1. Compare Dante's view of life with that of Chaucer. VIII, 263. 2. Whence did he derive the precision which characterizes his narrative? VIII, 263. 3. Did Dante have a broad outlook on the life of his day? III, 253. 4. Compare Dante with Petrarch. VIII, 262. 5. What was Dante's opinion of the Arthurian legends? VIII, 262. 6. What was the effect of Dante's work on the language of Italy? VIII, 267. 7. Compare the different modes in which Milton and Dante handle the imagery of their epics. VIII, 361. 8. Why does Dante enter into such minute detail in describing the scenes he attempts to depict? VIII, 362. 9. Which succeeded best in introducing the agency of supernatural beings? VIII, 363. 10. In what sense is Dante's description of supernatural beings picturesque? VIII, 366. 11. In what two respects do Dante and Milton present an exact parallel? VIII, 368. FROM THE "PARADISO" 1. The "Singer" is an appellation given to what Biblical character? 2. According to this poem, are all souls of equal rank in heaven? 3. What determines a person's rank there? 4. Find verses which describe Adam and St. Peter. 5. To whom does the following refer: "That leader under whom on manna lived The people ingrate, fickle, and stiff-necked." (See Exodus XXXII, 9.) 6. How was Dante's life connected with the life of Beatrice? 7. What do the "three circles" represent which Dante saw when he looked on Christ? FOR REFERENCE "The World's Leading Poets."--BOYNTON. "Witnesses of the Light."--GLADDEN. "Dante and the Divine Comedy."--WRIGHT. "The Moral System of Dante's Inferno."--READE. "Introduction to the Study of Dante."--BOTTA. "Dante, his Times and his Work."--BUTLER. "Aids to the Study of Dante."--DINSMORE. JOHN MILTON (1608-1674) John Milton, the son of a scrivener of some means, was born in London. He studied in succession at St. Paul's School, London, and Christ's College, Cambridge, and on account of his beauty, and the purity of his morals, was known as the "lady of Christ's Church." Upon graduation from Cambridge he went to live with his father (who had in the meantime removed to the village of Horton, Buckinghamshire), determined to devote his life to literature. At Horton he wrote his early poems, "L'Allegro," "Il Penseroso," "Lycidas," and "Comus." "Lycidas" is an elegy in memory of his intimate friend Henry King, drowned off the Welsh coast.