′There is no greater sorrow then to recall our times of joy in wretchedness.′Considered one of the greatest medieval poems written in the common vernacular of the time, Dante′s Inferno begins on Good
Beginning with Dante's liberation from Hell, Purgatory relates his ascent, accompanied by Virgil, of the Mount of Purgatory a mountain of nine levels, formed from rock forced upwards when God threw Sa
Michael Palma's translation of the Inferno reproduces in contemporary English Dante's intricate triple-rhyming terza rima form, defying the conventional wisdom of literary commentators who long argued that it simply cannot be done. This spectacular feat of poetic artistry- "accurate ... admirably clear, and readable" (Richard Wilbur)-"in capturing the sense, sound, and spirit of the original ... comes close to perfection" (X.J. Kennedy).
