divine comedy translation comparison

ed. Dorothy Sayers and John Ciardis are two reliable translations for me; Mandlebaum also works, though it is not my favorite. . I heard somebody say: "Watch where you step! I have no vested interest in selling a particular authors work, my recommendations are just my personal opinion. 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. I think Hollander is the most poetic. Translated by Charles Rogers, London Printed by J. Nichols, 1782. https://archive.org/details/infernoofdantetr00dantuoft. Missing is Dantes dico or I mean which is crucial to the meaning of him clarifying what he has already said. 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. This page allows you to compare five passages from seven verse translations side by side. I felt the necessity for understanding, for redemption, if you will, and I think some of that went into my reading and my writing. 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. Theirs is the one that keeps coming up when looking for a good verse translation. That's the version I read and those bleak covers, Barry Moser ink washes, were ubiquitous in freshmen dorms. 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. ". encouraged to direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any accessibility issues These breathtaking lines conclude Dantes Divine Comedy, a 14,000-line epic written in 1321 on the state of the soul after death. io venni men cos com io morisse. Provide Feedback Form. In exile, he paid homage to his true love, Beatrice, and by choosing to write in his Tuscan vernacular instead of Latin, transformed the Italian language. Body & Soul Uplifted: Dantes Magnificent Vision of Resurrection of The other day I was at a bookstore trying to pick a translation of. 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. Both versions are vibrant and deal adroitly with some enigmatic aspects of the original text. Daymans translation reads When that we read so true-hearted/ Kissing the smile so coveted before,/ And he who wrotethat day we read no more which is a more romantic way of writing the story, and it feels to be more in the spirit of the source text. Nichols, Hollander and Sinclair are the best translations I have come across, They all combine accuracy with poetry and readability. Dayman kept the terza rima, but in doing so he had to be more free with his translation. 1994), was edited by Giorgio Petrocchi. with Rutgers web sites to accessibility@rutgers.edu or complete the Report Accessibility Barrier or lamor che move l sole e laltre stelle. 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. Paolo and Francesca are technically together, as they whirl around like doves summoned by desire in Infernos punishing winds. Since childhood they had exchanged in passing the one word their families would allowSalute! 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." New Jersey, Report Accessibility Barrier or The Divine Comedy is a 14th century poem that has never lost its edge. I will use this prose translation the next time I do a complete reread of Dante. String Comparison Comic short post apocalyptic : Last men on earth killed by a dead man Draw a rectangle with partly invisible . from the straight pathway to this tangled ground. 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. Which leadeth others right by every road. At the other end of the spectrum are straight prose (spoken word) translations. Unto the clawing, for sometimes the spine. The Pinsky is usually (maybe exclusively) sold parallel to the original, so you'll get a sense of that as you go along. He did most of the translation work before becoming seriously ill, "but I could feel the end of my life coming. 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. Also, Anthony Esolen has an interesting article published: Esolen, Anthony. Such extreme faithfulness can make the language of the translation feel unnaturalas though the source were shaping the translation into its own alien image. "I think I always wanted to translate Dante, but I always knew there was a problem," James tells NPR's Scott Simon. 12> I agree that Ciardi is the most readable. Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. | ISBN 9780679433132 September 26, 2019 They both occupy singularly definitive places in their respective languages and literatures as well as in world . He produced one of the first complete, and in many respects still the best, English translations of The Divine Comedy in 1867. 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. Mandelbaum: seen as the scholarly translation and is used in many university classes on The Divine Comedy but some consider it dry and unpoetic. So, which translation should you read? Copyright 2023, Rutgers, The State University of gi volgeva il mio disio e l velle, English, he says, is a "rhyme-poor" language compared with Dante's Italian. Dantes The Divine Comedy is one of Italian Literatures most frequently translated texts, it has literally been being translated for over hundreds of years. Dante Alighieri's great work tells the . For more information about the Divine Comedy, view our Divine Comedy Page Enjoy! 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. These lines have the virtue of being faithful to the original content, and then the next line continues with a rhyme (The keening sound . 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). Which never yet a living person left. 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? Required fields are marked *. He's seeking absolution, redemption and certainty. Dante Alighieri (12651321), Italys greatest poet, was born in Florence and belonged to a noble but impoverished family. That interlocking pattern continues throughout the cantos and is one of the works most distinctive aspects. I wasn't aware of Benigni's TuttoDante -- sounds very interesting. Which in the very thought renews the fear. But 'Purgatory' and 'Heaven' have mainly just got theology. 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. Love absolves no beloved from loving, she explains, adding: Love brought us to one death. Such an adoption would have given a modern reader a similar feel Dantes meter gives Italian readers. Provide Feedback Form. New Jersey. ", "I can say this much for sure, for certain, right here on the air," James continues. Long translations from the Divine Comedyare provided following the original Italian verse, and where necessary in the analysis the Italian is referenced. 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. I really enjoy the extra insights I receive from his notes, summaries, and essays. That there have been a lot of translations of the Comedy can be seen by glancing at the Wikipedia page "English translations of Dante's Divine Comedy. 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. Dante wrote his masterpiece on the move, banned from Florence by political enemies. The Divine Comedy is also a work of literary beauty that is beyond being antiquated by time or diminished by repeated translation. It's also a poetry translation, as opposed to prose translations. A customizable, digital workspace for scholarly analysis of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. Hardcover, 527 pages. 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. Yes, it was the right time. Steve Moyer is managing editor of Humanities. accessibility issues with Rutgers web sites to accessibility@rutgers.edu Albert Russell Ascoli received an NEH summer stipend andfellowshipto do research that resulted in his 2008Dante and the Making of a Modern Author, and a grant to the University of Virginia helped expand teaching resources of theThe World of Dantewebsite. I'm going to third the choice of John Ciardi. The best translation I've found -- end to end -- is by John Ciardi. I really loved Robert Pinsky's translation of the Inferno, for readability. 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 Charles Eliot Norton on the other hand wrote his translation in 1902 and decided on a completely different style opting for an almost prose-like version of the text. . Provide Feedback Form, Rutgers, The State University of I heard it said: "Take heed how thou dost go. That's why we've put together this ultimate guide to help you make a decision. You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime. My favorite version is by Mark Musa (written in blank verse). Provide Feedback Form. .. Dante was transformed by his grief and vowed to write in Beatrices honor a poem unlike any ever written. | Too bad it doesn't look like there are any recordings of the show. And lo and behold, that's what we were doing. By Paul Bruckman . 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. She is beloved for her sweeping Wolf Hall trilogy, for which she won two Booker Prizes. Submit your nominations for the 2024 NEH Jefferson Lecturer, NEH Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities nominations. 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. With pity swooned, and fell like a dead corpse. 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. The Divine Comedy is the most well-known piece in Italian literature. "All this shall be made known to you when we stand, And he said to me: "When we have stopped along, And he responded, "These things will be made. Any other translations you'd like to recommend are fine with me. 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. The hinder foot still firmer. 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. The Best Books to Get Your Finances in Order, Books Based on Your Favorite Taylor Swift Era, Cook a Soul Food Holiday Meal With Rosie Mayes, Aug 01, 1995 Liveright Publishing The critic Walter Benjamin wrote that a great translation calls our attention to a works original language even when we dont speak that foreign tongue. 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. 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.. I've also heard great thngs about Merwin and Pinsky but they've only done the Purgatorio and Inferno respectively. A sinner, in the manner of a brake, So that he three of them tormented thus. New Jersey. Your email address will not be published. Individuals SUBSCRIBE FOR HUMANITIES MAGAZINE PRINT EDITION Browse all issuesSign up for HUMANITIES Magazine newsletter. "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. 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. 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 . 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. Breaking the code of The Divine Comedy with patient reverence. . When, out of nowhere, I heard: "Watch your step! By starting with Midway this way of life were bound upon, she remains faithful to the starting point, nel mezzo, while Mandelbaum pushes this to the middle of the first line. 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 latest has been undertaken by a writer who is perhaps best known for his pointed and funny criticisms of culture. Trickled the tear-drops and the bloody drivel. I couldn't have done it when I was younger. 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. 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. 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. We'll go over the different features and what to look for when you're shopping. Longfellows English indeed comes across as Italianate: in surrendering to the letter and spirit of Dantes Tuscan, he loses the quirks and perks of his mother tongue. John Ciardi (1954) with disabilities are encouraged to direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any It may be grossly unfair, I admit, to try to judge merely on the first canto or even the first or second stanza, but decisions made in the first few stanzas determine the shape of the rest of the work. Copyright 2021 Buy. Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. now my will and my desire were turned, As of 2021, Dante's magnum opus has been translated into English . Shortly thereafter, Beatrice died. Dante's Inferno -The Webpage of Author David Lafferty. While Rogers does not maintain a rhyme scheme, nor Dantes famous hendecasyllable structure per se, he does opt for using a classical English poetic meter, the iambic pentameter. My preference for a rhyming attempt wins out over Mary Jo Bangs exuberant rendering, but only by a smidgen. The Divine Comedy, after all, is a poem, and its meanings are contained as much in sound as in "sense." Verse translations require more courage, and more thinking, because they are generally . For what it's worth, here's an excerpt from a New Yorker review of Paradiso: A collection of 100 poems to be exact, one for each canto, some more sublime than others. 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. As the day stands when the Sun begins to glow. These breathtaking lines conclude Dante's Divine Comedy, a 14,000-line epic written in 1321 on the state of the soul after death. His translation of the Divine Comedy (especially Inferno and Purgatorio) is one of my favorite translations of anything. 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'. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest works of world literature. 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. By Sergio M. Brattich | Dante's Commedia. During one Spirit was relating this, Michael Palmas 2003 translation ofInfernobegins this way: Midway through the journey of our life, I found. It shows that translation loss remains inevitable, whether it be in rhyme, ambiguous meaning, or simply losing the melody of the target language. Mind you, I haven't read any other translations for comparison (plus, I'm still in the middle of. Oct 19, 2015 at 21:03 . I had the energy, but not the knowledge, and not the knowledge of myself, because Dante is worried about himself. "They're faithful, they're accurate, they're scholarly, but the actual raw poetic thrill of the verse doesn't get through, and that's what I think the translator must try to do if he or she can. These things are always hard, choosing between manner and matter , Your email address will not be published. Out of the two I've read (Charles Sisson. Rogers 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. Ultimately, its great to read a few and decide which version you like best, each has strengths and weaknesses. Any translation involves balancing the meaning, feel, and artistry of the work, normally at the expense of at least one of these qualities. 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). 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. Joseph Luzzi teaches at Bard and is the author of My Two Italies, a New York Times Book Review Editors Choice, and In a Dark Wood: What Dante Taught Me About Grief, Healing, and the Mysteries of Love. So much depends on whats outside his text: the mass of other books, other stories, other issues that lie submerged beneath the actual lines of The Divine Comedy. Individuals with disabilities are Sinclair's is a prose translation from the thirties. 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. Scam Advisory: Recent reports indicate that individuals are posing as the NEH on email and social media. 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. (Health!). (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. 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). Excellent notes, too! I heard a voice cry: "Watch which way you turn: I heard this said to me: "Watch how you pass; I heard a voice cry out, "Watch where you step! TheDivine Comedy, finished by Dante Alighieri in 1320, is one of the most famous literary works of all time, and its author is considered the father of the Italian language. Despite her prettiness, her sweetness, and her eloquence, she is like every other sinner in hell: its never their fault, always someone elses. I wondered how else one could say Midway through our life, I found myself in a dark wood; the right way was lost., Both James and Bang are poets. 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. Famed translators Pevear and Volokhonsky reach another milestone. The surprising historybehind the worlds most famous collection of folk tales. Allen Mandelbaums translation goes like this: When I had journeyed half of our lifes way. The Divine Comedy is a fulcrum in Western history. Provide Feedback Form. 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 The Divine Comedy, finished by Dante Alighieri in 1320, is one of the most famous literary works of all time, and its author is considered the father of the Italian language. It's nice to compare, and if you're interested in learning the language, it's a great way to get some personally meaningful immersion. ", He calls the quatrains a "nice, easily flowing rhythmic grid on which to mount the individual moments. 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. About the Author. By clicking Sign Up, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and understand that Penguin Random House collects certain categories of personal information for the purposes listed in that policy, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information and retains personal information in accordance with the policy. [1] The three cantiche [i] of the poem, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, describe hell, purgatory, and heaven respectively.

Dr Bell Horse Drops For Sale, Articles D