A Seam In The Narrative Sewn With Virgil's Murmurs: PURGATORIO, Canto X, Lines 94 -111

Help support this podcast by donating at this PayPal link right here.Having seen the intaglios, Dante is still in wonder as the first penitents round the bend. Virgil spots them first . . . and murmurs to Dante.Murmurs? It’s a loaded verb in a passage about Dante’s theory of art.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we take on this short passage in PURGATORIO, Canto X, a passage that seams the canto together . . . or perhaps reveals its stitching.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:07] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto X, lines 94 - 111. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:18] This passage is a seam in the narrative, an important break in its structure.[06:50] In Dante's theory of art, only God can create something out of nothing.[08:21] Only in retrospect do we know what the intaglios were about. Or do we?[10:00] Dante is writing ekphrastic poetry (poetry about a piece of visual art) about art that doesn't exist except in his own imaginative landscape.[12:28] Several possible answers to the complicated question of Virgil's murmuring in this scene.[18:08] Dante's third address to the reader in PURGATORIO may exhibit a hesitation or even an insecurity in the narrative.[23:12] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto X, lines 94 - 111.