Petrarch
In Mary Sidney Herbert’s, Countess of Pembroke’s, 1595 translation of Petrarch’s Trionfo della Morte (1470), Sidney ‘presents Laura as a vibrant figure of joy and power’ (Hannay et al 265). In fact, Laura has so much joy that, despite her death, even a small amount of it will invigorate Petrarch: ‘Even this my [Laura’s] death, which yealds thee such annoye/would make in thee farre greater gladnesse ryse,/Couldst thow but taste least portion of my joye’ (II.37-39 translated by Herbert). The enjambment replaces the verb ‘annoye’ with the alliterating ‘greater gladnesse’, which through end-rhyme is also absorbed into the verb ‘joye’. The signification is that if Petrarch could ‘taste [the] least portion of my joye’, he would celebrate Laura’s death rather than mourn her. Therefore, Petrarch’s ‘greater gladnesse’ can be further sublimated into Laura’s spiritual joy as they unify in Neoplatonic love. Laura encourages Petrarch to identify with her through an altruistic joy, rather than the excessively narcissistic ‘such annoye’ that is obsessed with how the loss of Laura affects Petrarch as the defeated Lover. In Sidney’s translation, Laura idealises herself through emotional excess rather than being constructed by Petrarch as a sexualised object.
Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
The tension between spiritual joy and narcissistic sadness is broached by Major Macgregor’s translation of the same lines: ‘“…And this my loss, now mourn’d with many a tear,/Would seem a gain, and, knew you my delight/Boundless and pure, your joyful praise excite”’ (II.36-38). In contrast to Sidney’s translation, Macgregor accentuates Petrarch’s mourning. Even in death, Laura reminds Petrarch of how his ‘joyful praise’ adds to her ‘delight’. In fact, Petrarch praises her ‘delight’ so that it becomes his own delight, which has to be ‘[b]oundless and pure’ for him to be able to continue praising Laura in death.
These two translations illustrate the delicate balance of joy and power between Petrarch and Laura. It is a struggle perfectly realised in Laura’s death as, in Macgregor’s translation, her loss becomes Petrarch’s narcissistic gain as he can continue to praise her purity. Yet, in Sidney’s translation, Petrarch is instructed through the verse-line ‘would make in thee farre greater gladnesse ryse’ to break free from his narcissistic sadness and be even happier. The suggestive ‘greater gladnesse’ implies that Petrarch should rise to ‘taste’ Laura’s ‘joy’, which further empowers Laura as the mistress of Petrarch’s sexual desires as he is enslaved to her ‘joy’.
Yet, inevitably, both translations privilege Petrarch’s subjectivity as Laura is objectified as a goal for his desires.
References
Margaret P. Hannay, Noel J. Kinnamon & Michael G. Brennan. ‘The Triumph of Death: Literary Context’. The Collected Works of Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke: Volume I Poems, Translations & Correspondence. Eds. Margaret P. Hannay, Noel J. Kinnamon & Michael G. Brennan. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.
Petrarch. Trionfo della Morte. 1470. Trans. Mary Sidney Herbert. 1595. The Collected Works of Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke: Volume I Poems, Translations & Correspondence. Eds. Margaret P. Hannay, Noel J. Kinnamon & Michael G. Brennan. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.
Petrarch. Trionfo della Morte. 1470. Trans. Major Macgregor. The Sonnets, Triumphs, and Other Poems of Petrarch. Ed. Thomas Campbell. London: George Bell & Sons, 1879.
Hobbinol's Blog 
Looking forward to reading more. Great post.Really thank you! Keep writing.
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The first half of this post was enjoyable. However, I wouldn’t mind an expansion on how Petrarch’s grief is narcissistic. It’s Laura who died, not the poet himself.
Many thanks, Jay, for taking the time to comment. I think Petrach’s grief is narcissistic because he is more concerned about how Laura’s death affects him, as he has lost his objectified beloved that has essentially become part of his identity, rather than grieving for Laura as a person who has died. In other words, like Narcissus, Petrach has fallen in love with a reflection of himself that he has constructed through poetic language as a complaint. I hope my explanation answers your query, and thank you very much for taking an interest in Hobbinol’s Blog.
It does answer it, I should have gleaned it from the context now that I’ve read the article over. I begun reading I Trionfi last night, what beautiful language! You needn’t understand Italian in order to hear the beauty in a line such as 118-120:
Tal biasma altrui che se stesso condanna;
ché chi prende diletto di far frode,
non si de’ lamentar s’altri lo ’nganna.
I enjoy your other pieces, too.
Jay, thanks for quoting the Italian prose. I don’t understand Italian but the resonance of the end rhyme ‘condanna/’nganna’ indicates Petrach’s sadness. The lines are very moving simply in their rhythm. I also very pleased that you enjoy my other posts. Thank you.