Petrarch 4

3. In sonnets 358-366 it is implied that Laura has died. Petrarch begins the sonnets in a state of deep mourning. He claims that, "Death cannot make her sweet face bitter, but her sweet face can make death sweet," a very strong statement in my mind. In making such a bold claim, it seems that he is implying that he would welcome death, so long as Laura accompanies it. Petrarch would rather be with Laura in death than without her in life. I find this kind of ironic, though, considering he was never really with her in life either. At one point, Petrarch suggests that Laura's ghost has spoken to him, telling him to feel no sorrow in her death. Again, extremely far-fetched, given the fact that they did not know one another. I feel like at this point Petrarch is delusional, grasping for any hope he can find. I was really confused by the lines "Sometimes my heart trembles with a sweet chill, hearing her for whom I grow pale say to me: "Friend, now I love you and now I honor you, because you have changed your habits and your hair."" Laura is dead, and she died NOT loving Petrarch. I don't think "changing his hair" would have that tremendous of an effect, unless he's suggesting she was incredibly shallow in life. If that is the case, why does Petrarch praise her moral strength? This line seems to contradict everything Petrarch built up in the first few sonnets. He also implies that they will be together when he reaches heaven, but if she wouldn't have him on earth, I doubt this is the way it will work in the afterlife. Soon after, the theme of the sonnets changes dramatically. In sonnet 364, Petrarch acknowledges his foolishness in wasting his time on a woman who did not love him back. He asks for God's forgiveness and guidance. Here again, Petrarch strays from what he built. The entire 363 preceding sonnets appeared to be written over the course of one year, but sonnet 364 mentions that "Love held [him] twenty-one years gladly burning in the fire and full of hope amid sorrow; since my lady, and my heart with her, rose to Heaven, ten more years of weeping." This suggests that he has been in love with Laura for twenty-one years, which certainly does not fit the one year idea.


4. The biggest change in the progression of these poems obviously stems from Laura's death. Petrarch can no longer gaze upon her beauty; he can no longer physically long for something he cannot have. While he has the memory of her, he no longer has her. While most of the previous sonnets were melancholy in his unrequited love, none were as sorrowful as the poems following her death. He speaks of wishing for death, something he would not have ever done had Laura been alive. I still fail to see how it's such a big deal to him, as he never really knew her. Another change occurs when Petrarch acknowledges his wasted time. For the first time through all of the poems, he recognizes the lost time and asks for forgiveness. He realizes that Laura never loved him and that he should have given it up. This is a HUGE change from previous sonnets, in which his obliviousness and naivety allowed him to imagine a world where Laura would one day leap into his arms, proclaiming her love for him.


5. I did not encounter anything in my research that warned me of the change from sorrow to remorse. Nobody mentioned that he realized he wasted years of his life. Because of this, and because it is so unlike Petrarch throughout his earlier poems to admit flaw in loving Laura, I certainly did not see his change in heart coming. I was completely surprised when he acknowledged his foolishness and prayed for guidance. However, some scholars did mention Laura's death, so that didn't surprise me, although scholars admit that it was years later, and the whole romance did not take place over one year. I wonder why Petrarch chose to present it as a single year?


6. There are two deviations from typical Petrarchan-style sonnets in this block of poems. The first comes in 359, which is incredibly long. It is written in somewhat typical format, just much longer than the usual sonnet. It is 33 lines, as opposed to the usual 14. The second different poem is also the final poem, number 366. This poem is 13 lines long and is not at all in sonnet form. It appears to have irregular rhyme scheme, with no direct pattern, although there are some ABAB patterns.