divine comedy translation comparison

[1] The three cantiche [i] of the poem, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, describe hell, purgatory, and heaven respectively. I really enjoy the extra insights I receive from his notes, summaries, and essays. But long before rehabilitating Thomas Cromwells reputation, Mantel was unparalleled in her crystalline dissections of power, whether between girls at the University of London or Dantonists in the French Revolution. Pinsky does leave you hanging after the Inferno, though. Provide Feedback Form. What, for us, would really be paradise? Charles Singletons translation for his understanding of textual nuance and its outstanding notes is strongly recommended. Noticeably missing in Rogerss version is Dantes comio morisse which had to be dropped to stay within the meter however was able to be kept Nortons prose-style translation along with the repetition of falling in the final line. Hear Dante's Inferno Read Aloud by Influential Poet & Translator John This page allows you to compare five passages from seven verse translations side by side. Report scam, HUMANITIES, Winter 2017, Volume 38, Number 1, The National Endowment for the Humanities, State and Jurisdictional Humanities Councils, HUMANITIES: The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities, SUBSCRIBE FOR HUMANITIES MAGAZINE PRINT EDITION, Sign up for HUMANITIES Magazine newsletter, How the Grimm Brothers Saved the Fairy Tale, Chronicling America: History American Newspapers. NEH had funded many Dante-related projects, including 17summer seminars for schoolteachersto study theDivine Comedywith scholars through the University of Vermont. At every mouth he with his teeth was crunching 55. Posted in Books, Dante, Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy in translation. It also comes with the Italian text. New Jersey, Report Accessibility Barrier or What's the Best Way to Read the Divine Comedy If You Don't Know Italian encouraged to direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any accessibility issues And then there are all those characters! Although Roger chose to remain faithful to the source text, some lines were more poetically translated by Dayman. James writes in the introduction to hisComedy, I wanted the rhyming words close enough together to be noticed. His devotion to language leads him in one direction, aiming even to end each book of theComedywith a couplet whose final word is stars, as Dante did. Her methodology comes from picking up a book of poems by Caroline Bergvall and reading Via (48 Dante Variations), a found poem, she writes, composed entirely of the first three lines of theInfernoculled from forty-seven translations archived in the British Library as of May 2000). It has become perhaps the world's most cited allegorical epic about life, death, goodness, evil, damnation and reward. Heres Dantes original: Even without an Italian dictionary at hand, most of the words in these lines can be puzzled out by English speakers, except, perhaps smaritta, which means something along the lines of obliterated or just lost from view. An amateur literal translation can go a long way but doesnt sing. It's very beautiful. There are a lot of different Best Dante Divine Comedy Translation in the market, and it can be tough to decide which one is right for you. I'm going to be reading The Divine Comedy soonactually, re-reading Inferno and re-starting Purgatorio and finally getting to La Paradiso.I've opted to go with the Robert and Jean Hollander translation. I'm a bit biased in favor of Sayers' translation, as that's the one that introduced me to Dante in the first place. This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. Dante and The Divine Comedy: He took us on a tour of Hell Translated by John Dayman, Longmans, Green, 1865. https://archive.org/details/divinecomedydan00daymgoog, Alighieri Dante. That interlocking pattern continues throughout the cantos and is one of the works most distinctive aspects. Taking a look at two translations that are 120 years apart can shed light on some of the differences that translators have used when interpreting this famously complex and intricate text. Hollander: a more contemporary translation of The Divine Comedy that I've heard great things about but it can get pricey with each section in a separate book. ". Her creative leap is to begin with the word stopped and end the third line with I was lost, emphasizing the predicament in the original and elaborating the image of the dark wood. Again, it might come down to your trust in a translators skill in keeping up the rhyme pattern. He did most of the translation work before becoming seriously ill, "but I could feel the end of my life coming. Its not easy to break the code of The Divine Comedy, a work steeped in a medieval Christian vision that can cause readers like Victor Hugo to avert their eyes from its more celestial passages. The Autumn of the Middle Ages: Chaucer and Dante I wasn't aware of Benigni's TuttoDante -- sounds very interesting. The vlog form of a blog I did in July 2021, discussing translations of The Divine Comedy (what to look for, general issues, best-known versions). Dante wrote his masterpiece on the move, banned from Florence by political enemies. With pity swooned, and fell like a dead corpse. The contemporary reader would do well to follow this ancient practice, for it leads to the most important aspect in approaching Dante: the need to read him closely. While it is true that Rogerss translation is more faithful from a structural standpoint there are some instances in which such an adherence forces other content-related translation loss which is not present in Nortons. Dante Alighieri's great work tells the tale of the author's trail through hell each and every circle of it purgatory and heaven. Report Accessibility Barrier or . It shows that translation loss remains inevitable, whether it be in rhyme, ambiguous meaning, or simply losing the melody of the target language. rhymes - Is there an English translation of Dante's "Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy has a complex rhyme scheme that suits itself well to the rhyme-rich language of Italian (where, unlike English, many words end in vowels). purchase. He's seeking absolution, redemption and certainty. "There is no young man's version of this translation. Best Translation of Divine Comedy - online literature Out of the Fire. Mentre che luno spirto questo disse, In truth, some of the most sublime moments in The Divine Comedy, indeed in all of literature, occur after Dante makes his way out of the Infernos desolation. In spite of first impressions favoring Sayers, most readers who choose to make the entire journey from inferno to purgatory and finally paradise ultimately find the Mandelbaum translation more satisfying. From Inferno 1 to Paradiso 33, scores of different literary personaesome real, some invented, some famous, some obscuretake the stage to plead their case or expound on their joy before the autobiographical character Dante as he journeys from hell to heaven. And thats the miracle of Dante: somehow his writing still makes sense seven centuries after it was conceived, so long as we manage to read slowly, between, behind, and around what he called his versi strani, strange verses. ", James was diagnosed in 2010 with both leukemia and lung disease, and he jokes that both conditions are conspiring to kill him even as he speaks. Last year marked the 750th anniversary of Dantes birth in 1265, and as expected for a writer so famousEliot claimed Dante and Shakespeare divide the modern world between them; there is no thirdthe solemn commemorations abounded, especially in Italy where many cities have streets and monuments dedicated to their Sommo Poeta, Supreme Poet. Hilary Mantel, one of Britains most revered novelists, died last year at the age of 70. Dante's Beauty Rendered In English In A Divine 'Comedy' - NPR How to Read Dante in the 21st Century - The American Scholar You can revive it by posting a reply. The translation is so similar, the result is a palimpsest, two works, one on top of the other, an original and a performance, difficult to tell apart. Seeing translation in this light, may help decide which Dante to read. It proceeds on a journey that, in its intense recreation of the depths and the heights of human experience, has become the key with which Western civilization has sought to unlock the mystery of its own identity. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our, http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/09/03/070903crbo_books_acocella, Dante; (Translators) Jean & Robert Hollander. " It took nearly five hundred years from Dante's death for there to be a translation of all three parts of the poem. .) that keeps the pattern going forward, naturally to the ear. Copyright 2021 This topic is not marked as primarily about any work, author or other topic. gi volgeva il mio disio e l velle, The Divine Comedy, Part 1: Hell (Penguin Classics) Copyright 2023, Rutgers, The State University of When Dante wrote the poem we call "The Divine Comedy," he called it simply the "Commedia": a story, beginning in sorrow and ending in joy, of one man's journey from hell . Perhaps nowhere is this economy of expression more evident than in the justly celebrated canto of the star-crossed lovers, Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta. Nichols, Hollander and Sinclair are the best translations I have come across, They all combine accuracy with poetry and readability. She may have only translated the Inferno Im not certain on that. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Shortly thereafter, Beatrice died. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a8f4a384ba33ac344b9ce9fe46addd00" );document.getElementById("dbe0089594").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Compare translation samples from the Divine Comedy, specifically Inferno, Canto I: 1-12 blank tercets blank verse defective terza rime free verse prose terza rime Dante Alighieri John Ciardi Robert Durling Anthony M. Esolen Robert and Jean Hollander Robin Kirkpatrick Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Allen Mandelbaum Mark Musa Robert Pinsky Dorothy L . Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. Mandelbaums astonishingly Dantean translation, which captures so much of the life of the original, renders whole for us the masterpiece of that genius whom our greatest poets have recognized as a central model for all poets. Such extreme faithfulness can make the language of the translation feel unnaturalas though the source were shaping the translation into its own alien image. T. S. Eliot called such poetry the most beautiful ever writtenand yet so few of us have ever read it. Not only are constant rhymes difficult to translate, but Dante also uses rich and ambiguous language in his poems. I also enjoy Anthony Esolens translation (blank verse with some rhyme). Longfellow succeeded in capturing the original brilliance of Dantes lines with a close, sometimes awkwardly literal translation that allows the Tuscan to shine through the English, as though this foreign veneer were merely a protective layer added over the still-visible source. | ISBN 9780679433132 Missing is Dantes dico or I mean which is crucial to the meaning of him clarifying what he has already said. Both translations by Rogers and Dayman, are kept in poem style. "I think I always wanted to translate Dante, but I always knew there was a problem," James tells NPR's Scott Simon. I have no vested interest in selling a particular authors work, my recommendations are just my personal opinion. He first met Bice Portinari, whom he called Beatrice, in 1274; she inspired his most famous poetry, including the Vita Nuova, which More about Dante Alighieri, The English Dante of choice. Hugh KennerExactly what we have waited for these years, a Dante with clarity, eloquence, terror, and profoundly moving depths. Robert Fagles, Princeton UniversityA marvel of fidelity to the original, of sobriety, and truly, of inspired poetry. Henri Peyre, Yale University, Sign up for news about books, authors, and more from Penguin Random House, Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network. with disabilities are encouraged to direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any That's the version I read and those bleak covers, Barry Moser ink washes, were ubiquitous in freshmen dorms. from the straight pathway to this tangled ground. Divine Comedy - Wikipedia SUBSCRIBE FOR HUMANITIES MAGAZINE PRINT EDITION Browse all issuesSign up for HUMANITIES Magazine newsletter. Dante is in a spiritual crisis, and I think you have to have been in one of your own to understand what he's talking about. Posted on July 5, 2021 July 4, 2021 by Carrie-Anne. Out of the two I've read (Charles Sisson. Since the poem appeared, and especially in modern times, those readers intrepid enough to take on Dante have tended to focus on the first leg of his journey, through the burning fires of Inferno. "If you're going to do it in English, you need, I think, another approach, and I used quatrains. That link is to the hardcover that contains all three works, but even though that one is in my bookcase I never read it. Having been a bookseller for more than a decade, I know that one of the most frequently asked questions from readers is, Which translation should I read of DantesDivine Comedy? I heard somebody say: "Watch where you step! Best Translation of The Divine Comedy? - LibraryThing It can be overwhelming to see so many versions all lined up, spine to spine, along a shelf in a literary bookstore, or to scroll through pages and pages of different editions online. s come rota chigualmente mossa, The Divine Comedy. The Divine Comedy has a complex rhyme scheme that suits itself well to the rhyme-rich language of Italian (where, unlike English, many words end in vowels). When translating the Divine Comedy, the translator often has to choose between capturing the original meaning or capturing the poetry, often choosing an intermediate between the two. Lit Genius - Comparison of Divine Comedy Translations | Genius Which leadeth others right by every road. Provide Feedback Form, Rutgers, The State University of "But I'm determined to get this message across, because I really had to face this for decade after decade as I thought about how to translate it." This particular translation is characterized by a rather faithful adherence to the the original source texts physical structure. Taking a look at two translations that are 120 years apart can shed light on some of the differences that translators have used when interpreting this famously complex and intricate text. On the 750th birthday of Dante Alighiericomposer of the dizzyingly epic medieval poem the Divine ComedyEnglish professor John Kleiner pointed to one way of helping undergraduate students understand the Italian poet's importance: an "obvious comparison" with Shakespeare. In the first place, shes not speaking to Dante in a natural voice; shes alluding to poetry. I wasn't thrilled with either Mellville or Longfellow. The night, which I had passed so piteously. ", He calls the quatrains a "nice, easily flowing rhythmic grid on which to mount the individual moments. Any other translations you'd like to recommend are fine with me. The Italian language the Italians speak today is largely Dante's invention. It did not hurt that Longfellow had also experienced the kind of traumatic lossthe death of his young wife after her dress caught firethat brought him closer to the melancholy spirit of Dantes writing, shaped by the lacerating exile from his beloved Florence in 1302. Report Accessibility Barrier or The best translation I've found -- end to end -- is by John Ciardi. The translators scored as follows: Longfellow, Singleton (27) Sinclair (26) Mandelbaum (25) Simone, Sisson (23) Hollander, Kirkpatrick (22) Lombardo (21) Dante requires what Nietzsche called slow readingattentive, profound, patient readingbecause Francescas sparse, seemingly innocent-sounding words speak volumes about the kind of sinner she is. A Comparison of Charles Rogers's (1782) and Charles Eliot Norton's Clive James is both an Officer of the Order of Australia and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Sinclair's is a prose translation from the thirties. The bottom of hell waits for him who extinguished our lifereferring to her husband, the nasty Gianciotto or John the Lame, who murdered Paolo and her on the spot when he discovered them in flagrante after their fateful reading. The hinder foot still firmer. The Divine Comedy. Allen Mandelbaums translation goes like this: When I had journeyed half of our lifes way. With one deft allusion, one lyrical dance amid the ferocious winds in the Circle of the Lustful, Dante delivers a magnificent psychological portrait of Francescas path to damnation. They never confess their guilt, the one thing necessary for redemption from sin. In addition, its well suited for English (Shakespeare wrote much of his work in blank verse). 12> I agree that Ciardi is the most readable. Hollander: a more contemporary translation of The Divine Comedy that I've heard great things about but it can get pricey with each section in a separate book. The Divine Comedy. Also, Anthony Esolen has an interesting article published: Esolen, Anthony. And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week. His translation of the Divine Comedy (especially Inferno and Purgatorio) is one of my favorite translations of anything. Body & Soul Uplifted: Dantes Magnificent Vision of Resurrection of Exodus Books - Divine Comedy Comparisons As Victor Hugo wrote about The Divine Comedys blessed realms, The human eye was not made to look upon so much light, and when the poem becomes happy, it becomes boring.. A sinner, in the manner of a brake, So that he three of them tormented thus. New Jersey. - user66974. That's why we've put together this ultimate guide to help you make a decision. Dante was transformed by his grief and vowed to write in Beatrices honor a poem unlike any ever written. The standard critical Italian edition of the poem, La commedia secondo l'antica vulgata (1966-67; rev. You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime. To him in front the biting was as naught. Required fields are marked *. Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. Provide Feedback Form. Because Dayman chose to maintain the terza rima, he had to form sentences with the same meaning in order to get the rhyme at the end of the line, maintaining the style, but losing faithfulness to the source text. As a one-time admirer of the troubadour poets, Dante was well versed, pardon the pun, in the intricate forms then in practice, such as the sestina, but his paean to Beatrice called for something new and even more demanding, a flexible and muscular form he invented precisely for the new undertaking, theterza rima. List of Ten Best Dante Divine Comedy Translation Top Picks 2023 Reviews I've only read one, but Mark Musa's Penguin classics translation seemed pretty good to me What's the consensus on Allen Mandelbaum's translation? And its hard enough to read Dante without throwing in the additional challenge of 19th-century poetic diction. 5 Translations that attempt to maintain any type of rhyme scheme often sound forced and usually compromise the meaning of the text. This provides the reader with the sounds of the original as well as Musa's translation, which captures the meaning but reads with a different spirit. The verse. The Divine Comedy in translation (what to look for, comparison of opening lines) - YouTube The vlog form of a blog I did in July 2021, discussing translations of The Divine Comedy. Just for joining youll get personalized recommendations on your dashboard daily and features only for members. The other day I was at a bookstore trying to pick a translation of. .. Speak will I of the other things I saw there. To understand why Dante faints in Inferno 5, you have to realize just how surreal it was for him to hear Francesca cite the poetry of his youth, the words that helped make him poet and that hastened Francescas demise. Alighieri, Dante (1265-1321) - The Divine Comedy - Poetry In Translation Translations that attempt to maintain any type of rhyme scheme often sound forced and usually compromise the meaning of the text. Inferno, Canto I. In honor of Mantels enormous contributions to literature, dive back into her Tudor world with Penelope Rowlandss essay about one of the key power dynamics Mantel explored: that between Cromwell and Sir Thomas More. Divine Comedy - Exodus Books Math Curriculum Law & Political Theory Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition Suffering & Hope History of Philosophy God & Reality (Metaphysics) Knowledge (Epistemology) Value & Beauty (Axiology) Being & Existence (Ontology) Introspection vs. Contemplation Phonics & Reading Early Readers As a young man, Dante tried to woo a beautiful and devout Florentine girl of his own age. By clicking SIGN UP,I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random Houses, certain categories of personal information, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information. Individuals Ultimately, its great to read a few and decide which version you like best, each has strengths and weaknesses. encouraged to direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any accessibility issues Thus began Dantes famed journey, one that would take him through the depths of hell. or complete the Report Accessibility Barrier or Divine Comedy Comparisons. Jorge Luis Borges said that a modern novel requires hundreds of pages for us to get to know a character, while Dante can lay bare a characters soul in 20 or 30 lines. hide caption. Permission required for reprinting, reproducing, or other uses. In the very first line it is noticed when Dante writes Cos discesi del cerchio primario(34), Rogers translates it to From the first circle we descended down(17), which is a more faithful translation than Dayman writing So I plunged downwards from that upper ring(35), which is a more communicative way of translating. Which Translation Should I Read? | Dante's Inferno -The Webpage of Dante Alighieri's great work tells the . The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is an epic poem in Italian written between 1308 and 1321 that describes its author's journey through the Christian afterlife. Francesca, by citing the poem and the Sweet New Style, is saying: it wasnt my fault, blame it on love. The Divine Comedy is a 14th century poem that has never lost its edge. Dorothy Sayers rendered the first stanza this way: Where the right road was wholly lost and gone. A little less structured than the original (although differences in the languages are responsible for that) It's a recent translation, so you don't run into the archaic usages you'd find in Longfellow.

Santa Clara County Court Case Lookup, Articles D