Petrarchism

A mode of writing, usually connected with love poetry (not necessarily with the genre of the sonnet usually associated with Petrarca). An admirable, but more or less distant person is adored by the lyrical I. This includes the praise of the lady using a catalogue of superlatives and comparisons ("There is a garden in her face", "eyes like angels", "piercing frowns [that] kill"), complaining about the distance and aloofness of the lady ("I sent thee, late a rosy wreath [...] But thou thereon didst only breathe,/ And send'st it back to me").