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In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.

Dante Alighieri, Inferno, Canto I

Literature

The story behind the card

These are the opening lines of the Divine Comedy, the long poem Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) wrote in Italian from about 1308, much of it in exile after he was banished from Florence in 1302. The story is set at Easter 1300, when Dante was 35: half of the seventy years the Bible gives as a lifespan, hence 'the middle of the journey'. Lost in the dark wood, he is met by the Roman poet Virgil, who guides him down through Hell. The journey continues through Purgatory to Paradise.

Türkçe oku
Hayat yolumuzun yarısında, kendimi doğru yolun yitip gittiği karanlık bir ormanda buldum.
Dante Alighieri, İlahi Komedya, Cehennem, 1. Kanto

Bunlar İlahi Komedya'nın ilk dizeleridir. Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) bu uzun şiiri 1308 dolaylarında İtalyanca yazmaya başladı; büyük bölümünü 1302'de Floransa'dan sürgüne gönderildikten sonra yazdı. Hikâye 1300 yılının Paskalya günlerinde geçer. Dante o sırada 35 yaşındadır, yani Kutsal Kitap'ın insan ömrü olarak verdiği yetmiş yılın yarısındadır; “yolun yarısı” sözü buradan gelir. Karanlık ormanda kaybolan şairin karşısına Romalı şair Vergilius çıkar ve ona Cehennem'in derinliklerinde yol gösterir. Yolculuk Araf'tan geçip Cennet'te sona erer.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Inferno (Dante)
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