On Good Friday of 1327 the poet Petrarch first saw and fell in love with a young woman he called Laura. Written over more than forty years, the poems of the Canzoniere are an intense and passionate discourse on his unrequited love for her. The 'lovely hand, gripping my heart so tight' provokes moods that range from melancholy, resignation and remorse, to jubilant hope and spiritual exaltation.
On Good Friday of 1327 the poet Petrarch first saw and fell in love with a young woman he called Laura. Written over more than forty years, the poems of the Canzoniere are an intense and passionate discourse on his unrequited love for her. The 'lovely hand, gripping my heart so tight' provokes moods that range from melancholy, resignation and remorse, to jubilant hope and spiritual exaltation.
Canzoniere/ Selected Poems / Petrarch