The poet Dante Aligheri’s “Commedia” — it picked up “Divine” somewhere along the way — may seem an unlikely contender for relevance. Written 800 years ago, it can feel watermarked by the Middle Ages.

The American modernist Marianne Moore once wrote that poems are imaginary gardens with real toads in them. This applies ...

Going to hell is usually a tough break. But the poet Michael Palma doesn't seem to mind. To course through bitter waters presently, My wit’s small craft hoists sails for embarkation And takes its ...

Tackling this culminating challenge in the company of his beloved Beatrice, who inspired the poem, Dante must trasumanar, a ...

So that it will be worthy of salvation. The challenge to approaching a translation of Dante's original Italian this way is that it means you can't concentrate on three lines at a time – you have to ...

Going to hell is usually a tough break. But the poet Michael Palma doesn't seem to mind. So that it will be worthy of salvation. The challenge to approaching a translation of Dante's original Italian ...