---
product_id: 1695002
title: "Inferno (The Divine Comedy)"
price: "348 kr"
currency: DKK
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 10
url: https://www.desertcart.dk/products/1695002-inferno-the-divine-comedy
store_origin: DK
region: Denmark
---

# Inferno (The Divine Comedy)

**Price:** 348 kr
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** Inferno (The Divine Comedy)
- **How much does it cost?** 348 kr with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.dk](https://www.desertcart.dk/products/1695002-inferno-the-divine-comedy)

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## Description

"Professor Esolen's translation of Dante's Inferno is the best one I have seen, for two reasons. His decision to use unrhymed blank verse allows him to come nearly as close to the meaning of the original as any prose reading could do, and allows him also to avoid the harrowing sacrifices that the demand for rhyme imposes on any translator. And his endnotes and other additions provoke answers to almost any question that could arise about the work." —A. Kent Hieatt A groundbreaking bilingual edition of Dante's masterpiece that includes a substantive Introduction, extensive notes, and appendixes that reproduce Dante's key sources and influences. Of the great poets, Dante is one of the most elusive and therefore one of the most difficult to adequately render into English verse. With this major new translation, Anthony Esolen has succeeded brilliantly in marrying sense with sound, poetry with meaning, capturing both the poem's line-by-line vigor and its allegorically and philosophically exacting structure, yielding an Inferno that will be as popular with general readers as with scholars, teachers, and students. For, as Dante insists, without a trace of sentimentality or intellectual compromise, even Hell is a work of divine art. Esolen's edition also provides a critical ntroduction and endnotes, with appendices containing Dante's most important sources—from Virgil to Saint Thomas Aquinas and beyond —that deftly illuminate the religious universe the poet inhabited. Verse Translation by Anthony Esolen Illustrations by Gustave Doré

Review: Great translation and notes! - Esolen has a very understandable translation for any adult or teenage American to understand. His notes are extremely helpful along with short excerpts from works that influenced Dante. He is a Christian, so his notes are very helpful to understand the perspective of the author Dante, who was a Christian.
Review: Esolen Lets Dante Speak - Esolen lets Dante speak. Esolen obviously respects the Inferno and tries to bring the reader into the poem and the religious and cultural milieu and worldview of Dante so the reader can appreciate the poem as Dante intended it. Esolen does not impose modern values or approaches onto the poem. Esolen's notes are at the end of the volume so the reader will be less likely to interrupt reading the poem to read the notes; he does not put endnote numbers in the the poem but instead his endnotes include page and line references that let the reader locate the appropriate point in the poem. (There are some brief notes on obscure matters at the relevant points in the poem.) I read the endnotes for each canto after reading the canto; the notes are uniformly informative and helpful. In the rare instances where Esolen's notes interject modern prejudices or seem to undercut Dante (I saw 2 instances), it's a brief and not particularly sharp disagreement that Esolen merely posits but does not argue. Dante's punishments are so clear and appropriate that at times he forces the reader to consider his own conscience and the sins he's committed. Yet, Dante admonishes the reader (and himself) not to dwell unnecessarily long on the punishments. Dante's Inferno flows very well in Esolen's translation. Esolen renders Dante's masterpiece in iambic pentameter and does not force rhyme. He presents the Italian and his English rendition on opposing pages, and the Italian is an aid for even those of us who don't read Italian as its sense is often discernible -- with or without the translation. Some might consider the Italian "filler" that makes the book longer and thus more expensive, but given the very reasonable cost of the book, that would be unfair. Esolen includes some of Gustave Dore's illustrations in the volume. They're helpful, but small. A complete set of Dore's illustrations, The Dore Illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy (136 Plates by Gustave Dore) , is available inexpensively and is a tremendous aid in visualizing Dante's hell. (I would not recommend Blake's illustrations, however.) I had previously read Ciardi's translation of The Inferno without using Dore's illustrations and found that using them while reading Esolen's was a great aid. (Ciardi includes a schematic of hell; Esolen does not, and that is a deficiency.) Highly recommended.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #38,399 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #48 in Ancient & Classical Poetry #57 in Religious Poetry (Books) #1,326 in Classic Literature & Fiction |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 307 Reviews |

## Images

![Inferno (The Divine Comedy) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81vfuC7JKlL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great translation and notes!
*by C***Y on March 3, 2026*

Esolen has a very understandable translation for any adult or teenage American to understand. His notes are extremely helpful along with short excerpts from works that influenced Dante. He is a Christian, so his notes are very helpful to understand the perspective of the author Dante, who was a Christian.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Esolen Lets Dante Speak
*by J***. on February 24, 2013*

Esolen lets Dante speak. Esolen obviously respects the Inferno and tries to bring the reader into the poem and the religious and cultural milieu and worldview of Dante so the reader can appreciate the poem as Dante intended it. Esolen does not impose modern values or approaches onto the poem. Esolen's notes are at the end of the volume so the reader will be less likely to interrupt reading the poem to read the notes; he does not put endnote numbers in the the poem but instead his endnotes include page and line references that let the reader locate the appropriate point in the poem. (There are some brief notes on obscure matters at the relevant points in the poem.) I read the endnotes for each canto after reading the canto; the notes are uniformly informative and helpful. In the rare instances where Esolen's notes interject modern prejudices or seem to undercut Dante (I saw 2 instances), it's a brief and not particularly sharp disagreement that Esolen merely posits but does not argue. Dante's punishments are so clear and appropriate that at times he forces the reader to consider his own conscience and the sins he's committed. Yet, Dante admonishes the reader (and himself) not to dwell unnecessarily long on the punishments. Dante's Inferno flows very well in Esolen's translation. Esolen renders Dante's masterpiece in iambic pentameter and does not force rhyme. He presents the Italian and his English rendition on opposing pages, and the Italian is an aid for even those of us who don't read Italian as its sense is often discernible -- with or without the translation. Some might consider the Italian "filler" that makes the book longer and thus more expensive, but given the very reasonable cost of the book, that would be unfair. Esolen includes some of Gustave Dore's illustrations in the volume. They're helpful, but small. A complete set of Dore's illustrations, The Dore Illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy (136 Plates by Gustave Dore) , is available inexpensively and is a tremendous aid in visualizing Dante's hell. (I would not recommend Blake's illustrations, however.) I had previously read Ciardi's translation of The Inferno without using Dore's illustrations and found that using them while reading Esolen's was a great aid. (Ciardi includes a schematic of hell; Esolen does not, and that is a deficiency.) Highly recommended.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Esolen's translation is appropriate to our need . . . .
*by C***S on May 2, 2014*

When I went in search of a good literal translation of Dante's "Inferno" for selections to accompany an exhibition of Amos Nattini's remarkable illustrations of this text, Anthony Esolen's version filled the bill to perfection. With Italian and English on facing pages, it was easy to see how he tried to keep as close and true to Dante's original meaning, rather than to twist everything up in order to fit in the rhymes. Right now, we're trying to get permission from Random House to use selections from Esolen's version for our exhibition text panels, but beyond that, it is a fresh and competent version, highly readable, with plenty of informative notes and reproductions of Gustave Dore's illustrations. Classical Curiosities

## Frequently Bought Together

- Inferno (The Divine Comedy)
- Purgatory (The Divine Comedy)
- Paradise (The Divine Comedy)

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*Product available on Desertcart Denmark*
*Store origin: DK*
*Last updated: 2026-06-20*