Guided at first by the character of Virgil, and later by his beloved Beatrice, Dante wrote of his own path to salvation, offering philosophical and moral judgments along the way. Dante is credited with inventing terza rima , composed of tercets woven into a linked rhyme scheme, and chose to end each canto of the The Divine Comedy with a single line that completes the rhyme scheme with the end-word of the second line of the preceding tercet. The tripartite stanza likely symbolizes the Holy Trinity, and early enthusiasts of terza rima, including Italian poets Boccaccio and Petrarch, were particularly interested in the unifying effects of the form.
Also unlike the epic works that came before, The Divine Comedy was written in the vernacular Italian, instead of the more acceptable Latin or Greek. This allowed the work to be published to a much broader audience, contributing substantially to world literacy.
Due to the monumental influence the work has had on countless artists, Dante is considered among the greatest writers to have lived. As the poet T. Eliot wrote, "Dante and Shakespeare divide the world between them, there is no third. National Poetry Month. Materials for Teachers Teach This Poem. Poems for Kids.
Poetry for Teens. Lesson Plans. Resources for Teachers. Academy of American Poets. American Poets Magazine. Poets Search more than 3, biographies of contemporary and classic poets. By , however, Dante had completed the Inferno , the segment of The Divine Comedy set in hell, and in he settled at Ravenna and there completed The Divine Comedy soon before his death in The Divine Comedy is an allegory of human life presented as a visionary trip through the Christian afterlife, written as a warning to a corrupt society to steer itself to the path of righteousness: "to remove those living in this life from the state of misery, and lead them to the state of felicity.
The poem is composed of cantos, written in the measure known as terza rima thus the divine number 3 appears in each part of the poem , which Dante modified from its popular form so that it might be regarded as his own invention.
Virgil guides Dante through hell and a phenomenal array of sinners in their various states, and Dante and Virgil stop along the way to speak with various characters. Each circle of hell is reserved for those who have committed specific sins, and Dante spares no artistic expense at creating the punishing landscape. For instance, in the ninth circle reserved for those guilty of treachery , occupants are buried in ice up to their chins, chew on each other and are beyond redemption, damned eternally to their new fate.
In the Purgatorio , Virgil leads Dante in a long climb up the Mount of Purgatory, through seven levels of suffering and spiritual growth an allegory for the seven deadly sins , before reaching the earthly paradise at the top.
Beatrice, representing divine enlightenment, leads Dante through the Paradiso , up through the nine levels of the heavens represented as various celestial spheres to true paradise: the empyrean, where God resides.
In the final sphere, Dante comes face to face with God himself, who is represented as three concentric circles, which in turn represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The journey ends here with true heroic and spiritual fulfillment. The work is a major part of the Western canon, and T. There is no third. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! In , he was exiled from his native city, never to return. At first he joined other political exiles, but he found them too stupid and selfish.
It is not known where he spent many of his years in exile, but he was often well received. He began his great poem, The Divine Comedy, and it attracted a large and sympathetic audience. Commentaries flowed soon, and he became very well known. One of his hosts was the nephew to Francesca, who appears in Canto V of the Inferno.
He died in Ravenna on September 13, , and he was buried with honors due him. Several times during the intervening years, the city of Florence has tried to get his remains returned to his native city, but not even the intercession of several popes could bring this about. His opinion of the citizens of his city was clearly stated in the full title of his greatest work, The Comedy of Dante Alighieri , Florentine by Citizenship , Not by Morals.
Dante still lies in the monastery of the Franciscan friars in Ravenna. Previous Maps of Dante's Hell. Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. Are you sure you want to remove bookConfirmation and any corresponding bookmarks?
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