PETRARCH THE MAN 



opinion of yourself." To this Petrarch assents. And 

 again St. Augustine says: "You resemble those who, on 

 the slightest offence, recall past enmities." Petrarch 

 responds: " There is in me no wound old enough to be 

 healed by time." 



While it is easy to understand a part of Petrarch's 

 troubles as due to his sensitiveness, it sounds strange 

 to hear him say that self-depreciation had anything to 

 do with them; but I really believe it did. Not a little 

 of what seems excessive vanity in a man is due to a 

 wondering, exultant pleasure and surprise at having 

 accomplished so much. One of the sources of his. 

 despondency was the desire for fame, which calls 'for a 

 word or two of discussion. Expressions of it do occur, 

 to be sure, in Dante, but to no such extent as we find it. 

 in the works of Petrarch, who avers that this passion, 

 which has been with him since his earliest years, is so 

 strong in him that no remedy can counteract it. In his 

 Canzoniere he is constantly playing upon the words 

 Laura and Laurea. That is one reason why his friends, 

 Giacomo Colonna and Boccaccio, doubted whether the 

 woman Laura had ever existed. In these same poems 

 he asserts that even this vernacular verse will render 

 him famous. In his Latin writings also he prophesies 

 his fame. Especially is this notable in the Africa, the 

 work which he hoped and believed would contribute 

 above all else to his glory, because it was so rare and 

 beautiful and excellent. Just as Brunetto Latini proph- 

 esies the future fame of Dante in the Inferno, so 



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