Carlo Porta (Milano 1775 – there 1821) was the greatest poet of the Milanese dialect and his essays of translation of the Divine Comedy deserve a special mention indeed. Porta, more or less freely, translated five cantos of the Inferno partly in six-line stanzas and partly in octaves, and did that in the years between 1803 and 1805, when he was less than thirty years old, with unreachable freshness and originality.

These five little masterpieces can be easily found online:  click here to read the first canto, the only one translated entirely; for the partial translation of the second canto click here; for the third canto click here; for the first part of the fifth canto click here; for the Paolo and Francesca’s episode click here; for the seventh canto click here.

In order to listen to the first lines of the Inferno in the Milanese dialect of Carlo Porta see the video Glottis at minute 1:00:59.

Sopracoperta delle poesie complete di Carlo Porta edite ne Meridiani Mondadori, che comprendono anche i saggi di traduzione di brani dell’Inferno dantesco.
Incipit dell’Inferno nella traduzione dialettale milanese di Carlo Porta.