Written in alternating prose and poetry, La Vita Nuova (The New Life) is a profound reflection on the nature of love, devoted to Dante's muse Beatrice. Following Beatrice's death in 1290, Dante became obsessed with the young Florentine woman, whom he only ever knew from a distance. He believed his love for her was a form of divine love, and saw her as an image of salvation itself - a theme that is later explored in his masterpiece The Divine Comedy, where she guides him through heaven. La Vita Nuova gives a fascinating glimpse into the poet's innermost feelings - his joy, his guilt and his grief - and remains one of the greatest works of Christian autobiography.
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The epic grandeur of Dante’s masterpiece has inspired readers for 700 years, and has entered the human imagination. But the further we move from the late medieval world of Dante, the more a rich understanding and enjoyment of the poem depends on knowledgeable guidance.
Robert Hollander, a renowned scholar and master teacher of Dante, and Jean Hollander, an accomplished poet, have written a beautifully accurate and clear verse translation of the first volume of Dante’s epic poem, the Divine Comedy.
Featuring the original Italian text opposite the translation, this edition also offers an extensive and accessible introduction and generous commentaries that draw on centuries of scholarship as well as Robert Hollander’s own decades of teaching and research. The Hollander translation is the new standard in English of this essential work of world literature.
The Poetry Of Hell - An Introduction. It is often said that two things are unavoidable; Death and Taxes. Certainly the latter is a common thorn in adult life but as to the former it seems that for many people it is merely a hiccup in Life's eternal journey. A journey they wish, if being of good deed and character, to share at the eternity of Heaven's largesse, a reward for Faith and the obligations of Religion. Of course for those not so fortunate an altogether different experience was prepared for them; Hell. Its nightmare visions so terrifying conjured up by Dante, Milton, Blake, Baudelaire and many others. If Faith is your companion it is a very realistic world to avoid. As though gathered here will testify in their rich verse. Among our readers are Richard Mitchley and Ghizela Rowe.
'Abandon all hope you who enter here' (Lasciate ogne speranza voi ch'intrate) Dante's Hell is one of the most remarkable visions in Western literature. An allegory for his and future ages, it is, at the same time, an account of terrifying realism. Passing under a lintel emblazoned with these frightening words, the poet is led down into the depths by Virgil and shown those doomed to suffer eternal torment for vices exhibited and sins committed on earth. Inferno is the first part of the long journey which continues through redemption to revelation - through Purgatory and Paradise - and, in this translation prepared especially for Audiobook, his images are as vivid as when the poem was first written in the early years of the fourteenth century.
I have been in the Heaven that takes up most of his light, and saw things there that those who descend from that height cannot speak of or forget…' Led by his guide Beatrice, Dante leaves the Earth behind and soars through the heavenly spheres of Paradise. In this third and final part of The Divine Comedy, he encounters the just rulers and holy saints of the Church. The horrors of Inferno and the trials of Purgatory are left far behind. Ultimately, in Paradise, Dante is granted a vision of God's Heavenly court - the angels, the Blessed Virgin and God Himself.
Now of that second kingdom I shall sing where human souls are purified of sin and made worthy to ascend to Heaven' Purgatory is the second part of Dante's The Divine Comedy ascending the terraces of the Mount of Purgatory inhabited by those doing penance to expiate their sins on earth. There are the proud - forced to circle their terrace for aeons bent double in humility; the slothful - running around crying out examples of zeal and sloth; while the lustful are purged by fire. Though less well-known than Inferno, Purgatory has inspired many writers including, in our century, Samuel Beckett, and has played a key role in literature.
