NYIthaca, Cornell University Library, Petrarch PQ4482. C41 B71

In his lecture on RVF 259, Bonifacio first provides a short summary of the content of the sonnet, and then focuses on solitude and the relationship between the active and contemplative life. He finally derives from Petrarch’s text some moral teachings that pave the way to celestial beatitude. Reference is made (among others) to Ariosto, Aristotle, Bembo, the Bible, Cicero, Dante, Gosellini, Horace, St. Jerome, St. John Chrysostom, Juvenal, St. Paul, Plato, Plutarch, T. Tasso, Thomas Aquinas, Tibullus, and Virgil.