In 1867, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow completed the first American translation of
Inferno and thus introduced Dante?s literary genius to the New World. In the
Inferno, the spirit of the classical poet Virgil leads Dante through the nine
circles of Hell on the initial stage of his journey toward Heaven. Along the way
Dante encounters and describes in vivid detail the various types of sinners in
the throes of their eternal torment.