Bringing his genuine poetic gifts to the project, Slavitt’stranslations provide stronger evidence of the originals’ poeticqualities than has been available for at least a century.  –Henry Taylor, Pulitzer Prize winner

The fact that Cavalcanti's friend, Dante Alighieri, was a supremelyfine poet ought not blind us to Cavalcanti's own, rather differentexcellence. His love poetry has more of the tang of real-worldexperience and is as appealing as Dante's, although in a moremodern and recognizable way. The two poets both suffer, but Cavalcantiis not so sure that his torments are likely to improve his spirit. Heis, therefore, more torn and under greater pressure to find somemeaning in his struggles, and, as translator David R. Slavitt declares,"more fun."