PETRARCHISM

Petrarchism: translation

A style of lyric poetry modelled on the poems ofPetrarchand his Italian disciples, particularly on the love poetry of hisCanzoniere/Book of Songs. Influenced by the late medieval Ital-ian poetry ofDanteand thedolcestilnuovothat dominated early Italian lyric, it was consciously embraced by major poets of the 15th century such asAngelo PolizianoandJacopo Sannazaro, but the poet and humanistPietro Bembowas the person who established its canonical status in his treatise on vernacular literature,Prose della volgar lingua(1525), which designated Petrarch as the perfect model for imitation by poets. Bembo also exemplified the Petrarchan style in his own poetry, published under the titleRime(1530). This devel-opment occurred at precisely the moment when Italian poetry was be-ginning to establish a centuries-long dominance over the poetry of other nations. Pioneers such asThomas Wyattand the Earl of Sur-rey in England,Pierre de Ronsardin France, andJuan Boscánin Spain adapted the Petrarchan style to their own lyric poetry. Later Re-naissance poets closely associated with the style includeVittoria Colonna,Maurice Scève,Philip Sidney,Edmund Spenser, andWilliam Shakespeare.