study for their support, he abandoned all legal pursuit, and the trade Di vender parolette, anzi menzogne. His soul revolted at the idea of acquiring a science which would have reduced him to the dilemma, "either of becoming a rich rogue, or of being laughed at by the world for an honest madman, who had conceived the vain project of reconciling law, fortune, and conscience *. The young man, therefore, had recourse to the priestly habit, exposing however the profligacy of the ministers of God; despising preferment in a church so polluted; lamenting and groaning that he had no country but the land of his exile Dal dì ch' io nacqui in su la riva d'Arno, Cercando or questa ed or quell' altra parte, Non è stata mia vita altro che affannot. Being at once very poor and high-minded, the distressing conviction of the sudden reverses, of the humiliating and often useless cares, and * Epist. ad Post. + And in his early Latin Poetry, Exul ab Italia furiis civilibus actus, Huc subii, partimque volens, partimque coactus. Sed fidi comites absunt, vultusque sereni. Hoc juvat, hoc cruciat. Carm. Lib. i. Epist. 6. of the final vanity of human life, carried him away through ideal worlds, exclaiming at the same time" that this also was vanity and vexation of spirit." To muse and prey upon his illusions and feelings constituted his earliest,. as well as his latest perpetual occupation— The neighbours stared and sigh'd, yet bless'd the lad: Some deem'd him wondrous wise, and some believed him mad. For in his youth Petrarch mistrusted his own powers; and felt himself so dismayed by the immensity, the uncertainty, and the insufficiency of all human knowledge, that he was on the point of abandoning letters for ever, and implored the advice of a friend more advanced in years: "Shall I quit study? shall I enter into another course? Have pity on me, my father."-A few months after the date of his letter began his acquaintance with Laura. 66 Why wonder," says he, "at a sudden conflagration, when fuel needs only the spark?"— Io che l'esca amorosa al petto avea, The collection of his verses, compared with his correspondence, and such of his writings as he did not intend should become public, affords the progressive interest of a narrative, in с which we always identify the poet and the man: for he was careful in arranging his pieces according to the order of time; and often alludes to the occasion which gave them birth. Indeed many of the circumstances are so trifling in themselves, and poetical ornaments are so skilfully employed to conceal domestic events, that they hardly arrest the attention of readers warmed by the ardour of the sentiments, dazzled by the brilliancy of the images, astonished by the elevation of the conceptions, and led on by the variety and melody of the versification. VIII. AT first Petrarch saw in Laura only the most beautiful of women; one whom he was destined to love, and who inspired and ennobled his talents: he coveted glory only as it might secure her esteem and affection, and he hoped to have found happiness on earth*. He next discovered in her the form and the virtue of an angel-that his love burnt only to * In his Dialogues with St. Augustin, a book in which he has poured out all his feelings, and which he entitled The Secret Conflict of his Cares, he confesses that he was more ardent in his desire of the Laurel Crown, on account of its affinity to the name of Laura.-Petrarchæ Operum vol. 1. Edit. Basil. 1581. pag. 403: enlighten and purify his heart; to fix his mind ; to harmonize those faculties, which would otherwise have been a prey to perpetual perturbation; to lift his desires and thoughts towards heaven: and that he might raise her above every earthly idea, he never explicitly mentions that she was bound to partake the bed of another. At last, however, he felt and confessed" that she was a woman; that he doated upon her form; that she was the only one who had ever appeared a woman in his eyes;" Chiare, fresche, dolci acque Ove le belle membra Pose colei che sola a me par Donna; メ and he was burning " with envy, jealousy, and love" D'amor, di gelosia, d'invidia ardendo. He envied Pigmalion, "who could animate with soul and love the statue made by his own hands." But at the same time he seems not unaware that the fairest portion of his life was wasted in the superstitious worship of a Deity, which possibly deserved to be cast down upon the earth, whence his fatal fancy had raised it. He calls the loftiness of Laura, pride; and her aversion to every sort of baseness, affectation and prudery"— Ed in donna amorosa ancor m'aggrada Amor regge suo imperio senza spada. The illusions of a pure passion are succeeded by the desires of an impatient love, which escape, in expressions and lines too plain to be quoted, and which are not ordinarily observed, because Petrarch is traditionally read with sentimental prepossession. He was admitted but rarely into the house of Laura, and not till several years after their first meeting. 'I grow old," says he, "and she grows old: I begin to despond; and yet it appears to me that time wears away slowly, till we may be permitted to be together without the fear that we should be lost" Ma sia che può; già solo io non invecchio. 66 IX. HE now and then insinuates that he was justified in entertaining expectations which were often flattered and always disappointedE mi conforta, e dice che non fue Mai come or presso a quel ch' io bramo e spero : Io che talor menzogna, e talor vero Ho ritrovato le parole sue Non so s'il creda, e vivomi intra due. |