This is a new verse translation of the first canticle of Dante's moving human drama, a poetic masterpiece of penance and hope. Awakening in a dark wood, the poet Dante is forced to confront the “darkness” of his own life, and so he embarks upon a three-day journey towards redemption. His first day is spent traveling through Hell—the Inferno—with the poet Virgil as his guide. As they traverse the nine circles of Hell, they meet a fiendish array of notorious characters, each suffering varying degrees of damnation for their earthly sins. Through this visionary spiritual journey, Dante comes to value the true nature of good and evil. Florentine poet Dante Alighieri is the author of The Divine Comedy, one of the greatest literary works of all time.