Petrarch (105 page)

19.
a sudden storm:
Although Petrarch does not give the cause of Lauras death, it has been assumed since
the fifteenth century that he refers here to the plague, which struck Europe in 1348,
moving from the east.

20.
air and waters:
A general cataclysm.

22.
what oppressing grief:
Cordoglio,
pain felt in the heart.

23.
little space now hides:
The grave. Cf. 304.9: “covered by meager marble.”

26.
young, slender laurel tree:
Nubile and ever green.

29.
different birds:
The great poets.

30.
cut me off:
The
laurel shielded him. In this vision, the witness himself enters the scene.

32–35.
the sky
… :
He compresses Laura’s lifetime into the space of a moment.

33.
struck with lightning:
To which the laurel had previously been impervious.

36.
shade like this:
Ombra,
her mortal self as it cast its impression on his soul.

37.
a sparkling fountain:
Laura’s speech that was pure and free.

38.
sprang from a rock:
From its source in the deep earth, referring perhaps to an original sacred language
of love. (Zingarelli identifies the fountain as virtue.)

39.
gentle murmuring:
That spoke words of silent truth to his heart.

40.
fair and shady:
Cf. Ovid,
Metamorphoses
III, 407 ff, the pool of Narcissus.

41.
no shepherds and no boors:
No rough sensibilities.

42.
muses and nymphs:
Providing the music for the lyric poet.

43.
I sat down there:
The witness enters the scene even more definitively.

44.
I took more sweetness:
First from the sound of birds and other joys (1. 29), then from these deep waters.

47.
fountain and place:
Obliterating all traces of that source.

48.
fills me with fear:
With dread for the future. Cf. Dante,
Inferno
XIII, 45.

49.
A marvelous phoenix:
Cf. 135.1–15 and, most recently in the poems, 321.

50.
adorned in purple … gold:
The colors of her plumage.

51.
in the woods:
In the darkest part of the forest, deeper than the grove of line 25.

52.
At first I thought:
He could not believe what his eyes were seeing.

53–54.
torn-out laurel/… spring stolen away:
The destruction of the last two visions.

55.
All things rush:
Even the phoenix is subject to time.

56.
leaves strewn on the ground:
Torn from the branches of the shattered laurel.

57.
living waters dry:
The fountain swallowed up by the earth.

59.
and quickly vanished:
Leaving no heir, no phoenix reborn.

60.
set my heart aflame:
Awoke a new desire in him, moved by compassion.

63.
sets me aflame and shaking:
With love and fear simultaneously. Cf. 313.2.

64.
humble… haughty:
The incomparable Laura of old. Cf. 121.5–6.

65.
so very white:
So pure.

66.
so woven:
Cf. 127.44–45 and 49–51.

67.
the upper part:
Her face and eyes hidden.

69.
stung upon her heel:
Cf. the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice in Ovid,
Metamorphoses
X, 8; and Virgil,
Georgics
IV, 454.

small snake:
Cf. Dante,
Inferno
VII, 84: Fortune’s “sentence hidden like a snake in grass.”

70.
as a cut flower withers:
Quickly, as in the other five manifestations of her death. Cf.
Virgil, Aeneid II,
435 (Euryalus), and XI, 68 (the death of Pallas).

71.
left in joy:
Secure in her blessedness.

74.
given to my lord:
To the poet.

75.
sweet wish to know death:
To follow her.

The first ballata since poem 149 and the only one in Part II, this confirms that Laura
still has dominion over his heart in spite of her sixfold death in poem 323. According
to notations on Vat. Lat. 3196, the ballata was composed in 1348, corrected in 1356,
and transcribed into Vat. Lat. 3195 in October of 1368 with further corrections. Chiari
suggests Petrarch waited until 1368 to add it, deliberately holding it back for some
reason.

1.
hope was blossoming:
His new hope. Cf. poems 314–317.

2.
guerdon:
Reward for his faithfulness, that is, the colors of his lady given to him when they
sat together in truce just before she died. For an early use of
guidardon,
see 130.4.

3.
promised mercy:
“A port of peacefulness” (317.1).

4.
Ah Death… Life:
Merciless both. The rest of the ballata brings them into balance.

6.
kills my hopes:
Took her before he could make good on her promise.

10.
But still:
He suspends time.

11.
sits Madonna:
Cf. 126.40–52.

12.
she sees for herself:
So identified is she with his soul and body. Cf. Dante “Li occhi pietosi”: “Ma quel
ch’io sia, la mia donna sel vede / E io ne spero ancor da lei merzede.”

Even in his young manhood Fortune had appeared before him in a vision and warned him
of the sad turn his life would take. Now he would remember her wise advice. Much admired
for its classical tone, this canzone does not break down into the usual conflicts
but maintains a consistently high level of praise throughout. The imagery is that
of St. Augustine.

1–8.
Silent I cannot be
… :
An appeal to Love that he might speak out again with his old voice.

5.
if you do not teach me, Love:
Cf. Dante,
Purgatorio
XXIV, 52–54.

6.
mortal words do justice:
Cf. poem 5.14. In recent poems he despaired of achieving his golden style again.

7–8.
concealed…/… in itself:
Cf. 182.7–8.

9.
Not long:
He begins a history.

lovely prison:
Of her body.

11.
realized that she existed:
When he fell in love at age twenty-three, according to his own notation.

12.
so quickly Iran:
Covering the whole course of his youth in a moment.

13.
years and of that year:
His life’s springtime and 6 April 1327.

16.
The walls were alabaster:
He begins to rebuild the temple of her body. The walls were the purest white marble,
like her skin.

17.
sapphire the windows:
Eyes that seemed to mirror the color of the deep. Cf. 29.23, 72.50, and 151.7. Sapphire
is identified with Jove in classical myth, Sophia in gnosticism, and with images of
the Virgin Mary.

20–21.
burst forth all armed/with flames and arrows:
The effect of her glance.

24–25.
a lofty throne/of diamond squarely cut:
Her chastity, cruel in its effect on the lover. For the image, see St. Augustine,
De Civitate Dei
IV, 26.

27–28.
a column /crystalline:
Her brow, pure and candid, or possibly her intellect.

32.
green ensign of victory:
The laurel.

34.
Jove and Apollo:
Whose powers of sovereignty (Jove), wisdom (Apollo), physical strength (Polyphemus),
and warlike fervor (Mars) all pale in comparison with Laura (see Chiari).

35.
tears… green:
Where new lyrical thoughts are forever springing up.

37.
let myself be taken:
He entered the labyrinth, a prisoner of love.

39–40.
departing/ will see:
Turning back to look.

42.
on a balcony:
According to Dante,
Convivio
III, 8, the eyes and mouth are balconies of the soul residing in the beautiful woman.

43.
alone was perfect:
Laura.

49.
turning to marble:
Becoming cold, hard, and pure like that little bit of stone that eventually would
mark his grave. Cf. 23.72–80, 104.8, 304.9.

50.
a lady:
Fortune, born with the world but ever young. Cf. Dante,
Inferno
VII, 88–90.

52.
so intent:
Cf. lines 44–45 and 323.31.

54.
My, take my advice:
Fortune speaks twice to catch his attention.

55.
for I have greater power than you think:
Cf. 23.83: “Perhaps I am not what you think I am.”

56.
in an instant:
Demonstrating the nature of sudden good fortune, determined by pure chance.

59.
like an eagle on that sun:
Without blinking while looking on the noble Laura.

60.
pay attention:
As if his desirous eyes were wandering.

61–64.
The day that she was born
… :
The best astrological conditions prevailed when Laura’s soul came down, and comparable
souls in heaven rejoiced. Cf. Dante,
Purgatorio
XXX, 109 ff.

65.
Both Venus and her father:
The planets Venus and Jupiter in conjunction. Cf. 310.6.

66.
were holding to … parts:
“High, selected places,” corresponding to eyes that remain fixed on the balcony of
the house of the body (11. 42–45).

67–68.
cruel, impious lights/… dispersed:
The planets Mars and Saturn, their malign effects diluted but not absent.

73.
a cloud off in the distance:
Portending sadness. Cf. 323.67–68.

75.
if Pity does not change:
Only God can alter the outcome at the point of death.

78.
a wondrous thing:
Literally, “new” (
nova
).

79.
pearl enclosed in finest gold:
The infant Laura.

81.
First crawling:
The child discovering the world as if she were spring moving over the land.

84.
turn fresh and proud:
Stand up, taking on her beauty. Cf. Statius,
The bais
V, 429: “tunc terra superbit Gressibus.”

87–88.
words not fully formed/made by a tongue:
Still naive, yet possessed of native wisdom. Cf. Dante,
Inferno
XXV, 132–33 (Carducci).

92.
reaching her third:
Adolescence, age fourteen. Virtue consists of all her strengths, including her miraculous
beauty.

97.
every tongue is dumb:
No language can express her deepest truth.

98.
you alone have learned:
But cannot succeed in expressing.

100.
eyes cannot look:
Though he might gaze like an eagle, he must eventually look away.

103.
burned more sweetly:
Consumed itself in trying to express her hidden sweetness.

105.
life for you a bitter thing:
Cf. line 73.

106.
revolving wheel:
Fortune’s distinguishing feature.

107.
spins our thread:
That determines the length of an individual life.

108.
sad and certain prophet:
Fortune’s divination became a reality.

110.
starve for death:
Wait out his life in want. Cf. 323.74–75.

Death has usurped mortal Love’s domain, but it cannot deny his angel her celestial
glory. For earlier sonnets with this rhyme scheme, see poems 13 and 94.

1.
power to the limit
Cf. 325.54–57.

1–4.
cruel Death:
Cf. Dante,
Vita nuova
VIII: “Morte villana, di pietà nemica.”

4.
meager grave:
Cf. 304.9 and 323.23.

5.
you have despoiled:
Taken away her material substance.

7.
worth, which never dies:
Cf. Horace,
Odes
IV, 8, 28: “dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori.”

8.
the naked bones:
Corresponding to
the poca fossa
of line 4.

9.
Heaven has had the rest:
The soul of Laura, light and flower of Heaven.

10.
as in a brighter sun:
Increased by the light of Laura.

11.
will not forget her.
The worth that never dies. Cf. Ps. 111:7.

12–14.
In such great victory
… :
He addresses a prayer to Laura with the
voi
form of respect, the only use of it in
Part II
(Zingarelli).

12–13.
take, /…pity on me:
In the sense of “be conquered by” (
Vinca
).

He shows how he will turn the tables on Death, expanding on the ideas of poem 326.

1.
The aura:
The essence of Laura.

2.
the sight of the sweet laurel:
Her material form.

3.
the light and place:
Internal guide to peace.

4.
he took away:
Death.

5.
sun when covered:
Eclipsed.

8.
fills my body’s weight:
The shadow of his own encroaching death.