What's the best English translation of Dante's Divine Comedy?

Answer 1

I first read the Divine Comedy in John Ciardi's translation, so it's still a favorite of mine. It does not use the exact same rhyme scheme as the Italian terza rima (as Dorothy Sayers' translation does), but it's also (therefore) a bit more readable. Instead, it retains the three-line stanzas but uses rhymes only in lines one and three. In true terza rima the second line of a stanza would carry forward into rhymes of lines one and three of the next stanza. Because English does not have as many exactly rhyming words as Italian, the attempt to maintain the original rhyme scheme is difficult and makes the reading a little bit "precious," especially to the ear of the modern reader, more accustomed as we are to unrhymed poetry.

Two more recent translations, however, strike me as better for the 21st century reader. Allen Mandelbaum's blank verse is very readable and may actually be closer to the meaning (as opposed to the sound and style) of the original.

Robert Pinsky's modern verse (he was the USA poet laureate a few years back) may, in fact, be the best compromise of all. He keeps the three-line stanzas, but substitutes his own, more modern/English sounds. The rhymes Pinksy uses are half-rhymes or consonantal rhymes (e.g., self, rough; tell, feel; wake, spoke, quick). After reading Pinsky, I now find Ciardi just a little bit stiff. (Sorry 'bout that!)

By the way, another kind of "translation" is from text into visuals. My own reading of the Divine Comedy has been enhanced by the "illustrations" of William Blake and Gustave Dore. A number of modern editions will have some, if not all, of these. Dore's are more traditional, and there are more of them. Blake would despise the term "illustrations"; his designs reflect his own vision as well as interpreting Dante's.

Answer 2

The version I had in my World Lit class was awesome... part of my Norton Anthology book on World Masterpieces, the translation we read was by John Ciardi.

I found a link of the whole work, as translated by the same man:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451208633/sr=8-2/qid=1153774129/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-6860273-2584608?ie=UTF8

His translation made the tale one of my favorite works of classical literature...and probably had a good amount to do with my choice for a creative thesis based on the 7 Deadly Sins, lol.

Hope this helps -- I noticed the link actually allows you to read an excerpt from the book itself, so that should help you determine if you like it or not.

Answer 3

Henry Wadswroth Longfellow's translation available from Modern Library, edited and with a preface from Matthew Pearl has gotten good reviews. Check it out.
You might be interested in reading Pearl's novel "The Dante Club" too. It's a very good book.

Answer 4

I don't know. I don't read Italian, so I can't compare the original with any of the translations.

Answer 5

As the other responder said, John Ciardi's translation is the best one and most commonly accepted one. It's good because Ciardi was also a poet.

Answer 6

Divine Comedy Best English Translation

Answer 7

penguin classics