Happy Birthday Petrarch!
Today is the birthday of Francesco Petrarca, aka, Petrarch. Born in 1304, he would have been 705 years old today! He died July 19, 1374, one day shy of age 70. Poor thing. Perhaps the original Renaissance Man, he collected items of historical value, traveled for pleasure, and fathered two children while serving as a priest. He legitimized the children and was considered a devoted father. He is thought to be one of the first to coin the term The Dark Ages, and his writing informed the development of modern Italian as we know it.
This translation of one of Petrarch's sonnets is by Sir Thomas Wyatt (more on him at a later date). It is renowned for its expression of the complexity of emotion associated with romantic love. Note the use of classical conceits and paradox. Read it, admire it, and relate to it as you wish Petrarch a very happy 705th birthday!
I Find No Peace (Petrarch's 134th Sonnet)
By Petrarch
(Translated by Sir Thomas Wyatt;
originally published in Tottel's Miscellany, Richard Tottel, 1557)
I find no peace, and all my war is done;
I fear and hope; I burn and freeze like ice;
I fly above the wind, yet can I not arise;
An nought I have, and all the world I seize on;
That looseth nor locketh holdeth me in prison
and holdeth me not, yet can I 'scape nowise;
Nor letteth me live nor die at my device,
And yet of death it giveth none occasion.
Withouten eyen, I see; and without tongue I plain;
I desire to perish, and yet I ask health;
I love another, and thus I hate myself;
I feed me in sorrow, and laugh in all my pain;
Likewise displeaseth me both death and life;
And my delight is causer of this strife.
This translation of one of Petrarch's sonnets is by Sir Thomas Wyatt (more on him at a later date). It is renowned for its expression of the complexity of emotion associated with romantic love. Note the use of classical conceits and paradox. Read it, admire it, and relate to it as you wish Petrarch a very happy 705th birthday!
I Find No Peace (Petrarch's 134th Sonnet)
By Petrarch
(Translated by Sir Thomas Wyatt;
originally published in Tottel's Miscellany, Richard Tottel, 1557)
I find no peace, and all my war is done;
I fear and hope; I burn and freeze like ice;
I fly above the wind, yet can I not arise;
An nought I have, and all the world I seize on;
That looseth nor locketh holdeth me in prison
and holdeth me not, yet can I 'scape nowise;
Nor letteth me live nor die at my device,
And yet of death it giveth none occasion.
Withouten eyen, I see; and without tongue I plain;
I desire to perish, and yet I ask health;
I love another, and thus I hate myself;
I feed me in sorrow, and laugh in all my pain;
Likewise displeaseth me both death and life;
And my delight is causer of this strife.
Posted by Annmarie at 7/20/2009 10:36 PM 
Categories: today's words, Birthdays
Tags: sonnet happy birthday Petrarch
Categories: today's words, Birthdays
Tags: sonnet happy birthday Petrarch
Wow. I love the classicism, the flow, the wording: "I burn and freeze like ice."
"I fly above the wind, yet can I not arise."
I desire death, yet I ask health."
are amazing.
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