A bit of Dante's Purgatorio that really caught my attention yesterday. Dante and Virgil are climbing Mt. Purgatory, and are passing by the negligent or lazy. Canto 5, verses 10–21; I quote the Mandelbaum translation.

Virgil speaks:

"Why have you let your mind get so entwined,"
my master said, "that you have slowed your walk?
Why should you care about what's whispered here?

Come, follow me, and let these people talk:
stand like a sturdy tower that does not shake
its summit though the winds may blast; always

the man in whom thought thrusts ahead of thought
allows the goal he's set to move far off—
the force of one thought saps the other's force."

Could my reply be other than "I come"?
And—somewhat colored by the hue that makes
one sometimes merit grace—I spoke those words.

…always / the man in whom thought thrust ahead of thought / allows the goal he's set to move far off— / the force of one thought saps the other's force.

…sigh…

Monica and I were talking on Friday about things that we wanted to do before dying. Ten years ago I would have—and did—think in terms of activities: traveling, white water rafting, etc—adventure seeking. Now I realize that I have one real goal which I have been toying with for years—I want to write a book, and not just any book, but a novel, or better yet, a poem, such as Gogol's Dead Souls.
( Read more... )