Petrarch (111 page)

8.
all her emptiness:
Defetto,
incompleteness in the theological sense.

11.
let my departure count:
May the honesty of his confession make a difference.

13.
deign that your hand be present:
That He takes him quickly and with mercy.

14.
only hope I have:
A thought that descends to the weak and prosaic, according to Muratori (cited by
Carducci). Cf. 302.12: “Ah, why did she stop speaking and drop my hand?” Cf. also
Dante,
Paradiso
XXXII, 145–46.

In this final canzone, a hymn of 137 lines to the Virgin Mary, the language of love
is finally reabsorbed into the language of Scripture, a small part of which is cited
here in the notes. Of all the praises raised here to the Virgin, only a few have not
been applied to Laura at one time or another. Probably transcribed into Vat. Lat.
3195 in 1370–71 (Wilkins 1951, p. 175), the canzone appeared as the concluding poem
in other manuscripts also, such as Malatesta and Quiriniano of 1373. It was not always
believed that Petrarch intended to conclude his work with it, however. Castelvetro
wrote: “If what is said is true, that it was found in a small box after Petrarch’s
death without ever having been shown to anyone, it is presumptuous on the part of
the person who discovered it not only to classify it among the other rhymes that he
brought to light but also to save it for the end, where the most excellent work is
saved as conclusion.” Castelvetro questioned the poem on theological grounds, saying
it would not withstand
the criticism of “pure Christianity,” and on poetic grounds because of the repetition
of the -
etta
rhymes in the third and seventh stanzas. Critical judgments since the eighteenth
century overlook Petrarch’s anomalies and consider this canzone his most beautiful
work. Macaulay thought it to be the world’s most beautiful hymn.

Numbers figure prominently in the form of the poem. Ten stanzas divide into two parts
of six and seven lines, each stanza with its numerically significant pattern or gestalt.
The name “Virgin” is repeated in lines one and nine, and an internal rhyme divides
the last line of each stanza into five and six beats. The seven-line congedo offers
the poet’s last breath (
spirto
) to God.

1.
Virgin, so lovely:
He invokes the Virgin Mary with an echo of the Song of Songs 1:7, “O pulcherrima
inter mulieres,” and Rev. 12:1, “Signum magnum adparut in coelo: mulier amicta sole
et in capite eius corona stellarum duodecim.”

2.
so pleased the highest Sun:
God the Father. Cf. Antiphon: “Beata Dei Genetrix.”

3.
hide his light:
Cf. Dante,
Paradiso
XXXIII, 7: “Within your womb rekindled was the love”; and John 8:12, “Ego sum lux
mundi.”

4.
speak of you in verse:
Cf. Dante,
Inferno
II, 72: “love moved me, as it moves me now to speak.” Cf. also Rev. 13:11–15, for
the second beast that spoke for the first, moved by the dragon.

5.
cannot begin without your help:
As intercessor.

6.
His who loving placed himself in you:
The Holy Spirit. Cf. Isa. 11:1, “Egredietur virga de radice Iesse, et flos de radice
eius ascendent, et requiescet super eum spiritus dominus”; and St. Thomas Aquinas,
Summa Theologica
I, 45, 6: “Deus pater operatus est creaturum per suum verbum quod est filius et per
suum amorem, qui est spiritus sanctus.” Cf. also Dante,
Paradiso
X, Iff, and XXXIII, 7.

7.
I call upon the one:
Mary.

11.
bend now:
“Lower yourself” to speak to one so miserable. Cf. Ps. 87:3, “Inclina aurem tuam
ad precem meam.”

12.
help me in my war:
His continuing struggle with himself.

13.
I am dust:
A mortal man. Cf. Eccles. 10:9, “quid superbit terra et cinis?”

you are queen of Heaven:
Cf. Antiphon, “Regina coeli.”

14.
Virgin so wise:
The highest praise, after her beauty, is for her wisdom and prudence. Laura, too,
was valued for her wise speech (and her lovely silences), both in life and as she
appeared to him in dream.

the lovely number:
Cf. Matt. 25:1–13, the parable of the foolish and prudent virgins at the wedding,
a passage that speaks of prophecies and warnings; cf. also Antiphon I,
ad laudes
of the Roman breviary: “Haec est virgo sapiens et una de numero prudentum.”

16.
with the brightest light:
Cf. St. Bernard, in
assumpt.
B. V. II, 9: “Processit ergo gloriosa Virgo, cuius lampas ardentissima ipsis quoque
angelis miracolo fuit….”

17.
O sturdy shield:
The defense of her wisdom and intercession. Cf. 2 Kings 22:3, “scutum meum et cornu
salutis meae … quia circumdederunt me contritiones mortis.”

19.
triumphant:
Able to transcend affliction through her power.

20.
blind ardor:
Cupidity (yearning) for worldly things (Vellutello). Cf. Virgil,
Aeneid
IV, 2: “coeco carpitur igne.”

21.
foolish mortals:
In contrast with “prudent virgins.”

22.
those lovely eyes:
That he seeks now instead of Lauras, whose eyes had aroused his “blind ardor.”

25.
turn to my perilous state:
Cf. Antiphon,
Salve Regina:
“illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte.”

26.
who come imprudent:
Considering his past errors.

27.
pure and perfect:
Cf. Deut. 12:15. These attributes, and all that follow, reflect both ways, forward
and backward. Chiari compares his style here to the Provençal poets Peire Cardenal
and Peire de Corbiac.

28.
mother and daughter both:
Cf. Dante,
Paradiso
XXXIII, 1: “Oh Virgin Mother, daughter of your son,” and XXXIII, 6; cf. also Roman
breviary
domin.
II
oct.:
“Beata est, virgo Maria, quae dominum portasti creatorem mundi, Genuisti qui te fecit
et in aeternum permanes virgo.”

29.
brighten this life:
With the shield of her wisdom. The image corresponds to “pure.”

adorn the other:
Corresponding to “perfect.”

30.
through you your son … Father:
The three indivisible.

31.
lofty window:
Mary, the means through which God’s light came down in the body of Christ.

32.
final days:
According to the prophets and Church doctrine, the time of most need. Dante called
it “plenitudo temporum,” a fulfillment of promise. Cf. Virgil,
Eclogues
IV: “Ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aetas,” in regard to Orpheus’ prediction: “Sexta
in aetate cessabit harmonia mundi.”

36.
who change the tears of Eve:
Brought the world hope of healing original sin. Zingarelli cites St. Augustine,
Sermones:
“Heva enim luxit, Maria exsultavit…, et Hevea planctum Mariae cantus exclusit.”

37.
make me, for you can:
An imperative, followed by the force of a declarative. These modes of speech recur
as an assertion of Mary’s power. Cf. Dante,
Paradiso
XXXIII, 34–35

worthy of this grace:
Of changing his tears to happiness.

38.
blessèd without end:
Shield and comforter for all generations. Cf. Luke 1:48, “ecce enim ex hoc beatum
me dicent omnes generationes.”

40–41.
Virgin so holy, full of every grace
… :
Cf. Luke 1:28, “Ave Maria, gratia plena,” and 1:48, “respexit humilitatem ancillae
suae.”

43.
Fount of pity:
Cf. St. Ambrose: “Fons pietatis ex te ortus, Sol justitiae, thronus gratiae”; and
St. Anselm: “Ilia pie potens et potenter pia, de qua ortus est fons misericordiae.”

44.
Sun of justice:
Cf. Mal. 4:2, “Orietur vobis timentibus nomen meum sol iustitiae.”

brightens the world:
The perilous age in which he lives.

47.
mother, daughter, and bride:
Cf. Song of Songs 4:8–9.

49.
freed us from our bonds:
Cf. Ps. 123:7.

50.
a free and happy place:
In an ideal sense, as in the Golden Age.

51–52.
upon whose holy wounds /I pray:
As the free and happy world prays, unmindful of its errors.

52.
true Beatrix:
Paradigm of blessedness.

53.
Virgin without an equal:
Cf. Antiphon: “Sola sine exempio placuisti domino nostro Jesu Christo.” The attributes
of Mary and Laura find more common ground in
this fifth stanza than anywhere else in the canzone. Five is the number of worldliness
and blindness as well as of carnal love.

55.
surpass or even reach:
Cf. 342.5: “But she, who had no equal or a second.”

56.
your holy thoughts:
Cf. 211.9–10: “Virtue, honor, beauty, gracious bearing, / sweet words have caught
me in her lovely branches.”

57.
living temple:
Cf. 325:16–30; and 1 Cor. 3:17, “templum Dei, quod estis vos.”

58.
rich virginity:
Cf. 337.9–10: “And more, I built my nest of chosen thoughts / within that fertile
tree.”

59.
what joy is like:
loconda
has been used once before, in 94.8, where the first and the second miracles of love
are explained.

60.
through your prayers, O Mary:
This is the only time he addresses Mary by name, here in line 60, the number named
“support”
(sostegno)
in the Hebrew alphabet.

61.
Virgin so sweet:
Cf. the
Salve Regina:
“O clemens, o pia, o dulcis virgo Maria.”

62.
grace will abound:
Cf. Rom. 5:20, “ubi abundavit delictum, superabundit gratis.”

63.
knee of my mind bent:
Cf. 128.103–104. A similar image appears in a poem by Guittone and in the Prayer
of Manasseh: “flecto genu cordis mei precans a te bonitatem.” Cf. also Luke 1:51,
“dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.”

64.
I beg you be my guide:
Recalling Lauras role since the beginning.

66.
bright and stable star:
Here in line 66 in the sixth stanza of poem 366 he locates the still point—by which
one plots one’s course through the seas of life—with the word
stabile.
Cf. Rev. 12–13, in which Mary prevails against the Antichrist numbered 666; cf. also
3 Kings 2:45, “stabilis coram Domino usque in sempiternum.”

68.
faithful helmsman:
Who navigates under her star.

69.
consider now:
Another prayer in the imperative mode.

how frightening is the storm:
That is building over his times, his world.

70.
without a tiller:
Intended also in the political sense of being without a leader, continuing the theme
of the last days. Cf. Rev. 13:2–3, 132:11, 206:40, 235:14, and 277:7.

73.
though it, no doubt, be sinful:
Proven in all he has written.

75.
let your foe have the last laugh:
The Devil, who listens. Cf. Ps. 11:12 and 24:2. In Dante’s
Inferno
(XXXIII, 129–35), THE Devil is said to operate out of bodies of living men whose
souls have already fallen into Hell. Zingarelli notes that this “contrasto tra la
Vergine e il demonio” was a commonplace of the time.

78.
virginal cloister:
An expression used in many holy texts.

79.
Virgin, how many tears:
The seventh and eighth stanzas change the emphasis of the first six, moving from
praise in the first part to personal history, maintaining prayer in the second part.

89.
more swift than arrows:
Cf. Wis. of Sol. 5:9–12, “transierunt omnia ilia … aut tamquam sagitta emissa in
locum destinatum.”

91.
Death awaiting me:
Cf. Job 17:1, “et solum mihi superest sepulcrum.”

92.
that one is dust:
Laura. The eighth stanza returns to the subject of Mary’s eternal stability and power.

94.
knew not one:
The mortal Laura had always stood apart, like the number “I,” and he had observed
her from afar. These words are consistent with an unrequited love but also with the
just person’s detachment from wretchedness and sin.

96.
would still have happened:
Was fated to happen, and he was helpless to change it.
had she wished otherwise:
Had she given in to his desire.

98.
Lady of Heaven:
Ruler of herself and all others.

you our Goddess:
A divine role mistakenly given to Laura. Cf. 294.4, 311.8, and 337.8.

99.
be fitting:
Permissible in the eyes of God.

100.
Virgin of superb senses:
Alti sensi
literally “all-seeing,” “all-knowing.” Here, in line 100, the humanity and understanding
of Mary—mother, daughter, bride—are raised above all other models.

101–102.
could not be done / by others:
Such as Laura, or other mortals in whom he once placed his faith.

102.
your great power:
To detach herself from evil and nurture good.

104.
bring honor to you:
In support of this dubious concept, that her interceding for him might add a star
to her crown, One commentator cited a secret of the Roman missal: “et in honorem b.
Mariae semper Virginis, et b. Johannis Baptistae et ss. Apostolorum Petri et Pauli,
et istorum et omnium sanctorum; ut illis proficiat ad honorem, nobis autem ad salutem.”
Cf. 289.14.