It is difficult to add something new to the thousands of pages that have already been written on Dantes Divine Comedy, the peak of Medieval/ Renaissance literature.Dantes work is the longest love poem ever put on paper, and that for a pubescent girl, whom the author probably saw only on a few ephemeral occasions. They were his Divine Appearances of Beatrice.
On the other hand, some political aspects of the Comedy are still very modern, like the clashes between the religious and worldly powers.
Here, Dante criticizes the interventions of the Catholic Church in worldly matters to defend her profane but huge interests.
Dantes work is also an eminent catholic poem. As Jesus Christ, who said whos not for me, is against me, Dante fulminates (and puts in Hell) against those who didnt accept his vision of society (strict separation between religous and worldly powers), or those who didnt belong to his political party and sent him in exile.
My personal preference goes to the Hell part, where certain images evoke the impressive pictures of Jheronimus Bosch.
Everybody - even the heathen - should read this monument of human art, even if Dantes message is sometimes biased or flawed.
I was introduced to Ciardis translation of "The Divine Comedy" in an anthology of continental literature I read in college. At that time, after experiencing fragments of Fagles horrible "verse" translation of Homers works, I had low expectations for the translations in that anthology.However, the instant I started reading John Ciardis verse translation of "The Inferno", my hardened heart once again began to beat with the vibrancy it had when I read poems of Wordsworth or Browning.
John Ciardi, with a poetic talent that seems to be unmatched -- except for what I?ve read of W.S. Merwins "Paradiso XXXIII," -- creates a poetic flow that feels, tastes, and even smells Italian. A poetic flow that delightfully contrasts Fagles, whose poetic flow is limited by popular styles and even phrases of the 20th century.
Instead of trying to lift Dante to the 20th century, Ciardi gracefully carries us to the early 14th century.
Instead of assuming that Dante is arcane, old fashioned, and in need of Johns own poetic help, he believes that the original Italian is fresh, exciting, and poetically graceful.
The translation of Dante would have been diluted if Ciardi were to try and bring the 14th century to us through the modernization of the language, symbolism, and even the geography of Dantes world. (Fagles even geographically modified his "Odyssey" at one point to rename a Greek river the Nile because readers may get confused.)
I?m glad that Ciardi tries to bring us back in time when the universe was cosmically full of life, where even the stars were more than the mere byproducts of abstract forces, chance, that can only be systematically analyzed and dissected.
The medieval worldview is far richer than the purely logical and scientific mindset that?s now common. By bringing Dante to us unfiltered by that mindset, Ciardi helps move us towards the bright and vibrant medieval world.
I strongly recommend John Ciardis poetic translation of "The Divine Comedy," a lot is missed when reading only "The Inferno." The whole work is amazingly balanced.
