Description
Excerpt from Purgatory and Paradise
It was just after the publication of Warton''s History that the first English version of the Inferno was published. It was the work of Mr. Charles Rogers, ER S., a man of culti vated taste, whose two folio volumes of Prints in Imitation of Drawings by the Great Masters are still valued by lovers of the fine arts. His translation appeared anonymously in a quarto volume in 1782. I know it only by extracts from it, and, so far as one may judge from these specimens, it is a very respectable performance, in its general fidelity to the original and in the well-sustained measure of its blank verse. It is at least to be held as a superior work to the version of the In ferno by the Rev. Henry Boyd, an Irish clergyman, which appeared in 1785, and which was republished, seventeen years later, in 1802, with the addition of the other portions of the poem, forming thus the first complete English translation of the Divine Comedy.
Mr. Boyd''s notes and preliminary essays show that he had prepared himself for his task by some study of Italian history, but he was not a profound nor a very accurate scholar, and his notions of translation were of the most liberal character. His work is in iambic verse in stanzas of six lines, of which the first two, the third and sixth, the fourth and fifth rhyme. He makes no attempt to reproduce the qualities of the style and diction of the original, but is content with a free and ?uent paraphrase of its meaning, often remoulding Dante''s sentiment no less than his words, and adding to his thought or subtracting from it, not merely according to the need of the verse, but at times apparently according to the moral sense of the translator, or his wish to supply what he esteemed defective in the original. The very opening stanza affords a good example of his method.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
It was just after the publication of Warton''s History that the first English version of the Inferno was published. It was the work of Mr. Charles Rogers, ER S., a man of culti vated taste, whose two folio volumes of Prints in Imitation of Drawings by the Great Masters are still valued by lovers of the fine arts. His translation appeared anonymously in a quarto volume in 1782. I know it only by extracts from it, and, so far as one may judge from these specimens, it is a very respectable performance, in its general fidelity to the original and in the well-sustained measure of its blank verse. It is at least to be held as a superior work to the version of the In ferno by the Rev. Henry Boyd, an Irish clergyman, which appeared in 1785, and which was republished, seventeen years later, in 1802, with the addition of the other portions of the poem, forming thus the first complete English translation of the Divine Comedy.
Mr. Boyd''s notes and preliminary essays show that he had prepared himself for his task by some study of Italian history, but he was not a profound nor a very accurate scholar, and his notions of translation were of the most liberal character. His work is in iambic verse in stanzas of six lines, of which the first two, the third and sixth, the fourth and fifth rhyme. He makes no attempt to reproduce the qualities of the style and diction of the original, but is content with a free and ?uent paraphrase of its meaning, often remoulding Dante''s sentiment no less than his words, and adding to his thought or subtracting from it, not merely according to the need of the verse, but at times apparently according to the moral sense of the translator, or his wish to supply what he esteemed defective in the original. The very opening stanza affords a good example of his method.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Details
Publisher - Forgotten Books
Language - English
Hardback
Contributors
Author
Dante Alighieri
Published Date -
ISBN - 9780265363584
Dimensions - 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm
Page Count - 455
Paperback
Contributors
Author
Dante Alighieri
Published Date -
ISBN - 9781334391200
Dimensions - 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
Page Count - 457
Payment & Security
Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.