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224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
Rigorists are wrong to say that “all” the original is lost in transmission; the scholars are wrong to ask that poetry play the role of a crib; the poets are wrong to expect the tang of native harvests in exotic hybrids.That is, he gives himself license to dazzle—and astute observers of character can predict how, when the lines permit some flexibility, he will even try to surpass his material. Whether this ever succeeds I cannot in my ignorance judge, but the English is enjoyable enough. My favorites are 14, in which Dante lambasts his eyes for gazing at the Garisenda and thus missing sight of Beatrice, 23, 32, 41 (for sentimental reasons), 69, 77 and 78 for their imagery, 88, 89, and of course the contumelious sonnet skirmish 72-75, the tenzone which find Dante skewering Forese Donati over faults of impotence and gluttony (and vice versa over lineage and poverty), thus presaging the modern-day rap battle.