Inferno by Dante Alighieri and A Scattering by Christopher Reid

Hello, here are the first two reviews of poetry I have read, enjoy.

Inferno- Book I of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

As my first review for this blog, I felt it is fitting to start from one of the biggest influences of the poetry world, Dante Alighieri. His magnum opus, The Divine Comedy has become a formulaic structure for a myriad supernatural adventure tales. I have chosen to review only the first book of the trilogy, Inferno, which charters the narrator, Dante’s journey through the seven circles of Hell after becoming lost in the forest. He is accompanied by a guide, the ancient poet Virgil. The following books, Purgatorio and Paradiso chronicle the ascent through purgatory and finally, heaven.

Inferno is structured into thirty-four cantos and each three-line stanza is composed in a uniquely rich prosaic/poetic language. Dante is seen as a pioneer of his native Italian language and upon reading the English translation here, I found that there is a charming storyteller-like feel to each canto. Though Dante is often seen as the Italian equivalent to Chaucer, there is arguably something more thrilling and engaging in the supernatural horror and beauty of The Divine Comedy than the rustic and bawdy lyric of The Canterbury Tales.

Dante questions the divine justice meted out to pious followers of Christianity. The suffering of the sinners in Hell is told in graphic detail, akin to the infernal images described in the Holy Bible. Though the modern reader may see this as only poetic fancy and hyperbole, it should be noted that the work was composed during the Dark Ages in which religion was held not as belief but universal fact.

So it is here in the Inferno, that Dante tells of the horrific fate of the Christian sinner. However, there is no element of didacticism or any attempt to proselytise the reader into living a virtuous life, moreover, this epic poem has a fable-like feel in which actions are met with consequences. The poetic value of Dante’s work cannot be overstated, images and devices featured in the Divine Comedy are prevalent not just in poetry but culture as a whole.

‘The river of blood’ from Canto XII and ‘the dolorous forest’ in Canto XIV are seen as products of ‘the vengeance of God’. Dante expands his narrative to describe the torment and pain of the condemned, Dante as the narrator of the Inferno is powerless to save any of the afflicted sinners he comes across, this issue of narrative passivity and intervention is perhaps one of the greatest devices of intrigue used within modern literature. Think back to any contemporary first person novel you may have read, and it is likely that the narrator has only a passive voyeur role in the story and serves merely as reportage, yet are still vital to the plot. Here in Inferno, Dante and Virgil conduct themselves through the circles of Hell and what they see serves as basis of the poem.

The cultural significance of this poem is vast, our perceptions of Hell if we choose to believe it, are almost stemmed from The Divine Comedy. Cliché images of fire and brimstone and demons are the result of Dante’s unceasing influence on literature. You should read this wonderful epic poem not for literary merit but out of your own curiosity to journey down through the circles of hell and to witness the superbly written vision of Hell. Thought the archaic language may appear to some as tedious and superfluous, the vivid imagery of infernal torment will certainly draw in any reader with a craving for supernatural horror. Dante’s fluid, masterful style makes Inferno a smooth journey through the afterlife, though after reading it there is always the desire ‘to rebehold the stars’ and begin the whole journey again.


A Scattering by Christopher Reid

A Scattering is a collection of poems by the prolific contemporary poet Christopher Reid. The poems are written in memoriam to his late wife Lucinda. The whole collection is twinged with a poignant sadness and gallows humour that is both bittersweet and somewhat disturbing. It is a brilliantly composed book which was rightly received the Costa Book Award 2009.

The first series of poems, titled, The Flowers of Crete is a witty and vivid account of Reid’s holiday with his wife. Reid focuses on the human reactions to life’s mundane situations and how these relate to deeper emotions, in other words a typical figurative approach, but there is a sincerity here in Reid’s voice that could only be manifested by someone who has witnessed the sorrow of bereavement. The opening verses describe ‘big sting-toting insects’ contrasted by ‘a blue-green glaze on the bay’. It seems whenever Reid looks to closely at the world he must look away and resort to grand poetic imagery. However, Reid achieves this with a degree of subtlety, attention is shifted from ‘ glib analogies’ and ‘makeshift rhymes’ which Reid calls ‘the crimes of your husband the poet’ and instead reveals a bare-faced despair described as ‘ a dry sort of pleasure’.

The next series in A Scattering is titled simply, The Unfinished, and as the name suggests, there are included eleven fragmented poems that in their brevity reveal a despair that is deeply moving and far from sentimentality. Reid describes in painful detail the dying stages of his terminally ill wife in hospital, beginning from the ‘sparse breaths’ to the ‘ultimate calm’. Reid reveals his close relationship with Lucinda, informing us of their mannerisms as well as describing the deteriorating health of his wife. ‘Those last few days of drug drowse and coma comfort’ are written with such frankness at times that the poems appear a perverse mockery as Reid describes ‘her bald head like a baby’ but once again this is grief-stricken sarcasm. These poems are Reid’s attempt to downplay the tragic requiems penned by melancholic writers and instead he creates a disturbingly intimate sadness that is arguably far more effective.

A Widower’s Dozen is the third series of A Scattering, and the poems included are Reid’s reaction to his wife’s untimely death. As with the previous series, Unfinished, these poems are similarly brief but striking nonetheless. The first poem, Conundrum is Reid’s admission of feeling like ‘my own ghost’ as he is haunted by the late Lucinda. A Scattering, the title of the second poem is a witty tale of elephants scattering the bones of their deceased, Reid announces he will ‘place my own sad thoughts in new, hopeful arrangements’. This hint of optimism is integral to this collection, Reid is in a state of despair but is looking for a way back to the happiness he once knew. A Scattering is a collection of the poet’s attempts at finding happiness after sorrow. The final series, titled Lucinda’s Way is again a fragmented narrative, though focussed on memory and the influence of time. Reid recalls his years of marriage, but now writes ‘in the cumbersome retrospective mood’. The past has become a burden, but must be remembered out of respect; Reid is left with nothing but to lament his sorrows and then move on or else remain ‘jealous of the years when I didn’t know you’.

A Scattering is a highly emotive read, but is also witty and humorous in a morbid way. Read these poems not as epitaphs but as casual anecdotes told by the bereaved who cannot let go of their memories.