CHAPTER III. A YEAR had not elapsed from the time of the CARDINAL's departure, before the poet quitted his service and returned to FERRARA. Various reasons have been assigned for his caprice or disgust, which, after all, is not well explained. TORQUATO himself imagined his patron was displeased with him for his ultra-catholicism in France, and complains of the CARDINAL'S parsimony, the more remarkable because of his liberality to others.* Tasso's efforts to obtain the favor, and immediate entrance into the service of ALPHONSO, brought about by the Princess of URBINO's influence, will, perhaps, in part explain his quitting the CARDINAL.† * See his letter to the Marquess Buoncompagna. Lettere, tom. v., p. 33, and post. + See Ginguené, Histoire Littéraire d'Italie, vol. v., p. 183, for the manner of his leaving the Cardinal's service, and the straits to which he was sometimes reduced by poverty while in it. SERASSI, anxious for the honor of his country, doubts the story of the poet's having been once driven by necessity to borrow a He was, as he himself relates, well received by the DUKE, who gave value to his productions by hearing them often and graciously; honored him by admission to his table, and familiar intercourse, and granted him every kindness he requested.* In such favor with the Duke, and constantly in the society of the PRINCESSES, is it strange he should have conceived fond hopes and nourished lofty aspirations? Of all passions LOVE most readily sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and inflames the coldest imagination with dreams and phantasms. How much more so one like Tasso's, naturally fervent, and constantly excited to the most romantic pitch of ardor by the presence of one whom crown from a friend, or from his hostess. But TASSO himself complains of the CARDINAL'S avarice to him. See Lettere, tom. v., p. 33, and tom. iv., 334. They were mutually dissatisfied, it would seem, and it appears that Tasso's father also quitted the CARDINAL'S employment some time before. See Serassi, 160, 106-7. The part the Duchess of Urbino took in procuring TASSO a situation in the court of her brother, is shown by a letter of the poet's. Lettere, tom. iv., 201. LUCRETIA was ALPHONSO's favorite sister, and LEONORA the CARDINAL's. Serassi, Vita, 183, 297, 298, 205, 131. These various circumstances will aid in suggesting some plausible conjectures to the reader concerning Tasso's imprisonment. the difference of rank made it scarcely idolatrous for a courtier to worship, and who rendered the charms and graces, dangerous in woman, more fascinating still by princely condescension! When we learn from his own letters, that he considered himself first among the nobility of his country, no less from his birth than his fame, it is easy to conceive how readily, as a consequence of that belief, he would pass, in dreamy revery, from illusion to illusion. Love and PRIDE are the only angelic sins. United, what mortal philosophy can withstand them? He may even have flattered himself it would be possible to obtain the hand of LEONORA. Such a supposition seems extravagant. But might not the greatest poet of our own day have placed his affections on a princess without the imputation of insanity? If the temerity of TASSO appears greater, it is chiefly because we remember the JERUSALEM, and forget he was noble. In this state of mind, his eagerness for distinction must have been excessive. He had witnessed some years previous the representation of a pastoral drama called the " Sfortunato," by Agostino degli Arienti.* With this new species of entertainment he had been highly pleased. Other specimens of it could hardly have escaped his notice. The "ARETUSA" of ALBERTO LOLLIO had already appeared, and the "Sacraficio" of AGOSTINO BECCARI, been dedicated to the PRINCESSES. As nothing so much augments a favorable impression, as the enthusiastic applause extorted from an admiring multitude, so nothing inflames the thirst for celebrity more than the hope of thus collecting on ourselves the scattered rays of FAME, to concentrate them, by reflection, on the heart of our mistress. This is the potent talisman to win, or to preserve our lady's love; if to win or the still greater miracle, to preserve it, be possible; - a process of natural magic, conducted before all the world, yet seen, as we imagine, but by ourselves and her. This it was, perhaps, which led TASSO to compose the AMYNTA, while much was yet wanting to the completion of his immortal epic. He dramatized himself, his * Serassi, Vita, p. 170. friends, and his enemies, and in a poetical description of the court of Ferrara, alluded to her who was his idol and his inspiration: "Such, and so fair Virgin Aurora burst on heaven and earth, With silver dew-drops in her golden hair, But if the unparalleled success of his dramatic pastoral availed him, where he most desired it should, from the very splendor of his glory arose the fogs of envy to obscure it. The Amynta, indeed, was one cause of his ruin. While the extraordinary celebrity of that production embittered the rancor of those who hated him, its great reputation made the PRINCESS of URBINO desirous to hear it, and on her invitation Tasso repaired to PESARO. From Agl' immortali appar VIRGINE Aurora, Sparga d'argento, e d' or rugiade e raggi E fecondando illuminar d' intorno." A similar comparison occurs in Sonnet 194, tom. i., ed. of Pisa, p. 102. |