say a word.

“Yet I’m alive. So therefore ask me,

Spirit among the chosen, if you wish me to move

My still-mortal feet for you back over there.”

“Oh, what a strange new thing to hear!”

She replied. “It’s a big sign that God loves you.

Okay, help me with your prayers from time to time.

“And I entreat you by whatever you most desire

To restore my good reputation among my relatives,

If you ever again tread on Tuscan ground.

“You’ll see them as some of the vain people

Who set their hopes on Talamone and who will lose

More by that hope than if they were to search for the underground stream called Diana.

In fact, the admirals will lose lots more.”