Poetry Reading, Fall 1998

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri - Inferno, Canto I, 1-30

Reading in 14th Century Italian by Gabriele DiNatale

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, ch� la diritta via era smarrita.	When I had journeyed half of our life's way, I found myself within a shadowed forest, for I had lost the path that does not stray.
Ahi quanto a dir qual era � cosa dura esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte che nel pensier rinova la paura!	Ah, it is hard to speak of what it was, that savage forest, dense and difficult, which even in recall renews my fear:
Tant' � amara che poco � pi� morte; ma per trattar del ben ch'i' vi trovai, dir� de l'altre cose ch'i' v'ho scorte.	So bitter--death is hardly more severe! But to retell the good discovered there, I'll also tell the other things I saw.
Io non so ben ridir com' i' v'intrai, tant' era pien di sonno a quel punto che la verace via abbandonai.	I cannot clearly say how I had entered the wood; I was so full of sleep just at the point where I abandoned the true path.
Ma poi ch'i' fui al pi� d'un colle giunto, l� dove terminava quella valle che m'avea di paura il cor compunto,	But when I'd reached the bottom of a hill-- it rose along the boundary of the valley that had harassed my heart with so much fear--
guardai in alto e vidi le sue spalle vestite gi� de' raggi del pianeta che mena dritto altrui per ogne calle.	I looked on high and saw its shoulders clothed already by the rays of that same planet which serves to lead men straight along all roads.
Allor fu la paura un poco queta, che nel lago del cor m'era durata la notte ch'i' passai con tanta pieta.	At this my fear was somewhat quieted; for through the night of sorrow I had spent, the lake within my heart felt terror present.
E come quei che con lena affannata, uscito fuor del pelago a la riva, si volge a l'acqua perigliosa e guata,	And just as he who, with exhausted breath, having escaped from sea to shore, turns back to watch the dangerous waters he has quit,
cos� l'animo mio, ch'ancor fuggiva, si volse a retro a rimirar lo passo che non lasci� gi� mai persona viva.	So did my spirit, still a fugitive, turn back to look intently at the pass that never has let any man survive.
Poi ch'�i posato un poco il corpo lasso, ripresi via per la piaggia diserta, s� che 'l pi� fermo sempre era 'l pi� basso.	I let my tired body rest awhile. Moving again, I tried the lonely slope-- my firm foot always was the one below.

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