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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   30730 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 3, 2023

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Going off on a tangent, that translation quoted above is old-fashioned. A more modern one, which I like very much and would highly recommend for the notes and commentary which help explain so many of the references in the poem, is the one produced between 2000-2007 of the entire Divine Comedy by the late Robert and Jean Hollander. Sample for comparision of the same text below:

Here, as far as I could tell by listening,

was no lamentation other than the sighs

that kept the air forever trembling.

These came from grief without torment

borne by vast crowds

of men, and women, and little children.

My master began: 'You do not ask about

the souls you see? I want you to know,

before you venture farther,

'they did not sin. Though they have merit,

that is not enough, for they were unbaptized,

denied the gateway to the faith that you profess.

'And if they lived before the Christians lived,

they did not worship God aright.

And among these I am one.

'For such defects, and for no other fault,

we are lost, and afflicted but in this,

that without hope we live in longing.'

When I understood, great sadness seized my heart,

for then I knew that beings of great worth

were here suspended in this Limbo.

'Tell me, master, tell me, sir,' I began,

seeking assurance in the faith

that conquers every doubt,

'did ever anyone, either by his own

or by another's merit, go forth from here

and rise to blessedness?'

And he, who understood my covert speech:

'I was new to this condition when I saw

a mighty one descend, crowned, with the sign of victory.

'Out of our midst he plucked the shade

of our first parent, of Abel his son, of Noah,

and of Moses, obedient in giving laws,

'the patriarch Abraham, and David the king,

Israel with his father and his sons,

and with Rachel, for whom he served so long,

'as well as many others, and he made them blessed.

And, I would have you know, before these

no human souls were saved.'

Actually I'm very fond of the old-style language! I would be interested in the notes and commentary in the newer edition though.

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