It really is a beautiful, complex style of poetry. Not just anyone can write terza rima well. I'm planning a future blog post and video on the history of English translations. It's a pity the vast majority of older translations appear to be out of print and aren't even commonly found in dedicated antiquarian bookstores.
Yes, it’s true that Terza Rima is difficult to replicate in English! Maybe not always possible? I don’t know. It would take someone with the musical ear of Paul McCartney and the erudition of Esolen or Hollander to write the “definitive” translation of the Comedy in English, which hasn’t happened yet. Great video!
There have been over 100 English translations since 1782, and new ones come out every few years, sometimes several in a year. Perhaps someone will eventually produce a translation that follows terza rima without sounding stilted or losing the original beauty. But of course, there's no substitute for reading or listening to it in the original Italian. I wish I'd had the option of studying Italian instead of Spanish from the start, since high school seniors are required to read at least part of The Divine Comedy in Italian. There are also untranslated passages on the Italian AP exam.
Ursula, thank you for increasing my knowledge and understanding of Dante's poetic form and how we can come to it in our language.
It really is a beautiful, complex style of poetry. Not just anyone can write terza rima well.
I'm planning a future blog post and video on the history of English translations. It's a pity the vast majority of older translations appear to be out of print and aren't even commonly found in dedicated antiquarian bookstores.
@@Ursulas_Odds_and_Sods A video on the history of English translations is a worthwhile endeavor for you and sounds really interesting, Ursula.
Yes, it’s true that Terza Rima is difficult to replicate in English! Maybe not always possible? I don’t know. It would take someone with the musical ear of Paul McCartney and the erudition of Esolen or Hollander to write the “definitive” translation of the Comedy in English, which hasn’t happened yet. Great video!
There have been over 100 English translations since 1782, and new ones come out every few years, sometimes several in a year. Perhaps someone will eventually produce a translation that follows terza rima without sounding stilted or losing the original beauty.
But of course, there's no substitute for reading or listening to it in the original Italian. I wish I'd had the option of studying Italian instead of Spanish from the start, since high school seniors are required to read at least part of The Divine Comedy in Italian. There are also untranslated passages on the Italian AP exam.