Today I bring you to the coldest of all places, with Dante and Virgil — and begin by asking and answering three quick questions: How come there’s ice and not fire down there? Why doesn’t Satan say anything? Why does Virgil do a sort of back-flip while climbing down Satan’s hide? And why do we finish by looking up at the stars?
This one too you can enjoy with the older kids. And, as the old Army videos used to say to recruits, “Don’t let THIS happen to you!”
Today’s reading comes from The Divine Comedy: Inferno (translated by Anthony Esolen), Modern Library Edition, Random House (2002).
The Divine Comedy
A groundbreaking bilingual edition of Dante's masterpiece that includes a substantive Introduction, extensive notes, and appendixes that reproduce Dante's key sources and influences. Of the great poets, Dante is one of the most elusive and therefore one of the most difficult to adequately render into English verse. With this major new translation, Anth…
Word & Song by Anthony Esolen is an online magazine devoted to reclaiming the good, the beautiful, and the true. We publish six essays each week, on words, classic hymn, poems, films, and popular songs, as well a weekly podcast, alternately Poetry Aloud or Anthony Esolen Speaks. Join us as a paid subscriber now during our Christmas Special Forever Rate.
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Word & Song by Anthony Esolen to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
