Canzoniere: The Canzoniere, or Rerum vulgarium fragmenta

by Francesco Petrarca

This word obviously denotes mire than just "way" as the translation would have it, but also an aesthetic style.

The rhyme with dolor and amor is delicious.

The rhyme between revenge and waiting is great; revenge is a dish best served cold.

Emphasis on hearing straight away.

first errant

Also invokes a courtly ideal.

The first poem begins directly on a confessional note.

Hearing is translated to being heard about.

The heart is considered a citadel, but also the force within is considered soldiers.

The heart is strong because it is well-fed by sighs. This whole stanza seems to be based on the ancient theories of sight, where the eyes shoot out light as well as receive light.

Isn't this a reference to Dante?

Petrarch really does have the balls to compare his own suffering under love to that of Jesus, doesn't he?

I went my way secure and fearless—

Petrarch's mental universe is full of paths.

who with His birth did not choose Rome to grace, but chose Judea, for above all else it pleased Him to exalt humility.

This is an early example of the opposition between Judaea and Rome.

The mention of Christ's humble beginnings brings out the theme of glory from the periphery.

Sighs become the courtesy of love.

Nabokov totally cribs this line for Lolita

His own high citadel has been swarmed; it is now time to invade Laura's.

And so, to LAUd and to REvere the word itself instructs whenever someone calls you,

Also this is an obviously Ovidian allusion; in the Apollo and Daphne story Apollo pretends to slow down in order to convince Daphne to slow down and catch her.

as he against my will rides me to death,

Also the bitter fruit of original sin. Also the point here is that, like Daphne and Apollo, he will find his desire unfulfilled. The laurel, after all, tastes bitter.

Gluttony, sleep, pillows of idleness,

This whole passage obviously imitates the descriptions of gods fleeing the Earth because of how man has lost all their virtue.

Again the emphasis on roads; Petrarch is basically Dante before he actually reaches hell, wayward in the upright paths of life.

Petrarch presents himself as otiosus, with a distinct philosophical bent.

Comparing the birth of Laura with the coming of Christ has seemed to some the epitome of pride, even a sacrilege. For whatever reason, Petrarch here yokes pride and humility together in somewhat the same way that he imposed love and war on the compassion of Good Friday in 3.5–6.

This seems less egregious than the whole comparing himself to Christ thing in the 3rd poem.