Dante's Inferno (The Divine Comedy: Volume I, Hell)
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- £4.49
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- £4.49
Publisher Description
Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy in the middle of the 13th century and what is principally known of him comes from his own writings. One of the world’s great literary masterpieces, the “Divine Comedy” is at its heart an allegorical tale regarding man’s search for divinity. The work is divided into three sections, “Inferno”, “Purgatorio”, and “Paradiso”, each containing thirty-three cantos. It is the narrative of a journey down through Hell, up the mountain of Purgatory, and through the revolving heavens into the presence of God. In this aspect it belongs to the two familiar medieval literary types of the Journey and the Vision, however Dante intended the work to be more than just simple allegory, layering the narrative with rich historical, moral, political, literal, and anagogical context. In order for the work to be more accessible to the common readers of his day, Dante wrote in the Italian language. This was an uncommon practice at the time for serious literary works, which would traditionally be written in Latin. One of the truly great compositions of all time, the “Divine Comedy” has inspired and influenced readers ever since its original creation. Presented here is the first volume of the “Divine Comedy” translated into English verse by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this adventurous and stimulating experiment in translation, contemporary poets of quite varied persuasions--from Richard Howard to Deborah Digges--reconsider a looming ancestor, Dante. The 34 cantos of the Inferno are shared among 20 poets all known for their strong original work in English, and some, too, for their distinguished accomplishments as translators. The effect of the book is to summon a multiplicity of voices from the one, and to direct readers not only back to the source but to the varying tempos and temperaments of modern poetry in English. Some readers may, it's true, find the plurality of this Inferno engulfing, but it's difficult not to rejoice in such singular abundance. As a project in translation, this one is uncommonly educating, too, asking readers to make judgments on the various approaches and to decide for themselves what matters most about the poetry. In that sense, literary connoisseurship becomes a seemly match for the moral connoisseurship of Dante's work, where sins and sinners are mapped out with a horrifying vividness, harmoniously observed. All readers will have their own favorites, whether these are Cynthia Macdonald's sleekly vigorous Cantos VI and VII, the devastating elegance of Jorie Graham's XI and XII, or others. And yet, the point is finally the whole--the full company, and not the parts.
