Dante and Other Essays Author:Richard William Church General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1888 Original Publisher: Macmillan and Co. Subjects: Literary Criticism / European / Italian Literary Criticism / Poetry Poetry / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Poetry / Continental European Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illust... more »rations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: DANTE1 [jan. 1850] The Dhina Commedm is one of the landmarks of history. More than a magnificent poem, more than the beginning of a language and the opening of a national literature, more than the inspirer of art, and 1 Dante's Divine Comedy, the Inferno; a literal Prose Translation, with the Text of the Original. By J. A. Carlyle, M. D., London: 1849. I have never quite forgiven myself for not having said more of the unpretending but honest and most useful volume which stood at the head of this essay when it first appeared as an article. It was placed there, according to what was then a custom of article writers, as a peg to hang remarks upon which might or might not be criticisms of the particular book so noticed. It did not oiler itself specially to my use, and my attention was busy with my own work. But this was no excuse for availing myself of a good book, and not giving it the notice which it deserved. To an English student beginning Dante, and wishing to study him in a scholarly manner, it is really more useful than a verse translation can be ; and I have always greatly regretted that the plan of translating the whole work was dropped for want of the appreciation which the first instalment ought to have had. (1878.)« less