Dante finds himself in such dark, acrid smoke that he is reminded of the very inky desolations of Inferno. In fact, he has come to the darkest spot in all of COMEDY, the fiftieth canto of Dante's masterpiece.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin to explore the third terrace of Purgatory proper along with Dante and his guide, Virgil.

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

[01:35] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, lines 1 - 24. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:35] The fiftieth canto of COMEDY is the darkest canto of them all.

[05:24] Is the smoke of anger "contrapasso," as the punishments of hell were?

[08:41] Can Virgil see in the smoke?

[11:57] The line the penitents chant in unison is one of the oldest texts in the Mass.

[15:25] Dante well understands anger as a knot.

[19:27] Dante the poet shows an understanding of modern plot structure.

[21:02] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, lines 1 - 24.