Dante Alighieri died on this day in 1321 on the 14th September.
Creator of the Inferno and Purgatorio in the Divine Comedy .
Surely this is a day to remember.
For this greatest of Catholic poets praise should be ready.

You can stand before his tomb in Florence.
It stands resplendent in the vast nave of the St Croce Basilica.
Here you can bury all vestige of material sense.
This work of genius is truly eroica.

The essence is not inferno.
It is purgatorio.
We are all on a journey, our clinging sins in tow.
But with hope and redemption we will never be laid low.

Dante is not consigning us to grotesque horrors.
He is giving us hope of undreamt of honours.