PETRARCH THE AUTHOR 



than I should have seen had I remained at home within 

 the walls of my city, and I have learned something. On 

 the other hand, this time was stolen from letters; and 

 if this thought had not kept in check my youthful 

 ardor, I assure you that, fearless and eager as I was to 

 see new things, I should have travelled as far as China, 

 India, and Ceylon. Neither fatigue nor fear of the sea 

 or any other peril could have kept me back: what held 

 me was the dread of losing time and of distracting my 

 mind from studies, thinking that I should have re- 

 turned with my head full of cities, rivers, mountains, 

 woods that I had seen, but empty of the doctrine of 

 letters. Therefore I learned to visit those distant 

 regions, not on ship or on horseback, not trudging 

 along interminable roads just to see them once, but on 

 a small map, travelling with the aid of imagination and 

 books in such a way that at my pleasure I could go and 

 return in the short space of an hour, safe and sound, 

 unwearied, without bother, expense, or such nuisances 

 as thorns, mud, and dust." In his restlessness and his 

 desire to keep moving (which of course is only one side 

 of his nature), Petrarch is a forerunner of the wander- 

 ing humanist of a later day, Itahan or German. In 

 his love of travel and his eagerness to see remote 

 countries, he is the predecessor of the great discoverers. 

 Even as a fireside traveller he is important, for his 

 Itinerarium Syriacum marks a date in geographical 

 studies. In his remarks on art, history, and natural 

 beauties, in connection with places he has occasion 



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