Sordello Summary

Few facts are known about the family background of the Italian troubadour and poet known as Sordello (ca. 1180-1269) and some of what comes down to us is wrapped in contradiction. In spite of this ske... Read more

Dante is perhaps the most famous poet of the Middle Ages. An accomplished prose and verse stylist in both Latin and Italian, he was the first major author to compose literature in the Italian vernacul... Read more

Wilhelm is an American medievalist and Pound scholar. In the following excerpt from his introduction to The Poetry of Sordello, he speculates that Dante was inspired by the vitality and variety he fou... Read more

In the following excerpt, Farnell attests to the significance of Sordello, citing the high esteem in which Dante held the poet as well as the energy and vitality of the poet's major works. Of t... Read more

In the following excerpt from his full-length study of the troubadour, Benson addresses the theory of two Sordellos: one a noble public figure and the other a reckless adventurer and lover. He suggest... Read more

Regarded as one of the twentieth-century's most influential American poets and critics, Pound is chiefly renowned for his ambitious poetry cycle, the Cantos, which he revised and enlarged throu... Read more

Makin is an educator and Pound scholar. In the following excerpt, he discusses the content, style, and language of Sordello's poetry, and examines the influence of his life and works on Pound&#... Read more