Go Home: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 1 - 18
Walking With Dante16 Elo

Go Home: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 1 - 18

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.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(509)

The Expanding Community of Women in the Moon: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 109 - 130

The Expanding Community of Women in the Moon: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 109 - 130

Piccarda Donati doesn’t stop her monologue with the cryptic line about her life after the convent. She turns to another figure in the lunar landscape: Constance I of Sicily, the Holy Roman Empress and...

23 Syys 23min

The Violent yet Elliptical End to Piccarda Donati's Story: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 88 - 108

The Violent yet Elliptical End to Piccarda Donati's Story: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 88 - 108

Piccarda Donati finally answers the question about who she is. She's given her name but not much else about her. In twelve lines (or four tercets) she brings her personal story to its violent yet elli...

20 Syys 27min

Piccarda Donati's Apotheosis of the Will: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 58 - 87

Piccarda Donati's Apotheosis of the Will: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 58 - 87

Piccarda has confessed to her more humble place in the heavens. Our pilgrim Dante then wants to know if she wants more.Her answer leads her to an apotheosis of the will. Everything in the universe is ...

16 Syys 30min

The First Soul in Paradise, Piccarda Donati: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 34 - 57

The First Soul in Paradise, Piccarda Donati: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 34 - 57

At long last, the first soul--or "shade"--steps forward in Paradise. She's Piccarda Donati, a figure we've already encountered once (maybe even twice) in COMEDY.Dante flatters her to speak and she beg...

13 Syys 29min

Catching Feelings in the Sensual Sphere of the Moon: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 1 - 33

Catching Feelings in the Sensual Sphere of the Moon: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 1 - 33

Dante is about to meet the first souls in Paradise, emerging from the liquid light of the moon.The poetry is lush and sensuous. The metaphors are complex and compounded. And Beatrice is a bit chilly, ...

9 Syys 28min

The Souls of the Universe: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 127 - 148

The Souls of the Universe: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 127 - 148

Beatrice concludes her explanation for moon spots by veering away from them specifically to talk about the nature of the universe.Blessed movers turn the spheres. Or perhaps inhabit them. Or are bound...

6 Syys 27min

The Diversity of Being in a Universe of Light: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 106 - 126

The Diversity of Being in a Universe of Light: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 106 - 126

Beatrice now launches into the true explanation for moon spots, found not in folklore, not in natural philosophy, but in metaphysics.Her explanation pushes her to disclose the parts of the universe we...

2 Syys 28min

Testing Theology With Optics: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 85 - 105

Testing Theology With Optics: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 85 - 105

Beatrice continues in her scientific and Scholastic explanation for moon spots by taking apart a secondary argument . . . and proposing an optical experiment.She voices an objection Dante might have: ...

30 Elo 26min