Vita Nuova, or New Life, is an early work that mixes short poems with prose commentary. Dante tells of his love for Beatrice, whom he first saw as a child in Florence and who becomes the centre of his inner life. The prose explains how each poem came about, following his hopes, doubts and griefs as his idea of love slowly deepens into something spiritual. It is both a small autobiography of the heart and a study of how poetry is made. It also prepares the ground for the vision of Beatrice that later appears in The Divine Comedy.