Musa's translations preserve all the brilliant visionary beauty & humble humanness of Petrarch's voice. & where would western literature be without Petrarch? He was one of the main people to bring Europe out of the Middle Ages.

By any Earthly measure, Petrarch was a genius. Father of Humanism, Philosopher, Diplomat, Poet, Theologian...these are all terms we can fling at his ghost. Yet what make of this obsession, this idolatry?

Musa's rendition sings with the music of the sphere's--let no one fool you on that score. I doubt that these 366 little songs could suffer too badly at anyone's hands, but my money's with Musa in English.

Moving right along and back, what do we make of this? Time and again Petrarch tried to make these verses seem a vulgar trifle in the greater scheme of things. His actions give the lie to this. He revised them continually over the span of his life. They could not possibly be more polished.

His spiritual life stumbled upon this altar. He wrote as much to Augustine in his secret book.

One feels that his art about Laura impaired him far more than the real Laura ever did. What to make of this?

Petrarch was a very important, influential figure in european history, & this book offers authoritative translations of his lyric poems. In fact, Mark Musa did so well translating the poems that sometimes the english sounds better than the original italian. With this bilingual edition you can look at both as they face each on the pages.

This volume is completely gorgeous. The editor, Theodore Cachey, Jr., has written an insightful introduction to the letter of Petrarch, situating both the text and its reception within the tradition of travel writings. The majority of Petrarch's letter describes Italian tours rather than the Holy Land. The letter itself is a marvellous description of a tour, replete with poetic, religious, and mythological citation, that Petrarch was invited to make but opted out of on account of a fear of sea-sickness. Included in the volume on the left side of each page is a reproduction (photographed, I assume) of Latin script of the "Itinerary" from 1358 (not by Petrarch's own hand, however). Below these handsome brown reproductions is a smaller and clearer version of the Latin in the reproductions. Facing, on the right side of each page, is a bright translation of the Latin letter. It is marvellous to behold the careful and thorough nature of a text that is often considered a minor work. Surely, it is small, but delightful too. The final section of the volume includes ample annotation of the text and a list of Petrarch's works.

This book, Petrarch's Songbook, is a bilingual edition of the songs and sonnets, originally titled Canzoniere, of Francesco Petrarch - a 14th-century Italian. It consists of 365 poems, mainly "Petrarchan" or Italian sonnets. In this edition, the original Italian poems appear side-by-side with an excellent verse translation by James Wyatt Cook. This is one of my favorite translations of the poems; Mark Musa's is more prosaic, Morris Bishop's is good, but hard to find.

If you want to find out what an obsessive love is truly like - here's the place to go. Petrarch fell in love with Laura on April 6, 1327 and obsesses about her for about fifty years. She was a married woman, living in the Avignon of the Popes. Her death, of the plague on April 6 (note the coincidence), 1348 did not end the fountain of poetry; Petrarch continued with the poems after her death.

This songbook is the source of the famed Petrarchan conceit, the farfetched comparison - for instance, that the beloved's eyes are like suns, dispensing warmth upon the lover (or cold when she is chilly). Later, the Elizabethan poets imitated these conceits. Even Shakespeare has a go at satirizing them.

Enjoy this fabulous poetry.

Durling, one of this generations greatest scholars in Italian lyric poetry, captures the essence of Petrarch's fragmented soul as none other has yet been able to in an english translation. The text includes facing page Italian (so it is excellent for students of the Langauge) and Durling has done everything possible to preserve the lyric beauty of Petrarch's verse.

Yet one must remeber that this is not a critical edition. Durlings commentary (if one can call it that) leaves much to be desired. Suprising also is the fact that Durling completely ignores the division in two parts (traditionally called "in life", 1-263 and "in death" 264-366. Petrarch clearly intended there to be a division, leaving blank pages in the Vatican manuscript, Vat. Lat. 3195. For those who desire a critical edition I would recomend Marco Santagata's 1996 edition (Mondadori), however it is entirely in Italian.

Durling, one of this generations greatest scholars in Italian lyric poetry, captures the essence of Petrarch's fragmented soul as none other has yet been able to in an english translation. The text includes facing page Italian (so it is excellent for students of the Langauge) and Durling has done everything possible to preserve the lyric beauty of Petrarch's verse.

Yet one must remeber that this is not a critical edition. Durlings commentary (if one can call it that) leaves much to be desired. Suprising also is the fact that Durling completely ignores the division in two parts (traditionally called "in life", 1-263 and "in death" 264-366. Petrarch clearly intended there to be a division, leaving blank pages in the Vatican manuscript, Vat. Lat. 3195. For those who desire a critical edition I would recomend Marco Santagata's 1996 edition (Mondadori), however it is entirely in Italian.

Everyone should read the beautiful and romantic poems by Francesco Petrarca, one of the great masters of Italian literature! Scholar Robert M. During has masterfully translated the Canzoniere poems in this bi-lingual edition, allowing you to enjoy them in either the original Italian or English.

...you'll love this book. Learn about how Petarch invented the motorcycle in 152 B.C., via a thorough study of Alexander's march through Persia and combining that with the discovery with the internal combustian engine. Also learn how the Kawaski Ninja became the favorite bike of the Legion and how they became invaluable during the Second Punic War. Boy - I never thought ancient history could be this cool.

The Italian philosopher, Fransesco Petracha (1304-74), who was responsible for the recovery of many Latin manuscripts, who was one of the primary causes of the revival of Latin letters, and who, like Dante, wrote much of his poetry in the vulgar tongue, is one of the greatest poets of all time and one of the most influential men in the history of the western world. Of the poems he wrote in his native Italian, 366 have survived under the name "Canzoniere" (short-song). Roughly 45 of the 366 poems are provided here in an excellent, faithful translation which steers clear of that cancerous and faulty element in poetry--the rhyme. They were carefully selected for their content, so the discouraging number of 45 poems seems bigger when the editor's subtle discretion is taken into account. The basis of these poems--like Dante's Beatrice and Catallus' Lesbia--rests mostly upon Petrach's undying love for Laura, but at times his verse resounds with political and religious themes, and with praises of Rome's past and the Italy of his own time. Every poem will be an enjoyable read; they are always profound and inspiring in their glorification of feminine beauty; and the vivid and picturesque allusions to nature are always soothing and edifying. One may easily see, after reading Petrach's "Canzoniere," Horace handing Petrach his pen and Virgil his laurel crown, for they were as real to him as the lines of his poetry. They guided him through the fields of Italy and lent him breaths of inspiration along the way. Petrarch was anything but a mean and vulgar poet; he deservedly stands out as great amongst the greatest. Also included are some short prose works (letters) which throw some significant light upon the life and character of Petrach. This conveniently sized collection of the poet laureate's works is thoroughly recommended.