A COMMENT ON THE t DIVINE COMEDY OF DANTE ALIGHIERI. BY. VOL. I. Nous avons bien plus de poëtes, que de juges MONTAIGNE. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. PREFACE It is perhaps difficult to find a subject in English on which some one has not already written. Yet a commentator on Dante has this advantage; and may fearlessly tell his reader ' use my book until you can find a better.' To a man who has reason to be diffident, such is no small encouragement. A long residence in Italy (I have lived in it for several years and am likely to continue ) and many consequent facilities might render me fitter for my undertaking than my competitors, if I had any; and I am entirely unconscious of having any. My undertaking is a detailed comment on the DiVINA COMMEDIA - a work that embraces a greater variety of matter, than any other poem that has been ever written. The Iliad and Odyssey and the Aeneid have been commented over and over again in a great many languages; and to whatever extent those comments were perfect, or imperfect, the world has always received them willingly, and looked to them |