With Petrarch, the first great figure to emerge from the obscure vistas of medievalism, the case was different. The first modern who really understood the classics understood Horace also, and did him greater justice than fell to his lot again for many generations. The copy of Horace's works which he acquired on November 28, 1347, remained by him until on the 18th of July in 1374 the venerable poet and scholar was found dead at the age of seventy among his books. Fond as he was of Virgil, Cicero, and Seneca, he had an intimate and affectionate knowledge of Horace, to whom there are references in all his works, and from whom he enriched his philosophy of life. Even his greatest and most original creation, the Canzoniere, is not without marks of Horace, and their fewness here, as well as their character, are a sign that Petrarch's familiarity was not of the artificial sort, but based on real assimilation of the poet. His letter to Horace begins:
Salve o dei lirici modi sovrano,
Salve o degl' Itali gloria ed onor,—
Hail! Sovereign of the lyric measure,
Hail! Italy's great pride and treasure;
and, after recounting the qualities of the poet, and acknowledging him as guide, teacher, and lord, concludes:
Tanto è l' amor che a te m'avvince; tanto
È degli affetti miei donno il tuo canto—
So great the love that bindeth me to thee;
So ruleth in my heart thy minstrelsy.