Dante as he should be remembered

Pinched from Per Omnia Saecula, because it is amazing and scary and wonderful, and also happens to be my favourite passage from the Inferno:



Roberto Benigni reciting from Dante. To remind us all that a poem like that is image and drama and feeling before it's food for analysis. I don't know about you, but I could live with quite a lot of that sort of reminder.

For anyone who wants it, he's reciting Inferno, Canto 26 1-142, available by selecting xxvi in the drop-down box labelled "Canto" here. Selecting "Inglese" in the "Versione" box will give you the translation[1]. And, for added irony on the opening lines, he's performing this live in Florence.

[1] Incidentally, I love the fact that they have three versions - Italian, English or American.