2 of 8

Francesco Petrarch at a glance...

born in 1304 in Arezzo, Italy, though he spent most of his childhood living around Florence, Tuscany, and Avignon.

After briefly studying law in Bologna in 1320, Petrarch decided to abandon the field, against his father’s wishes, to begin studying the classics and begin a religious life.

In 1326 he took minor ecclesiastical orders and began serving under Cardinal Colonna, which allowed him to travel and write freely.

3 of 8

Rise of literary and love life

His interest in Latin literature and poetry grew significantly during this time period, and he was later able to share his love for the humanities with Giovanni Boccaccio, a fellow poet and humanist.

In 1327, Petrarch attended a mass in Avignon and saw Laura de Noves, for the first time. Laura, though her true identity has yet to be confirmed, would become the primary subject of his poetry for the rest of his life.

4 of 8

Laura and the laureate

Petrarch continued to travel around Europe performing diplomatic missions for the Church and Cardinal Colonna in the 1330s, and soon became a well-known scholar and poet.

His poetry, mainly composed sonnets focusing on the intense love and admiration he has for Laura, became immensely popular, and in 1341 he was crowned the poet laureate of Rome.

5 of 8

A Renaissance Man

In the years after his coronation, Petrarch traveled around France, Germany and Spain holding various clerical positions, researching the writings of Cicero, and exploring Greek history and literature.

Petrarch was deemed the “Father of Humanism” and was known for his lyric poetry written in the vernacular.

6 of 8

Petrarch’s Poetry: Subject Matter

Petrarch set the standard for Renaissance lyric poetry because he desired to write poetry that interrogated the human self in order to understand our humanly ways better.

Themes in Petrarch’s Poetry:

Love from afar
Unrequited love
Spiritualizing earthly love
The uncertain self, the self at odds w/ himself

7 of 8

Petrarch’s Poetry: Conventions and Structure

Convention:

Petrarch also refined a particular type of sonnet known as the blazon (blah-zohn). A blazon is a sonnet that catalogues the features or traits of its subject, usually a woman, and describes them using hyperbole, metaphor, or simile.

Structure of Petrarchan Sonnets

14 lines broken up into 2 parts (1st 8 lines =octet and last six lines= sestet)
iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line)
Rhyme Scheme= a pattern in the rhyming; this takes place at the end of the line

Rhyme Scheme Patterns:

1st 8 lines= abbaabba (this is constant)

last 6 lines= this is not constant and can be varied as follows:

cdcdcd cddcdc cdecde cdeced cdcedc

8 of 8

What is the structure of this sonnet?

Sonnet 307 by Petrarch

O lovely little bird, I watch you fly,

And grieving for the past I hear you sing.

I see the night and winter hastening,

I see the day and happy summer die.

If you could hear my heart in answer cry

Its pain to your sad tune, you’d swiftly wing

Into my bosom, comfort you would bring

And we would weep together, you and I.

‘Tis no equality of woe I fear;

Perhaps she lives whom you bewail; from me

Have greedy death and heaven snatched my

dear,

But the dark autumn evening hour sets free

The memory of many a banished year

So let us talk of the past then, tenderly

1. Number the sonnet lines and divide the sonnet into its octet and sestet.

2. Mark the rhyme scheme.

3. What literary conventions are being used in this sonnet?

4. What is the theme of this sonnet?