Not only the state and the
conditions of the soul after death does he visualize with the precision
of Euclid, but as a philosopher and a theologian he proposes for our
instruction in the course of the journey many questions of dogmatic and
speculative thought affecting the Hereafter. He believes himself called
to be not simply a poet to entertain his readers, but a prophet and a
preacher with burning fire to deliver a message for man's salvation. So
he asks the help of Heaven:
"O Supreme Light that so high upliftest Thyself from mortal conceptions,
re-lend a little to my mind of what Thou didst appear and make my tongue
so powerful that it may be able to leave one single spark of Thy glory,
for the future people: for by returning to my memory and by sounding a
little in these verses, more of Thy victory shall be conceived" (Par.
XXXIII, 67).
Comedy is the title which Dante gives to his trilogy and posterity has
added the prefix adjective divine. The term comedy however is not used
in the modern sense which suggests to us a light laughable drama written
in a familiar style. "Comedy" Dante himself explains in his dedication
of the poem, "is a certain kind of poetical narrative which differs from
all others.
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