The Divine Comedy

Described variously as the greatest poem of the European Middle Ages and, because of the author's evangelical purpose, the `fifth Gospel', the Divine Comedy is central to the culture of the west. The poem is a spiritual autobiography in the form of a journey - the poet travels from the dark circles of the Inferno, up the mountain of Purgatory, where Virgil, his guide leaves him to encounter Beatrice in the Earthly Paradise. Dante conceived the poem as the new epic of Christendom, and he creates a world in which reason and faith have transformed moral and social chaos into order.

Charles Sisson's blank verse translation is remarkable for its lucidity and vigour, and the Introduction, diagrams, maps, and notes by David Higgins provide the reader with invaluable guidance.
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Readership: General readers, poets, students at 6th-form, undergraduate and postgraduate level studying Italian, comparative literature, comparative religion, theology, medieval European literature, medieval European history, English literature, history of art, creative writing.

Dante Alighieri

"`The pleasingly plain, readable English well reflects Dante's original eloquence.' The Times"

"What is amazing about Dante's language is the fluency, the plainness, the simplicity - the sheer approachability - of his words. The sheer formal mastery of the man is quite amazing." - Michael Glover, New Statesman & Society

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