Toynbee "Cavalcanti, Guido, summarized entry"
famous Florentine poet, he was born probably c. 1255. His friendship with D. dated from 1283. He was an ardent Guelph, and when the Guelph party in Florence split up into Bianchi and Neri, headed respectively by the Cerchi and the Donati, he threw in his lot with the former and distinguished himself by the violence of his opposition to the Donati, and especially to Corso Donati.

Of Guido's poems, the most famousis the canzone (Donna me prega, perch'io voglio dire) on the nature of love which is twice quoted by D. (V.E. II. xii. 3, 8) and was the subject of numerous commentaries.

In the D. C., Guido is mentioned in the conversation between D. and Cavalcante in Circle VI of Hell, where the latter asks why he is not with D., [Inf. x. 60]. He is mentioned again (by Oderisi in Circle I of Purgatory), [Purg. xi. 97-99].

In the Vita Nuova, which is dedicated to Guido Cavalcanti (V.N. xxx. 3), D. several times refers to him as his most intimate friend.

Cavalcanti, Guido(Long Entry)
Cavalcanti, Guido, summarized for Inf. VI. 73
Cavalcanti, Guido, summarized for Inf. X. 60-69

©Oxford University Press 1968. From A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante by Paget Toynbee (1968) by permission of Oxford University Press