Essay - Dante's 'The Divine Comedy' Alighieri Dante is Considered One of...

Dante's "The Divine Comedy"

Alighieri Dante is considered one of the most celebrated poets ***** the medieval Europe. *****'s work include; Vita nuova (new life), a collection of poems and prose, Convivio (Banquet, prose), De Vulgari eloquentia (on eloquence in ***** vernacular), De m*****archia (On Monarchy), Prose antiche de Dante (Letters), but the ***** that ensured Dante a pl*****ce in the history of literature is his work Comedia.

Originally Dante called his famous collection of poems, *****, the adjective divine was added in 16th century by Boccaccio ***** ***** work became La Divina Comedia (***** Divine *****). ***** called the poem Comedia because it is not tragedy. In one of ***** letters he explains ***** difference between the tragedy and comedy as practiced during that period. Dante described tragedy ***** a high style poetry and the comedy as a low style. In the theories ***** that time comedy began ***** a sad story and developed w*****h a happy ending. The beginning of the Divine Comedy is horrible with the depiction ***** the 'Inferno' and the end is heaven ***** its pleasant descriptions. The style is humble because it is wr*****ten in the 'vulgar' language (*****), ***** used by common people.

The Divine Comedy is acknowledged as one of the greatest poems in the world. The poem is divided into three sections 'Canticas'; Inferno (Hell), Purgatario (Purgatory) and Paradiso (Paradise). Cantica, Inferno is the ***** popular for ***** descriptive account as everyone wants to know about ********** hell ***** like.

Number three has a special significance in Dante's *****. Three represents ***** 'trinity', part of his Christian beliefs. The ***** is organized in tecrets or group ***** three lines, ***** in three c***** ***** canticas. Each cantica conta*****s 33 cantos (plus one canto ***** introduction). *****re is also multiple of three in each *****. Inferno has nine circles, Purgatario has ***** terraces and Parad*****o has nine **********. Dante uses this dem*****ing and innovative Italian verse form called terza rima. The divine comedy presents an overview of the moral codes, attitudes, philosophies of that period.

***** poem is now regarded as a m*****sterpiece but it ***** not always been like th*****. Dante was famous in his own lifetime and ***** ***** was regarded a masterpiece during the 15th century. During the Enlightenment period it ***** basically ignored. Henry Cash's first English translation introduced the ***** Comedy to the English speaking *****. The true recognition of the poet came with ***** Longfellow's translation of *****'s epic. William Blake, T. S. Elliott, Samuel Beckett, James Joyce extensive use of Dante's work. New *****s and new editions of Dante's work are published almost every year now. In the word of ***** writer Jorge Borges, the Divine Comedy "is a book ***** everyone ought to re*****d. Not to do so is to deprive oneself of the ***** gift that literature can give us; to submit ***** a strange asceticism."

***** the Divine Comedy, Dante emerges as a geographer of the cosmos, he draws maps of *****aven