Dante

Dante Alighieri's bust in Rome's Villa Borghese park.YARA NARDI / Reuters

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• Read Dante translated

He was a sullen and haughty-looking man according to the portraits that have come down to us. A good citizen lost by the politics of a society in civil war, divided between the Pope and the Emperor. He chose the losing side, was sentenced to death, went into exile, and no longer saw Florence, his homeland. In return, he made Florentine the language of all Italians. Such dramatic elements have made him a poet close to the soul of the Spanish. There are a dozen excellent translations, but among them two stand out, the one by José María Micó (Cliff) and the one that originates this comment, the monumental one by Juan Barja and Patxi Lanceros (Abada). Fortunately, they are so different that they do not force us to sanction which one is the best. Both are better and the true hobbyist will want to have both.

Micó's is practical for trips to Italy (935 pages). Barja's is colossal (1600 pages in large format). They are both scholars, something essential in a text of which not a single autograph remains. The work was an immediate success and gave rise to the most extensive

of the 15th century: 750 manuscripts are preserved. This gives an idea of ​​the translator's problems in choosing the right terms in a great work obsessed with language. The differences, therefore, are frequent and fascinating. Both use the hendecasyllable in their own and equally virtuous way. You have to read them at the same time to find the best interpretation.

In this ascent towards the light, the infernal has been fixed as "dantesque". It is not like this. They are also Dantesque

and

, there is not a single verse left over. So both editions are necessary, one for reading in an armchair (Micó) and the other for working on the table: Barja's includes the beautiful drawings by Botticelli and almost 300 pages of notes. Luxury.