Inferno is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. The Inferno tells the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as nine concentric circles of torment located within the Earth; it is the "realm of those who have rejected spiritual values by yielding to bestial appetites or violence, or by perverting their human intellect to fraud or malice against their fellowmen".As an allegory, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul toward God, with the Inferno describing the recognition and rejection of sin. The story begins with the narrator (here, the poet) being lost in a dark wood where he is attacked by three beasts which he cannot escape. He is rescued by Virgil, who is sent by Beatrice (Dante's ideal woman). Together, they begin the journey into the nine Circles of Hell.
About the Author
Henry Francis Cary, born on Dec. 6, 1772, in Gibraltar, was an English biographer and translator, best known for his blank verse translation of The Divine Comedy of Dante. He was educated at the grammar schools of Rugby, Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham, and at Christ Church, Oxford, which he entered in 1790 and studied French and Italian literature. While at school, he regularly contributed to the Gentleman's Magazine, and published a volume of Sonnets and Odes. Educated at the University of Oxford,Cary took Anglican orders in 1796 and was later assistant librarian in the British Museum, a post which he held for about eleven years.He published biographies of English and French poets and translated the ancient Greek writers Aristophanes and Pindar.He took holy orders and in 1797, became vicar of Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire. He held this benefice until his death. In 1800, he also became vicar of Kingsbury in Warwickshire.
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