The Inferno - Dover Thrift Editions Author:Dante Alighieri The first of the 3 canticles in La divina commedia (The Divine Comedy), this 14th-century allegorical poem begins Dante's imaginary journey from Hell to Purgatory to Paradise with his sojourn among the damned. There he encounters historical and mythological creatures — each symbolic of a particular vice or crime. Translated beautifu... more »lly by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.« less