Dante Between Hope and Despair: The Tradition of Lamentations in the Divine Comedy

Abstract

During the interfaith service conducted at the Washington Cathedral September , , Rabbi Joshua Haberman read verses from the book of Lamentations, traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah. As the book laments the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar in  b.c., its choice as a text after September  was highly pertinent; chapter three, from which Rabbi Haberman’s excerpts were taken, offers some of the few expressions of hope in a book that primarily expresses grief. In addition to the verses read on that occasion, book three includes a cluster of sentiments that have been widely shared in the United States as the nation has grappled with the meaning of the disaster. Americans have felt dismay at the savage blow inflicted by shadowy enemies, and experienced the problematic reflex desiring that vindication, even revenge, which a God involved in history might be entreated to compass on behalf of those believing in Him; but they have also engaged in anguished speculation on why such a fell stroke was visited upon the nation, and in some few cases reflected on where our own responsibilities might lie in provoking such wrath. The text of Lamentations 