Guido Cavalcanti – författare

Only edition in printDante’s best friend and a major exponent of the Dolce Stil Novo, Guido Cavalcanti has had a lasting influence upon Italian poetry and is best known to English readers through the essays, translations and adaptations of Ezra Pound. Born from the cultural ferment of thirteenth-century Florence, Cavalcanti’s poetry is an extraordinary blend of unorthodox philosophy, sharp psychological insight and dazzling formal mastery.Anthony Mortimer, acclaimed for his versions of Petrarch and Michelangelo, provides a new verse translation complete with notes, critical comment and biographical material: following in the footsteps of Rossetti and Pound, he presents a Cavalcanti who speaks for his own time and to ours.Contents: Complete Poems, Notes on the text, Notes, Guido Cavalcanti’s Life, Cavalcanti, Dante and the Dolce Stil Novo, The Poetry, Cavalcanti in English, The Forms of Cavalcanti’s Poetry, Select Bibliography, Appendix 1: Cino da Pistoia’s Poem to Cavalcanti, Appendix 2: Documents Relating to the Life of Cavalcanti

all pale beside my lady whose lovelyface ciò passa la beltate e la valenzaand gentle heart show theunworthiness de la mia donna e 'l su' gentil coraggio,of him who catches a glimpse of herperfection, sì che rasembra vile a chi ciò guarda; for she is an earthly vessel of heaven'sgrace e tanto più d'ogn' altr' ha canoscenza,before whose greatness we are so muchless, quanto lo ciel de la terra è maggio.beyond any redemption or evencorrection. A simil di natura ben non tarda. The fact that Cavalcanti's friend, Dante Alighieri, was asupremely fine poet ought not blind us to Cavalcanti's own, ratherdifferent excellence. His love poetry has more of the tang ofreal-world experience and is as appealing as Dante's, although in amore modern and recognizable way. The two poets both suffer, butCavalcanti is not so sure that his torments are likely to improve hisspirit. He is, therefore, more torn and under greater pressure to findsome meaning in his struggles, and, as translator David R. Slavittdeclares, "more fun."