short yap on the theme of love in Petrarca's "Canzoniere" (ita and eng vers)

This is a text I wrote for school as part of an exam, reason for which it omits a lot of information that's taken for granted, and why it's so short. The general context you need is that the Canzoniere is a Francesco Petrarca's greatest work, despite being one of the only ones he wrote in Italian instead of Latin, and it talks about his torment (wanting to achieve perfection of the soul, but being unable to let go of everything worldly) through the lens of his love for an idealised woman, Laura. He writes in a time period where the major centralised powers (imperial and holy) were becoming less stable, reason for a large part of the insecurity in his life and writing, unlike that of the writers a generation before, aka those of the Dolce Stil Novo. They're the major influences of his work, in particular Dante (which is impossible to summarise in a few lines lol). The references to Dante in this refer mostly to his beloved woman, Beatrice, whom in the Divine Comedy is written as the guide through Purgatory and most of Heaven. Enojy !! xx

(eng)

Love is the central theme of the Canzoniere, appreciable on various different levels. Firstly, it's the lens through which we're shown the journey of the poet's self: Petrarca finds himself perennially divided by the desire to elevate his soul, which is anchored to the mortal world and its passions, namely poetic glory and his love for Laura. Glory marks his poetry from the beginning, giving him a much more aware perception of the figure of the intellectual. Love will be his torment; it's love for a woman for the first time more concrete, and Petrarch is in love with her including her body, which is perishable and subject to the passing of time. He pours immense love in a person inevitably destined to die, love that consequentially is wasted, and that he should instead dedicate to God.

Despite this the Canzoniere is not a love story; with the theme of worldly things destined to come to an end, Laura represents yes love, but also everything beautiful in life ("l'auro", in modern Italian "oro", "gold"), and also poetic glory ("laurum", in modern Italian "alloro", "laurel", plant representative of Apollo, protector of artists). As much as meeting Laura and her death are significant turning points, the journey of the Canzoniere is that of the lyrical self, marked by the understanding of mistakes made. Petrarch's self is placed as an example; not universal, nor for an elite, but for whomever will listen, presenting themes common to any man.

Love isn't the only thing tormenting Petrarca: he would like to achieve the perfection of the soul dictated by Christianity, and the torment resides in the fact that he doesn't have the strength. The values that hound him are both these Christian ones which he isn't able to fulfill, and those of the classical world, namely the lack of control over one's passions.

Laura herself is a new figure, that both takes from previous poets and sets distance. She's Giacomo da Lentini's beloved woman, in some ways, but also Cavalcanti's "mean" beloved, and both Dante's "donna-pietra"* and his angelic one. She's tied to courtly poetry with the use of the senhal, the various names that allude to her. However, she sets distance from them because for the first time she has a body and a physical appearance, and unlike Beatrice, who wasn't only angelic but a "donna-angelo"** who brings one closer to God, Laura is angelic but love for her is very much separate from that for God, and instead pushes away from Him.

*The term "donna-pietra", literally "stone-woman", is used in this context to talk about Petra, a woman Dante Alighieri talks about in four poems, described as cold and unmoving, and distains him by not returning his affection. Her name, Petra, alludes to the Latin and Italian word for "stone" or "rock", reinforcing the idea of her as cold, literally stony.

**The term "donna-angelo", literally "angel-woman", refers to the way the poets of the Dolce Stil Novo (among which Dante) talk about their beloved woman, someone who is so holy and high that loving her brings one closer to God. The distinction between Petrarca's angelic woman and the angel-woman is that the angel-woman is one who borders on divine, and love for her is acceptable even if it's all-consuming. The angelic woman instead is beautiful, enchanting, even pure, but she isn't necessarily this perfect, higher being, and as in Petrarca's case, such a consuming love for her isn't always acceptable.

(ita)

L'amore è il tema centrale del Canzoniere, apprezzabile su vari livelli diversi. Innanzitutto, è la lente tramite cui ci è presentato il percorso interiore del poeta: Petrarca si trova perennemente diviso dal desiderio di elevare la sua anima, ma è ancorato al mondo terreno dalle sue passioni, quali la gloria poetica e l'amore per Laura. La gloria segna la sua poesia sin dall'inizio, dandogli una percezione molto più conscia della figura dell'intellettuale. L'amore sarà il suo tormento: è un amore per una donna per la prima volta più concreta, e Petrarca si è innamorato di lei incluso il suo corpo, che è perituro e soggetto all'azione del tempo. Lui riversa un amore immenso in una persona destinata inevitabilmente a morire, un amore che in tal modo è  sprecato, e che dovrebbe invece rivolere a Dio.

Il Canzoniere, però, non èuna storia d'amore; con il tema delle cose terrene destinate a finire, Laura rappresenta sì l'amore, ma anche ogni bellezza della vita ("l'auro", l'oro) e anche la gloria poetica ("laurum", alloro, pianta di Apollo, protettore degli artisti). Per quanto l'incontro con lei e la sua morte siano dei punti di svolta significativi, il viaggio all'interno del Canzoniere è quello dell'Io litico, segnato dalle prese di coscienza dei suoi errori. L'Io di Petrarca si pone come esempio non universale, non per un'elite, ma per chiunque ascolti, presemtamdo dei temi comuni a qualsiasi uomo.

L'amore non è l'unica cosa che tormenta Petrarca, lui vorrebbe arrivare alla perfezione dell'anima dettata dal cristianesimo, il tormento sta nel fatto che non ne ha la forza. Sono si ai valori cristiani che non riesce ad adempire, che quelli classici e il mancato controllo delle passioni a perseguitarlo.

 Laura stessa è una figura nuova, che trae dai poeti precedenti, ma si separa anche. Per certi versi è la donna amata di Giacomo da Lentini, ma anche quella "cattiva" di Cavalcanti, è sia la donna-pietra di Dante che quella angelica. Con l'uso dei senhal, i vari nomi che alludono a lei, è legata anche alla poesia cortese. Tuttavia, si separa perché per la prima volta ha un corpo ed un aspetto fisico, e a differenza di Beatrice, non solo angelica ma proprio donna-angelo che avvicina a Dio, Laura è sì angelica ma l'amore per lei è ben separato da quello per Dio, e anzi allontana.