Poet of Aeneas
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Poeta fui, e cantai di quel giusto figliuol d’ Anchise che venne di Troia, poi che ’l superbo Ilïón fu combusto.
A poet I was, and I sang of that righteous son of Anchises who came out of Troy after proud Ilion was burned to the ground.
He was a poet, who sang of Anchises' just son, come from Troy after proud Ilion was burned.
Only now, in effect, does he give his true name — not "Virgil" but "the poet of the <i>Aeneid</i>." He identifies himself by his work: the singer of Aeneas, Anchises' son, the refugee of burning Troy who would found the Roman line.
The choice matters. Dante's guide is the poet of exile and of empire, of a man driven from a ruined city to build a destined one. That is exactly the shape of Dante's own journey, and of his own life as an exile. He has been given the one guide whose great poem rhymes with his need.
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Inferno 1.73 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/dante-inferno/1.73/