Ebook: Canzoniere

The Canzoniere of Petrarch (1304-74) is among Europe's most famous and influential books of lyrics. The focus of this large collection (7,500 lines) is Petrarch's lifelong love for the mysterious Laura, but the themes he treats are many and various. Often regarded as the first modern man to emerge from a mediaeval world, Petrarch remains modern in his perplexities, uncertainties, the hesitancies and diffidence he reveals, paradoxically, with assured artistry. J.G. Nichols brings out the obsessive passion, but also his wit and serious humour: The saying's all too true: we lose our hair but.;Cover; Title Page; Contents; Acknowledgements; Introduction; PART I: Poems written in the lifetime of madonna Laura; 1 Voi ch'ascoltate in rime sparse il suono; 2 Per fare una leggiadra sua vendetta; 3 Era il giorno ch'al sol si scoloraro; 4 Que' ch'infinita providentia et arte; 5 Quando io movo i sospiri a chiamar voi; 6 Sí travïato è 'l folle mi' desio; 7 La gola e 'l somno et l'otïose piume; 8 A pie' de' colli ove la bella vesta; 9 Quando 'l pianeta che distingue l'ore; 10 Glorïosa columna in cui s'appoggia; 11 Lassare il velo o per sole o per ombra; 12 Se la mia vita da l'aspro tormento.