The work recounts the shattering effect of Beatrice’s young death and the poet’s difficult contemplation of human mortality, ending with Dante’s vow not to write again of Beatrice until he can do so in a manner worthy of her now quasi-divine status. This last statement is often taken to announce the Divine Comedy, in which the poet will narrate his journey back to Beatrice in paradise. During this same period, Dante began his participation as sometime soldier and government official in Florence, which was on its way to becoming the most wealthy and powerful of those Tuscan cities that had grown into states. Dante’s career as public servant culminated in the summer of 1300 with a two-month term as one of six priors; forming the city’s highest executive body, they struggled to reign in factional violence between powerful Florentine families. The years 1300-02 found Dante on the losing side of the battle between the White Guelphs (his party) and Black Guelphs: at age 35, he was exiled from Florence, never to return.
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