Inferno: The Longfellow Translation
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A literary treasure rediscovered.In 1867, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow completed the first American translation of Inferno and thus introduced Dante's literary genius to the New World. In the Inferno, the spirit of the classical poet Virgil leads Dante through the nine circles of Hell on the initial stage of his journey toward Heaven. Along the way Dante encounters and describes in vivid detail the various types of sinners in the throes of their eternal torment. Pulitzer Prize winning poet and Dante enthusiast James Merrill praised the rare "priceless fidelity" of Longfellow's groundbreaking translation of Dante and once commented "Why, oh, why is the Longfellow Comedy not in print?" Now Longfellow's translation of Inferno, which has been out of print for over forty years and largely neglected, finds a new life in this authoritative Modern Library edition - not just a reissue, but a rediscovery. This Modern Library paperback is set from the original 1867 Ticknor and Fields edition and includes Longfellow's two "Inferno" sonnets and all of Longfellow's original "Notes and Illustrations" (selected excerpts and essays about Dante's poem) from throughout the poet's lifetime, compiled by the editor for the first time as Longfellow intended them.The story behind Longfellow's translation provides a compelling match to Dante's own turmoil as a poet and exile. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow composed this powerful translation of Dante's Inferno as part of his coping process in the aftermath of his wife's death. He was assisted in his task by the group of prominent poets who rallied around him and christened themselves the "Dante Club." Longfellow's much-anticipated translation made Dante's visionary poem of traveling through the afterlife accessible to an American reading public for the very first time.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, translator of this edition, was an American poet, educator, and linguist, writing many long narrative poems, including The Song of Hiawatha, Evangeline, and The Courtship of Miles Standish.Matthew Pearl, editor and writer of the Preface, is the author of the novel The Dante Club, published by Random House, and is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School. In 1998 he won the prestigious Dante Prize from the Dante Society of America for his scholarly work. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Lino Pertile, writer of the Introduction, is a professor of Romance languages and literature at Harvard University. He specializes in Dante and the Latin Middle Ages. North American ReviewLongfellow, in rendering the substance of Dante's poem, has succeeded in giving also -- so far as art and genius could give it -- the spirit of Dante's poetry.
