v. 59. My son.] Guido, the son of Cavalcante Cavalcanti; “he whom I call the first of my friends,” says Dante in his Vita Nuova, where the commencement of their friendship is related. >From the character given of him by contemporary writers his temper was well formed to assimilate with that of our poet. “He was,” according to G. Villani, l. viii. c. 41. “of a philosophical and elegant mind, if he had not been too delicate and fastidious.” And Dino Compagni terms him “a young and noble knight, brave and courteous, but of a lofty scornful spirit, much addicted to solitude and study.” Muratori. Rer. Ital. Script t. 9 l. 1. p. 481. He died, either in exile at Serrazana, or soon after his return to Florence, December 1300, during the spring of which year the action of this poem is supposed to be passing. v. 62. Guido thy son Had in contempt.] Guido Cavalcanti, being more given to philosophy than poetry, was perhaps no great admirer of Virgil. Some poetical compositions by Guido are, however, still extant; and his reputation for skill in the art was such as to eclipse that of his predecessor and namesake Guido Guinicelli, as we shall see in the Purgatory, Canto XI. His “Canzone sopra il Terreno Amore” was thought worthy of being illustrated by numerous and ample commentaries. Crescimbeni Ist. della Volg. Poes. l. v. For a playful sonnet which Dante addressed to him, and a spirited translation of it, see Hayley’s Essay on Epic Poetry, Notes to Ep. iii. v. 66. Saidst thou he had?] In Aeschylus, the shade of Darius is represented as inquiring with similar anxiety after the fate of his son Xerxes. [GREEK HERE] Atossa: Xerxes astonish’d, desolate, alone— Ghost of Dar: How will this end? Nay, pause not. Is he safe? The Persians. Potter’s Translation. v. 77. Not yet fifty times.] “Not fifty months shall be passed, before thou shalt learn, by woeful experience, the difficulty of returning from banishment to thy native city” v.83. The slaughter.] “By means of Farinata degli Uberti, the Guelfi were conquered by the army of King Manfredi, near the river Arbia, with so great a slaughter, that those who escaped from that defeat took refuge not in Florence, which city they considered as lost to them, but in Lucca.” Macchiavelli. Hist. of Flor. b 2. v. 86. Such orisons.] This appears to allude to certain prayers which were offered up in the churches of Florence, for deliverance from the hostile attempts of the Uberti.