THE INFERNO OF DANTE ALIGHIERI
TRANSLATED IN TRIPLE-RHYME
WITH AN INTRODUCTION, NOTES AND COMMENTARY
This vigorous translation of the Inferno, the first part of Dante's Divine Comedy, makes accessible to the modern reader the poet's descent through the nine circles of Hell. Rendered in clear, lively English, it is almost unique in retaining the difficult triple-rhyme scheme of the original, while remaining faithful to the meaning. The introduction, footnotes and commentaries clarify the poem without being burdensome, and an associated web site provides illustrations and further background.
"I was constantly amazed and charmed with the facility with which Zimmerman's translation manages to put Dante's common Italian language into vernacular speech in English, giving it-with no loss of its important classical allusions or its lyrical impact-all the immediacy and suspense of a contemporary thriller."
-Samsara Review
"The major virtue of Seth Zimmerman's translation lies in its idiomatic, direct, unpretentious style."
-Metamorphoses
The cover shows the thief Agnello in the eighth circle. From the mobile Inferno installation of Janet Van Fleet.
