178 EXAMINATION of an HISTORICAL HTPOTHESIS 



confiders his paffion for Laura. On the contrary, it appears 

 to have been his glory and pride, and to have exalted him 

 equally in his own efleem and in that of others. 



Anima 



Da lei ti vien Pamorofo penfero, 

 Che mentre 7 fegui a I fommo ben t ' i?ivia, 

 Poco prezzando quel cff ogni huom dejia : 



Da lei vien V animofa leggiadria, 

 Ch' al ciel ti fcorge per deft ro /enter o : 

 Si cV i vo gia de la fperanza altero. Son. 12. 



Hence has my foul her nobleft aims deriv'd, 



From that pure flame ; hence rais'd her thoughts on high, 



Indignant, fpurning what the vulgar train 



Of earth-born fpirits prize. O beft of guides, 



That chear'ft with hopes, that proudly lift the foul, 



And point the path to heaven ! 



4 * In amore meo," fays Petrarch, in his dialogue with St Au- 

 gustine, " nil turpe, nil obfccenum, nil denique prseter rnag- 

 u nitudinem culpabilis." Dial, de contemptu mundi. " Illaju- 

 " venilem animum ab omni turpetudine revocavit, uncoque 

 " retraxit, atque alta compulit fpeclare." Ibid. " Amore acer- 

 " rimo, fed unico et honefto, in adolefcentia laboravi, et diutius 

 " laboralfem, nifi jam tepefcentem ignem mors acerba, fed uti- 

 " lis, extinxilfet." Epi/l. ad pojl. 



To any perfon who is acquainted with the writings of Pe- 

 trarch, and efpecially with thofe which were compofed after 

 the death of Laura, it muft appear the moll bigotted perver- 

 lion of ideas, to maintain that they are confident with the no- 

 tion of his cherifhing a paffion for a married woman. I {hall 



here tranllate a few paflages from thofe latter poems. 



In 



