The New York herald., 1922-03-26

world" is perhaps a term
of exaggeration even when
applied to SO transcendent a genius
as Dante. But it is not without rea-
son that Ruskin has bestowed this
praise, for Dante is regarded by
many as second only to Shakespeare
among the writer's of the last two
thousand years and generally is con-
ceded place among the four or five
greatest poets of history. His 'Di-
vine Comedy" is one of the immortal
books Of the world; It is a richly
imaginative and intensely human
poem that describes the journey of
the author among the shades of the
dead as they are to be found in the
Inferno, in Purgatory and in Para
disc.
No greater testimony to Dante's
great0ess need be found than the
fact that now, six hundred years
after his DEATH there is an incessant
flood of literature connected with his
name, of critical articles and vol
umes, and of translations of his work.
Every So sou adds to the list-a Ii
brary OF commentaries on Dante
might be collected. The reason is
perhaps that, as DR.. Slattery re-
marks, Dante is The Lover par er-
celleace. whose love story is one to
which heaven and earth have put
their hand,'" and that, as a conse-
quence. 'he stands forth with a hold
on humanity that is both enduring
and supreme"
DIR. Slattery's volume of criticism.
In conjunction with Mr.. Anderson's
translation. may be recommended for
any one who desires to make the ac-
auaintance of the great Florentine.
The former book gives one the per-
spective necessary for proper un-
derstanding OF Dante: It introduces
one not only to the man and his
NOrA Dut W the lttiy VI TIC idtc
thirteenth and early fourteenth CEN
tury; it emphasizes the fact that TO
know Dante we must know the age
which produced him, and that he
cannot be intelligible to the modern
mind if he is taken out of his own
time. We must first of all under
stand the religious spirit which ami
mated the age; we must recognize
that religion then represented a liv-
ing, moving reality in sense now
obsolete. Next we must become ac-
auainted with the life and character
OF Dante himself; we must learn to
appreciate his highly spiritual ma
ture, the emotional element IN him
that caused him to fall in love with
idealistic tendency which made him
worship her almost as an angel, cher
ish her image from afar weep pas
sionately for her upon her death, and
then immortalize her in verse per-
haps as great as ever sprang from
human pen.
For Dante looked upon Beatrice
with the eyes of faith. with the eyes
of divine faith that magnified and
exalted, and found in her beauty the
light of an immortal hope and love.
In our age of materialism and exact
science il is somewhat difficult 20
understand the point of view OF a
poet looking with implicit trust upon
life and destiny; yet it is largely be-
cause of this faith that Dante's ap-
peal is so enduring. For he speaks
20 that subconscious self which de-
sircs to believe. though the reason
be incredulous: he speaks in terms
OF poetry to the poetry in the heart
of every man. to that childlike trust
and wonder which experience can
hide but cannot quite obliterate, to a
deep rooted and profoundly human
hope for something ultimately loving
and beautiful and good.
The spirit of Dante is cxcellently
preserved in Mr.. Anderson's trans
iation of the 'Divine Comedy" Mr..
Anderson has accomplished task of
stupendous magnitude. and we can
readily believe him when he states
that he has been occupied with the
work for twenty-onc years. The re-