Guido Cavalcanti

Guido Cavalcanti (1259 – August 1300) was an Italian poet from Florence.Guido Cavalcanti, Encyclopaedia Britannica. He was the best friend of Dante Alighieri as well as an influence on his thinking. Cavalcanti is one of the most important poets of Dolce stil novo,Guido Cavalcanti, Letteratura italiana. and he is widely regarded as the first major poet of Italian literature.

 Biography 
Cavalcanti was born into a noble Guelph family; his father was Cavalcante de Cavalcanti. In 1267 he got married to Bice, daughter of Farinata degli Uberti, leader of the Florentine Ghibellines. In 1284 he became a member of the general council, together with Brunetto Latini and Dino Compagni.Cavalcanti Guido, Treccani, la cultura italiana. On June 24 1300 he was exiled, so he went to Sarzana. On August 19 of the same year he could return in Florence, but he died after a few days, on August 29.

 Works 
Guido Cavalcanti wrote sonnets and ballads. Only fifty two poems by the poet are known today. Hist best works are the canzone Donna mi prega (A lady asks me), the ballad I' prego voi che di dolor parlate (I ask you that speak about suffering) and the sonnet L’anima mia vilment’ è sbigotita (My soul is in distress).

 Translations 
Cavalcanti's poems were translated into English by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ezra PoundThe Sonnets and Ballate of Guido Cavalcanti (a selection). and A.S. Kline.

 References 

 Bibliography 
 Sonnets and Ballate of Guido Cavalcanti with translations of them and an Introduction by Ezra Pound, Stephen Swift and Co. Ltd., London 1912.

Other websites
 Guido Cavalcanti's poems translated by A. S. Kline.

Category:1259 births
Category:1300 deaths
Category:Italian poets
Category:Medieval poets
Category:Writers from Florence
Category:13th-century Italian writers