Writer's Notebook: the Inferno
May. 21st, 2010 09:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
There are a few books in this world that own parts of my soul, and one of them is the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. This is an odd happenstance because it's a really, really long poem and I have an almost complete inability to appreciate poetry. On the other hand once you get past the poetry thing the Divine Comedy is obviously my kind of book: it's a self-insertion fanfic dealing with damnation and redemption. What's not to love?
There's a lot more I could say about why I find it so fascinating, but I don't feel like journaling about that tonight. Instead, I want to record a few thoughts about the various translations of the Inferno that I have read recently. There are a lot of different translations running around, and while I will always love John Ciardi's that's not to say that I can't love other translations as well.
That's the theory, anyway. As a practical matter I wasn't enraptured by any of the three I started with, but I'm not downhearted: there must be at least five other translations at Bennet Martin library, and that's not counting the one by Sinclair which I will apparently have to get via intra-library loan. But that's a project that will have to wait until after I get that book chapter written.
So, here is what I have so far:
--John Ciardi: The one I first read, and still the one I like best. It has some extremely lovely passages and a Virgil who can really talk smack.
"Supreme Virtue, who through this impious land
wheel me at will down these dark gyres," I said,
"speak to me, for I wish to understand."
--Louis Biancolli: A translation in blank verse. This one didn't excite me as much as Ciardi's, but it was not without charm. It also has some really amazing artwork as illustrations. (Brent: You should hunt this down to look at them.)
"O highest Virtue," I began, "who whirl me
Through these godless circles as you please,
Speak to me and grant me my wish:
--Elio Zappulla: Another blank verse translation. This one did not sing to me, at all. It was made more maddening by the art, which was possibly technically proficient but which in most cases had nothing to do with the canto in which it appeared.
I said:"My lord, in virtue unexcelled,
there are so many things I wish to learn,
So as you lead me through these evil rings,
Please satisfy my wish to understand."
--Michael Palma: I liked this one and may go back to reread it again later. Notable for being the only translation to port Dante's braided rhyme scheme into English. (Ciardi uses a simpler three-line structure.)
"O highest virtue, revolving me as you please
through all the unholy circles, satisfy
my wishes now and speak to me of these."
There's a lot more I could say about why I find it so fascinating, but I don't feel like journaling about that tonight. Instead, I want to record a few thoughts about the various translations of the Inferno that I have read recently. There are a lot of different translations running around, and while I will always love John Ciardi's that's not to say that I can't love other translations as well.
That's the theory, anyway. As a practical matter I wasn't enraptured by any of the three I started with, but I'm not downhearted: there must be at least five other translations at Bennet Martin library, and that's not counting the one by Sinclair which I will apparently have to get via intra-library loan. But that's a project that will have to wait until after I get that book chapter written.
So, here is what I have so far:
--John Ciardi: The one I first read, and still the one I like best. It has some extremely lovely passages and a Virgil who can really talk smack.
"Supreme Virtue, who through this impious land
wheel me at will down these dark gyres," I said,
"speak to me, for I wish to understand."
--Louis Biancolli: A translation in blank verse. This one didn't excite me as much as Ciardi's, but it was not without charm. It also has some really amazing artwork as illustrations. (Brent: You should hunt this down to look at them.)
"O highest Virtue," I began, "who whirl me
Through these godless circles as you please,
Speak to me and grant me my wish:
--Elio Zappulla: Another blank verse translation. This one did not sing to me, at all. It was made more maddening by the art, which was possibly technically proficient but which in most cases had nothing to do with the canto in which it appeared.
I said:"My lord, in virtue unexcelled,
there are so many things I wish to learn,
So as you lead me through these evil rings,
Please satisfy my wish to understand."
--Michael Palma: I liked this one and may go back to reread it again later. Notable for being the only translation to port Dante's braided rhyme scheme into English. (Ciardi uses a simpler three-line structure.)
"O highest virtue, revolving me as you please
through all the unholy circles, satisfy
my wishes now and speak to me of these."