Petrarch

  1–8. Silent I cannot be … : An appeal to Love that he might speak out again with his old voice.

  5. if you do not teach me, Love: Cf. Dante, Purgatorio XXIV, 52–54.

  6. mortal words do justice: Cf. poem 5.14. In recent poems he despaired of achieving his golden style again.

  7–8. concealed…/… in itself: Cf. 182.7–8.

  9. Not long: He begins a history.

  lovely prison: Of her body.

  11. realized that she existed: When he fell in love at age twenty-three, according to his own notation.

  12. so quickly Iran: Covering the whole course of his youth in a moment.

  13. years and of that year: His life’s springtime and 6 April 1327.

  16. The walls were alabaster: He begins to rebuild the temple of her body. The walls were the purest white marble, like her skin.

  17. sapphire the windows: Eyes that seemed to mirror the color of the deep. Cf. 29.23, 72.50, and 151.7. Sapphire is identified with Jove in classical myth, Sophia in gnosticism, and with images of the Virgin Mary.

  20–21. burst forth all armed/with flames and arrows: The effect of her glance.

  24–25. a lofty throne/of diamond squarely cut: Her chastity, cruel in its effect on the lover. For the image, see St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei IV, 26.

  27–28. a column /crystalline: Her brow, pure and candid, or possibly her intellect.

  32. green ensign of victory: The laurel.

  34. Jove and Apollo: Whose powers of sovereignty (Jove), wisdom (Apollo), physical strength (Polyphemus), and warlike fervor (Mars) all pale in comparison with Laura (see Chiari).

  35. tears… green: Where new lyrical thoughts are forever springing up.

  37. let myself be taken: He entered the labyrinth, a prisoner of love.

  39–40. departing/ will see: Turning back to look.

  42. on a balcony: According to Dante, Convivio III, 8, the eyes and mouth are balconies of the soul residing in the beautiful woman.

  43. alone was perfect: Laura.

  49. turning to marble: Becoming cold, hard, and pure like that little bit of stone that eventually would mark his grave. Cf. 23.72–80, 104.8, 304.9.

  50. a lady: Fortune, born with the world but ever young. Cf. Dante, Inferno VII, 88–90.

  52. so intent: Cf. lines 44–45 and 323.31.

  54. My, take my advice: Fortune speaks twice to catch his attention.

  55. for I have greater power than you think: Cf. 23.83: “Perhaps I am not what you think I am.”

  56. in an instant: Demonstrating the nature of sudden good fortune, determined by pure chance.

  59. like an eagle on that sun: Without blinking while looking on the noble Laura.

  60. pay attention: As if his desirous eyes were wandering.

  61–64. The day that she was born … : The best astrological conditions prevailed when Laura’s soul came down, and comparable souls in heaven rejoiced. Cf. Dante, Purgatorio XXX, 109 ff.

  65. Both Venus and her father: The planets Venus and Jupiter in conjunction. Cf. 310.6.

  66. were holding to … parts: “High, selected places,” corresponding to eyes that remain fixed on the balcony of the house of the body (11. 42–45).

  67–68. cruel, impious lights/… dispersed: The planets Mars and Saturn, their malign effects diluted but not absent.

  73. a cloud off in the distance: Portending sadness. Cf. 323.67–68.

  75. if Pity does not change: Only God can alter the outcome at the point of death.

  78. a wondrous thing: Literally, “new” (nova).

  79. pearl enclosed in finest gold: The infant Laura.

  81. First crawling: The child discovering the world as if she were spring moving over the land.

  84. turn fresh and proud: Stand up, taking on her beauty. Cf. Statius, The bais V, 429: “tunc terra superbit Gressibus.”

  87–88. words not fully formed/made by a tongue: Still naive, yet possessed of native wisdom. Cf. Dante, Inferno XXV, 132–33 (Carducci).

  92. reaching her third: Adolescence, age fourteen. Virtue consists of all her strengths, including her miraculous beauty.

  97. every tongue is dumb: No language can express her deepest truth.

  98. you alone have learned: But cannot succeed in expressing.

  100. eyes cannot look: Though he might gaze like an eagle, he must eventually look away.

  103. burned more sweetly: Consumed itself in trying to express her hidden sweetness.

  105. life for you a bitter thing: Cf. line 73.

  106. revolving wheel: Fortune’s distinguishing feature.

  107. spins our thread: That determines the length of an individual life.

  108. sad and certain prophet: Fortune’s divination became a reality.

  110. starve for death: Wait out his life in want. Cf. 323.74–75.

  326 SONNET

  Death has usurped mortal Love’s domain, but it cannot deny his angel her celestial glory. For earlier sonnets with this rhyme scheme, see poems 13 and 94.

  1. power to the limit Cf. 325.54–57.

  1–4. cruel Death: Cf. Dante, Vita nuova VIII: “Morte villana, di pietà nemica.”

  4. meager grave: Cf. 304.9 and 323.23.

  5. you have despoiled: Taken away her material substance.

  7. worth, which never dies: Cf. Horace, Odes IV, 8, 28: “dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori.”

  8. the naked bones: Corresponding to the poca fossa of line 4.

  9. Heaven has had the rest: The soul of Laura, light and flower of Heaven.

  10. as in a brighter sun: Increased by the light of Laura.

  11. will not forget her. The worth that never dies. Cf. Ps. 111:7.

  12–14. In such great victory … : He addresses a prayer to Laura with the voi form of respect, the only use of it in Part II (Zingarelli).

  12–13. take, /…pity on me: In the sense of “be conquered by” (Vinca).

  327 SONNET

  He shows how he will turn the tables on Death, expanding on the ideas of poem 326.

  1. The aura: The essence of Laura.

  2. the sight of the sweet laurel: Her material form.

  3. the light and place: Internal guide to peace.

  4. he took away: Death.

  5. sun when covered: Eclipsed.

  8. fills my body’s weight: The shadow of his own encroaching death.

  9. a short sleep: Her mortal life.

  my lovely lady: Reverting to the familiar tu form. Cf. 326.12–14.

  11. a soul becomes one: S’ interna, that is, penetrates with the intellect. Cf. 279.13–14.

  12. has any power: Cf. Virgil, Aeneid IX, 446 ff: “Si quid mea carmina possunt, nulla dies unquam memori vos eximet aevo.”

  13. noble minds: Corresponding to Heaven’s “chosen souls.”

  328 SONNET

  When he last saw her he did not know she was soon to die, although his eyes and heart told him what his mind could not accept.

  1. The last, alas: A lamentation similar to that in poem 314: “Oh my mind that, foreseeing grievous loss.”

  3. turned my heart to melting snow: Recalling 242.1–8 and later the truce of poem 316. Cf. Ovid, Heroides XIII, 52: “More nivis lacrymae, sole madentis, eunt.”

  4. perhaps foretelling: Cf. 325.91–105.

  5. a fever coming on: A presentiment of death. Cf. Dante, Inferno XVII, 85.

  6. thoughts grow weak: Compare the invading dark thoughts of 327.8.

  8. imperfect good: Incomplete.

  11. wretched and poor: His light eclipsed. Cf. 327.5–6.

  12. splendor chaste and new: A glance radiating with pity, newly perceived.

  14. somewhere else: In Heaven; cf. 250.14.

  329 SONNET

  Misunderstanding clouded his vision that last day he saw her.

  1. O day: Just before he took leave of her the last time.

  2. stars conspired: Stars that have determined her destiny from the beginning. Cf. 325.65 ff.

  3. O fa
ithful glance: Cf. 328.9–14.

  4. when I left: A parting first alluded to in passing in poem 242.

  5. now I’m aware: As if he had recovered from a fever. Cf. 328.5–8.

  6. unstable thoughts: His failed beliefs. He uses a similar phrase in 304.8 to describe his new and rash verses.

  7. to lose a part: To be only physically separated from her, not in every way deprived of her.

  11. sweet, bitter look: Her glance with its foreknowledge of death. “Inscribed” signals that her death was implicit in his poetry.

  12. was placed a veil: His groundless and unstable thoughts in line 6. Cf. Dante, Inferno IX, 61–63.

  13. truly saw: With his heart’s prescience.

  14. all of a sudden: The swiftness of her death proclaimed so often, most emphatically in poem 323.

  330 SONNET

  In this sonnet concluding a series of five, the message in Laura’s eyes on that last day is given full expression.

  2. Take all you can: “Of pleasure in the sight of me” (Biagioli), intimate words of a lover.

  3. see me here again: Cf. 250.14 and 328.14.

  4. a reluctant foot: Cf. poems 242–244.

  5. panther: A creature of the night, brave and ferocious. Cf. 233.12 and 238.2.

  6. too slow: The mind first had failed to understand what the heart perceived.

  8. what you see now: The extent of his losses.

  9. In silence: The words were “inscribed” in her eyes. Cf. 329.11.

  9. sparkling more than ever: Never before so full of promise.

  10. O friendly lights: His eyes turned toward hers in a state of truce.

  11. made of us your mirrors: The source of self-knowledge.

  14. to make you angry: Anger has not been mentioned since poem 270 but now resurfaces to become a frequent theme. It reinforces the panther image in line 5.

  he lets age: Grow bitter.

  331 CANZONE

  A summation of a number of sonnets that recall their last goodbye, this canzone reveals a man overtaken by regret and reduced to a few memories, one who wishes he might have died at that moment when he was happy.

  1. I used to leave behind: On so many occasions when he traveled, which exiled him from Laura.

  3. following not my will: Going in response to outside circumstances, denying his first love.

  stars calling: The one that determined his destiny at birth. Petrarch was born under the sign of Cancer, a moon child.

  5. none more bitter: More war-torn. Leo was rising when he was born.

  7. surrender arms: Abruptly. The suddenness of this response reflects his recent awakening in 329.5.

  10. Memory alone is left me: His hope for renewal has been blown away by the winds of circumstance.

  15. diminishes: Deserts him just before he has won his goal.

  17. that cherished food: Cf. poem 207 for an extended use of this metaphor.

  devoured by the one: The beast, Death. Cf. 120.5–8 and 256.5–8.

  19–20. pain /… becomes: As with the runner who sees the trophy go to someone else, sweet victory becomes bitter loss.

  22. A mist or dust: Ephemeral, like the psalmist.

  30. if only: If only he were judged worthy.

  32. poorly skilled: He refers to the imperfect understanding he lamented in poems 328–330.

  33. beneath that lovely brow: Mirrored in the tear-filled eyes of Laura at their last parting.

  35–36. by dying sooner: If he had read her grieving eyes more clearly, they would have counseled him to die in advance of her. For other maxims on the art of dying, see 86.4, 140.14, 152.14, and 207.55.

  38. cruel fate began to envy: Cf. 323.69.

  39. that rich dwelling place: Lauras eyes.

  40. inscribed in letters: Translated her silent tears.

  44. my life would not have died: The living, breathing subject matter of his verse.

  46. my hopes are scattered: His laurel tree struck down, leaves, flowers, and seed “strewn on the ground.” Cf. 323.55–60.

  47. a bit of earth: Petrarch seems to ask the question, will his scattered rhymes be preserved or will they be buried in an unmarked grave?

  48. I tremble: He fears for his imperfect soul.

  50. another yearning: Alluding to his eyes straying from their goal. Cf. 325.99–103.

  52. clear on my lady’s brow: Cf. 325.27–28: “a column / crystalline.”

  56. in her presence: In sua presenzia suggests that he himself might have brought about his, and therefore her, early disappearance.

  59. prepare… a throne: For the new angel on her way.

  62. Die while you are happy: While he still has his powers.

  64. die well: While loving her honorably. Cf. 140.14.

  delay no longer: Do not live on, nursing a depleted talent.

  332 DOUBLE SESTINA

  The last of the nine sestinas, this is doubled from six to twelve stanzas using the same rhymes, with a three line congedo that serves the whole. The imagery draws from the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, shading from light to darkness and then to double darkness, and concluding with an old wish that he might pass the moment of death with his love.

  1–6. My kindly fortune: For the sake of contrast he paints an unusually happy picture in these opening lines. Carducci cites Boccaccio, Decameron X, 10.

  5. turned to grief: Cf. 292.14: “my lyre now has turned to playing tears.”

  6. hate life… yearn for death: The thesis that governs the entire sestina.

  7. inexorable Death: Responding to line 1.

  8. you give me reason: Perhaps, during the many years before her death, he was unhappy without reason.

  12. harsh torment: Martir, that is, his need to bear witness, to tell the whole truth even if he endangers his soul.

  13–18. To what end… : The elisions and repetitions of ov’è and u’ in this stanza create an unusual sound effect.

  14. talking of anger: Recently, for example, in 330.14.

  16. a gentle heart would hear: Laura and other noble souls whose ears he sought with his poetry—the elect.

  17. talk of love through all those nights: Favoleggiar, literally, light-hearted talk.

  18. I talk now: Empty words, missing the beauty of her physical form.

  20. sweetness seasoned: That is, mitigated, for example, by the soothing painful sounds in the phrasing of the preceding stanza.

  26. set it in tears: Turned tears to words. Cf. 331.40

  28. changing with my thought my style: Altering the mode of his verse to match the present subject matter.

  29. begging and rebegging: Doubling his want.

  31. sleep has run away: Cf. line 21, where sweetness entered, awakening him. Here he is emptied of sleep.

  32. my hoarse rhymes: Note the alliteration in roche rime, a device repeated almost monotonously in these stanzas.

  37. who was more happy: Lieto, with its intrinsic sense of “forgetfulness.”

  39. doubling up his grief: A sestina normally ends with the thirty-ninth line. Not only does he double the number of stanzas but also the number of times he must use the same rhymes.

  41. I lived on hope: The sole basis for his happiness.

  43. Death gave me death: It killed his inspiration by taking away Laura. Cf. 327.7.

  46. breath … rain: Corresponding to “sighs and tears.” Cf. poems 227 and 228.

  48. raised up: Directing his pen toward its noble object.

  51. Orpheus did Eurydice: In Ovid, Metamorphoses X, Orpheus sang so eloquently of his grief and desire for Eurydice’s return to life that he brought activity in the Underworld to a standstill. Cf. 323.61–72; and Virgil, Georgics IV, 453–527.

  without rhymes: In a less artful, more spontaneous and persuasive outpouring, as in ancient Greek song.

  52. more than I’ve been: Doubling his happiness.

  54. close my two fountains: Let him die.

  56. grave loss … grieving style: A negative contrast to the positive sweet bre
ath and nocturnal rain of line 46.

  58. begging Death: Cf. line 29, where the begging was doubled.

  59. take me from this place: Remove him, creating an emptiness where dream and illusion prevailed before.

  62. beyond sorrow and tears: In Heaven where painful emotions are left behind.

  64. change of style: From angry to resigned.

  65. pleased her, perhaps: An element of doubtful hope first introduced in poem 5.

  66. make bright day for her: Her day has become eternal.

  67. all of you who sigh: Other love poets. Cf. line 16.

  72. make me happy: Death will be his refuge, both an end and a beginning.

  73. make me happy in a few nights: Cure him of his misery. Compare the one day he asks for in 22.33 and 237.35. Here he introduces to his song a bargaining tone that will be recalled in poem 360.

  333 SONNET

  This sonnet, like an envoi to the preceding sestina, begins the collections last long sonnet series, twenty-six in number.

  1. Go now: Cf. 153.1; and Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto IV, 3: “Ita, leves elegi, doctas ad consulis aures.”

  to the hard stone: Her grave in Avignon.

  3. there call her, who will respond: Cf. 318.14, where he called and no one responded.

  4. be darkly buried: In the “mud” of Avignon. Cf. 259.11.

  6. the horrors of this sea: In 151.1 this dark sea is a metaphor for the corruption of the papal court.

  7. her scattered leaves: His poetry, symbolized by the felled laurel. He has made the reader a partner in this sad process of selection.

  8. step after step: Returning through time as he gathers his poems.

  9. alive and dead: Poems in vita and in morte.

  10. now immortalized: “Translated” to Heaven.

  11. the world may know: Through the poet’s “speaking.”

  12. Let her watch: Cf. 332.64: “she’ll surely recognize my change of style.”

  14. call me: From the side of light.

  draw me: By making him resemble her.

  334 SONNET