A unique treatise by a poet, written for poets, on the art of poetry, La Vita Nuova is elaborately and symbolically patterned, consisting of a selection of Dante's early poems, interspersed with his own prose commentary The poems themselves tell the story of his love for Beatrice, from their first meeting, through Dante's sufferings and his attempts to conceal the true object of his devotion , to his overwhelming grief at her death, ending with the transformative vision of her in heaven