Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Introduction Canto I - The Dark Wood of Error Canto II - The Descent Canto III - THE VESTIBULE OF HELL Canto IV - CIRCLE ONE: Limbo Canto V - CIRCLE TWO Canto VI - CIRCLE THREE Canto VII - CIRCLE FOUR Canto VIII - CIRCLE FIVE: Styx Canto IX - CIRCLE SIX Canto X - CIRCLE SIX Canto XI - CIRCLE SIX Canto XII - CIRCLE SEVEN: Round One Canto XIII - CIRCLE SEVEN: Round Two Canto XIV - CIRCLE SEVEN: Round Three Canto XV - CIRCLE SEVEN: Round Three Canto XVI - CIRCLE SEVEN: Round Three Canto XVII - CIRCLE SEVEN: Round Three Canto XVIII - CIRCLE EIGHT (Malebolge) Canto XIX - CIRCLE EIGHT: Bolgia Three Canto XX - CIRCLE EIGHT: Bolgia Four Canto XXI - CIRCLE EIGHT: Bolgia Five Canto XXII - CIRCLE EIGHT: Bolgia Five Canto XXIII - CIRCLE EIGHT : Bolgia Six Canto XXIV - CIRCLE EIGHT: Bolgia Seven Canto XXV - CIRCLE EIGHT: Bolgia Seven Canto XXVI - CIRCLE EIGHT: Bolgia Eight Canto XXVII - CIRCLE EIGHT: Bolgia Eight Canto XXVIII - CIRCLE EIGHT: Bolgia Nine Canto XXIX - CIRCLE EIGHT: Bolgia Ten Canto XXX - CIRCLE EIGHT: Bolgia Ten Canto XXXI - THE CENTRAL PIT OF MALEBOLGE Canto XXXII - CIRCLE NINE: Cocytus Canto XXXIII - CIRCLE NINE: Cocytus Canto XXXIV - NINTH CIRCLE: Cocytus “It is Mr. Ciardi’s great merit to be one of the first American translators to have ... reproduced [The Inferno] successfully in English. A text with the clarity and sobriety of a first-rate prose translation which at the same time suggests in powerful and unmistakable ways the run and rhythm of the great original ... a spectacular achievement.” —Archibald MacLeish “Fresh and sharp.... I think this version of Dante will be in many respects the best we have seen.” —John Crowe Ransom DANTE ALIGHIERI was born in 1265. Considered Italy’s greatest poet, this scion of a Florentine family mastered the art of lyric poetry at an early age. His first major work, La Vita Nuova (1292), was a tribute to Beatrice Portinari, the great love of his life. Dante’s political activism resulted in his being exiled from Florence, and he eventually settled in Ravenna. It is believed that The Divine Comedy—comprising three canticles, The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso-was written between 1308 and 1320. Dante Alighieri died in 1321. JOHN CIARDI was a distinguished poet and professor, having taught at Harvard and Rutgers universities, and a poetry editor of The Saturday Review. He was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1955, he won the Harriet Monroe Memorial Award, and in 1956, the Prix de Rome. He died in 1986. SIGNET CLASSICS Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England Published by Signet Classics, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Previously published in a Mentor edition. First Signet Classics Printing, June Copyright © John Ciardi, 1954, 1982 All rights reserved eISBN : 978-1-101-07803-7 REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. http://us.penguingroup.com To Judith Cosi n’andammo infino alla lumiera, parlando cose, che il tacere è bello, si com’ era il parlar colà dov’ era.