DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.69942#0268
PETRARCH.
[ITALY.
lity to Vaucluse and to Laura, he no less immortalized
himself. His name became generally known. Sensible
of his worth, Rome, Naples, and Paris, invited him on
the same day to, receive the laurel; but preferring
the former city, he repaired thither in the year 1341,
when that honour was conferred on him with every
flattering mark of distinction. Clothed in a magnificent
robe, the gift of the King of Naples, he appeared in the
Capitol, surrounded by the most respectable citizens.
Orso, Count of Anguillara, who was then a senator of
Rome, came to receive him; and, after an appropriate
harangue, placed the crown upon his head. His coro-
nation was announced by trumpets, and every testimony
of undissembled joy: he was declared a citizen of
Rome, and invested with all its privilegesbut this re*
nown was far from augmenting his felicity, while it
tended to excite the envy of his cotemporaries.
The pain, however, which their malignancy inflicted,
was soothed by the admiration of others. From all ranks
and descriptions of persons, he received the most distin-
guished praise : and, if the homage of royalty, or the
plaudits of the learned, could confer felicity, Petrarch
might have conceived himself blest indeed. But his mind
was ever in a perturbed state. The affection which he
bore to Laura, joined to her reserve, obtruded itself
constantly upon his mind; and, to give it an inexpressible
pang, while in the zenith of his glory he received an ac-
count of her decease. He then returned to Vaucluse,
and wept and mourned in solitude ; and, in the year 1352,
to dissipate his grief, travelled to Milan, and was em-
ployed by thve Visconti in several embassies. He remained
sometime at Verona, Parma, Venice, and Padua, devoting
himself almost wholly to poetical pursuits, and the plea*
sures of social intercourse, At Padua a mpst fortunate oo
[ITALY.
lity to Vaucluse and to Laura, he no less immortalized
himself. His name became generally known. Sensible
of his worth, Rome, Naples, and Paris, invited him on
the same day to, receive the laurel; but preferring
the former city, he repaired thither in the year 1341,
when that honour was conferred on him with every
flattering mark of distinction. Clothed in a magnificent
robe, the gift of the King of Naples, he appeared in the
Capitol, surrounded by the most respectable citizens.
Orso, Count of Anguillara, who was then a senator of
Rome, came to receive him; and, after an appropriate
harangue, placed the crown upon his head. His coro-
nation was announced by trumpets, and every testimony
of undissembled joy: he was declared a citizen of
Rome, and invested with all its privilegesbut this re*
nown was far from augmenting his felicity, while it
tended to excite the envy of his cotemporaries.
The pain, however, which their malignancy inflicted,
was soothed by the admiration of others. From all ranks
and descriptions of persons, he received the most distin-
guished praise : and, if the homage of royalty, or the
plaudits of the learned, could confer felicity, Petrarch
might have conceived himself blest indeed. But his mind
was ever in a perturbed state. The affection which he
bore to Laura, joined to her reserve, obtruded itself
constantly upon his mind; and, to give it an inexpressible
pang, while in the zenith of his glory he received an ac-
count of her decease. He then returned to Vaucluse,
and wept and mourned in solitude ; and, in the year 1352,
to dissipate his grief, travelled to Milan, and was em-
ployed by thve Visconti in several embassies. He remained
sometime at Verona, Parma, Venice, and Padua, devoting
himself almost wholly to poetical pursuits, and the plea*
sures of social intercourse, At Padua a mpst fortunate oo