  The coset (commutant) construction is a fundamental tool to construct vertex
operator algebras from known vertex operator algebras. The aim of this paper is
to provide a fundamental example of the commutants of vertex algebras ouside
vertex operator algebras. Namely, the commutant $C$ of the principal subalgebra
$W$ of the $A_1$ lattice vertex operator algebra $V_{A_1}$ is investigated. An
explicit minimal set of generators of $C$, which consists of infinitely many
elements and strongly generates $C$, is introduced. It implies that the algebra
$C$ is not finitely generated. Furthermore, Zhu's Poisson algebra of $C$ is
shown to be isomorphic to an infinite-dimensional algebra
$\mathbb{C}[x_1,x_2,\ldots]/(x_ix_j\,|\,i,j=1,2,\ldots)$. In particular, the
associated variety of $C$ consists of a point. Moreover, $W$ and $C$ are
verified to form a dual pair in $V_{A_1}$.
