Dante Today

Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture

Lisa Aldin, “Dante Enters the Tenth Circle of Hell: Shoe Shopping for a Toddler,” McSweeney’s

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“Midway upon the journey of my life
I found myself within a shoe aisle in Target,
For the toddler’s sparkle unicorn shoes had been lost.
Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say
What was this shoe aisle savage, rough, and smelly,
Which in the very thought renews the fear.

[. . .]

The way resumed my journey away from
The dollar bins and past the toy aisle,
Which never yet a living person left.
And lo! almost where a tantrum began,
My toddler spotted the stuffed animals,
After I hauled ass and made some airplane noises,
Steering the cart away from a stuffed panther with wild abandon,
My toddler’s lower lip ceased to tremble.

[. . .]

Behold the beast, for which I have turned back;
Do thou protect me from the snack aisle, famous Sage,
For she doth make my veins and pulses tremble.”

–Lisa Aldin, “Dante Enters the Tenth Circle of Hell: Shoe Shopping for a Toddler”, McSweeney’s, August 18, 2022

“Our Desire is a Gift From the Stars,” A Unitarian Universalist Blogpost

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“The word desire comes from the Latin desiderare: ‘to long for,’ but the Latin desiderare comes from de sidere: ‘from the stars.’ From the stars.

“I find this extraordinary: to think that somehow our desire, our longing, is connected to the very stars in the sky. The stars, which share their light with us across such impossible distances of time and space. The poets might say our desire is a gift from the stars and is ultimately for them and the beauty and mystery and the creative fire and energy of which they are for us a sign.

“I’m reminded of the very last line of Dante’s Divine Comedy — Dante, the great medieval poet guided by his love for a human woman, Beatrice. In his imagination, his love and his longing for her lead him on a great journey all the way to Paradise and to a final vision of the love which moves and connects all things: l’amor che move il sole e le altre stelle… ‘the love that moves the sun and the other stars.’

“This love that moves the sun and the stars is with you too, body and spirit, and with everything and everyone. If we can live out of that, the rest will take care of itself.”    –Laura Horton-Ludwig, “Our Desire is a Gift From the Stars,” Unitarian Universalist Association

“Radiating The Love That Moves The Sun And Stars” (2021 Blogpost)

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“Arguably the most important official document to proceed from the Second Vatican Council was the ‘Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,’ written ‘to unfold more fully’ the ‘inner nature and universal mission’ of the Church. (LG 1.) The document is better known by its Latin title, ‘Lumen Gentium,’ taken from its first sentence: ‘Christ is the light of nations.’ By proclaiming the Gospel, explains Lumen Gentium, the Church ‘brings the light of Christ to all people.’ It is fitting, therefore, that the theme of the bicentennial year of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati is ‘Radiate Christ.’

[. . .]

“And the light of Christ, a light greater than any other, is love. Indeed, in the final words of Dante’s Paradiso, it is the radiating ‘love that moves the sun and other stars.'”    –Dr. Kenneth Craycraft, “Radiating The Love That Moves The Sun and Stars,” The Catholic Telegraph, September 2, 2021

“Beauty Awakens the Soul to Act,” Blogpost by Bruce Cryer

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“I awoke again this morning as a stunning pastel sunrise formed over the Bay. I never tire of these glorious mornings, even when the sun is hiding behind fog or clouds.

“There is no question for me that ‘beauty awakens my soul to act.’ Beauty inspires me to share my heart, share my feelings, to communicate deeply with myself as well as with others. Beauty uplifts me to that wondrous state called awe. Discovering, expressing and creating beauty is the reason I live. Whether it’s music, a gesture, a cloud, a sunrise, a smile, a tear, a moment of tender vulnerability… in whatever beauty expresses itself I allow myself to be touched and transformed in its presence. What a gift in this life to be able to experience and express beauty in any of its infinite forms. How do you express beauty in your life? In what ways has beauty inspired you to act?”    –Bruce Cryer, “Beauty awakens the soul to act,” brucecryer.com (Retrieved October 25, 2022)

“The love that moves the sun and other stars” (2019 Blogpost)

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“‘L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.’

“That’s how Dante Alighieri terminates his Master Piece the Divine Comedy.

“This quote has popped in my mind a lot recently, I’ve tried to substitute the word ‘love’ with many other (abstinence, caffeine, fear), but nothing works as well as it does.

“Dante had already understood in the XIV century, love is the strongest of all forces. 

“Will we be able to stop loving? Or to prevent loving from hurting us? Probably not. A few times in my life I’ve experienced having a broken heart. I thought that was just a metaphor, until I felt it happening in my chest, in my head, or actually in my heart. [. . .]

“So, I need to remember to be the center of my own solar system, I need to keep in mind that I’m the sun. And maybe, when love will move the sun, the other stars will move along.”   –Flavia, “The love that moves the sun and other stars,” ClassicFlavia, February 12, 2019

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How to Cite

Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.

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