Robert Pinsky was the U.S. Poet Laureate from 1997-2000, and therefore my expectations for his translation of Dante Alighieri’s masterpiece The Inferno were very high. I was not disappointed.
Pinsky recreates the medieval world view of religion and society -the original political subtext – the stunning imagery – and the 3-line interlocking stanzas of the terza rima rhyming scheme to great effect
Staying close to Dante’s intent, Pinsky underscores the symbiotic relationship between poetry and love. He draws parallels between the narrator’s journey from Hell to Heaven with that of Ulysses’ adventures in Homer’s Odyssey, maintaining the power of the original poetry and making it accessible to the modern reader. The Italian text is printed alongside the revised translation.
Dante’s work has influenced a wide range of intellectuals from Galileo through to the Modernists of the early 20th Century, particularly T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and James Joyce. Many artists have chosen to illustrate The Inferno in their own style. This edition contains 35 interesting monotypes by Michael Mazur, though I personally favor the earlier illustrations of Salvador Dali.
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