"The themes and literary devices developed by Petrarch in his poetry became a kind of international stylistic Esperanto in renaissance and baroque literature. In this short introductory book Professor Forster examines Petrarchism as a European phenomenon transcending national boundaries. He begins with a general survey of themes and conventions, providing, with quotation, something like a repertory of the devices. He then shows in an important historical study how various vernacular literatures were seeking for a renewal of poetic diction at the moment when Petrarchism was available to meet the need. The third study examines particular forms - the alba or dawn poem, the pastourelle, the epithalarnium - and shows how realism in love-relationships could be accommodated within the tradition. A fourth shows how the literary conventions, applied to England's Virgin Queen, could serve political and national ends; and the last shows the devices still being used in Goethe's Faust. This is a learned and engaging book, ranging freely among literatures: Latin, Italian, French, Dutch, English, German (translations are provided). It gives an introduction to one of the most important and longest-lasting traditions in comparative literary studies."; colour frontis. of painting from the School of Fontainebleau plus four b/w. plate illustrations in mid-section; a clean copy in a price-intact dustjacket; includes notes, bibliography & index.