Canto VIII

“So may the lamp which leads you still to rise
find in your own free will sufficient wax
to reach the glittering heights of Paradise…” (viii.112-114)

This tercet confuses me. Lamp…rise…wax??

Thinking as I write here… none of the translators comment on this, but I wonder if Dante is reversing the myth of Icarus. Icarus flew too high, the sun melted the wax which held his wings together, and he fell to his death. Dante, in the lowest places, is being drawn upward by the “lamp” (divine grace, according to Sayers and Esolen—also, Virgil earlier used the sun as an image of God). This lamp apparently works upon the “wax” of his free will—not to destroy it, but to shape it more perfectly. Maybe Dante has Mt 23:12 in mind: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Ante-Purgatory: Plea for Prayer

Pray for me; the climbing here below
is rough for me, distractable and slow.
So filled with self that shadows seem more strong
than light itself, and darkness all I know.
Pray for me, as shadows still wax long;
the lingering serpent bids me still to wrong.
Pray my wandering heart would turn to prayer,
that dark of night would fill my lips with song.
Closer to that mountain bright and fair,
further on that sanctifying stair,
help me find the way that I must go,
that Jesus Christ might be my only care.
Pray for me, that I in prayer might grow;
Christ to me, as me to Christ, you show.

Canto IV

“ ‘Such is this mountain’s fashion,’ he replied,
‘it’s always heavy going at the start.
As you go farther up it’s not so hard.
So when it seems to you the mountainside
is sloped so easily that going up
feels like a ship that slips down with the tide,
Then you’ll have reached the finish of this path.’ ”

Two experiences of Lent (or other difficulties or disciplines) conflict in my head here. Virgil says that being made holy is really hard at first but gets easier as you go. However, Lewis offers a different model in The Horse and His Boy: “He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one.” Shasta’s journey does not get easier, but harder. I am guessing that both models are true in different ways or at different times, and to some extent I can identify with both, but I’m curious about other people’s experiences of this sort (Lenten or otherwise). What do you suppose causes the seeming contradiction? Why is the first week of Lent sometimes deceptively easy and fun, and sometimes grey and dull and endless?

I don’t know, maybe dwelling on the experience of it is a bad idea... but Dante at least notices it in passing, so perhaps we can too. :-)

Cantos I-III

"My master gently ran his open hands
over the little tufts of grass, and I,
who understood the reason for his art,
Presented him my cheeks, still stained and teared..."

This seems like a good attitude to emulate at the beginning of Lent... I want not only to have my face washed, but to anticipate having my face washed and want my face washed and put myself in the right posture to have my face washed. Herbert's line about "a face not fearing light" comes to mind-- both in the sense that Dante's face will be clean in the sunrise and in the sense that he does not hide from Virgil's ministrations.

Jess, the line about liberty caught my eye too. Particularly as we set extra limitations or rules or disciplines on ourselves for a short period: not because we are slaves to these things, but because we are slaves of Christ who is making us free.

A couple of intriguing patterns (not sure I understand what is going on, but I am interested!):

-Virgil keeps having to tell Dante to show reverence (to Cato and to the angel of the ship), or even physically remind him to kneel. Why? Does he get courtesy/proper reverence better than Dante does?

-In Canto III, Virgil mourns that Plato and Aristotle (and Virgil himself) have no hope in Limbo of finding the knowledge they sought while living. A little later, he urges Dante, "And my sweet son, you keep your hope strong now." He also speaks winsomely to the Excommunicate about their hope and expectation of heaven. There is probably more going on here, but Virgil's unselfconscious desire for Dante and the Excommunicate to have what he has not is both tragic and beautiful.

Ekphrasis: Dante's Virgil

The leaves that led me down through hell back
have folded on themselves to guide me straight,
with clarity revealing what they lack,
and drawing me to purgatory's gate.
To the brink of law's dominion, law has led,
while barring fast the gates of its high walls.
Within are feasts; the satisfied are fed,
and yet in vain the hungry exile calls.
Young Moses hid amid papyrus reeds;
the Temple shone with Egypt's treasure's bright.
But flesh, not stone, the spirit's temple needs,
so gird me with thy easy yoke and light,
that rooted in thy true word I may stay
when the cleansing wind has blown all leaves away.

Dane's Purgatorio, Cantos 1-3

Hello, friends!

Last week we were to have read through Cantos 1-3; this week you should be reading 4-8.

Here are my notes from last week's readings - forgive me, because they're pretty rudimentary. I just pulled out quotations that struck me, and made a quick note on each.

Canto 1:

-the purpose of Purgatory: "Where human spirits purge themselves, and train/To leap up into joy celestial." To me (oh me Protestant) this seems very like the purpose of Earth for those who are saved. It puts me in mind of that line in the children's Christmas hymn: "Fit us for heaven to live with thee there."

-Virgil about Dante: "'Tis liberty he seeks". <- This, in turn, reminds me of Galatians 5:1: "it is for freedom that Christ has set us free." There's some great mystery in the fact that in submitting to Christ's rule, we are finally free men.

Not from Dante, but I really liked Dorothy Sayers' note on the purpose of the Dew in Canto 1: "Before ascending the Mountain, Dante's face must be cleansed from the tears he shed in Hell. The penitent's first duty is cheerfulness: having recognized his sin he must put it out of his mind and not wallow in self-pity and self-reproach, which are forms of egotism."

Canto 3:

-Quoth Manfred: "Their curse cannot so damn a man for ever/That the eternal love may not return/While one green hope puts forth the feeblest sliver." - Even the slightest turning for His grace rescues for eternity - see the thief on the cross.

That's it from me! Again, I'm sorry it's so slight. But it does fit in with the idea of this blog - not to add an extra burden, but to read through the great poem and jot down what strikes us so that we'll be able to think about it and remember it. I really look forward to reading what the rest of you found in the first three Cantos.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

The Schedule

Welcome, friends!

I thought I'd put a first post on here just to get us started.

Yesterday, when I was able to get to my copy of Purgatorio, I slapped myself upside the head. How could I forget that there were 33 cantos? Or that the whole thing takes place before sunrise on Easter morning? (Again, how perfect for Lent!)

So, since Lent is just a bit more than six weeks long, how is this for a schedule?

This week: Cantos 1-3

Every week in Lent thereafter: 5 cantos/week.

That should have us finishing up with Canto 33 on Holy Saturday, just before Easter.

In order for this not to be too burdensome, shall we just plan on each blogging our impressions once a week? You can do more (blog as you go, by all means!), but once a week will be the general expectation. And feel free to just post a quotation that struck you, or a question you have, or an issue the poem led you to think of, or something short like that. A full essay is NOT required. :) Though feel free to favor us with an essay if you have one to write.

-Jess