divine comedy translation comparison
They both occupy singularly definitive places in their respective languages and literatures as well as in world . The Divine Comedy. Mandelbaum, will, in fact, interject rhyme if its not forced (as he does with way and stray). These breathtaking lines conclude Dantes Divine Comedy, a 14,000-line epic written in 1321 on the state of the soul after death. As the day stands when the Sun begins to glow. Provide Feedback Form. The content of Dantes writing presents an even bigger problem. 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. What, for us, would really be paradise? 5 Privacy Policy, Photo-illustration from Sandro Botticelli's portrait of Dante by Stephanie Bastek (Wikimedia Commons), Hilary Mantel, one of Britains most revered novelists, died last year at the age of 70. James says that in order to achieve that raw poetic thrill, he first had to abandon terza rima, Dante's preferred rhyme scheme, "which is almost impossible to do in English without strain." 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. ", James' wife, Prudence Shaw, played a central role in the translation project. Inferno, Canto I. Sayers adds bound upon (not, strictly speaking, in the original), which allows her to make the rhyme in the third line with gone. But Mandelbaum is more faithful to the directness of the original, not stretching the meaning or introducing words to make the rhyme. About the Author. So in order to get Dante, a translator has to be both a poet and a scholar, attuned to the poets vertiginous literary experimentalism as well as his superhuman grasp of cultural and intellectual history. Oddly enough, and at least in the United States, we seem to know more about Dante the manhis exile, his political struggles, his eternal love for Beatricethan his poetry. So I'm interested in doing a first read of Dante Alighieri's La Divina Commedia and I'm not sure which English translation I should choose. And I was so fascinated with what she told me, about how Dante's verse worked, that the idea never left me, that I should try to make my own poetry as interesting as that. 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.. Pinsky does leave you hanging after the Inferno, though. Lets start a comparison of translations with the first three lines of Canto I of theInferno(theres no hiding for the poor translator, with the original Italian usually on the facing page). Both versions are vibrant and deal adroitly with some enigmatic aspects of the original text. by the love that moves the sun and the other stars. Unlike the other author he supposedly shared the world with, Shakespeare, Dante was self-consciously scholarly and intellectual, filling his verses with allusions to ancient, biblical, and contemporary medieval writing, and tackling a range of theological, philosophical, political, and historical issues. And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week. The hinder foot still firmer. The setting allows him to utilise the past symbolically, exploit the present politically, and anticipate the future in . Norton Many have translated the work, and there are many ways to go about translating Dante. Scam Advisory: Recent reports indicate that individuals are posing as the NEH on email and social media. Here are Clive Jamess first lines: At the mid-point of the path through life, I found. The Divine Comedy is the most well-known piece in Italian literature. 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. Dante was transformed by his grief and vowed to write in Beatrices honor a poem unlike any ever written. "So there we were, actually duplicating the situation in the canto, because the two lovers are reading a book that's what brought them together. Nichols, Hollander and Sinclair are the best translations I have come across, They all combine accuracy with poetry and readability. Individuals Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. Only a dense cage of leaf, tree, and twig. Francesca tells Dante that she and Paolo, began reading Lancelott, and when they got to the part where the characters in the story finally kissed, Francesca committed adultery towards her husband. He wrote in an intensely idiomatic, rhyme-rich Tuscan with a surging terza rima meter that gives the poem its galloping energya unique rhythm thats difficult to reproduce in rhyme-poor English separated from Dantes local vernacular by centuries. This is where youll see your current point status and your earned rewards. 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). 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. 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. 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. They also both have good notes (a necessity). 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. These are the impressions I have of each: Ciardi: uses rhyming three line stanza (ABA) convention and is generally seen as a poetic translation but not necessarily a faithful translation. Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. lamor che move l sole e laltre stelle. I had the energy, but not the knowledge, and not the knowledge of myself, because Dante is worried about himself. During one Spirit was relating this, Yes, it was the right time. A tough call. It has become perhaps the world's most cited allegorical epic about life, death, goodness, evil, damnation and reward. ", "I can say this much for sure, for certain, right here on the air," James continues. I really loved Robert Pinsky's translation of the Inferno, for readability. Dantes The Divine Comedy is one of Italian Literatures most frequently translated texts, it has literally been being translated for over hundreds of years. I agreebut Dante is the opposite. The others are in three line verses like the original. New Jersey, Report Accessibility Barrier or The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri: 9780679433132 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books This Everyman's Library edition-containing in one volume all three cantos, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso-includes an introduction. My favorite version is by Mark Musa (written in blank verse). . Michael Palmas 2003 translation ofInfernobegins this way: Midway through the journey of our life, I found. .. Theirs is the one that keeps coming up when looking for a good verse translation. He remains faithful to the wording, but for reasons of meter he delves into unnatural word order, inverting what Palma has as dark wood to become forest dark. Palma or Longfellow? I heard somebody say: "Watch where you step! To him in front the biting was as naught. ed. For the straightforward pathway had been lost. Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. accessibility issues with Rutgers web sites to accessibility@rutgers.edu It may also soften the oft repeated and harsh judgmenttraduttore, traditoreor translator, traitor.. or complete the Report Accessibility Barrier or The surprising historybehind the worlds most famous collection of folk tales. The Divine Comedy is a 14th century poem that has never lost its edge. I found it easy to use. Provide Feedback Form. Translations that attempt to maintain any type of rhyme scheme often sound forced and usually compromise the meaning of the text. By Liliana Leuzzi | Dante's Commedia. Also, Anthony Esolen has an interesting article published: Esolen, Anthony. ", 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. 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. Individuals with disabilities are The poem's imaginative vision of the afterlife is . 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. Clive Jamess 2013Comedyuses quatrains and augmented quatrains as its building blocks, while Mary Jo Bangs 2012 translation of theInfernoin colloquial American English, carries elements of her own style, and is unrhymed. Part of the problem lies in the difficulty that Dante poses for English translation. This nineteenth-century blank-verse version by Longfellow sounds surprisingly modern: For the straightforward pathway had been lost. New Jersey. We'll go over the different features and what to look for when you're shopping. I think Hollander is the most poetic. Canto V is when Dante has descended into the second circle of hell. When, out of nowhere, I heard: "Watch your step! by the love that moves the sun and the other stars. That's why we've put together this ultimate guide to help you make a decision. Oct 19, 2015 at 21:03 . Rodgers translation reads When, reading that her captivating smile/ Was by the Lover she adored kissd;/ But from that day we never read int more, which is awkward to read for a modern day English speaker. Translated by John Dayman, Longmans, Green, 1865. https://archive.org/details/divinecomedydan00daymgoog, Alighieri Dante. " It took nearly five hundred years from Dante's death for there to be a translation of all three parts of the poem. I really enjoy the extra insights I receive from his notes, summaries, and essays. SUBSCRIBE FOR HUMANITIES MAGAZINE PRINT EDITION Browse all issuesSign up for HUMANITIES Magazine newsletter. 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. For more information about the Divine Comedy, view our Divine Comedy Page Enjoy! The first translation was written by Charles Rogers in 1782. Just for joining youll get personalized recommendations on your dashboard daily and features only for members. . She is beloved for her sweeping Wolf Hall trilogy, for which she won two Booker Prizes. How? What is a good translation of Milton's Paradise Lost? The Divine Comedy. He's seeking absolution, redemption and certainty. Provide Feedback Form, Rutgers, The State University of In conclusion, Nortons translation may have radically dropped the poetic format of The Divine Comedy, however writing in prose allowed him to stay more faithful with the content in the work whereas Rogerss translation is better suited if the reader would like to experience reading Dantes work as a poem, that being said even the structure used by Norton alludes many times to poetic verse. Individuals - user66974. I felt the necessity for understanding, for redemption, if you will, and I think some of that went into my reading and my writing. 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. For example, he translates Dantes beautifully compact Paradiso 2.7. But in English, he writes, the word stars has very few words with which to rhyme. Scarce the ascent Began, when, lo! The night, which I had passed so piteously. The following version appears to be in Terza Rima: La Divina Commedia / The Divine Comedy - A Translation into English in Iambic Pentameter, Terza Rima Form. Allen Mandelbaums translation goes like this: When I had journeyed half of our lifes way. The Divine Comedy is also a work of literary beauty that is beyond being antiquated by time or diminished by repeated translation. Translations that attempt to maintain any type of rhyme scheme often sound forced and usually compromise the meaning of the text. T. S. Eliot called such poetry the most beautiful ever writtenand yet so few of us have ever read it. New Jersey, Report Accessibility Barrier or I have no vested interest in selling a particular authors work, my recommendations are just my personal opinion. Ultimately, its great to read a few and decide which version you like best, each has strengths and weaknesses. (I've studied only other Romance languages, and found it useful) Pinsky and Longfellow are both poets, themselves, so you get some artistry from either one. The Divine Comedy, Part 1: Hell (Penguin Classics) Paperback - June 30, 1950 by Dante Alighieri (Author), Dorothy L. Sayers (Translator, Introduction) 105 ratings See all formats and editions Paperback $16.00 Other new, used and collectible from $1.43 The first volume of Dante's Divine Comedy Dante's The Divine Comedy is one of Italian Literature's most frequently translated texts, it has literally been being translated for over hundreds of years. By Sergio M. Brattich | Dante's Commedia. Three passages are from the Inferno, one from Purgatory, and the last from Paradise. Sinclair's is a prose translation from the thirties. But 'Purgatory' and 'Heaven' have mainly just got theology. Please try again later. Both translations by Rogers and Dayman, are kept in poem style. Choosing which translation of Dantes Divine Comedy to read is a very subjective and personal decision. A customizable, digital workspace for scholarly analysis of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. 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). I've also heard great thngs about Merwin and Pinsky but they've only done the Purgatorio and Inferno respectively. Phi Beta Kappa Divine Comedy Comparisons. Translated by Charles Rogers, London Printed by J. Nichols, 1782. https://archive.org/details/infernoofdantetr00dantuoft. Start by treating The Divine Comedy not as a book, with a coherent, beginning, middle, and end, but rather as a collection of poetry that you can dip into wherever you like. In which I had abandoned the true way. September 26, 2019 The grading is as follows: 3 = perfectly faithful, 2 = defensible paraphrase (same basic meaning), 1 = dodgy paraphrase, 0 = unforgivable paraphrase (putting words in Dante's mouth). You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime. Charles Singletons translation for his understanding of textual nuance and its outstanding notes is strongly recommended. Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. "Which is that of the three books of the Comedy that's 'Hell,' 'Purgatory' and 'Heaven, 'Hell' is the most fascinating, in the first instance, 'cause it's full of action, it's got a huge three-headed dog, it's got a flying dragon, it's got men turning into snakes and vice versa, it's got centaurs beside a river of blood; you name it, 'Hell' has got it. Provide Feedback Form, Rutgers, The State University of Mandelbaum: seen as the scholarly translation and is used in many university classes on The Divine Comedy but some consider it dry and unpoetic. She may have only translated the Inferno Im not certain on that. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. a panther, nimble, light, And cover'd with a speckled skin, appear'd, Nor, when it saw me, vanish'd, rather strove To check my onward going; that ofttimes With purpose to retrace my steps I turn'd. The hour was morning's prime, and on his way Aloft the sun ascended with those stars, That with him rose, when Love divine . We are experiencing technical difficulties. Body & Soul Uplifted: Dantes Magnificent Vision of Resurrection of Im using Allen Mandelbaums translation while writing my Masters thesis. A sinner, in the manner of a brake, So that he three of them tormented thus. with disabilities are encouraged to direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any 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. Thus began Dantes famed journey, one that would take him through the depths of hell. Clive James is both an Officer of the Order of Australia and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. And its hard enough to read Dante without throwing in the additional challenge of 19th-century poetic diction. The Divine Comedy, translated by John D. Sinclair: This was recommended by a fellow reader on Twitter and I am so glad I bought the complete set. Rogers maintains a more faithful translation throughout the canto than Dayman. He did most of the translation work before becoming seriously ill, "but I could feel the end of my life coming. 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? 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. Submit your nominations for the 2024 NEH Jefferson Lecturer, NEH Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities nominations. 12> I agree that Ciardi is the most readable. It also comes with the Italian text. | Henry Boyd produced one of the early English-language translations of The Divine Comedy; it was published in 1802.Notable translations of the 20th and early 21st centuries include those by John D. Sinclair (1939-48), Dorothy L. Sayers and . accessibility issues with Rutgers web sites to accessibility@rutgers.edu This is why one of the few truly successful English translations comes from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a professor of Italian at Harvard and an acclaimed poet. 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. ", And that kind of interest is what most translators lack, James adds. Born in 1265 in Florence, from which he was banished in 1302, dying in Ravenna in 1321, Dante set the Divine Comedy in the year 1300, when he was thirty-five years old and 'in the middle of our mortal life'. ". The best translation I've found -- end to end -- is by John Ciardi. Dante wrote his masterpiece on the move, banned from Florence by political enemies. New Jersey. that second aureole which shone forth in Thee, That circle which appearedin my poor style, That circling which, as I conceived it, shone, Thou smiledst, on that circling, which in thee. . I also enjoy Anthony Esolens translation (blank verse with some rhyme). Permission required for reprinting, reproducing, or other uses. Breaking the code of The Divine Comedy with patient reverence. Which in the very thought renews the fear. It is technically prose; however he decides to invoke quite a lot of poetic structure throughout the translation, such as, I understood that to such torment are condemned the carnal sinners Postponing the subject (as is done in the originals) is not normally allowed in English prose, thus lending to the fusion-like feeling of this translation. Want to know what people are actually reading right now? Hence their eternal torment, with Paolo in a silent stream of tears, Francesca pouring out an ocean of self-defense. Mentre che luno spirto questo disse, Trickled the tear-drops and the bloody drivel. It shows that translation loss remains inevitable, whether it be in rhyme, ambiguous meaning, or simply losing the melody of the target language. encouraged to direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any accessibility issues This page allows you to compare five passages from seven verse translations side by side. Breaking the poem down to its parts, getting to know the characters one or two at a time, learning the themes and language of these individual elements, can give you the traction to begin enjoying Dante and eventually take on his whole poem. Since childhood they had exchanged in passing the one word their families would allowSalute! [1] The three cantiche [i] of the poem, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, describe hell, purgatory, and heaven respectively. Such extreme faithfulness can make the language of the translation feel unnaturalas though the source were shaping the translation into its own alien image. Posted in Books, Dante, Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy in translation. (Health!). I will use this prose translation the next time I do a complete reread of Dante. In theInferno, it is well known, Dante singled out corrupt leaders and political enemies, but the poem as a whole was actually inspired by unrequited love. Love absolves no beloved from loving, she explains, adding: Love brought us to one death. .) that keeps the pattern going forward, naturally to the ear. That interlocking pattern continues throughout the cantos and is one of the works most distinctive aspects. 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. In comparing translations, you notice quickly if theres an attempt to duplicate Dantes terza rima, in which the first and third lines rhyme, and the second line rhymes with the first line of the following stanza. Two hundred years ago,Pride and Prejudicewas anonymously published. 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. Provide Feedback Form. Dante asks her why such a courteous and well-spoken creature as shea highborn lady who had fallen for Paolo innocently enough one day when they were alone together readingcould find herself among the damned. Which leadeth others right by every road. It's also a poetry translation, as opposed to prose translations. I wasn't thrilled with either Mellville or Longfellow. Which never yet a living person left. Dante Alighieri (12651321), Italys greatest poet, was born in Florence and belonged to a noble but impoverished family. And its a very famous poem, Al cor gentil rempaira sempre amore, Love always returns to the gentle heart, a gorgeous medieval lyric by Guido Guinizelli, one of Dantes poetic mentors in the Sweet New Style, a movement in the late 1200s that nurtured Dantes emerging artistic sensibilities. Speak will I of the other things I saw there. Report Accessibility Barrier or Long translations from the Divine Comedyare provided following the original Italian verse, and where necessary in the analysis the Italian is referenced. The three parts of the Divine Comedy - Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso - are an expression of faith undertaken to the glory of God, and a demonstration of the use to which God's gifts can be put. 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. I agree, Dorothy Leigh Sayers translations are done wonderfully. 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 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. Unto the clawing, for sometimes the spine. 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. View all posts by Dave. A major consideration is the topic of rhyme. Copyright 2021 now my will and my desire were turned, Take, for example, the last few lines of the the fifth Canto, the famous: Dante So whats the contemporary reader to dohow best to approach Dante 750 years after his birth? I heard it said: "Take heed how thou dost go. In the Inferno, it is well known, Dante singled out corrupt leaders and political enemies, but the poem as a whole was actually inspired by unrequited love. Looking specifically at Canto V, we will examine that there are different methods that go into translation, as seen in the translations by Charles Rogers (1782) and John Dayman (1865). 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. 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. As of 2021, Dante's magnum opus has been translated into English . s come rota chigualmente mossa, Out of the Fire. Best English Translations of The Divine Comedy. That's the version I read and those bleak covers, Barry Moser ink washes, were ubiquitous in freshmen dorms. In the first place, shes not speaking to Dante in a natural voice; shes alluding to poetry.
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