Some years ago I was hiking with a group of students in Mount Robson Park. As fate would have it, there had been a flash flood the previous evening. The natural consequence of such an event is, of course, that the bridge over which I had hoped to cross was completely washed out.
One of the rules I follow in the mountain backcountry is akin to that of Sam Gamgee - rope. Never travel without rope. It is not only useful for vertical movement, but for horizontal as well. It is much easier to ford a mountain river with rope than without. Trust me on this. Or if not, try it both ways and then let me know the outcome.
At any rate, this is where we are today. There is no easy bridge at this point in the poem. The questions don't get any deeper than this: what is love? If I manage to get across this particular section without being swept away, it is only because others will keep me grounded and anchored. There are points in this section where I have to admit that any answer I give, or any attempt at interpretation will be completely inadequate. Nontheless, onward ho!
It should be clear to you by now how blind
to truth those people are who make the claims
that every love is, in itself, good love.They think this, for love's substance, probably,
seems always good, but thought wax is good
the impression made upon it may be bad.Purgatory XVIII 33ff
We are created to love, and love appears to be a force which is unavoidable. We have attractions and desires upon which we act. So how can it be that love can be either good or bad, Dante asks Virgil. Love is not, in Virgil's explanation, something which we as human beings create out of ourselves, it is (as we will see later in Paradise) the very thing which allows the entire universe to exist. The soul is created to move toward that which pleases it (20 ff.). It is completely "natural" in one sense of the word. So how can any "love", any genuine movement of the soul toward that which it loves, be the subject of ethical judgement? Can love be either good or bad? Dante addresses Virgil:
if love comes from a source outside of us,
the soul having no choice, how can you praise
or blame it for its love of good or bad?Purgatory XVIII 43ff
I'll see if I can find the answer after lunch, and before tonight's study group...
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