The Secret of Petrarch
In 1342, Petrarch wrote what perhaps is the most remarkable of all his works, — His Secret. It takes the form of a dialogue with Saint Augustine, to whom he lays bare the inmost recesses of his heart and mind. The story of his love and ambition is told with a candour almost impossible in these days, and in a tone quite new to those days. In it, we find ourselves in the presence of the first man of his age, and the initiator of all modern culture.
His passion for glory may have been early sated, but his love for Laura burned within him to the close of his life. It is chiefly his relation to her that, after six centuries, still appeals to us with undying interest.
Those who have loved long, and those who have long mourned a personal loss, have ever found in Petrarch a colleague and console.
The present work consists of a prose and a poetical portion. The former comprises a series of critical studies on various questions of interest relating to Petrarch and Laura; in the latter, the results of these are united in a short drama, presenting more intimately, perhaps, the true mind of the great Italian and the lady whom he loved.
The investigation was materially aided by a visit in 1901 to Avignon and other Petrarchan localities. The text used for the Trionfi is that of Scartazzini; for the other Rime, that of Carducci and Ferrari. Some new translations of certain of the masterpieces are included, and the Italian originals of these are appended. I can say with truth that the preparation of the illustrations has been to me a labour of love. For valuable and very courteous assistance, my thanks are due to M. Leopold Delisle, Administrator of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; to M. L. H. Labande, Conservator of the Bibliotheque d' Avignon; and, not least, to M. Gustave Ode, of Caumont.
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