The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is a poem about Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven - in that order. It is mostly known for the first third, Inferno, with Purgatorio and Paradiso being lesser-known. Focusing primarily on the worsening sins of mankind, going from a mere lack of acceptance of Christ (which, as an atheist, is a bit much to sentence someone to eternal damnation for) to betrayers and backstabbers. Ranging the entire gamut of sin and punishment, most know the Inferno for its, shall we say, "creative" punishments for sinners. Join me in the descent...
CIRCLE 1: LIMBO
The first circle, Limbo, is the final resting place of the unbaptized and the non-Christian. Limbo is, all things considered, quite pleasant by Hell standards. The only real punishment in this circle is simply living forever with the knowledge that Purgatory and Heaven are forever out of reach (except for that one time that the big Christ on campus descended into Hell to save all of the people banished to Limbo; long story, that one). It only gets worse from here.
CIRCLE 2: LUST
The second circle, Lust, is a bit of a step up from Limbo on the unpleasantness scale. Here, the souls who were so very lustful during their time alive and craved the carnalities of flesh, are wham-slam-bam-Sammed by harsh, freezing winds. As for the poeticness of the punishment, I can't say - mostly because wind-swept hair is generally seen as quite attractive, and would probably do the opposite of punish the lustful. Oh well.
CIRCLE 3: GLUTTONY
The third circle, Gluttony, is a bit more classic-ironic Hell. Within this circle, there is nothing to eat, and the ground is utterly soaked by freezing rain. Here is where good doggy Cerberus is, eternally hungry and looking to chow down on sinner flesh. Starvation seems to only be a problem for the souls being punished for it, at least.