Dante Alighieri

This startling new translation of Dante's Inferno is by Ciaran Carson, one of contemporary Ireland's most dazzlingly gifted poets. Written in a vigorous and inventive contemporary idiom, while also reproducing the intricate rhyme-scheme that is so essential to the beauty and power of Dante's epic, Carson's virtuosic rendering of the Inferno is that rare thing--a translation with the heft and force of a true English poem. Like Seamus Heaney's Beowulf and Ted Hughes's Tales from Ovid, Ciaran Carson's Inferno is an extraordinary modern response to one of the great works of world literature.

Beginning with Dante's liberation from Hell, Purgatory relates his ascent, accompanied by Virgil, of the Mount of Purgatory - a mountain of nine levels, formed from rock forced upwards when God threw Satan into depths of the earth. As he travels through the first seven levels, Dante observes the sinners who are waiting for their release into Paradise, and through these encounters he is himself transformed into a stronger and better man. For it is only when he has learned from each of these levels that he can ascend to the gateway to Heaven: the Garden of Eden. The second part of one of the greatest epic poems, Purgatory is an enthralling Christian allegory of sin, redemption and ultimate enlightenment.

The second volume of Oxford's new Divine Comedy presents the Italian text of the Purgatorio and, on facing pages, a new prose translation. Continuing the story of the poet's journey through the medieval Other World under the guidance of the Roman poet Virgil, the Purgatorio culminates in the regaining of the Garden of Eden and the reunion there with the poet's long-lost love Beatrice. This new edition of the Italian text takes recent critical editions into account, and Durling's prose translation, like that of the Inferno, is unprecedented in its accuracy, eloquence, and closeness to Dante's syntax. Martinez' and Durling's notes are designed for the first-time reader of the poem but include a wealth of new material unavailable elsewhere. The extensive notes on each canto include innovative sections sketching the close relation to passages--often similarly numbered cantos--in the Inferno. Fifteen short essays explore special topics and controversial issues, including Dante's debts to Virgil and Ovid, his radical political views, his original conceptions of homosexuality, of moral growth, and of eschatology. As in the Inferno, there is an extensive bibliography and four useful indexes. Robert Turner's illustrations include maps, diagrams of Purgatory and the cosmos, and line drawings of objects and places mentioned in the poem.

In Paradise, having plunged to the uttermost depths of Hell and climbed the Mount of Purgatory, Dante ascends to Heaven, continuing his soul's search for God, guided by his beloved Beatrice. As he progresses through the spheres of Paradise he grows in understanding, until he finally experiences divine love in the radiant presence of the deity. Examining eternal questions of faith, desire and enlightenment, Dante exercised all his learning and wit, wrath and tenderness in his creation of one of the greatest of all Christian allegories.

A unique treatise by a poet, written for poets, on the art of poetry, LA VITA NUOVA is elaborately and symbolically patterned, consisting of a selection of Dante's early poems, interspersed with his own prose commentary. The poems themselves tell the story of his love for Beatrice, from their first meeting at a May Day party in her father's house, through Dante's sufferings and his attempts to conceal the true object of his devotion by the use of 'screen-loves', to his overwhelming grief ather death, ending with the transformative vision of her in heaven. These are some of the richest love poems in literature and the movement from self-pitying lament to praise for the beloved's beauty and virtue, illustrate the elevating power of love.

A new verse translation of the second section of Dante's monumental epic, the Divine Comedy, chronicles the poet-narrator's odyssey, with the poet Virgil as his guide, up the Mount of Purgatory toward Paradise, in a new version that includes a detailed introduction, extensive notes, and commentaries on each canto. Reprint. 12,500 first printing.

&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RThe Inferno&&L/I&&R, by &&LB&&RDante Alighieri&&L/B&&R, is part of the &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R&&LI&&R &&L/I&&Rseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R: &&LDIV&&RNew introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&R&&L/I&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RThe Inferno&&L/I&&R remains literature's most hallowed and graphic vision of Hell. Dante plunges readers into this unforgettable world with a deceptively simple—and now legendary—tercet:&&LBR&&R&&LBR&&RMidway upon the journey of our life&&LBR&&RI found myself within a forest dark&&LBR&&RFor the straightforward pathway had been lost.&&LBR&&R&&LBR&&RWith these words, Dante plunges readers into the unforgettable world of the Inferno—one of the most graphic visions of Hell ever created. In this first part of the epic &&LI&&RThe Divine Comedy&&L/I&&R, Dante is led by the poet Virgil down into the nine circles of Hell, where he travels through nightmare landscapes of fetid cesspools, viper pits, frozen lakes, and boiling rivers of blood and witnesses sinners being beaten, burned, eaten, defecated upon, and torn to pieces by demons. Along the way he meets the most fascinating characters known to the classical and medieval world—the silver-tongued Ulysses, lustful Francesca da Rimini, the heretical Farinata degli Uberti, and scores of other intriguing and notorious figures.&&LBR&&R&&LBR&&RThis edition of the &&LI&&RInferno&&L/I&&R revives the famous Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translation, which first introduced Dante's literary genius to a broad American audience. "Opening the book we stand face to face with the poet," wrote William Dean Howells of Longfellow's Dante, "and when his voice ceases we may marvel if he has not sung to us in his own Tuscan." Lyrically graceful and brimming with startlingly vivid images, Dante's Inferno is a perpetually engrossing classic that ranks with the greatest works of Homer and Shakespeare.&&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&LB&&RFeatures a map of Hell and illustrations by Gustave Doré.&&L/B&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LSTRONG&&R&&L/B&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LSTRONG&&RPeter Bondanella&&L/B&&R&&L/B&&R is Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and Italian at Indiana University and a past president of the American Association for Italian Studies. His publications include a number of translations of Italian classics, books on Italian Renaissance literature and Italian cinema, and a dictionary of Italian literature. &&L/P&&R&&L/DIV&&R

Includes "The Divine Comedy," "The New Life," and other selected poems, prose, and letters accompanied by biographical and introductory sections.

The authoritative translations of The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso--together in one volume. Belonging in the immortal company of the great works of literature, Dante Alighieri's poetic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, is a moving human drama, an unforgettable visionary journey through the infinite torment of Hell, up the arduous slopes of Purgatory, and on to the glorious realm of Paradise--the sphere of universal harmony and eternal salvation. Now, for the first time, John Ciardi's brilliant and authoritative translations of Dante's three soaring canticles--The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso--have been gathered together in a single volume. Crystallizing the power and beauty inherent in the great poet's immortal conception of the aspiring soul, The Divine Comedy is a dazzling work of sublime truth and mystical intensity.

Presented with both Italian and English text, this version of Dante's classic follows the poet's journey through Purgatory under the guidance of Virgil in search of Beatrice.

This translation has rendered "Inferno" into contemporary verse while maintaining Dante's original triple rhyme scheme, recreating the poem in all its dimensions. The translation is accompanied by facing-page Italian and explanatory notes.

An introduction and notes accompany this classic epic poem about a spiritual pilgrim being led by Virgil through the nine circles of hell.

Volume 4 of Indiana's six-volume edition of Dante's Divine Comedy consists of Mark Musa's extensive commentary on the Purgatory. Enlightening for the general reader as well as the student of Italian or comparative literature. Volume 3 is the companion volume, a dual-language edition of Dante's Purgatory.