Sonnets and Shorter Poems
Petrarch, Francesco / Slavitt, David R / Slavitt, David R
In Petrarch's hands, lyric verse was transformed from an expression of courtly devotion into a way of conversing with one's own heart and mind. David Slavitt renders the sonnets in "Il Canzoniere, " along with the shorter madrigals and ballate, in a sparkling and engaging idiom and in rhythm and rhyme that do justice to Petrarch's achievement.