Cavalcanty

Peter Hughes has taken Guido Cavalcanti’s groundbreaking poems and used them as springboards for his own creative versions. Cavalcanti was a 13th-century Tuscan poet who brought an extraordinary intensity and craft to his explorations of the social and psychological dimensions of love. He employed the Tuscan vernacular and helped create a new poetry which belonged to the city rather than the court. He has had a significant influence on English poetry through the translations of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (first published in 1861) and then through the work of Ezra Pound. Cavalcanti remained a guiding light for Pound through his career. Channeling his enthusiasm for alternative ‘translation methods’ in the spirit of Spicer, Blackburn and Rodefer Peter Hughes now follows Rossetti and Pound by inviting us to consider these texts afresh, providing an exciting modern vision of Cavalcanti for the 21st century.

'Peter Hughes's vulgar eloquence fuses earthy, contemporary imagery with Cavalcanti's "elevated" elusive themes, converting his verses to an utterly original contemporary language … and affording exquisite, tactile pleasure.' lou rowan; What an erotic and libidinous bonanza … These are the songs my ears are still ringing to, tinnitus the price of love.' Simon Smith; 'enough vim and versatility to launch a thousand poems, let alone fifty-two. Purists will object vigorously to this version; impurists will object vigorously to any other.' Rod Mengham; 'This coruscating and athletic detournement of the Italian is an audacious and seductive display that leaves us wanting more.' John James