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Starting from the analysis of a cycle of sonnets neglected by criticism (Rime 126-130), this paper aims to demonstrate the meaning of the private themes in Bembo's lyrics with regard to the historical context of the first thirty years of the XVI century, in connection with the uncertainty generated by the Italian Wars as well as with the role of intellectuals and writers in Renaissance society. All of the texts are tied to a precise moment, the year 1526: the extremes of the sequence are two civic-political sonnets, addressed to Clemente VII and his datary Giberti, while the central texts are dedicated to the theme of friendship and to la Morosina's illness. The series appears particularly uneven, even more so because of its position just behind the ending of the amorous canzoniere and before the spiritual texts; however, the sonnets are bound together by the theme of fortune and history, in which is rooted Bembo's idea of the love lyric. The paper proves that this thematic thread hints at an articulated discourse about poetic autonomy, grounded in the Latin classics, which represent the true substrate of Bembo's poetry. The study of the sources and of the macrotext confirms the importance of Propertius and Horace in the Rime: specifically, in the Venusian poet Bembo identified a point of reference for the definition of the writers' position vis-à-vis power and for the idea of constructing a monumental work, capable of making eternal not only the memory of its author but also that of his friends, lovers, and lords who are involved in the verses; in Propertius, instead, he saw an example for the treatment of the amorous theme in poetic discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]