“Laura, known for her virtues and long glorified by my songs, first appeared to my eyes at the dawn of my youth, in the year of the Lord 1327, on the morning of April 6, in the Cathedral of St. Clare in Avignon. And in the same city, also in April and also on the sixth day of the same month, in the same morning hours in the year 1348, this ray of light left the world, when I happened to be in Verona, alas! not knowing about his fate. The sad news, through a letter from my Louis, overtook me in Parma of the same year on the morning of May 19th. This immaculate and beautiful body was buried in the Franciscan monastery that same day in the evening. Her soul, as Seneca says in African Spicio, returned, as I am sure, to heaven, from where it came. ..."
For 21 years during Laura’s life and 10 years after her death, the great Petrarch composed sonnets about his love.
| LXI | LXI |
| Benedetto sia ‘l giorno, e ‘l mese, e l’anno, e la stagione, e 'l tempo, e l'ora, e 'l punto, e 'l bel paese, e 'l loco ov'io fui giunto da' duo begli occhi, che legato m'hanno; e benedetto il primo dolce affanno Benedette le voci tante ch'io e benedette sian tutte le carte |
Blessed is the day, month, summer, hour And the moment when my gaze met those eyes! Blessed is that land, and that valley is bright, Where I became a prisoner of beautiful eyes! Blessed is the pain that's the first time Blessed are the complaints and groans, Blessed are you that there are so many glories |
Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374) |
Translation by Vyacheslav Ivanov |
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I bless the day, and the month, and the year, I bless the sorrow and the first sorrow, I bless all those tender names, I bless all the sonnets and canzones, Translation by Dmitry Min |
Blessed is that evening, month, year, Blessed are you, fatal pain, Blessed are the speeches of everyone where I am Blessed are you, my canzones, Translation by Valery Bryusov |
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Blessed is the year, and the day, and the hour, Blessed is the first excitement, Blessed are all my writings Translation by Abram Efros |
I bless the month, day and hour, I bless their first refusal, I bless everything that is sacred to me, And every sonnet dedicated to her, Translation by Wilhelm Levick |
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I bless the day, the minute, the shares I bless the sweetness of the first pain, I bless all my creations Translation by Evgeny Solonovich |
Two audio recordings of the sonnet in Italian
Read by Benjamin Aurelius |
By 1342-1343 refers to Petrarch’s famous treatise, written in dialogical form, “The Secret (My Secret), or On Contempt for the World,” in which Augustine directly appears as a character. He appears to Francis (Francesco Petrarch) accompanied by Truth to guide him on the right path. Personifying the stern wisdom of Christian doctrine, hostile to the earthly interests of the coming Renaissance, he conducts a leisurely conversation with Petrarch. Skilled in Roman eloquence, he sprinkles his arguments with quotes from Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Seneca and other ancient poets and philosophers. But although Augustine quotes classical authors, his spiritual world has already moved far away from the spiritual world of the era of Virgil and Cicero, with whom Petrarch was so fascinated. The main accusation he makes against Petrarch is that the “greedy desire for earthly goods” makes him “wander at random.” Petrarch is overwhelmed by “empty hopes” and “unnecessary worries.” Not at all thinking about reward beyond the grave, he relies on his talent, admires his eloquence and the beauty of his mortal body.
But love for earthly vanity is common for many people. The insightful Augustine saw in Petrarch a flaw that was inherent specifically to him. “You rush helplessly here and there,” he says to his shocked interlocutor, “in strange indecision, and you don’t give yourself up to anything completely, with all your soul.” The reason for this, according to Augustine, is the “internal discord” that undermines Petrarch’s soul. In another place, touching on Petrarch’s mental illness, Augustine calls it “longing” (acidia) or, as it was called in ancient times, “sorrow” (negritudo) . Petrarch does not object. Moreover, he confirms these observations of Augustine. “And, what can be called the height of misfortune,” he says, “I so revel in my mental struggle and torment, with some kind of constrained voluptuousness, that I only reluctantly tear myself away from them.”
When Augustine reproaches Petrarch for her love of vain earthly glory, Petrarch does not renounce it. He also does not renounce his love for Laura, which the holy father is ready to consider “the worst kind of madness”: “Nothing generates oblivion of God or contempt for him to such an extent as love for transitory things, especially that which is actually designated by the name Amor ..." (Amor - Love). Although Petrarch considers Augustine’s arguments quite compelling, he is unable and unwilling to renounce Laura, in whose features “the reflection of divine Beauty shines, whose character is an example of moral perfection” and whose love prompted him to “love God.”
If we remember that in some copies of the dialogue “The Secret” there was a subtitle “On the secret struggle of my worries,” then it becomes clear that we have before us a kind of confession of a writer striving to understand himself. The appearance of Augustine, the author of the first literary confession, in the dialogue is quite natural. But the dialogue is not only a well-deserved tribute to Augustine's literary merits. Augustine and Francis in the dialogue are a living Petrarch, turned simultaneously to the precepts of the Middle Ages and the search for a new time. After all, the covenants of the Middle Ages in the 14th century. continued to remind themselves everywhere. They were also palpable in Petrarch’s consciousness. From century to century the preaching of ascetic contempt for the world continued. It was not so easy to move away from her. But already in the 12th century. Troubadours sang ringing songs of love, followed by their students in different European countries, including France and Italy.
The first great humanist, Petrarch had a subtle spiritual organization. He also had mental contradictions. It is no coincidence that, observing the lives of people, he argued that their “aspirations and feelings are at odds with themselves.” Feeling such discord within himself, he wanted to explore his spiritual world and look at it as if from the outside.
It is not at all easy to sum up exactly the conversation between Francis and Augustine. Often the voice of a venerable old man sounds confident and authoritative in dialogue. Often Francis retreats under the onslaught of his arguments and at the same time remains himself. After all, he is the one who lays the foundations of humanism in Europe. Isn't fame a well-deserved reward for worthy work? And doesn’t love lift a person to great heights? The reader is left to judge all this for himself. Moreover, the Truth present during the conversation remains stubbornly silent.
But one thing is certain about the significance of the dialogue. Before us is a wonderful experience of self-discovery. Skillfully using the classical genre of dialogue, Petrarch sketches an expressive portrait of a man entering a new world. His consciousness is already deprived of that comforting straightforwardness for which the Middle Ages, based on dogma, advocated. It has become immeasurably more complex, contradictory and therefore dynamic. He is driven by doubts, and in this respect, Francis from the dialogue “The Secret” is to some extent reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Only Hamlet arose at the end of the Renaissance, and was a character in tragedy. Petrarch appeared at the dawn of the Renaissance. Humanism had a great future. It was not in vain that Petrarch threw life-giving seeds into the depths of European culture.
It was a time of growth and hope. And yet, when Petrarch condemned his mercantile age, in which “everything goes to the shameless - honors, hopes, riches, surpassing both virtue and happiness,” he correctly grasped the dark features of the new time that inevitably collided with the ideals of humanity and were incompatible with the requirements “ high spirit." Here Augustine’s attacks against human egoism acquired a topical meaning, forcing his interlocutor to think deeply.
Petrarch's religious sentiments intensified over the years. And yet, when his friend Giovanni Boccaccio, in his declining years, suddenly decided, in a fit of religious renunciation, to move away from literature and science and even sell all his books, Petrarch, in a lengthy letter dated May 28, 1362, resolutely opposed these intentions. “Neither the call of virtue, nor considerations of imminent death,” he wrote to a friend, “should keep us from engaging in literature; rooted in a good soul, it kindles the love of virtue, and drives away or reduces the fear of death.” Without renouncing science and literature, Petrarch remained himself. He rejoiced that “in Italy, and perhaps beyond its borders” he “prompted many to these our pursuits, which had been abandoned for many centuries” (from another letter to Boccaccio dated April 28, 1373). He does not consider it shameful to talk in letters about his enthusiastic admirers, who extol him as an orator, historian, philosopher, poet and even theologian. After all, his success is the success of a new advanced culture designed to transform the world.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Petrarch’s last creation in Latin was the solemn (unfortunately unfinished) “Letter to Posterity.” When Petrarch talked with Augustine, it was a conversation with the distant past. Summing up his life, he turns to the future. He is confident that the glory that crowned his labors will make him an interlocutor for future generations. And he begins this meeting with the words: “From Francis Petrarch, greetings to posterity!” But why does Petrarch need this conversation? What does he want to tell posterity? Maybe, following Augustine, he wants to remind him of God, of piety, to turn his gaze away from earthly temptations? Not at all! The renowned humanist wants to talk about himself, about his earthly life and even about his earthly appearance. He intends to appear before future generations as a living person. What on earth could be more interesting than a person? And so he writes: “My body in my youth was not very strong, but extremely dexterous; my appearance did not stand out as beautiful, but could be liked in blooming years; my complexion was fresh, between white and dark, my eyes were lively and my vision for a long time was extraordinary. spicy." Slowly, Petrarch sets out the story of his life, not missing the opportunity to note that he always “hated pomp,” that he was “greedy for noble friendship,” and that he was “gifted with a mind more even than insightful,” “predominantly inclined to moral philosophy and poetry." With obvious pleasure he recalls how he was crowned with a laurel wreath in Rome. He also remembers his love for Laura, although he writes about this in his declining years rather evasively.
Meanwhile, neither the Latin poem "Africa", which so admired the Neapolitan king Robert, nor other Latin works of Petrarch brought him such lasting and loud fame as the "Book of Songs" (II Canzoniere), written in Italian, dedicated to Laura. This book is one of the wonderful examples of European poetry of the Renaissance. She became a guiding star for most of the outstanding poets of that great era.
As a poet, Petrarch found himself precisely in the Italian poems “Canzoniere,” which he himself sometimes referred to as “trinkets.” After all, they were written in simple folk Italian (Volgar), and not in the mighty language of great Rome. Nevertheless, Petrarch did not lose interest in them, constantly returning to the creations of his youth, improving them, until in 1373 the final edition of the book was compiled, containing 317 sonnets, 29 canzones, 9 sextinas, 7 ballads and 4 madrigals.
Before us is another confession of Petrarch, only this time it is a lyrical confession. It captures the poet's love for a beautiful married woman who came from a noble Avignon family. She was born around 1307 and died in the terrible year 1348, when the plague raged in many European countries. The meeting with Laura filled Petrarch with a great feeling that made the most tender, most melodic strings of his soul sound. When Petrarch learned of the untimely death of the woman he loved, he wrote in a copy of his Virgil: “Laura, renowned for her virtues and long glorified in my poems, first appeared to my eyes in the years of my early youth, in 1327, on the morning of April 6, in the church St. Clare in Avignon; and in the same city, in the same month and on the same day and hour in the year 1348, this light was taken from our light, when I was in Verona, not knowing my fate."
Glorifying Laura for many years, Petrarch, of course, could not ignore the love lyrics of the Provencals, with whom he became acquainted when he was in the south of France. He also could not ignore the Tuscan lyrics of the “New Sweet Style” and its very high view of love. He remembers Dante and Cino da Pistoia as poets near and dear to him (Book of Songs, XCII and CLXXXVIII). From the masters of the “sweet style” he borrowed the sonnet form that attracted him so much. His passion for allegory of all kinds brought him closer to them. Petrarch willingly plays with the words Laura (Laura), lauro (laurel), l "aura (breeze) and l "auro (gold). From the “sweet style” comes the idealization of Laura, which is one of the characteristic features of the “Book of Songs”.
For all that, Petrarch is already very far from the medieval poetry of his predecessors. The beautiful Tuscan lady was deprived of flesh and blood. This is an angel who flew from heaven to earth, this is a symbol of deity, the personification of all possible spiritual perfections. In this regard, the love of the poets of the “sweet style” cannot be called love itself. This is a spiritual impulse, a desire for the highest good, the giver of which is God. Looking at Donna, the poet saw God all the time. He seems to grow wings, and he leaves the earth, filled with mystical awe.
Tirelessly repeating about Laura's chastity and virtue, nobility and spiritual beauty, Petrarch strove to raise his beloved woman as high as possible. He even assures the reader that his love for Donna leads him to heaven. But Laura is still an earthly woman. She is not an angel, not an abstract concept. Petrarch speaks with delight about her earthly beauty, he hears her enchanting voice. According to the correct remark of F. de Sanctis, “the content of beauty, once so abstract and scientific, or rather even scholastic, appears here for the first time in its pure form, as artistic reality.”
The portrait of the beauty is painted for the poet by the artist Simone Martini (LXXVII, LXXVIII). The poet is captivated by her eyes, golden hair and white hand. He is glad that he took possession of her light glove. Even Cupid is delighted with the way she speaks and laughs. And how beautiful Donna is when she sits among the grass, her white breasts leaning against a green bush, or weaves a wreath, immersed in her thoughts (CLX)!
Oh, how wonderful it is to watch her,
When she sits on the ant,
Reminiscent of a flower among the grass!
Oh, how lovely she is on a spring day,
When he walks, lost in thought, alone,
Weaving a wreath for golden hair.
(Translated by E. Solonovich)
Possessing a very subtle sense of nature, Petrarch finds consonance with his feelings in the chirping of birds, in the rustling of leaves, in the murmur of a stream, in the aroma of flowers (CCLXXIX, etc.). He likens Laura to a beautiful rose (CCLXIX), or a nymph emerging from a transparent stream (CCLXXXI), or a white doe in the shade of a laurel (CXC). It seems to embody all the charm of this blooming, fragrant world, covered in love and demanding eternal love (CCLXXX).
But for Petrarch, love is inseparable from suffering. He either suffers from the coldness of the lady, because she does not condescend to his desires, then the ghosts of the Middle Ages squeeze his heart, and he suffers from the thought that love for an earthly woman is sinful. Then he tries to convince himself that he loves not so much Laura’s body as Laura’s soul, that love for her prompts him to “love God.” He speaks about this to Augustine in the third dialogue of his “Confession” (“The Mystery”). However, the voice of the earth begins to sound in his heart with renewed vigor, and this is repeated many times. In the sonnet “The Sacred View of Your Native Land” (LXVIII), this internal discord is clearly revealed. Wanting to make it even more tangible, more visual, Petrarch plays with contrasts, strings antitheses, weaves long poetic garlands from them. In this regard, the famous sonnet CXXXIV is noteworthy:
And there is no peace - and there are no enemies anywhere;
I'm afraid - I hope, I'm cold and burning;
I drag myself in the dust and soar in the skies;
He is alien to everyone in the world, and is ready to embrace the world.
In her captivity I don’t know;
They don’t want to own me, and the oppression is harsh;
Cupid does not destroy - and does not break the shackles;
But there is no end to life, and there is no end to torment.
I am sighted - without eyes; silently - I emit screams;
I thirst for death - I pray to save;
I hate myself - and I love everyone else;
Through suffering - alive; with laughter I cry;
Both death and life are cursed with sadness;
And this is to blame, oh Donna, you!
(Translated by Yu. Verkhovsky)
Petrarch, as it were, aestheticizes his suffering, begins to look at the world from some poetic height. He confessed to Augustine that with “constrained voluptuousness” he reveled in his mental struggle and torment. As an analytical poet, he found some satisfaction in the spectacle of mental struggle. In essence, the “Book of Songs” is primarily a picture of Petrarch’s various mental states. The mirror of love constantly reflected his complex spiritual world, just as it was reflected in numerous letters. And Laura’s poetic apotheosis was at the same time his apotheosis. It is no coincidence that in the Book of Songs the word Laura is so closely associated with the word laurel. Sometimes even the line separating the aura from the tree of glory is erased: a beautiful woman turns into a symbol of earthly glory, which the poet so longs for. Love and glory chain Petrarch to the ground. Because of them, he lost his ancient piety, sanctified by the authority of St. Augustine.
In the poems written after Laura's death, a quiet, enlightened sorrow reigns. Sometimes they sound solemn melodies. The poet's love became spiritualized. Laura, ascended to the heavenly spheres, also became spiritualized. But she still has a lot of earthly charm. She continues to live in the poet’s memory, he mentally talks with her, sometimes it even seems to him. That she is alive, and he awaits her appearance with trepidation:
How often, believing in daydreams,
Forgetting that death is a barrier between us
Erected, I call my beloved
And I believe that I will find my joy.
And the one I’m looking for, without getting tired,
Now a nymph, now another queen of the waters
He will see himself swimming out of Sorgi.
I see her walking on the grass
And crumples flowers like a living woman,
And he carries compassion in his eyes.
(CCLXXXI. Translated by E. Solonovich)
The “Book of Songs” also includes poems that are not related to Petrarch’s love experiences. This is my patriotic canzone “Italy” (CXXVIII), directed against the internecine wars waged by the states of Italy, as well as the canzone “High Spirit” mentioned above (LIII), sonnets denouncing the papal curia (CXXXVI-CXXXVIII), etc. Similar poems expanded the ideological range of the book, filling it with the buzz of social life. And they gave the love story, which constitutes the main content of the book, temporary concreteness, not allowing it to be transposed into the conventional “timeless” world of lyrical abstractions.
Petrarch loved chased, elastic poetic forms. He had a special passion for the sonnet, which required impeccable skill and strict, logically clear architectonics. He took pleasure in constructing a harmonious edifice of canzonas and honing his virtuosity on sextins. An ardent admirer of Cicero's eloquence, he knew how to be eloquent in poetry. Rhetorical figures enhanced the emotional sonority and elegance of his poems. Sometimes, however, Petrarch's poems acquired a pretentious tone. It was this feature of his poetry that the Petrarchists subsequently developed in every possible way. But Laura's singer is infinitely far from the gallant affectation of his imitators. His poetry moves in an atmosphere of amazing clarity. She is emotional and intellectual at the same time. She is characterized by elegance, musicality and that genuine grace that is characteristic of the best examples of ancient lyricism.
In his declining years, Petrarch decided to once again glorify Laura in the allegorical poem "Triumphs" (chapter "Triumph of Love"), written in terzas. However, the poem, reminiscent of a philosophical treatise, turned out to be cumbersome, ponderous and did not stand the test of time.
Petrarch's fame went far beyond Italy. In Russia it has been well known since the 19th century. His enthusiastic admirer was K.N. Batyushkov. In the article “Petrarch” (1816) he wrote: “You must surrender to your heart, love the graceful, love the silence of the soul, sublime thoughts and feelings - in a word, love the joyful language of the muses in order to fully feel the beauty of these magical songs that passed on the names of Petrarch to posterity and Laura." The Italian poet was highly appreciated by A.S. Pushkin. He named Petrarch among the greatest European lyricists in his Sonnet on Sonnets. “With her my lips will acquire the Language of Petrarch and love,” he wrote in the first chapter of “Eugene Onegin.” A poetic excerpt from Petrarch serves as the epigraph to Chapter VI of this novel. V.G. Belinsky more than once mentioned with respect the author of sonnets “full of dreamy love” (article “N.A. Polevoy”). In the 20th century Our interest in Petrarch has increased noticeably. It was translated into Russian by K. Batyushkov, I. Kozlov, A. Maikov, I. Bunin, Vyach. Ivanov, Y. Verkhovsky, V. Bryusov, A. Efros, Evg. Solonovich et al.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia: Petrarca Francesco (20.7.1304, Arezzo, - 19.7.1374, Arqua, near Padua), Italian poet. The son of a Florentine notary who moved to Provence in 1312. In 1316 P. studied law in Montpellier, in 1320 - in Bologna. In 1326 he accepted clergy and was a Minorite (member of the Franciscan Order). The founder of the humanistic culture of the Renaissance, P. had not yet completely moved away from the Middle Ages. But he critically overestimated scholasticism, asserted the freedom of individuality and attached great importance to poetic creativity. The philosophical treatise in Latin “On Contempt for the World” (“Secretum”, 1342-43) reflected the clash of the spiritual “I” of the poet, striving for literary fame and praising the love of a woman, with ascetic morality, from which he had not yet freed himself. The thirst for poetic fame was also expressed in his short autobiography “Letter to Posterity” (“Posteritati”, 1374). P. is one of the first European humanists who idealized the ancient world. He is the author of the Latin poem “Africa” (1339-1342), which tells in the style of Virgil’s “Aeneid” about the 2nd Punic War, as well as the shepherd eclogues of allegorical content “Bucolicum carmen” (1346-57).
P.'s lyrics in Italian contain political poems. In the canzone “My Italy” P. writes with bitterness about the fragmentation of the country, about anarchy and civil strife. He dedicated another canzone, “The Noble Spirit,” to Cola di Rienzo, whom he calls on to save the Italian people. But of particular importance in P.’s work is the love lyrics dedicated to Laura - the woman whom he, according to him, met in the church in 1327. Canzoniere consists of 2 parts - “On the life of Madonna Laura” and “On the death of Madonna Laura” and contains 317 sonnets, 29 canzonas, 9 sextinas, 7 ballads and 4 madrigals. This is a kind of poetic diary, where the contradiction between the ascetic medieval consciousness and the establishment of a new vision of the world also emerged. Associated with Provencal and Sicilian poetry, as well as with the Dolce Style Nuovo school, P.'s lyrics at the same time represent a new stage in the development of Italian and European poetry. P.'s depiction of his beloved woman became concrete and lifelike, and love experiences are shown in all their inconsistency and variability. P. updated not only the content of poetry, but created a perfect poetic form, his verse is musical, his images are elegant, stylistic devices (antithesis and rhetorical question), reflecting the confused state of his soul and adding drama to the sonnets, do not violate the smoothness of the verse and the harmonious nature of his poetry. In addition to the lyrics, P. dedicated to Laura the allegorical poem “Triumphs” (1354), written in terzas. The poem is didactic and permeated with asceticism.
Petrarchism had a huge influence on the development of European poetry (the so-called Petrarchism). Along with Dante and G. Boccaccio, P. is the creator of the Italian literary language.
The whole world knows the great Italian sonnets. Francesco Petrarca, their author, a wonderful Italian humanist poet of the 14th century, became famous throughout the centuries for his work. This is exactly what this article will be about. We will talk about the life, work and love story of Petrarch.
Francesco Petrarca: biography
The great poet was born in Arezzo (Italy) in 1304, on July 20. His father, Pietro di Ser Parenzo, nicknamed Petracco, was a Florentine notary. However, he was expelled from Florence even before the birth of his son for supporting the “white” party. Dante was subjected to the same persecution. However, the journey of the Petrarch family did not end with Arezzo. The poet's parents wandered around the cities of Tuscany until they decided to go to Avignon. By that time, Francesco was nine years old.
Education
In France in those years there were already schools, and Francesco Petrarca entered one of them. The poet's biography confirms that during his studies he mastered and acquired a love for Roman literature. Petrarch completed his studies in 1319 and, at the insistence of his father, began studying law. To do this, he went to Montpellier, and then stayed there until 1326 - at which time his father died. However, Francesco was not at all interested in law. He was attracted to a completely different area - classical literature.
And after graduating from university, the future poet, instead of becoming a lawyer, became a priest. This was caused by a lack of funds - he inherited a manuscript of Virgil's works as an inheritance from his father.
Papal Court
Francesco Petrarch (whose biography is presented here) settles in Avignon at the court of the Pope and takes holy orders. Here he becomes close to the powerful Colonna family thanks to his university friendship with one of its members, Giacomo.
In 1327, Petrarch first saw his future beloved Laura, who would remain his muse for the rest of his life. Feelings for the girl became one of a number of reasons for the poet’s removal to Vaucluse from Avignon.
Petrarch is considered the first to climb to the top of Mont Ventoux. The ascent took place on April 26, 1336. He made the journey with his brother.
Literary fame and the patronage of the Colonna family helped Petrarch acquire a house in the valley of the Sorghi River. The poet lived here for a total of 16 years.
Laurel wreath
Meanwhile, thanks to his literary works (especially the sonnets), Francesco Petrarca became famous. In this regard, he received an invitation to accept (the highest honor for a poet) from Naples, Paris and Rome. The poet chose Rome, and in 1341 he was crowned on the Capitol.
After this, Francesco lived for about a year at the court of the Parma tyrant Azzo Correggio, and then returned to Vaucluse. All this time, the poet dreamed of reviving the former Roman greatness, so he began to preach an uprising. Such political views destroyed his friendship with Colonna, which led to his relocation to Italy.
New Pope Innocent VI
The life of Francesco Petrarch from the moment of birth and almost until his death was full of travel and relocation. So, in 1344 and 1347. the poet made long trips around Italy, which brought him many acquaintances, most of which ended in friendship. Among these Italian friends was Boccaccio.
In 1353, Francesco Petrarch was forced to leave Vaucluse. The poet's books and passion for Virgil aroused the disfavor of the new Pope Innocent VI.
Nevertheless, Petrarch was offered a chair in Florence, which the poet, however, refused. He chose to go to Milan, where he took a place at the Visconti court, performing diplomatic missions. At this time he even visited Charles IV in Prague.
Death of poet
The year 1361 was marked for Petrarch with an attempt to return to Avignon, which was unsuccessful. Then the poet left Milan and settled in Venice in 1362. His illegitimate daughter lived here with her family.
From Venice, Petrarch traveled to Italy almost every year to travel. The last years of his life the poet lived at the court of Francesco da Carrara. Petrarch died in the village of Arqua on the night of July 18-19, 1374. The poet did not live to see his 70th birthday by only one day. He was found only in the morning. He sat at the table, bending over a manuscript in which he described the life of Caesar.
Periodization of creativity
Francesco Petrarca lived an extraordinary and interesting life (the poet’s biography allowed us to see this). Not everything is simple with the writer’s creativity. Thus, in literary criticism it is customary to divide Petrarch’s works into two parts: various works in Latin and Italian poetry. Latin works are of great historical significance, while poetry in Italian made the writer world famous.
Although the poet himself perceived his poems as trifles and trifles, which he wrote not for the sake of publication, but only to ease the poet’s heart. This is probably why the depth, sincerity and spontaneity of the Italian author’s sonnets had a huge influence not only on his contemporaries, but also on subsequent generations.
Petrarch and Laura
All lovers of poetry know about the love of Petrarch’s life and the muse that inspired his great creations. However, there is not much information about her.
It is known for certain that he first saw the girl on April 6, 1327 in the church of Santa Chiara. Laura was then 20 years old, and the poet was 23 years old.
Unfortunately, there is no historical evidence about whether they knew each other, whether the girl reciprocated the writer’s feelings, who all his life kept in his soul and thoughts the bright image of his golden-haired lover. Nevertheless, Petrarch and Laura, even if their feelings were mutual, could not be together, because the poet was bound by church rank. And church ministers did not have the right to marry and have children.
From the moment of their first meeting, Francesco lived in Avignon for three years, singing his love for Laura. At the same time, he tried to see her in church and in those places where she usually went. Do not forget that Laura had her own family, husband and children. However, these circumstances did not bother the poet at all, because his beloved seemed to him like an angel in the flesh.
Last meeting and death of Laura
According to literary scholars, Petrarch last saw his beloved on September 27, 1347. And six months later, in April 1348, the woman tragically died. The cause of her death remains unknown. Petrarch did not want to come to terms with the death of his beloved, and in many poems written after Laura’s death, he often addressed her as if she were alive.
Petrarch divided the collection of sonnets dedicated to her, “Canzoniere,” into two parts: “for the life” and “for the death of Laura.”
Just before his death, the poet wrote that in his life he wanted only two things - laurel and Laura, that is, fame and love. And if fame came to him during his lifetime, then he hoped to find love after death, where he could unite with Laura forever.
Features of creativity and spiritual struggle
It was the collection “Canzoniere” that determined the place and role of the poet in Italian and world literature. Petrarch, whose poems were a real discovery of his time, for the first time created an art form for Italian lyrical works - the writer’s poetry for the first time became the story of inner individual feeling. Interest in inner life became the basis of all Petrarch’s work and determined his enormous humanistic role.
Such works include two autobiographies of Petrarch. The first, unfinished, has the form of a message to descendants and tells the external side of the author’s life. The second, which takes the form of a dialogue between Petrarch, describes the inner life and moral struggle in the poet’s soul.
The basis of this confrontation is the struggle between the ascetic morality of the church and Petrarch's personal desires. Against this background, the poet’s interest in ethical issues is understandable, to which he dedicated four works: “On Monastic Leisure”, “On Solitary Life”, etc. Nevertheless, in the dispute with Augustine, who defends ascetic-religious philosophy, the humanistic one wins Petrarch's view of the world.
Attitude to the church
Petrarch tries to reconcile church doctrine with classical literature. The poems, of course, have nothing to do with religion or asceticism, nevertheless, the poet managed to remain a believing Catholic. This is confirmed by a number of treatises, as well as correspondence with friends. In addition, Petrarch spoke out sharply against the scholastics and the clergy of his day.
For example, “Letters without an Address” is filled with satirical and extremely harsh attacks on the depraved morals of the papal capital. This work consists of 4 parts, addressed to various persons - both real and fictional.
Criticism
Francesco Petrarch, whose work was very diverse, was critical of both the contemporary church and ancient literature. This state of affairs suggests that the poet had highly developed self-contemplation. Examples of those works where such an attitude towards the world was manifested are the following: an attack against a physician who put science above eloquence and poetry; opposition to the prelate who predicted the return of Urban V to Rome; speaking out against another prelate who was attacking the writings of Petrarch himself.
The poet's criticism related to ethical issues is also found in his historical writings. For example, in De rebus memorandis libri IV - a collection of anecdotes (stories) and sayings that were borrowed from Latin and modern authors. These sayings are arranged according to ethical headings, which bore, for example, the following names: “On wisdom”, “On solitude”, “On faith”, etc.
Of primary importance for Petrarch's biographers is the poet's enormous correspondence. Many of these letters are, in fact, treatises on politics and morality, others are similar to journalistic articles. The speeches the writer made at various celebrations are of much less importance.
"Canzoniere" ("Book of Songs")
As a poet, Francesco Petrarca became famous thanks to his collection “Canzoniere,” which we already mentioned above. The book was dedicated to the poet's love for Laura. The collection included a total of 350 sonnets, of which 317 belonged to the part “On the Life and Death of Madonna Laura.” For forty years, Petrarch dedicated sonnets to his beloved.
In his lyrical works, Francesco admires the heavenly purity and angelic appearance of Laura. She is a majestic and inaccessible ideal for the poet. Her soul is compared to a bright star. With all this, Petrarch manages to describe Laura as a real woman, and not just as an ideal image.
For his era, Francesco Petrarch was the first who began to glorify the greatness and beauty of man, paying attention not only to appearance, but also to personal qualities. In addition, the poet is one of the founders of humanism as the content of creativity and way of thinking. Before Petrarch, the art of the Middle Ages glorified only the features of the spiritual, divine and unearthly, and man was presented as an imperfect and unworthy servant of God.
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarca) - the greatest of Italian lyric poets and at the same time one of the greatest scientists of that era was born on July 20, 1304, died on July 18, 1374. His father Petracco (i.e. Pietro) di Parenzo, as a member of the White party together with Dante and others, he was expelled from Florence in 1302 and went to Avignon, where the papal court soon moved. The teacher of the young Francesco was the grammarian Convenevole da Prato. Then Petrarch studied law in Montpellier and Bologna.
Francesco Petrarca. Artist Andrea del Castagno. OK. 1450
In 1325 he returned to Avignon and after the death of his parents (1326) he entered the clergy. In 1333, Petrarch traveled through Paris, Ghent, Flanders and Brabant to Lüttich, where he opened two speeches by Cicero. For his Latin letter to Pope Benedict XII with a plea addressed to him to return from Avignon to Rome, Petrarch received his first parish in 1335 - the canonicate in Lombets. Near Avignon, in the lovely Sorgi valley, at the Vaucluse spring, so famous thanks to Petrarch, the Italian poet bought himself a small house, in which he spent several years in complete silence, deep in his studies. Many of his best poems to Laura were written by him here. The poetic works of Francesco Petrarch soon brought him great fame. The Roman Senate and the Chancellor of the University of Paris simultaneously invited the poet to crown him with a poetic crown. Petrarch decided to accept the laurels offered to him by Rome, and was crowned with them from the hands of Senator Orso del Anilar on the first day of Easter (April 8), 1341 in the Capitol. For his new letter to the pope, the poet received the Priory of Migliarino in the diocese of Pisa.
From the end of May 1342 to the beginning of September 1343, Petrarch lived in Avignon, where he met Cola di Rienzi. During this period of time, Petrarch wrote the book “On Contempt for the World” (“De contemptu mundi”). Byzantine Varlaam taught him basic knowledge of the Greek language. In September 1343, the pope sent Petrarch to Naples to protect the supreme rights of the papal throne there. In 1346 Petrarch received the prebend, and later (1350) the archdeaconate in Parma. The news of the uprising of the Roman people against their high-born tyrant and the elevation of Cola di Rienzi to the rank of tribune of the people (1347) inspired the poet, and he wrote his famous letter to Cola di Rienzi and to the Roman people.
At the end of the year, Francesco Petrarca went to Parma, where on May 19, 1348 he received news of Laura's death. In 1350 Petrarch went to Rome for the anniversary. On the way there, he visited his hometown of Florence for the first time and here he became close friends with Boccaccio. In May 1353, Petrarch left Avignon forever and spent the last 21 years of his life in Upper Italy. At first he lived at the court of the ruler of Milan, Archbishop Giovanni Visconti. Emperor Charles IV during a visit to Italy, he received Petrarch most kindly (1354). A rumor that the emperor intended to undertake a new campaign in Italy prompted Petrarch to write a letter to Charles IV in Prague in 1356. While living in Milan, Petrarch began to write two books “De remedies utriusque fortunae” for his friend Azzo da Correggio. In 1360 Petrarch was instructed to go as ambassador to French King John. From 1362 to 1368, Francesco Petrarch's main place of residence was Venice. Then he left there and spent the last years of his life alternately in Padua and the village of Akua in the family of his daughter. Here Petrarch died from a blow in the library, bending over a tome.
Most of Francesco Petrarch's works are written in Latin. On it were created: “Africa” (finished 1342), an epic poem in hexameters, interpreting the actions of Scipio Africanus the Elder; "Bucolic Songs" ("Carmen Bucolicum"), an imitation of Virgil's "Bucolic Songs" from the 12 Eclogues (1346 - 1356), with numerous allusions, personal and political; "Epistolae metricae", divided into three books and addressed to different persons. Among Petrarch’s moralizing treatises, let’s also mention “On the Single Life” (“De vita solitaria”, 1346 – 1356). From the historical works of Francesco Petrarch we mention: “Rerum memorandarum” (four books of short historical, anecdotal and legendary narratives); “On Famous Men” (“De viris illustribus”). Of all Petrarch's Latin works, the first place, both in volume and in significance for his biography and the history of his time, is occupied by his correspondence. The poet's letters fall into "Rerum familiarium" (family), "Rerum senilium" (senile), "Rerum variarum" (various) and "Sine titulo" (without address).
The national literary significance of Francesco Petrarch is based on his Italian poems, which he himself considered very insignificant. This is “Canzoniere” or “Rime” (canzones, sonnets, sestinas, ballads, madrigals), which has received the meaning of the poetic charter of all kinds of love dreams. Petrarch's lyrics were influenced by Provençal poetry and some ancient Italian poets. The lightness and purity of language, the richness and diversity of thought, expression and images, subtle taste and feeling distinguish Petrarch from all other Italian poets. The collection of poems by Francesco Petrarch consists of two parts: “On the Life of Madonna Laura” and “On the Death of Madonna Laura.” Already in old age. Petrarch wrote an allegorical and moral work, “Triumphs,” the form of which was clearly influenced by Dante’s poetry. There are still a number of poems by Petrarch that he did not include in “Canzoniere”, and therefore called “Estravaganti”.
Italian poems, namely his “Canzoniere” by Francesco Petrarch, usually not quite correctly called “Sonnets”, have gone through countless editions.
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