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In the midway of this our mortal life, I found me in a gloomy wood, astray Gone from the path direct: and e'en to tell It were no easy task, how savage wild That forest, how robust and rough its growth, Which to remember only, my dismay Renews, in bitterness not far from death.
This is rubbish in English and has only a slight connection with the original. Ther are several marvellous versions out there. Avoid both the Penguin versions, by Sayers and Musa, they have enough faults to choke on. For monolingual versions I recommend. The Divine Comedy translated by C.H. Sisson. World's classics. A great poet translating a greater. The Divine Comedy translated by Allen Mandelbaum Everyman's Library. A good poet, very clean and clear translation, excellent notesand commentaries, and a beautiful book to cap it all with lots of Botticelli drawings. The Divine Comedy translated by Peter Dale.Anvil Press. Metrically strict but surprisingly accurate. Better still buy one of the bilingual version, Dante is easy to get to read.
There have been over 700 years of commentary on this classic, so I won't add anything original here. On the web search for "Dartmouth Dante Project" and you will find many. The reading is helped by added commentary, for example understanding the role of Beatrice or Francesca as heroine. The Dorothy Sayers translation offers more background information. The audaciousness of the poet to enter this realm of Biblical themes is remarkable, as his ability to garner sympathy for some of the sinners, such as Ugolino. Its fun to think where Dante would have placed some of today's public figures. Kilmer's translation is clear and straightforward, fairly modern sounding. For example contrast Kilmers(from Cantos XXiv):
Quicker than I cross t, dot i,
he kindled, burned, and falling down,
was completely changed to ashes
versus Sayers:
Never did writer with a single dash
Of the pen write "o" or "i" so swift as he
Took fire, and burned, and crumbled way to ash.
After I read the poem, I studied the dark illustrations by Benjamin Martinez and they present another view of the journey.
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