Full Description
Robert Durling's much-anticipated translation of the Paradiso, the third and final volume of Dante's Divine Comedy, is available at last. Durling's prose translations of the Inferno and the Purgatorio garnered high praise, and with this superb version of the Paradiso readers can now traverse the entirety of Dante's epic poem of spiritual ascent with the guidance of one of the greatest living Italian-to-English translators.
Reunited with his beloved Beatrice in the Paradiso, the poet-narrator journeys through the heavenly spheres and comes to know "the state of blessed souls after death," the joy that every man can attain with God's grace. As with the previous volumes, the original Italian and its English translation appear on facing pages for language mavens. But every reader will be drawn to Durling's precise and vivid prose, which is perfectly suited to capture Dante's extraordinary range of expression--from the high style of divine revelation to colloquial speech, lyrical interludes, and scornful diatribes against corrupt monks.
This edition boasts several unique features to aid readers. The notes by Durling and Ronald Martinez at the end of each canto not only illuminate the Paradiso, but stress the links among all three volumes of the Commedia, something seldom done in other editions. It also includes several drawings that illustrate Dante's medieval cosmology and a map of the poet's journey through Paradise. Durling's lucid, stage-setting introduction explores the Paradiso's unsurpassed imaginative richness and provides historical, political, biblical, and theological contexts that further enhance the reader's comprehension of the poem's major themes. Finally, the volume includes a unique set of indexes, including Proper Names in the Notes (with rich subheadings concerning themes and rhetorical devices), Passages Cited in the Notes, Words Discussed in the Notes, as well as the customary Index of Proper Names in the Text and Translation.
No reader will be disappointed by this reader-friendly, lovingly rendered new edition, a fitting capstone to Durling's remarkable achievement.
Contents
CONTENTS
Abbreviations, xv
Introduction, 2
PARADISO
CANTO 1
Notes to Canto 1
CANTO 2
Notes to Canto 2
CANTO 3
Notes to Canto 3
CANTO 4
Notes to Canto 4
CANTO 5
Notes to Canto 5
CANTO 6
Notes to Canto 6
CANTO 7
Notes to Canto 7
CANTO 8
Notes to Canto 8
CANTO 9
Notes to Canto 9
CANTO 10
Notes to Canto 10
CANTO 11
Notes to Canto 11
CANTO 12
Notes to Canto 12
CANTO 13
Notes to Canto 13
CANTO 14
Notes to Canto 14
CANTO 15
Notes to Canto 15
CANTO 16
Notes to Canto 16
CANTO 17
Notes to Canto 17
CANTO 18
Notes to Canto 18
CANTO 19
Notes to Canto 19
CANTO 20
Notes to Canto 20
CANTO 21
Notes to Canto 21
CANTO 22
Notes to Canto 22
CANTO 23
Notes to Canto 23
CANTO 24
Notes to Canto 24
CANTO 25
Notes to Canto 25
CANTO 26
Notes to Canto 26
CANTO 27
Notes to Canto 27
CANTO 28
Notes to Canto 28
CANTO 29
Notes to Canto 29
CANTO 30
Notes to Canto 30
CANTO 31
Notes to Canto 31
CANTO 32
Notes to Canto 32
CANTO 33
Notes to Canto 33
THE NICENE CREED
BOETHIUS' O QUI PERPETUA MUNDUM RATIONE GUBERNAS
Notes to "O qui perpetua'
ADDITIONAL NOTES
1. The Figure of Beatrice (After Canto 2)
2. The Paradiso and the Monarchia
3.The Primacy of the Intellect, the Sun, and the Circling Theologians (After Canto 14)
4. Dante and the Liturgy (After Canto 15)
5. The Religious Orders in the Paradiso
6. The Threshold Cantos in the Comedy
7. The Fate of Phaethon in the Comedy
8. Circle-Cross-Eagle-Scales: Images in the Paradiso
9. The Final Image
10. The Neoplatonic Background
11. Dante and Neoplatonism
12. Dante's Astrology
13. The Heavens and the Sciences: Convivio 2
14. The Paradiso as Alpha and Omega
Textual Variants
Bibliography
Index of Italian, Latin, and Other Foreign Words Discussed in the Notes
Index of Passages Cited in the Notes
Index of Proper Names in the Notes
Index of Proper Names in the Text and Translation
