II - COMMENTARY ON SOME OF HIS SONNETS

the lover would not have true knowledge of this condition, which presupposes perfection of judgment in the lover; nor could there be love from the beloved toward the lover if the one who loves did not deserve to be loved, assuming the infallible judgment of the beloved.

And therefore, whoever proposes a true love necessarily proposes great perfection, according to the common custom of men, both in the beloved and in the lover; and, as happens with all other perfect things, I believe that such love has been very rare in the world: which all the more proves its excellence. He who loves one thing alone and always, of necessity places no love in other things, and thus deprives himself of all those errors and voluptuousness original: "voluttá"; here referring to fleeting sensual pleasures or distractions that lead the soul away from virtue. into which men commonly fall; and, loving a person capable of recognition and seeking in every way he can to please her, he must of necessity seek to make himself worthy and excellent among others in all his works, following virtuous deeds to make himself as worthy as possible of her whom he esteems most worthy above all others. It seems to him that, both in public and in private, just as the form original: "forma"; in the Neoplatonic sense, this is the idealized spiritual image of the beloved held in the lover's mind. of the beloved is always present in the heart, so she is present in all his works, which she may praise or reproach according to their fitness, acting as a true witness and presiding judge not only of the deed, but of the thoughts. And so, partly by repressing evil through shame, and partly by stimulating good through the desire to please her, such people—if they do not act perfectly—at least do what the world considers the lesser evil, which, in respect to human imperfection, is chosen by the world as a good.

This, then, has been the subject of my verses; and if, even with all these reasons, I do not answer the objections and slanders of those who wish to condemn me, at least, as our Florentine poet Referring to Francesco Petrarch (1304–1374), whose lyric poetry defined the standards for Italian literature. said, among those who have experienced what love is:

original: "spero trovar pietá, non che perdono." This is a direct quotation from the first sonnet of Petrarch's Canzoniere.

the judgment of whom is quite enough for my satisfaction. Because, if it is true, as Guido of Bologna Guido Guinizzelli (c. 1230–1276), a famous poet and founder of the Dolce Stil Novo style, who famously argued that love and a noble heart are the same thing. says, that love and nobility original: "gentilezza"; refers to nobility of spirit and refinement of soul rather than inherited social rank. are interchangeable and are one and the same thing, I believe that to men