The Inferno of Dante: A New Verse Translation by Robert Pinsky

by Dante Alighieri

355 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1996

About the author

Dante Alighieri, or simply Dante (May 14/June 13 1265 – September 13/14, 1321), is one of the greatest poets in the Italian language; with the story-teller, Boccaccio, and the poet, Petrarch, he forms the classic trio of Italian authors. Dante Alighieri was born in the city-state Florence in 1265. He first saw the woman, or rather the child, who was to become the poetic love of his life when he was almost nine years old and she was some months younger. In fact, Beatrice married another man, Simone di' Bardi, and died when Dante was 25, so their relationship existed almost entirely in Dante's imagination, but she nonetheless plays an extremely important role in his poetry. Dante attributed all the heavenly virtues to her soul and imagined, in his masterpiece The Divine Comedy, that she was his guardian angel who alternately berated and encouraged him on his search for salvation.

Politics as well as love deeply influenced Dante's literary and emotional life. Renaissance Florence was a thriving, but not a peaceful city: different opposing factions continually struggled for dominance there. The Guelfs and the Ghibellines were the two major factions, and in fact that division was important in all of Italy and other countries as well. The Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor were political rivals for much of this time period, and in general the Guelfs were in favor of the Pope, while the Ghibellines supported Imperial power. By 1289 in the battle of Campaldino the Ghibellines largely disappeared from Florence. Peace, however, did not insue. Instead, the Guelf party divided between the Whites and the Blacks (Dante was a White Guelf). The Whites were more opposed to Papal power than the Blacks, and tended to favor the emperor, so in fact the preoccupations of the White Guelfs were much like those of the defeated Ghibellines. In this divisive atmosphere Dante rose to a position of leadership. in 1302, while he was in Rome on a diplomatic mission to the Pope, the Blacks in Florence seized power with the help of the French (and pro-Pope) Charles of Valois. The Blacks exiled Dante, confiscating his goods and condemning him to be burned if he should return to Florence.

Dante never returned to Florence. He wandered from city to city, depending on noble patrons there. Between 1302 and 1304 some attempts were made by the exiled Whites to retrieve their position in Florence, but none of these succeeded and Dante contented himself with hoping for the appearance of a new powerful Holy Roman Emperor who would unite the country and banish strife. Henry VII was elected Emperor in 1308, and indeed laid seige to Florence in 1312, but was defeated, and he died a year later, destroying Dante's hopes. Dante passed from court to court, writing passionate political and moral epistles and finishing his Divine Comedy, which contains the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. He finally died in Ravenna in 1321.

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would be embarrassed to give it less than 5 stars--who am I to do that? But Robert Pinsky is, as far as I can tell, an excellent translator-vivid with a lovely cadence--although since I can't read Italian I can't compare the translation with the original.

But the images are powerful and there are many scenes that feel like watching a drama.Ciardi

I read this many years ago, the John Ciardi which I recall also liking but this felt even more exciting than I remember my first time.

[Lily Venkitachalam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dante’s Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri’s poem, The Divine Comedy, encompassing his journey through the nine circles of Hell under the guidance of the Roman poet Virgil. I particularly enjoyed Dante’s use of powerful imagery, which created a clear mental image of his adventures. The story structure intrigued me, as it did not follow a classic plot arc that includes an exposition, climax, and resolution, among other elements. Instead, the journey was more linear, enveloping the reader in the environment rather than building tension and conflict. With the nature of the story it worked well for the majority of the novel, but in some places I felt as if this caused the story to fall flat. The poetic structure caused the story to be difficult to comprehend at times, but the book made up for this lack of clarity in its eloquent language. Although Robert Pinsky did a wonderful job in his translation, the book left me wanting to learn Tuscan Italian in order to be able to experience it the way Dante originally wrote it. My favorite story from Inferno was that of Count Ugolino, a man Dante encounters in the final circle of Hell. He tells of how he was imprisoned in a tower with his sons and grandsons to starve, forced to watch them all die of hunger. It is implied that starvation drove Count Ugolino to consume their remains, giving a disturbing end to an already haunting tale. Although this story wasn’t exactly pleasant, it was satisfying to me purely because of its boldness, as I personally love when stories don’t shy away from depicting tragedy in such a gruesome manner, Overall, I would recommend Dante’s Inferno to anyone who is willing to challenge themselves a little bit in order to expose themself to a colorful, powerful classic.

This is for school which is why I sound like a bot. :)

[therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

if i ever write a memoir, i too would try and pull something like this. anyway read katabasis and listen to hozier’s unreal unearth