Imola reveals Dante's Requirement for Paradiso

[Chris]

Interesting. But couldn't Musa be also right? Could the command 'go back!' be like a poetic hyperbole, and the 'careful attention' is needed, because you'll end up misunderstanding Paradiso, but not actually losing the progress made so far.

That might be his intention, but the wording would in that case be misleading;

"It is the reader who now occupies the little boat" - not in general. It is the unprepared/not ready reader only.

"Dante recom­mends careful attention lest the little boat stray" - there is no "lest" in the original. The little boat will stray. The question is whether it leads to "back to the purgatory/inferno process", or develop distorted theology.

Though, one could add; one can still read Paradiso for inspiration, but it is risky. And at a minimum with a big caveat, that what one draws out from it, will be with a big "maybe". 

More specifically; if the restoration of Soul and the Relationship to God is not re-established internally, the inner and necessary structure/apparatus is simply not there yet.

To give Musa benefit of the doubt, 'lest' could be the poetic choice for his iambic meter. It's literal dictionary meaning, is not necesary what it says in this context. I can see a scenario where 'lest the boat stray' means the same as 'the boat will stray'.