Sonnet 18

“Sonnet 18” by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) is part of his long collection called Canzoniere (which translates as songbook) or Rime Sparse (scattered rhymes). The collection consists of two main sections: Rime in vita Laura and Rime in morte Laura, which, respectively, focus on the life and death of a woman named Laura. Petrarch worked on the poems for over 40 years. In 1366, the Vatican obtained and cataloged the definitive manuscript—Petrarch’s own copy, with some poems handwritten. However, Petrarch continued to make revisions until he died in 1374.

Petrarch was a primary advocate of Italian humanism, which involved rediscovering and producing works in Latin. Though he wrote many poems and prose works in Latin, Petrarch wrote the Canzoniere in Italian, which helped to popularize the Italian vernacular language. Later sonneteers, like Thomas Wyatt, would translate Petrarch’s Italian into English, thus promoting it as another vernacular language suited to verse.

Petrarch popularized the Italian sonnet, which is a lyric poem with 14 lines, a consistent rhyme scheme, and a turn in the avenue of thought. He is considered the speaker of his sonnets, and the woman he loves is Laura. “Sonnet 18” thematically explores the overwhelming power of Laura’s beauty and the looming specter of death through the symbols of light, fire, and eyes.

Poet Biography

Francesco Petrarch was born to Ser Petracco of Florence, an exiled Italian nobleman, in 1304 in the city of Arezzo. He, along with his family, moved to Avignon, France, which at the time was the papal seat. Petrarch received a phenomenal education for the era, with access to one of the foremost scholars of the time, Convenevole da Prato, as a tutor. He later attended Montpellier and Bologna universities as a law student. Despite this, Petrarch did not practice law, and he found himself economically disadvantaged as his father’s fortune was lost. Petrarch sought employment as a priest, and when he found patronage with the wealthy Colonna family, he was practically able to never work and continue his scholarship.

Petrarch’s free time for study and his access to the significant resources of his father’s library, the Colonna family, and the Vatican’s favor led to him making several important discoveries and contributions to the poetic cannon, including translations of famous Latin works and the movement for the use of vulgar Italian in poetry rather than French. At some point during this period, Petrarch saw a woman named Laura, who inspired such passion in him, according to him, that he abandoned ministerial work. Despite this vision, he never actually spoke to Laura during his lifetime.

Petrarch had two children, both by unknown women, in 1337 and 1342. In the 1340s, the Black Death swept Europe. Its victims included the mysterious Laura. The death of Laura inspired a change in the poet, eventually leading him towards more conventionally Christian work, including revising much of his older work to be more in line with his new beliefs. Petrarch died in 1374, at the age of 69, having published several books of letters, poem anthologies, and critical essays on the nature of faith and education. He is still considered one of the most influential poets of all time, in Italian or any other language, credited with the establishment of the Petrarchan sonnet form and introduction of humanist tendencies to Renaissance thought, directly forming much of what would become the Early Modern period’s intellectual groundwork.

Poem Text

“Sonnet 18” is part of the Canzoniere poetry collection. The poems are numbered, making it easy to locate a specific sonnet.

Petrarch, Francesco. Canzoniere. Translated by A. S. Kline. 2002. Poetry in Translation.

Summary

“Sonnet 18” has 14 lines that focus on the beauty of the speaker’s beloved. In the first line, the speaker, usually read as Petrarch himself, turns to see where his beloved stands. In the second line, the speaker describes the beauty of his beloved’s face as a shining light. It illuminates the place she occupies. The third line develops the relationship between the speaker and the light (a representation of her beauty). The light takes over his thoughts.

In the fourth line, the beloved’s beauty—her light—causes the speaker to burn and melt internally. In Line 5, the speaker expresses fears about his heart, or emotions. He is concerned his heart will come apart. In Line 6, the speaker contemplates the end of his life, which he refers to as his light. Line 7 is a comparison between the speaker and a blind man. Like a blind man, the speaker goes without light.

In Line 8, the speaker develops the comparison between himself and the blind man. They do not know the way, but they are compelled to leave. In the ninth line, the speaker focuses on death. Death deals him many blows. In Line 10, the speaker flees from the deadly blows. However, he is not faster than desire.

Desire, in Line 11, easily catches up with the speaker. Desire is unaffected by the speaker fleeing. In Line 12, the speaker returns to the idea of death. Here, he is silent because words can be deadly. The deadly words, in Line 13, cause people to cry. The speaker begins to express his desire. In Line 14, the speaker completes his thought—his desire is to weep in private.