History & Criticism
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Inferno (Bantam Classics)
In this superb translation with an introduction and commentary by Allen Mandelbaum, all of Dante's vivid images--the earthly, sublime, intellectual, demonic, ecstatic--are rendered with marvelous clarity to read like the words of a poet born in our own age.
Editorial Reviews
"An exciting, vivid Inferno by a translator whose scholarship is impeccable."
--Chicago magazine
"The English Dante of choice."--Hugh Kenner.
"Exactly what we have waited for these years, a Dante with clarity, eloquence, terror, and profoundly moving depths."--Robert Fagles, Princeton University.
"Tough and supple, tender and violent . . . vigorous, vernacular . . . Mandelbaum's Dante will stand high among modern translations."--The Christian Science Monitor
"Lovers of the English language will be delighted by this eloquently accomplished enterprise."
--Book Review Digest
--Chicago magazine
"The English Dante of choice."--Hugh Kenner.
"Exactly what we have waited for these years, a Dante with clarity, eloquence, terror, and profoundly moving depths."--Robert Fagles, Princeton University.
"Tough and supple, tender and violent . . . vigorous, vernacular . . . Mandelbaum's Dante will stand high among modern translations."--The Christian Science Monitor
"Lovers of the English language will be delighted by this eloquently accomplished enterprise."
--Book Review Digest
Readers Top Reviews
Ana MariaKjetil A.St
Dante Alighieri's `The Inferno` is one of the classic pieces of literature that makes a `must read`. The poem structure (and the style) makes it not the easier piece to read, but the narrative and it's meaningfulness is worthwhile. What I like about the Amazon Classics edition was the introduction. It not only added pages to the book, but meaning as well. It presents Alighieri's life, and the political, religious and social environment at that time, giving many insights into what inspired the book. The footnotes in the book are also very well documented and useful in understanding `The Inferno`.
FurnaceMike
I had never read Dante's Inferno before, even in college, and always wished I had. As a big horror/thriller/drama fan, Dante is often referenced and used as a structure for many similar novels. I was lucky to find this version, since obviously, the original is in Italian, and most English-translations are still full of words that we simply don't use anymore or understand. It does really help to have a healthy background on Roman/Greek history. This was the only thing I had some trouble with, as it has been many years since I studied this aspect of history. Due to all the famous Roman and Greek figures met along the way, and the references to this period, it will help other readers to maybe keep a history reference at hand if you also do not remember a lot of it.
This masterpiece of medieval poetry is offered in an English verse translation from the mid-19th century. This matters because rendering Italian verse into English verse forces the translator into all sorts of contortions -- including using unusual and archaic words, changing the logical order of words in sentences, etc., in order to keep rhymes and prosody -- in addition to the use of words that were common in English 150 years ago but aren't anymore. This makes it quite hard to read. At the same time, there is a sense that this translation gets closer to the original complexity of the language -- a modern Italian speaker might find the same problems in the original from 700 years ago! The abundant footnotes are crucial to understanding the references Dante makes to his contemporaries, and the backstory of why they are now in hell. Without those, the text would often be impenetrable. Overall, this book is a double tour de force -- by author and translator. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because there must be easier to understand translations around, either more recent or less burdened by the demands of verse.
Bill HuntDadimus Max
I was pretty disappointed in this translation. It’s more concerned with political correctness than with providing a modern translation, (unless of course you consider the insidious pervasiveness of political correctness in society today). I figured I’d gut it out but when I got to Canto XXVIII and saw that he removed any reference to Mohammad, Ali or Islam, that was it for me. What a waste, I ended up purchasing John Sinclair’s translation, and I’m glad I did.
Mary H. Gavin
With decades of study and meticulous craftsmanship, Dr. Peter Thornton has offered his translation of “The Inferno.” I do not know Italian, but I have read a couple of other translations of “The Inferno,” and I found this one the best for several reasons. First, the poetry is vivid. I felt like orange flames and the stench of Sulphur were my companions as much as were Dante and Virgil. The verse itself is a second reason I liked this translation. The meter – iambic pentameter, the ordinary meter of the English language – does not intrude into the poetry itself. That is, I wasn’t conscious of stretching of words or awkward diction for the sake of the meter. You can enjoy the translation without bothering to read the footnotes, but once you start, you are off on another journey, equally absorbing – this one through contemporary (to Dante) Florentine history, Christian metaphors and allusions, Roman legend and mythology, and Catholic scholars from Augustine on. Read the translation; savor the footnotes. There’s always room for a fresh version of hell.
Short Excerpt Teaser
CANTO I
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
che la diritta via era smarrita.
Ahi quanto a dir qual era e cosa dura4
esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte
che nel pensier rinova la paura!
Tant' e amara che poco e piu morte;7
ma per trattar del ben ch'i' vi trovai,
diro de l'altre cose ch'i' v'ho scorte.
Io non so ben ridir com' i' v'intrai,10
tant' era pien di sonno a quel punto
che la verace via abbandonai.
Ma poi ch'i' fui al pie d'un colle giunto,13
la dove terminava quella valle
che m'avea di paura il cor compunto,
guardai in alto e vidi le sue spalle16
vestite gia de' raggi del pianeta
che mena dritto altrui per ogne calle.
Allor fu la paura un poco queta,19
che nel lago del cor m'era durata
la notte ch'i' passai con tanta pieta.
E come quei che con lena affannata,22
uscito fuor del pelago a la riva,
si volge a l'acqua perigliosa e guata,
cosi l'animo mio, ch'ancor fuggiva,25
si volse a retro a rimirar lo passo
che non lascio gia mai persona viva.
Poi ch'ei posato un poco il corpo lasso,28
ripresi via per la piaggia diserta,
si che 'l pie fermo sempre era 'l piu basso.
The voyager-narrator astray by night in a dark forest. Morning and the sunlit hill. Three beasts that impede his ascent. The encounter with Virgil, who offers his guidance and an alternative path through two of the three realms the voyager must visit.
When I had journeyed half of our life's way,
I found myself within a shadowed forest,
for I had lost the path that does not stray.
Ah, it is hard to speak of what it was,4
that savage forest, dense and difficult,
which even in recall renews my fear:
so bitter--death is hardly more severe!7
But to retell the good discovered there,
I'll also tell the other things I saw.
I cannot clearly say how I had entered10
the wood; I was so full of sleep just at
the point where I abandoned the true path.
But when I'd reached the bottom of a hill--13
it rose along the boundary of the valley
that had harassed my heart with so much fear--
I looked on high and saw its shoulders clothed16
already by the rays of that same planet
which serves to lead men straight along all roads.
At this my fear was somewhat quieted;19
for through the night of sorrow I had spent,
the lake within my heart felt terror present.
And just as he who, with exhausted breath,22
having escaped from sea to shore, turns back
to watch the dangerous waters he has quit,
so did my spirit, still a fugitive,25
turn back to look intently at the pass
that never has let any man survive.
I let my tired body rest awhile.28
Moving again, I tried the lonely slope--
my firm foot always was the one below.
Ed ecco, quasi al cominciar de l'erta,31
una lonza leggiera e presta molto,
che di pel macolato era coverta;
e non mi si partia dinanzi al volto,34
anzi 'mpediva tanto il mio cammino,
ch'i' fui per ritornar piu volte volto.
Temp' era dal principio del mattino,37
e 'l sol montava 'n su con quelle stelle
ch'eran con lui quando l'amor divino
mosse di prima quelle cose belle;40
si ch'a bene sperar m'era cagione
di quella fiera a la gaetta pelle
l'ora del tempo e la dolce stagione;43
ma non si che paura non mi desse
la vista che m'apparve d'un leone.
Questi parea che contra me venisse46
con la test' alta e con rabbiosa fame,
si che parea che l'aere ne tremesse.
Ed una lupa, che di tutte brame49
sembiava carca ne la sua magrezza,
e molte genti fe gia viver grame,
questa mi porse tanto di gravezza52
con la paura ch'uscia di sua vista,
ch'io perdei la speranza de l'altezza.
E qual e quei che volontieri acquista,55
e giugne 'l tempo che perder lo face,
che 'n tutti suoi pensier piange e s'attrista;
tal mi fece la bestia sanza pace,58
che, venendomi 'ncontro, a poco a poco
mi ripigneva la dove 'l sol tace.
Mentre ch'i' rovinava in basso loco,61
dinanzi a li occhi mi si fu offerto
chi per lungo silenzio parea fioco.
Quando vidi costui nel gran diserto,64
"Miserere di me," gridai a lui,
"qual che tu sii, od ombra od omo certo!"
Rispuosemi: "Non omo, omo gia fui,67
e li parenti miei furon lombardi,
mantoani per patria ambedui.
And almost where...
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
che la diritta via era smarrita.
Ahi quanto a dir qual era e cosa dura4
esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte
che nel pensier rinova la paura!
Tant' e amara che poco e piu morte;7
ma per trattar del ben ch'i' vi trovai,
diro de l'altre cose ch'i' v'ho scorte.
Io non so ben ridir com' i' v'intrai,10
tant' era pien di sonno a quel punto
che la verace via abbandonai.
Ma poi ch'i' fui al pie d'un colle giunto,13
la dove terminava quella valle
che m'avea di paura il cor compunto,
guardai in alto e vidi le sue spalle16
vestite gia de' raggi del pianeta
che mena dritto altrui per ogne calle.
Allor fu la paura un poco queta,19
che nel lago del cor m'era durata
la notte ch'i' passai con tanta pieta.
E come quei che con lena affannata,22
uscito fuor del pelago a la riva,
si volge a l'acqua perigliosa e guata,
cosi l'animo mio, ch'ancor fuggiva,25
si volse a retro a rimirar lo passo
che non lascio gia mai persona viva.
Poi ch'ei posato un poco il corpo lasso,28
ripresi via per la piaggia diserta,
si che 'l pie fermo sempre era 'l piu basso.
The voyager-narrator astray by night in a dark forest. Morning and the sunlit hill. Three beasts that impede his ascent. The encounter with Virgil, who offers his guidance and an alternative path through two of the three realms the voyager must visit.
When I had journeyed half of our life's way,
I found myself within a shadowed forest,
for I had lost the path that does not stray.
Ah, it is hard to speak of what it was,4
that savage forest, dense and difficult,
which even in recall renews my fear:
so bitter--death is hardly more severe!7
But to retell the good discovered there,
I'll also tell the other things I saw.
I cannot clearly say how I had entered10
the wood; I was so full of sleep just at
the point where I abandoned the true path.
But when I'd reached the bottom of a hill--13
it rose along the boundary of the valley
that had harassed my heart with so much fear--
I looked on high and saw its shoulders clothed16
already by the rays of that same planet
which serves to lead men straight along all roads.
At this my fear was somewhat quieted;19
for through the night of sorrow I had spent,
the lake within my heart felt terror present.
And just as he who, with exhausted breath,22
having escaped from sea to shore, turns back
to watch the dangerous waters he has quit,
so did my spirit, still a fugitive,25
turn back to look intently at the pass
that never has let any man survive.
I let my tired body rest awhile.28
Moving again, I tried the lonely slope--
my firm foot always was the one below.
Ed ecco, quasi al cominciar de l'erta,31
una lonza leggiera e presta molto,
che di pel macolato era coverta;
e non mi si partia dinanzi al volto,34
anzi 'mpediva tanto il mio cammino,
ch'i' fui per ritornar piu volte volto.
Temp' era dal principio del mattino,37
e 'l sol montava 'n su con quelle stelle
ch'eran con lui quando l'amor divino
mosse di prima quelle cose belle;40
si ch'a bene sperar m'era cagione
di quella fiera a la gaetta pelle
l'ora del tempo e la dolce stagione;43
ma non si che paura non mi desse
la vista che m'apparve d'un leone.
Questi parea che contra me venisse46
con la test' alta e con rabbiosa fame,
si che parea che l'aere ne tremesse.
Ed una lupa, che di tutte brame49
sembiava carca ne la sua magrezza,
e molte genti fe gia viver grame,
questa mi porse tanto di gravezza52
con la paura ch'uscia di sua vista,
ch'io perdei la speranza de l'altezza.
E qual e quei che volontieri acquista,55
e giugne 'l tempo che perder lo face,
che 'n tutti suoi pensier piange e s'attrista;
tal mi fece la bestia sanza pace,58
che, venendomi 'ncontro, a poco a poco
mi ripigneva la dove 'l sol tace.
Mentre ch'i' rovinava in basso loco,61
dinanzi a li occhi mi si fu offerto
chi per lungo silenzio parea fioco.
Quando vidi costui nel gran diserto,64
"Miserere di me," gridai a lui,
"qual che tu sii, od ombra od omo certo!"
Rispuosemi: "Non omo, omo gia fui,67
e li parenti miei furon lombardi,
mantoani per patria ambedui.
And almost where...
