Kanconski Petrarca
Petrarchan Canzone

Summary/Abstract: In this article the author discusses the status of canzone in Petrarch’s book of verses devoted to Laura. Starting from the contention that this metrical form is much better represented (2850 lines) in the collection then might be expected by the number of poems (29), the author claims that the reason why in Petrarchology these poems are almost neglected is that Petrarch’s poetry is equated with the sonnet form. However, due to its marked formal qualities, allowing for some narrativity, canzone has an important role in Petrarch’s concept of Rime sparse as a confessional work, comparable to Dante’s Vita nova. The author then discusses metrical, structural, stylistic and rhetorical qualities of the poems and contextualizes them within the broader rhetorical tradition of European love poetry. He concludes that the sestina should have the same terminological status as the sonnet and be referred to as the Petrarchan canzone.

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