Paralyzed by Free Will: PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 1 - 27

Piccarda may have vanished but questions remain. The pilgrim Dante is caught between them, unable to voice them.Beatrice to the rescue! She voices what he cannot say . . . or perhaps what he is afraid to say.She articulates his two questions, makes one of them very personal, and attempts to mitigate the anger of King Nebuchadnezzar . . . or maybe the pilgrim's anger.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the fascinating opening to the fourth canto of PARADISO.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:01] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto IV, lines 1 - 27. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:24] PURGATORIO Canto XVIII as the background for PARADISO Cantos IV and V.[06:27] The multivalent, triplicate, opening simile--a man, a lamb, and a dog; hunger, fear, hunger--which embellishes a simile from PARADISO Canto III.[12:51] Beatrice : Daniel :: Nebuchadnezzar : Dante?[15:09] Beatrice's two intuited doubts from the pilgrim: the souls' origins and destinations, as well as the problem of coercion and the will.[20:01] The Latin in the text, the veil of the will.[22:22] The canto's opening simile again: paralysis, perhaps between women, certainly because of desire, hardly a hymn to rational free will.[26:14] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto IV, lines 1 - 27.