The Divine Comedy: The John Ciardi Translation

by Dante Alighieri, John Ciardi (Translator)

Overview

This single volume, blank verse translation of The Divine Comedy includes an introduction, maps of Dante's Italy, Hell, Purgatory, Geocentric Universe, and political panorama of the thirteenth and early fourteenth century, diagrams and notes providing the reader with invaluable guidance.

Described as the "fifth gospel" because of its evangelical purpose, this spiritual autobiography creates a world in which reason and faith have transformed moral and social chaos into order. It is one of the most important works in the literature of Western Europe and is considered the greatest poem of the European Middle Ages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393044720
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	11/17/1977
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	622
Sales rank:	200,140
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.70(d)
Lexile:	1220L (what's this?)

About the Author

Dante Alighieri was born in 1265 in Florence to a family of minor nobility. He entered into Florentine politics in 1295, but he and his party were forced into exile in a hostile political climate in 1301. Taking asylum in Ravenna late in life, Dante completed his Divine Commedia, considered one of the most important works of Western literature, before his death in 1321.