Nic’s ignorance further revealed

Ben Hammersley does a great job of further revealing the depth of the miserable ignorance in which I dwell by his great post on Petrarch. Wow. I honestly didn’t know that somebody is credited with inventing the sonnet–always assumed it was one of those forms that sort of bubbled up over time.

Pretty amazing story–a young Petrarch sees this mysterious woman once and becomes completely obsessed with her. So obsessed in fact that he writes 366 poems about his yearnings.

You know, we just don’t get that kind of dedication these days, or if we do those people are called “stalkers” and sent to spend their days without any sharp objects around.

So Petrarch is now on the list of subjects about which my shroud of ignorance should be torn. Together with tying my own shoelaces, etc.

Posted Wednesday, 05 May, 2004 by Nic Lindh

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