PREFACE.

AMONG the famous English translations of foreign classics, that of the Divine Comedy, by the Reverend Henry F. Cary,1 holds a high rank. Owing to a lack of interest in the study of Dante at the time of its appearance, it at first attracted little attention, — but a eulogistic mention of it by Coleridge in a lecture on Dante, delivered February 27, 1818, led to the immediate sale of a thousand copies and to notices, re-echoing Coleridge's praises, in the Edinburgh and Quarterly reviews. Since that time it has been universally recognized as a remarkable triumph over the difficulties of translation. The number of editions published has been very large, and it is probable that even to-day the majority of English readers know their Dante through Cary.

In one respect, however, this version has fallen behind the times. The last revised edition was made in 1844, just before Mr. Cary's death. The notes, although containing much that is valuable, are to-day entirely inadequate; and, moreover, are not adapted to the needs of the general reader. Believing, as I do, that on the whole, Cary's is still the best poetical

1 Henry Francis Cary was born at Gibraltar, Dec. 6, 1772. He was educated at Rugby and Oxford, and in 1796 took orders. His translation of the Inferno was published in 1805, that of the whole of the Divine Comedy in 1812. He died Aug. 14, 1844, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, by the side of Samuel Johnson.

2 Letters of Coleridge, vol. ii., p. 677.

3 It may be of interest to quote a few of the judgments passed by great critics on this translation. Coleridge, in a letter to Cary, Nov. 6, 1817, says: "This is the excellence of the work considered as a translation of Dante, that it gives the reader a similar feeling of wandering and wandering, onward and onward. Of the diction I can only say that it is Dantesque even in that in which the Florentine must be preferred to our own English giant (Milton), — namely, that it is not only pure language, but pure English."

In his Essay on Dante, Macaulay speaks of "Mr. Cary, to whom Dante owes more than ever poet owed to translator"; and later says, "There is no other version in the world, so far as I know, so faithful, yet there is no other version which so fully proves that the translator is himself a man of poetical genius."

The American historian, Prescott, in a letter to Mr. George Ticknor, says, "As to Cary, I think Dante would have given him a place in his ninth heaven, if he could have foreseen his translation. It is most astonishing, giving not only the literal corresponding phrase, but the spirit of the original, the true Dantesque manner.'

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version of the Divine Comedy in English, I have endeavored to render it more useful by bringing it into closer conformity to modern scholarship. In view of the intimate relation between the New Life and the Divine Comedy, it has been thought advisable to include in this volume Rossetti's translation of the former. In so doing I have retained Rossetti's notes, marking with a K those added by myself.

In regard to the notes to the Divine Comedy, I had at first contemplated a similar arrangement. On considering, however, the extensive nature of the changes which would have been rendered necessary in correcting, adding, cutting down, and omitting, it seemed to me wiser to cut practically loose from Cary, and make my own commentary.1 Of course, in making this last statement, I mean simply that I have consulted the best authorities and selected what seemed appropriate for the purpose I had in view.2 In so doing I have made most use of the editions of Bianchi, Fraticelli, Philalethes, and Scartazzini, especially the last two.

In addition to the notes to Dante proper, I have also given some on the translation. Cary, in taking Milton as his model, often makes use of obsolete words and expressions. These I have explained. I have likewise endeavored to correct not only actual errors of translation, but also to simplify what are often rhetorical circumlocutions. In this way it is hoped that the reader will have a clearer idea of that conciseness and simplicity of style which is so marked a feature in the original. I would call especial attention to the interpretive notes to the Paradise, in which, by means of brief yet clear synopses of the argument, I have endeavored to aid the reader to understand the often difficult (though never obscure) theological and philosophical discussions of Dante.

The introduction was originally prepared in the form of popular lectures (afterwards published in the Methodist Review for May-June, 1894, and March-April, 1896.) While many changes have been made, the popular style has, to a certain extent, been retained, for it has been my purpose, so far as possible, to attract readers to a poem which, although at first sight it may appear harsh and forbidding, becomes on nearer acquaintance, full of the highest beauty and fraught with deepest profit and enjoyment.

It is hoped that this edition, with its introduction, bibliography, and notes may serve to give a new impulse to the study of the Divine Poet.

1 Most of the parallel passages and quotations are taken from Cary. In the Hell,- especially the earlier Cantos, - I have also taken a few of his historical and interpretative notes.

2 On the function of the modern commentator of Dante, see the preface to the editions of Bianchi, Fraticelli, and Scartazzini.