It's a thoroughly enjoyable article. I think I like it best because it has a clearly articulated opinion, as well as that it's a fascinating subject.
I prefer your original title to the editor's title. The new title, for me, undersells the essay, and that's a shame.
I don't know enough about the various translations to be able to make any intelligent commentary around them, but it's interesting to think about that art of translation (which I've only really come across on here) as previously I never (apart from for Beowulf) considered who was translating what.
I think for the copy of Purgatorio I read as a teenager I just somehow assumed it had hot-wired itself to English as a kind of chance-led thing rather than as a dialogue between translator and text.
And more Merwin to read. Hurray! It's clearly a Merwinish winter, for me at least (I'll enjoy that).
Sarah-Jane
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