Dante and Beʹatriʹce

—i.e. Beatrice Portinaʹri, who was only eight years old when the poet first saw her. His abiding love for her was chaste as snow and pure as it was tender. Beatrice married a nobleman named Simoʹne de Bardi, and died young, in 1290. Dante married Gemma, of the powerful house of Donaʹti. In the Diviʹna Commeʹdia the poet is conducted first by Virgil (who represents human reason) through hell and purgatory; then by the spirit of Beʹatriʹce (who represents the wisdom of faith); and finally by St. Bernard (who represents the wisdom from on high).

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