The Poetry of Petrarch [Hardcover]

Petrarch (Author), David Young (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 2004

Ineffable sweetness, bold, uncanny sweetness
that came to my eyes from her lovely face;
from that day on I'd willingly have closed them,
never to gaze again at lesser beauties.
--from Sonnet 116

Petrarch was born in Tuscany and grew up in the south of France. He lived his life in the service of the church, traveled widely, and during his lifetime was a revered, model man of letters.

Petrarch's greatest gift to posterity was his Rime in vita e morta di Madonna Laura, the cycle of poems popularly known as his songbook. By turns full of wit, languor, and fawning, endlessly inventive, in a tightly composed yet ornate form they record their speaker's unrequited obsession with the woman named Laura. In the centuries after it was designed, the "Petrarchan sonnet," as it would be known, inspired the greatest love poets of the English language--from the times of Spenser and Shakespeare to our own.

David Young's fresh, idiomatic version of Petrarch's poetry is the most readable and approachable that we have. In his skillful hands, Petrarch almost sounds like a poet out of our own tradition bringing the wheel of influence full circle.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“David Young’s version of Petrarch will refresh our images of the West’s crucial lyric poet. We are given a Petrarch in our own vernacular, with echoes of Wyatt, Shakespeare, and many who come after.” --Harold Bloom

"To read love poetry--to speak of the language of love--is to read Petrarch, who is largely responsible for inventing what W. B. Yeats called 'the old high way of love.' David Young has made the old way new again: his translation is limpid, uncluttered, rhythmically alive, and, above all, readable. Lovers of poetry will discover here the language they have spoken all their lives." --James Longenbach

“David Young’s new version of Petrarch makes this great poet seem closer to us than before, both in language and as a living presence. His marginal comments and introduction help to convey a coherent sense of Petrarch the man, his life and the myth he made of it.” --W.S. Merwin

"True love--or rather, the truest --is always obsessive and unrequited. No one has better dramatized how it scorches the heart and fires the imagination than Petrarch did, centuries ago. He dipped his pen in tears and wrote the poems that have shaped our sense of love--its extremes of longing and loss--ever since. Now in David Young's elegant new versions, his songs are as soaring and searing as ever. Indeed, not only is this a vibrant translation for our day but, their immense range slowly savored, these poems will sound anew the depths of each reader's own heart." --J.D. McClatchy

About the Author

The sonnets of Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca, 1304-74) helped to establish Italian as a literary language. David Young is the author of nine volumes of poetry, most recently of At the White Window.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (April 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374235325
• ISBN-13: 978-0374235321
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #828,075 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last -- The Definitive Petrarch Translation!, May 14, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Poetry of Petrarch (Hardcover)

Anyone who has followed the poet David Young's brilliant translations of Rilke through the years would probably agree that they are the best modern and specifically American English versions that we have of Rilke's work. And any fans of Petrarch, the great 14th-century Italian sonneteer, would probably agree that there has been a distinct absence of decent English Petrarch translations. Therefore, the combination of Young's translation abilities with this under-translated, under-appreciated Italian master -- this is a marriage made in... Paradiso...! In this one volume, one finds not just a selection, but all of the poems about Laura (the unrequited love of Petrarch's life) -- arguably the first truly personal poems, and perhaps the first modern poems, ever written, anywhere, by anyone. Young's translation preserves the tone and iambic pentameter of this early Renaissance poet, while bringing something distinctly modern and American and emotionally authentic to each poem. I.E., this is not a stale academic "literal" translation, nor does it assault the reader with bad, clunking English rhymes. It does what all the best translations have always done: It re-creates the immediacy and living beauty of another culture, literally breathing new life into words that might otherwise be inaccessible, for whatever reasons.

This book is a major achievement by one of the best translators, and poets, that we have in America. If you are not familiar with Petrarch, or David Young, a wonderful treat awaits you!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Petrarch's double motion of the soul crisply rendered, October 8, 2008

By 

Mike Birman (Brooklyn, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: The Poetry of Petrarch (Paperback)

Dante was the hero of the great 20th century modernists: Pound, Eliot, Joyce, and Beckett. In describing the journey of a soul the great Italian poet created a coherent universe of beauty and meaning. Heirs to the French symbolists, the 20th century writers embraced the allegorical symbolism of The Divine Comedy with easy familiarity. The soul as envisioned by Dante was engaged in a journey of single motion: from the damnation of Original Sin to eventual Paradise through the office of Divine Love. As they lauded Dante they repudiated Petrarch, unable to discover a means to adequately value him. Petrarch is a poet of ambiguity. He writes about the heart's vagaries, the ambivalence of love, of life as process. Above all, he portrays the double motion of the soul, its coincident attraction to the earthly and the heavenly.

It is no surprise that Petrarch's most appreciative reader was Shakespeare who modeled his sonnets upon those written by the Italian master. The English playwright is equally ambiguous in his sonnets, unafraid to depict love as a learning process filled with frustration and failure. Petrarch spent 47 years rebuilding the labyrinth of his love for Laura, the unrequited object of his desire who died of the plague in 1348. The Laura Petrarch creates becomes, like Mary, an object of adoration. The cycle of poems popularly known as the songbook or Canzoniere contains 366 lyrics of beauty, subtlety and freshness. There are several good translations, each with their own special excellence. Mark Musa's translation of the complete lyrics is personal and poetic featuring the original Italian on facing pages. His imagery is the most muted amongst recent translations, the poetry down-to-earth and sensual. His annotations for each poem are copious and thoughtful, making them a helpful teaching tool.

Robert M. Durling created a facile and graceful prose translation of the lyrics that is literal and accurate, and filled with Petrarch's beautiful imagery. It conveys a superb understanding of the poetry, with the original Italian on facing pages making this experience of reading Petrarch probably the closest to the original.

David Young's translation has a freshness and beauty that is invigorating. Its immediacy of expression, its elegance and radiant imagery are quite contemporary in feeling, making the poet seem less remote and more understandable to a modern audience. Petrarch's musings as translated by Young have a concreteness that gives the lyrics the feel of skillfully rendered stream-of-consciousness verbal music. Its modernity is its greatest asset. Where the collection falls short is in the paucity of annotations and the complete lack of the original Italian lyrics. Other more complete translations are massive tomes. David Young's rendering is concise and easy on the arms. If all you need is Petrarch revisited in exquisite English verses this is the volume to get. If you need a more in-depth experience, either of the other translations will fill the bill.

Mike Birman

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Petrarch is King!, January 4, 2012

By 

Valentinno "Valentinno" (New York City) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Poetry of Petrarch (Paperback)

Who can not love Petrarch rich expressions, symbolic complexity, and his daring originality. The poetry of Petrarch is even beyond soul speak. A man's poetry that changed the world for the love of a woman...!

Here is another great work of poetry - highly recommended

A Romantic's Passion: The Tenth Muse