Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) was a Florentine poet and philosopher. Banished from Florence when his political enemies took power in 1301, he is best known for his works The New Life and The Divine Comedy, as well as his essay De vulgari eleoquentia, a defense of the use of the vernacular in literature. He died in exile, in Ravenna. D. M. Black is a Scottish poet, psychoanalyst, and translator. He is the author of multiple poetry collections, including With Decorum, The Educators, The Happy Crow, and Gravitations, and his translation of Dante’s Purgatorio is available from NYRB Classics. He lives in London.
