Translations of Dante

botkin · 02-14-2007, 04:42 AM

What translations of the Commedia would you reccomend? I just finished reading my second translation of the Commedia, by Robert Hollander on the Princeton Dante Project. My first was Dorothy L. Sayers' rhyming translation for Penguin (which I preferred, and occasionally revisit).

And also, don't you hate it when the Commedia is translated into prose? I hate leafing through copies at bookstores and finding solid blocks of paragraphs, with no meter, no rhyme, and no rhythm staring up at me.

Nightshaper · 02-14-2007, 09:48 AM

I read the Allen Mandelbaum's translation of the Inferno, i enjoyed it a lot, I've also heard by a few other people that its one of the better translation available. So it might be something to look into, I dont remember what translation of Purgatorio i read, i dont believe it was the same version tho, seemed to me to be a bit dry, even tho it was in verse.

Virgil · 02-14-2007, 11:18 AM

We just discussed this a little while ago. Check here: http://www.online-literature.com/for...nte#post328477

pellegrino · 08-21-2007, 12:26 PM

Dear botkin-
I agree about the prose, but I can't see how English can accomodate the Italian. It''s not about richness of language either. It's about music. Cadence in the Italian gives the emotive power of the words a boost by devices in the terza rima not easily found in English. Some translators make tortuous choices to achieve Dante's famed brevity, but by doing this they lose meaning. It's not their fault, they are dealing with perhaps the greatest master in history. Try reading Shakespeare in the Italian!! I know this sounds trite, but get a dual language and plow through (as T.S, Eliot recommends). Even better get a reading of it and LISTEN - Vittorio Gassman for one, or the princeton DAnte Project. That will aid you enormously. And relax. Your reading will take a lifetime. Enjoy the pearls slowly. Dante never gets old.

02-14-2007, 04:42 AM	#1
botkin Fu Manchu Wannabe Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 24	Translations of Dante What translations of the Commedia would you reccomend? I just finished reading my second translation of the Commedia, by Robert Hollander on the Princeton Dante Project. My first was Dorothy L. Sayers' rhyming translation for Penguin (which I preferred, and occasionally revisit). And also, don't you hate it when the Commedia is translated into prose? I hate leafing through copies at bookstores and finding solid blocks of paragraphs, with no meter, no rhyme, and no rhythm staring up at me. __________________ "They swell in sapphire smoke out of the blue cracks of the ground, -- They gather and they wonder and give worship to Mahound."

02-14-2007, 11:18 AM	#3
Virgil Vincit Qui Se Vincit Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: New York Posts: 18,350 Blog Entries: 94	We just discussed this a little while ago. Check here: http://www.online-literature.com/for...nte#post328477 __________________ LET THERE BE LIGHT "That day I shall always recollect with grief; with reverence also, for the gods so willed it." - Virgil, The Aeneid (V, 49) Distracted from distraction by distraction

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Percy Shelley and Dante Alighieri	mono	Poems, Poets, and Poetry	4	11-27-2009 01:59 AM
dante alighieri and his love	rhei_27	Alighieri, Dante	4	07-26-2007 09:31 PM
Homer Translations	Sasha	The Iliad	0	05-24-2005 07:07 PM
Dante, Skepticism and Baha'i Literature	Ron Price	Religious Texts	0	07-03-2004 05:44 AM

02-14-2007, 09:48 AM	#2
Nightshaper Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 5	I read the Allen Mandelbaum's translation of the Inferno, i enjoyed it a lot, I've also heard by a few other people that its one of the better translation available. So it might be something to look into, I dont remember what translation of Purgatorio i read, i dont believe it was the same version tho, seemed to me to be a bit dry, even tho it was in verse.

08-21-2007, 12:26 PM	#4
pellegrino Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 11	Dear botkin- I agree about the prose, but I can't see how English can accomodate the Italian. It''s not about richness of language either. It's about music. Cadence in the Italian gives the emotive power of the words a boost by devices in the terza rima not easily found in English. Some translators make tortuous choices to achieve Dante's famed brevity, but by doing this they lose meaning. It's not their fault, they are dealing with perhaps the greatest master in history. Try reading Shakespeare in the Italian!! I know this sounds trite, but get a dual language and plow through (as T.S, Eliot recommends). Even better get a reading of it and LISTEN - Vittorio Gassman for one, or the princeton DAnte Project. That will aid you enormously. And relax. Your reading will take a lifetime. Enjoy the pearls slowly. Dante never gets old.