The Sonnets, Triumphs, and Other Poems of Petrarch | Page 4

original
writers, from whom the grammarians drew their authority, and
particularly employed himself in perusing the works of Cicero. And,
although he was, at this time, much too young to comprehend the full
force of the orator's reasoning, he was so struck with the charms of his
style, that he considered him the only true model in prose composition.
His father, who was himself something of a scholar, was pleased and
astonished at this early proof of his good taste; he applauded his
classical studies, and encouraged him to persevere in them; but, very
soon, he imagined that he had cause to repent of his commendations.
Classical learning was, in that age, regarded as a mere solitary
accomplishment, and the law was the only road that led to honours and
preferment. Petracco was, therefore, desirous to turn into that channel
the brilliant qualities of his son; and for this purpose he sent him, at the
age of fifteen, to the university of Montpelier. Petrarch remained there
for four years, and attended lectures on law from some of the most
famous professors of the science. But his prepossession for Cicero
prevented him from much frequenting the dry and dusty walks of
jurisprudence. In his epistle to posterity, he endeavours to justify this
repugnance by other motives. He represents the abuses, the chicanery,
and mercenary practices of the law, as inconsistent with every principle
of candour and honesty.
When Petracco observed that his son made no great progress in his
legal studies at Montpelier, he removed him, in 1323, to Bologna,
celebrated for the study of the canon and civil law, probably imagining
that the superior fame of the latter place might attract him to love the
law. To Bologna Petrarch was accompanied by his brother Gherardo,
and by his inseparable friend, young Guido Settimo.
But neither the abilities of the several professors in that celebrated
academy, nor the strongest exhortations of his father, were sufficient to
conquer the deeply-rooted aversion which our poet had conceived for
the law. Accordingly, Petracco hastened to Bologna, that he might
endeavour to check his son's indulgence in literature, which

disconcerted his favourite designs. Petrarch, guessing at the motive of
his arrival, hid the copies of Cicero, Virgil, and some other authors,
which composed his small library, and to purchase which he had
deprived himself of almost the necessaries of life. His father, however,
soon discovered the place of their concealment, and threw them into the
fire. Petrarch exhibited as much agony as if he had been himself the
martyr of his father's resentment. Petracco was so much affected by his
son's tears, that he rescued from the flames Cicero and Virgil, and,
presenting them to Petrarch, he said, "Virgil will console you for the
loss of your other MSS., and Cicero will prepare you for the study of
the law."
It is by no means wonderful that a mind like Petrarch's could but ill
relish the glosses of the Code and the commentaries on the Decretals.
At Bologna, however, he met with an accomplished literary man and
no inelegant poet in one of the professors, who, if he failed in
persuading Petrarch to make the law his profession, certainly quickened
his relish and ambition for poetry. This man was Cino da Pistoia, who
is esteemed by Italians as the most tender and harmonious lyric poet in
the native language anterior to Petrarch.
During his residence at Bologna, Petrarch made an excursion as far as
Venice, a city that struck him with enthusiastic admiration. In one of
his letters he calls it "orbem alterum." Whilst Italy was harassed, he
says, on all sides by continual dissensions, like the sea in a storm,
Venice alone appeared like a safe harbour, which overlooked the
tempest without feeling its commotion. The resolute and independent
spirit of that republic made an indelible impression on Petrarch's heart.
The young poet, perhaps, at this time little imagined that Venice was to
be the last scene of his triumphant eloquence.
Soon after his return from Venice to Bologna, he received the
melancholy intelligence of the death of his mother, in the thirty-eighth
year of her age. Her age is known by a copy of verses which Petrarch
wrote upon her death, the verses being the same in number as the years
of her life. She had lived humble and retired, and had devoted herself to
the good of her family; virtuous amidst the prevalence of corrupted

manners, and, though a beautiful woman, untainted by the breath of
calumny. Petrarch has repaid her maternal affection by preserving her
memory from oblivion. Petracco did not long survive the death of this
excellent woman. According to the judgment of our poet, his father was
a man of strong character and understanding. Banished from his native
country, and engaged