Other editions of book The Divine Comedy: Volume 1: Inferno

The Inferno is the first part of The Divine Comedy, Dante's epic poem describing man's progress from hell to paradise. In it, the author is lost in dark woods, threatened by wild beasts and unable to find the right path to salvation. Notable for its nine circles of hell, the poem vividly illustrates the poetic justice of punishments faced by earthly sinners. The Inferno is perhaps the most popular of the three books of The Divine Comedy, which is widely considered the preeminent work in Italian literature.

An acclaimed translation of Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy Volume 1: Inferno that retains all the style, power and meaning of the originalA Penguin Classic This vigorous translation of Inferno preserves Dante's simple, natural style, and captures the swift movement of the original Italian verse. Mark Musa's blank verse rendition of the poet's journey through the circles of hell recreates for the modern reader the rich meanings that Dante's poem had for his contemporaries. Musa's introduction and commentaries on each of the cantos brilliantly illuminate the text. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The "Divine Comedy" was entitled by Dante himself merely "Commedia," meaning a poetic composition in a style intermediate between the sustained nobility of tragedy, and the popular tone of elegy. The word had no dramatic implication at that time, though it did involve a happy ending. The poem is the narrative of a journey down through Hell, up the mountain of Purgatory, and through the revolving heavens into the presence of God. In this aspect it belongs to the two familiar medieval literary types of the Journey and the Vision. It is also an allegory, representing under the symbolism of the stages and experiences of the journey, the history of a human soul, painfully struggling from sin through purification to the Beatific Vision. Contained in this volume is the first part of the "Divine Comedy," the "Inferno" or "Hell," from the translation of Charles Eliot Norton.

Dante's Inferno. An epic and searing poem, that takes the reader on an intense journey through the darkest pits of hell. As important and classic as the day it was written over 600 years ago. Dante's Inferno is one of the best and enduring works of Western Civilization. The immortal drama of a journey through Hell. Belonging in the immortal company of Homer, Virgil, Milton, and Shakespeare, Dante Alighieri's poetic masterpiece is a moving human drama, an unforgettable visionary journey through the infinite torment of Hell, a supreme expression of the Middle Ages, a glorification of the ways of God, and a magnificent protest at the ways in which men have thwarted the divine plan. One of the few literary works which has enjoyed a fame that was both immediate and enduring, The Inferno's power has not been lessened or obscured after six centuries. It confronts the most universal values—good and evil, free will and predestination—while remaining intensely personal and ferociously political, for it was born out of the anguish of a man who saw human life blighted by the injustice and corruption of his times.

The first volume of Dante's Divine ComedyGuided by the poet Virgil, Dante plunges to the very depths of Hell and embarks on his arduous journey towards God. Together they descend through the nine circles of the underworld and encounter the tormented souls of the damned - from heretics and pagans to gluttons, criminals and seducers - who tell of their sad fates and predict events still to come in Dante’s life. In this first part of his Divine Comedy, Dante fused satire and humour with intellect and soaring passion to create an immortal Christian allegory of mankind’s search for self-knowledge and spiritual enlightenment.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Describing Dante's descent into Hell midway through his life with Virgil as a guide, Inferno depicts a cruel underworld in which desperate figures are condemned to eternal damnation for committing one or more of seven deadly sins. As he descends through nine concentric circles of increasingly agonising torture, Dante encounters doomed souls including the pagan Aeneas, the liar Odysseus, the suicide Cleopatra, and his own political enemies, damned for their deceit. Led by leering demons, the poet must ultimately journey with Virgil to the deepest level of all. For it is only by encountering Satan, in the heart of Hell, that he can truly understand the tragedy of sin.

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy in the middle of the 13th century and what is principally known of him comes from his own writings. One of the world’s great literary masterpieces, the “Divine Comedy” is at its heart an allegorical tale regarding man’s search for divinity. The work is divided into three sections, “Inferno”, “Purgatorio”, and “Paradiso”, each containing thirty-three cantos. It is the narrative of a journey down through Hell, up the mountain of Purgatory, and through the revolving heavens into the presence of God. In this aspect it belongs to the two familiar medieval literary types of the Journey and the Vision, however Dante intended the work to be more than just simple allegory, layering the narrative with rich historical, moral, political, literal, and anagogical context. In order for the work to be more accessible to the common readers of his day, Dante wrote in the Italian language. This was an uncommon practice at the time for serious literary works, which would traditionally be written in Latin. One of the truly great compositions of all time, the “Divine Comedy” has inspired and influenced readers ever since its original creation. Presented here is the first volume of the “Divine Comedy” translated into English verse by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

This widely praised version of Dante's masterpiece, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award of the Academy of American Poets, is more idiomatic and approachable than its many predecessors. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Pinsky employs slant rhyme and near rhyme to preserve Dante's terza rima form without distorting the flow of English idiom. The result is a clear and vigorous translation that is also unique, student-friendly, and faithful to the original: "A brilliant success," as Bernard Knox wrote in The New York Review of Books.

Dante's epic, The Inferno is brought to the reader in this superbly presented edition. As the opening part of Dante's epic of poetry, The Divine Comedy, The Inferno introduces Dante as a character. We see the poet lost in a dark wood, and promptly confronted by three mighty beasts: a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf. Symbolic of sinful behaviour and desires, the trio of creatures pursue Dante into darkness, wherein Virgil - a deceased Roman poet representing human cognition and reason - appears. Initially unsure of Virgil's intentions, Dante is persuaded when the poet mentions that Beatrice Portinari, a young woman Dante knew and a symbol of love, sent him to find Dante with instructions from the Virgin Mary. It is thus that their journey to the underworld begins, with Virgil to act as Dante's guide through the malevolent environs. It is in this work that Dante's famed division of the Hellish realms, the Nine Circles, are detailed. These layers of the underworld each carry a particular type of sinner, with the punishments and agony ascending in intensity the deeper the descent. The poem reaches its stunning finale in the very core of Hell and the discovery of Lucifer - the Devil. This edition contains the well-regarded translation into English by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whose lifelong passion for Dante's work is translated supremely in every stanza and page of this volume.