Dante Aligheri

Everyman Poetry Library

by Anna Lawrence (editor)

Generous selection in translation from "The Divine Comedy", "The New Life" and the love lyrics of Italy's greatest poet.

Genres: Poetry

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Tamzin]

I’m just gonna put a list of thoughts because I still just have no idea what I’m talking about in terms of poetry and I feel I have no right to rate something which I know does so much for others
1. Dante is a cool ass name
2. Dante has been said to be ‘the Italian Shakespeare’ and indeed has been translated in a very Shakespearien way. Which kind of mind fucked me a bit because I was like- are we seeing an accurate translation or are we seeing why the translator thinks that Dante would have sounded like if he was a shakespearien Englishman. I can’t wait to read some of his works in Italian because whenever I read it in English I have to actively remind myself that I’m reading a piece of italian literature.
3. Overall I understand why this is good poetry, but I just didn’t connect to it, an in a medium like poetry that takes so much mental effort I scarcely look for something that doesn’t punch me in the face with truth bombs
4. I skipped all of the sections of La Divina Comedia because I do want to read that eventually
5. It took a lot of mental strain to get through this book
6. Man this guy falls in love with every woman he sees….

[Gareth Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always wondered about Dante’s poetry and this affordable volume was an excellent introduction with very useful interpretive notes.
There is a lot of slightly obscure love poetry that yields far more when you have read a bit of Dante’s biography - which is provided by the editor, Anne Lawrence in this slim volume.
Amazing and yet obvious to say, human behaviour and yearning was not much different in the thirteenth century!

[Snufkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

His poetry is so incredibly heartfelt and beautiful!