Sonnets, Songs, and Triumphs

In the month of April, for the sake of devotion—as is well known—he encountered in the church of Saint Clare a most beautiful young woman named Loreta original: "Loreta"; Petrarch’s muse is universally known as Laura.. She lived in a small castle near Avignon and had likewise come there for the indulgence A grant by the Church that reduces the temporal punishment for sins; here, likely referring to a specific holy day or jubilee.. He fell most ardently in love with her and remained constant in that love for twenty-one continuous years while she was living. Later, in his rhymes, she was called Laura by him for better consonance.

And although Pope Urban V Urban V (reigned 1362–1370); historical records regarding this specific offer of marriage are considered part of the semi-legendary tradition of Petrarch’s life. wished her to be given to him as his wife, loving him exceptionally and granting him the right to hold his ecclesiastical benefices Church offices that provided an income; normally, these required celibacy. together with a wife, Petrarch never wished to consent. He said that the fruit he gathered from writing of love would be entirely lost once he had attained the object of his love. During this time, he wrote the first part of his Sonnets and moral Songs in praise of her beauty. Consequently, his friendship began to be desired by notable and illustrious men, among whom was the Colonna family—a famous people of supreme virtue who held great status in the court of Rome at that time.

At the principal request of Giacomo Colonna, Bishop of Lombez in Gascony, Petrarch traveled with him to the Pyrenean mountains that divide France from Spain. He stayed there one summer with such pleasure that, remembering that place in his letters, he always called it "celestial." After departing from him, he lived for a time under the Bishop's brother, Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, not as his lord but as a father. At this time, moved by a youthful desire to see new regions, he set out to explore France and Germany. First, he traveled to Paris to see if the fame that flew from that city was true. After this pilgrimage, he came to Rome, having been inflamed since childhood with the desire to see it, and especially to visit Stefano Colonna, the prince and father of that family, by whom he was most grandly received.

However, since the customs of the Roman court did not please him, he returned to Avignon. Seeking some remote and pleasant place for his studies, he found the valley called Vaucluse original: "valle che chiusa s'appella"; literally the "Closed Valley." with the beautiful and clear spring named Sorgue. Pleased by the amenity and solitude of the site, he settled there to live, where he wrote a large part of his works. He mentions this place several times in them, and among others, he began the Africa there—a poetic book concerning the deeds of Scipio Africanus.

Having already reached the age of thirty-four, he departed and went to Parma with the Lords of Correggio, noble and distinguished men. Finding in those territories a large and pleasant forest, the delight of which inspired him, he again set his hand to the work of the Africa which had been interrupted. Then, in Parma, having bought a small but restful and tranquil house, he stayed and wrote with such ardor of spirit that he composed the greater part of it there. Later, having returned to the Sorgue spring, he brought that noble work to its end.

Because of the fame of this work, as he records as a miracle, it happened on one and the same day that the leaders of the city of Rome and the chancellors of the University of Paris wrote to him: those in Rome wanting him to come for the laurel crown, and the others in Paris for the same honor. By the advice of Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, he disposed himself to go to Rome. But first, he visited King Robert who resided in Naples, whose counsel and authority he wished to follow above all others.

Received kindly by the King and having had the Africa heard by him over two days, on the third day the King judged him worthy of the laurel crown, wishing him to accept it in Naples. But seeing Petrarch’s intention, the King confirmed his purpose to go to Rome and sent one of his own men to accompany him to have him crowned on the Capitol. Petrarch had then completed thirty-four years of his age.

Afterward, having returned to Arezzo, moved by love for his fatherland, he was received by the citizens with the greatest joy and wonderful honor. Then, having returned to Verona in the year 1348, on the 29th of May, he learned through letters from Ludwig of Parma of the unhappy fate of his Madonna Laura: how in that same year, on the 6th of April at dawn, that most bright light was extinguished from this life. Following this, the image of such tenacious love remained fixed in his gentle heart for about ten years, during which time he mostly retreated to his accustomed solitude at the Sorgue spring in Vaucluse. There, he added the second part of the Sonnets and moral Songs, together with the Triumphs, in perpetual fame of her beauty and virtue and in memory of his grief.

And being already fifty years of age, sought after through the friendship and letters of Jacopo da Carrara, he came to Padua, where he was received with great humanity. Understanding that he intended to follow the clerical life so that he could do so more consistently, the canonry An administrative position within a cathedral or collegiate church. of Padua was conferred upon him. Having stayed there twelve years (not yet complete), after the death of the said Lord, he returned to France and continued...