PURGATORIO, Episode 31. The First "Scientific" Disquisition Is A Grand Misdirection: Purgatorio, Canto IV, Lines 1 - 18

Manfred's monologue has ended with some shocking conclusions: the excommunicated can indeed end up in heaven, a person can indeed repent at the last second, and the prayers of the living do have an effect on the fate of those in the redeemed part of the afterlife.

But Dante is not done shocking us.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we discover that the moral of Manfred's tale isn't what we thought it was. Is it about the fate of a late-repentant soul? Nope. It’s about the unity of the human soul.

This is the first "scientific" disquisition in PURGATORIO. It sets us up for the complications ahead, causing us to realize that even our notion of "plot" was not strictly correct.

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

[01:49] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, lines 1 - 18. if you'd like to read along, print it off, or drop a comment on this episode, just scroll down this page.

[03:42] The "scientific" debate among Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Dante on the unity of the soul: the debate's historical roots and its importance for Christian theology.

[18:43] Why does this "scientific" disquisition appear as the opening of PURGATORIO, Canto IV? 1) Because plot is not just action; it is also the development of the intellect. And 2) because Dante the poet surprises us with an alternate conclusion to the ones we might have drawn from Manfred's monologue.

[24:20] PURGATORIO contains so many passages about time to show us it is a terrestrial, human landscape.

[29:00] Wandering humans in congregation can find the way (although the church does have some power, if not final agency).

[31:32] Rereading this passage: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, lines 1 - 18.

And here’s my English translation of Purgatorio, Canto IV, Lines 1 – 18

Whenever, either from delight or from pain,

Some sensation is understood by our faculties,

The attention of our whole soul is focused on that very thing,

Which then seems to negate the capabilities of our other powers—

And thus, this process stands against the error which believes

That one soul in us is somehow kindled by another soul in us—

Which means that there’s a point when something heard or seen

Holds so tightly onto the soul then turned to it,

Time can go by without a person’s being aware of it.

That’s because there is one ability that can hear time

But another [ability] is now maintaining the soul’s attention—

In this case, the latter is fixed in place and the former, released.

I had a true experience of just this sort of thing,

As I listened to that spirit and gaped in wonder.

In fact, the sun had climbed a full fifty degrees

And I hadn’t even paid attention to it, when we all

Came to a spot where the souls cried out

In one voice, “Here’s what you’ve been asking about!”