PURGATORIO, Episode 198. The Breath Of Life, The Breath Of Poetry: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, Lines 52 - 78

Statius goes on to the second part of his discussion of human embryology by following the fetus through its developmental phases until it finally has a brain. At this point, the prime mover knows it's capable of reason and so breathes a new spirit into it . . . to make it capable of self-reflection.

This passage is astounding discourse on developmental embryology as understood by medievals via Aristotle but may also be a complex allegory for the creation of poetry.

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

[01:35] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 52 - 78. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me about this passage, please scroll down this page.

[04:37] Following the logic of Statius's discourse on embryology.

[19:46] Three conclusions about reproduction and human development via Statius (and the poet Dante).

[23:15] Embryology as an allegory for the craft of poetry.

[25:53] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 52 - 78.

Here’s my English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, Lines 52 – 78

[Statius continued:] “The active power becomes a soul

Like [the soul of a] plant but with this big difference:

It’s still underway while the plant’s soul is already ashore.

“Next, it keeps developing as it moves and feels

(About in the same way as a sea sponge), then it presses on

To shape your organs, derived from this seed.

“Now the power opens out, my son; now it billows,

Having come from the heart of its parent.

That’s where nature makes a provision for all the body’s members.

“But you don’t yet see how it morphs

From an animal to something that can speak. This is the point

Where a wiser one than you was made to go awry.

“In his teaching, a distinction was made

Between the soul and the possibilities of the intellect—

Because he couldn’t find the organ that was your intellect’s residence.

“Open your breast to the truth that comes from all this

And know that the moment the structures of the brain

Come to perfection in the fetus,

“The prime mover turns toward it, happy

About the totality of nature’s craft. He breathes

A new spirit into it, one full of power,

“Which then takes all that it finds active there

And pulls it into its substantive form and becomes a unique soul:

One that lives and feels and reflects itself into itself.

“Moreover, so you’ll be less astounded by my words,

Check out how the heat of the sun becomes wine

Once it blends with the liquid that’s the life force in the vines. . . .”