After Dante confesses his unworthiness in the opening of Canto II of INFERNO, Virgil clarifies the matter. "You're not modest. You're a coward."

Then Virgil does what humans do. He tells a story. One that's almost too good to be true: about the first time Virgil met Beatrice.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we ascend into heaven . . . at least in Virgil's telling of it.

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

[02:13] My English translation of this passage from INFERNO: Canto II, 43 - 75. If you'd like to read long, find a more detailed study guide, or continue the conversation with me through a comment, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[05:53] Rhetoric. What is it? Why's it so important?

[07:03] Virgil's initial salvo at Dante: a sneer, followed by a redefinition of the problem.

[11:51] Virgil, who has tweaked the pilgrim's rhetorical prowess, unexpectedly stumbles by saying something that's unintelligible to those who haven't read COMEDY.

[13:46] In this war of words for who's up to telling this tale: Beatrice steps up to (the rhetorical) bat. Her speech is "gentle and soft."

[14:41] There is an important difference between Beatrice's gentle, soft speech and Virgil's learned "polished" speech.

[16:12] Beatrice's first speech (but in Virgil's mouth). She opens with flattery, then lays it on thick. So much so that she ends at a place that seems almost, well, irrational. Or at the very least impossible.

[26:58] Rereading the passage: INFERNO, Canto II, lines 43 - 75.