Traces of Dante in Nineteenth Century English Poetry

An Overview

Abstract

The essay intends to offer an overview of Dante’s influence on nineteenth-century English poetry, highlighting the various appropriations and introducing a discussion on individual authors. It is an essential pivot in the development of modern and contemporary culture inasmuch as, during the nineteenth century, Italian literature seemed to flow into English literature and at the same time represent a sort of great moment in universal literature. Furthermore, with the birth of the United States, the great English tradition converges with the more mature American literature and therefore the whole focus of Western and also contemporary culture relates to an extraordinary basin in which the set of sources that complement each other, in particular Dante and English literature, establish a fundamental element for understanding the imaginary itself not only of the twentieth century but also of the contemporary one.