Product Description

As a philosopher, Dante wedded classical methods of enquiry to a Christian faith. As an autobiographer, he looked at his own failures to depict universal moral struggles. As a visionary, he dared to draw maps of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise and populate all three realms with recognizable human beings. As a lover, he became a poet of bereavement and renunciation. As all these things Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) paved the way for modern literature. This volume aims to capture the scope of Dante's genius. It contains complete verse translations of his two masterworks, "The Divine Comedy" and "La Vita Nuova".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #934349 in Books
• Published on: 1995-06-29
• Original language: Italian
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 704 pages

Customer Reviews

A translation that captures the Comedia's essence
Little is needed to be said about Dante's masterpiece of poetry and allegory. Many translations exist, but this one I found to be the best. Not only is it clear in expressing what the Poet himself wanted to evoke, it also captures his sense of rhythm as well as brilliant synthesis of words. Keeping the meter and discarding any meagre attempt to rhyme in English, Musa has provided what is probably the best version of Dante for those who cannot enjoy him in his native tongue. Finally, the scholar's notes make for great guidance through the historical/mythological/theological alterations of the Pilgrim's sojourn.

Mark Musa's translation of Dante
As a non-Italian-reader I came to Dante through the no doubt common path of T.S. Eliot's poetry and critical writing. Mark Musa's Portable Dante is a useful volume in that it includes La Vita Nuova as well as The Divine Comedy. (Although unfortunately no extracts from Dante's treatise on vernacular poetry, which Eliot and Ezra Pound so often mention.) I've enjoyed reading C.H. Sisson's translation (which contains a good fat section of commentary at the back); but this one is obviously more literal -- for example the small section Dante wrote in Provencal (Purgatorio XXVI) is given in Provencal and translated in a footnote, which is a nice touch.

The Portable Dante
A very easy to read translation for a novice to Dante's Inferno and the Comedies.