Purgatorio, Canto 28 with Dr. Jane Kim

[@tomm5256]

This was the most beautiful Canto yet and Dr. Kim’s discussion was beautiful as well. Thank you, so much for this.

[@johndunham9236]

Dr. Kim, you are a blessing to this project. I remember Torrey sessions with you fondly, and this presentation matched the beauty of this XXVIIIth Canto. The Dark Wood contrast with the Wood of Earthly Paradise was stunningly true. Now I am very curious about the number 28 in Dante. This Canto was an immediate sigh of peaceful ecstasy. He is slow, and looks around and lingers rightly and justly to sing to Matelda. He is a lord as Adam once was. His pure desire is amazing to behold. A paradox, indeed, but a sweet one. The chain of Virgil, to Matelda, to Beatrice as Reason, to Wisdom, to Revelation was a brilliant connection. I will think on that more. A vision no longer, now the true, blissful reality. Poets, rejoice! Thank you, Dr. Kim! God bless you.

[@mariebelcredi2206]

Thank you Dr Kim. So good to see you again after Inferno explaining this beautiful canto of lush fields full of flowers and the 2 cleansing streams

[@EricBlauer]

Thank you this exquisite commentary that helped me see it in a more meaningful way. Your insight was so good. I will gnaw on this until it’s marrow is fully opened. Delicious!

[@patcamerino5456]

Canto 28: The countryside (campagna) through which Dante slowly walks, followed by Statius and Virgil, is filled with beauty in its foliage, flowers, fragrance, bird songs and gentle breezes, the last produced by the circling celestial spheres above them. Dante spies, across a perfectly pure stream, a woods, quite in contrast with the one he had experienced as the “dark woods” at the beginning of his pilgrimage. He sees a donna soletta - a lovely lady, walking, alone, while singing and picking flowers on the far shore. She explains he is now in the Earthly Paradise that was the original Garden of Eden. The venue may also be identified with Parnassus, the peaceful garden of classical antiquity. Unaided by man, it produces all of the various seeds found on earth. The stream he beholds does not originate from an earthly fountain but from the Will of God. It is divided at its source into two rivers, the Lethe, whose waters, when consumed, will bring about forgetfulness of one’s sins, and the Eunoe, whose waters will produce good memories replacing the forgotten sins. Forgiveness is derived in the combination of forgetting sin and remembering the good of life. In their conversation, Dante is reminded of the powers of rebirth and of the Eternal Spring which exists in this garden. The unnamed Lady also reminds him of the words of a psalm: "How great are your works, Lord! How profound your designs.") Meditating on these "works" give Virgil cause to smile.

[@treborketorm]

Thank you Dr. Kim for your lovely presentation. I am fascinated by the concept of women being personified as Wisdom or "the Divine Feminine," i.e., the spiritual concept that there exists a feminine counterpart to the patriarchal and masculine worship structures that have long dominated organized religions. For her depth of knowledge the "lovely lady" may be compared to the lady of Wisdom in Proverbs 8:1-36, and it is Virgil who represents Reason, who guides Dante to Wisdom, and it is Wisdom who leads Dante to Revelation, who is represented by Beatrice in Paradise. This reminds me of something that the 12th century philosopher Moses ben Maimon (aka "Maimonides") once wrote about. He held that reason and revelation concern one body of truth; each is a mode of access to truth, and he thought there was significant philosophical wisdom in revelation. Now, seven centuries after Dante, we still long for a "Golden Age," when men are good, the world is at peace, and the Earth enjoys unending Spring." Alas, we are no nearer to that than Dante in his time and we seem to have lost our way altogether and we must renew our efforts to leave the dark wood and renew our search for the path to Mount Purgatory for repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

[@frankcahill747]

Beautiful content. beautifully presented. Thank you, Dr. Jane Kim.

[@hopeowsley2572]

Thank you for this clear, helpful commentary.

[@raelynearnest3176]

Exquisite!!

[@Balz5280]

TRANSCRIPT Thank you for the 100 Days Project!

[@bryanbarajasBB]

Cool! I was born on a 28 😁