After Forese Donati has pointed out five of the gluttons on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory, one of them, the first mentioned and a poet of the previous generation, keeps muttering something almost unintelligible under his breath.

Our pilgrim asks him for more information. He then offers the pilgrim an oblique prophecy that has troubled Dante scholars for hundreds of years. He also asks if this pilgrim is the same guy who wrote a poem found in the VITA NUOVA.

Dante replies that he is indeed that poet . . . and goes on to claim that his poetry is inspired by love itself.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we take on the first half of the single most annotated passage in all of Dante's COMEDY. We are getting to the heart of what Dante thinks he's doing with his poetry . . . but what exactly that is remains something of a mystery, or at least a scholarly debate.

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

[02:00] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, Lines 34 - 54. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[05:08] The value of paying attention: the pilgrim to Bonagiunta and Bonagiunta to Dante's poetry.

[08:54] Bonagiunta's shifty murmurs of "gentucca."

[11:51] An opaque prophecy about Lucca from an older poet who should know how to be clear.

[17:13] Bonagiunta's refernce to a canzone (or long poetic song) from Dante's VITA NUOVA.

[20:37] The pilgrim's wild claims for direct inspiration from . . . love (or maybe God).

[27:02] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 34 - 54.