Morality and the Literary Imagination
Ricci, Gabriel R
In a letter to Boccaccio, Petrarch extolled the virtue of poetry and letters for promoting an understanding of both human nature and morals. Th e letter was designed to console him after hearing a prediction that he was soon to die and that he ought to renounce poetry. Th e prophecy came from an elder renowned for his piety, but Petrarch admonished that too often dishonesty and fraud are couched in religious sentiments. Nothing, not even death...
