Petrarch 3

3. Poems six through fifteen further glorify Laura, although there are a few random sonnets within as well. Petrarch asserts that his desire "flies ahead of [his] slow running" in its pursuit of she who is "light and free of the snares of Love." This indicates a very one-sided attraction, where Petrarch is in love with a woman who does not feel the same toward him. Petrarch also suggests that Love has the power to deeply wound him, "as against [his] will [Love] carries [him] off to death." This is obviously an exaggeration, as Petrarch was not fatally wounded by love, but the point comes across quite strongly. Love has a tremendous hold on Petrarch, one that leaves him helpless and wounded. According to a later sonnet, Petrarch had no choice but to fall in love. He was "free and in peace... passing through this mortal life, which every living thing desires, without fear of finding on the way anything to snare us." However, as soon as he saw Laura, his life changed forever. Now "he remains in the power of another, near his end, bound with a greater chain." Whether he chose his fate or not, there is no escaping it now. He is in the reign of a lady so beautiful that "she among ladies is a sun," clearly possessing unparalleled beauty. As the poems progress it seems that Petrarch's feelings have become known to Laura, but that she dismisses them. Since "Love has made [her] aware of [him], [her] blond hair has been veiled and [her] lovely gaze kept to itself." It appears that Laura has become bashful in her morality, refusing to lead on a man while she is married to another. I respect this in her; as we talked about in class, one of my big issues was whether he wanted her solely for lust or whether he truly loved her. I feel that if Petrarch was content to watch her from afar in order to preserve her purity and dignity, it could be love that he was feeling. However, if Petrarch tried desperately to win her affections, even if it meant asking her to commit adultery, he was simply in lust. If one truly loves someone, he or she would never ask the beloved to abandon his or her moral standards. I'm not sure what this says about Petrarch, but I respect Laura for putting her veil on, so to speak, and ignoring his advances. Backing up my lust vs. love argument, Petrarch makes a lot of physical-based comments about Laura once again in this section. He mentions the "light of [her] lovely eyes," pines for her "hair of fine gold made silver," speaks of her "garlands and clothes of green," and yearns to live long enough to see her "face lose its hue." As touching as these sentiments may be, they are all appearance-based. Relationships based wholly on appearance are lustful relationships, which makes me question Petrarch's motives. However, a slightly redeeming factor occurs in his mention of her valor. Petrarch claims that "from [Laura] comes the courageous joy that leads you to Heaven along a straight path, so that already I go high with hope." He mentions his eyes looking "so high" upon seeing her, indicating either a heavenly appearance or a heavenly demeanor. I'll give Petrarch the benefit of the doubt and assume that in this case he is not referring to her beauty, as he so often does, but her character. Petrarch ends these ten sonnets on a dramatic note, claiming that "death alone can cut off [his] thoughts from the amorous path that leads them to the sweet port of their healing." He says that the only cure for his incomparable love is death, in my opinion a very dramatic thing to say.


4. Most of the poems within this section seem to remain similar in progression to what we've seen so far; however, there have been a few differences. The first "odd" poem, so to speak, is number seven. While written in the standard style, the actual message of the sonnet does not fit with the Laura theme. Sonnet seven speaks of "gluttony and sleep and the pillow of idleness" banishing "all virtue" from the world, and the "benign light of heaven by which human life should be shaped." It also makes a reference to poetry, claiming that those interested in creating poetry are frowned upon. "Philosophy, you go poor and naked!" asserts a mob. Petrarch seems to be emphasizing the importance of religion, poetry, and philosophy, which would go along with his humanistic views. However, the poem definitely sticks out in context, as it doesn't fit with the flow of the other sonnets. Sonnet ten is the other sonnet that does not fit naturally into the progression: it once again talks about poetry, this time speaks of how there are "no palaces, no theater or gallery, but in their stead a fir tree, a beech, a pine... and the nearby mountain where we climb and descend poetizing." Once again he seems to be expression admiration for poetry, but once again it seems out of place within the sonnets.


5. The love vs. lust debate seems to be heating up, at least for me. The more of the sonnets I read, the more I notice the physical descriptions and praise but the lack of mention of character. Even when he does mention her virtuous nature, it could be taken multiple ways, one of which is a lust-driven frenzy. I would like to believe that Petrarch truly loved Laura, but as I mentioned previously, him apparently making his feelings known makes me question whether he was being entirely genuine. Overall it still fits with my research: Petrarch loved a woman who could not, or would not, love him back. He continues to pine for her, but she continues to ignore his advances. The "misfit" sonnets point to humanism, an ideology which Petrarch is said to be the founder of.


6. There has been nothing notable about any of the sonnets in this section regarding style and format. Petrarch continues to use Petrarchan sonnet form. The rhymes remain the same, and there are no hidden "LAU-RE-TA"s. As far as style goes, this section was fairly monotone. Not necessarily boring, but nothing to report.