24. In My End Is My Beginning

Our goal in this lecture is also the goal of the entire course, to move to the final lines of the poem, where the pilgrim Dante has the experience of seeing God face to face. The last two cantos of the poem prepare for this encounter. After a brief look at the way in which the heavenly rose is structured, and a look at who we find there, we move to the final canto, which begins with Saint Bernards prayer to the Virgin. The paradoxes that are apparent in this prayer prepare the reader for the paradoxes of the two most important Christian mysteries, the Incarnation and the Trinity, which are two of the key parts of the final vision. The final vision attempts to show how the entire universe, and Dantes part in it, are bound together as though parts of a single book. It also attempts to tie together the entire poem Dante has constructed and to prepare the reader for a return to the world of space and time.