Best Translation of the Divine Comedy?

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Francis1636

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I am a high-school senior interested in reading the divine comedy. I typically read more non-fiction, but am fairly interested in reading the poem. I speak English and no Italian, and was wondering if any literature gurus had an opinion on the best translation. I am partial to Anthony Esolen from reading all of his opinion pieces on the web, but would appreciate some more objective recommendations. Thanks.
 
The only translation of The Divine Comedy I have read was by John Ciardi. Ciardi uses an American idiom in his translation, and I thought it was excellent. However, this was many years ago when I was a student, and the translation could by now be considered dated. But I believe it would be worth a look. Hope this helps.
 
C. Sisson, Oxford World’s Classics, 2008 and R. Kirkpatrick, Penguin, 2012 (my preference). Both should be available on Kindle and contain very good notes to assist the reader.
 
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