Background
Henry Francis Cary was born at Gibraltar on the 6th of December 1772, the son of a captain in the army.
(Dante's Inferno. An epic and searing poem, that takes the...)
Dante's Inferno. An epic and searing poem, that takes the reader on an intense journey through the darkest pits of hell. As important and classic as the day it was written over 600 years ago. Dante's Inferno is one of the best and enduring works of Western Civilization. The immortal drama of a journey through Hell. Belonging in the immortal company of Homer, Virgil, Milton, and Shakespeare, Dante Alighieri's poetic masterpiece is a moving human drama, an unforgettable visionary journey through the infinite torment of Hell, a supreme expression of the Middle Ages, a glorification of the ways of God, and a magnificent protest at the ways in which men have thwarted the divine plan. One of the few literary works which has enjoyed a fame that was both immediate and enduring, The Inferno's power has not been lessened or obscured after six centuries. It confronts the most universal valuesgood and evil, free will and predestinationwhile remaining intensely personal and ferociously political, for it was born out of the anguish of a man who saw human life blighted by the injustice and corruption of his times.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1490309780/?tag=2022091-20
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0082RYM4S/?tag=2022091-20
(Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy in the middle...)
Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy in the middle of the 13th century and what is principally known of him comes from his own writings. One of the worlds great literary masterpieces, the Divine Comedy is at its heart an allegorical tale regarding mans search for divinity. The work is divided into three sections, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, each containing thirty-three cantos. It is the narrative of a journey down through Hell, up the mountain of Purgatory, and through the revolving heavens into the presence of God. In this aspect it belongs to the two familiar medieval literary types of the Journey and the Vision, however Dante intended the work to be more than just simple allegory, layering the narrative with rich historical, moral, political, literal, and anagogical context. In order for the work to be more accessible to the common readers of his day, Dante wrote in the Italian language. This was an uncommon practice at the time for serious literary works, which would traditionally be written in Latin. One of the truly great compositions of all time, the Divine Comedy has inspired and influenced readers ever since its original creation. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper, is translated into English verse by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and includes an introduction by Henry Francis Cary.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1420951661/?tag=2022091-20
(An epic masterpiece, Dante Alighieri's "The Devine Comedy...)
An epic masterpiece, Dante Alighieri's "The Devine Comedy" is an incredible dramatic journey that takes the reader from the glories of heaven to the searing pit of hell. Dante's poem is one of the finest and most enduring works in Western Civilization.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1489588841/?tag=2022091-20
Henry Francis Cary was born at Gibraltar on the 6th of December 1772, the son of a captain in the army.
Henry Francis Cary was educated at the grammar schools of Rugby, Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham, and at Christ Church, Oxford, which he entered in 1790.
Henry Francis Cary took holy orders, and was presented in 1797 to the vicarage of Abbott's Bromley in Staffordshire.
This benefice he held till his death.
In 1800 he was also presented to the vicarage of Kingsbury in Warwickshire.
While still at school he had become a regular contributor to the Gentleman's Magazine, and had published a volume of Sonnets and Odes.
At Christ Church he devoted much time to the study of French and Italian literature; and the fruits of these studies appeared in the notes to his classic translation of Dante.
The version of the Inferno was published in 1805, together with the original text.
His version of the whole Divina Commedia did not appear till 1814.
The translation was brought to the notice of Samuel Rogers by Thomas Moore.
Rogers made some additions to an article on it by Ugo Foscolo in the Edinburgh Review.
This article, and praise bestowed on the work by Coleridge in a lecture at the Royal Institution, led to a general acknowledgment of its merit.
Cary's Dante thus gradually took its place among standard works, passing through four editions in the translator's lifetime.
It has the great merits of accuracy, idiomatic vigour and readableness; it preserves the sincerity and vividness of the original; and, although many rivals have since appeared in the field, it still holds an honourable place.
Its blank verse, however, cannot represent the close woven texture and the stately music of the terza rima of the original.
In 1824 Cary published a translation of The Birds of Aristophanes, and, about 1834, of the Odes of Pindar.
In 1826 he was appointed assistant-librarian in the British Museum, a post which he held for about eleven years.
He resigned because the appointment of keeper of the printed books, which should have been his in the ordinary course of promotion, was refused him when it fell vacant.
In 1841 a crown pension of £200 a year, obtained through the efforts of Samuel Rogers, was conferred on him.
Cary's Lives of the early French Poets, and Lives of English Poets (from Johnson to Henry Kirke White), intended as a continuation of Johnson's Lives of the Poets, were published in a collected form in 1846.
Henry Francis Cary is now remembered for his blank verse translation of The Divine Comedy of Dante.
(An epic masterpiece, Dante Alighieri's "The Devine Comedy...)
(Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy in the middle...)
(Dante's Inferno. An epic and searing poem, that takes the...)
Henry Francis Cary married Jane Ormsby.
