In the middle of the journey of our life, I found myself in a dark wood
Born in Florence. Mother Bella died when I was young. Father remarried. I fell in love with Beatrice Portinari when I was nine years old. She died at 24. I spent the rest of my life writing about her. The Divine Comedy -- Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso -- is the journey of the human soul from darkness to light. 14,233 lines in terza rima. I wrote it in Italian, not Latin, because I wanted everyone to read it, not just priests. Florence exiled me for my politics. I never went home. I wandered Italy for 20 years, writing the greatest poem in the Western world while sleeping in other people's houses. An exile wrote the book that defined Italian literature. Sometimes you have to lose your home to find your voice.
Poetry
Art · 35y
Political Philosophy
Other · 30y
Linguistics
Education · 30y
Surviving Exile
Other · 20y
Read the Comedy with someone who wrote it. I'll explain the cosmology, the politics, the theology, and the jokes (yes, there are jokes). Also available: Italian language lessons through poetry. You'll...
€12 per_session
Quills, iron gall ink, parchment. The tools I used to write 14,233 lines by hand. I'll show you how to hold the quill and form the letters. Your handwriting will never be the same.
€4 per_day
Exported from BorrowHood · 2026-03-10