Petrarch, the First Modern Scholar and Man of Letters: A Selection from His Correspondence with Boccaccio and Other Friends, Designed to Illustrate the Beginnings of the Renaissance |
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admiration Æneid Aristotle Augustine Avignon believe Boccaccio brother Cæsar called century certainly charm Cicero Cola di Rienzo Colonna confess copy Dante death delight desire devoted edition eloquence Emperor eyes fame father fear Fracassetti Francesco Francesco Nelli Francesco Petrarca friends genius Giacomo Colonna glory hand heard honour hope illustrious Italian Italy Julius Cæsar Latin laurel learned letters literary literature lived Lombez Luchino Visconti matter mediæval Middle Ages mind Monicus nature never noble Nolhac once Padua Parma Petrarch philosopher Plato poem poet poetry popes possess praise prince Quintilian reached reader reference reply Rienzo Roman Rome scarcely scholar Scipio Africanus seemed Seneca Silvius speak style tell things thou thought tion to-day true truth turn Vaucluse verses Virgil Visconti wander whole wish words writing written wrote youth
Popular passages
Page 313 - Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Page 16 - ... 1 core in sul mio primo giovenile errore, quand'era in parte altr'uom da quel ch'i' sono, del vario stile in ch'io piango e ragiono fra le vane speranze e '1 van dolore, ove sia chi per prova intenda amore, spero trovar pietà, non che perdono. Ma ben veggio or...
Page 194 - Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man: but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
Page 63 - In my familiar associations with kings and princes, and in my friendship with noble personages, my good fortune has been such as to excite envy. But it is the cruel fate of those who are growing old that they can commonly only weep for friends who have passed away. The greatest kings of this age have loved and courted me. They may know why; I certainly do not. With some of them I was on such terms that they seemed in a certain sense my guests rather than I theirs; their lofty position in no way embarrassing...
Page 314 - If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come and follow me.
Page 88 - Lord 1327, upon the sixth day of April, at the first hour, in the Church of Santa Clara at Avignon; in the same city, in the same month of April, on the same sixth day, at the same first hour, in the year 1348, that light was taken from our day, while I, by chance, happened to be at Verona, ignorant, alas!
Page 59 - I realised it; I was carried away by the strength of manhood; but a riper age brought me to my senses and taught me by experience the truth I had long before read in books: that youth and pleasure are vanity — nay, that the Author of all ages and times permits us miserable mortals, puffed up with emptiness, thus to wander about, until finally, coming to a tardy consciousness of our sins, we shall learn to know ourselves. In my prime I was blessed with a quick and active body, although not exceptionally...
Page 74 - I had already passed my thirty-fourth year when I returned thence to the Fountain of the Sorgue, and to my transalpine solitude. I had made a long stay both in Parma and Verona, and everywhere I had, I am thankful to say, been treated with much greater esteem than I merited. Some time after this, my growing reputation procured for me the goodwill of a most excellent man, Giacomo the Younger, of Carrara, whose equal I do not know among the rulers of his time. For years he wearied me with messengers...
Page 310 - What thou hast repeatedly experienced to-day in the ascent of this mountain, happens to thee, as to many, in the journey toward the blessed life. But this is not so readily perceived by men, since the motions of the body are obvious and external while those of the soul are invisible and hidden.
Page 378 - It will be proved to thy face that thou hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and a verb and such abominable words as no Christian ear can endure to hear.