Petrarch
Page 83
Or che ’l ciel et la terra e ’l vento tace
Orso, al vostro destrier si po ben porre
Orso, e’ non furon mai fiumi né stagni
Orso, there never was a lake nor pond nor river
Orso, your charger can be fit with reins
Or vedi, Amor, che giovenetta donna
O tempo, O ciel volubil che fuggendo
O time, O wheeling heavens that in your flight
O tree triumphal and victorious
O useless steps, O thoughts charming and quick
Ove ch’ i’ posi gli occhi lassi o giri
Ov’ è la fronte che con picciol cenno
O you who hear within these scattered verses
Pace non trovo et non ò da far guerra
Padre del Ciel, dopo i perduti giorni
Parrà forse ad alcun che ’n lodar quella
Pasco la mente d’un sì nobil cibo
Passa la nave mia colma d’oblio
Passato è ’l tempo omai, lasso, che tanto
Passer mai solitario in alcun tetto
Perch’ al viso d’ Amor portava insegna
Perché la vita è breve
Perché quel che mi trasse ad amar prima
Perch’ io t’abbia guardata di menzogna
Per fare una leggiadra sua vendetta
Perhaps there was a time when love was sweet
Per mezz’ i boschi inospiti et selvaggi
Per mirar Policleto aprova fiso
Persequendomi Amor al luogo usato
Piangete, Donne, et con voi pianga Amore
Pien di quella ineffabile dolcezza
Pien d’un vago penser che me desvia
Piovonmi amare lagrime dal viso
Più di me lieta non si vede a terra
Più volte Amor m’avea già detto: “Scrivi
Più volte già dal bel sembiante umano
Po, ben puo’ tu portartene la scorza
Poco era ad appressarsi agli occhi miei
Poi che la vista angelica serena
Poi che ’l camin m’è chiuso di mercede
Poi che mia spene è lunga a venir troppo
Poi che per mio destino
Poi che voi et io più volte abbiam provato
Ponmi ove ’l sole occide i flori et l’erba
Po, you may well transport my outer shell
“Precious is life, and after it, I think
Put me where sun can kill the grass and flowers
Qual donna attende a gloriosa fama
Qual mio destin, qual forza o qual inganno
Qualpaura ò quando mi torna a mente
Qual più diversa et nova
Qual ventura mi fu quando da l’uno
Quand’ io mi volgo indietro a mirar gli anni
Quand’ io son tutto volto in quella parte
Quand’ io veggio dal ciel scender l’Aurora
Quando Amor i belli occhi a terra inchina
Quando dal proprio sito si rimove
Quando fra l’altre donne ad ora ad ora
Quando giugne per gli occhi al cor profondo
Quando giunse a Simon l’alto concetto
Quando il soave mio fido conforto
Quando io movo i sospiri a chiamar voi
Quando io v’odo parlar sì dolcemente
Quando ’l planeta che distingue l’ore
Quando ’l sol bagna in mar l’aurato carro
Quando ’l voler, che con due sproni ardenti
Quando mi vene inanzi il tempo e ’l loco
Quanta invidia io ti porto, avara terra
Quante fiate al mio dolce ricetto
Quanto più disiose l’ali spando
Quanto più m’avicino al giorno estremo
Que’ che ’n Tesaglia ebbe le man sì pronte
Que’ ch’ infinita providenzia et arte
Quel antiquo mio dolce empio signore
Quel che d’odore et di color vincea
Quel foco ch’ i’ pensai che fosse spento
Quella fenestra ove l’un sol si vede
Quella per cui con Sorga ò cangiato Arno
Quelle pietose rime in ch’ io m’accorsi
Quel rosigniuol che sì soave piagne
Quel sempre acerbo et onorato giorno
Quel sol che mi mostrava il cammin destro
Quel vago, dolce, caro, onesto sguardo
Quel vago impallidir, che ’l dolce riso
Questa anima gentil che si diparte
Questa fenice de l’auratapiuma
Questa umil fera, un cor di tigre o d’orsa
Questo nostro caduco et fragil bene
Qui dove mezzo son, Sennuccio mio
Rapido fiume, che d’alpestra vena
Rapid river, coming from alpine source
Real natura, angelico intelletto
Recalling that which Heaven now esteems
Rimansi a dietro il sestodecimo anno
Ripensando a quel ch’ oggi il Cielo onora
Rotta è l’alta colonna e ’l verde lauro
S’al principio risponde il fine e ’l mezzo
S’Amore o Morte non dà qualche stroppio
S’amor non è, che dunque è quel ch’io sento
S’ Amor novo consiglio non n’apporta,
Se bianche non son prima ambe le tempie
Se col cieco desir che ’l cor distrugge
Se lamentar augelli, o verdi fronde
Se la mia vita da l’aspro tormento
Se ’l dolce sguardo di costei m’ancide
Se l’onorata fronde che prescrive
Se ’I pensier che mi strugge
Se ’l sasso ond’ è più chiusa questa valle
Se mai foco per foco non si spense
Sennuccio, i’ vo’ che sapi in qual manera
Sennuccio, I want you to know the way
Sennuccio mio, ben ché doglioso et solo
Sento l’aura mia antica, e i dolci colli
Se quell’ aura soave de’ sospiri
Seventeen years the heavens have revolved
Se Virgilio et Omero avessin visto
Se voi poteste per turbati segni
She comes to mind (no, she is always there—
She’d let her gold hair flow free in the breeze
She for whom I exchanged Arno for Sorgue
She, lovely and alive, would fill my heart
Si breve è ’l tempo e ’lpenser sì veloce
Sì come eterna vita è veder Dio
Sì è debile il filo a cui s’attene, 7
S’ i’ fussi stato fermo a la spelunca
Signor mio caro, ogni pensier mi tira
S’ i’ ’l dissi mai, ch’ i’ vegna in odio a quella
Silent I cannot be, but still I fear
Since I have found the road to mercy closed
Since it has been my fate
Since the serene, angelic sight of her
Since what I hope for takes too long to come
Since you and I have many times been witness
S’ io avesse pensato che sì care
S’ io credesse per morte essere scarco
Si tosto come aven che l’arco scocchi
Si traviato è ’l folle mi desio
So far astray is my insane desire
So fragile is the thread on which there hangs
Solea da la fontana di mia vita
Solea lontana in sonno consolarme
Soleano i miei penser soavemente
Soleasi nel mio cor star bella et viva
Solo et pensoso i più deserti campi
Someone perhaps may think, in praise of her
Sometimes from her expression fair and kind
Sometimes I seem to hear the messenger
Son animali al mondo de sì altera
S’ onesto amorpo meritar mercede
So short the time, so rapid is the thought
Soul full of bliss who often comes to me
Spinse amor et dolor ove ir non debbe
Spirit so happy w
ho so very sweetly
Spirto felice che sì dulcemente
Spirto gentil che quelle membra reggi
Standomi un giorno solo a la fenestra
Stiamo, Amor, a veder la gloria nostra
S’ una fede amorosa, un cor non finto
Sustaining sun, that branch alone I love
Sweet anger, sweet disdain, sweet times of peace
Sweet, precious, and so cherished pledge of mine
Sweet sternness and repulses calmly dealt
Tacer non posso, et temo non adopre
Tempo era omai da trovar pace o tregua
Tennemi Amor anni ventuno ardendo
That charming paling of the face which covered
That day forever more so cruel and honored
That fire which I thought had been extinguished
That lofty lord from whom it does not serve
That nightingale so tenderly lamenting
That old and sweet yet cruel master of mine
That one who showed His endless providence
That, which in fragrance and in hue surpassed
That window where at any time it likes
That yearning, sweet dear honest glance of hers
The aura, fragrance, coolness, and the shade
The aura sighing gently as it moves
The burning knot which hour after hour
The chosen angels and the blessèd souls
The closer that I come to the last day
The food with which my lord always abounds
The gentle aura spreads and waves in sunlight
The gold and pearls, the flowers red and white
The gracious breeze that clears the hills again
The gracious tree that I loved hard for years
The greed of Babylon has so filled the sack
The heavenly aura breathing in that green laurel
The heavy air and the importunate fog
The high, new miracle that in our time
The hoped-for virtue flowering in you
The lady who in her eyes bears my heart
The last, alas, of all my happy days
The lovely eyes, that struck me in a way
The lovely lady whom you loved so much
The man in Thessaly with hands so anxious
The more I spread my wings wide with desire
The new song sung and weeping of the birds
The old man takes his leave, white-haired and pale
There aren’t as many fish in the sea’s waves
The sacred sight I have of this your city
The star of love already was aglow
The stars, the heavens, the elements all vied
The strangest and most wondrous
The successor of Charles who with the crown
The sun which lit for me the rightful road
The time is when the planet that marks hours
The tranquil aura that comes murmuring
They wish for night, they hate the coming dawn
This frail and perishable good of ours
This gracious soul that takes its leave of us
This kind, wild beast, this tiger’s heart or bear’s
This phoenix with the feathers made of gold
Those eyes of which I spoke with such emotion
Those graces generous Heaven gives to few
Those hills of sweetness where I left myself
Those rhymes of pity which made me aware
Though I have always kept you from all lies
Three days ago a soul was put in place
Tornami a mente (anzi v’è dentro quella
To the sweet shade of all those lovely leaves
Tranquillo porto avea mostrato Amore
Tra quantunque leggiadre donne et belle
Turning your eyes and seeing my strange color
Tutta la mia fiorita et verde etade
Tutto ’l dì piango; et poi la notte, quando
Twelve ladies I saw virtuously at ease
Twenty-one years Love kept me burning gladly
Two formidable rivals were once joined
Two roses fresh and picked in paradise
Una candida cerva sopra l’erba
Una donna più bella assai che ’l sole
Upon that lovely face I sigh and yearn for
Vago augelletto, che cantando vai
Valle che de’ lamenti miei se piena
Valley, so filled with my lamenting words
Verdi panni sanguigni oscuri o persi
Vergine bella, che di sol vestita
Vergognando talor ch’ ancor si taccia
Vidi fra mille donne una già tale
Vincitore Alessandro Vira vinse
Vinse Anibàl, et non seppe usar poi
Virgin, so lovely, clothed in the sun’s light
Vive faville uscian de’ duo bei lumi
Voglia mi sprona, Amor mi guida et scorge
Voi ch’ ascoltate in rime sparse il suono
Volgendo gli occhi al mio novo colore
Volo con l’ali de pensieri al Cielo
What fate of mine, what force or what deceit
What fear I feel when I recall to mind
“What now, soul? You think that peace will ever come? 150
What pity, ah, what angel was so swift
What’s going on? What thoughts are these? Why still
What will I do? Can you advise me, Love? 268
When Alexander reached the famous tomb
When all of me is drawn in the direction
When day is dawning and so sweet an aura
When from its proper dwelling place departs
When I hear you speak words of so much sweetness
When in the sea the sun bathes his gold chariot
When I see coming down the sky Aurora
When I summon my sighs to call for you
When I turn back to look upon those years
When Love lowers her fair eyes to the ground
When Love within her lovely face appears
When my desire, with its two burning spurs
When Simon first received that high idea
When that kind, faithful comforter of mine
When there comes to my mind the time and place
When through my eyes to my heart’s depths there comes
Where did Love get the gold and from what mine
Where is the brow that with the slightest movement
While gazing at the clear sun of fair eyes
Who seeks to see the best Nature and Heaven
With every step I take my weary body
With his right hand Love opened my left side
With Love pursuing me to that same place
With wings made of my thoughts I fly to Heaven
Wrath vanquished the victorious Alexander
You have discolored, Death, the loveliest face
You have left, Death, the world without its sun
Your cheek which is by now weary from tears
Zefiro torna e ’l bel tempo rimena
Zephyr comes back and brings with him fair weather
INDEX
Achilles, myth of, 720
Actaeon, myth of, 535
Acts, Book of, 619
Ajax, myth of, 652
Albertus Magnus, 606
Alexander the Great, 651
Alfieri, 602, 613
Allegory, veil as sign of, 526
Alliteration: in Sonnet 236, 653; in Double Sestina 332, 704. See also Elision; Sibilants
Amphion, myth of, 540
Andrea Capellanus, 622
Anger: as example of Petrarch’s use of language, xxxii; link with jealousy in Sonnet 196, 635; as theme of Sonnet 330, 702
Annibaldi family, 556
Anniversary poems, of Canzoniere, 542–43, 553, 560, 593, 612, 674
Antonio de’Becarri da Ferrara, 592
Apollo, allusions to, 524, 533, 545, 550, 589, 621
Apollonius of Rhodes, 648
Archilochus, xxiii
Ardennes, forest of, 626
Argonauts, myth of Jason and, 648, 649, 665
Ariosto, 607, 626
Aristophanes, 654
Arnaud de Mareuil, 547
Art, St. Thomas Aquinas on, 595
Astrology, references to, 544, 545, 569, 652, 700, 703
Augustine, St.: and philosophical roots of Petrarch’s language, xviii, xxviii, xxxii; theology of compared to Petrarch’s, xxiii, 667, 728; open declaration as rhetorical device, 532; allusions to works of in Canzoniere, 554, 599, 699, 721, 725; theory of inadequacy of language to express desire, 595; and doctrine of predestination, 686
Aurora, allusions to, 646, 683
Avignon. See Papacy
Bacon, Roger, 625
Ballata, 526, 614
Baudelaire, Charles, xxi
Beatific Vision: Church doctrine on, 608; and image of Laura in Sonnet 342, 709
Beatrice. See Dante
Bembo, 591
Bertran de Born, 638
Biagioli, G., 715
Bible. See specific books of
Billanovich, Giuseppe, xx
Black Death: and dating of Sonnet 249, 660; as cause of Laura’s death, 697
Boccaccio: style of compared to Petrarch’s, xxv, 710; on vulgarity in poetic language, xxvii; allusions to works of in Canzoniere, 554, 632, 716; cited by Carducci, 639, 704, 710, 716; meeting with Petrarch, 677, 690; sonnet on death of Petrarch, 681; impact of Canzoniere on, 688
Boethius, xv, xxxi, 533, 553
Boiardo, 626
Boniface VIII, Pope, 526
Bosco, Umberto, 677
Bosone da Gubbio, 555
Bruno, Giordano, xxi
Buzzuola, Ugolin, 656
Byblis, myth of, 534–35
Caetani family, 556
Callisto, myth of, 662
Canonical hours, sequence of, 587
Canzone: structure of, 541, 605; integrity of Petrarch’s form of, 583; Provençal form of, 638
Canzoniere (Petrarch): contents and development of, xi–xii; cyclic distribution of poems in, xii; influence of on Western literature, xiii; modern reader’s response to, xiii–xiv; as dialogue with Dante, xiv–xv; mixed style of, xxiv; chronological order of poems in, xxv; development of poetic language in, xxvii–xxxiv; subdivisions of, 554, 666–67. See also Petrarch; notes on specific poems
Carducci, Giosuè: content of edition of Canzoniere by, ix, x; description of Sonnet 48 as sexually suggestive, 552; on classical uses of si trastulla, 567; influence of Horace on Canzone 72, 568; on meaning of non amezzo, 572; on Sonnet 81, 573; on Sonnet 87, 575; on Sonnet 98, 580; on image of naked Laura in Canzone 126, 596; on Petrarch’s attacks on papacy, 608; on jealousy and anger in Sonnet 196, 634; citations of Boccacio, 639, 704; criticism of Sonnet 217 by, 645; on phrasing of Sonnet 242, 657; on love poetry of Guittone d’Arezzo, 681; comparison of Sonnet 311 to Virgil, 691; and criticism of Sonnet 349, 713; dating of Canzone 359, 717; on allusions in Canzone 360, 719, 721