{"product_id":"9786155529719","title":"Divine Comedy (Volume II): Illustrated Hell","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Divine Comedy describes Dante's journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso), guided first by the Roman poet Virgil and then by Beatrice, the subject of his love and of another of his works, La Vita Nuova. While the vision of Hell, the Inferno, is vivid for modern readers, the theological niceties presented in the other books require a certain amount of patience and knowledge to appreciate. Purgatorio, the most lyrical and human of the three, also has the most poets in it; Paradiso, the most heavily theological, has the most beautiful and ecstatic mystic passages in which Dante tries to describe what he confesses he is unable to convey (e.g., when Dante looks into the face of God: \"all'alta fantasia qui mancò possa\" — \"at this high moment, ability failed my capacity to describe,\" Paradiso, XXXIII, 142).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"IN the midway of this our mortal life, I found me in a gloomy wood, astray Gone from the path direct: and e'en to tell It were no easy task, how savage wild That forest, how robust and rough its growth, Which to remember only, my dismay Renews, in bitterness not far from death..\" (Dante)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003eIN the midway of this our mortal life,\u003cbr\u003eI found me in a gloomy wood, astray\u003cbr\u003eGone from the path direct: and e'en to tell\u003cbr\u003eIt were no easy task, how savage wild\u003cbr\u003eThat forest, how robust and rough its growth,\u003cbr\u003eWhich to remember only, my dismay\u003cbr\u003eRenews, in bitterness not far from death.\u003cbr\u003eYet to discourse of what there good befell,\u003cbr\u003eAll else will I relate discover'd there.\u003cbr\u003eHow first I enter'd it I scarce can say,\u003cbr\u003eSuch sleepy dullness in that instant weigh'd\u003cbr\u003eMy senses down, when the true path I left,\u003cbr\u003eBut when a mountain's foot I reach'd, where clos'd\u003cbr\u003eThe valley, that had pierc'd my heart with dread,\u003cbr\u003eI look'd aloft, and saw his shoulders broad\u003cbr\u003eAlready vested with that planet's beam,\u003cbr\u003eWho leads all wanderers safe through every way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003eThen was a little respite to the fear,\u003cbr\u003eThat in my heart's recesses deep had lain,\u003cbr\u003eAll of that night, so pitifully pass'd:\u003cbr\u003eAnd as a man, with difficult short breath,\u003cbr\u003eForespent with toiling, 'scap'd from sea to shore,\u003cbr\u003eTurns to the perilous wide waste, and stands\u003cbr\u003eAt gaze; e'en so my spirit, that yet fail'd\u003cbr\u003eStruggling with terror, turn'd to view the straits,\u003cbr\u003eThat none hath pass'd and liv'd. My weary frame\u003cbr\u003eAfter short pause recomforted, again\u003cbr\u003eI journey'd on over that lonely steep,\u003cbr\u003eThe hinder foot still firmer. Scarce the ascent\u003cbr\u003eBegan, when, lo! a panther, nimble, light,\u003cbr\u003eAnd cover'd with a speckled skin, appear'd,\u003cbr\u003eNor, when it saw me, vanish'd, rather strove\u003cbr\u003eTo check my onward going; that ofttimes\u003cbr\u003eWith purpose to retrace my steps I turn'd.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e   About Dante:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e  Durante degli Alighieri, simply referred to as Dante (1265–1321), was a major Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His Divine Comedy, originally called La Comedia and later called Divina by Boccaccio, is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn Italy he is known as il Sommo Poeta (\"the Supreme Poet\") or just il Poeta. He, Petrarch and Boccaccio are also known as \"the three fountains\" or \"the three crowns\". Dante is also called the \"Father of the Italian language\".\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PublishDrive","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47175782629616,"sku":"9786155529719","price":2.32,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9786155529719_p0.jpg?v=1763722432","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9786155529719","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}