The Divine Comedy
Will be published approx. on 7. July 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
624 pages
978-1-324-09852-2 (ISBN)
Description
When Michael Palma's translation of the Inferno appeared in 2002, it defied the conventional wisdom of literary commentators who had long argued that Dante's intricate terza rima form simply could not be rendered in "rhyme-poor" English. But Palma's achievement in rhyming tercets was quickly received as a spectacular feat of poetic artistry. Now, more than two decades later, Palma has applied the same virtuosic attention to the form and flow of the Purgatorio and Paradiso, attending to both the tiniest details and the grand design of the entire Commedia and offering a fluid and readable English version that reveals to contemporary readers the sound, sense and awe-inspiring beauty of Italian literature's greatest poem.
Reviews / Votes
"[Palma] often strikes the right balance between colour and sobriety" -- Harry Cochrane - The Times Literary Supplement "Mr. Palma's is one of the most readable Dante translations out there." -- The Wall Street JournalMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United States
Publishing group
W W Norton & Co Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 211 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
1 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-324-09852-2 (9781324098522)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Persons
Dante Alighieri was born in 1265 in Florence to a family of minor nobility. He entered into Florentine politics in 1295, but he and his party were forced into exile in a hostile political climate in 1301. Taking asylum in Ravenna late in life, Dante completed his Divine Commedia, considered one of the most important works of Western literature, before his death in 1321. Michael Palma has published six collections of original poetry and nearly twenty books of translations of modern and contemporary poets. He has received numerous awards, including the Italo Calvino Award from the Translation Center of Columbia University. His most recent book is Faithful in My Fashion: Essays on the Translation of Poetry. He lives in Vermont.