Suzi Feay

Out of the depths: Dante’s Purgatorio, by Philip Terry, reviewed

Having toured the infernal campus of the University of Essex, Terry arrives at the coast to be confronted by a strange artificial mountain he must climb

Philip Terry. [Carcanet Press] 
issue 02 November 2024
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  • Dante’s Purgatorio

    Philip Terry

    Carcanet, pp. 256, £16

Many readers of Dante get no further than the Inferno. The inscription over the gates of Hell, the demon-haunted circles, the howling winds that buffet the lovers Paolo and Francesca, even the poet’s grim profile and bonnet, are part of the world’s literary and artistic heritage. Several translators also stop at the point that the dazed poet and his guide Virgil emerge from the bowels of the Earth into the astonishing starlight.

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