by Mark Musa
Castelvetro: interpretation of Canzone 37, 547; comparison of images in Sonnets 109 and 165, 586; on image of naked Laura in Canzone 126, 596; on Laura’s smile in Sonnet 131, 604; on Sonnet 213 as Petrarch’s response to rumors of bewitchment, 643; interpretation of Sonnet 247, 659; interpretation of Canzone 270, 672; on Petrarch’s portrayal of self in Sonnet 274, 675; interpretation of Sonnet 312, 692; on imagery of Sonnet 354, 715; interpretation of Canzone 359, 718; criticism of Canzone 366 on theological grounds, 723–24
Catullus, xiv, 648, 670
Cavalcanti, Guido, 578, 692
Charlemagne, 538
Charles IV (Emperor), xi, 655
Chiari, Alberto, x, 577, 625, 660, 698, 699, 711, 717, 725
Christ, allusions to, 522, 523, 528, 540, 573, 579, 581, 592, 599, 641, 648, 663, 706, 716, 717, 718
Chronology, of poems in Canzoniere: and mixed style of, xxv; and events of Petrarch’s life, xxxv–xxxvi; of series beginning with Sonnet 240, 656; and death of Laura, 669–70. See also Dating
Church. See Heresy; Index of Forbidden Books; Papacy
Cicero, xiv, xxii, xxxi, 539, 600, 680, 713
Cino da Pistoia, 565, 577, 680
Clement VI, Pope, 592, 608
Cochin, Charles-Nicolas, 706
Cola di Rienzo, 555
Colonna, Agapito, 559
Colonna, Giacomo (bishop of Lombez), 538, 539, 540, 642, 696
Colonna, Giovanni, 669, 671
Colonna, Stefano, 526, 555, 582
Colonna family, 556, 557, 563, 608
Confession, Canzone 135 as, 605
Constantine I (Emperor), 609
Contini, Gianfranco, ix, 577, 711
Crusades, allusions to, 531, 538, 539, 540
Curtius, E. R., 650
Cygnus, myth of, 533, 534
Daniel, Arnaut, 530, 541, 564, 626, 643, 669, 688
Dante: Canzoniere as dialogue with, xiv–xv; Beatrice compared to Petrarch’s Laura, xviii, xxi, 617, 670, 676; religious conversion of, xxiii; use of language, xxix, 665, 723; use of sestina form, 530; allusions to works of in Canzoniere, 533, 537, 541, 543, 544, 545, 546, 547, 554, 557, 564, 565, 569, 573, 578, 587, 593–94, 597, 616, 624, 647, 657, 661, 680, 681, 682, 699, 711, 712, 716, 718, 725; and metamorphosis, 535; on papacy, 581, 608; on Emperor Constantine I, 609; themes from in Canzoniere, 611; on Harrowing of Hell, 717
Dating, of individual poems in Canzoniere, ix; of Canzone 23, 532; of Sonnet 34, 545; of Sonnet 40, 548; of Sonnet 41, 549; of Sonnet 49, 553; of Canzone 53, 555; of Sonnet 64, 561; of Sestina 66, 562; of Sonnet 79, 571; of Sonnet 107, 585–86; of Sonnets 113–114, 588; of Sonnet 125 and Canzone 126, 596; of Canzone 128, 599; of Canzone 129, 601; of Sonnets 130–134, 603; of Sonnet 136, 607; of Sonnet 176, 625–26; of Sonnet 179, 627; of Sonnet 188, 631; of Sonnet 194, 634; of Sonnet 196, 634; of Canzone 207, 640; of Sonnet 208, 641; of Sonnet 212, 643; of Sonnet 249, 660; of Sonnet 265, 669; of Sonnet 278, 676; of Sonnet 300, 686; of Canzone 323, 697; of Ballata 324, 698; of Canzone 359, 717. See also Chronology
Death: Petrarch’s preoccupation with in later poems, xxv; Petrarch’s rendering of Laura’s, xxxiii, xxxiv, 670, 697; of Laura and subdivisions of Canzoniere, 666–67; of Laura and chronology of poems in Canzoniere, 669–70; critical debate on contemplation of suicide by Petrarch, 670, 671; connection with love in Sonnet 296, 685; exact date of Laura’s, 706
Decameron. See Boccaccio
Declarative mode, implications of use of, 566
Derrida, Jacques, xxxiii
DeSanctis, Francesco, xxix, 601
Descort (dissent), 583
Desire, and St. Augustine’s theory of language, 595
Dido, myth of, 542, 565, 620
Diez, Friedrich Christian, 626
Donation of Constantine, 608
Dondi, Giovanni, of Padua, 658
Doubling: of metaphors in Sonnet 40, 549; of consonants and adverbial phrases in Canzone 50, 553
Durling, Robert M., 605, 711
Echo, myth of, 535, 551
Editing, author’s notes on spelling and punctuation, ix
Elision: use of in Sonnet 303, 688; and repetitions in Double Sestina 332, 704. See also Alliteration; Sibilants
Endymion, myth of Selene and, 654
Ennius, 630
Eros, and guises of love, 522
d’Este family, 599
Etymology: Petrarch’s exploration of, xxviii, xxxii, xxxiii; Cicero’s definition of, xxxi; and plays on Laura’s name, 523–24; and Sonnet 146, 613
Europe, Petrarch on northern regions of, 539
Eurydice, myth of, 704
Ferrari, Severino, ix, x Ficino, 673
Florence: politics of, 625; recall of Petrarch from exile, 677
Fortune, imagery of, 699, 700
Foscolo, 528, 619
Franceschino degli Albizzi, 681
Frottola (tall tale), 583
Gellrich, Jesse M., xxvii
Gesualdo, 678
Gianfigliazzi, Geri, 627
Giovanna (Queen of Naples), 592
Glory, and Virtue as personae of canzone, 591
God, theology of Canzone 366 and, 728
Golden Age, allusions to classical, 553
Gonzaga family, 599
Graves, Robert, 536
Gray, Thomas, 637
Guilt, projection of Petrarch’s onto Laura, 530
Guinizelli, Guido, 564, 574, 611, 681
Guittone d’Arezzo, 593, 681
Hannibal, 582
Harrowing of Hell, reference to, 717
Helen, myth of, 665
Heraclitus, 552
Heresy, Church’s idea of, 608
Hesiod, xxiii, 522, 621, 694
History: Petrarch and alienation from, xxi; and sonnets late in Part I of Canzoniere, xxx; comparison of Laura to tragic female figures of, 664–65
Homer, 630
Horace, xiv, 521, 536, 559, 588, 652
Hugh of St. Victor, xxvii, xxviii, xxxi
Humor: and gravity in sonnets of Petrarch, xxiv–xxv; comic struggles between styles of love in Sonnets 67–69, 562. See also Satire
Index of Forbidden Books (Church), 607
Isabel of Lorraine, 577
Isidore of Seville, 523, 650
Islam, reference to, 540
Italy: conditions in during last months of Petrarch’s life, xi; history of invasions from north, 539. See also Florence; Naples; Politics; Rome
Jason, myth of Argonauts and, 648, 665
Jealousy, and anger in Sonnet 196, 635
Job, Book of, 534, 536, 718
John XXII, Pope, 538, 608
Jove, myth of, 536
Julius Caesar, 550, 626, 632
Juno, myth of, 549
Juvenal, xiv, 568
Labyrinth, symbolism of, 643
Lactantius (Church Father), 629
Language: development of poetic in Canzoniere, xxvii–xxxiv; ancient Latin and vernacular Italian in Sonnet 40, 549; structure of in Canzone 125, 594–95; St. Augustine’s theory of inadequacy of to express desire, 595; and metaphor in Canzone 128, 600; Virgil and bucolic style of in Sonnet 162, 620; love poetry in vernacular, 621; scatalogical subtext in Sonnet 227, 649; power of in Dante, 665; vulgarity of in Sonnet 301, 687. See also Alliteration; Elision; Metaphors; Sibilants
Lanyi, Gabriel, 601
Latini, Brunetto, 655
Laura: site of Petrarch’s first encounter with, xvi–xvii; as real woman, xvii—xviii; compared to Dante’s Beatrice, xviii, xxi, 617, 676; examination of role of in well-known poems, xviii–xix, 629; as three-sided persona, xx; and aspects of madonna, xxvi, xxxiii; Petrarch’s rendering of death of, xxxiii, xxxiv, 670, 697; birth of compared to coming of Christ, 523; plays on name of, 523–24; and mathematical perfection, 527; Petrarch’s projection of guilt onto, 530; as symbol of peace, 631; comparison of to tragic female figures of history, 664–65; death of and subdivisions of Canzoniere, 666–67; death of and chronology of poems in Canzoniere, 669–70; exact date of dea
th of, 706; Beatific Vision and image of in Sonnet 342, 709
Leopardi, Giacomo, 531, 542, 555, 576, 618, 634, 657, 663, 691, 710
Literature: Petrarch’s influence on Western, xiii; Petrarch’s use of themes from past, xxii–xxiv; Petrarch’s divergence from grand tradition of, xxix, xxxiv
Livy, 525, 582, 626
Love: Eros and guises of, 522; comic struggle of styles of in Sonnets 67–69, 562; imagery of in Sonnet 75, 570; connection with death in Sonnet 296, 685. See also Laura
Lucan, 539, 582
Lucretia, myth of, 665, 666
Macaulay, Thomas, 724
Madonna: Laura and aspects of, xxvi, xxxiii; use of term as lover’s endearment, 529; Canzone 366 as hymn to, 723
Madrigal, 555
Marathon, battle of, 541
Marius (Roman consul), 600
Martini, Simone, 571
Martyrdom, use of term, 529
Mary, Canzone 366 as hymn to, 723
Mary Magdalene, and image of weeping lady, 617
Matthew, Gospel of, 560, 573
Mazzotta, Giuseppe, xxix, 595
Medusa, myth of, 627, 635, 727
Menippean satires, Petrarch and tradition of, xv–xvi
Metamorphoses, in Canzone 23, 532, 534, 535. See also Ovid
Metaphors: and Petrarch’s exploration of poetic language, xxxiii; doubling of in Sonnet 40, 549; and language in Canzone 128, 600. See also Language
Metaphysics, Petrarch’s creation of in last sonnet cycle, xxxiv. See also Theology
Milon, Pierre, 524
Monarchy, and political satire in Petrarch, xvi Muratori, Lodovico, 677
Muses, allusions to, 685, 694
Mysticism, in last sonnet cycle, xxxiv
Naples, Petrarch as ambassador to, 592
Narcissus, myth of, 535, 551
Necromancy, Petrarch and accusations of, 695
Neptune, myth of, 549
Neri, St. Philip, 711
Numerology, medieval, allusions to, xxx, 543, 550
Oedipus, myth of, 665
Orpheus, myth of, 540, 617, 704
Orsini family, 556, 557, 582
Orso dell’Anguillara, 580
Ovid: influence on Petrarch, xiv; Petrarch’s Canzoniere compared to Metamorphoses, xvii, xxvi; as source for Petrarch, 521, 524, 535, 545, 551, 624, 672, 673, 691, 704; allusions to works of in Canzoniere, 533, 542, 553, 561, 576, 603, 604, 635, 646, 668, 678; on epic poetry of Ennius, 630
Palinodie poems, mixed style of, xxiv
Pandolfo Malatesta of Rimini, 582
Papacy: and political satire in Petrarch, xvi; Petrarch’s attacks on in poems of Canzoniere, xxxi, 581, 607, 608, 609, 705
Pasiphaë, myth of, 643
Passion of Christ, date of, 522
Peire Cardenal, 725
Peire de Corbiac, 725
Personality, construction of in Petrarch’s writings, xx–xxii
Petrarch: conditions in Italy during last months of life of, xi; influence of on Western literature, xiii; site of first encounter with Laura, xvi–xvii; Laura as real woman, xvii–xviii; construction of persona in writings of, xx–xxii; prominent themes drawn from literary past, xxii–xxiv; gravity and humor in sonnets of, xxiv–xxv; death as theme of later poems of, xxv; vision of heaven, xxvi. See also Canzoniere; Laura; specific poems
Phaeton, myth of, 533
Philip of Macedon, 651
Philip VI of France, 538, 539
Philomena, myth of, 691
Phoenix, image of, 605, 629, 642, 695, 696
Pier della Vigna, 584
Plato: Republic compared to Canzoniere, xxi; description of human soul, 524, 633; Dante and imagery of, 544; as source for Petrarch, 566, 622; references to in Canzoniere, 568, 618
Pliny, 571, 600, 606, 632–33, 651, 706
Plotinus, 671
Plutarch, 525, 630–31
Poet laureate, coronation of Petrarch as in 1341, 581, 586
Politics: Petrarch and tradition of Menippean satires, xv–xvi; Black and White factions in Italian, 578; Canzone 128 as plea to warring factions in Italy, 599–601; White party assault on Florence, 625. See also Italy; Papacy
Polyclitus, 571
Provençal love poetry, as influence on Petrarch, 547, 560
Psalms, Book of, 573
Ptolemy, 606
Punctuation: seventeenth-century debate on Sonnet 208 and, 641
Pygmalion, myth of, 571
Pythagoras, 568
Rawski, Conrad M., xiii
Rénard d’Anjou (King), 577
Revelation, reference to events of, 634
Rhyme scheme: of Sonnet 13, 527; of Sonnet 18, 529; of Canzone 29, 541, of Sonnet 41, 549; of Sonnet 56, 558; of Sonnet 79, 571; of Sonnet 94, 578; of Sonnet 100, 581; of Sonnet 125 and Canzone 126, 596; of Canzone 135, 605; of Sestina 142, 610; of Sonnet 166, 621; of Canzone 206, 638; of Sonnets 210–211, 642; of Sonnet 279, 677; of Sonnet 295, 684; of Sonnet 318, 694; of Sonnet 326, 700
Rome, politics and history of in Canzone 53, 555–57. See also Papacy
St. Clare’s Church, as site of Petrarch’s first sight of Laura, xvii, xviii, 522
Salamander, image of, 640
Salvini, Anton Maria, 560
Sapegno, Natalino, 546, 555, 677
Satire: breadth of in Canzoniere, xiii; Petrarch and tradition of Menippean, xv–xvi. See also Humor
Savelli family, 556
Scipio Africanus, 556, 630, 720
Selene, myth of, 654
Self, reference to as subject, 521
Seneca, xiv, 552, 715
Sennuccio del Bene: love of Laura’s female companion, 579; sonnets of Canzoniere addressed to, 586, 588, 612, 680, 683; sonnet written in response to Sonnet 266, 669; and first version of Canzone 268, 671
Sestina, form of, 530–31
Sibilants: in Sonnet 132, 604; in Canzone 206, 639. See also Alliteration; Elision
Simony, Petrarch on fraudulent practices of papacy, 608, 609
Socrates, xxix, 709
Solinus, 632, 651
Song of Songs, 724
Sonnet. See Chronology, Dating, Language
Statius, 630, 700, 709
Stramazzo da Perugia, 536
Style: mixed character of in Canzoniere, xxiv; and chronological order of poems in Canzoniere, xxv; as illustration of bewilderment in Sonnet 277, 676
Tasso, Torquato, 607
Tassoni, Alessandro, 604, 656, 657, 664, 688, 716
Terza rima, and form of madrigal, 555
Theology, of Canzone 366, 723–24, 728
Thermopylae, battle of, 541
Thomas Aquinas, St., 595
Tree of Life, image of, 718
Tuscan love poetry, references to, 564
Tusculum family, 556
Ubaldini, Petruccio, 561
Ulysses, myth of, 682
Valentinianus (Roman emperor), 652
Varro, xv
Vaucluse: Petrarch’s residence in, xvi; geography of, 590
Veil, symbolism of, 526
Vellutello, 561, 572, 591, 654, 724
Ventadorn, Bernard de, 528, 542, 547
Virgil: and Petrarch’s use of language, xxxii, 620; Underworld in Aeneid, 531; on memory, 533; allusions to works of in Canzoniere, 537, 539, 542, 553, 576, 628, 630, 631
Virtue, and Glory as personae of canzone, 591
Voyage of St. Brendan, 607
Vulcan, myth of, 549, 550
Waller, Marguerite R., 532
Wilkins, Ernest Hatch: dating and chronology of individual poems in Canzoniere, ix–x, 521, 545, 555, 596, 603, 607, 627, 641, 697, 722; on medieval academic graduation ceremony, 536; on reworking of Canzone 73, 568; on placement of Sonnet 199, 636; on blank pages in Vatican manuscript 3195, 666
William of St. Gregory, 564
Xerxes I, of Persia, 540
Yates, Frances, xxi
Zeus, myth of, 606
Zingarelli, Nicola: edition of Canzoniere by as source, ix, x, 577; on
Canzone 37 as foundation of Petrarchism, 547; on image of mirror in Sonnet 45, 551; description of Sonnet 48 as abstruse, 552; on imagery of Sonnet 67, 563; on allusion to Horace in Canzone 72, 568; on love and the body in Sonnet 75, 570; on Petrarch’s coronation as poet laureate, 586; on stanza form in Canzone 135, 605; on sources of imagery in Sonnet 136, 608; interpretation of Sonnet 203, 638; on Petrarch’s mood in Sestina 214, 644; on phrasing in Sonnet 242, 657; interpretation of Sonnet 245, 658; citation of Dante, 660; on qualities of charm and chastity as irreconcilable, 665; on allusion to Virgin Mary in Sonnet 313, 692; on imagery of Sonnet 338, 707; and author’s reading of Sonnet 345, 711; comparison of imagery in Sonnet 351 to earlier poems, 713; on Laura as speaker of Sonnet 362, 722; citation of St. Augustine, 725; on figure of Devil in Canzone 366, 726
MARK MUSA is Distinguished Professor of Italian at Indiana University. He
has translated and edited critical editions of many Italian literary classics,
including Dante’s Divine Comedy and Vita nuova, The Decameron, The
Portable Machiavelli, and The Portable Dante. He recently published
The Indiana Critical Edition of Dante’s Inferno as well as a
new translation of Pirandello’s most important plays. He is
author of Advent at the Gates: Dantes Comedy and
An Essay on the Vita nuova. In 1983 he was
awarded the “Fiorino d’oro” by the city
of Florence. In 1996 he received
the Distinguished Teaching and
Mentoring Award from
the Graduate School
of Indiana University.