Cavalcanti, Guido

Cavalcanti, Guido gwēˈdō kävälkänˈtē [key], c.1255–1300, Italian poet; friend of Dante, whose work was greatly influenced by Cavalcanti's style. He belonged to the White faction in the struggle of the Guelphs in Florence and was exiled to Sarzana. There he fell ill with malaria and died soon after his recall. Much of his verse, very little of which remains, is in the Canzone d'amore [song of love]. For translations, see his Sonnets and Ballate (tr. by Ezra Pound, 1912) and Lorna de' Lucchi, An Anthology of Italian Poems (1922).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Italian Literature: Biographies