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Dante and Virgil have come through the dramatic gate of Purgatory proper and entered a wildly open space, edging out to the void. This stark emptiness provides an existential contrast to all of the sound and fury that came just before.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the hard climb up to and the initial step onto the first of the seven terraces of Purgatory itself. Let's talk about this passage's emotional space, as well as the beautiful poetics in the medieval Florentine.

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

[01:21] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto X, lines 1 - 27. If you'd like to read along or print it off for notes, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:57] PURGATORIO, Canto X opens in a barren, quiet, and unsettling spot.

[10:46] Two interpretive problems: 1) How can love be bad? And 2) what sound does the gate make when it closes?

[15:10] The climb up to the first terrace references two New Testament passages: Matthew 7: 13 - 14 and Matthew 19: 24.

[17:26] The medieval Florentine poetry shows the challenges of the climb.

[22:23] Dante and Virgil eventually stand on a narrow terrace at the edge of the void.