Petrarcha And Laura

Man Who Loved too Much in Petrarcha's Sonnets

Laura, a very beautiful but also mysterious lady, inspired Petrarcha for poems. Petrarcha passes through emotional ''landscape'' in his life from the moment he first lied his eyes on Laura to when she rejected his courtship and after when she passed away. His feelings of love towards Laura prevail throughout whole his life, but his emotional state changes from happiness to deep despair and grief. Francesco Petrarcha (July 20, 1304 – July 19, 1374) was an Italian scholar and poet in Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. He is most famous for his love sonnets for Laura who was his passion ever since he first met her in the church in Avignon in 1327. Laura was married and on those grounds she rejected his courtship. His book Canzoniere is his love for Laura; from the first moment when he saw her, his and her life and later his life when Laura passed away. Petrarca portrayed Laura as a being of supreme beauty both inside and outer beauty. He idealized and mystified Laura to such proportions that one could have easily mistaken her for the Virgin Mary. It is not clear whether Laura was a real woman due to Petrarcha's wordy descriptions of her. Some critics say that Laura is a metaphor for 'laurels' which is a symbol for poets although Petrarcha alone denied any suspicions of Laura being a fictional woman. However, woman named Laura really existed in Avignon during Petrarcha's life. Her name was Laura de Noves and she was born six years after him. It is needed to know that Petrarcha rarely tried to make and physical contact with Laura. Not in a single poem or sonnet did he write about physical pleasures. Actually, he had invidious relation towards body and sexuality as many priests had in those days (and nowadays too!) which is pretty much what petrarchian and troubadour poetry is famous for. They glorified woman's beauty, but deprived of any physical desire. Sonnet XV. consists of 14 stanzas consisting of one octave and one sestet. In the octave rhyme scheme is ABBAABB (rain-disdain; sighs-eyes) and in the sestet rhyme scheme is CDEDCE (dies-flies; removes-approves). Figures of speech in this sonnet are: methapors, overstatements, oxymorons. Tone goes under several shifts. In the first three stanzas the speaker feels joy just by looking at Laura. Change happens in fourth stanza where he, for a slight moment, feels envy and jealousy. In the next four stanzas he is again full of joy. Change occurs in ninth stanza when Laura passes away, but he quickly changes his feelings of grief to feelings of happiness because he still carries her in his thoughts. The speaker is infatuated. He glorifies Laura so much that he overstates his feelings: '' Down my cheeks bitter tears incessant rain,/And my heart struggles with convulsive sighs,/ When, Laura, upon you I turn my eyes,'' He also disdains other people feelings towards Laura; the same feelings he has for her. He is a hypocrite. He shows signs of obsessive love, jealousy, and overly attached person misled by signs of courtesy: ''For whom the world's allurements I disdain,'' as well as in ''It pours on every sense a blest surprise;/Lost in delight is all my torturing pain.'' He also likes to be in a state of self-victimization. Although he knows that he has no chance to be with Laura he likes a role where he is portrayed as a man whose love was unrequited. Throughout this sonnet the speaker mostly feels joy and happiness. Sonnet XIX. consists of 14 stanzas consisting of one octave and one sestet. In the octave rhyme scheme is ABBAABBA (tried-pride; gain-vain) and in the sestet rhyme scheme is CDDCDD (thee-flee; befriend-wend). Tone is full of despair and unhappiness. In this sonnet the speaker feels miserable because he was rejected by Laura although he still hopes that she will change her mind. Figures of speech in this sonnet are: ambiguities, oxymorons, metaphors, and overstatements: ''A thousand times, sweet warrior, have I tried,'' He also projects guilt to her for not feeling the same about him as he feels about her. He also feels masochistic joy when Laura repels other courtiers and not just him. In the first eight stanzas he feels self-grief to the projection of guilt in the last two stanzas where he practically blames Laura for being so uninterested in him: '' How heavy then the guilt to both, but more/To thee, for thee it did the most adore.'' There is also a possibility for a pun. ''Proffering my heart to thee, some peace to gain''. Maybe the speaker wants to get her attention for just a short time so that he can be in peace with himself or maybe he wants her in a sexual, physical way. Throughout this sonnet the speaker mostly feels despair. Sonnet X. consists of 14 stanzas consisting of one octave and one sestet. In the octave rhyme scheme is ABBAABBA (sway-away; bind-behind) and is the sestet rhyme scheme is CDDCDD (pursue-rue; be-free). Figures of speech in this sonnet are: allusions, metaphors, apostrophes, ambiguities. Tone in this sonnet is full of grief and pessimism. The speaker is sad because his love passed away and he cannot cope with it. He wishes to die just so their souls could be together. He apostrophes Laura: Alas! why left me in this mortal rind'' wanting to know why she is dead and he is not. He again projects guilt to Laura. This can also be interpreted as an apostrophe to God. There is also an allusion to God: '' E'en in youth's fairest flower, when Love's dear sway''. Although Laura passed away three years ago he is still unable to move on. He still pretty much feels the same as he did three years ago. He is unable to make any closure. In the second stanza he shows signs of delusion thinking that they were once in love. All three sonnets (as well as the whole book) could also be interpreted as one big apostrophe to Laura. In the last stanza prevails ironic ambiguity:'' Death had been sweet to-day three years ago!''

Petrarcha's emotions towards Laura stay the same, but he emotionally changes a lot. At first, when he saw her for the very first time and until she rejected his courtship he felt joy and happiness. Later on, after she rejected him he started feeling despair and later when she passed away he was in a deep emotional state of grief and despair. Readers should burst in laughter, disbelief and even mockery while reading these sonnets. Exaggerations, vanity, extreme reticence, pudency, pessimism, being stuck in time, and not being able to cope with rejection and death are symptoms of mentally unstable person. Individuals who consciously suffer from unrequited love for all their lives should undergo psychiatric evaluation for neurotic illness resulting in something we could easily call pathology of love.