The Divine Comedy 2: Purgatorio PDF
Preview The Divine Comedy 2: Purgatorio
THE DIVINE COMEDY 2: PURGATORIO DANTE ALIGHIERI was born in Florence in 1265 into a family from the lower ranks of the nobility. He may have studied at the university of Bologna. When he was about twenty, he married Gemma Donati, by whom he had four children. He first met Bice Portinari, whom he called Beatrice, in 1274, and when she died in 1290 he sought consolation by writing the Vita nuova and by studying philosophy and theology. During this time he also became involved in the conflict between the Guelf and Ghibelline factions in Florence; he became a prominent White Guelf and, when the Black Guelfs came to power in 1302, Dante was, during his absence from the city, condemned to exile. He took refuge initially in Verona but eventually, having wandered from place to place, he settled in Ravenna. While there he completed the Commedia, which he began in about 1307. Dante died in Ravenna in 1321. ROBIN KIRKPATRICK graduated from Merton College, Oxford. He has taught courses on Dante’s Commedia in Hong Kong, Dublin and – for more than twenty-five years – at the university of Cambridge, where he is Fellow of Robinson College and Professor of Italian and English Literatures. His books include Dante’s Paradiso and the Limitations of Modern Criticism (1987), Dante’s Inferno: Difficulty and Dead Poetry (1987) and, in the Cambridge Landmarks of World Literature series, Dante: The Divine Comedy (2004). His own published poetry includes Prologue and Palinodes (1997), and currently he is working on a long poem (in five acts) entitled Paradise Rag. DANTE ALIGHIERI The Divine Comedy 2: Purgatorio Translated and edited by ROBIN KIRKPATRICK PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) 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 0RL, England www.penguin.com This translation first published in Penguin Classics 2007 1 Translation copyright © Robin Kirkpatrick, 2007 The text of the Commedia is reprinted from La Commedia secondo l’antica vulgata, edited by Giorgio Petrocchi, Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Dante Alighieri a cura della Società Dantesca, copyright © 1994 by Casa Editrice Le Lettere – Firenze The moral right of the editor has been asserted Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser 9780141919980 Contents Acknowledgements Chronology Editor’s Note Introduction Further Reading A Note on the Manuscript Tradition Map of Italy c.1300 Plan of Purgatory Commedia Cantica 2: Purgatorio Commentaries and Notes Acknowledgements Thanks of many kinds are due. To those, especially Vittorio Montemaggi and Matthew Treherne, who continue to offer welcome advice on matters ranging from rhythm to theology. To those who have given, in their great authority, both encouragement and criticism, Pat Boyde, Zyg Baranski, Píero Boitaní, Matthew Reynolds, David Wallace and the early readers of the original proposal. To Hilary Laurie for painstaking and perceptive attention to the details of the text as it was prepared for the press, and to Sally Holloway, who makes the process of copy-editing a pleasure. The Purgatorio is thought by most of its readers to be the subtlest, liveliest and most beautiful cantica of the Commedia. It is therefore entirely appropriate that I should dedicate this translation, with love and gratitude, to Anna and Laura. Chronology 1224 Saint Francis receives the stigmata 1250 Death of Emperor Frederick II 1260 Defeat of the Guelfs at the battle of Montaperti, leading to seven years of Ghibelline domination in Florence 1265 Dante born, probably 25 May 1266 Defeat of Imperial army by the Guelfs and the French under Charles d’Anjou at the battle of Benevento 1267 Birth of Giotto; restoration of Guelf rule in Florence under the protection of Charles d’Anjou 1274 Deaths of Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure 1282 The influence of the guilds starts to grow in Florence 1283 Dante begins his association with the poet Guido Cavalcanti 1289 Dante fights at the battle of Campaldino; Florence, having defeated Arezzo and Ghibelline factions at Campaldino, begins to extend its supremacy over Tuscany 1290 Death of Bice (Beatrice) Portinari 1292 Dante compiles the Vita nuova 1293 Ordinamenti di Giustizia promulgated in Florence 1294 Election and abdication of Pope Celestine V; election of Pope
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