Poetry - Dante Alighieri's "Inferno" (Anger)

For the next experiment in exploring how emotions are conveyed through imaginative worlds and context, I will be looking into literature, specifically poems, to interpret how the power of words and phrases communicate such emotion. After exploring Anxiety/Fear, Nostalgia and Loneliness, the next emotion I will interpret, now within poetry, will be Anger. The poem I will look into as my primary source will be the poem known as “Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri, where I will be focusing on the first act, titled “Inferno”. I will be exploring some of the poem’s phrases and deconstruct it to produce visual illustrations and experiments that will convey the sense of rage or silent anger.

“ONE night, when half my life behind me lay,

 I wandered from the straight lost path afar.
 

 Through the great dark was no releasing way;

 Above that dark was no relieving star.
 

 If yet that terrored night I think or say,

 As death's cold hands its fears resuming are.”

Visual interpretation to “ONE night, when half my life behind me lay,

I wandered from the straight lost path afar.” Using traditional medium (pencils) and using various mark making to convey the sense of chaos. The two face shaking back and forth represents “half my life behind me lay” conveying the two faces trying to separate (one leaving life behind and the other lost in chaos).

Visual interpretation to “Through the great dark was no releasing way;

 Above that dark was no relieving star.” The star (or the moon) represents the no relieving star with a face of evil, conveying the side of evil, which connects to hate, and hate connects to anger.

Visual representation to “If yet that terrored night I think or say,

 As death's cold hands its fears resuming are.”  The hand representing death, and fear is the mouth and teeth, representing the “terror”.

“THE day was falling, and the darkening air

 Released earth's creatures from their toils, while I,

 I only, faced the bitter road and bare

 My Master led.
 I only, must defy

 The powers of pity, and the night to be.”

Experimentation of “THE day was falling, and the darkening air. Released earth's creatures from their toils, while I, I only, faced the bitter road and bare.” The creatures with the expression of hate, anger and rage underneath the “bitter road”.

Another take on the sentence, though focusing on the other words such as “earth’s creatures from their toils”. A visual representation of earth and underneath is the release of facial expressions of hate and anger from “earth’s creatures”, aka humans of earth.

After the initial experiments I will continue to explore mark making with traditional mediums and will now incorporate colours that associates with anger (dark red is the most common colour to associate with this emotion). I will also look into visual illustrations by various artists who has depicted Hell in many forms to get a sense of what subject matters were used as visual metaphors for anger.

Subject matters within the depiction of hell that conveys the sense of anger and hatred are of: monsters, demons and fire. Other visual metaphors include eating (devouring), destruction and pain (both physical and emotional pain).

Cerberus (1824-7). William Blake

The Lovers Whirlwind (1827). William Blake

The Inferno (1410). Giovanni da Modena 

The Inferno, Canto 9 (1857). Gustave Dore

“THE gateway to the city of Doom.

Through me

The entrance to the Everlasting Pain.”

Visual interpretations of “THE gateway to the city of Doom.” The screaming mouth representing the gateway and the tongue is the road leading to the pumping organs (the city of doom and everlasting pain).

“Then the demon Charon rose

To herd them in, with eyes that furnace-hot

Glowed at the task, and lifted oar to smite

Who lingered.”

Visual interpretation.

“ARISING thunder from the vast Abyss

First roused me, not as he that rested wakes

From slumbrous hours, but one rude fury shakes

Untimely, and around I gazed to know

The place of my confining.”

Visual interpretations. 

Conclusion to the visual representation of anger based on the context of the poem “Divine Comedy”, by Dante Alighieri, Act 1 titled “Inferno”. The humanoid being, immobilised and merged with the ground, tears its head open, representing the sheer anger, with the inner emotions being released, screaming the pain of hate. The limited colours ranging from red, orange and pink are the colours that associates with anger, also indirectly conveying the dangers (the colour red representing ‘danger’) of what the damage anger emotion can emotionally inflict on your mind. 

Bibliography

Poetry Soup, Inferno, Alighieri, D [Online] [Accessed: 23^th Jan 2016] Available from: http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/inferno_english_2383