In 1867, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow completed the first American translation of <b>Inferno</b> and thus introduced Dante's literary genius to the New World. In the <b>Inferno</b>, 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.