The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-01-29

;soaneteer was born goth July, 1904.
lie liked the city of Bologna, and at
tended the University there where
thousands of students assembled from
tifteeo TO twenty different countries,
including England A recent writer
says of the University of Bologna,
about 1890. that it was without halls,
dornitory or lecture room, bare as
the poorest student of things cor
poreal q strange world
Immensely democratic, yet enWrapped
la the great imperial traditions" Here
Petiarch remained for three years. 1t
was at Avigncn that he had that
through life, when he saw, or thought
he saw, the Laura of his seventy odd
SennetS that have made him famous
For all time. He saw, and she con-
Nuered. 1t was an apparition or
reality that was to enthrall him al
Ways and whose beauty and attrac-
tons he was to celebrate in immortal
Verse. He was but tWenty-threc when
th~ enrapturing vision burst ;pcn him.
1t is charmingly described by a North
ern writer. Mr. d. Sedgewick, who
writes;
Then, on an April morning in Holy
Week, the lovely April---of Provence,
fresh with flowers and the breath OF
Spring, he walked through the narrow
cold, gray aisles of the church of st.
Clare; there beheld the golden hair
end the beautiful eyes that he was
hcS@r to forget. AS the vision moved.
ners was no mortal's step, but an an
gels, and her voice murnuring the
prayers was more than human; the
religious light, the solemn music. the
hsgh>aspiring arches, the sacredness
0f the place, TRANSPORTED her. as she
nh - -.4xr a
wards, save once or twice when the
dust of earth rebelled. whenever he
thought of that golden head he bent
his own in reverence.
1t was To him u joy, an Inspiration,
hope, a glory forever. She WAS a
most beautiful and Fascinating per-
son, evidently, and the poet revered
and worshipped. His presentation of
her as she first appeared is thus
given in prose by Mr.. Sedgewick:
Her eyes were beaut full, her brow
serene, her smile, her laugh, her
speech, sweet and gentle, her voice
like an angels. her hands thin. white,
and lovely. her arms grace itself, her
movements sweetly high-bred: and
her beautiful young body, fit temple !
for her soul, was the home of refine |
mcnt. of courtesy, of Love himself;
her the chief excellencies We're her
milk-white neck the roses of her
cheeks, and her golden hair, loved by
the swind.-but one might as we'll
count the stars as her projections.
Her dress was charming, too
she used to recognize him. speak |
few words, but this ceased later |
when she discovered him as fasci- |
mated lover and Worshipper. He |
tried TO get away. and to remember |
her no more. but his furious passion |
still chung to him. controlling, over !
powering. Writes Mr.. Sedgewick, |
basing his description upon the poets |
own account
Even in the painless woods, |
whittier he has fled to avoid her, no
bush bent in the wind but he saw her
1.-THE figure, no oak stood firm but he |
saw her immobie, no brook but "e- |
tiected her face; he. saw her pictured |
i'll the clouds, in the empty air, and
on the finty rock.
Her name Laura was his own in |
vention, who she was really is not re- |
vealed. think She. was not a, fanci- |
ful creation of the enravished poet |
but a. very real woman true, entrance
ing most lovely. The same writer
quoted from so freely, says:
''Such was Laura; not the alcgor-
ical Beatrice of Dante. nor the con-
ventional beauty of the troubadours, |
hut the: ideal and beautiful. the first
iCStl W Oiielll III pVCh SiilNN NiAN !
Greeks
Petrarch was q most graceful, beau !
tiful writer. His sonnets have held |
the admiration of the cultivated and |
the gifted through the centuries. In !
him were blended many excellencies, |
and ''the union of sound and sense is
very nearly perfect in Petrarch. He |
was a very engaging parsonage, 1t
seems. and men and women greatly |
admired him.. Mr.. Sedgewick writes !
that by about 1340, 'he had come |
into personal acquaintance with |
large part of the cultivated world, |
aud everybody he met was charmed |
by his beauty, his grace, his gifts OF
conversation. his high morality, his
sweet character as we'll. as by his rare
scholarship and his uneaualled I
poetry" He was indeed Il man 10
admire, and to love. Aud still Laura |
loved him not He received many I
honors while living, was the most
popular author Of his times, and was
fond of retirement liked to live as /
recluse, i'm his last days lived among |
tho Unganeau hills when his thoughts
turned to death" He was found |
dead at the last, his head over his i
book as if he had paused in the read I
ing" He was learned, Stud.ous, a fine
scholarly, lovable man. who liked 20 |
discover and disseminate knowledge,
and had hosts of friends who honored |
and were charmed by him. He be- |
heyed in Jesus Christ, and in mediae-
val phrase and left this as his testi- /
mony: Philosophy is to love wisdom; /
true wisdom in Jesus Christ. Let Us |
read historians. poets, philosophers,
but let us always have in our hearts /
the gospel of Jesus Christ, in which |
abide true wisdom. and true happi- |
ness.
noble confession for any one. He
was a Romanist, of course. He was |
not really OF the first rank as a poet. |
He can not keep company with the /
great modern triad-ShaKespe are. |
Dante Milton. He was an Intense /
cgotist. and of the alnatory class. He |
was incomparably greater than any |
poet who lived within a century of |
iIm In italy He was extremely fond |
of literature one of its most in |
tense votarieS. and he gave much of |
his time TO its study. He was a pa
triot, he loved Italy. he loved his ma
tive city. Florence he was proud of /
his country Of his own powers. OF his /
very rare gifts in poetic composition. |
and his love was 1he love of a |
n AZ.