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Dante the pilgrim has heard the prayer of the prideful penitents under their boulders and now he sees them more clearly, weighed down "as if during dreams." What?

It gets more confusing. Dante the poet interrupts the narrative to remind his readers of their duties (to his imagined penitents? what?). And then Virgil speaks without ever being given a dialogue clue, further disorienting COMEDY's readers.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this strange passage from PURGATORIO.

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

[02:05] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XI, lines 25 - 45. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:55] Three curiosities in the passage from the medieval Florentine, plus one thematic tie back to Canto X.

[10:41] For whom are the prideful penitents praying? And what exactly are they praying for them?

[16:18] The poet's lesson, inserted into the ongoing story, is disconcertingly awkward.

[21:36] Virgil offers nine lines of dialogue without a cue to us know it's Virgil who's speaking until almost the end--more disorientation.

[27:19] The passage ultimately connects to a medieval notion of art by its reference to the weight of dreams.

[29:35] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XI, lines 25 - 45.