Words... Without them what would life be? They can mean a lot when put together correctly, but they can also be just a senseless jumble of nothing. Children often struggle to overcome the arduous task of spelling: a seemingly meaningless string of letters. Even after that was accomplished, there are still so many different meanings to the words. They can be interpreted in whatever way suits the reader at the time. The word “spirit,” for example, according to Webster's Dictionary, means the force within a person that is believed to give the body life, energy, and power (Merriam-Webster). In Dante Alighieri's Bosco Oscuro dell'Errore, taken from the Divine Comedy, he uses the word spirit in line 25 to describe a dangerous "obstacle" that no one has ever survived. Spirit is a word that has multiple meanings, which can change the meaning of this part of the poem - lines 22 to 27 - depending on how the reader interprets it. Dante wrote The Divine Comedy in a new language which he called "Italian". ”, which was based on Tuscan dialects, Sicilian and some elements of Latin, and various other dialects (Kahn). Spirito comes from the Italian word “spirito,” which ultimately means one’s soul (Collins). One might believe that this meaning of the word is what Dante intended to use in this poem. He is saying that his “spirit” or “soul” is fugitive compared to all he has had to endure. He's the first person ever to survive this kind of grueling lifestyle, but even if he did, he's still not necessarily "alive." The “dangerous waters” he encountered may have been difficult moments in his life from which he will never fully escape. He will forever be a fugitive for his soul, for his... medium of paper... whoever reads the poem; they all have a surface level and a deeper meaning that influences the meaning of that part of the poem. Soul, ghost, attitude, each definition changes how the man in the poem lives the rest of his life (or in one case doesn't live). No one can be sure how the narrator actually ended up; that is, it is up to the reader to decide for themselves. Works Cited Alighieri, Dante. "The Divine Comedy, "The dark forest of error"." nd 23.Collins. Collins English-Italian Dictionary. 2014. April 2014.Harper, Douglas. Online etymological dictionary. 2001-2014. 2014.Kahn, Kathy. Poetry Liz Short. March 2014.Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary-Spirit. 2014. March 2014 .