Walking With Dante

Beatrice begins her destruction of Dante's explanation for moon spots by taking apart his notion of dense and rare spots on the lunar surface . . . with a dizzying display of mixed metaphors.

Her argument lofts to the highest visible heaven, the eighth sphere; then falls back into scholastic reasoning; and offering both experimental and poetic rationales for why he's wrong.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the first part of Beatrice's explanation for moon spots, predicated on the bass line of the incarnation.

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

[01:20] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 64 - 84. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation about this passage, find its entry at my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:27] Paraphrasing this difficult passage in Beatrice's argument about moon spots.

[04:46] Lofting the argument to the eighth heaven, the highest part of visible creation (from Dante's perspective).

[08:15] Offering diversity as complexity beyond a simple continuum for an answer.

[12:31] Moving into experimental (or experiential) proofs for her argument (and implicitly for an understanding of the incarnation of Jesus).

[15:13] Inspiring a dizzying vertigo through mixed metaphors to state the negative of her argument.

[18:41] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto II, lines 64 - 84.

Now that our pilgrim Dante is standing in the moon, he has a fundamental question: Why are there spots on the moon?

And he thinks he knows the answer, right out of natural philosophy. They're caused by rare and dense material in the moon.

He's asking a question for which he knows the answer, trying to play teacher's pet. But Beatrice is having none of it. She's ready to show him how he's not as smart as he thinks he is.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our descent into some of the most complicated material in all of COMEDY.

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

[01:14] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 46 - 63. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[02:57] Two small thematic details: the uses of the word "body" and Beatrice's watery metaphor of "submerged."

[06:02] Two of three explanations for moon spots in this canto: 1) the folkloric myth and 2) the natural philosophy deduction.

[07:57] Folklore: Cain and his thorns in the moon.

[09:21] Natural philosophy: rare and dense materials (and how they reflect light).

[12:54] The distance Beatrice puts between her arguments (to come) and 1) sensory input and 2) reason . . . and thereby Virgil.

[17:07] Diversity and a pluralistic world.

[19:07] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto II, lines 46 - 63.

After Dante's warning to his readers (or perhaps some of his readers), we return to the plot, ascending through the heavens to arrive at the moon . . . or really, in the moon.

Dante and Beatrice find themselves inside this translucent pearl in the heavens.

And in so doing, Dante proves the incarnation really happened . . . at least, if you accept that his journey really happened.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the first of several complex passages in the second canto of PARADISO.

If you'd like to support this work, please consider a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.

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

[01:11] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto I, lines 19 - 45. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:12] Backgrounds: A brief history of "natural philosophy" in Dante's day.

[07:29] Backgrounds: The incarnation, of the prime methods of redemption for Dante.

[10:10] A thought experiment: the universe as a diaphanous, aesthetic object.

[12:20] The journey into the universe . . . or mystery (without spoilers).

[14:16] Hysteron proteron: the rhetorical flourish of PARADISO and the ultimate structure of COMEDY.

[17:16] Lots of joinings here and in Canto I, all anticipating the incarnation.

[18:37] The complex symbolism of the moon as a pearl.

[21:27] The incarnation in the foreground of the narrative.

[24:17] Dante's journey as proof of the incarnation.

[26:37] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto II, lines 19 - 45.

Our poet steps out of the shadows with an important message: "Go home."

Because PARADISO is hard. Because we might get lost. Because we're not prepared.

The stark address to all readers--or perhaps to a much more limited set of specialty readers--that opens Canto II is one of the most unusual moments in COMEDY. When does an author ever warn his readers to stay away?

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we attempt to find a way survive with the other Argonauts as our Jason begins to plow his own field.

Consider supporting this work with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.

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

[01:04] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto II, lines 1 - 18. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[02:41] Introductory remarks: Don't skip this canto but don't be too optimistic.

[05:10] The rhetoric of the new: PARADISO is not Virgil, not Statius, not the Apocalypse of St John, not PURGATORIO, not INFERNO, and not the CONVIVIO.

[10:08] The bread of angels: the Eucharist, theological study, or something less well defined?

[12:11] Jason, the Argonauts, and the rewriting of Ovid's METAMORPHOSIS.

[15:25] An address to any reader or an address to a more limited audience, like fellow poets?

[19:41] The grace of partial understanding with metonymies.

[23:19] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto II, lines 1 - 18.

Beatrice continues in her discourse about our natural instincts, making the bold claim that they can lead us to our natural ends . . . which are the good, not the catastrophic bad.

Her Scholastic theology is tinted with poetic metaphors in a bold move to explain how the arrow, once shot, can deviate from its preordained track.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the conclusion of Beatrice's first major discourse in PARADISO.

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

[01:39] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 115 - 142. To read along or continue the conversation about this passage, please find the entry for this podcast episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:50] Paraphrasing Beatrice's discourse on instinct, order, and ends.

[06:41] Keeping the instinct to a predetermined end fuzzy.

[09:29] Highlighting Beatrice's poetics in two metaphors: archery and art.

[14:43] Swerving with the lightning.

[16:02] Drawing further conclusions from Beatrice's first major discourse in PARADISO.

[21:05] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto I, lines 115 - 142.

Beatrice has answered Dante's first doubt, but he has another. He can't quite understand how he, maybe in his body, can make his way across the universe.

She doesn't have a quick answer. Instead, she has a theory of how the whole universe works.

Her answers are always bigger than his questions.

And in this case, she brings him out onto the great sea of "to be" as he begins to sail into port.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the first part of her great schematic for the universe: its diverse order is a reflection of its unified creator.

If you'd like to support this work, consider a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.

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

[01:14] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 94 - 114. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:14] Dante's agitation, Beatrice's smile.

[10:00] His implicit question: my body v. all the heavenly bodies.

[13:25] The first part of her answer about the orderliness of creation.

[20:10] Order and disorder: Dante's and our dualities.

[23:43] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto I, lines 94 - 114.

Our pilgrim finds everything doubled in brightness . . . because he's begun to fly up to the heavens, although he doesn't know it at first.

He's too busy figuring out all that light . . . and listening to the music of the spheres.

But Beatrice is there to set him straight and tell him that his ascent is faster than he could ever understand.

She also redefines "home"--not the Italian peninsula, nor the Garden of Eden, but the highest heaven, where they're headed in this journey to the final vision.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our flight among the planets and stars to head home.

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

[00:49] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 61 - 93. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please find this episode's entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:34] Glaucus, the fisherman who becomes a sea-god.

[05:01] Glossing lines 61 - 72: the changing light and pilgrim.

[10:14] Glossing lines 73 - 75: the mind/body problem.

[13:19] Glossing lines 76 - 84: the sempiternal music of the spheres.

[18:55] Glossing lines 85 - 93: Beatrice's answer to an unasked question.

[21:00] How a guy transhumans--and how this guy translates some hard lines.

[28:06] There is always more light.

[30:06] Wonder and awe are not ends in themselves.

[32:03] Life is an on-going redefinition of "home."

[34:30] Rereading PARADISO, Canto I, lines 61 - 93.

The plot gets underway in PARADISO.

Our pilgrim Dante turns to Beatrice . . . who is paying him no attention. She's staring at the sun.

So he does the same! He hasn't even left earth, yet the miraculous nature of his story is already in high gear.

As is his understanding of the universe ahead of him. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we experience Beatrice's return to the poem and the pilgrim's new mode of reflecting her glory.

If you'd like to help underwrite this work, please consider a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.

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

[01:19] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 37 - 60. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me through a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:23] In PARADISO plot comes second.

[06:06] Where are we? Cosmology and geography in the first three tercets.

[12:26] Dante explains the vernal equinox by the geocentric crossings of various circles around the globe.

[16:16] PARADISO is based on locations that its readers can observe in real time.

[19:18] Beatrice returns to the poem and manifests her ray of light.

[26:07] The pilgrim wishes to return home--but where is that?

[28:21] PARADISO excels at unanswered questions.

[30:24] The sparks fly from the sun . . . or from the sphere of fire.

[34:00] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto I, lines 37 - 60.

Our poet moves from his scholastic and even (medieval) scientific opening of PARADISO into his invocation . . . to Apollo?

This passage has often embarrassed Dante scholars who feel the need to excuse various pieces of it.

But we can let those pieces stand as part of the polyvocality of the text.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we move back and forth from the Christian to the pagan as we walk through this second part of Dante's opening lines of PARADISO.

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

[01:11] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 13 - 36. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me via a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:09] This passage embarrasses too many Dante scholars.

[09:14] This passage is polyvocal, a two-part fugue or invention.

[17:59] These two voices lead to dissonances in the passage.

[23:36] Did Dante intend these dissonances?

[25:20] Three small dissonances: Dante crowns himself, fights in an arena, and find his worth in two places at once.

[28:32] Marsyas, a comedic tragedy.

[32:01] The flame of the tongue, Pentecost, or maybe Ulysses.

[34:48] A high-toned, perhaps red-flag reference to Cyrrha.

[35:55] An inaccurate but telling reference to Parnassus.

[39:07] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto I, lines 13 - 36.

From its opening lines, it's clear that PARADISO is not like what has come before in COMEDY. Dante seems to be renegotiating the terms of his poem, establishing a new voice, a new model, and a new methodology for who he will proceed.

These opening lines are already packed with the sort of theological and philosophical stumbling blocks that make PARADISO a challenge, not just for a modern reader, but even for a medieval one.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slowly walk throug the first twelve lines of what is assuredly the most imaginative canticle, PARADISO.

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

[02:42] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto I, lines 1 - 12. If you'd like to read along, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:56] The glory of the unmoved mover.

[09:39] The varying illuminations of the universe.

[13:27] The finite geography of heaven.

[15:54] A passing glance at the highest heaven.

[17:34] Dante and St. Paul, renegotiated.

[19:25] The interrelations of desire, intellect, memory, and potentially Beatrice.

[22:23] The memory of a memory--or knowing by not knowing, the core of the aphophatic revelation.

[29:37] The key paradox of the mystical experience: the cross-currents of the material and the immaterial.

[33:02] The resurrection of Brunetto Latini.

[35:25] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 1 - 12.