THE WOOD
It must be immediately apparent that here in this Canto XXVIII we have a parallel wood that presages a new stage in Dante the Pilgrim’s journey toward wholeness and holiness. The first wood, of course was in the very first Canto of the Commedia. He was lost in the dark wood and his way out was barred by three fierce animals. Here however he is not in a rush, and indeed, is casually confident. Unlike the last few levels of Mt. Purgatory, there is no need to hurry here. There is a lovely contrast between his inner eagerness with his casual walk. Yes, he is eager to move forward, but does so at a measured pace: slowly, slowly [lento, lento].

4 I left the bank without delay
sanza più aspettar, lasciai la riva,

5 and wandered oh so slowly through the countryside
prendendo la campagna lento lento,

Here in this wood as in the first wood at the beginning of Inferno, we find it is also verdant and ancient and it shades the sun. Indeed, after but a few steps into this wood, he can’t even see where he had entered. 

22 Already my slow steps had carried me
Già m'avean trasportato i lenti passi

23 so deep into the ancient forest
dentro a la selva antica tanto, ch'io

24 I could not see where I had entered,
non potea rivedere ond' io mi 'ntrassi;

But here there is no confusion, no fear, no threat either from within or without. He has been proclaimed by Virgil as master of himself and indeed one has the sense that what is different is not the wood or the location, but rather the Pilgrim himself. Take a person who is untrue to him or herself, who is running from threats within along with dishonesty and lack of integrity, and place that person anywhere on this green earth and the reality may indeed seem threatening and frightening, regardless of the context. 

THE LADY
We are in different territory here, for in the first wood Dante the Pilgrim’s way was barred by three beasts, here however, he is stopped in his tracks by a lovely lady collecting flowers and singing. She is on the other side of a stream and Dante is thunderstruck by her beauty and presence [“a thing so marvelous it drives away all other thoughts”].

37 and there appeared to me, as suddenly appears
e là m'apparve, sì com' elli appare

38 a thing so marvelous
subitamente cosa che disvia

39 it drives away all other thoughts,
per maraviglia tutto altro pensare,

40 a lady, who went her way alone, singing
una donna soletta che si gia

41 and picking flowers from among the blossoms
e cantando e scegliendo fior da fiore

42 that were painted all along her way.
ond' era pinta tutta la sua via.

Old habits die hard. He has just come from the level of the lustful, being purged in the fire himself, and yet he is so struck by her beauty here in this pastoral scene he immediately draws comparisons from classical poetry to rape and seduction. The three similes can be found in your translation and commentaries, but they are; Prosperina/Pluto [rape], Venus/Adonis [Cupid’s arrow], Hero/Leander [consummation of lust]. Dante the Pilgrim has the temerity to tell this woman some of what he is thinking.

Yet, here we have a woman of wondrous strength and delicate tact who leads his thoughts to the proper meditations for this stage in his journey. She is not insulted or threatened but simply states a fact: “You are new here… You are perplexed and filled with wonder…” She gives him the benefit of the doubt and lets Dante the Pilgrim know she is singing Psalm 92. “It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,” It is a psalm of a life lived in the joy of praising God in all that one does. Indeed, all that she has been doing, singing, picking flowers, sauntering and waiting, has been honoring God. 

By that one word she realigns Dante the Pilgrim’s expectations and brings him round right. She tells him that she has come to this wood specifically to answer his questions. And he immediately knows this woman is to be honored, respected and listened to. We will learn that this is Matelda, and she will lead him, even drag him, to the place needed, spiritually and in actual location in the earthly paradise, for Beatrice to arrive and guide him further. She is one of my favorite characters in the entire Commedia. 

THE RIVER
While Matelda lectures Dante the Pilgrim about the movement of the spheres and the weather that results, I wish to look just briefly at the river that is before his feet and the other river that is to come, which we will learn is on the other side of Eden. Dante the Poet has created his own geography here, foregoing the traditional four rivers known to classical antiquity or ancient Biblical geography, reducing everything down to two rivers which aid in the process of redemption of sin and restoration of Grace.

The river in front of Dante is Lethe which would be known to all as the classical river of forgetfulness used by Virgil and Ovid. In their worldview, a soul would drink of the waters of Lethe to wipe clean all memories of a past life and prepare the soul for a new life to come. Dante reconfigures its effects so that when a soul drinks from it in this earthly Eden, it “has the power to take from men the memory of sin.” At first blush, that sounds like a total blessing to me. There are still sins that haunt us, coming back to shame or revile us years after the original deed had been done. Would that we could bite our tongue off rather than have said those things to our loved one. Does this sound familiar to anyone else? Drink of Lethe and forget all, all, ALL OF THAT!

Yet, no. That is just the first step of a two-step process. Dante the Pilgrim must also drink of the water from the river on the other side of Eden: Eunoe. This is most likely another neologism of Dante the Poet meaning ‘good mind.’ When one drinks of this water, the past sins are once again brought to mind, but as fully forgiven. Hence, healing is complete. Past mistakes and betrayals now become “felix culpa,” the “Blessed Fall” which led to our Redemption. Originally applied to Adam’s sin, it is seen in spiritual formation and Jungian therapy and 12 step programs as the admission of guilt for the sake of forgiveness and healing. It is a recognizing of the darkness within us all that will lead to end of fault-finding and blaming. For Dante to have created both rivers that need to be drunk from in the correct order which will lead to wholeness and holiness, is a work of great art, deep theological truth and practical lived reality of forgiveness desired and given. 

Gentle Reminder
Please read the original material, each and every Canto and the notes and commentary that are part of your particular translations, before looking over my comments. I will not unpack all of the subtleties and nuances of this great work: not by a long shot. This is a blog of my own reflections as I read this miraculous work for the seventh time. Hence, I am merely thinking and reflecting aloud, so to speak. Please do read and dig and discover on your own too. Dante will amply repay all your effort.

Spilling The Beans
I am a proud father of two, daughter and son, who now also have a daughter [born to my daughter] and son [born to my son]. There were always times with both my children and grandchildren when they were very young when they could not keep a secret; especially when it came to giving gifts. One of them would bring the gift to my wife or myself, barely able to contain their excitement at what they knew would be the best gift in the world! Indeed, often they would blurt out the surprise before the package was even half opened: “Merry Christmas Mommy… It’s a dishrag I made in school for you!” And my wife and I would ooh and aah over the ‘surprise’ gift.
    That is how I’ve felt for the last month about beginning this section of the Commedia with you. The Purgatorio is truly remarkable in so many ways, I’ve started this initial blog several times… SEVERAL times. Like my beloved little ones, I realized I was telling you what to look for and what surprises awaited before we ever got to the particular Canto. However, Dante the Poet does not tell us what to expect or watch for. Instead, like a flower slowly unfolding petal by petal, he walks us through this part of the Medieval universe and we find new lessons and profound differences from and superficial similarities with our experiences in the Inferno. So, I’ve deleted all the prior reflections and decided to simply walk with Virgil and Dante the Pilgrim, listening, learning and discovering along with them. Let me encourage you, however, to stay with us on the journey. The language and poetry grow more beautiful and profound the further we go, and to assume we know about the Commedia simply based on the Inferno is like assuming you know all about Paris based on your exploration of the sewers below the city. You may wish to read about the theology of Purgatory in your translation of Purgatorio, or even check out Dorothy Sayers version with its excellent notes. However, even if you just dive in and learn as you go, there is beauty, pain, growth and grace awaiting each of us as we continue the journey. Join me.

It’s All Up From Here
In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, the prisoner who is set free crawls up out of the cave where he lived only in shadows and muted light to see upon standing free the brilliant light and open space of truth. Dante, of course, discovered hard and bitter truths in the journey down, down through Hell, but now he too stands in the open air of hope and divine Grace. It is expressed in the subtlest and most beautiful of ways. As he and Virgil finish crawling down, then up the leg hairs / fur of Satan, they stand up and find color, fresh sea air and stars that had never been seen since the dawn of humanity.

13 Sweet color of oriental sapphire,
Dolce color d'orïental zaffiro,
 
14 hovering in the calm and peaceful aspect
che s'accoglieva nel sereno aspetto
 
15 of intervening air, pure to the horizon,
del mezzo, puro infino al primo giro,
 
16 pleased my eyes once more
a li occhi miei ricominciò diletto,
 
17 as soon as I had left the morbid air
tosto ch'io usci' fuor de l'aura morta
 
18 that had afflicted both my chest and eyes.
che m'avea contristati li occhi e 'l petto.

We have here a stark contrast to the fetid and choking atmosphere of self-hate, anger and fear which Dante the Pilgrim had been breathing since beginning the journey. Indeed, I would say even before he began the journey, for it was his twisted view of this world and its hatreds and prejudices and pride that led him astray in the first place. He breathed the air of war and duplicity even before he set foot in Hell. 
    Not now. As he comes up out of the self-referent, self-hating, self-absorbed realm of the Inferno we know immediately that all is different here. Love shines from Venus, “the fair planet that emboldens love.” The stars shine down in purity and nobility. The four stars he saw almost certainly were not the Southern Cross but rather the four cardinal virtues that are God given guides for us all in Classical Ethics as well as Medieval Christianity: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. These are above the world from God and not earned as a result of any moral progress on the part of humanity. Robert Hollander of Princeton notes: “What is important to understand … is that these virtues were infused and not earned -- which again points to Adam and Eve, the only humans born before Christ who had the virtues infused in their very making.”  

Surprise!
Now we need to be clear that Purgatory is not a lesser Inferno. Instead every person we meet from here on out is, in reality, heaven bound. This can better be described as heaven’s porch than anything else. That is why the first person we see should shock our socks off: Cato the non-Christian who rejected Caesar’s claim to Emperor and who ended up committing suicide as a result of losing his battle against him. Cato refused to live his life as a slave. He choose integrity, freedom and truth in the act of suicide. Hence this differs completely from the selfish and even petulant acts of the suicides we spoke with in the Inferno. But more than this we find that a pagan can be saved in God’s economy, based upon the divine truths that are part of the Imago Dei in every human being. The four cardinal virtues that shine in the stars above also seem to shine out from Cato’s very being: 

31 I saw beside me an old man, alone,
32 who by his looks was so deserving of respect
33 that no son owes his father more.
34 His beard was long and streaked with white,
35 as was his hair, which fell
36 in double strands down to his chest.
37 The rays of those four holy stars
38 adorned his face with so much light
39 he seemed to shine with brightness of the sun.

We discover that he is in fact watching over the entire mountain of Purgatory. This is a place of willing discipline, not forced suffering, for the sake of becoming closer to Christ’s Image and drawing nearer to heaven. There is a place for rest and there is a time to grow, and we will find Cato chastising these two when they do not accept the seriousness of the times and the importance of this place. All this from a pagan suicide dude.