all the lost ones go."

In 1305 the _Inferno_ was complete, and Dante left it with the monks of
a certain convent while he wandered into a far-distant country. The
Frate questioned him eagerly, asking why he had chosen to write the
poem in Italian since the vulgar tongue seemed to clothe such a
wonderful theme unbecomingly. "When I considered the condition of the
present age," the poet replied, "I saw that the songs of the most
illustrious poets were neglected of all, and for this reason
high-minded men who once wrote on such themes now left (oh! pity) the
liberal arts to the crowd. For this I laid down the pure lyre with
which I was provided and prepared for myself another more adapted to
the understanding of the moderns. For it is vain to give sucklings
solid food."

Dante fled Italy and again sat on the student's "bundle of straw,"
choosing Paris as his next refuge. There he discussed learned
questions with the wise men of France, and endured much privation as
well as the pangs of yearning for Florence, his beloved city, which
seemed to forget him. Hope rose within his breast when the
newly-elected Emperor, Henry of Luxemburg, resolved to invade Italy and
pacify the rebellious spirit of the proud republics. Orders were given
that Florence should settle her feuds once for all, {28} but the
Florentines angrily refused to acknowledge the imperial authority over
their affairs and, while recalling a certain number of the exiled,
refused to include the name of Dante.

Dante, in his fierce resentment, urged the Emperor to besiege the city
which resisted his imperial mandates. The assault was unsuccessful,
and Henry of Luxemburg died without accomplishing his laudable
intention of making Italy more peaceful.

Dante lived under the protection of the powerful Uguccione, lord of
Pisa, while he wrote the _Purgatorio_. The second part of his epic
dealt with the region lying between the under-world of torment and the
heavenly heights of Paradise itself. Here the souls of men were to be
cleansed of their sins that they might be pure in their final ecstasy.

A revolt against his patron led the poet to follow him to Verona, where
they both dwelt in friendship with the young prince, Cane della Scala.
The later cantos of the great poem, the _Divine Comedy_, were sent to
this ruler as they were written. Cane loved letters, and appreciated
Dante so generously that the exile, for a time, was moved to forget his
bitterne