What Came Before

I think Dante was inspired to write that second half of the poem, and then he quickly wrote the first half just to fill it out and give the poem some context.  The second half is so much better, and contains the punch that makes the poem worth reading, in my opinion.  I think of that last line a lot -- The woodspurge has a cup of three.  It's the perfect little trite thing to consider when events are too tremendous to comprehend.