Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
Rime
“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
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 l
...more
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 l
Unknown Binding, 597 pages
Published
December 31st 1998
by Rizzoli - RCS Libri
(first published 1875)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
239)
The Greatest Contribution to the Historical Past of Global Literature.
By Brian Waldorf
David Young’s refreshing translation of Petrarch’s anatomy of lyric poems brings the vernacular to English speech. In a collection of 366, sonnets written more than six hundred years ago by the first modern poet. –Francesco Petrarch
Francesco Petrarch, (1304-1374) simply known as Petrarch, a Latin scholar, poet, and the first sonneteer who has greatly inspired William Shakespeare, Edmund Spencer, Geoffrey Chauce...more
By Brian Waldorf
David Young’s refreshing translation of Petrarch’s anatomy of lyric poems brings the vernacular to English speech. In a collection of 366, sonnets written more than six hundred years ago by the first modern poet. –Francesco Petrarch
Francesco Petrarch, (1304-1374) simply known as Petrarch, a Latin scholar, poet, and the first sonneteer who has greatly inspired William Shakespeare, Edmund Spencer, Geoffrey Chauce...more
Poets like Petrarch, who lived in times that savored technical virtuosity and skill at fulfilling strict formal rules more highly than our own does, can suffer badly in modern translations. They’re often either brought over into contemporary blank verse, or straitjacketed into meters and rhyme schemes that are dead to modern ears.
David Young’s translations of the Canzoniere—all 366 of 'em—are remarkable for the way they succeed at combing Petrarch’s medieval Italian into direct demotic English...more
David Young’s translations of the Canzoniere—all 366 of 'em—are remarkable for the way they succeed at combing Petrarch’s medieval Italian into direct demotic English...more
1 like
·
like
· see review
view all 3 comments
Yes, this is another book I read for my Gender in Literature class. This book is incredibly difficult to read because it is about a guy with an obsession for a woman he cannot get. I did not enjoy this book because I found it creepy how this man could fetish over this woman's eyes, hair, and clothes, but never speak a word to her. In my modern way of thinking, Petrarch is a creep who needs to get a hold of himself. He was going after a lost cause! Though I did not think so many happy thoughts of...more
With you, dear Internet, I can be brutally honest: I was not in the market for a volume of Petrarch's poetry. Beyond the few sonnets I had read in classes scattered throughout my liberal arts education, this master of the early Italian Renaissance did not make the short list, or even the long list, of poets I intended to investigate further. No, I must admit that I was entirely seduced by Dean Nicastro's lovely cover art, which graces the new David Young translation of Petrarch's Canzoniere, put...more
2 likes
·
like
· see review
Oct 18, 2011
Emma
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Emma by:
ehc16e@yahoo.com
Shelves:
read-in-part-only
only read the introduction, really good, and some of the work itself.
I read Petrarch in French decades ago and loved him so much. Was trying to get reacquainted with him in English. This translation is probably good, but it is a bit too modern for me, it does not do it, i can't feel the romantic ambiance I got when I read it in French.
I read Petrarch in French decades ago and loved him so much. Was trying to get reacquainted with him in English. This translation is probably good, but it is a bit too modern for me, it does not do it, i can't feel the romantic ambiance I got when I read it in French.
Ok... so I haven't actually read this book but I have read a handfull of Petrarch's poems (translated...). He seems kind of depressing but as far as I can tell with the translations he definitely is a great word crafter!
Fortunately the introduction and some notes helped out with being able to understand a majority of the poems. Not bad. Towards the end they tended to get a bit repetitive, however.
I love this book because of the person who gave it to me. However, I didn't connect with Petrarch as a poet. I found a lot of the poems really dreary. I'm sure a lot was lost in translation as well. My favorite poem was the one describing a sunset; the footnote explained Petrarch wrote it to accompany a gift of chocolates. Candy and poetry, what a guy!
I took a course on Petrarch in college. His poetry about Laura is especially interesting. If you like classical romantic poetry, I recommend Petrarch.
What a writer...
I've always loved Petrarch. This is a wonderful translation, and it's great to read the poems all together like this. It paints a well-rounded and touching picture of the evolution of Petrarch's feelings.
wow...what I've learned? That there is a lot of love to live!
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Francesco Petrarca known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet, and one of the earliest Renaissance humanists. Petrarch is often popularly called the "father of humanism". Based on Petrarch's works, and to a lesser extent those of Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio, Pietro Bembo in the 16th century created the model for the modern Italian language, later endorsed by the Accademi...more
More about Francesco Petrarca...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
