PETRARCH THE AUTHOR 



know whose is the fault, the sick man's or the physi- 

 cian's." Other vicissitudes of fortune or afflictions may 

 be his theme; a defense of poetry; an attack upon 

 medicine; the question so interesting to humanists, 

 whether it is better to remain single or to marry; 

 praises of old age; the all-importance of equanimity 

 and eloquence; the use of the second person singular, 

 instead of the plural, in letters; the difference between 

 loquacity and eloquence; the degeneracy of the age in 

 which he hved. Sometimes the subject is treated with 

 brevity; not infrequently it becomes a treatise, as he 

 confesses frankly. In a very long letter to Bnmi he 

 speaks of the preceding one in the collection, addressed 

 to the Pope, as being rather a " short Httle bit of 

 writing " than a regular letter. 



Yet the man who, seeking " the homely matters," 

 should turn away in disgust from these pamphlets or 

 essays, would be acting very unwisely, for this very " bit 

 of writing," full of the most glowing enthusiasm for 

 Italy, is an important document in the literature of 

 patriotism, an interesting class at this period. A fine, 

 vigorous expression of Petrarch's patriotism one will 

 find in it then. Indeed, one has only to plunge coura- 

 geously into any volume, skip judiciously, and one's 

 reward will be ample. Hardly a letter is there which 

 does not add to one's knowledge of the man, or confirm 

 one's appreciation. 



Take, for instance, the last eight books of the Letters 

 of Old Age, where we find the same great variety of 



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