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Selections from the Canzoniere and Other Works
This entirely new translation includes Petrarch's short autobiographical prose works, The Letter to Posterity and The Ascent of Mount Ventoux, and a selection of twenty-seven poems from the Canzoniere, Petrarch's best-known work in Italian.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1374
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376 people want to read
About the author
Francesco Petrarca
1,147 books354 followersFamous Italian poet, scholar, and humanist Francesco Petrarca, known in English as Petrarch, collected love lyrics in
Canzoniere
.
People often call Petrarch the earliest Renaissance "father of humanism". Based on Petrarch's works, and to a lesser extent those of Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio, Pietro Bembo in the 16th century created the model for the modern Italian language, which the Accademia della Crusca later endorsed. People credit Petrarch with developing the sonnet. They admired and imitated his sonnets, a model for lyrical poems throughout Europe during the Renaissance. Petrarch called the Middle Ages the Dark Ages.
People often call Petrarch the earliest Renaissance "father of humanism". Based on Petrarch's works, and to a lesser extent those of Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio, Pietro Bembo in the 16th century created the model for the modern Italian language, which the Accademia della Crusca later endorsed. People credit Petrarch with developing the sonnet. They admired and imitated his sonnets, a model for lyrical poems throughout Europe during the Renaissance. Petrarch called the Middle Ages the Dark Ages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
May 2, 2014
A model selected poems, inasmuch as it's short, contains a couple of prose pieces, and every single poem is worth reading. This is particularly impressive, inasmuch as I don't care at all about love poetry... and Petrarch launched more love poets than any one else, ever. But that's because he's so good, even if his epigones are not.
Of the two prose pieces, the 'Letter to Posterity' is less essential; Mark Musa's lovely introduction is more readable, and gives you the same information. But 'The Ascent of Mount Ventoux' is fascinating as a self-standing piece--a more or less fictional letter, describing events that probably didn't happen, obviously harking back to Dante and forward to anyone who's ever stood at the base of a mountain and thought "my, that's pretty," as well as everyone who's ever thought that maybe they could be a better person. I wasn't prepared for how approachable it was; highly recommended.
As for the poems, I can't help but prefer the more political, and the more melancholy, rather than the "my lover's super hot, man" stuff. Consider the anger in 136,
May heaven's fire pour down on your tresses
since doing evil gives you so much pleasure,
impious one, who, after stream and acrons
got fat and rich by starving other people,
you nest of treachery in which is hatched
all evil that today spreads through the world,
you slave of wine, of bedrooms, and of food,
high testing-ground for every kind of lust!
Usw. The New Atheists have nothing on the renaissance/medieval pious when it comes to ripping the church.
And Musa's translations are charming, and occasionally excellent self-standing poems. Consider the second stanza of 190, which inspired Wyatt's famous Whoso List to Hunt:
The sigh of her was so sweetly austere
that I left all my work to follow her,
just like a miser who in search of treasure
with pleasure makes his effort bitterless.
Not sure I know what that means, but who cares? I plan to use 'bitterless' in everything I say or write from now on. Not to mention, tackling more Petrarch.
Of the two prose pieces, the 'Letter to Posterity' is less essential; Mark Musa's lovely introduction is more readable, and gives you the same information. But 'The Ascent of Mount Ventoux' is fascinating as a self-standing piece--a more or less fictional letter, describing events that probably didn't happen, obviously harking back to Dante and forward to anyone who's ever stood at the base of a mountain and thought "my, that's pretty," as well as everyone who's ever thought that maybe they could be a better person. I wasn't prepared for how approachable it was; highly recommended.
As for the poems, I can't help but prefer the more political, and the more melancholy, rather than the "my lover's super hot, man" stuff. Consider the anger in 136,
May heaven's fire pour down on your tresses
since doing evil gives you so much pleasure,
impious one, who, after stream and acrons
got fat and rich by starving other people,
you nest of treachery in which is hatched
all evil that today spreads through the world,
you slave of wine, of bedrooms, and of food,
high testing-ground for every kind of lust!
Usw. The New Atheists have nothing on the renaissance/medieval pious when it comes to ripping the church.
And Musa's translations are charming, and occasionally excellent self-standing poems. Consider the second stanza of 190, which inspired Wyatt's famous Whoso List to Hunt:
The sigh of her was so sweetly austere
that I left all my work to follow her,
just like a miser who in search of treasure
with pleasure makes his effort bitterless.
Not sure I know what that means, but who cares? I plan to use 'bitterless' in everything I say or write from now on. Not to mention, tackling more Petrarch.
November 19, 2024
I'll award my stars to the author rather than the edition - 5 stars, Petrarch is great. I look forward to reading more. Speaking of...
Edition Notes: To call this Oxford offering a disappointment would be an understatement. I ordered it from my local independent because of the title, trusting Oxford to deliver more than a 128 page near-pamphlet. I own the Major Works of Samuel Johnson and the King James with Apocrypha in Oxford - I'm well aware they are capable of producing a larger book. So what do those pages comprise?
The Introduction is often superfluous thanks to the included "Letter to Posterity." The Explanatory Notes are sparse, short, kind of weird, and, in my estimation, in at least one case, likely wrong. That leaves the Petrarch - there was only room for 2 letters and 43 poems because they needed 20 of the 128 pages to be completely blank or to discuss other parts of the Oxford catalog. 35 of the 43 poems are sonnets isolated on their own page, leaving 35 blank half-pages.
Devoting 128 often blank pages to "Italy's greatest lyric poet" and offering 43 of 366 "outstanding love poems" - less than 12% - from Petrarch's "most influential legacy," the Canzoniere, is a failure.
While we're at it you might as well be on the lookout for the "New Oxford Shakespeare," currently being published. For instance, the "Oxford Shakespeare" Merry Wives of Windsor from 2008 is 242 pages. The "New" Merry Wives from 2024 is 176 pages. No idea what they're cutting from there...
Edition Notes: To call this Oxford offering a disappointment would be an understatement. I ordered it from my local independent because of the title, trusting Oxford to deliver more than a 128 page near-pamphlet. I own the Major Works of Samuel Johnson and the King James with Apocrypha in Oxford - I'm well aware they are capable of producing a larger book. So what do those pages comprise?
The Introduction is often superfluous thanks to the included "Letter to Posterity." The Explanatory Notes are sparse, short, kind of weird, and, in my estimation, in at least one case, likely wrong. That leaves the Petrarch - there was only room for 2 letters and 43 poems because they needed 20 of the 128 pages to be completely blank or to discuss other parts of the Oxford catalog. 35 of the 43 poems are sonnets isolated on their own page, leaving 35 blank half-pages.
Devoting 128 often blank pages to "Italy's greatest lyric poet" and offering 43 of 366 "outstanding love poems" - less than 12% - from Petrarch's "most influential legacy," the Canzoniere, is a failure.
While we're at it you might as well be on the lookout for the "New Oxford Shakespeare," currently being published. For instance, the "Oxford Shakespeare" Merry Wives of Windsor from 2008 is 242 pages. The "New" Merry Wives from 2024 is 176 pages. No idea what they're cutting from there...
January 22, 2025
I liked it. I think he's kind of full of himself though. I liked the language he used in the poems, it was very pretty. I really liked the sad lines. If you think about it, it's crazy that he lived through the Black Plague in Italy. I had to write on this for a history essay. I hope I get a good mark :)
January 14, 2015
This started out as a rather lovely book of short essays and poems. Perfectly charming and easy to read. Then sh!t got real. By the middle of the book I was entranced by Petrarch's beautiful and poignant imagery and metaphor. I can only imagine how beautifully it reads in Italian. And how stirring it would have been as a novel approach to verse writing at the time of its creation. Beautiful.
May 18, 2015
This short collection has two essays and 40-some-odd poems by the great 14th century Italian writer. The essays show Petrarch to be a thoughtful, intelligent man with, however, a fairly high opinion of himself. But the poems, mostly concerning his doomed love of the mysterious Laura, are moving and multifaceted.
August 14, 2007
Every time I read one of Petrarch's poems, I am amazed! I love the romance and the beauty of each of his poems. The fact that he was able to write all these wonderful sonnets about one brief moment (or even sight) of an Italian woman, still gives me chills.
April 22, 2011
319.
September 23, 2017
Suck it up Petrarch.
July 23, 2023
There is nothing worse than an unreciprocated love.
At one time or another, we all come to recognize the bitter truth of this statement. Some of us have recovered from our Beatrices and Lauras, while others try to grapple with love's luminous peril being lost to them. Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) falls into the latter category.
Mark Musa, whose edition of the Divine Comedy I recently reviewed, is also the translator of this selection. He places a strong emphasis on Petrarch's "Augustinian" nature: someone who struggles between the "Flesh and the Spirit", the love of Laura and the love of God. The two letters which form a sort of introduction set up this theme quite well. Here is Petrarch, a young poet and cleric, who recognizes a personal and existential contradiction within himself. And because of this conflict between his personal youthful desire and the realities of life, this gives him good reason to be considered the Italian Renaissance's forbearer.
As for the Canzoniere selections themselves, I found them highly edifying. The lyrical play between unrequited love, the role of the Sacred, and the natural metaphors create a liminal space for Petrarch to explore the one sole thing he desired, but never could attain. If Musa's work moved me, I cannot imagine how powerful the Italian is.
At one time or another, we all come to recognize the bitter truth of this statement. Some of us have recovered from our Beatrices and Lauras, while others try to grapple with love's luminous peril being lost to them. Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) falls into the latter category.
Mark Musa, whose edition of the Divine Comedy I recently reviewed, is also the translator of this selection. He places a strong emphasis on Petrarch's "Augustinian" nature: someone who struggles between the "Flesh and the Spirit", the love of Laura and the love of God. The two letters which form a sort of introduction set up this theme quite well. Here is Petrarch, a young poet and cleric, who recognizes a personal and existential contradiction within himself. And because of this conflict between his personal youthful desire and the realities of life, this gives him good reason to be considered the Italian Renaissance's forbearer.
As for the Canzoniere selections themselves, I found them highly edifying. The lyrical play between unrequited love, the role of the Sacred, and the natural metaphors create a liminal space for Petrarch to explore the one sole thing he desired, but never could attain. If Musa's work moved me, I cannot imagine how powerful the Italian is.
August 17, 2025
*3.5
Petrarca's poetry is beautiful and I loved reading them, but this selection was not it. The collection of poems, in my opinion, could have been larger and the introduction could have been shorter. Everything written in the introduction could be found back in the ´Letter to Posterity´, making it slightly redundant.
Also, why was there no information on why these specific poems of the Canzoniere were chosen? I would have liked to know why these were the ones that made the cut while others did not.
Petrarca's poetry is beautiful and I loved reading them, but this selection was not it. The collection of poems, in my opinion, could have been larger and the introduction could have been shorter. Everything written in the introduction could be found back in the ´Letter to Posterity´, making it slightly redundant.
Also, why was there no information on why these specific poems of the Canzoniere were chosen? I would have liked to know why these were the ones that made the cut while others did not.
January 13, 2023
4.5/5
read for hum. i cant believe im about to say this but petrarch is so sexy
read for hum. i cant believe im about to say this but petrarch is so sexy
May 28, 2023
His poems are like Coldplay albums, indistinguishable.
December 4, 2023
he needs to get over her
May 7, 2016
This Oxford World's Classics edition of Petrarch's poetry contains two letters (his famous letter to his Parisian confessor, "The Ascent of Mont Ventoux," & his "Letter to Posterity") as well as a selection of pieces from his 366-poem Song Book, Il Canzoniere (pronounced CanzoNIEre). The Song Book was largely inspired by Petrarch's adoration of and love for Laura de Noves. Petrarch was a highly introspective man, and in the songs he charts his shifting feelings for Laura from the moment he first beheld her that fateful day in the Avignon cathedral until her death and beyond. Il Canzoniere is divided into two parts: "Before Laura's Death" and "After Laura's Death." Most of the poems are heart-wrenchingly sad, with Petrarch lavishing rapturous compliments on his beloved only to weep bitter tears about her merciless indifference to his love (he calls her a "beast" a few times). Laura was already married when Petrarch first saw her, so he didn't stand a chance with her. In my favorite sonnet, he compares himself to a foolish butterfly, who flying about on a warm summer day, flutters longingly toward the sun, as butterflies do, only to crash into a woman's face, inciting tears and causing her to pound him out of existence. That woman is Laura, and the incident causes him to lament not so much his extermination from the planet as her cruel disdain toward his passion her:
141
As at times in hot sunny weather
a guileless butterfly accustomed to the light,
flies in its wanderings into someone’s face,
causing it to die, and the other to weep:
so I am always running towards the sunlight of her eyes,
fatal to me, from which so much sweetness comes
that Love takes no heed of the reins of reason:
and he who discerns them is conquered by his desire.
And truly I see how much disdain they have for me,
and I know I am certain to die of them,
since my strength cannot counter the pain:
but Love dazzles me so sweetly,
that I weep for the other’s annoyance, not my hurt:
and my soul consents blindly to its death.
The poems Petrarch wrote while Laura was still alive track his unrequited love for Laura--and the tumult of being enamored of someone who, for all his devotion, he could never possess. He sees Laura in the clouds, in the fields, in the streams, in the trees. He's perpetually haunted by her. He vacillates endlessly between hope and despair. He transforms her into a paragon and emblem of all that is beautiful and good. He uses his love to fuel and energize his poems; he writes his thoughts down to alleviate his 24/7 heartache.
The songs take a decidedly gloomy turn after Laura's death. Petrarch becomes increasingly aware of the fleeting nature of earthly delights, meditating with increasing morbidity on the futility life. He struggles to relinquish his love of fame and even of Laura; he struggles to accept his own mortality and tries to looks forward to the next life, although it pains him to leave his earthy life behind. These poems--most of them sonnets--are highly sensitive articulations of the feelings one who is on the brink of death inevitably feels: they register the deep ambivalence he felt toward life, death, glory, and the woman who inspired and tortured him with her beauty throughout his adulthood. On the verge of death, he renounces all and awaits his death, where he hopes to see his beloved Laura again. This time, she will notice him and be glad to see him.
141
As at times in hot sunny weather
a guileless butterfly accustomed to the light,
flies in its wanderings into someone’s face,
causing it to die, and the other to weep:
so I am always running towards the sunlight of her eyes,
fatal to me, from which so much sweetness comes
that Love takes no heed of the reins of reason:
and he who discerns them is conquered by his desire.
And truly I see how much disdain they have for me,
and I know I am certain to die of them,
since my strength cannot counter the pain:
but Love dazzles me so sweetly,
that I weep for the other’s annoyance, not my hurt:
and my soul consents blindly to its death.
The poems Petrarch wrote while Laura was still alive track his unrequited love for Laura--and the tumult of being enamored of someone who, for all his devotion, he could never possess. He sees Laura in the clouds, in the fields, in the streams, in the trees. He's perpetually haunted by her. He vacillates endlessly between hope and despair. He transforms her into a paragon and emblem of all that is beautiful and good. He uses his love to fuel and energize his poems; he writes his thoughts down to alleviate his 24/7 heartache.
The songs take a decidedly gloomy turn after Laura's death. Petrarch becomes increasingly aware of the fleeting nature of earthly delights, meditating with increasing morbidity on the futility life. He struggles to relinquish his love of fame and even of Laura; he struggles to accept his own mortality and tries to looks forward to the next life, although it pains him to leave his earthy life behind. These poems--most of them sonnets--are highly sensitive articulations of the feelings one who is on the brink of death inevitably feels: they register the deep ambivalence he felt toward life, death, glory, and the woman who inspired and tortured him with her beauty throughout his adulthood. On the verge of death, he renounces all and awaits his death, where he hopes to see his beloved Laura again. This time, she will notice him and be glad to see him.
April 9, 2014
A fascinating collection of Petrarch’s Canzoniere that demonstrates the poets mastery and talents! Although the main theme of the collection is the poet’s love to Laura, who inspired him these Canzoniere, still these poems addresses different issues and themes. The poet talks about his first meeting with Laura and his falling in love at first sight with her, his suffering in love, the unrequited love, the paradox of pleasure and pain he experienced as a result of his love. However, the Canzoniere tackles other themes as well, such as the passing of time, nature of love, religion, and political issues, and glory. These collection was written in the vernacular language, and the translating is a beautiful and enchanting one. What is particularly charming in the Canzoniere is Petrarch’s analysis of his own mental states and emotions, which might signify that the poems are also about him too, not only Laura; namely about his lived experience. The collection includes different forms, but the sonnets constitute the majority of these forms (the others include sestine, madrigals, and ballate), and the made an important effect on sonnet writing then, not only in Italy. I enjoyed the book too much, especially, because it starts with two letters by Petrarch, the great Italian Laureate poet, that shed light on the man, who was seeking glory. I even enjoyed the introduction that provided important information about Petrarch.
June 9, 2024
Petrarch is one of the most important poets in the European tradition, but the reason I bought this volume was to read 'The Ascent of Mount Ventoux', the letter detailing his ascent of the mountain in the company of his brother and two servants, generally regarded as the first substantial account of climbing a mountain in existing literature. I am a devotee of mountain literature, so this was a necessary text for me, and it didn't disappoint. The book is worth it for this one piece. His 'Letter to Posterity' is also interesting, an account of his life that isn't self-indulgent and which opens a narrow window on the world of the 14th Century in Europe.
As for the poems... now I have to admit my own weakness. I didn't enjoy them. I didn't understand them, although it is clear that they are only about one subject: his love for a girl called Laura, a love so obsessive and all-encompassing that it feels almost like a self-parody. My mind kept wandering as I read these poems. I couldn't concentrate on the words. I read them dutifully but absorbed nothing. I guess that lyrical poetry just isn't my thing!
As for the poems... now I have to admit my own weakness. I didn't enjoy them. I didn't understand them, although it is clear that they are only about one subject: his love for a girl called Laura, a love so obsessive and all-encompassing that it feels almost like a self-parody. My mind kept wandering as I read these poems. I couldn't concentrate on the words. I read them dutifully but absorbed nothing. I guess that lyrical poetry just isn't my thing!
April 15, 2018
This is my first exposure to the famous Italian poet and humanist, Petrarch. This book is a small collection of his works which I think beautifully sum up his life and work.
There are three parts in this edition: The Letter to Posterity, Ascent of Mont Ventoux and a selection of works from the Canzoniere. The first is an autobiographical piece that is written with fabulous wit and detail. The second is a more philosophical and religious piece, which I did not enjoy as much as the first. The third and main part is the poetry from the Canzoniere. These are evocative and didactic poems that Petrarch wrote about a woman, Laura, whom he saw only once, but she instantly became his muse. The selections of poetry are great insights into the lovesickness felt by Petrarch, as well as his laments on life and death after learning of the death of his love.
All in all, this is a superbly translated version of Petrarch’s work, keeping with the original emotion. It is a quick and easy to read selection that I would recommend to anyone interested in the brilliant Petrarch.
5/5
There are three parts in this edition: The Letter to Posterity, Ascent of Mont Ventoux and a selection of works from the Canzoniere. The first is an autobiographical piece that is written with fabulous wit and detail. The second is a more philosophical and religious piece, which I did not enjoy as much as the first. The third and main part is the poetry from the Canzoniere. These are evocative and didactic poems that Petrarch wrote about a woman, Laura, whom he saw only once, but she instantly became his muse. The selections of poetry are great insights into the lovesickness felt by Petrarch, as well as his laments on life and death after learning of the death of his love.
All in all, this is a superbly translated version of Petrarch’s work, keeping with the original emotion. It is a quick and easy to read selection that I would recommend to anyone interested in the brilliant Petrarch.
5/5
June 14, 2025
Selections from the Canzoniere and Other Works by Francesco Petrarca – a look at this and a few hundred other works is available on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
10 out of 10
There are a few poems, sonnets of Francesco Petrarca that have had an immense impact on the under signed – knowing them by heart and reciting them periodically – for months, it was a daily ritual, I wish that will become part of the routine again – helped improve the mood, bring joy and serenity, happiness in the end
These masterpieces https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/10/... bring readers to a Higher State of Consciousness, Glasperlenspiel – the Talmud says ‘be careful with your thoughts, for they become words’ - and such words make one think of heaven, and they can even bring one there
The Talmud continues – ‘watch your words, for they become acts, be careful with your acts, because they become habits, habits form character and character is you’, I also think of the psychology experiments with words, that showed what a tremendous impact they have, even on our age, we could argue…
For this test, they had people come to this place and then there were two groups, one was exposed to words associated with old age – Florida, grey, slowly and the like – while the other group was spared this exposure, and at the end of the test, those ‘attacked with old words’ went on to take twice as long to get to the exit
- My point is Petrarca would make one fly
Let me write a little about one of my favorite poems, ‘m-a tintuit în dor si chin Iubirea ani douzeci si unu’ – I memorized it in my own tongue, and a translation would just harm it, but it is about being in love for twenty-one years, missing the loved one and crying, moaning for her – the latter sounds quite bad actually,
This is because my love has died, her eyes have closed, only again, this is not doing justice to the magnum opus, it is destroying it, however, in the form I have been keeping in my mind for so long, thinking of it even when…swimming, it was delight; why when swimming, well because I get bored just moving hands and feet for half an hour
Then it goes on with
- ‘I am tired and curse the weakness that eliminated the good wishes’
This is evidently far from the beatitude provoked by the verses, surely in the original, and if not that, then in a good, elevated, translation
The next steps are sublime:
- ‘The few days left, I dedicate to God
Which is ever more relevant now, for if when younger, I saw this as beautiful, but there was no way I would embrace faith, now, there are second thoughts
- I venerate God and praise his greatness
In other words, there is so much in such few lines, the lost love, pain suffered because of the loss of Laura
Nevertheless, there is redemption, possibly, and the remorse, the redemption envisaged, because he can see his mistake
Instead of moaning https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... the surviving lover should have thought of God
It goes back to rituals, habits form character and we are that, character strengths would include transcendence:
- Appreciation of excellence and beauty, gratitude, humor, hope, spirituality
These are the elements of transcendence, which contribute with other traits to our character, as identified by Martin Seligman
Martin Seligman https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... is the co-founder of
- Positive Psychology
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
10 out of 10
There are a few poems, sonnets of Francesco Petrarca that have had an immense impact on the under signed – knowing them by heart and reciting them periodically – for months, it was a daily ritual, I wish that will become part of the routine again – helped improve the mood, bring joy and serenity, happiness in the end
These masterpieces https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/10/... bring readers to a Higher State of Consciousness, Glasperlenspiel – the Talmud says ‘be careful with your thoughts, for they become words’ - and such words make one think of heaven, and they can even bring one there
The Talmud continues – ‘watch your words, for they become acts, be careful with your acts, because they become habits, habits form character and character is you’, I also think of the psychology experiments with words, that showed what a tremendous impact they have, even on our age, we could argue…
For this test, they had people come to this place and then there were two groups, one was exposed to words associated with old age – Florida, grey, slowly and the like – while the other group was spared this exposure, and at the end of the test, those ‘attacked with old words’ went on to take twice as long to get to the exit
- My point is Petrarca would make one fly
Let me write a little about one of my favorite poems, ‘m-a tintuit în dor si chin Iubirea ani douzeci si unu’ – I memorized it in my own tongue, and a translation would just harm it, but it is about being in love for twenty-one years, missing the loved one and crying, moaning for her – the latter sounds quite bad actually,
This is because my love has died, her eyes have closed, only again, this is not doing justice to the magnum opus, it is destroying it, however, in the form I have been keeping in my mind for so long, thinking of it even when…swimming, it was delight; why when swimming, well because I get bored just moving hands and feet for half an hour
Then it goes on with
- ‘I am tired and curse the weakness that eliminated the good wishes’
This is evidently far from the beatitude provoked by the verses, surely in the original, and if not that, then in a good, elevated, translation
The next steps are sublime:
- ‘The few days left, I dedicate to God
Which is ever more relevant now, for if when younger, I saw this as beautiful, but there was no way I would embrace faith, now, there are second thoughts
- I venerate God and praise his greatness
In other words, there is so much in such few lines, the lost love, pain suffered because of the loss of Laura
Nevertheless, there is redemption, possibly, and the remorse, the redemption envisaged, because he can see his mistake
Instead of moaning https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... the surviving lover should have thought of God
It goes back to rituals, habits form character and we are that, character strengths would include transcendence:
- Appreciation of excellence and beauty, gratitude, humor, hope, spirituality
These are the elements of transcendence, which contribute with other traits to our character, as identified by Martin Seligman
Martin Seligman https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... is the co-founder of
- Positive Psychology
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
May 15, 2019
This is an essential volume of Petrarch's poetry which also includes two superlative pieces of prose writing that highlight his importance as the "first humanist." The translation reads well and Petrarch's work speaks for itself. Not only is he important for his contribution to the development Sonnet form, but his ideas and conflicts about love, worldly glory, spirituality, and the overwhelming temporality of life have lost none of their power.
Want to read
February 19, 2008How could I pass up reading love poems about the unidentified Lady Laura. I have read some of them already. This book was given to me as present from a sweet person who was a great listener...and this was included in the best Valentine package I have ever received.
April 5, 2015
interesting read, and I got the impression that though his love for Laura is almost creepy at times, in some places it is not so much about a woman as his desire for glory....his love poems are maybe about more than just love
December 11, 2015
Gloomy but ultimately very moving love poems from one of the great poets of the Renaissance.
September 2, 2016
I really wanted to like this book, but I did not think I would like it as much as I do! This is actually perfect in it's own little way.
September 15, 2018
turns out they don't name a type of sonnet after you for nothing
October 17, 2022
Selections from the Canzoniere and Other Works by Petrarch (Oxford World Classics)
Plutarch's description of his spiritual experience climbing Mount Ventoux with his younger brother was moving. "The Ascent of Mount Ventoux: To Dionisio Da Borgo San Sepolcro" is an interesting piece of autobiographical material which seems to elucidate much of Plutarch's mindset behind his arete, behind the excellence of his writings. He describes how, while mountain climbing, he kept seeking to take an easier side path and each time it ended up being a waste of his time and strength, instead of taking the direct, difficult way of ascent that his brother consistently took. It drove him to reflection on his spiritual failing. "I rejoiced in my progress, mourned for my weaknesses, and took pity on the universal inconstancy of human conduct." When a top the mountain, he opened a small volume of Augustine's Confessions at random, (in a way similar to Augustine's opening the Scriptures at random as recounted in the Confessions in a testimony of his conversion), and the first words his eyes saw were: "And men go about admiring the high mountains and the mighty waves of the sea and the wide sweep of rivers and the sound of the ocean and the movement of the stars, but they themselves they abandon." This piqued my interest more in Plutarch.
It might be said that Plutarch is struggling in this letter and in his poems to see with the symbolic imagination, rather than to sink into a mere immanence, characteristic of modern atheism. He sees the marvelous beauty and splendor of created things, and he is wrapt in adoring devotion to Laura, but also birthing a transcendent vision through the medium of her beauty and virtue.
In the introduction to this volume by Mark Musa, he makes the observation, "One might say Petrarch loved Petrarch more than anything or anyone else, and because of this he kept detailed records of his life and works." That strikes me as damning, but the aforementioned letter makes me wonder, and admittedly hope, that I will find in Petrarch's poetry more than just excessive self-love. The quote from Augustine points to a self-focus of self-examen as something evaded in the quest for adventure and experience, something of core significance. Many of Jesus' words seem to enjoin such a self-examination, and spur on to it.
The atheist might be said to suborn, or suppress the idea of sin, diving into a mere immanence. They avoid knowing themselves.
I am reminded of the words of Dante in Paradiso:
"this is no crossing for a little bark - the sea that my audacious prow now cleaves-
Nor for a helmsman who would spare himself…" I take his "audacious prow" to mean the Divine Comedy itself which he has written. In another Canto he described the poem in these terms:
" If this sacred poem--
This work so shared by heaven and by earth
That it has made me lean through these long years…"
Dante recognized the worth of his poem and also alludes to the rigor it cost him in writing it, an undertaking that was not for "a helmsman who would spare himself." Like Dante, Petrarch's elder contemporary, Petrarch recognizes in the metaphor of his experience with ascent of the mountain, that he must not be a helmsman who would spare himself- he must come to know himself.
I continue to be suspicious of Petrarch even though my admiration for his charm grows with direct exposure to his work.
In the second of the Canzoniere, Petrarch describes his state of being overcome with love for Laura when his strength was in his heart, and being defenseless from the passion. He describes love as unable "to lead me cleverly back up the high, hard mountain, saving me from slaughter." The footnote says "the high, hard mountain" is the symbol for Reason. It seems to me there is also an allusion to Petrarch's spiritual experience in the ascent.
Canzoniere 22 is a very beautiful and fascinating description of his passionate love for Laura.
Petrarch and Dante's examples as devoted craftsmen who accepted the deliberate rigor they were called to is challenging and bracing to me. I recognize in Petrarch's self-description a similarity with myself- a preferring of the easier path, of comfort at the expense of the cross I am called to.
**
I finished the selection of Plutarch's Canzoniere today. I am impressed by the level of his self-expression, the nuance and the refinement of it, and at once the immediacy and intimacy of the poems. I can now say I've had direct exposure to his greatness.
"The sluggard is a coward. He has no love for work, and therefore he is always ready to cheat his soul, 'inventing some vain excuse, so he will not have to do his duty,' reads Reformer's Notes. He shrinks from every work likely to involve trouble. Fancied dangers frighten him from real and present duties. There is a lion without- I shall be slain in the streets- an absurd excuse! As if public streets except in special cases, were the haunts of wild beasts. He is afraid of being slain outside when he willingly gives himself up to be slain within." -Charles Bridges, A Modern Study of the Book of Proverbs, pg. 486-87 commentary on Proverbs 22:13
Plutarch's description of his spiritual experience climbing Mount Ventoux with his younger brother was moving. "The Ascent of Mount Ventoux: To Dionisio Da Borgo San Sepolcro" is an interesting piece of autobiographical material which seems to elucidate much of Plutarch's mindset behind his arete, behind the excellence of his writings. He describes how, while mountain climbing, he kept seeking to take an easier side path and each time it ended up being a waste of his time and strength, instead of taking the direct, difficult way of ascent that his brother consistently took. It drove him to reflection on his spiritual failing. "I rejoiced in my progress, mourned for my weaknesses, and took pity on the universal inconstancy of human conduct." When a top the mountain, he opened a small volume of Augustine's Confessions at random, (in a way similar to Augustine's opening the Scriptures at random as recounted in the Confessions in a testimony of his conversion), and the first words his eyes saw were: "And men go about admiring the high mountains and the mighty waves of the sea and the wide sweep of rivers and the sound of the ocean and the movement of the stars, but they themselves they abandon." This piqued my interest more in Plutarch.
It might be said that Plutarch is struggling in this letter and in his poems to see with the symbolic imagination, rather than to sink into a mere immanence, characteristic of modern atheism. He sees the marvelous beauty and splendor of created things, and he is wrapt in adoring devotion to Laura, but also birthing a transcendent vision through the medium of her beauty and virtue.
In the introduction to this volume by Mark Musa, he makes the observation, "One might say Petrarch loved Petrarch more than anything or anyone else, and because of this he kept detailed records of his life and works." That strikes me as damning, but the aforementioned letter makes me wonder, and admittedly hope, that I will find in Petrarch's poetry more than just excessive self-love. The quote from Augustine points to a self-focus of self-examen as something evaded in the quest for adventure and experience, something of core significance. Many of Jesus' words seem to enjoin such a self-examination, and spur on to it.
The atheist might be said to suborn, or suppress the idea of sin, diving into a mere immanence. They avoid knowing themselves.
I am reminded of the words of Dante in Paradiso:
"this is no crossing for a little bark - the sea that my audacious prow now cleaves-
Nor for a helmsman who would spare himself…" I take his "audacious prow" to mean the Divine Comedy itself which he has written. In another Canto he described the poem in these terms:
" If this sacred poem--
This work so shared by heaven and by earth
That it has made me lean through these long years…"
Dante recognized the worth of his poem and also alludes to the rigor it cost him in writing it, an undertaking that was not for "a helmsman who would spare himself." Like Dante, Petrarch's elder contemporary, Petrarch recognizes in the metaphor of his experience with ascent of the mountain, that he must not be a helmsman who would spare himself- he must come to know himself.
I continue to be suspicious of Petrarch even though my admiration for his charm grows with direct exposure to his work.
In the second of the Canzoniere, Petrarch describes his state of being overcome with love for Laura when his strength was in his heart, and being defenseless from the passion. He describes love as unable "to lead me cleverly back up the high, hard mountain, saving me from slaughter." The footnote says "the high, hard mountain" is the symbol for Reason. It seems to me there is also an allusion to Petrarch's spiritual experience in the ascent.
Canzoniere 22 is a very beautiful and fascinating description of his passionate love for Laura.
Petrarch and Dante's examples as devoted craftsmen who accepted the deliberate rigor they were called to is challenging and bracing to me. I recognize in Petrarch's self-description a similarity with myself- a preferring of the easier path, of comfort at the expense of the cross I am called to.
**
I finished the selection of Plutarch's Canzoniere today. I am impressed by the level of his self-expression, the nuance and the refinement of it, and at once the immediacy and intimacy of the poems. I can now say I've had direct exposure to his greatness.
"The sluggard is a coward. He has no love for work, and therefore he is always ready to cheat his soul, 'inventing some vain excuse, so he will not have to do his duty,' reads Reformer's Notes. He shrinks from every work likely to involve trouble. Fancied dangers frighten him from real and present duties. There is a lion without- I shall be slain in the streets- an absurd excuse! As if public streets except in special cases, were the haunts of wild beasts. He is afraid of being slain outside when he willingly gives himself up to be slain within." -Charles Bridges, A Modern Study of the Book of Proverbs, pg. 486-87 commentary on Proverbs 22:13
Read
May 13, 2025some lines:
“the bitter shadow of our heavy veil” (122)
“so light of wisdom, so laden of error, / that i myself do not know what i want, / and shiver in midsummer, burn in winter” (132)
“i find no peace, and i am not at war, / i fear and hope, and burn and i am ice; / i fly above the heavens, and lie on earth, / and i grasp nothing and embrace the world” (134) it is interesting to note this paradoxical motif employed throughout the Canzoniere. the throes and ecstasies of unrequited love, the burns and chills, the desire and disgust (at least, the disgust he feels toward himself).
“and my soul, blind, consents to its own death” (141)
“hold tight now while you can, / for, as you know, delay is dangerous, / and now is not too early to begin” (264) it’s nice to compare this last quote with his letter “The Ascent of Mount Ventoux” and the quote included from Saint Augustine’s Confessions, “and men go about admiring the high mountains and the mighty waves of the sea and the wide sweep of rivers and the sound of the ocean and the movement of stars, but they themselves they abandon.”
“the bitter shadow of our heavy veil” (122)
“so light of wisdom, so laden of error, / that i myself do not know what i want, / and shiver in midsummer, burn in winter” (132)
“i find no peace, and i am not at war, / i fear and hope, and burn and i am ice; / i fly above the heavens, and lie on earth, / and i grasp nothing and embrace the world” (134) it is interesting to note this paradoxical motif employed throughout the Canzoniere. the throes and ecstasies of unrequited love, the burns and chills, the desire and disgust (at least, the disgust he feels toward himself).
“and my soul, blind, consents to its own death” (141)
“hold tight now while you can, / for, as you know, delay is dangerous, / and now is not too early to begin” (264) it’s nice to compare this last quote with his letter “The Ascent of Mount Ventoux” and the quote included from Saint Augustine’s Confessions, “and men go about admiring the high mountains and the mighty waves of the sea and the wide sweep of rivers and the sound of the ocean and the movement of stars, but they themselves they abandon.”
June 8, 2025
Truly beautiful. I think Mark Musa (you might be already familiar with his translation of Dante) does a brilliant job at translating again.
As for Petrarch, he truly is amazing in writing and composing his vernacular sonnets. The devotion to Laura is perhaps reminiscent of the classical authors like Catullus' Lesbia, Propertius' Cynthia, or Tibullus' Delia. But, in contrary, this love of his seems one sided, and his obsession with Laura seems greater than any other poet I ever read. Sonnets 132 and 134 are quite striking as it deals with a feeling of almost indescribable ambiguity of the sensation of love. 132 is even picked up by Chaucers' Troilus before sonnets became a standard in English poetry.
Overall, I think this book in particular does a brilliant job introducing the reader to Petrarch, his key letters recounting his experiences are key in understanding him and how humanism and renaissance was born. However, I would have loved to see more of his neo-latin works like Africa.
As for Petrarch, he truly is amazing in writing and composing his vernacular sonnets. The devotion to Laura is perhaps reminiscent of the classical authors like Catullus' Lesbia, Propertius' Cynthia, or Tibullus' Delia. But, in contrary, this love of his seems one sided, and his obsession with Laura seems greater than any other poet I ever read. Sonnets 132 and 134 are quite striking as it deals with a feeling of almost indescribable ambiguity of the sensation of love. 132 is even picked up by Chaucers' Troilus before sonnets became a standard in English poetry.
Overall, I think this book in particular does a brilliant job introducing the reader to Petrarch, his key letters recounting his experiences are key in understanding him and how humanism and renaissance was born. However, I would have loved to see more of his neo-latin works like Africa.
August 24, 2022
The author Petrarch, Italy in the 1300s, is where we get all those love poem tropes! He was influential, I’m pretty sure, because he’s the kind of author who inspires readers to go away and write some of that too, and therefore we got generations of poems to perfectly noble and beautiful ladies.
It’s actually a little brain-bending. He’s outspokenly Christian and also had a years-long unrequited passion for Laura. This caused a certain amount of inner conflict.
His writings are all short and to the point, and tend to be organized around a bright central image, so a decent amount of the poem-ness carries through in translation. And, as mentioned above, you may go away oozing poetry of your own.
Besides love poems, we also have here a handful of (then) current event poems and a literal mountaintop spiritual experience, heavily inspired by Augustine’s Confessions. WHO KNEW.
It’s actually a little brain-bending. He’s outspokenly Christian and also had a years-long unrequited passion for Laura. This caused a certain amount of inner conflict.
His writings are all short and to the point, and tend to be organized around a bright central image, so a decent amount of the poem-ness carries through in translation. And, as mentioned above, you may go away oozing poetry of your own.
Besides love poems, we also have here a handful of (then) current event poems and a literal mountaintop spiritual experience, heavily inspired by Augustine’s Confessions. WHO KNEW.
January 27, 2025
Petrarch is an amazing literary discovery; I figured he was one of those writers who is more respected than loved as "the father of the Renaissance," but I was not expecting him to be so ahead of his time for a man of the early-to-mid-14th-century. "The Ascent of Mt. Ventoux" is a sterling personal essay that could easily hail from the time of British Romanticism until now, and also a prime example of the Great Conversation in action as Petrarch grapples with Augustine's Confessions. The love poems are, well, lovely. Many of them rely on the same sort of conceits that were so beloved by the Metaphysical poets, and they are up there with the finest lyrics of all time. Though this collection is very slim, it is perfectly curated and easily recommendable. You get so much of his fascinating life and personality in these 76 pages.
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