of 15th- and 16th-century painting.rnHere is Laura in the early days:rnGreen clothes, bright red or darkrnpurple onesrnno lady ever worernor hair of gold has twisted inrnblond braid.rnI lere she is again, years after her death,rnrevived in memory:rnThe aura [raura=breezc = Laura]rnsighing gently as it movesrnthe verdant laurel and herrngolden hair,rnturns, with its aspects newrnand delicate,rnsouls into pilgrims wandering fromrntheir bodies.rnWhiteness of rose born highrnamong hard thorns,rnwhen will the wodd find one likernher again?rnPetrarch was no mere amatory poetrn(like, for example, Tibullus); love was, indeed,rnhis principal but not his onlyrntheme, and the Canzomere has poemsrnon politics, the state of the church, andrnthe future of Italy. In Italia mia hernsounded the note of Italian nationalismrnthat v’ill be heard in great Italian poets ofrnnearly every generation. The loveliestrnland on earth, the home of immortal soldiersrnand poets, had been turned into arnbattleground by warring princes whornhired foreign mercenaries:rnNature provided well for our conditionrnwhen she raised up the screenrnof Alps between us and the Germanrnrage; but blind desire fightingrnits own good then managed torncontri’e a wa to make this health)rnbody sick.rnI wonder how many Italians rememberedrnPetrarch, when Mussolini’s signaturernon the Pact of Steel drew Germanrntroops into their “sweet countryside.”rnBy far the greater part of the Canzouiere,rnhowever, is devoted to his unconsummatedrnlove for Laura. But forrnPetrarch, love was closer to Christian car-rnHas than to sexual desire, and even beforernher death his love poems take on anrnincreasinglv mystical significance. Inrndreams he sees her as she was when firstrnthey met and awakes to the banal realityrnthat “in thirteen forty eight. / at hour onernof the sixth day of April, / that soul nowrnblest departed from its body.” He nowrnpainfully acknowledges that she wasrnright to deny him what he most wanted,rnand in vision after vision he sees Laurarnenthroned in heaven, like some beautifulrnpagan taken up to Olympus. Eventuallyrnhe learns to see beyond her physicalrnbeauty into a spiritual purity he had beenrnalmost blind to, in his infatuation, and inrnthe end, the last canzone is a hvmn to thernVirgin, who now assumes all the attributesrnof the beloved. Macaula’ (perhapsrnnot the best judge) thought it thernmost beautiful of hymns. In this carefullyrnwrought masterpiece, the poet whornhad struggled with his own ambition andrnworldliness finally realizes that he cannotrnsucceed unaided:rnVirgin, in whom I place all ofrnmy hopernyou can and will help me in myrngreat need:rndo not abandon me atrnthe last pass,rnnot for my sake but I lis who madernmc man,rnlet not my oyvn worth but His ownrnhigh likenessrnin me move you to care for one sornlow.rnMedusa and m’ sin turned me tornstonerndripping useless moisture.rnVirgin, noyv yvith repentantrnand holy tears fill up my wearvrnheart;rnat least let my- last yveeping berndevout, without mud of earth,rnas was the first and insane owrnof mine.rnPetrarch’s life was an allegory of love, andrnin the end he found peace, the last yvordrnof his Canzoniere.rnThomas Fleming is the editor ofrnChronicles.rnScience on Paradernby John CaiazzarnThe Demon-Haunted World:rnScience as a Candle in the Darkrnby Carl SaganrnNew York: Random I louse;rn4S7 pp., $25.95rnFor Immediate ServicernCHRONICLESrn< hMIIK If”-rn„# I drnNEW SUBSCRIBERS TOLL FREE NUMBERrn1-800-877-5459rnIn this large and well-padded book,rnCarl Sagan promotes a vulgar scientism:rnthe notion that science and itsrnmethod provide the solutions to virtuallyrnall human problems and serve as thernultimate guide for human behavior.rnSagan’s scientific method serves as arnkind of “baloney detector” by which torndetect the fraudulent, the self-serving,rnthe poyver-mad, the superstitious, andrnthe fictitious. He puts virtually everythingrnexcept science in these categories,rnincluding statements by politicians,rnUFO abduction stories. New Age enthusiasms,rnand the idea of reincarnation.rnHowever, Sagan himself has demonsrnthat escape his scrutiny, including hisrnleft-wing political convictions (evidentrnthroughout the book), the belief in ex-rn26/CHRONICLESrnrnrn