How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
Falling from gracious boughs,
I sweetly call to mind,
were flowers in a rain upon her bosom,
and she was sitting there (40-43)
The poet re-creates a vision of Laura from the past—and it's sending chills up his spine. For Petrarch, place is truly important in his experience of love: the river, the tree on which she leaned, and the fact that she sat right over there. These objects help revive his strong feelings for Laura in her absence.
Quote #5
How often I would say
at that time, full of awe:
"For certain she was born up in Heaven!"
And her divine behavior,
her face and words and sweet smile
so filled me with forgetfulness
and so divided me
from the true image (53-60)
Petrarch's emotional re-living of his encounter with Laura includes not just the vision of his beloved among the flowers, but also his own sense of discombobulation. It's interesting to us that he talks about being filled with forgetfulness at the time of this encounter when he seems to remember every last detail so well.