Answer: the rich often still prospered while the poor starved.
The excerpt explains how, in times of famine, there were laws that established that people could not hoard food. However, these laws were not respected. Rich people still hoarded corn, and some businessmen even bought large amounts in order to drive the price up and profit from it, even as many poor people were dying. Therefore, the text establishes that during the famine, rich people still prospered, while the poor starved.
Poetry itself is a very spiritual experience. Dante was chronicling an epic journey which historically in earlier time periods was usually formatted as a poem, such as The Odyssey technically.
