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Midway in our life's journey, I went astray
from the straight road and woke to find myself
alone in a dark wood. How shall I say
what wood that was! I never saw so drear,
so rank, so arduous a wilderness!
It's very memory gives a shape to fear.
Death could scarce be more bitter than that place!
But since it came to good, I will recount
all that I found revealed there by God's grace.
-- Inferno by Dante Alighieri as translated by John Ciardi
Part of the happy fallout from reading "Gargoyle" is that I've picked Dante back up. Although I originally found "Inferno" to be fascinating enough in my younger days, it didn't really capture my fancies enough for me to think of it as a personal favorite and a rereadable of mine. But I'm enjoying it much more now. I think it helps if you don't let yourself get bogged down too much by all the footnotes and obscure references that are so personal to Dante, and to just let yourself enjoy the atmospherics.
I never followed Dante beyond Hell before, but I think I will let him take me for the whole trip through Purgatory and Paradise this time as well. Shakespeare could use some time off.
from the straight road and woke to find myself
alone in a dark wood. How shall I say
what wood that was! I never saw so drear,
so rank, so arduous a wilderness!
It's very memory gives a shape to fear.
Death could scarce be more bitter than that place!
But since it came to good, I will recount
all that I found revealed there by God's grace.
-- Inferno by Dante Alighieri as translated by John Ciardi
Part of the happy fallout from reading "Gargoyle" is that I've picked Dante back up. Although I originally found "Inferno" to be fascinating enough in my younger days, it didn't really capture my fancies enough for me to think of it as a personal favorite and a rereadable of mine. But I'm enjoying it much more now. I think it helps if you don't let yourself get bogged down too much by all the footnotes and obscure references that are so personal to Dante, and to just let yourself enjoy the atmospherics.
I never followed Dante beyond Hell before, but I think I will let him take me for the whole trip through Purgatory and Paradise this time as well. Shakespeare could use some time off.
