Heaven and Hell - Dante Alighieri

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Résumé :
This omnibus volume gathers three of the defining poetic works on Heaven, Hell, and redemption: John Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, and Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy in the distinguished translation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In Paradise Lost, Milton recounts the rebellion of Satan, the war in Heaven, and the fall of man with an epic scope that reshaped English literature. Vast in design and intricate in theological argument, the poem unites cosmic drama with psychological insight, presenting obedience and revolt, innocence and ambition, within a universe ordered by divine justice. Paradise Regained, Milton's concentrated companion to his earlier epic, turns to Christ's forty days of temptation in the wilderness. Restrained and contemplative, it examines spiritual authority not through spectacle, but through endurance and resolve. Dante's Divine Comedy traces a first-person journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven while simultaneously charting the soul's progress toward God. Longfellow's classic translation introduced generations of English-language readers to Dante's vast theological vision and moral architecture, preserving both narrative clarity and poetic dignity. Taken together, these works stand at the summit of sacred and epic poetry, forming a sustained meditation on sin, judgment, grace, and redemption that continues to shape Western literary and religious thought....

Biographie:
John Milton (1608-1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant whose work stands at the summit of seventeenth-century literature. Educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, Milton was deeply influenced by classical antiquity, Renaissance humanism, and Reformation theology.During the English Civil War, he served the Commonwealth government as Latin Secretary under Oliver Cromwell, writing extensively in defense of republican principles and freedom of expression, most notably in Areopagitica. His political writings placed him at the center of the intellectual conflicts of his age.Blind in his later years, Milton composed his greatest poetic works-Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes-dictating them to assistants. Paradise Lost, first published in 1667, is widely regarded as the preeminent epic poem in the English language and has exerted lasting influence on literature, theology, and political thought....

Sommaire:
This omnibus volume gathers three of the defining poetic works on Heaven, Hell, and redemption: John Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, and Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy in the distinguished translation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In Paradise Lost, Milton recounts the rebellion of Satan, the war in Heaven, and the fall of man with an epic scope that reshaped English literature. Vast in design and intricate in theological argument, the poem unites cosmic drama with psychological insight, presenting obedience and revolt, innocence and ambition, within a universe ordered by divine justice. Paradise Regained, Milton's concentrated companion to his earlier epic, turns to Christ's forty days of temptation in the wilderness. Restrained and contemplative, it examines spiritual authority not through spectacle, but through endurance and resolve. Dante's Divine Comedy traces a first-person journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven while simultaneously charting the soul's progress toward God. Longfellow's classic translation introduced generations of English-language readers to Dante's vast theological vision and moral architecture, preserving both narrative clarity and poetic dignity. Taken together, these works stand at the summit of sacred and epic poetry, forming a sustained meditation on sin, judgment, grace, and redemption that continues to shape Western literary and religious thought....