Taking two threads of a story which everybody knew and loved, the story of a vision of Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, and the story of the lover who has to brave the underworld to find his lost lady. Dante combined them into the great allegory of the soul's reach for God. He made it swift, exciting anfd topical,lavishing upon it all his learning and wit, all his tenderness, humour and enthusiasm, and all his poetry.
