Dissertation on Birds of Prey and the Sport - the Falconry Heritage ...

previous ladies who inspired poets, hers are never described as being like those of a
goshawk or a peregrine falcon.
Petrarch often portrays himself as Love's victim, and in doing so occasionally
uses hunting images, though not from falconry. In the following sonnet, for example, he
compares himself to a fleeing deer with a poisoned arrow:
I dolci colli ov' io lasciai me stesso,
partendo onde partir gia mai non posso,
mi vanno innanzi, et emmi ogni or a dosso
quel car0 peso ch'Amor m' a commesso.
Meco di me mi meraviglio spesso,
ch' i' pur vo sempre e non son ancor mosso
dal be1 giogo piu volte indarno scosso,
ma com' piu me n' allungo e piu m'appresso.
E qua1 cervo ferito di saetta
col ferro avelenato dentr' a1 fianco
fugge, e piu duolsi quanto piu s'affretta,
tal io con quello stral dal lato manco,
che mi consuma e parte mi diletta,
di duo1 mi struggo e di hggir mi ~tanco.~~
Regardless of how far he wanders, his love for Laura stays with him like a
poisoned arrow in a deer, and he knows escape is useless. Petrarch imbues this simile
with his characteristic psychological self-analysis, thus giving it more depth and making
it more personal than did his Provengal predecessors.
Petrarch also portrays himself, in a single sonnet, as love's victim both with the
image of a fish on a hook and with that of the bird caught in lime:
In quel be1 viso ch' i' sospiro e bramo,
fermi eran li occhi desiosi e 'ntensi,
quando Amor porse, quasi a dir: "Che pensi?"
quella onorata man che second' amo.
43 CCIX, from Rime, Trionfi e poesie latine (Milano-Napoli: Riccardo Ricciardi, 195 1).