The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1883-07-07
Beatrice and Laura.

Not until the middle ages definitely
set In did women begin to take that sta
tion which the modern world has been
proud to accord them. At first glance
the stern politician and satirist who de-
lighted in presenting the world pictures
of the torments endured in the internal
regions by his enemies would hardly
seem promising material from which to
| manufacture lover. But no mere fact
is more capable of truth than that Dante
was, during almost his whole life, q VIC
tim of the tender passion. His love
began when he was nine years old, and
continued till Lis death. and no woman
of his age is better known than
his Beatrice. He has even given us her
picture. or at least description so mi
mute that portrait might be painted
from it. She was tall, of imposing pres
ence, with light hair, slender neck,
rounded chin, large, expressive dark
| eyes, firm mouth, Roman nose and fair
complexion. Dante's love for her par
took of that mystical tinge which color
ed ELL his works and after her death it
was sublimated from every earthly ele-
ment, and, apparently pure as human
affection ever becomes. His own gloom
rendered him repulsive to those knowing
him slightly. and his despair at her loss
was 80 great that he utterly neglected his
personal appearance until he looked like
a savage. After the .Inferno" appeared
he was once passing along the streets of
Verona, when some women saw him and
stared in awe. One whispered: "rhat's
the man who goes down into hell when
he pleases, anu brings back news of the
sinners below. Yes" said the other,
''see how his face is scared with the fire
and birthstone. and blackened with the
smoke. and how his hair and beard have
been singed in the pit" He had little
of the Low like appearance, but the
lovers heart, to the day of his death,
cherished the memory of Beatrice, and
| be elevated her to the highest point of
poesy by choosing her as his guide in
paradise.
Petrarch, the great sonneteer of the
renaissance gained more reputation as
lover than in. perhaps, any other way.
| His love affair with Laura lasted through
his whole life, and made him so
notorious that IS he went along tue
streets the ladies smile and, pointing
after him, say: There goes Laura's
lover" At the same time there is 80
much indedniteness about the matter
that some critics have doubted whether
there ever was such person as Laura,
and able arguments have been advanced
to prove her myth; but it is impossible
to read the exquisite touches of charac-
ter which the poet gives without believ-
ing that she was lively, entertaining
and, to him, extremely uncertain and
caprlcious reality. His poems of which
she is the subject number nearly four
hundred, and are probably as full OF con-
ceits as any similar number ever written.
Laura was woman of rank, the wife of
Hugh de Sade, and was Of considerable
wealth. She seems to have been a tall,
blonde beauty, with golden hair, ex.
tremely graceful, and, if wo may Judge
from the number and earnestnes of the
curses that Petrarch heaps on her look
ing glass, tue conclusion is inevitable
that she was vain. She was, no doubt,
an accomplished coquette, since, when
ever Petrarch left her in anger and con-
soled himself by a complaining poem,
the next day was sure to see him
back again in worse condition than
ever. She was probably no better than
she ought to have been, but it is toler-
ably certain that if Laura had never
lived we should have had no Petrarch or
at least the chances are that he would
have turned his talents in some other
direction, and the products of his genius
would have been food for book-worms
But one touch of Laura makes Petrarch
kin to the whole world, and he and his
love have safe immortality.-P Phila-
delphia Press.