One of the most revered poets in the history of western literature, Dante is also remarkable as an early instance of a major European poet writing in the vernacular. Caught up by the political controversies of his time, he spent is last years exiled from his native Florence. His most famous work, The Divine Comedy, comprised of The Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise, narrates his imaginative journey through these three realms guided first by the poet Virgil, then by his lover Beatrice.