The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso

In the middle of the course of our life,I came to myself in a darkened wood,because the right direction had been lost. – opening lines of InfernoYou hold in your hand the greatest testimony to the grace, power, and beauty of God ever penned. Simply called La Commedia by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), The Divine Comedy chronicles the journey of the pilgrim after he wakes to find himself in the dark wood of his own apostasy. He is led by grace into a greater understanding of sin (Inferno), sanctification (Purgatorio), and blessed union with God (Paradiso), culminating in the beatific vision in which his own desires and will are moved by “the Love that moves the Sun and other stars.”Each translation of the Comedy is an opportunity to share in someone else’s delight in this poem, to catch a bit of the excitement from their own time with the Florentine. That delight will naturally focus on different aspects of the poem, based on the interests and leanings of the translator: theological, cosmological, political, anthropological, or what have you. But that delight is the key ingredient….Delight is the only thing that takes the lesson being learned and drives it deep into the bones. This translation is an invitation to you to share with me in my own delight in the richness of this poem. – from the Preface Read more