Description
Book SynopsisMany English-speaking people who want to be educated try to read Dante, the 'best known, least read' of all the classical poets, and find him impossible. In my thirties I did just that: 'Where do I begin?' The library yielded a translation of 'The Divine Comedy' - a great fat epic in three volumes. Wading into the Inferno, I struggled through a couple of sections and decided this wasn't for me. Too gloomy, too stilted, too difficult to grasp - and above all - too many words. I gave up almost at once. I cannot be the only one who as a result of that kind of experience thinks the work of this great Master is exclusively about Hell. 'Dante? - oh, you mean Dante's Inferno!' they say. NO! That's not it. There's far, far more. Dante wrote in Italian in order to reach ordinary people who, like me, needed the story itself. He wrote in the vernacular about the famous of the time - well-known entertainers and politicians, poets and artists, churchmen and musicians, the great and the awful. He wanted to be understood by everyone, including those not too well-versed in Latin. 'What a story this is,' I thought, when finally I was properly introduced to it. 'Why don't we all know this story? Dante is so warm-hearted, so exciting, so full of hope and humour, justice and joy - but, like me, my friends hardly ever get into Hell, let alone out of it and on.' My aim is to tell Dante's story in the way I remember it - not primarily for its history, or its theology, or even its most gracious poetry, but for the unfolding journey he made through those amazing landscapes. It was all in his imagination, yet so vividly brought to life in his poem that irresistibly it invites us to accompany him on a life-changing, life-saving adventure of our own. The tale begins when, depressed and lost in a Dark Wood, Dante meets Virgil, his hero among much earlier poets. At the request of Beatrice - his great love, now in Heaven - Virgil has come from Limbo to guide him on a huge journey. Sure enough, they start by going down through Hell; but they emerge, ascend the Mountain of Purgatory through many adventures, and rise to the threshold of Paradise. There, human knowledge fails and Virgil leaves him. Meeting people all the way, he flies on into Heaven with Beatrice, and up through the stars to God. I hope that by travelling with him, we too may come to find in the poetry something of the depth of the vision. I hope we may come to love Dante as a person, with all his directness, his immense compassion for those he meets on the way, and his chuckling ability to laugh at himself. I hope we shall rejoice that his passion for Beatrice, who leads him through Heaven, is at last so blissfully fulfilled in the divine. May our own landscape of the mind be enhanced - even transformed - by the journey.
Trade ReviewWith love, wisdom and devotion Hazel Marshall has created a uniquely accessible adaptation of Dante's epic journey that will bring it within reach of many who might otherwise not set forth at all. Brava! - as the Italians say, Brava! ; Anne Maria Clarke ; Author, writer and performing artist. ; 'Dante went for a walk.' Hazel's opening sentence draws us into a vivid story as we accompany Dante through, and then beyond, the depths and heights of human experience. Prompted at intervals to ask ourselves how we would feel in each situation that arises, we are gently invited to engage ever more fully with the transpersonal dimension of our lives. This is an enriching endeavour and one which will stand the test of time. ; Monica Anthony, UKCP Reg., RCST. ; Transpersonal psychotherapist, craniosacral therapist. ; Hazel has an inspirational ability to entice us to travel life's journey, and to understand it differently. This book is a beautifully new approach to that journey, showing us hope, and the transcending, healing power of love. ; Pamela Allsop, Transpersonal psychotherapist and artist. ; www.pamelallsop.com
Table of ContentsDedication & Frontispiece Preface Contents Introduction PART 1: THROUGH THE INFERNO 1 THE DARK FOREST 2 VIRGIL 3 GOING DOWN 4 PAOLO AND FRANCESCA 5 MEDUSA AND THE ANGEL 6 THE BURNING CITY OF DIS 7 CENTAURS AND HARPIES 8 GERYON AND THE ABYSS 9 FROM ULYSSES TO THE GIANTS 10 THE PIT OF HELL PART 2: UP THE MOUNTAIN OF PURGATORY 11 THE SHIP OF SOULS 12 THE CLIMB BEGINS 13 ST. PETER'S GATE 14 STICKS AND CARROTS 15 THE ANGRY SOULS 16 THE BONE IDLE AND THE COVETOUS 17 THE GREEDY ARE PURGED 18 THE ANGEL OF CHASTITY 19 THE RIVER LETHE 20 THE RIVER OF GOOD REMEMBRANCE PART 3: INTO PARADISE 21 FLYING TO THE MOON 22 TO MERCURY: THE EMPEROR AND THE LAW 23 TO VENUS: ROUND PEGS FOR ROUND HOLES 24 IN THE REALM OF THE SUN 25 THE CROSS OF MARTIAL SOULS 26 JUPITER AND THE EAGLE 27 SATURN AND THE LADDER 28 UP TO THE STARS 29 THE PRIMUM MOBILE 30 THE EMPYREAN Epilogue Acknowledgments Credits Bibliography Illustrations Index
