The Inferno Essay

The Inferno Essay The Inferno, translated by John Ciardi, is a poem of Dante’s immortal drama of a journey through Hell. Sensory imagery is established throughout the poem in the course of Virgil’s attempt to aid Dante through the different symbolic retributions that make up the structure of Hell. Virgil is Dante’s symbol of all human reason and volunteers to guide him only as far as human reason can go. Sensory imagery …

…takes cover behind Virgil’s back. This wind comes from the flapping wings of a monstrous creature, Satan, covered chest-down in solid ice and is the sole origin of all sin. Dante’s journey through Hell couldn’t have been more imaginative with out sensory imagery. From the silent cries of the Opportunists to the cold chill of Satan, nothing makes a journey to Hell more evil and sinful than the use of sensory imagery.