Petrarch

by Mark Musa

  5. solid diamond: Beauty cut from time.

  8. fills my heart: Cf. 72.43.

  9. I shall see you: Avignon and its environs.

  10. bend to seek: With reverence.

  12. a noble heart: That of Sennuccio, also a love poet.

  13. beg of my Sennuccio: He asks the land to touch his friend with the same inspiration he has experienced—a gracious way of requesting a poem or two from Sennuccio.

  109 SONNET

  Poem 107 began this cycle of twelve sonnets with a centering of his mind in the earthly place where he first saw Laura.

  3. those burning sparks: Cf. 70.37. Castelvetro (1582) related these sparks to the four of poem 165, consisting of her walk, glance, words, and gestures.

  4. fire… immortal: Memories are like embers continually renewing his fire.

  5. I calm myself: With solitude and contemplation.

  6. vespers, dawn: The sequence of 2, 3, 1, 4 in the canonical hours is repeated in the action of the poem, whose four parts seem to make four seasons of his “day,” summer, autumn, spring, and winter, by evoking noon, evening, dawn, and curfew.

  8. I think of nothing else: He focuses on the beauty of their effects.

  9–11. The gentle aura … : Cf. Dante, Purgatorio XXVII, 91–117.

  13. forever in that air: In Dante’s Purgatorio XXVII the air of the Earthly Paradise moves constantly; it “strikes and makes the dense leaves of the forest sing” and is “pregnant with its special power.” Petrarch’s sonnet provides a gloss on Dante’s imagery.

  110 SONNET

  The sonnet illuminates the fearful and mysterious connection between himself and the divine Laura. Both this and the next sonnet speak of the meaning of her greeting, as Dante spoke of the greeting of Beatrice in the Vita nuova.

  1. to that same place: Of contemplation.

  3. all of my old thoughts: Those of love, defending him against doubt. Cf. 111.3.

  5. I turned: Cf. Rev. 1:12: “Et conversus sum, at viderem vocem, quae loquebatur mecum.”

  saw a shadow: Her living form, shadow of her mortality.

  6. stamped by the sun: As if imprinted on the earth by the powerful light behind it.

  7. that it was she: The divine Laura.

  8. godly state: Cf. 106.1–2.

  12. as lightning comes: As thunder follows lightning by a few seconds, God’s judgment is revealed in the prophecies. Cf. Rev. 8:5.

  111 SONNET

  Fear of death and God’s swift judgment are quickly forgotten when he considers the lady’s lovely self and greeting.

  1. in her eyes bears my heart: She has recognized love in his eyes and responded in kind.

  3. lovely thoughts of love: Cf. 110.4.

  5. in such condition: She interprets his pallor not as ardor but as piety, and so she does not disdain him.

  6. with color so astounding: Fresh, young, and new—the color of the glad maiden.

  8. drop all his arms: The disarming qualities of Laura would be sufficient to bring peace to the land.

  13. reconsidering her greeting: In Vita nuova III, Dante describes the effect of Beatrice’s greeting in prose. Petrarch thinks it over in song.

  14. I feel no pain: Cf. Plotinus’s “Intellective Act,” in the full experience of which the soul is immune from care and trouble. See also 105.60, “I feel no more yet it’s no less than ever”; and poem 12, line 3.

  112 SONNET

  The odd contrasts of the last two sonnets are explained in this addressed to Sennuccio del Bene, who was residing in Avignon (close to Vaucluse), where all Petrarch’s thoughts were drawn because of Laura’s presence there. Repetition of the adverbs qui (here) and ora (now, then) creates a seductive design for the eye as well as the ear.

  4. caught in the aura: Turned by the breeze while dangling in a snare of love.

  5. here, and there: Cf. Ovid, Fasti II, 771–74 (Zingarelli).

  7. in virtue, then lightheadedness: Apparently these styles are at odds. Cf. 261.6, where he would join honesty and leggiadria, and 297, where they are “rivals.”

  8. docile, and then fierce: In 126.29 he will unit these two qualities (“torni la fera bella et mansueta”), but at present they are in contrast to one another.

  9. she sang here: For the first time he mentions her singing among her several beauties.

  here she sat: Cf. poem 100.

  10. held back her steps: Cf. 108.2.

  12. pronounced a word: Cf. 111.9.

  13. In thoughts: It may be that each of these thoughts represents the topic of a sonnet that Petrarch was sending to his friend, with this as a cover letter to accompany them.

  113 SONNET

  This and the next sonnet date from Petrarch’s second residence in Vaucluse, between the spring of 1342 and September 1343; they were addressed to Sennuccio del Bene. The first casts an idyllic Vaucluse against the “wicked Babylon” (Avignon) of the second, and both extend the hand of friendship to the older poet.

  1. where there’s only half of me: Because half of his soul is with Sennuccio, as Horace said of Virgil in Odes, I, 3, 8: “et serves animae dimidium meae.”

  3. the tempest: Threatening political developments.

  5. Here I am safe: Detached from court life and its hazards.

  6. I do not fear the lightning: Cf. 111.8. One of the laurel’s attributes is its imperviousness to imperial rage.

  9. the realm of Love: Where thoughts of Laura reign.

  10. birthplace of that aura: Cf. 109.9–14. Although some believe this to be Laura’s hometown, it is solitude and tranquility that produce the circumstances for poetic inspiration.

  11. banishes the thunder: Cf. poems 108,109, and in.

  13. put out the fear: He refers to the events of poem 105 the following. Cf. 110. 9. 114 Sonnet

  114 SONNET

  He writes now to a friend whose company in Vaucluse he desires, perhaps to an uncle of Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, who had been suffering from gout.

  1. From wicked Babylon: From Avignon, the papal seat, to which Petrarch gives the name applied in early Christian times to ancient Rome because of its corruption. Cf. Rev. 17:5; and Dante, Purgatorio VI, 76–78: “Ah, slavish Italy …/… whorehouse of shame.”

  6. now herbs and flowers: What he gathers from his reading.

  9. the masses: Cf. 105.83. He is speaking of people who read him but do not understand him.

  for Fortune: Capricious Fortune goes against him more often than not. Cf. 53.85–87.

  11. much heat: He has left burning behind in Avignon, where Laura now resides.

  13. peace: Pacificato, used only this one time in the Canzoniere, refers to Apollo’s healing powers as the god of poetry.

  and humble: In contrast to proud or disdainful.

  14. the other: His friend in whom he looks for firmness of purpose.

  foot more firm: Of a person steady in virtue, moving on the right path.

  115 SONNET

  This sonnet echoes the style and milieu of poems 34 and 43, where Apollo figures strongly.

  1–4. Between two lovers … : A group portrait of Apollo, Petrarch, and Laura, enclosed in Love’s circle.

  2. honest and proud: Laura’s aspect as she descended from heaven in angelic form.

  that lord: Love.

  4. the sun: Apollo.

  5. closed in by the sphere: Of Love. Cf. Dante, Vita nuova XII, “Ego tanquam centrum circuli, cui simili modo se habent circumferente partes; tu autem non sic” (I am like the center of the circle, equidistant from all points on the circumference; you, however, are not).

  8. be hostile: Unsoftened by love.

  11. such an adversary: Apollo, competing with him in the field of love.

  12–13. around his face…/… a little cloud: The face of Apollo, god of light and song but also of mental and moral purity.

  14. at having lost: Lost some of his light to the poet.

  116 SONNET

  He has left behind the object of his desire and retired to Vaucluse w
ith his loving thoughts, unsullied by Avignon.

  1. indescribable: Ineffable, goddesslike.

  2. my eyes drew: As if he were a bee extracting honey.

  3. the day: On which she greeted him.

  5. I left what I want most: Laura when he left Avignon behind.

  9. Into a valley: Una valle chiusa; a specific reference to Vaucluse, his refuge and fortress.

  11. thoughtful and late: having lingered too long in Avignon.

  12. no ladies there: No models for comparison.

  14. my thoughts draw: Projecting her form against the landscape, or discovering within the valley, rock, and fountain an image of her.

  117 SONNET

  Vaucluse is a small valley almost surrounded by a mountain whose rocky face rises up on the east and whose shoulders descend on each side down around the banks of the Sorgue river, creating a narrow access to the valley from the west, where Avignon lies across a plain. The poet imagines a turn of the mountain’s shoulder away from Avignon and toward the southeast and Rome. Cf. Vellutello’s map of 1544, included in Wilkins (1951), where the terrain is suggestive of the female form.

  3. turned by natural disgust: Out of aversion for the papal court in Avignon.

  4. back to Babel: The Babylonian city where pride and presumption earned God’s revenge against language. See Gen. 10.

  5. a kinder road: With the mountain facing southeast, his sighs could be carried on the west wind.

  6. where their hope lives: In the ideal Laura, whose relocation in Rome would be the realization of his hopes.

  7. scattered: As it is, he bucks the wind from his position east of Avignon, where the real Laura is.

  7–11. each one arrives /… to be in those parts: These lines play on the idea of his rhymes as fragments, seeds he scatters blindly hoping that they will germinate since he has not heard otherwise.

  12. The pain comes: From the knowledge (my eyes) that on the last day (dawn) his greatest hope (to see again the lovely places) will not be realized.

  118 SONNET

  At the completion of this sonnet cycle of twelve, which was preceded so fortuitously by the pleasure of her greeting in poem 106, he finds himself arriving where he began.

  1. sixteenth year: Poem 107 marked the fifteenth year with an image of him caught in time.

  2–3. moving forward / toward the last: Like the sun’s motion toward the horizon, he progresses toward eclipse.

  6–7. that life outlast / cruel fortune: That conditions might change for the better before he dies.

  8. close the lovely eyes: That Death might take Laura, who is his only inspiration.

  9–11. I’m here, alas …: In Vaucluse. The syntax of this tercet is very similar to that of 107.9–11, suggesting a correspondence.

  10. were elsewhere: With Laura. He is drawn back to Avignon.

  11. unable to do more: A new situation in which conflict results in no progression.

  12. from old desires: Found to be insufficient.

  14. thousand turnings: Rivolte, turnings in an opposing direction.

  119 CANZONE

  This canzone restores balance to his vision, which was found in poem 118 to be inadequate. Vellutello and Bembo in the fifteenth century and many others after them named the personae of the canzone Glory and Virtue, one the shadow of the other, hidden from the world but both deriving from the same seed. The classical and biblical sense of glory (Greek doxa) has altered over the centuries so that contemporary definition tends toward fame and reputation. Petrarch makes a distinction between glory as divine virtue manifested in the world by the Coming of Christ, and glory as virtue acted out by His example, or evangelized; in the protagonist’s case, it is a reminder of a failed duty.

  2. just as old: She was present at the creation as the glory of God.

  3. with beauty world-renowned: Famous now in the form of Laura, obscure at the beginning (cf. 4.12–14.) The word famosa defines her material beauty.

  4. at early age: In his adolescence. her ranks: Of love poets.

  5. in my thoughts: An echo of the priest’s confessional prayer at the altar, “cogitatione, verbo, et opere.”

  6. one of those rare things: Laura in the beginning stood out among God’s creations, as it is written in his poems.

  7. a thousand roads: Through all his wanderings and turnings in history.

  8. proud and lovely: Leggiadra at this point suggests the grace of youth but also a state of innocence.

  12. hard work: His study of poetry, philology, and philosophy.

  19. more certain proof: Of his constancy but also his capacity for understanding.

  20. shadow, veil, or garment: Like the veil, a temporal and partial good.

  22–23. believing/ to have seen much: With the complacency and ignorance of youth.

  24. makes me happy: The pleasure he gains from his early arguments exceeds his dismay over their follies.

  25. a little more of her: Now that she has revealed her face and he can better endure the strong light of truth, with its effect of darkening shadows. Cf. poems 110, 115.

  33. that I embraced her feet: An act of reverence.

  34. more sweetness: By demonstrating a surface humility, he earned a measure of her love. Cf. 23.132–136.

  35. removed the veil: In poem 23, his humility deceived the lady, causing her to lower her guard temporarily.

  38. whatever is befitting: His level of understanding. Cf. Love in Dante, Vita nuova XII: “Do not ask more than is useful to you.’”

  42. cannot wish or unwish: Cf. Dante, Purgatorio XXXIII, 28–30.

  43. so marvelous in tone: Attuned and enriched by compassion and wisdom. Cf. Dante, Purgatorio XXX, 84.

  49. sparks for me: Yearn to dedicate themselves to her.

  50–51. my enemy… /soon puts them out: Love of comfort extinguishes them. 52. another ruler reigns’. Pleasure.

  60. your eyes more fortunate: He is ready to be further enlightened.

  62. raise your eyes: Cf. Dante, Purgatorio XXXI, 68.

  63. that more hidden place: To the truth within her eyes.

  65. in shame: Confusion. Cf. Dante, Purgatorio XXX, 76–78. 71. so now I seem less lovely. She reads his mind.

  75. one seed, one birth: Cf. Dante, Purgatorio XXXI, 79–81: “Then when I turned my unsure eyes once more, / I saw that Beatrice faced the beast, / who in two natures is one single being.” Petrarch refers to the Old Testament sense of glory, which is God’s presence in the person of Christ—the duality of human and divine.

  76. the knot was broken: Having understood the nature of his confusion, which was to try to distinguish the invisible lady from the visible, he finds his voice.

  80. and I began: Starting with that note of doubt, “If.”

  81. blessèd the father: The words seem facile.

  85. much more than I show: Cf. Dante, Purgatorio XXXI, 37–39.

  88–89. she held/her gaze: Her long look at him seems quizzical, as if in response to his speech.

  93. What good did it do you?: She addresses mankind (miseri).

  94. possessed the defect: Better that they had been merely human.

  95. Beloved and lovely: In the Golden Age.

  97. this one beats her wings: Like the soul desiring to be reunited to God, Virtue yearns to depart the world.

  99. am shadow: The visible manifestation of the soul of mankind for whom virtue was intentionally created.

  100. understand in brief: Cf. line 38. He has heard all that is befitting his years.

  103–105. garland of green laurel … : Crowning him as a gesture of faith. Cf. 359.49–52.

  106. words obscure: Their true import is merely hidden, as the lady has demonstrated.

  108. another messenger: Another canzone in which truth may be less obscured by shadow.

  112. deceive me: “Deceive” makes it clear that truth is still ambiguous in the mind of the lover.

  120 SONNET

  In the final months of 1343, while Petrarch served Pope Cle
ment VI as ambassador to Queen Giovanna I in Naples, rumors of his death circulated in Italy. Petrarch composed this sonnet in response to a long poem of Maestro Antonio de’ Beccari da Ferrara that was written to lament the passing of the poet laureate and to praise him. The sonnet, standing singly between a canzone and a madrigal, serves notice that Petrarch is not yet dead, either as man or as poet.

  3. took them in: This quatrain may be a joking allusion to the length of Beccari’s canzone (Carducci).

  5. those final bites: Death is a beast devouring him bit by bit. Cf. Dante, Purgatorio VII, 31.

  7. not yet felt: He lives, although at one point he nearly died, unaware of his peril.

  8. threshold: The image may have its antecedent in a work of Guittone d’Arezzo: “Ratto son corso già sino alie porte.”

  9. I came back: Cf. 54.10.

  12. I could not read: Predict the hour of his death.

  14. worthy to be so honored: There may be some irony in this closing line, since ill-will toward Petrarch following his coronation may have been the cause of the rumors of his death.

  121 MADRIGAL

  This madrigal, the last of four in the Canzoniere, replaced a ballata that appeared in the First Form of the collection, “Donna mi vene spesso nella mente,” in which Petrarch seemed to speak of loving two women, leading some readers to conclude he had been unfaithful to Laura. The romantic longing of “Donna mi vene” contrasts sharply with the playful sophistication of this madrigal, whose appearance here may illustrate yet another stylistic turning.

  1. Now, Love: Bantering, taking Love to task for his powerlessness in the face of the young girl’s virtue. Cf. Dante, Rime, “Amor, tu vedi ben che questa donna / la tua virtù non cura in alcun tempo.”

  2. disdains your rule: She is detached from mortal love.

  my harm: His painful state, the wound of his love.