#canzoniere

[punti-disutura]

“E tutto seppe, e non se stessa, amare.”

Umberto Saba, Canzoniere.

[thatweirdkkid]

come si può festeggiare la Giornata della donna senza il grande trio delle Corone Fiorentine🤌

[rosa-dei-venti]

...OK. We may have a small art history mystery here. Bear with me, I'm probably full of shit, BUT. So: Neapolitan artist Salvatore Postiglione. This painting is attributed to him, and identified on Wikimedia Commons (referencing a German auction house that apparently listed this painting a while ago) as Dante and Beatrice. The problem is, I am convinced that's actually Petrarch and Laura. This guy looks nothing like the traditional image of Dante, which I wouldn't have an issue with except for two things: 1. He DOES look a lot like several existing portraits of Petrarca. A round-ish and somewhat boyish face, large eyes, that very particular red hood with the round neckline and laurel crown over it, and - you know it - fabulous, glamorous red hose. (I am not seriously presuming to use the hose as an identifying piece of iconography, I just find it delightful how often he shows up in them. Slay, darling.) 2. There is another painting attributed to Postiglione of Dante, Virgil and Matelda, in which Dante looks like our standard-issue Dante, with the aquiline nose and angular face, the red and white cap, and everything we're used to seeing him in. (Hiiiiii Virgilio you look gorgeous too, whatever you're doing with your hair keep it up.)

Now back to the original painting, the one identified as Dante and Beatrice. What's with the setting? I could see that woman being Matelda, in an idyllic Eden setting from the end of Purgatorio, except I'd wonder where Virgilio is. But Beatrice? She appears in Canto 30 surrounded by angels, and addresses Dante directly. It doesn't fit. This is an apparently secular scene. Our lady has already taken off her cloak and seems to be about to strip the rest off to go for a swim, with our red-stockinged poet watching her from an extremely inconspicuous hiding spot behind a single tree branch. I submit: no. 126 from the Rerum vulgarium fragmenta, one of the most famous poems in the collection. It begins: Chiare, fresche et dolci acque, ove le belle membra pose colei che sola a me par donna; gentil ramo ove piacque (con sospir’ mi rimembra) a lei di fare al bel fiancho colonna. Clear and cool sweet waters where the only woman who seemed a woman to me rested her beautiful limbs; the slender branch she liked so much (I sigh when I remember it) stood like a column by her lovely side. There is a rather prominently depicted slender sapling right at the woman's side in the painting, and as far as I can tell, it appears to be a laurel. A later verse continues: Da’ be’ rami scendea (dolce ne la memoria) una pioggia di fior’ sovra ’l suo grembo... From those beautiful branches (the memory is sweet) a rain of flowers fell into her lap... Also present in this painting: flowers and petals showering down around this "Beatrice", who is...actually Laura. How did this get misidentified? Does anybody know where this painting actually is (i.e., is it in a museum or a private collection?) It seems to be in a great big loop of Wikimedia referring back to itself, and other sites referring back to Wikimedia. Am I full of shit? Is this a scene in the Vita Nuova that I've totally blanked on? Am I just seeing Petrarca in the clouds and the coffee stains at this point?

[canterai]

dal cor l'anima stanca si scompagna

[ellavei]

AHHHHHH THANK YOU FOR RELEASING A SEQUEL SERIES ABOUT CESARE, FUYUMI SORYO SENSEI!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[indiasessays]

A critical commentary on Solo e pensoso I più deserti campi and Sento l'aura mia antica, e i dolci colli in Petrarch's Canzoniere.

Petrarch’s Canzoniere or the Rerum Vulgarium Fragmenta (RVF)1 is a carefully constructed narrative2 of the poet's emotional and psychological journey, comprising 366 lyric poems. It mediates on the difficulties of love for the unattainable muse, Laura. Petrarch ruminates on emotional isolation, the passage of time and his own personal identity- told via the first-person ‘io’. Sonnet XXXV (Solo e pensoso i più deserto campi)3 depicts the poet’s unshakeable love for Laura, depicting a sense of isolation pinned upon ‘Amor’ among the vastness of nature. Sonnet CCCXX (Sento l’aura mia antica, e i dolci colli)4 similarly depicts the despair and torment of loving someone, but through evoking a sense of return to a familiar place, again addressing love’s paradoxical nature. The former sonnet is written in the ‘in Vita’ section of the collection, whereas the latter is included in the ‘in Morte,’ which reference Laura’s life, and her death and its aftermath5. Unlike his Florentine contemporaries Dante and Bocaccio, Petrarch’s self- consciousness is wholly apparent throughout. He ultimately presents the modern notion of love as something which creates suffering and misery, rather than a celebration of a higher force6. Both sonnets can be viewed as an exploration into the contradictory nature of love: the motif of the past simultaneously serves as a means of solace and torment, in the same way that Petrarch presents his love for Laura. They stand as mediations on longing, isolation and the relationship between memory and identity.

Petrarch did not write the poems in the order in which they are presented in the collection and often edited them in a sporadic manner7. The reader is encouraged to read the whole collection, rather than separate poems8. By doing so, the poems which are presented far away from each

other can be connected9. Unlike his Florentine contemporary Dante, Petrarch does not include prose to guide the reader. Instead, the narrative is intended to be intertwined into the RVF as a whole, and we must study it as a macro text10. Petrarch wrote for the learned elite in his time: the humanists who were the only intellectuals able to untangle lyric poetry11. Therefore, the reader must decipher the narrative for themselves. Thus, RVF XXXV and CCCXX are already more connected than assumed from their distance in the collection, before their content is read.

Both sonnets include the classic Italian hendecasyllabic meter to create a rhythmic regularity which mirrors the poet’s repetitive suffering. Both sonnets employ the typical structure for a Petrarchan sonnet, whereby the octave’s rhyme scheme is ABBAABBA, and the sestet either CDECDE (RVF XXXV) or CDCCDC (RVFCCCXX). This Petrarchan feature explicitly informs the reader that the sonnets’ content will discuss unattainable love12. Although similar in structure, the difference in the rhyme scheme of the sestets is employed to explore their respective themes of time and solitude. This structure naturally provides a sense of a dilemma accompanied by resolution.

In RVF XXXV, the poet’s sense of isolation is described through natural expansive imagery, like the “deserti campi” (1). Additionally, the use of enjambment in the octave reflects the restless quality of the sonnet and creates the image of the poet’s internal thoughts spilling out desperately outside of the ‘lines’ of the poem. The weight of the poet’s despair is apparent through the slow and balanced rhythm, and the opening line “Solo e pensoso i più deserti campi" (1) immediately sets the tone for the speaker's solitude with the subject “solo.” It is

noteworthy that all the verbs in this sonnet are in the present tense, to amplify the inescapable notion of the torment of “Amor”13. The volta introduces a philosophical reflection: “sì ch' io mi credo omai...” (9) whereby the rest of the sonnet relates the natural imagery directly with his person: “monti et piagge et fiumi et selve sappian di che tempre sia la mia vita”(9/10). The use of listing adds to the sense of conclusion that no matter how “aspre” or “selvagge” the paths he wanders are, his love for Laura is

inescapable. Here, Petrarch uses the rules of the Petrarchan sonnet to create the answer to his question: that there is no resolution. No matter how far he travels, there is not a place on Earth he can go where “Amor” does not follow. It is therefore clear in this sonnet that the natural elements are directly linked to his feelings for Laura, despite her not being explicitly mentioned. The inability to resolve his emotional turmoil reflects the wider thematic concern of the RVF where the poet’s internal conflicts are rarely resolved.

While RVF CCCXX follows the same formal division of the Petrarchan sonnet, there is a slight difference in the sestet to reflect the differing emotional trajectory of the sonnet. The octave immediately introduces a nostalgic return: “Sento l’aura mia antica, e i dolci colli”(1). Compared to the desolate vocabulary used in RVF XXXV, this sonnet is wholly more serene and reflective: tinged with melancholy instead of consumed by it. The memories contain a semantic field of peace: “lume”, “Ciel”. Yet the sense of dilemma or a problem is still very much intact through Petrarch’s use of the distressed exclamations: “O caduche speranze, o penser folli!”(5). Rather than the linear approach seen in RVF XXXV of ‘question and answer,’ RVF CCCXX incorporates a cyclical shift. It offers a resignation to the inevitability of time, by reflecting the same idea in the octave into the sestet and volta. This can be understood greater with the knowledge that Petrarch originally wrote the sonnets with seven lines of twenty-two syllables,

with the circular dimensions of 22/7 (3.14)14. This reflects the speaker’s ongoing return to the motif of the past, which represents both comfort and misery.

From the restless isolation in RVF XXXV to the reflective nostalgia in RVF CCCXX, Petrarch demonstrates how his suffering, thoughts about Laura and the passage and time can never truly be resolved or completed. Given that RVF XXXV is written in the ‘In Vita’ section of the collection, and RVF CCCXX in the ‘In Morte,’ Petrarch presents tensions between life and death shown through the differing vocabulary within RVF XXXV and RVF CCCXX. RVF XXXV’s language reflects its theme of isolation, introducing the motif of solitude through words like “solo”, “deserti” and “pensoso” (1). “Deserti” echoes the speaker’s sense of loneliness upon the belief that nobody but nature around him truly understands his despair. The barren landscape mirrors the psychological state of abandonment felt by the poet. An inhospitable atmosphere is created through the imagery of the “campi”(1) and “selve”(10). The speaker's external and internal world is consumed by absence: a metaphor for the unattainability of Laura. RVF CCCXX instead invokes a more nostalgic tone, through “l’ aura,” “i dolci colli”(1) which conveys a sense of familiarity and intimacy, “dolci” suggesting a yearning for a time where love was sweet or innocent. “Belli occhi suoi”(10) is also reminiscent and nostalgic, seemingly forgetful of RVF CLXXVIIII15 whereby Petrarch depicts Laura’s gaze to be like “Medusa” (10). This conveys a romanticisation of Laura after her death and represents the shifting perception of her throughout. The “aura” evokes a longing for something in the temporal distance while also playing on the homophone “Laura,” to emphasise how she mentally and physically surrounds him. It can also suggest ‘l’ ora’ (time), and “oro” (gold) as a reiteration of Laura’s preciousness and unattainability. The reference to ‘laurel’ further evokes poetic fame16. The homophones showcase Petrarch's literary skill, as draw on the vocabulary famously used in Ovid’s myths of

Daphne and Apollo to deepen the emotional complexity of the poem17. The speaker is portrayed as a victim of love, limited in agency, much like the Ovidian figures in Metamorphoses.18

Alongside the calendrical structure of the collection19, it is apparent that the passage of time and expansive nature are key themes throughout. The intricate wordplay and wide scope of vocabulary depicts a classical medieval poetry quality20. Not even Petrarch's contemporaries could fully understand Petrarch’s use of symbolism within the collection21. While both sonnets use intricate vocabulary to highlight the theme of isolation, the contrast between these two representations highlights a shift from despair (RVF XXXV) to mediative and resigned (RVF CCCXX). The speaker’s surroundings in RVF XXXV amplify the depth of his torment, while in RVF CCCXX- while still yearning- seems more comforting. This represents the classical motif of the divided self, as seen in Ovid’s myths.

The emphasis placed on the sense of despair in RVF XXXV and CCCXX depicts a presentation of the poet’s inner experiences, rather than an account of factual events. The audience is summoned to read the autobiographical nature of the poem, told in the first-person poetic “io,” revealing an emotional journey. The speaker is both the subject and the object of the sonnets and the collection, rather than its muse, Laura. The question of Laura’s fictitiousness arises in Petrarch’s letter to Colonna22 asserting her historical nature, denying her as a poetic invention. However, modern tradition argues that questions of the truthfulness of texts is less important than examining the poet’s poetics23. Laura can be seen as an idealised reality, allowing Petrarch to depict his internal world more relatabley. She represents the allegory of the laurel,

which in turn ‘crowns’ him24, framing the collection as a poetic imagination, rather than mere documentation.

Both RVF XXXV and CCCXX provide insights into the broader themes of the collection: of solitude, memory, nature, love, and the navigation of an emotional and psychological journey. With only small differences in rhyme scheme, vocabulary and tone, both sonnets ultimately encapsulate the nature of the collection: one which depicts the inner turmoil of loving someone to the point of no return. Once the emotion is there, it does not leave. Both sonnets discuss the nature of love’s paradoxical nature. The sonnets explore Petrarch’s personal struggles and the broader tensions of the RVF. Petrarch- the speaker- is ultimately a victim of the intensity of love, to the point at which he feels he must revisit this feeling three hundred and sixty-six times.

Footnotes:

1 Francesco Petrarca, Petrarch’s Lyric Poems ITAL, ed./trans. By Robert M. Durling, (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1976). 2 Michelangelo Picone, ‘Petrarch and the Unfinished Book’, Francis Petrarch & the European Lyric Tradition, 22 (2004) pp. 45-60 (46).

3 Petrarca, pp.94-95. 4 Petrarca, pp.498-499. 5 Petrarca, pp.484-485. 6 Havely, p.229. 7 Picone, p.46. 8 Peter Hainsworth, ‘Rerum Vulgarium Fragmenta: Structure and Narrative’, in The Cambridge Companion to Petrarch, ed. By Albert Russell Ascoli and Uni Falkeid, Cambridge Companions

to Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015) pp.39-50 (39).

9 Picone, p.45. 10 Hainsworth, p.39. 11 Marco Santagata, “Io” e “tu” fra Stilnovo e Petrarca (2017), Marco Santagata<http://www.marcosantagata.it/1/io_e_tu_19178.html> [accessed 18 December 2024]. 12 Robert Hollander, ‘Vita Nuova: Dante's Perceptions of Beatrice’ in Dante Studies, with the Annual Report of the Dante Society, (Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press, 1974), pp.1-18.

13 Thomas E. Peterson, ‘The Fabulous Petrarch: "La raccolta del 1342" as the Source of the

Fabulous in "Rerum vulgarium fragmenta”’, Annali d'Italianistica, 22 (2004), pp.61-84 (71).

14 Janet L Smarr, ‘Reviewed Work(s): Chi Era Laura? by Wilhelm Pötters: Petrarch the Poet. An Introduction to the Rerum Vulgrium Fragmenta. by Peter Hainsworth’, Renaissance Quarterly, 42.3 (1989), pp.546-549 (547). 15 Petrarca, pp.324-325.

16 John Freccero, ‘The Fig Tree and the Laurel: Petrarch's Poetics’, Diacritics, 5.1 (1975) pp.34- 40 (34).

17 Gordon Braden ‘Beyond Frustration: Petrarchan Laurels in the Seventeenth Century’,Studies in English Literature, 26.1 (1986) pp.5-23 (8). 18 Charles Segal, Ovid's "Metamorphoses": Greek Myth in Augustan Rome, Studies in Philology, 68.4 (1971) pp.371-394 (378).

19 Thomas P Roche, ‘The Calendrical Structure of Petrarch's "Canzoniere”’, Studies in Philology, 71.2 (1974) pp.152-173 (152). 20 Thomas E. Peterson, ‘The Fabulous Petrarch: "La raccolta del 1342" as the Source of the Fabulous in "Rerum vulgarium fragmenta”’, Annali d'Italianistica, 22 (2004) pp. 61-84 (71).

21 David Wallace, Reviewed Work(s): Petrarch. Poet and Humanist. Writers of Italy Series by Kenelm Foster, New Blackfriars, 65.773 (1984) pp. 487-489 (487). 22 Unn Falkeid, ‘Petrarch's Laura and the Critics’, MLN, 127 (2012), pp. S64-S71 (S64). 23 Falkeid, p.S65.

Falkeid, p.S65.

Bibliography:

Primary Source:

Petrarca, Francesco, Petrarch’s Lyric Poems ITAL, ed./trans. By Robert M. Durling, (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1976)

Secondary Sources:

Braden, Gordon, ‘Beyond Frustration: Petrarchan Laurels in the Seventeenth Century’, Studies in English Literature, 26.1 (1986) pp.5-23

Freccero, John, ‘The Fig Tree and the Laurel: Petrarch's Poetics’, Diacritics, 5.1 (1975) pp.34- 40

Hainsworth, Peter, ‘Rerum Vulgarium Fragmenta: Structure and Narrative’, in The Cambridge Companion to Petrarch, ed. by Albert Russell Ascoli and Unn Falkeid, Cambridge Companions to Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015), pp. 39–50

Hollander, Robert ‘Vita Nuova: Dante's Perceptions of Beatrice’ in Dante Studies, with the Annual Report of the Dante Society, (Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press, 1974), pp.1-18.

Peterson, Thomas, E ‘The Fabulous Petrarch: "La raccolta del 1342" as the Source of the Fabulous in "Rerum vulgarium fragmenta”’, Annali d'Italianistica, 22 (2004), pp.61-84

Picone, Michelangelo ‘Petrarch and the Unfinished Book’, Francis Petrarch & the European Lyric Tradition, 22 (2004) pp. 45-60

Roche, Thomas P ‘The Calendrical Structure of Petrarch's "Canzoniere”’, Studies in Philology, 71.2 (1974) pp.152-173

Santagata, Marco “Io” e “tu” fra Stilnovo e Petrarca (2017), Marco Santagata<http://www.marcosantagata.it/1/io_e_tu_19178.html> [accessed 18 December 2024]

Segal, Charles, Ovid's "Metamorphoses": Greek Myth in Augustan Rome, Studies in Philology, 68.4 (1971) pp.371-394

Smarr, Janet L ‘Reviewed Work(s): Chi Era Laura? by Wilhelm Pötters: Petrarch the Poet. An Introduction to the Rerum Vulgrium Fragmenta. by Peter Hainsworth’, Renaissance Quarterly, 42.3 (1989), pp.546-549

Wallace, David, Reviewed Work(s): Petrarch. Poet and Humanist. Writers of Italy Series by Kenelm Foster, New Blackfriars, 65.773 (1984) pp. 487-489

[exhalereleased]

What a miracle she is, when she sits among the grasses like a flower,

#160 from The Complete Canzoniere by Petrarch

[outstanding-quotes]

Petrarch, Selections from the Canzoniere