Good translations of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” ?

[SalveMaterMisericordiæ]

Ave Maria!

I just recently started reading "Purgatorio" for recreation.  I really am loving it so far.  I have the Everyman's Library edition of "The Divine Comedy"? Are there better translations out there? 

[Lynne]

Mark Musa's translation is excellent. I'll try to remember to bring the book downstairs tomorrow morning so I can give you a quote or two.

[Jayne]

I don't know that it is a better translation, but Dorothy L. Sayers's translation is considered quite good.  You might find it interesting to read a translation from someone who was a well-known fiction author in her own right.

This is not the easiest translation to read.  She keeps the rhyme pattern and uses somewhat archaic English.  But this reflects the the language in Dante's original and gives the "feel" of it.  You could look into it, if this appeals to you.

[Bernadette]

I have John Ciardi's translation. It got good reviews but I haven't read it yet.

[Lynne]

Here's the opening Canto of the book... (Mark Musa's translation Penguin Classics, The Portable Dante)

[Lynne]

And from keepthefaith.org, here's part 3 of a 4-part talk on poetry in the Middle Ages by Dr David Allen White which covers the poem.

[drummerboy]

I've read Ciardi's translation and found it enjoyable and tedious in the least, but I haven't read other translation to compare it to.

Anthony Esolen is supposed to have a translation, which doubtless would be a worthwhile read and companion to his lecture series on the Comedy, which I highly recommend (published by TAN).

[Tennessean]

How many years of Italian would I need to read the original?

[Jayne]

How many years of Italian would I need to read the original?

Dorothy L Sayers  learned enough Italian to do a translation in less than a year.  However, her Latin skills were extremely good, since she started studying it at six years old.

Dante's Italian is part way between Latin and modern Italian, so ideally you would know both languages if you wanted to read the original Commedia. 

How long it would take you to learn depends on a various factors. like which languages you know already and how often you study.  If you studied for an hour every day it would likely take in the two to three year range. 

[Polymath]

Is there one that preserves the terza rima of the original Italian in English?