The essays in this collection are based on lectures forming part of the annual Dante Series at University College Dublin in 1995 and 1996. The common theme of 'patterns' is variously approached, from John Took's account of opposing existential patterns to the more linguistically or textually based studies of David Robey and Cecil Grayson. Patterns of images (of the city, of closure, of light and shade) are discussed by Mark Davie, Cormac O Cuilleanain and Jennifer Petrie, while Peter Armour evaluates various theories of Dante's allegorical patterning. More detailed explorations of intertextual patterns mark the studies of Giuseppe Mazzotta and Michelangelo Picone.