Petrarch's Sonnet "She Let Her Term Paper

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A central element that is fostered throughout the poem is the sense of emotional intensity and passion which is suggested by images and metaphors of burning and fire. For example, who had the lure of love in my breast, what wonder if I suddenly caught fire?

The second stanza continues the theme of lost love. The woman is depicted in a golden light and idealized form, which is supported by the emotional intensity of the protagonists love for her. This stanza also follows the same pattern of increase and decrease in intensity and the shift between adoration and loss of love. This pattern continues throughout the stanzas and culminates in the final lines of the poem. It is as if the recollection and memory of the loved one intensifies the feeling of love and passion to mythical proportions.

Her way of moving was no mortal thing, but of angelic form: and her speech rang higher than a mere human voice.

The above lines reflect the way that the image of the woman is beyond all mortal categories and that she has, in the eyes of the protagonist, assumed a state of idealistic perfection in his mind.

The final stanza continues this metaphoric exaggeration, which is intended as an expression of his love for her. "A celestial spirit, a living sun." The metaphor used in this line is clear and the woman is seen as the very source of life itself, as well as someone who has transcended this world and lives in a perfect spiritual form. However, this intensity of feeling is linked to the last two lines.

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I was what I saw: and if she is not such now, the wound's not healed, although the bow is slack

Another translation of these lines, which is mentioned due to the fact that it makes the meaning slightly clearer, is as follows: "and should she not be such now, the wound is not healed by unstringing the bow." (Spiller 52) In other words the wound or hurt that the unrequited love has created in the protagonist is not healed, even though the love itself is gone or the " bow is slack." The loss of the love one or her distancing herself from him has in effect not stemmed or reduced the intensity of his passion and love for her. In contrast, as has been suggested throughout this analysis, the distance from the loved one has in fact increased the intensity of desire and love. The poem therefore explores the intensification of desire through distance and loss. It should also be noted that the metaphor of the bow and arrow and the classic allusion to love that this image suggests, also helps to express the central meaning go the poem.

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