The Divine Comedy: Inferno

by Dante Alighieri, Jason Baxter (translator)

This vivid new translation of Dante’s immortal classic, Inferno, opens a new vista and offers a fresh experience of this milestone in human literary genius. Throughout his life, Dante struggled with the question of how to convey the solemn gravity of the Latin classics into the “vulgar” language of his native Italy. At the same time, he was convinced that the vernacular of his time and place had color and vibrancy that the “heady,” more cerebral, classic literature lacked. Writing the Inferno was Dante’s breakthrough moment in wedding these two very different “personalities” of poetic expression. Jason Baxter’s new, pulsing, rhythmic translation is alive with spiritual energy from both these streams. Here we have an Inferno that we feel in our nerves and in our blood, as well as in the heart and head.

Genres: Classics, Poetry

327 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 13, 2024

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

[Karol E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenal translation. Unlike some others I have read Baxter's Inferno is truly alive with words that pulse in the bones and awake the soul. Magnificent!

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been waiting for this translation since I first heard about it a year ago. Jason M. Baxter wrote that:

My translation brings a unique approach to capturing Dante’s mesmerizing, throbbing style. Dante writes his narrative with a nervous, almost angry, energy. His paratactic lines ( “and then… and then… and then…”) create a sense of a bounding, forward momentum, that is, until he comes to one of his classicizing passages, which slows down, and creates the sensation of floating (“And like one who….”). ...

Part of Dante’s present, even urgent, appeal, is how “modern” he feels, and much of that modern urgency is because of the restless dynamism of his style. Thus I aim to use a free verse translation, but one whose chief goal is to convey the anxious, edgy energy of the original.

I so enjoyed Baxter's book The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis and A Beginner's Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy, that the above description left me chomping at the bit to see what this meant to a reader like me.

=============

UPDATE on the translation
I picked this up again after a long time and am really loving the translation. Why is this so much easier to understand than the four (or is it five) others I have? It just flows and I just understand what is being talked about. I'm really enjoying reading it in a way that I haven't with other translations.

UPDATE on Baxter's introduction
I am reading Dorothy Sayers introduction and commentary as I go. It is superb. Baxter's introduction is also quite good in a different way. However, I am finding it occasionally difficult simply because every time he mentions something in Inferno there is a poem location to the reference in parentheses behind it. This leads to visual distraction that can drive one to madness when there are a lot of references in a row, such as when he's talking about the bestiary contained in the book — after every single animal there's a parenthesized reference. Talk about hard to read! This could have been handled so easily in footnotes it is a real shame that, for me, these parts of the intro are practically unreadable. Of course, I got this for the translation, not for the introduction, but it is disappointing.

[Megan Brumley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the translation for us. Today. Right now. I can’t recommend it enough. Waiting on pins and needles for the next two books to come out.

[Rachel S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful translation. Having now read more than one translation of Dante's Inferno, Dr. Baxter's translation is my favorite. He works hard to make it both clear and... to get the sound and feel of it right. If the lines or words are abrupt and rough feeling or if they're smooth and flowing, he works to get the *feel* of it into English. For all newcomers to Dante, I also recommend Baxter's "Beginner's Guide" to the Divine Comedy. He makes Dante breathe for us and he makes us breathless as we read.

[Olivia Terryberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this translation was really good and gave a lot of context for the events and people Dante was referencing! I enjoyed it, it was just a little darker than my usual reads (to be expected with this one)

[Jesse | jessereviewsbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Divine Comedy: Inferno is one of my favorite books of all time. I had to first read it in high school and fell in love with it. I try to read it every Spring, but I always try to read different translations of it. I recently saw that a new translation was released late last year that is translated by a Dante scholar who attempted to write it in free verse rather than following rhyme schemes. In doing so, he was able to update the language to make the epic poem easier to understand to today's readers. While some of it didn't quite work, there were some parts that felt much more horrific than I remember them being. Some of the punishments really felt bloody, terrifying, or just plain awful. You were able to get a true sense of just how horrible Hell could be to its sinners. In addition, he provides a lot of footnotes throughout to help give context to Dante's contemporaries that he sees throughout Hell. Overall, I thought this was a great translation and would probably recommend this one to newcomers.

[Linnea Kroeger · Rating 5 out of 5]

2024: This was so good! The introduction by Dr. Baxter is not to be missed. The writing flowed well and was easy to read and understand. The footnotes found in the book are helpful but not overdone. If you are looking for a good entry into Dante, I think this is a good option.

[Jennifer]

A new translation with a brilliant introduction that alone makes the book worth the price.

Jason Baxter is an engaging teacher and speaker whose “writing and speaking focus on the relevance of the medieval experience of beauty for the modern world.”

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

really solid introductory translation. I found it very readable. the translator provides minimal notes so it might not be the best study version. but I'd happiky suggest this for someone who is opening Dante for the first time.

[Meggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I only understood what was happening 50% of the time, this translation was beautiful and readable. Baxter’s introduction to Inferno was especially inspiring and informative.

[Colette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this translation. I’ve tried several translations I’ve liked, but Baxter’s is my favorite so far.

As for Inferno, itself— totally amazing.

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strikingly and intelligently translated by a great Dante teacher!