*Allegorical Portrait of Dante, Agnolo Bronzino*

“Everything it is to be a human being is brought to form and consequence within a single structure that makes The Divine Comedy the most massive metaphor of western culture.”

— John Ciardi, Introduction

“Midway in our life’s journey, I went astray
from the straight road and woke to find myself
alone in a dark wood . . .”

— Dante, Inferno, I, 1-3

*Portrait of Dante, from the fresco cycle by Luca Signorelli*

I first heard those words from Don Draper in the trailer for the opening episode of Mad Men's* seventh Season, when it first aired in 2013 . . .

Fast forward 4 years.

I'd been putting off reading The Divine Comedy; I knew that I would have to spend a couple of hours deciding on a translation †. When I finally decided to read it, I had the above rendering of the first Canto in mind, but I didn't know the that rendering actually existed, or if someone on the show had taken an artistic liberty and changed an existing translation.

I began comparing: I found Longfellow hard to follow; Mendelbaum flat. Finally, I came across Ciardi's translation. I loved it. Not just the opening of the first Canto, but the whole of the first Canto, and some other parts that I compared. For me, it strikes a perfect balance between readability and poetic melody.

Portrait of Dante, Serie Gioviana — *Portrait of Dante,* *Serie Gioviana*

The edition that I read includes an Introduction, 13 diagrams, a short summary of the Canto at the start of each one, and 1-5 pages of Ciardi's extremely helpful, insightful, and at times, humorous notes‡, at the end of each Canto.

I had read that Dante's magnum opus was extremely dense, including lots of references, and many literary techniques such as symbolism, allegory &c., but I did not think to check if various editions included notes when I was ordering a copy.

I was lucky.

In my opinion, even if you know your scripture, church doctrine, &c. inside out; know the topography of Italy better than your home country, and have a good knowledge of ancient history, you will still want a copy with notes for your first reading.

The density is astounding; definitely the densest poem that I have read, and could definitely contend with, for example, with Joyce's Ulysses, and Faulkner's The Sound and The Fury, on this front.

But Ciardi guides you through with a gentle hand, unravelling Dante's masterwork with precision, diligence, and detail.

When I was reading, I read the helpful summary (which includes some details like scene, and characters) first, then the actual Canto, then browsed the notes at my leisure. I didn't have a meticulous interest in the biblical references, so I only read enough of those notes to get a general understanding of the Canto in terms of the biblical references, and I also got a bit burned-out with the topological & historical Italian references that Dante was making, so again, I did not read all of those. But I read fully, most of the other notes. These include textual information, notes on the translation (such as liberties he took), and literary explanations.

The notes were detailed, and helped me to appreciate the complete genius of Dante infinitely more than if I had not consulted any notes. And again, this is something that I would absolutely recommend a first-time reader should do if they do not want to get lost and confused, risking lack of understanding and boredom on Dante's divine journey.

Like most people. I enjoyed the Inferno the most. Purgatory, and Paradise, I did enjoy, but to a lesser extent; this mainly coming down to the subject matter. I do have a small interest in, but am not familiar with, church doctrine, scripture, &c. at all. But you do not need this knowledge to appreciate Dante's literary genius on all fronts.

Dante must be read attentively: mind will reveal itself only to mind. But Dante is not difficult to read. It is true that he writes in depth and on many simultaneous levels. Yet his language is usually simple and straightforward. If the gold of Dante runs deep, it must also rise to the surface. A lifetime of reading cannot mine all that gold; yet enough lies on the surface, or only an inch below, to make a first reading a bonanza in itself. All one needs are some suggestions as to what to look for. Thereafter, one need only follow the vein as it goes deeper and deeper. One must, to begin with, think allegorically. —Ciardi

*Dante Meditating the Episode of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta, Sir Joseph Noel Paton*

Selected Excerpts

There are always those
who measure worth by popular acclaim,
ignoring principles of art and reason
—Purgatory, XXVI 120-122

. . .within a cloud of flowers
that rose like fountains from the angel's hands
and fell about in showers
—Purgatory, XXX, 28

. . . and it lost Paradise by the same deed.
Nor could they be regained . . .
—Paradise, VII, 87

And now, that every wish be granted you
I turn back to explain a certain passage,
that you may understand it as I do.
—Paradise, VII, 121

Here I concede defeat. No poet known,
comic or tragic, challenged by his theme
to show his power, was ever more outdone
—Paradise, XXX, 22

*Dante and Virgil, William-Adolphe Bouguereau*

That he may experience all while yet alive
—Inferno XXVIII, 48

The instant I had come upon the sill
of my second age and crossed and
changed my life
—Purgatory XXX 124-125

. . . with fruits of paradise.
—Paradise XI, 123

So many streams of happiness flow down
into my mind that it grows self-delighting
—Paradise XVI, 19-20

I have learned much that would, were it
retold,
offend the taste of many alive today.
—Paradise XVII, 116-117

. . . sees far beyond
the furthest limits
—Paradise XIX, 56-57

*The Celestial Rose, Engraving buy Gustave Dore*

. . . for though he learns
the sweet life, he has known the bitter
way.
—Paradise XX, 47-48

The name of that Sweet Flower to which I pray
morning and night, seized all my soul and moved it
—Paradise XXIII, 88-89

Into the gold of that rose that blooms eternal
—Paradise XXX, 124

. . . the two eternal roots of this our rose
—Paradise XXXII, 120

. . . to this flower of timeless beauty.
—Paradise XXXII, 126

* One of the best shows

which, like Dante, is very dense, and uses lots of literary techniques (which most viewers do not even realise; mistaking the show for a soap-opera with large amounts of adultery and nothing particularly deep to say). I have watched it multiple times, and have read multiple articles on each episode which delve fully into the literary techniques that the show uses; and even after multiple viewings and reading multiple articles on each episode, I still have original views and insights on most episodes. Here is a website which links various reviews for each episode by season if I have piqued your interest. If you want to avoid information overload, Todd VanDerWerff, Alan Sepinwall, and Andrew Johnston are the most incisive and perceptive critics.

† Personally, when it comes to poetry, I think that the poetic form of the author should be preserved as much as possible, and so I did not consider any literal translations.

This short article discusses and compares four different translations by Zapulla, Mendelbaum, Hollander, and Ciardi.

‡ Here are some excerpts from Ciardi's notes to Paradise:

". . . though had he done so he would have found himself prophesying the end of the world within fairly tight limits, a prophecy Dante wisely chose not to utter. Poetry is, among other things, the art of knowing what to leave out."
-Note to XX

"The art of juxtaposing details in a way that constantly gives scale to an all-containing system of values is one of the marvels of Dante's genius."
-Note to XXIII

"The Muses gave suck to the poets, thereby transmitting to them the powers of song. How these virgin sisters maintained their milk supply is one more item to be filed among the sacred mysteries."
-Note to XXIII

"Adam declares that his whole sojourn in the Terrestrial Paradise was six hours (and perhaps part of the seventh). . . . Half an allegorical day is about as long as any man can stay innocent."
-Note to XXVI