- user66974. The Divine Comedy is a fulcrum in Western history. .) that keeps the pattern going forward, naturally to the ear. I really enjoy the extra insights I receive from his notes, summaries, and essays. In exile, he paid homage to his true love, Beatrice, and by choosing to write in his Tuscan vernacular instead of Latin, transformed the Italian language. The surprising historybehind the worlds most famous collection of folk tales. I wasn't thrilled with either Mellville or Longfellow. He first met Bice Portinari, whom he called Beatrice, in 1274; she inspired his most famous poetry, including the Vita Nuova, which More about Dante Alighieri, The English Dante of choice. Hugh KennerExactly what we have waited for these years, a Dante with clarity, eloquence, terror, and profoundly moving depths. Robert Fagles, Princeton UniversityA marvel of fidelity to the original, of sobriety, and truly, of inspired poetry. Henri Peyre, Yale University, Sign up for news about books, authors, and more from Penguin Random House, Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network. In comparing these two translations, the Sayers version seems to win out in two waysit matches Dante in form and, to a degree, in content. The Divine Comedy is a 14th century poem that has never lost its edge. Even though The doctrine of Papal infallibility was defined dogmatically in the First Vatican Council . To understand why Dante faints in Inferno 5, you have to realize just how surreal it was for him to hear Francesca cite the poetry of his youth, the words that helped make him poet and that hastened Francescas demise. Of what we call our life, I looked up and saw no sky. | ISBN 9780679433132 In the Inferno, it is well known, Dante singled out corrupt leaders and political enemies, but the poem as a whole was actually inspired by unrequited love. When, out of nowhere, I heard: "Watch your step! This is why one of the few truly successful English translations comes from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a professor of Italian at Harvard and an acclaimed poet. Individuals with disabilities are The Divine Comedy. Only a dense cage of leaf, tree, and twig. At every mouth he with his teeth was crunching 55. Charles Singletons translation for his understanding of textual nuance and its outstanding notes is strongly recommended. Dorothy Sayers and John Ciardis are two reliable translations for me; Mandlebaum also works, though it is not my favorite. The Divine Comedy, translated by John D. Sinclair: This was recommended by a fellow reader on Twitter and I am so glad I bought the complete set. Rogers It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest works of world literature. For centuries, readers have been isolating greatest hits from The Divine Comedy and swooning over its most memorable characters: muse Beatrice, stalwart guide Virgil, tragic lovers Paolo and Francesca, unbearably eloquent Ulysses, cannibalistic Ugolino. That's the version I read and those bleak covers, Barry Moser ink washes, were ubiquitous in freshmen dorms. Theirs is the one that keeps coming up when looking for a good verse translation. T. S. Eliot called such poetry the most beautiful ever writtenand yet so few of us have ever read it. This Canto is most noteworthy because it is the canto where Francesca di Rimini tells the story of how she got to hell with her husbands brother, and lover, Paolo. New Jersey, Report Accessibility Barrier or The Divine Comedy is the most well-known piece in Italian literature. with disabilities are encouraged to direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any A tough call. Provide Feedback Form, Rutgers, The State University of With one deft allusion, one lyrical dance amid the ferocious winds in the Circle of the Lustful, Dante delivers a magnificent psychological portrait of Francescas path to damnation. By Paul Bruckman . Start earning points for buying books! This page allows you to compare five passages from seven verse translations side by side. When I reconciled myself to that, I was off and running. Since childhood they had exchanged in passing the one word their families would allowSalute! The Divine Comedy is a 14th century poem that has never lost its edge. What, for us, would really be paradise? You can revive it by posting a reply. New Jersey. "All this shall be made known to you when we stand, And he said to me: "When we have stopped along, And he responded, "These things will be made. I just saw the great discussion about the Iliad and I thought I'd ask my question about. But long before rehabilitating Thomas Cromwells reputation, Mantel was unparalleled in her crystalline dissections of power, whether between girls at the University of London or Dantonists in the French Revolution. Your email address will not be published. So much depends on whats outside his text: the mass of other books, other stories, other issues that lie submerged beneath the actual lines of The Divine Comedy. The Divine Comedy has a complex rhyme scheme that suits itself well to the rhyme-rich language of Italian (where, unlike English, many words end in vowels). Part of the problem lies in the difficulty that Dante poses for English translation. His metered language often seems more natural than Sayers and more in keeping with the diction of Dante, which favored solid vocabulary and straight-forward syntax. Dante Alighieri (12651321), Italys greatest poet, was born in Florence and belonged to a noble but impoverished family. ", He calls the quatrains a "nice, easily flowing rhythmic grid on which to mount the individual moments. Perhaps nowhere is this economy of expression more evident than in the justly celebrated canto of the star-crossed lovers, Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta. Lacqua chio prendo gi mai non si corse; The sea I sail has never yet been passed: Emulating Dantes talent for internal rhymes laced with hypnotic sonic patterns, Longfellow expertly repeats the ss to give his line a sinuous, propulsive feel, which is exactly what Dante aims for in his line, as he gestures toward the originality and joy of embarking on the final leg of a divinely sanctioned journey. Last year marked the 750th anniversary of Dantes birth in 1265, and as expected for a writer so famousEliot claimed Dante and Shakespeare divide the modern world between them; there is no thirdthe solemn commemorations abounded, especially in Italy where many cities have streets and monuments dedicated to their Sommo Poeta, Supreme Poet. But Longfellows English can sound flowery to our contemporary ears. Provide Feedback Form. Clive Jamess 2013Comedyuses quatrains and augmented quatrains as its building blocks, while Mary Jo Bangs 2012 translation of theInfernoin colloquial American English, carries elements of her own style, and is unrhymed. Oct 19, 2015 at 21:03 . I also enjoy Anthony Esolens translation (blank verse with some rhyme). Michael Palmas 2003 translation ofInfernobegins this way: Midway through the journey of our life, I found. encouraged to direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any accessibility issues . The Divine Comedy in translation (what to look for, comparison of opening lines) - YouTube The vlog form of a blog I did in July 2021, discussing translations of The Divine Comedy. New Jersey, Report Accessibility Barrier or Just like a musical score to someone who cant read music. He produced one of the first complete, and in many respects still the best, English translations of The Divine Comedy in 1867. Provide Feedback Form, Rutgers, The State University of While Rogers does not maintain a rhyme scheme, nor Dantes famous hendecasyllable structure per se, he does opt for using a classical English poetic meter, the iambic pentameter. . From Inferno 1 to Paradiso 33, scores of different literary personaesome real, some invented, some famous, some obscuretake the stage to plead their case or expound on their joy before the autobiographical character Dante as he journeys from hell to heaven. Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. I've also heard great thngs about Merwin and Pinsky but they've only done the Purgatorio and Inferno respectively. As the day stands when the Sun begins to glow. I wondered how else one could say Midway through our life, I found myself in a dark wood; the right way was lost., Both James and Bang are poets. Her methodology comes from picking up a book of poems by Caroline Bergvall and reading Via (48 Dante Variations), a found poem, she writes, composed entirely of the first three lines of theInfernoculled from forty-seven translations archived in the British Library as of May 2000). It's also a poetry translation, as opposed to prose translations. 12> I agree that Ciardi is the most readable. Breaking the poem down to its parts, getting to know the characters one or two at a time, learning the themes and language of these individual elements, can give you the traction to begin enjoying Dante and eventually take on his whole poem. And its a very famous poem, Al cor gentil rempaira sempre amore, Love always returns to the gentle heart, a gorgeous medieval lyric by Guido Guinizelli, one of Dantes poetic mentors in the Sweet New Style, a movement in the late 1200s that nurtured Dantes emerging artistic sensibilities. Individuals with disabilities are By clicking Sign Up, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and understand that Penguin Random House collects certain categories of personal information for the purposes listed in that policy, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information and retains personal information in accordance with the policy. Mandelbaums astonishingly Dantean translation, which captures so much of the life of the original, renders whole for us the masterpiece of that genius whom our greatest poets have recognized as a central model for all poets. I had the energy, but not the knowledge, and not the knowledge of myself, because Dante is worried about himself. Any other translations you'd like to recommend are fine with me. Translations that attempt to maintain any type of rhyme scheme often sound forced and usually compromise the meaning of the text. You dont need to know the background, backstory, allusions, sources. Just for joining youll get personalized recommendations on your dashboard daily and features only for members. Dantes The Divine Comedy is one of Italian Literatures most frequently translated texts, it has literally been being translated for over hundreds of years.
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