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consists of three distinct elements, viz. the poems, the narrative of the events which gave rise to the poems, and the expositions of the structural divisions of the poems. Two distinctive features of the work are the frequency with which Dante, in accordance with the literary traditions of the day, 14 introduces the expedient of visions, of which there are no less than seven in the book (§§ 3, 9, 12, 23, 24, 40, 43); and the important part played by the number
nine
, in connection with the hour, day, month, and year of the various events related concerning Beatrice. Thus Dante first sees Beatrice when they were both in their
ninth
year (“quasi dal principio del suo
nono
anno apparve a me, ed io la vidi quasi alla fine del mio
nono
” § 2, 11. 13-15 ; cf. § 2, 11. 1-8 : “
Nove
fiate già,” etc.); he sees her again
nine
years later (“appunto erano compiuti li
nove
anni appresso l’ apparimento soprascritto,” § 3, 11. 2-3) ; and receives her first greeting at the
ninth
hour of the day (“l’ ora, che lo suo dolcissimo salutare mi giunse, era fermamente
nona
di quel giorno,” § 3, 11. 16-18); his subsequent vision takes place during the first of the last
nine
hours of the night (“fu la prima ora delle
nove
ultime ore della notte,” § 3, 11. 63-5). When he was minded to write a poem containing the names of the sixty fairest ladies of Florence, the name of Beatrice would stand nowhere save in the
ninth
place (“in alcuno altro numero non sofferse il nome dellamia donna stare, se non in sul
nove
, tra’ nomi di queste donne,” § 6, 11. 14-17). The third vision takes place at the
ninth
hour of the day (“trovai che questa visione m’ era apparita nella
nona
ora del dì,” § 12, 11. 74-5). The vision in which he has a presentiment of the approaching death of Beatrice, when he is laid low with sickness, occurs on the
ninth
day of his illness (“nel
nono
giorno sentendomi dolore quasi intollerabile, giunsemi un pensiero, il quale era della mia donna . . . ,”§ 23, 11. 8-10). In the sonnet, “Io mi sentii svegliar dentro allo core” (
Son
. xiv.), in which Beatrice is mentioned, her name occurs in the
ninth
line 15 (§ 24, 1. 58). In the date of her death the number
nine
comes in with special significance, in connection with the day, the month, and the year, which are computed for the purpose according to the Arabian, Syrian, and Roman calendars respectively 16 (“secondo l’ usanza d’ Arabia, l’ anima sua nobilissima si partì nella prima ora del
nono
giorno del mese; e secondo l’ usanza di Siria, ella si partì nel
nono
mese dell’ anno; . . . e secondo l’ usanza nostra, ella si partì in quello anno della nostra indizione, cioè degli anni Domini, in cui il perfetto numero
nove
volte era compiuto in quel centinaio nel quale in questo mondo ella fu posta,” § 30, 11. 1-12). Finally, his last vision of Beatrice, when she appeared to him as she was when he first saw her, took place just on the hour of
nones
(“ si levò un dì, quasi nell’ ora di
nona
, una forte immaginazione in me,” etc., § 40, 11. 1-3). Dante himself draws particular attention to the fact of this connection of the number
nine
with Beatrice, and promises to explain the reason of it (§ 29, 11. 29-38), which he subsequently does in detail (§ 30, 11. 13-32), hisconclusion being that she was “a nine, that is to say a miracle, whose root is no other than the marvellous Trinity” (“questa donna fu accompagnata dal numero del
nove
a dare ad intendere, che ella era un
nove
, cioè un miracolo, la cui radice è solamente la mirabile Trinitade,” § 30, 11. 37-41).
    Â Â Â Â  The form of the composition of the
Vita Nuova
, partly in prose, partly in verse (as in the famous
De Consolatione Philosophiae
of Boëthius, with which Dante was intimately