Petrarch and the Love Lyric (Volume C)

Humanism and Poetry Petrarch classical influence civic duty love versus reward pastoral elements Petrarch is considered the father of humanism, and references to classical societies, mores, and civic duty abound in several of his poems. In Sonnet 62, Petrarch’s love for Laura mirrors Apollo’s love for Daphne—in the poet’s and Greek god’s lives, the greater reward is the laurel (symbol of lyric poetry) rather than the fruition of romantic love that has been pursued by the poet and denied by his beloved. Sonnet 126 contains pastoral elements, in which nature and the Lady’s body intertwine in a series of correspondences (i.e., sweet waters/lovely body, branch/column, grass and flowers/ garments, air/breath). The image is an anonymous Renaissance drawing of Petrarch with his Muse, Laura.

Petrarch (1304–1374) Arezzo, Italy Colonna family Rime Sparse Laura sonnet form: octet problem, sestet resolution a-b-b-a rhyme form Francis Petrarch was born in Arezzo on July 20, 1304 and initially trained as a law student. He received patronage from the powerful Colonna family, refusing offices of bishop and papal secretary and preferring instead to invest his time in humanistic scholarship and the arts. His most famous work, the Rime Sparse (Scattered Rhymes) is a collection of 366 songs and sonnets based on the calendar year; the work is written in Italian and is highly introspective, taking the poet himself as the object of study as he deals with how his thoughts and identity are transformed by an idealized woman named Laura. Within Petrarchan sonnet form, the sestet and octet often contrast formally or semantically, and rhymes in a-b-b-a form are used to reinforce or contradict meanings—a problem is generally presented in the octet and resolved in the sestet. The translation for Petrarch’s “Sonnet 333” retains the original octet/sestet and a-b-b-a rhyme structure. The poem’s octet represents the poet’s attempt to woo his lover with poetry and to express his grief for unrequited love. The sestet contrasts, focusing on the beloved’s grace and his hope that she will be both immortalized in his poetry and honor him at his death. The rhyme reinforces contrasts between organic and lifeless or rough material (wild and harsh images “stone/overgrown” contrast tame and rounded “dear/sphere,” “blown/alone” represent distance and oppose the close and stable “steer/here”). The image is a fresco on wood of Petrarch, by Andrea del Castagno (c1450). Uffizi Gallery, Italy.

Interior/Exterior Life “Although I hope, without any doubt, to spill a river of your blood—indeed, I am certain I can, without shedding a drop of my own—what if you were to offer me peace? What if, all weapons laid aside, you too the path opened to a love match in bed?” (p. 177). Some poets, particularly Petrarch and Shakespeare, appear to blend both lifestyles in order to realize their aesthetic. Petrarch’s sonnet sequence often describes Laura’s physical appearance in extravagant depth, but only as a means for the poet to realize his own thoughts interiorly. In Sonnet 1, for example, Petrarch laments a “youthful error” for which he now seeks “repentance,” having realized that physical pleasure is only a “brief dream” compared with self-introspection. In Labe’s Sonnet 18, the writer speaks about the pleasure in kissing, realizing that she has no identity or happiness without “some place outside myself.” Franco’s poem offers a blend of active and interiority, asking “what if” questions while fantasizing graphic revenge.

Garcilaso de la Vega (ca. 1501–1536) Born to a noble family in Toledo, Spain, Garcilaso was a courtier and soldier who traveled to Italy with the armies of Emperor Charles V, where he was deeply influenced by Italian (Petrarchan) poetry. The image is a drawing of Garcilaso, Madrid (1791).

Louise Labé (1520–1566) Labé was born to a rich rope maker in Lyons, France. She was educated in Italian and music and was part of a lively community of humanist poets during the French Renaissance. Louise Labé’s poetry makes numerous references to Greek gods and to pastoral settings. In Sonnet 1, Ulysses (Odysseus) parallels her beloved’s beauty and honor, while Sonnet 10 creates a pastoral setting with a lute playing music, a verdant landscape, and a man with blonde curls crowned by a laurel (representing Apollo). The image is an engraving of Labé (1555) by Pierre Woeirlot.

Veronica Franco (1546–1591) Franco was a writer and courtesan who specialized in terza rima—the same form used by Dante. She used Cicero as a model and was engaged in Venice’s literary life and salons. She was accused of witchcraft and tried by the Inquisition, which ultimately tarnished her reputation. The image is a portrait of Franco (ca. 1575), made by Paolo Caliari or Domenic Tintoretto .She is rumored to have been Henry III’s (of France) lover.

Emotion “I find, in light of how I lost my way, I might have met a much more bitter fate” (Garcilasco, Sonnet 1) “Hard destiny makes me act like one who’s been stung by a scorpion but still hopes to heal” (Labé, Sonnet 1) The humanist love lyric, inspired by Petrarch’s poetry, often focuses on the beloved as a cause of deep grief, sorrow, and self-destruction for the poet; the lover is frequently accused of taking sadistic liberties with the poet’s emotions. Garcilaso de la Vega’s Sonnet 1 uses imagery of “losing one’s path” and wishing for death because he gave love to “one who could destroy and ruin me.” In Sonnet 10, he accuses the beloved of conspiring “to see my death” and giving him joy for the express purpose “to see me die of memories filled with grief.” In Louise Labé’s Sonnet 1, the beloved is accused of offering love that is compared to a scorpion sting or poison, and she begs the beloved to “kill the pain.” Franco’s “Capitolo 13: Challenge to a Lover” uses battle imagery (battlefield, arms, challenge, duel) to evoke the sense of a war fought between two lovers, that she may free herself of “merciless mistreatment.”

Shakespeare (1564–1616) sonnet form: 16 lines a-b-a-b rhyme pattern problem: 3 quatrains resolution: final couplet enjambment Born to a middle-class family in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare married young and quickly moved to London, leaving his wife, Anne Hathaway, behind as he made his career as an actor and dramatist. Shakespearean sonnet form also comprises 16 lines, but uses an a-b-a-b rhyme pattern and different orientation—in Shakespeare’s sonnets, three quatrains present a problem (often the third quatrain begins a partial resolution), which is then firmly resolved in the final couplet. Shakespearean sonnet form also relies heavily on enjambment (the content extends beyond one line’s end, or begins in the middle of a line). Of the 154 sonnets Shakespeare wrote, the first 126 are devoted to an unidentified young man, dealing with themes of marriage and family (1–17) and the ability of poetry to immortalize (18). Sonnets 127–54 are addressed to a “dark lady,” whose suspect immorality and seductive behaviors tempt the poet (she appears, also, in some earlier sonnets, in which the young man and dark lady engage each other). The image is an engraving from the title page of the First folio of Shakespeare’s plays. No official portrait exists of Shakespeare, but his friend, Ben Johnson, commented on the veracity of this engraving.

References “Why with the time do I not glance aside To new-found methods and to compounds strange?” (Sonnet 76) “O no! it is an ever-fixèd mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark” (Sonnet 116) Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 76” uses scientific allusions (new-found methods, compounds strange), textile imagery (noted weed), and financial contexts (spending what is already spent) to establish the “problem” (he thinks of her constantly with no reward), while the terminal couplet neatly resolves the struggle: love endures, and renews itself as does the sun rise and set. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 uses nautical imagery: the first three quatrains refer to deliberation, a fixed star that acts as a guide for ships at sail, and Father Time (sickle) with compass for direction.

Discussion Questions How do the lover and beloved represent, respectively, interior versus exterior life in humanist poems? In Sonnet 1, for example, Petrarch laments a “youthful error” for which he now seeks “repentance,” having realized that physical pleasure is only a “brief dream” compared with self-introspection. In Sonnet 3, Christian imagery contrasts with a lover’s internal grief (Maker/Lady, defend/bound, Love’s blows/universal woe, heart/tears, Christian crucifixion/ Cupid’s arrows of love and hate). In Labé’s Sonnet 18, the writer speaks about the pleasure in kissing, realizing that she has no identity or happiness without “some place outside myself.” In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, the poet takes painstaking efforts to point out his mistress’ flaws: her eyes are not bright, her lips pale, her breast the color of manure, her hair coarse, and her breath stinking. His mistress has a rough voice and heavy gait, yet in the terminal couplet Shakespeare resolves that nobody compares to her.

Discussion Questions Humanist poets often employ classical elements and themes in their works. Which do you see presented in the cluster selection? Sonnet 189 uses Odysseus marine adventures as a metaphor for the trauma and turmoil Petrarch experiences in unrequited love (i.e., ship/poet’s soul, harsh sea/troubled relationship, Scylla and Charybdis/forgetfulness and sin, sweet stars/Laura’s eyes). Louise Labé’s poetry makes numerous references to Greek gods and to pastoral settings. In Sonnet 1, Ulysses (Odysseus) parallels her beloved’s beauty and honor, while Sonnet 10 creates a pastoral setting with a lute playing music, a verdant landscape, and a man with blonde curls crowned by a laurel (representing Apollo).

This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for The Norton Anthology of World Literature