Why Petrarch is considered a great poet?

               Petrarch the poet was the master of the sonnet. Not only was he among the first to write the Italian sonnet, he also developed and popularized this fourteen line poem. So much so that the Italian sonnet is called the Petrarchan sonnet in his honour.

               Petrarch wrote in Italian and Latin. His Italian works, the ‘Canzoniere or Songbook’ and the ‘Tri-onfi or Triumphs’ were major successes.

               His Latin works were ‘Bucolium Carmen’ and ‘Africa’. Twelve pastoral poems make up the ‘Bucolium Carmen’. ‘Africa’ is an epic that the poet failed to finish. Both these works were hugely popular.

               Petrarch was born on July 20th, 1304, in Arezzo, a city in central Italy. The great Dante was his father’s friend. Petrarch was named Francesco Petracco by his family. The name was anglicized to Petrarch.

               Petrarch was instrumental in making the writings of the Roman senator Cicero popular by public reading. He also translated the ‘Penitential psalms’. Petrarch died on July 19th, 1374.