PETRARCH THE AUTHOR 



It is, however, the love lyrics which form Petrarch's 

 most important contribution to poetry. Scarano, who 

 is one of Petrarch's severest critics, maintains | that in 

 his attitude towards Laura the poet has takeiTa step 

 backwards, that instead of placing himself by the side 

 of the artists of the dolce stil nuovo, or marching in 

 advance, he stands half way between them, with their 

 mystical, philosophical love, and the older school of 

 Provencal poets, with their feudal devotion. It is 

 absurd to blame him for this; rather is it a cause for 

 rejoicing. Were Laura not as human as she is, his verse 

 would lack one of its great charms. Not that she stands 

 out very clearly defined, in spite of his characterization 

 of her hair yellower than gold, now bound together by 

 strings of pearls and other jewels, now floating in the 

 air (it is hard not to think of the quattrocento pictures) ; 

 of her ebony eyebrows; of the dark eyes in which love 

 nests and which are his guiding stars ; of her teeth and 

 lips, pearls and vermeil roses; and of her hands, pure 

 ivory and fresh roses. Nor are we much aided by his 

 statement that she was wise ("sotto biondi capei canuta 

 mente"), eloquent, and that her singing touched one's 

 very soul. Indeed, all this is not necessary. Petrarch 

 is a Pygmalion who in his mind has fashioned a beauti- 

 ful statue and, being a true creator, has endowed his 

 Galatea with a Ufe so intense that she Hves for us as for 

 him, so real that we, no more than he, need the real 

 Laura. Whether we are able to follow him with sus- 

 tained interest in every step of his detailed accoimt of 



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