Sonnets, Songs, and Triumphs

E

...he was in love: thus he wonderfully commends his beloved by comparing her to the apostles and to Christ, saying: THAT: namely God. WHO with infinite providence before things were created, and with art in that creation, Showed in his miraculous mastery: of the created things, He who created this hemisphere where we dwell. And that other hemisphere where the poets say the antipodes dwell The "antipodes" refers to people living on the opposite side of the globe, whose feet would be "against" ours; a concept debated in medieval and Renaissance geography., which is beneath our feet on the opposite side: although according to Claudius Ptolemy An influential 2nd-century mathematician and astronomer whose geocentric model was standard in Petrarch's time. those who inhabit Spain would be the antipodes of those who inhabit India. And He created Jupiter more gentle than Mars. Because the planet Jupiter is benign and peaceful: but that of Mars is bellicose and full of litigation and contention. Coming to earth: when through the Incarnation He took on human nature. To illuminate the papers: to reveal the scripture and the prophecies of the Old Testament. Which had hidden the truth for many years: because for thousands of years past, the truth of His coming had been hidden: which was then made manifest to all. That one, I say, took John and Peter, these two principal apostles. From the net: from the labor of fishing. And made them part of: those of the kingdom of heaven in the celestial realm. And this grace He did not grant to Rome by being born there: that is, He did not wish to be born in Rome, the empress of the world. But He granted such grace of His birth to Judea which was subject and despised, stating the reason for this: So much did it always please Him to exalt humility above every state which is esteemed high and great by wordly men—which has in itself all the more pride and vanity the greater it is. And finally, he brings everything said above to a comparison and likeness with his beloved Lady Laura: and now at present the same. God has given us a sun: a woman most beautiful and most splendid like the sun. From a small village: born in a little hamlet, I say, a sun. Such that nature itself is thanked. The place: such a little village from which so beautiful a woman as Lady Laura was born to the world: thus Petrarch teaches us that in loving we must consider the quality of the beloved person themselves, and not their homeland or their lineage.

Antonio

Decorative woodcut initial Q THAT WHO [has] infinite providence and art. Messer Francesco Petrarch makes a comparison against what might be objected regarding his lady—that she was born in a lowly place and that he allowed himself to be captured by the love of a woman born in a suburban place, he being a civilized person. And he says that God, being born, did not wish to be born in Rome, which was the empire of the world, but wished to be born in Judea, which was a servant; and so did Lady Laura. And he responds to a silent question, because some might say: "You fell in love with one born in a lowly place," because Lady Laura was born in a farmhouse outside of Avignon in France. Wherefore Messer Francesco Petrarch responds: not even Christ, coming into the world, was born in Rome where the Empire was (which would have been very fitting for Him), but was born in a servile place. And thus he makes the comparison: that now from a lowly place He has given us a woman so beautiful and excellent, and this is to exalt humility. SMALL village: the village is in the Sorgue valley The "Valchiusa" or Vaucluse, where Petrarch lived. near Avignon.

SONNET V.

Francesco 6

How sweet love is, even though it has sharp stings within it. Which Messer Francesco Petrarch demonstrates in many other places: and no less in this present fifth sonnet. For having previously signified the incomparable beauty of the beloved Lady Laura as being similar to the sun, here he commends her name as a thing corresponding to her beauty. Which he cuts and divides into three parts, interpreting the first syllable Lau [as] plaude original: "plaude" (praises/applauds). Then he divides the second syllable into two parts: that is, first into R. Which letter he shows to signify reale [royal] or reverentis [reverent]: as if he wished to say that his lady is of royal praise, or of praise which the philosophers use in testimony and in proof...

Quand’io movo i sospiri a chiamar voi,
   And the name, which Love wrote in my heart;
   Praising original: "Laudando" (contains the syllable LAU) begins to be heard from without
   The sound of its first sweet accents.
Vour royal original: "real" (contains the syllable RE) state, which I encounter next,
   Redoubles my courage for the high enterprise:
   But "be silent" original: "tace" (contains the syllable TA) cries at the end; for to do her honor
   Is a burden for other shoulders than yours.
Thus to praise and revere teaches
   The voice itself, whenever one calls you,
   O woman worthy of every reverence and honor;
Save that perhaps Apollo is indignant... In this sonnet, Petrarch puns on the name LAU-RE-TA (Laura) using the words Laudando, Real, and Tace.