Paradiso

Hosted by Chris Piuma and Suzanne Conklin Akbari

At this point I admit my defeat;
no poet, comic or tragic, ever was
more outdone by his theme than I am now

for, as sunlight does to the weakest eyes,
so did the mere thought of her lovely smile
strike every recognition from my mind.

From the first day that I beheld her face
in this life till the vision of her now,
I could trust in my poems to sing her praise,

but now I must stop trying to pursue
her beauty in my verse, for I have done
as much as any artist at his best.

Dante’s Divine Comedy comes to an end with Paradiso , as Beatrice guides him through the nine spheres of Heaven to his ultimate encounter with God. But how does Dante approach describing a place filled with people who are satisfied basking in God’s indescribable glory? And how does he reconcile his obsession with measuring out time while also trying to contend with timelessness? Suzanne and Chris think through endings and puddings.