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Book SynopsisRobert Durling''s much-anticipated translation of the Paradiso, the third and final volume of Dante''s Divine Comedy, is available at last. Durling''s prose translations of the Inferno and the Purgatorio garnered high praise, and with this superb version of the Paradiso readers can now traverse the entirety of Dante''s epic poem of spiritual ascent with the guidance of one of the greatest living Italian-to-English translators. Reunited with his beloved Beatrice in the Paradiso, the poet-narrator journeys through the heavenly spheres and comes to know the state of blessed souls after death, the joy that every man can attain with God''s grace. As with the previous volumes, the original Italian and its English translation appear on facing pages for language mavens. But every reader will be drawn to Durling''s precise and vivid prose, which is perfectly suited to capture Dante''s extraordinary range of expression--from the high style of divine revelation to colloquial speech, lyrical inte
Trade ReviewAs Durling and Martinez complete their monumental three-volume presentation of Dante's masterpiece, we can sense their triumph and elation, despite their characteristic modesty. This, after all, is the volume with which they can demonstrate the fullness and consistency of Dante's great project, its final approach to what they describe in one footnote as 'a pitch of intensity unique in all literature.' The scholarship, as always, is graceful, comprehensive, and acute, and it surrounds a translation that is so carefully considered and fully realized as to be, at times, quite breathtaking. * David Young, translator of The Poetry of Petrarch *
Durling and Martinez deliver Paradiso in elegant English prose faithful to Dante's Italian. The general introduction and succinct notes to each canto enable an informed reading of a frequently daunting text, while the longer 'Additional Notes,' bibliography, and indices will more than satisfy the most exigent critic. Marvelous, in the richest medieval sense of the term. * Michael Wyatt, author of The Italian Encounter with Tudor England *
At the end of his poem Dante claims that his 'high imagining failed of power,' but Durling and Martinez have suffered no such fate in completing their translation of the Divine Comedy. Their Paradiso is a crowning achievement, a work of lucid prose and of impeccable accuracy. Readers will find themselves rewarded by the succinct, richly informative notes at the end of each canto and the extended essay-notes at the back of the volume. A splendid accomplishment. * Richard Lansing, editor of The Dante Encyclopedia *
Table of ContentsCONTENTS Abbreviations, xv Introduction, 2 PARADISO CANTO 1 Notes to Canto 1 CANTO 2 Notes to Canto 2 CANTO 3 Notes to Canto 3 CANTO 4 Notes to Canto 4 CANTO 5 Notes to Canto 5 CANTO 6 Notes to Canto 6 CANTO 7 Notes to Canto 7 CANTO 8 Notes to Canto 8 CANTO 9 Notes to Canto 9 CANTO 10 Notes to Canto 10 CANTO 11 Notes to Canto 11 CANTO 12 Notes to Canto 12 CANTO 13 Notes to Canto 13 CANTO 14 Notes to Canto 14 CANTO 15 Notes to Canto 15 CANTO 16 Notes to Canto 16 CANTO 17 Notes to Canto 17 CANTO 18 Notes to Canto 18 CANTO 19 Notes to Canto 19 CANTO 20 Notes to Canto 20 CANTO 21 Notes to Canto 21 CANTO 22 Notes to Canto 22 CANTO 23 Notes to Canto 23 CANTO 24 Notes to Canto 24 CANTO 25 Notes to Canto 25 CANTO 26 Notes to Canto 26 CANTO 27 Notes to Canto 27 CANTO 28 Notes to Canto 28 CANTO 29 Notes to Canto 29 CANTO 30 Notes to Canto 30 CANTO 31 Notes to Canto 31 CANTO 32 Notes to Canto 32 CANTO 33 Notes to Canto 33 THE NICENE CREED BOETHIUS' O QUI PERPETUA MUNDUM RATIONE GUBERNAS Notes to "O qui perpetua' ADDITIONAL NOTES 1. The Figure of Beatrice (After Canto 2) 2. The Paradiso and the Monarchia 3.The Primacy of the Intellect, the Sun, and the Circling Theologians (After Canto 14) 4. Dante and the Liturgy (After Canto 15) 5. The Religious Orders in the Paradiso 6. The Threshold Cantos in the Comedy 7. The Fate of Phaethon in the Comedy 8. Circle-Cross-Eagle-Scales: Images in the Paradiso 9. The Final Image 10. The Neoplatonic Background 11. Dante and Neoplatonism 12. Dante's Astrology 13. The Heavens and the Sciences: Convivio 2 14. The Paradiso as Alpha and Omega Textual Variants Bibliography Index of Italian, Latin, and Other Foreign Words Discussed in the Notes Index of Passages Cited in the Notes Index of Proper Names in the Notes Index of Proper Names in the Text and Translation
