{"product_id":"paradiso-isbn-9780553212044","title":"Paradiso","description":"This brilliant new verse translation by Allen Mandelbaum captures the consummate beauty of the third and last part of Dante's Divine Comedy. The Paradiso is a luminous poem of love and light, of optics, angelology, polemics, prayer, prophecy, and transcendent experience. As Dante ascends to the Celestial Rose, in the tenth and final heaven, all the spectacle and splendor of a great poet's vision now becomes accessible to the modern reader in this highly acclaimed, superb dual language edition. With extensive notes and commentary.\"The English Dante of  choice.\"--Hugh Kenner.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Exactly what  we have waited for these years, a Dante with  clarity, eloquence, terror, and profoundly moving  depths.\"--Robert Fagles, Princeton  University.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Tough and supple, tender and  violent . . . vigorous, vernacular . . .  Mandelbaum's Dante will stand high among modern  translations.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe Christian Science  Monitor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Lovers of the English language will be delighted by this eloquently accomplished enterprise.\"\u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003eBook Review Digest\u003c\/i\u003eDante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy in 1265. His early poetry falls into the tradition of love poetry that passed from the Provencal to such Italian poets as Guido Cavalcanti, Dante's friend and mentor. Dante's first major work is the Vita Nuova, 1293-1294. This sequence of lyrics, sonnets, and prose narrative describes his love, first earthly, then spiritual, for Beatrice, whom he had first seen as a child of nine, and who had died when Dante was 25. Dante married about 1285, served Florence in battle, and rose to a position of leadership in the bitter factional politics of the city-state. As one of the city's magistrates, he found it necessary to banish leaders of the so-called \"Black\" faction, and his friend Cavalcanti, who like Dante was a prominent \"White.\" But after the Blacks seized control of Florence in 1301, Dante himself was tried in absentia and was banished from the city on pain of death. He never returned to Florence. We know little about Dante's life in exile. Legend has it that he studied at Paris, but if so, he returned to Italy, for his last years were spent in Verona and Ravenna. In exile he wrote his Convivio, kind of poetic compendium of medieval philosophy, as well as a political treatise, Monarchia. He began his Comedy (later to be called the Divine Comedy) around 1307-1308. On a diplomatic mission to Venice in 1321, Dante fell ill, and returned to Ravenna, where he died.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAllen Mendelbaum's\u003c\/b\u003e five verse volumes are: \u003ci\u003eChelmaxions\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eThe Savantasse of Montparnasse\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eJourneyman\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eLeaves of Absence\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eA Lied of Letterpress\u003c\/i\u003e. His volumes of verse translation include \u003ci\u003eThe Aeneid of Virgil\u003c\/i\u003e, a University of California Press volume (now available from Bantam) for which he won a National Book Award; the \u003ci\u003eInferno\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePurgatorio\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eParadiso\u003c\/i\u003e volumes of the California Dante (now available from Bantam); \u003ci\u003eThe Odyssey of Homer\u003c\/i\u003e (now available from Bantam); \u003ci\u003eThe Metamorphoses of Ovid\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry; \u003ci\u003eOvid in Sicily\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eSelected Poems of Giuseppe Ungaretti\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eSelected Writings of Salvatore Quasimodo\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eDavid Maria Turoldo\u003c\/i\u003e. Mandelbaum is co-editor with Robert Richardson Jr. of \u003ci\u003eThree Centuries of American Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e (Bantam Books) and, with Yehuda Amichai, of the eight volumes of the JPS Jewish Poetry Series. After receiving his Ph.D. from Columbia, he was in the Society of Fellows at Harvard. While chairman of the Ph.D. program in English at the Graduate Center of CUNY, he was a visiting professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and at the universities of Houston, Denver, Colorado, and Purdue. His honorary degrees are from Notre Dame University, Purdue University, the University of Assino, and the University of Torino. He received the Gold Medal of Honor from the city of Florence in 2000, celebrating the 735th anniversary of Dante's birth, the only translator to be so honored; and in 2003 he received the President of Italy's award for translation. He is now Professor of the History of Literary Criticism at the University of Turin and the W.R. Kenan Professor of Humanities at Wake Forest University.CANTO \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eILa gloria di colui che tutto move\u003cbr\u003eper l'universo penetra, e risplende\u003cbr\u003ein una parte piu e meno altrove.\u003cbr\u003eNel ciel che piu de la sua luce prende4\u003cbr\u003efu' io, e vidi cose che ridire\u003cbr\u003ene sa ne puo chi di la su discende;\u003cbr\u003eperche appressando se al suo disire,7\u003cbr\u003enostro intelletto si profonda tanto,\u003cbr\u003eche dietro la memoria non puo ire.\u003cbr\u003eVeramente quant' io del regno santo10\u003cbr\u003ene la mia mente potei far tesoro,\u003cbr\u003esara ora materia del mio canto.\u003cbr\u003eO buono Appollo, a l'ultimo lavoro13\u003cbr\u003efammi del tuo valor si fatto vaso,\u003cbr\u003ecome dimandi a dar l'amato alloro.\u003cbr\u003eInfino a qui l'un giogo di Parnaso16\u003cbr\u003eassai mi fu; ma or con amendue\u003cbr\u003em'e uopo intrar ne l'aringo rimaso.\u003cbr\u003eEntra nel petto mio, e spira tue19\u003cbr\u003esi come quando Marsia traesti\u003cbr\u003ede la vagina de le membra sue.\u003cbr\u003eO divina virtu, se mi ti presti22\u003cbr\u003etanto che l'ombra del beato regno\u003cbr\u003esegnata nel mio capo io manifesti,\u003cbr\u003evedra'mi al pie del tuo diletto legno25\u003cbr\u003evenire, e coronarmi de le foglie\u003cbr\u003eche la materia e tu mi farai degno.\u003cbr\u003eSi rade volte, padre, se ne coglie28\u003cbr\u003eper triunfare o cesare o poeta,\u003cbr\u003ecolpa e vergogna de l'umane voglie,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProem and Invocation to Apollo. Dante's passing beyond the human, beyond the earth, in heavenward ascent with Beatrice. His wonder. Beatrice on the Empyrean and the order of the universe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe glory of the One who moves all things\u003cbr\u003epermeates the universe and glows\u003cbr\u003ein one part more and in another less.\u003cbr\u003eI was within the heaven that receives4\u003cbr\u003emore of His light; and I saw things that he\u003cbr\u003ewho from that height descends, forgets or can\u003cbr\u003enot speak; for nearing its desired end,7\u003cbr\u003eour intellect sinks into an abyss\u003cbr\u003eso deep that memory fails to follow it.\u003cbr\u003eNevertheless, as much as I, within10\u003cbr\u003emy mind, could treasure of the holy kingdom\u003cbr\u003eshall now become the matter of my song.\u003cbr\u003eO good Apollo, for this final task\u003cbr\u003emake me the vessel of your excellence,\u003cbr\u003ewhat you, to merit your loved laurel, ask.\u003cbr\u003eUntil this point, one of Parnassus' peaks16\u003cbr\u003esufficed for me; but now I face the test,\u003cbr\u003ethe agon that is left; I need both crests.\u003cbr\u003eEnter into my breast; within me breathe19\u003cbr\u003ethe very power you made manifest\u003cbr\u003ewhen you drew Marsyas out from his limbs' sheath.\u003cbr\u003eO godly force, if you so lend yourself22\u003cbr\u003eto me, that I might show the shadow of\u003cbr\u003ethe blessed realm inscribed within my mind,\u003cbr\u003ethen you would see me underneath the tree25\u003cbr\u003eyou love; there I shall take as crown the leaves\u003cbr\u003eof which my theme and you shall make me worthy.\u003cbr\u003eSo seldom, father, are those garlands gathered28\u003cbr\u003efor triumph of a ruler or a poet—\u003cbr\u003ea sign of fault or shame in human wills—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eche parturir letizia in su la lieta31\u003cbr\u003edelfica deita dovria la fronda\u003cbr\u003epeneia, quando alcun di se asseta.\u003cbr\u003ePoca favilla gran fiamma seconda:34\u003cbr\u003eforse di retro a me con miglior voci\u003cbr\u003esi preghera perche Cirra risponda.\u003cbr\u003eSurge ai mortali per diverse foci37\u003cbr\u003ela lucerna del mondo; ma da quella\u003cbr\u003eche quattro cerchi giugne con tre croci,\u003cbr\u003econ miglior corso e con migliore stella40\u003cbr\u003eesce congiunta, e la mondana cera\u003cbr\u003epiu a suo modo tempera e suggella.\u003cbr\u003eFatto avea di la mane e di qua sera43\u003cbr\u003etal foce, e quasi tutto era la bianco\u003cbr\u003equello emisperio, e l'altra parte nera,\u003cbr\u003equando Beatrice in sul sinistro fianco46\u003cbr\u003evidi rivolta e riguardar nel sole:\u003cbr\u003eaguglia si non li s'affisse unquanco.\u003cbr\u003eE si come secondo raggio suole49\u003cbr\u003euscir del primo e risalire in suso,\u003cbr\u003epur come pelegrin che tornar vuole,\u003cbr\u003ecosi de l'atto suo, per li occhi infuso52\u003cbr\u003ene l'imagine mia, il mio si fece,\u003cbr\u003ee fissi li occhi al sole oltre nostr' uso.\u003cbr\u003eMolto e licito la, che qui non lece55\u003cbr\u003ea le nostre virtu, merce del loco\u003cbr\u003efatto per proprio de l'umana spece.\u003cbr\u003eIo nol soffersi molto, ne si poco,58\u003cbr\u003ech'io nol vedessi sfavillar dintorno,\u003cbr\u003ecom' ferro che bogliente esce del foco;\u003cbr\u003ee di subito parve giorno a giorno61\u003cbr\u003eessere aggiunto, come quei che puote\u003cbr\u003eavesse il ciel d'un altro sole addorno.\u003cbr\u003eBeatrice tutta ne l'etterne rote64\u003cbr\u003efissa con li occhi stava; e io in lei\u003cbr\u003ele luci fissi, di la su rimote.\u003cbr\u003eNel suo aspetto tal dentro mi fei,67\u003cbr\u003equal si fe Glauco nel gustar de l'erba\u003cbr\u003eche 'l fe consorto in mar de li altri dei.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethat when Peneian branches can incite31\u003cbr\u003esomeone to long and thirst for them, delight\u003cbr\u003emust fill the happy Delphic deity.\u003cbr\u003eGreat fire can follow a small spark: there may34\u003cbr\u003ebe better voices after me to pray\u003cbr\u003eto Cyrrha's god for aid--that he may answer.\u003cbr\u003eThe lantern of the world approaches mortals37\u003cbr\u003eby varied paths: but on that way which links\u003cbr\u003efour circles with three crosses, it emerges\u003cbr\u003ejoined to a better constellation and40\u003cbr\u003ealong a better course, and it can temper\u003cbr\u003eand stamp the world's wax more in its own manner.\u003cbr\u003eIts entry from that point of the horizon43\u003cbr\u003ebrought morning there and evening here; \u003cbr\u003ealmost all of that hemisphere was white--while ours\u003cbr\u003ewas dark--when I saw Beatrice turn round46\u003cbr\u003eand left, that she might see the sun: no eagle\u003cbr\u003ehas ever stared so steadily at it.\u003cbr\u003eAnd as a second ray will issue from49\u003cbr\u003ethe first and reascend, much like a pilgrim\u003cbr\u003ewho seeks his home again, so on her action,\u003cbr\u003efed by my eyes to my imagination,52\u003cbr\u003emy action drew, and on the sun I set\u003cbr\u003emy sight more than we usually do.\u003cbr\u003eMore is permitted to our powers there55\u003cbr\u003ethan is permitted here, by virtue of\u003cbr\u003ethat place, made for mankind as its true home.\u003cbr\u003eI did not bear it long, but not so briefly58\u003cbr\u003eas not to see it sparkling round about,\u003cbr\u003elike molten iron emerging from the fire;\u003cbr\u003eand suddenly it seemed that day had been61\u003cbr\u003eadded to day, as if the One who can\u003cbr\u003ehad graced the heavens with a second sun.\u003cbr\u003eThe eyes of Beatrice were all intent64\u003cbr\u003eon the eternal circles; from the sun,\u003cbr\u003eI turned aside: I set my eyes on her.\u003cbr\u003eIn watching her, within me I was changed67\u003cbr\u003eas Glaucus changed, tasting the herb that made\u003cbr\u003ehim a companion of the other sea gods.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTrasumanar significar per verba70\u003cbr\u003enon si poria; pero l'essemplo basti\u003cbr\u003ea cui esperienza grazia serba.\u003cbr\u003eS'i' era sol di me quel che creasti73\u003cbr\u003enovellamente, amor che 'l ciel governi,\u003cbr\u003etu 'l sai, che col tuo lume mi levasti.\u003cbr\u003eQuando la rota che tu sempiterni76\u003cbr\u003edesiderato, a se mi fece atteso\u003cbr\u003econ l'armonia che temperi e discerni,\u003cbr\u003eparvemi tanto allor del cielo acceso79\u003cbr\u003ede la fiamma del sol, che pioggia o fiume\u003cbr\u003elago non fece alcun tanto disteso.\u003cbr\u003eLa novita del suono e 'l grande lume82\u003cbr\u003edi lor cagion m'accesero un disio\u003cbr\u003emai non sentito di cotanto acume.\u003cbr\u003eOnd' ella, che vedea me si com' io,85\u003cbr\u003ea quietarmi l'animo commosso,\u003cbr\u003epria ch'io a dimandar, la bocca aprio\u003cbr\u003ee comincio: \"Tu stesso ti fai grosso88\u003cbr\u003ecol falso imaginar, si che non vedi\u003cbr\u003ecio che vedresti se l'avessi scosso.\u003cbr\u003eTu non se' in terra, si come tu credi;91\u003cbr\u003ema folgore, fuggendo il proprio sito,\u003cbr\u003enon corse come tu ch'ad esso riedi.\u003cbr\u003e\"S'io fui del primo dubbio disvestito94\u003cbr\u003eper le sorrise parolette brevi,\u003cbr\u003edentro ad un nuovo piu fu' inretitoe \u003cbr\u003edissi: \"Gia contento requievi97\u003cbr\u003edi grande ammirazion; ma ora ammiro\u003cbr\u003ecom' io trascenda questi corpi levi.\u003cbr\u003e\"Ond' ella, appresso d'un pio sospiro,100\u003cbr\u003eli occhi drizzo ver' me con quel sembiante\u003cbr\u003eche madre fa sovra figlio deliro,\u003cbr\u003ee comincio: \"Le cose tutte quante103\u003cbr\u003ehanno ordine tra loro, e questo e forma\u003cbr\u003eche l'universo a Dio fa simigliante.\u003cbr\u003eQui veggion l'alte creature l'orma106\u003cbr\u003ede l'etterno valore, il qual e fine\u003cbr\u003eal quale e fatta la toccata norma.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePassing beyond the human cannot be70\u003cbr\u003eworded: let Glaucus serve as simile—\u003cbr\u003euntil grace grant you the experience.\u003cbr\u003eWhether I only was the part of me73\u003cbr\u003ethat You created last, You—governing\u003cbr\u003ethe heavens--know: it was Your light that raised me.\u003cbr\u003eWhen that wheel which You make eternal through76\u003cbr\u003ethe heavens' longing for You drew me with\u003cbr\u003ethe harmony You temper and distinguish,\u003cbr\u003ethe fire of the sun then seemed to me79\u003cbr\u003eto kindle so much of the sky, that rain\u003cbr\u003eor river never formed so broad a lake.\u003cbr\u003eThe newness of the sound and the great light82\u003cbr\u003eincited me to learn their cause--I was\u003cbr\u003emore keen than I had ever been before.\u003cbr\u003eAnd she who read me as I read myself,85\u003cbr\u003eto quiet the commotion in my mind,\u003cbr\u003eopened her lips before I opened mine\u003cbr\u003eto ask, and she began: \"You make yourself88\u003cbr\u003eobtuse with false imagining; you can\u003cbr\u003enot see what you would see if you dispelled it.\u003cbr\u003eYou are not on the earth as you believe;91\u003cbr\u003ebut lightning, flying from its own abode,\u003cbr\u003eis less swift than you are, returning home.\u003cbr\u003e\"While I was freed from my first doubt by these94\u003cbr\u003ebrief words she smiled to me, I was yet caught\u003cbr\u003ein new perplexity. I said: \"I was\u003cbr\u003econtent already; after such great wonder,97\u003cbr\u003eI rested. But again I wonder how\u003cbr\u003emy body rises past these lighter bodies.\u003cbr\u003e\"At which, after a sigh of pity, she100\u003cbr\u003esettled her eyes on me with the same look\u003cbr\u003ea mother casts upon a raving child,\u003cbr\u003eand she began: \"All things, among themselves,103\u003cbr\u003epossess an order; and this order is\u003cbr\u003ethe form that makes the universe like God.\u003cbr\u003eHere do the higher beings see the imprint106\u003cbr\u003eof the Eternal Worth, which is the end\u003cbr\u003eto which the pattern I have mentioned tends.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNe l'ordine ch'io dico sono accline109\u003cbr\u003etutte nature, per diverse sorti,\u003cbr\u003epiu al principio loro e men vicine;\u003cbr\u003eonde si muovono a diversi porti112\u003cbr\u003eper lo gran mar de l'essere, e ciascuna\u003cbr\u003econ istinto a lei dato che la porti.\u003cbr\u003eQuesti ne porta il foco inver' la luna;115\u003cbr\u003equesti ne' cor mortali e permotore;\u003cbr\u003equesti la terra in se stringe e aduna;\u003cbr\u003ene pur le creature che son fore118\u003cbr\u003ed'intelligenza quest' arco saetta,\u003cbr\u003ema quelle c'hanno intelletto e amore.\u003cbr\u003eLa provedenza, che cotanto assetta,121\u003cbr\u003edel suo lume fa 'l ciel sempre quieto\u003cbr\u003enel qual si volge quel c'ha maggior fretta;\u003cbr\u003ee ora li, come a sito decreto,124\u003cbr\u003ecen porta la virtu di quella corda\u003cbr\u003eche cio che scocca drizza in segno lieto.\u003cbr\u003eVero e che, come forma non s'accorda127\u003cbr\u003emolte fiate a l'intenzion de l'arte,\u003cbr\u003eperch' a risponder la materia e sorda,\u003cbr\u003ecosi da qesto corso si diparte130\u003cbr\u003etalor la creatura, c'ha podere\u003cbr\u003edi piegar, cosi pinta, in altra parte;\u003cbr\u003ee si come veder si puo cadere133\u003cbr\u003efoco di nube, si l'impeto primo\u003cbr\u003el'atterra torto da falso piacere.\u003cbr\u003eNon dei piu ammirar, se bene stimo,136\u003cbr\u003elo tuo salir, se non come d'un rivo\u003cbr\u003ese d'alto monte scende giuso ad imo.\u003cbr\u003eMaraviglia sarebbe in te se, privo139\u003cbr\u003ed'impedimento, giu ti fossi assiso,\u003cbr\u003ecom' a terra quiete in foco vivo.\"\u003cbr\u003eQuinci rivolse inver' lo cielo il viso.142\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWithin that order, every nature has109\u003cbr\u003eits bent, according to a different station,\u003cbr\u003enearer or less near to its origin.\u003cbr\u003eTherefore, these natures move to different ports112\u003cbr\u003eacross the mighty sea of being, each\u003cbr\u003egiven the impulse that will bear it on.\u003cbr\u003eThis impulse carries fire to the moon:115\u003cbr\u003ethis is the motive force in mortal creatures:\u003cbr\u003ethis binds the earth together, makes it one.\u003cbr\u003eNot only does the shaft shot from this bow118\u003cbr\u003estrike creatures lacking intellect, but those\u003cbr\u003ewho have intelligence, and who can love.\u003cbr\u003eThe Providence that has arrayed all this121\u003cbr\u003eforever quiets--with Its light--that heaven\u003cbr\u003ein which the swiftest of the spheres revolves;\u003cbr\u003eto there, as toward a destined place, we now124\u003cbr\u003eare carried by the power of the bow\u003cbr\u003ethat always aims its shaft at a glad mark.\u003cbr\u003eYet it is true that, even as a shape127\u003cbr\u003emay, often, not accord with art's intent,\u003cbr\u003esince matter may be unresponsive, deaf,\u003cbr\u003eso, from this course, the creature strays at times130\u003cbr\u003ebecause he has the power, once impelled,\u003cbr\u003eto swerve elsewhere; as lightning from a cloud\u003cbr\u003eis seen to fall, so does the first impulse,133\u003cbr\u003ewhen man has been diverted by false pleasure,\u003cbr\u003eturn him toward earth. You should--if I am right—\u003cbr\u003enot feel more marvel at your climbing than136\u003cbr\u003eyou would were you considering a stream\u003cbr\u003ethat from a mountain's height falls to its base.\u003cbr\u003eIt would be cause for wonder in you if,139\u003cbr\u003eno longer hindered, you remained below,\u003cbr\u003eas if, on earth, a living flame stood still.\"\u003cbr\u003eThen she again turned her gaze heavenward. 142","brand":"Bantam Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300237037797,"sku":"NP9780553212044","price":7.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780553212044.jpg?v=1767734481","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/paradiso-isbn-9780553212044","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}