Robert Durling's spirited new prose translation of the Paradiso completes his masterful rendering of the Divine Comedy. Durling's earlier translations of the Inferno and the Purgatorio garnered high praise, and with this superb version of the Paradiso readers can now traverse the entirety of Dante's epic poem of spiritual ascent with the guidance of one of the greatest living Italian-to-English translators.Reunited with his beloved Beatrice in the Purgatorio, in the Paradiso the poet-narrator journeys with her through the heavenly spheres and comes to know "the state of blessed souls after death." As with the previous volumes, the original Italian and its English translation appear on facing pages. Readers will be drawn to Durling's precise and vivid prose, which captures Dante's extraordinary range of expression--from the high style of divine revelation to colloquial speech, lyrical interludes, and scornful diatribes against corrupt clergy.This edition boasts several unique features. Durling's introduction explores the chief interpretive issues surrounding the Paradiso, including the nature of its allegories, the status in the poem of Dante's human body, and his relation to the mystical tradition. The notes at the end of each canto provide detailed commentary on historical, theological, and literary allusions, and unravel the obscurity and difficulties of Dante's ambitious style . An unusual feature is the inclusion of the text, translation, and commentary on one of Dante's chief models, the famous cosmological poem by Boethius that ends the third book of his Consolation of Philosophy. A substantial section of Additional Notes discusses myths, symbols, and themes that figure in all three cantiche of Dante's masterpiece. Finally, the volume includes a set of indexes that is unique in American editions, including Proper Names Discussed in the Notes (with thorough subheadings concerning related themes), Passages Cited in the Notes, and Words Discussed in the Notes, as well as an Index of Proper Names in the text and translation. Like the previous volumes, this final volume includes a rich series of illustrations by Robert Turner.

CONTENTSAbbreviations, xvIntroduction, 2PARADISOCANTO 1Notes to Canto 1CANTO 2Notes to Canto 2CANTO 3Notes to Canto 3CANTO 4Notes to Canto 4CANTO 5Notes to Canto 5CANTO 6Notes to Canto 6CANTO 7Notes to Canto 7CANTO 8Notes to Canto 8CANTO 9Notes to Canto 9CANTO 10Notes to Canto 10CANTO 11Notes to Canto 11CANTO 12Notes to Canto 12CANTO 13Notes to Canto 13CANTO 14Notes to Canto 14CANTO 15Notes to Canto 15CANTO 16Notes to Canto 16CANTO 17Notes to Canto 17CANTO 18Notes to Canto 18CANTO 19Notes to Canto 19CANTO 20Notes to Canto 20CANTO 21Notes to Canto 21CANTO 22Notes to Canto 22CANTO 23Notes to Canto 23CANTO 24Notes to Canto 24CANTO 25Notes to Canto 25CANTO 26Notes to Canto 26CANTO 27Notes to Canto 27CANTO 28Notes to Canto 28CANTO 29Notes to Canto 29CANTO 30Notes to Canto 30CANTO 31Notes to Canto 31CANTO 32Notes to Canto 32CANTO 33Notes to Canto 33THE NICENE CREEDBOETHIUS' O QUI PERPETUA MUNDUM RATIONE GUBERNASNotes to "O qui perpetua'ADDITIONAL NOTES1. The Figure of Beatrice (After Canto 2)2. The Paradiso and the Monarchia3.The Primacy of the Intellect, the Sun, and the Circling Theologians (After Canto 14)4. Dante and the Liturgy (After Canto 15)5. The Religious Orders in the Paradiso6. The Threshold Cantos in the Comedy7. The Fate of Phaethon in the Comedy8. Circle-Cross-Eagle-Scales: Images in the Paradiso9. The Final Image10. The Neoplatonic Background11. Dante and Neoplatonism12. Dante's Astrology13. The Heavens and the Sciences: Convivio 214. The Paradiso as Alpha and OmegaTextual VariantsBibliographyIndex of Italian, Latin, and Other Foreign Words Discussed in the NotesIndex of Passages Cited in the NotesIndex of Proper Names in the NotesIndex of Proper Names in the Text and Translation