Virgil goes off to confer with the demons who slam shut the gates of Dis, shutting our pilgrim out in the fifth circle of INFERNO with no way forward.

But perhaps more importantly, our pilgrim, Dante, has been left alone. He hasn't been all alone since the dark wood in Canto I.

To compensate for the feeling that the pilgrim is abandoned, Virgil makes a beautiful promise. And he seems to get his own internal space, even a backstory.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the end of Canto VIII of INFERNO which may be one of the most resonant and human passages we've yet encountered in INFERNO. So much is changing in this great poem. Let's see if we can tease out the human problems, not just the classical references.

To support this work, consider 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:

[01:00] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto VIII, Lines 97 - 130. If you'd like to read along, continue the conversation with me about this episode via a comment, or find a deeper study guide for this passage, please find the entry for this podcast on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:23] Our pilgrim's terror at being left alone (or perhaps the poet's terror at being left at the edge of Virgil's imaginative landscape).

[08:16] Virgil's response to the pilgrim: a promise never to leave him--a promise Virgil is about to break.

[11:39] The pilgrim's response--and the poet's technique of a unified point of view. Plus, Virgil's apparent doubts before the walls of Dis.

[18:22] Virgil's reply: faith and encouragement, despite his doubts but with a bit of his backstory in tow.

[26:42] Where are we? Which circle is this? What happened to our museum of the damned?