The Complete Works of Lord Byron VII. [antikvár]

PREFACE. In the course of a visit to the city of Ravenna in the summer of 1819, it was suggested to the author, that having composed something on the subject of Tasso's confinement, he should do the same on Dante's exile—the tomb of the poet forming one of the principal objects of interest in that city, both to the native and to the stranger. «On this hint I spake,» and the result has been the following four cantos, in terza rima, now offered to the reader. If they are understood and approved, it is my purpose to continue the poem in various other cantos to its natural conclusion in the present age. The reader is requested to suppose that Dante addresses him in the interval between the conclusion of the Divina Comme-dia and his death, and shortly before the latter event,