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Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.04,0:00:04.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Today we talk about one of the most important cultural figures in all of Italian history.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.72,0:00:10.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He is an author and it is an extraordinary historical and literary case: according to legend, he studied
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.68,0:00:17.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so much that he died leaning his head on his papers; he is the first human being
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.20,0:00:23.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in history about whom we have received so much information, and from first-hand sources at that;
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.24,0:00:27.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he is also the author of one of the most influential works of Italian literature,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.92,0:00:34.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the point that not even Shakespeare would have been 100% the Shakespeare we all know,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.88,0:00:41.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if it hadn't been for the work in question. I'm talking about Francesco Petrarca,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.04,0:00:46.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who with Dante and Boccaccio is part of the so-called Three Crowns, the three major authors
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.72,0:00:54.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the late Middle Ages in Florence, fundamental in the history of the Italian language and literature.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.04,0:00:59.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the second video in this regard, after the one from a few years ago on Dante: naturally,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.28,0:01:05.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the future there will be a third, on Giovanni Boccaccio. But let's get straight to Petrarca:
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.40,0:01:10.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a stop in his world is an almost obligatory step, if you want to start studying and
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.88,0:01:18.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,understanding Italian literature, because this author has forever influenced not only the fate
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.32,0:01:23.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the literature of the Bel Paese, but also the fate of literary language in general,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.96,0:01:28.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in particular the language of poetry. Initially, therefore,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.48,0:01:34.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we will focus on the author's life and his fortune, understood as success. Then we will take
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.36,0:01:39.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a look at his best known and most studied work, namely the Canzoniere; and, finally,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.80,0:01:45.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we will try to understand the cultural, literary and linguistic legacy that
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.04,0:01:51.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Petrarca left us. I'm Davide and this is Podcast Italiano, a channel for those who learn or love
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.60,0:01:58.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Italian. If you learn the language of Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio, you will find the transcription of everything
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.08,0:02:08.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I say on my website. I'll leave you the link in the description. And if you need it, turn on the subtitles.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.32,0:02:14.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Francesco Petrarca was born in 1304 in Arezzo, Tuscany; between 19 and 20 July,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.52,0:02:20.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,according to tradition. He is the son of a notary banished from Florence, where
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.12,0:02:25.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,great political battles had raged in previous decades. These are the same battles
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.60,0:02:31.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that led to Dante's exile, which – by the way – Petrarch's father knew about.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.48,0:02:38.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But let's return immediately to our Francesco Petrarca. Already as a child, he became a traveler: in 1312,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.12,0:02:43.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in fact, his father took the family to live in Avignon, in southern France, where
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.88,0:02:50.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Petrarch was educated by an Italian who was himself an exile. Access to these studies was not common:
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.24,0:02:56.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the very young Francesco was born into a fairly wealthy condition, and his father did not deny him
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.16,0:03:03.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the purchase of several manuscripts useful for his studies. Consider that we are in the 14th century,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.40,0:03:09.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before the invention of printing: often, to have access to a text, the richest
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.28,0:03:15.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could commission its reproduction to a copyist, who copied everything; otherwise,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.96,0:03:21.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you had to directly purchase the original or a copy already produced previously,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.08,0:03:27.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or even - think about it - copy the text yourself, if possible - think about the effort -: in all cases,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.64,0:03:32.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was an investment, often of money or , alternatively, of time.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.92,0:03:38.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A few years later, Petrarca began studying law in Montpellier, still in France,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.12,0:03:43.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which however he tackled reluctantly. Always in the period of his early youth, he
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.80,0:03:49.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,also visited Rimini, Venice and, above all, Bologna, a very important destination for honing
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.20,0:03:54.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his literary skills. In fact, at the time, the city was a very important center
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.92,0:04:02.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the radiation of poetry in the vernacular, that is, in this specific case, in one of the many
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.36,0:04:09.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Italian languages ​​that had evolved from Latin. Incidentally today, in Italian,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.08,0:04:17.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,vulgar typically means coarse, rude, scurrilous or, in other words, rude. In
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.32,0:04:22.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,technical jargon, however, this word indicates, especially when talking about the Middle Ages, because
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.60,0:04:28.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then in the future we start talking about dialects, it indicates, I was saying, the languages ​​spoken by the vulgar,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.88,0:04:36.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is, by the people, as opposed to the higher and more literary language noble, which was Latin.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.08,0:04:43.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1326, there is a turning point: the father of our young scholar dies, leading the family to a
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.28,0:04:49.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,period of economic difficulty. Precisely on this occasion Petrarch definitively abandons
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.04,0:04:54.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he studied law and, perhaps, in turn began to produce works in the vernacular.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.84,0:05:00.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He soon settled in Avignon, where at the time, among other things, the seat of the
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.64,0:05:07.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,papal curia was located. As some of you may know, in fact, for much of the 14th century the Pope did not reside
Dialogue: 0,0:05:07.28,0:05:14.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Rome, but rather in Avignon, France. Speaking of religion... In Avignon, Petrarch
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.60,0:05:20.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,decides to take the minor orders, which, in short, represent an affiliation to the Church
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.64,0:05:27.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which involves some tasks, but, above all, which guarantees all the economic benefits that at the time
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.64,0:05:34.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were reserved for men of church. Smart, our Francesco. This practice was actually
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.08,0:05:40.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not rare, precisely because it did not require great effort, but it gave considerable advantages. In this way,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.20,0:05:44.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Petrarch basically frees himself from major economic worries,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.80,0:05:50.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and has the opportunity to do what he likes. The years of youth are characterized,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.60,0:05:57.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at least according to Petrarca, by a certain abandonment to worldly life - even if we must consider
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.44,0:06:02.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we are talking about the criteria of a severe man, who wants to give a certain image of himself,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.48,0:06:07.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we will talk about it later. In this period, perhaps, Petrarch also indulged in love
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.84,0:06:13.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for a woman, about whom, once again, we know little: some scholars believe they have
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.36,0:06:18.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even found her identity, while others strongly doubt it. In any case,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.96,0:06:25.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this relationship will later be taken up in Petrarch's most important work, so let's keep it in mind.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.08,0:06:30.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meanwhile, the years pass, and our Francesco becomes closer, thanks to his culture and
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.24,0:06:36.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,knowledge, to important personalities, to visit whom he makes several other trips.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:36.28,0:06:41.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are now around the 1930s when we see big steps forward in studies too:
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.36,0:06:47.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Petrarch, in fact, was very close to the texts of antiquity, and constantly tried to
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.60,0:06:53.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,understand and analyze the Latin texts. It even produces editions, for example of
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.56,0:07:00.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a work by the famous Latin author Livy; and, perhaps even more surprisingly, he discovered the
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.40,0:07:06.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,manuscripts of some very important Latin texts, such as that of Cicero's Pro Archia.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:06.80,0:07:12.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the same time, these texts served as teachers for Petrarch, who absorbed the subtleties of the
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.72,0:07:20.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Latin language and reproduced them with mastery. A mastery to which his contemporaries did not remain
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.04,0:07:28.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,indifferent: in 1341, Petrarch was crowned poet in Rome, in the Campidoglio, by none other than
Dialogue: 0,0:07:28.96,0:07:35.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,King Robert of Anjou, who at the time was the sovereign of the Kingdom of Naples. This rite was intended to
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.72,0:07:41.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,explicitly recall the Latin tradition, in which, according to the information available at the time,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:41.28,0:07:47.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was customary to honor poetic glory in this way. And Petrarch is crowned
Dialogue: 0,0:07:47.80,0:07:52.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,precisely for his production in Latin, which was considered the most beautiful: for now,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:52.52,0:07:59.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his verses in the vernacular are not yet ready to shine, even if, as they say,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.96,0:08:04.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something is cooking. Meanwhile, a laurel wreath
Dialogue: 0,0:08:04.56,0:08:10.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is placed on our author's head , making him, so to speak, a VIP of his era; and with good reason,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:10.88,0:08:17.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because we do not forget that Petrarch is one of the greatest authors in the Latin language of his time.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.40,0:08:22.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But our Petrarch does not rest on his laurels: the journeys continue, thanks to
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.60,0:08:29.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ecclesiastical benefits and, even more so now, thanks to the protection of the powerful, who are happy
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.52,0:08:35.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to support an intellectual of this caliber. In 1348, when Italy and Europe are on
Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.12,0:08:41.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their knees due to a plague epidemic, Petrarca overcomes the crisis unscathed, but the woman
Dialogue: 0,0:08:41.32,0:08:47.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he loves - remember? – but he doesn't survive. This event will also be very important for what
Dialogue: 0,0:08:47.76,0:08:53.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we will say later, so let's keep it in mind. In 1350, the poet finally visited Florence:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.92,0:08:59.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the family's exile had been lifted in the meantime, and there were friends and
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.56,0:09:05.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,admirers in the city. Furthermore, our poet meets another very important writer for his
Dialogue: 0,0:09:05.44,0:09:12.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,era and for future centuries, the third crown we will talk about, namely Giovanni Boccaccio,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:12.20,0:09:18.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,also influencing his artistic production. The travels between Italy and France still do not
Dialogue: 0,0:09:18.08,0:09:24.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stop, until, in 1352, Petrarch definitively leaves France for Milan. In
Dialogue: 0,0:09:24.84,0:09:29.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that year, in fact, Innocent VI became pope; and relations with Petrarca were not
Dialogue: 0,0:09:29.92,0:09:34.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,exactly the best. Remember that the Pope was in France at the time;
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.72,0:09:41.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so our friend decides it's time to pack his bags and return to his homeland.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:41.12,0:09:46.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Starting from his stay in Milan, his literary activity grew further, even if there was no
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.48,0:09:51.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,shortage of travel and political commitments. The powerful of the time did not mind having
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.84,0:09:57.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a great intellectual at their service, nor entrusting him, for example, with diplomatic missions.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:57.56,0:10:02.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over time, however, Petrarch decided that he wanted to dedicate himself to his studies in peace:
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.68,0:10:10.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,starting from 1369-70 he settled, as far as possible, in Arquà, not far from Padua,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:10.60,0:10:16.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Veneto, where he died in 1374. Today, in his honor, Arquà is a
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.72,0:10:21.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,village also known by the name of Arquà Petrarca, where it is still possible
Dialogue: 0,0:10:21.36,0:10:27.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to visit the house where the great poet lived. Great, yes – and now we will see why – to the point that,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.76,0:10:33.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after his death, admirers and scholars began to look for his books. And to this day
Dialogue: 0,0:10:33.92,0:10:41.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a huge amount of material arrives: works, notes, letters. Letters then carefully copied and,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:41.88,0:10:47.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,always along the lines of the great Latin models, designed to be actually read
Dialogue: 0,0:10:47.32,0:10:53.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by posterity. Petrarch knew that his letters would be read, and for this very reason
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.40,0:10:58.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we cannot blindly trust their content: the author wanted to outline an
Dialogue: 0,0:10:59.36,0:11:04.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ideal autobiography, in order to show the world and posterity that he had retraced as much as
Dialogue: 0,0:11:04.88,0:11:13.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,possible the steps of a great ideal Roman. Throughout the 14th century and part of the 15th,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:13.36,0:11:18.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Petrarch was admired as a fine Latin poet; until something changes:
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.64,0:11:25.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,starting from the second half of the fifteenth century, attention for the Latin Petrarch decreases, while the fame
Dialogue: 0,0:11:25.84,0:11:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the poet in the vernacular increases. Soon, our poet becomes the poet,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:33.00,0:11:39.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the unsurpassed model of poetry, both in the Italian peninsula and outside.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:39.96,0:11:48.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But thanks to which work, exactly? The work in question is typically called
Dialogue: 0,0:11:48.92,0:11:55.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Canzoniere, a generic word which, in Italian, indicates a collection of poems.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:55.12,0:12:01.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It goes without saying that Petrarch's has become the songbook par excellence, and this is
Dialogue: 0,0:12:01.84,0:12:07.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the title of the work. In reality, however, the real title was Rerum vulgarium fragmenta,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:07.32,0:12:12.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is, fragments of vulgar things, that is, various texts written in the vulgar language.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:12.84,0:12:20.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In all, we received 72 sheets of parchment, which contain all 366 poems that make up
Dialogue: 0,0:12:20.56,0:12:25.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the work (one for each day of the year, if we exclude the poem that serves as an introduction
Dialogue: 0,0:12:25.68,0:12:31.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the work). Both Petrarch himself and a copyist
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.76,0:12:37.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who worked under his direct supervision wrote on these sheets of parchment. These sheets were bound, that is, put together,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:37.96,0:12:43.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after the author's death, and are now found in the Vatican Apostolic Library,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:43.48,0:12:51.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the Latin Vatican code name 3195: there is almost no scholar of Italian literature who does not
Dialogue: 0,0:12:51.56,0:12:57.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,know this number. The fact that we have an entire work by Petrarch written by
Dialogue: 0,0:12:57.08,0:13:03.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Petrarch himself is extraordinary: just think that we do not have a single word of Dante written
Dialogue: 0,0:13:03.76,0:13:08.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,first hand, nor, in reality, written under his direct supervision (in these cases,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:08.52,0:13:14.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in jargon technical, we speak of an idiographic text). But there is an even more extraordinary fact:
Dialogue: 0,0:13:14.88,0:13:20.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the papers containing the drafts of the work, and other drafts still, have even reached us (the
Dialogue: 0,0:13:20.84,0:13:27.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,manuscript, in this case, is called Vaticano Latino 3196). These papers give us the possibility
Dialogue: 0,0:13:27.48,0:13:33.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of studying how the text was improved, reworked and brought to its final form:
Dialogue: 0,0:13:33.60,0:13:39.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,today this exercise might seem obvious, but at the time it was not, and Petrarca's papers
Dialogue: 0,0:13:39.36,0:13:45.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,played the role of driving force, of engine that gave a boost to these reflections.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:45.24,0:13:49.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At this point, it is impossible not to ask ourselves: what is the work about?
Dialogue: 0,0:13:49.72,0:13:56.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Canzoniere tells of Petrarch's love for Laura, a beautiful woman who represents
Dialogue: 0,0:13:56.04,0:14:01.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not only the object of an earthly love, but also poetic glory itself. This
Dialogue: 0,0:14:01.76,0:14:07.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interpretation arises from the fact that Petrarca continually compares Laura's name with a
Dialogue: 0,0:14:07.72,0:14:13.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,series of words that have the same etymology, that is, the same origin, and which refer to laurel:
Dialogue: 0,0:14:13.96,0:14:20.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this plant, also called laurel, is the same one that it was made of the crown with which - you
Dialogue: 0,0:14:20.08,0:14:26.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,remember - Petrarch was crowned, and it is precisely a symbol that represents poetry. Among other things,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:26.92,0:14:32.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is also why in Italy, when you finish university, you graduate from "lauro", and
Dialogue: 0,0:14:32.44,0:14:38.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a laurel wreath is worn in the ceremony. Our Petrarch, therefore, loves a woman and loves
Dialogue: 0,0:14:38.92,0:14:44.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,poetic glory: you are perhaps wondering what the problem is. The fact is that Petrarch
Dialogue: 0,0:14:44.80,0:14:51.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would like to love eternal things, and therefore dedicate his spirit to the adoration of God. This generates
Dialogue: 0,0:14:51.24,0:14:58.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an internal conflict: either one loves earthly things, or one loves otherworldly things, and there
Dialogue: 0,0:14:58.04,0:15:03.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is no way medium as possible. Yet Petrarch struggles to let go of his love for Laura:
Dialogue: 0,0:15:03.88,0:15:10.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he himself tells us, thinking about his past self, that he is now a different man, but only "in part" (and
Dialogue: 0,0:15:11.16,0:15:16.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he uses exactly these two words, "in part"). This internal struggle lasts an entire life,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:16.32,0:15:22.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and condemns Petrarch to eternal restlessness: he cannot enjoy love and poetic glory,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:22.40,0:15:28.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because he feels guilty; and, at the same time, he cannot enjoy the love for God, because the love for Laura
Dialogue: 0,0:15:28.48,0:15:34.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,never dies completely, no matter how much the work constantly leads us towards the adoration of God.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:34.76,0:15:41.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We see, or rather we read with our eyes : below you will listen to the poem (or more precisely
Dialogue: 0,0:15:41.12,0:15:46.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the sonnet) which, in fourteen verses, serves as an introduction to the entire work.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:46.92,0:15:53.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You who listen in scattered rhymes to the sound of those sighs with which I nourished my heart
Dialogue: 0,0:15:53.44,0:15:59.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in my first youthful error when I was partly a different man from what I am,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:59.92,0:16:04.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the various style in which I cry and I reason between vain hopes and vain pain,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:04.80,0:16:11.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where there is someone who intends love by test, I hope to find pity, as well as forgiveness.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:11.64,0:16:15.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I see well now how
Dialogue: 0,0:16:15.96,0:16:22.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was a complete fable to the people for a long time, so that I am often ashamed of myself;
Dialogue: 0,0:16:22.96,0:16:25.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and shame is the fruit of my raving,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:25.36,0:16:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and repentance, and clearly knowing that what pleases the world is a brief dream.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:33.00,0:16:38.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Petrarch, with this text, addresses those who are reading the text, and in particular those who,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:38.32,0:16:45.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like him and many of us, have suffered for love: his hope is to be understood and
Dialogue: 0,0:16:45.04,0:16:50.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,forgiven for having made the mistake of love Laura. His youthful mistake led him to
Dialogue: 0,0:16:50.92,0:16:57.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,be mocked, to repent, and above all to understand that earthly things are only a
Dialogue: 0,0:16:57.32,0:17:03.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brief dream, in the sense that they are not eternal like divine things. Yet Petrarch's change
Dialogue: 0,0:17:03.12,0:17:08.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is not complete: it occurred, as we have already seen, only "in part".
Dialogue: 0,0:17:08.40,0:17:13.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is not the time necessary to analyze the text in detail or read others,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:13.20,0:17:18.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I would like to point out, in the meantime, that fundamentally Petrarch's Italian is also our Italian,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:18.96,0:17:25.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the most part, and this is because Petrarch himself contributed indirectly to create literary Italian
Dialogue: 0,0:17:25.32,0:17:29.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,, and because the Florentine vernacular, which was the language of Petrarca,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:29.76,0:17:35.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over the centuries, as you know, would have been chosen as the reference language for Italians.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:35.72,0:17:42.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's just think about the first verse: You who listen to the sound in scattered rhymes. Phonetically, all
Dialogue: 0,0:17:42.20,0:17:47.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,words remained identical. It would be really difficult to say the same about a verse written
Dialogue: 0,0:17:47.24,0:17:54.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in English, in French, in German, in Greek or in Chinese in the 14th century, it is astonishing.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:54.12,0:18:00.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As for the meaning, scattered rhymes could rather be translated as loose poems, that is, not
Dialogue: 0,0:18:00.64,0:18:07.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,collected in a well-ordered and concluded work. In general, however, the poem is quite easy,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:07.48,0:18:12.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all things considered, to understand for an Italian in 2024, obviously provided
Dialogue: 0,0:18:12.44,0:18:17.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that some indication is provided. The message is that Petrarch's Italian,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:17.04,0:18:21.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for a series of reasons, is very similar to our Italian, and this applies to a
Dialogue: 0,0:18:21.72,0:18:27.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,good portion of literary Italian. This is excellent news for those who already know and study
Dialogue: 0,0:18:27.24,0:18:32.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Italian, because it means that those who know the contemporary language can also,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:32.52,0:18:43.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a little effort and patience, access eight hundred years of literature. It's not bad, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:18:43.40,0:18:48.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Before closing the video, I would like to try to explain more explicitly why Petrarca
Dialogue: 0,0:18:48.56,0:18:53.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is such an important author and why I dedicated such a long video to him.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:53.08,0:18:57.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,First of all, he left us a huge cultural and
Dialogue: 0,0:18:57.36,0:19:02.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,literary legacy, both with his Latin and vernacular works, both with the works he discovered,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:02.72,0:19:07.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and with the works he studied and commented on. But if this is also a merit of several other
Dialogue: 0,0:19:07.32,0:19:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,authors, with Petrarch there is something else. With the Canzoniere the poetic forms of Italian were basically definitively established
Dialogue: 0,0:19:14.00,0:19:20.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,: they range from the canzone, which is the noblest form,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:20.60,0:19:26.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,used for the highest and most political topics, to the sestinas, ballads and madrigals,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:26.48,0:19:32.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up to the sonnet, that is, the form used to write the poem we read just now, composed of
Dialogue: 0,0:19:32.56,0:19:38.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fourteen verses. In the Canzoniere, the sonnet is the quantitatively most represented form,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:38.48,0:19:43.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in general, starting from Petrarch, it will often be used to deal with
Dialogue: 0,0:19:43.68,0:19:49.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,slightly lighter topics than those of the song, and in particular obviously love.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:49.40,0:19:54.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is, by the way, an entirely Italian form, given that it was born in Italy in the early
Dialogue: 0,0:19:54.40,0:20:00.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,thirteenth century, soon spread throughout the peninsula and, thanks to Petrarch, even went beyond the
Dialogue: 0,0:20:00.48,0:20:06.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,borders of Italy. In fact, in the sixteenth century, Henry Howard, an English poet, translated several
Dialogue: 0,0:20:06.36,0:20:12.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,texts by Petrarch. Thomas Wyatt, himself a poet, tends to use translation
Dialogue: 0,0:20:12.08,0:20:17.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and imitation less, and rather writes his own sonnets, always based on the form established
Dialogue: 0,0:20:17.88,0:20:24.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by Petrarch. Starting from these inputs, and then from the contributions of other followers of Petrarch,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:24.76,0:20:30.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the sonnet spread more and more. The number of these followers rose to the point where
Dialogue: 0,0:20:30.52,0:20:37.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we can speak of a real artistic phenomenon, called Petrarchism: in the 16th century
Dialogue: 0,0:20:37.36,0:20:43.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we find signs of it, not only in England, but also in France and Spain, and beyond. Shakespeare
Dialogue: 0,0:20:43.20,0:20:48.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,probably read only part of Petrarch's works, also because he did not know
Dialogue: 0,0:20:48.24,0:20:58.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Italian very well; however, he could not fail to know the Petrarchists of his era, and in fact Shakespeare's sonnets
Dialogue: 0,0:20:58.64,0:20:59.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are not without this influence. If we had not had Petrarch, we would not
Dialogue: 0,0:20:59.52,0:21:04.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even have had the Shakespeare we know, nor would we have had several other works as we have
Dialogue: 0,0:21:04.64,0:21:10.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,known them, both in Italy and abroad. As for the Italian language, Petrarchism
Dialogue: 0,0:21:10.36,0:21:14.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,arrived at the right time, because at the beginning of the sixteenth century the debate on the
Dialogue: 0,0:21:14.64,0:21:19.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,language was quite intense: the Peninsula was divided into many political entities,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:19.80,0:21:25.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there was no nation, as you know, and yet people were looking for a language to Italy,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:25.68,0:21:31.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to write and communicate among the various reasons. It is at this point that Pietro Bembo,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:31.36,0:21:36.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an Italian intellectual who we will talk about in more detail in a future video, enters the scene . Bembo,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:36.76,0:21:42.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an Italian intellectual and man of letters, understands that choosing an Italian vernacular as the reference language
Dialogue: 0,0:21:42.44,0:21:49.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,also means making one language prevail over all the others, and he also understands that
Dialogue: 0,0:21:49.04,0:21:56.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this imposition can only occur successfully if it is based on prestige. For this reason, as a model
Dialogue: 0,0:21:56.12,0:22:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for prose (i.e. non-poetic writing) he chooses the famous Decameron by Boccaccio,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:02.00,0:22:08.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the author I mentioned before, who Petrarch met in Florence in 1350, we will talk about it;
Dialogue: 0,0:22:08.48,0:22:15.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and as a model of poetic language, instead, it indicates the Canzoniere of our Petrarch. Perhaps Bembo
Dialogue: 0,0:22:15.08,0:22:21.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,indicates the only winning solution, the only one possible in that precise cultural,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:21.16,0:22:26.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,historical and geographical context. In the fifteenth century there had been much more linguistic heterogeneity,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:26.88,0:22:33.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the sixteenth century, the first true century of printing, required greater uniformity;
Dialogue: 0,0:22:33.20,0:22:41.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Bembo gives the right proposals at the right time. In 1525 he composed the Prose della volgar lingua,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:41.60,0:22:47.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which the models just mentioned are given, thus constituting a sort of grammar of
Dialogue: 0,0:22:47.44,0:22:52.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fourteenth-century Tuscan literature, that is, two centuries ahead of his time. Furthermore,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:52.48,0:22:57.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Bembo himself composes, on this basis, several texts, which will then be taken as examples.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:57.40,0:23:03.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The proposal works, it works incredibly well: Petrarca remains unquestionably the
Dialogue: 0,0:23:03.12,0:23:08.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,greatest poetic model for over five hundred - five hundred! – years,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:08.24,0:23:13.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so much so that we can still clearly see its influence in nineteenth-century poems.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:13.20,0:23:19.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's take The Saturday of the Village, a poem written by Giacomo Leopardi in 1829. At a certain point,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:19.44,0:23:24.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we find "the little old lady up the stairs"; in the Canzoniere, however,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:24.36,0:23:30.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we find «risata era a filar la rossarella»: not only is the language very similar, but also the
Dialogue: 0,0:23:30.04,0:23:35.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,poetic images that Leopardi selects are often of Petrarchan inspiration. And again:
Dialogue: 0,0:23:35.72,0:23:40.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we read «already all the dark air» in the Saturday of the village, while in the Canzoniere we find
Dialogue: 0,0:23:40.52,0:23:50.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,«et l'aere nostra et la mia mente bruna». In short, we have discovered an
Dialogue: 0,0:23:50.68,0:23:56.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,important Italian author: important from every point of view (cultural, literary, linguistic), even
Dialogue: 0,0:23:56.28,0:24:02.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,European level. The examples could not be counted: just think of how many intellectuals of
Dialogue: 0,0:24:02.20,0:24:08.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,eighteenth-century Vienna knew Italian thanks to the Canzoniere... And then, thanks to his role as a great
Dialogue: 0,0:24:08.32,0:24:13.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,model of poetic language, Petrarch has forever influenced the fate of Italian, even if the
Dialogue: 0,0:24:13.88,0:24:19.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,story is much longer. In the next video of this series we will talk about the third crown, namely
Dialogue: 0,0:24:19.56,0:24:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Giovanni Boccaccio. In the meantime, if you haven't seen it yet, I'll leave you my video on Dante here.