by Dante Alighieri (Author), Clive James (Translator)
The Divine Comedy is the precursor of modern literature, and Clive James's translation--decades in the making--gives us the entire epic as a single, coherent, and compulsively readable lyric poem. For the first time ever in an English translation, James makes the bold choice of switching from the terza rima composition of the original Italian--a measure that strains in English--to the quatrain. The result is "rhymed English stanzas that convey the music of Dante's triple rhymes" (Edward Mendelson). James's translation reproduces the same wonderful momentum of the original Italian that propels the reader along the pilgrim's path from Hell to Heaven, from despair to revelation.
Author Biography
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) is considered to be the father of Italian poetry and one of the greatest influences in world literature. J. G. Nichols was awarded the John Florio Prize for his translation of the poems of Guido Gozzano. His translation of Petrarch's "Canzoniere" won the Premio Internazionale Diego Valeri in 2000. Gustave Dore (1832-1883) was a French artist and engraver who illustrated books for Balzac, Dante, Milton, Rabelais, and many more.