When I saw the word 'hell' in the title, the book "Dante's Inferno" immediately came into my mind. I really enjoyed that book because it's the first time I've read a detailed portrayal of hell in literature. That is why my expectations were high for this poem. I'm glad to say, the poem didn't fail. The poem has this persona named Mr. Cogito who gives his view on what he thinks of hell. I loved the fact that he gave a totally opposite view of the hell portrayed in 'Inferno,' because it's also nice to see what other people thought of hell. I was just a little saddened that he only described the lowest circle of hell. I wish he described them all. The words he used evoked images in my mind, and I liked it. I was just a little curious why he specifically chose artists to be the persons in the lowest circle of hell. I had no historical background, so I didn't know what symbolisms this poem contained. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed this poem for using hell as its theme. It was also refreshing to see the line, "Beelzebub loves art," since the devil isn't usually portrayed in this manner. The hell in this poem also seemed a little too kind, with that bit of irony in the end where Mr. Cogito says that the devil isolates artists from hellish life. A truly bizarre and mind-blowing poem. I love it.
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