Saturday, September 14, 2024

Sep 14– From "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri (1321) translated by Henry F. Cary

 Sometimes, I don't even know what I post here.

Sep 14– From The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (1321) translated by Henry F. Cary

Summary: Heaven is beautiful, and we should all be Christian.

Commentary: The DC bits are the hardest to follow with jumping around, since it's really three books worth of jumping in one. This is pretty near the end, about two-thirds of the way through "Paradiso" which is the final book. No illustrations tonight, which is a shame, I always enjoy them in these.

Dante does possibly literature's first instance of "your mortal tongue/ear/mind cannot comprehend it" with Beatrice showing a flame/song too beautiful for Dante to transcribe. 

With so divine a song, that fancy’s ear

Records it not; and the pen passeth on

And leaves a blank: for that our mortal speech,

Nor e’en the inward shaping of the brain,

Hath colours fine enough to trace such folds.


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