“Into a Luminous Abyss”

This chapter examines Francis Petrarch’s (1304–1374) internal conflict between sacred devotion and profane desire, specifically his love for Laura. Through short perusals of his lyric poetry and the prose dialogue My Secret , it highlights Petrarch’s use of religious and erotic language, his remorseful introspection, and the persistent tension between spiritual aspiration and worldly passion in his works. The Songbook marks a turning point in literature by introducing a new mode of sentiment and calendrical temporality in European poetry. Through his anniversary poems and his persona of a love-struck wanderer, Petrarch creates a cohesive series of recollections, blurring the line between his biographical self and his imagined alter ego.