Various Attempts to Translate Dantes Divine Comedy Essay

Throughout the past two hundred years, many linguists have attempted to translate Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy into English. While all have been successful in conveying the general meaning of various passages, diction and wordiness have varied wildly; no two translations are identical. This can be attributed to two factors: normal translational variation and the intent of the linguist. Taking both of these into account, John Ciardis 1954 translation is far superior to the others. Unlike previous literary works, The Comedy (divine was added to the title some two hundred years after Dante), written between 1307 and 1320, was originally published in vernacular Italian. This threatened Dantes legitimacy: all other `great works of†¦show more content†¦Both Henry Cary and the renowned English poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, fail to incorporate Dantes distinctive rhyme scheme. This causes their translations to lose much of the poetic value found in Dantes original Italian. The dated, almost Shakespearean diction used by both 19th Century translators makes their volumes difficult to comprehend. While Carys is written in prose--an excellent judgment on his part, as attempting to use poetic form while discarding Dantes rhyme scheme would discredit the original author--Longfellow attempts to keep Dantes three-line stanzas, ruining the flow of his non-rhyming lines. In the end, both Cary and Longfellow fall short of literary success in their translations of D ante due to their attempts to make Dante into a venerable English author: his almost-petty political undertones make it impossible for him to be categorized as such. Allen Mandelbaums 1980 translation uses by far the most modern, contemporary English diction. While written in three-line `paragraphs reminiscent of Dantes terza rima, Mandelbaums translation reads as prose. His greatest shortcoming is that he, like the 19th Century translators, makes no attempt to follow the original rhyme scheme. In this, readers lose some of Dantes original poetic intent. They should, however, consider Mandelbaums translation the superior English prose volume of The Comedy. It does the best job of preserving the plot and meaning of Dantes work, whileShow MoreRelatedDantes Voyage Through Hell1490 Words   |  6 Pagesdown his experiences. His Divine Comedy – the three-part epic poem consisting of Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso (Hell, Purgatory and Heaven)– is generally regarded as one of the greatest poetic feats ever accomplished. All three parts are incredible literary feats with symbolism so complex and beautiful that scholars are still unrave ling all the details today. However, this essay will focus on the first part of Dante’s work, Inferno, which consists of 34 cantos. Dante’s Inferno is a masterpiece