Triumphs
Author | Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) |
---|---|
Original title | Trionfi |
Language | Tuscan |
Genre | Poetry |
Publication date | 1351–1374 |
Original text | Trionfi at Italian Wikisource |
Triumphs (
Composed over more than twenty years, the poetry is written in
The ancient Roman triumph survived the Middle Ages in various forms, and was used as a literary device with the entrance of Beatrice in the Commedia.[3]
Structure
The poem is structured in six allegorical triumphs. The triumphs are concatenated, so that the Triumph of Love (over Mankind and even gods) is itself triumphed over by another allegorical force, the Triumph of Chastity. In its turn, Chastity is triumphed over by Death; Death is overcome by Fame; Fame is conquered by Time; and even Time is ultimately overcome by Eternity, the triumph of God over all such worldly concerns.
Triumphus Cupidinis: Triumph of Love
One spring day in
Although only Love is described in the text as riding on a car or chariot, it became normal for illustrators to give them to all the main figures.[4]
Triumphus Pudicitie: Triumph of Chastity
Love is defeated by
Triumphus Mortis: Triumph of Death
Returning from the battle, the victorious host encounters a furious woman dressed in black, who reveals a countryside littered with the corpses of once proud people from all times and places, including emperors and popes. This personification of Death plucks a golden hair from Laura's head. Laura dies an idealised death, but returns from heaven to comfort the poet, who asks when they will be reunited in one of the most significant passages of the poem. She replies that he will survive her a long time.
Triumphus Famae: Triumph of Fame
Death departs and after Death comes Fame. Her appearance is compared to the dawn. She is attended by
Triumphus Temporis: Triumph of Time
Time is represented by the sun, chasing the dawn and racing across the sky, jealous and scornful of the fame of mortals. In an elegy on the fickleness of Fame the poet concludes that it will always eventually be followed by oblivion, the "second death".
Triumphus Eternitatis: Triumph of Eternity
Petrarch finds consolation in the almighty God and the prospect of being reunited with Laura in heaven and timeless eternity. Eternity is not represented allegorically.
Analysis
Triumphs examines the ideal course of a man from sin to redemption: A theme with roots in medieval culture, being typical of works like Roman de la Rose or the Divine Comedy. Petrarch's work invites comparison with Dante's, from the structural point of view (having adopted Dante's terza rima meter) as well as for its treatment of an allegorical voyage.
Triumphs shares and builds on numerous themes of Petrarca's
Criticism
Triumphs is appreciated for its lyrical achievements and the poet's vivid introspection into his feelings. On the other hand, it has been criticized for the mechanical rigidity of its narrative in contrast to the more natural style of the Canzoniere, and the long enumerations of notable persons which often sap its vitality.
Notes
- ISBN 9780919473690.
- OCLC 345296.
- ISBN 978-0674032187.
- ^ Hall, 310
References
- Boitani, Piero (1984). Chaucer and the Imaginary World of Fame. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. pp. 121–122. ISBN 0859911624.
- Hall, James, Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, 1996 (2nd edn.), John Murray, ISBN 0719541476
- Sadlon, Peter (September 10, 2007). "Trionfi (English translation)". Francesco Petrarca & Laura de Noves. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
For a woman he would never know /For a woman he could never have/He should change the world forever