PURGATORIO, Episode 120. Lighten Up Before The Dark Smoke Of Anger: PURGATORIO, Canto XV, Lines 115 - 145

Dante comes out of his ecstatic vision only to have Virgil question whether the pilgrim has drunk too much.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this rare moment of levity after such intense visions. The pacing slows down and Virgil offers kind advice about getting on their way, maybe two more answers to the problem of anger.

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

[01:18] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XV, lines 115 - 145. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation, please scroll down this page.

[03:31] Dante the poet offers a humorous moment in PURGATORIO--and perhaps another antidote to the problem of anger.

[05:41] Does Virgil know what Dante has seen in his visions or only that Dante has had visions? Is Virgil cagey? If so, why? If not, what's his point?

[09:26] A pastoral scene dissolves into ominous, inescapable smoke that itself encapsulates the problem of anger.

[12:02] What exactly are Dante's "not erroneous errors" or "unfalse errors"?

[15:12] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XV, lines 115 - 145.

And here’s my English translation of Purgatorio, Canto XV, Lines 115 – 145

When my soul returned

To the things that are true in this outside reality,

I recognized my not erroneous errors.

My leader, who was able to see

That I was like someone trying to shake off sleep,

Said, “How come you can’t hold yourself upright?

“In any event, you’ve come along for more than half a mile

With covered eyes and tangled legs,

Like someone bent over with too much wine or half asleep.”

“Oh, my sweet father,” I said to him,

“If you’ll listen to me, I’ll tell you what appeared before me

When my legs were swiped from underneath me.”

And he [replied]: “Even if you had a hundred masks

Over your face, your condition

Wouldn’t be hidden from me, no matter how small the clues.

“You saw what you did so that you won’t refuse

To open your heart to the water of peace

That flows from the eternal fountain.

“I didn’t ask you, ‘What’s up?’ like someone

Who looks only with eyes that don’t see

When someone’s body lies prone in front of them.

“But I asked so that I could bring strength to your feet.

The hesitant must be prodded, no matter how slowly they start up

Once their vigilance returns.”

We walked on through the evening, gazing

Intently as far as our eyes could do so

Against the bright rays of the sunset.

Then behold, little by little, some smoke was coming toward us.

It was so dark that night isn’t more so.

There was nowhere to escape.

It took away both our eyes and the pure air.