Some time after this, "it was the pleasure of the Lord of the Angels to call to his glory a young and beautiful lady, who had been very lovely in the city of Florence. And I saw her body lying without its soul, surrounded by many ladies who wept grievously. Then remembering that I had formerly seen her in company with that most gentle lady, I could not restrain some tears; and, weeping, I proposed to say some words about her death, as a return for that I had seen her sometimes with my lady." Then, he says, he wrote two poems, of which we give the last, adding to it his verbal comment, as an example of the style of commentary with which he has accompanied all the poems of the "Vita Nuova":-- "O villain Death, compassion's foe, The Mother from of old of woe, Inexorable judge severe, Thou givest sorrow for the heart to bear; Wherefore in grief I go, And blaming thee my very tongue outwear. "And if of every grace thou wouldst be bare, It only needs that I declare The guilt of this thy sinful blow, So that all those shall know, And each shall be thy foe, Who erst were nurtured with Love's tender care "For thou hast taken from the world the grace And virtue which are woman's praise, And in youth's gayest days The charm of loveliness thou dost deface. "Who is this lady is not to be told, Save as these qualities do make her known. He who deserves salvation may alone Have hope companionship with her to hold. "This sonnet is divided into four parts.[F] In the first I address Death by certain of her proper names; in the second, speaking to her, I tell the reason why I am moved to blame her; in the third, I revile her; in the fourth, I speak to a person undefined, although definite as regards my intention. The second part begins at _Thou givest_; the third at _And if of every grace_; the fourth at _He who deserves_." [Footnote F: Dante calls this little poem a sonnet, although, strictly, the name does not belong to it.]