New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-26
PETRARCH.
POET OF THE PRE-RENAIssANCE.
prrpA pCU: A Sketch Of His Life and Works. BY
Nav Alden Ward. 12mo, pp. 2O5. BOSTON No''
erts Brothers.

Nav Alden Ward. 12mo, PIP. 203. Boston, hoo-
erts Brothers.
Miss Ward has here written a iudcious temperate
and I'm all ways WELDON sldered sketch OF Petrarch anu
huo from one point of view this may appear an easy
ching IN do from other points 1t is really far less 80
Ln may ha imagined. For though IL Is perfectly true
,hat there are few historical figures so far remover
as the fourteenth century concerning whom ~ hiu.
material Is available as In the case OF fetrarch " "
NOT less true that this man OF bographicai ooouno
leaves so much TO be desired that the very ocn''''
POINTS in his career are. and apparently ever VIII De-
douhtful and disputed. We have no Intention OF up
ming into the crucial questions as to whether 'hefo
over was living Laura. whether she was maFreu vi
e,npe and 40 forth. Those existing issues nave lonp
been reserved for the special dedication oiSon
who. after devoting long lives 10 Calculation anu ois
nutation leave the questions Just where tney "ero a'
tbe opening OF the inquest. But In Pefrarchs case
there are great many other considerations wnch 10
NOT belong altogether TO specialists. ana whch aVo
interested a quite extraordinary number Oh hisn III
..riccnces at intervals through space OF more than
ZOO wears First among these must be piaceu u,o
CORY fact that Petrarch fame has descended so seau
and with so little dlmnutlon. The wonder OF t's Nv
onoosns as we examine the basis OF that reputation
for whatever may be said Of the sonnets II VIII nav
N be admitted that both the subject and the metou VI
treatment are opposed to the maintenance oI 'n''
high and strong interest which is supposed ~ o0 "
assorv IN the perpctlation of the fame OF poetry
n is of course true that this is not the 1auio Va
either Petrarch or his subject. but that IL Is
IN the bringing together In one buiK n"ni'' "
noems which, to be appreciated, shouid DO Vahei' ~
nv one and enjoyed separately TO atoemPv " i
straight on through the sonnets Is necessary " We
.rov their effect and almost their vitality Ihoe WIN
have tried this method land we fear that their name Il
.don) have complained that Petrarch was monotonous
and even dull and taken In that way tic Is ap' % "
SEEM But even so deadly hindrance 10 poPui"fios 10
this has not sensbly affected his work. NO doupt NC
,s less read to-day than he century or couple
NJ centuries AGO. but he Is nevertheless rean U! eoo
people, to risk a paradox. Another curious iaoV
that whereas in several particulars the discovery Oh
fuller details concerning special peUods oil MS le ~
10 saw the least not warranted any grown oi rc9Pe
for his personal character suce new lniorhduoh hao
left him apparently precisely where he was Delore III
the general estimation In this life MISS warn S yum"
conscentiousy followed the leading lights, ana cited
The latest German, French and Italian speculations
and discussions II any one by the way should ever
have the happy Thought of making general average
of Petrarch's biographies, and grouping 1he Neu''
together in single work. with simple DIVISION ih'o
good and bad, q very surprising volume wouu iSsuo
from tho experiment.
Petrarch was an amazingly popular man lot any
ase and he kept his popularity even more amazingly
one of the Avignon Popes perously near DracN-
citing him with Master Virgil as a necromancer' out MS
repute was strong enough TO overcome even thaU eri
BILE menace 1t has sometimes been asked WIeteT P's
sibly the poets letters rather than his sonne's may
not have served most efectualy to Keep MS memory
green At first blush the suggestion appears 20 SAVIOR
OF envy but 1t is after all, warantabe for hooouy
likely TO dispute the excellence or the astonishing
freshness of those epstles Like many other oo"or
letters they do indeed, smell too strongly OF inc lamp
but with Petrarch 1t could hardly be oticrwse io' uu
not all the world of letters and fashion sht for copies
of his correspondence Nay was 1t not customary 10
stop his messengers route, and hold them un'h te
mail they carried had been fairly copied How COMO
man whom the world refused any secrets write othor
than arfcally. write otherwise than with an open eye
IN the altitude OF postentyl And If, I'm spite OF ths
Petrarh,s letters are what they remain after hve cen
turIes namely fresh and interesting enough 10 nave
been written less than a hundred years ago. VINO heeu
wonder at their hold upon his contemporaries carp
ing critics avo often pointed out the flaws In the poets
character and conduct II is true that he did many
things common enough in Ills time. Perhaps his worst
fault was jealousy Of Dante. AS to the rest he was Oh
his time and these who have hailed him as tile first OF
the moderns have had to forget much In order TO ar
range their point of view.
If Is to the credit Of Miss Ward in the present
volume that she evades nothing, and that she points
the way to the "quellen" whence further details may
be derived Petrarch of those average mortas
who denounce corruption which, nevertheless, they
sometimes share. lie was boSOmfriend TO some OF the
worst Churchmen and laymen Of his time, Even ms
hest friends could not away with his affection Tor inc
Viscurtis and his attempts at vindication con
WINGED nobody His foibes and vices, however, were
those of his century Had he really been modern,
he would have had entirely vices, and his neigh
bors would have burned him for them. lie doubtless
had glimpses of humaner times, and he helped on the
Renaissance In his way But we do not think
with Miss Ward that his reputation would have rested
as firmly upon his endeavors TO stimulate interest
in the past and TO revive classical learning, as 1t has
upon his writings in verse and prose. To say that is
TO speculate rather too loosely Archaeology and
casscism are important and interesting but they
not OF that kind of work which holds the worlds aten
ton for hundred years. THIS brings us once more to
the question OF the reality Of Laura genemans Wife
once asked him Is my linen collar quito clean ~ He
replied: " If you doubt it.. IL Is dirty" Now, some
thing like this may be said about the reality Of Laura
II the poet has not succeeded In impresng upon the
reader the genuineness Of his emotion 1t is artificial
and addressed TO a fiction. But unfortunately for the
attainment Of gertrude upon this point, different
Compartments are varjously affected by the sonnets.
Some find in them fire and fervor which only real
passion could inspire. Others think them occasionally
frigid and mechanical Is II better to compromise
upon the theory that the sonnets were addressed TO
married woman with eleven childIenl such con-
sderatons must obviously be left to the Individual
taste and judgment
Apart from all such disturbing matters IL remains
true that Petrarch is still of the most interesting
and manysided figures Of the preRenalssancc period,
and very likely the interesting because very
human. Every generation, moreover. has 10 be told
about him and his Laura again. and with whatever
fresh material has come to light since the last
standard biography written; and 1t Is not al
ways that this kind of work is done with the good
sense and conscientiousness which have been OK
hiblted by Miss Ward In this book.