The poem discusses "the state of the soul after death and presents an image of divine justice meted out as due punishment or reward",[4] and describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.

Like Seamus Heaney's Beowulf and Ted Hughes's Tales from Ovid, Ciaran Carson's Inferno is an extraordinary modern response to one of the great works of world literature.

Along the way, he meets a number of interesting figures. This edition uses the classic translation by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882). Complete and unabridged, this edition features a new introduction by John Lotherington.

The second part of Dante's Divine Comedy, following the Inferno, and preceding the Paradiso.

In the Purgatorio, Dante struggles up the terraces of Mount Purgatory, still guided by Virgil, in continuation of his difficult ascent to purity.

Its first canticle "Inferno" is one of the most famous works of Western literature, showing pious sentiment for God's love. Dante pigeonholes it in the form of prose and lyrics exhibiting optimal love that enlightens the mind and heart.