At last, the slothful penitents arrive. They're a roiling horde in a crazy rush, whipped around the terrace to make up for the ways they were negligent in life.

As these frantic souls pass by, one of them speaks a brave truth about Dante the poet's primary patron, a fierce warlord who has sheltered the poet on the run but whose family may not be all they're cracked up to be.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this amazing passage of PURGATORIO, a plea to not hesitate when it comes to speaking truth to power.

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

[01:32] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, lines n97 - 129. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find this episode in the list of episodes for this podcast on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:09] There are two admonitions for purposeful haste: Mary and Julius Caesar.

[09:46] An address to the penitents . . . from Virgil.

[11:00] Virgil clouds our definition of sloth . . . and perhaps our understanding of his place in PURGATORIO.

[15:47] The Abbott of San Zeno tells of the fall of his monastery into chaos (as well as Milan's fall into chaos).

[21:00] Hurry up and speak truth to power.

[24:12] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, lines 97 - 129.