Works vol. 2 (poetry)

II - COMMENTARY ON SOME OF HIS SONNETS

And, judging rather according to common nature and the universal custom of men—though I would not dare to state it as a certainty—I believe that love between people is not only beyond reproach, but almost necessary and a very true proof of nobility original: "gentilezza"; in the Renaissance context, this refers to a nobility of spirit and character rather than just social rank. and greatness of soul. Above all, it serves as a motive to invite men toward worthy and excellent things, and to exercise and bring into action those virtues that exist as potentials within our souls. For whoever diligently seeks the true definition of love finds it to be nothing other than a desire for beauty original: "appetito di bellezza." This is a core concept of Renaissance Neoplatonism, suggesting that the soul is drawn to beauty as a reflection of the divine.. And if this is so, all things deformed and ugly must necessarily be displeasing to one who loves.

And setting aside for the moment that love which, according to Plato, is the means for all things to find their perfection and ultimately rest in the supreme Beauty—that is, God—and speaking of that love which extends only to loving the human creature: I say that even if this is not that perfection of love called the "supreme good," we clearly see it contains within itself so many benefits and avoids so many evils that, according to the common customs of human life, it takes the place of a good. This is especially true if it is adorned with those circumstances and conditions that suit a true love, which it seems to me are two: first, that one loves only a single thing, and second, that this thing is loved always. These two conditions can hardly occur if the beloved subject does not possess within themselves, in proportion to other human things, a supreme perfection; and if, beyond natural beauty, there does not converge in the beloved a great intellect original: "ingegno", refined and honorable manners and customs, elegant style and gestures, a dexterity of shrewd and sweet words, love, constancy, and faith. All these things are necessarily required for the perfection of love, because although the beginning of love is born from the eyes and from beauty, nonetheless, for its preservation and perseverance, those other conditions are needed. Thus, if by sickness or age or some other cause the face should lose its color and beauty should fade in whole or in part, all those other conditions remain no less pleasing to the spirit and heart than beauty was to the eyes. Nor would such conditions yet be sufficient, if still in