'"
_Mickle's Translation, Canto V_.
THE JERUSALEM DELIVERED.
The Gerusalemme Liberata, or Jerusalem Delivered, was written by Torquato
Tasso, who was born at Sorrento, March 11, 1544. He was educated at
Naples, Urbino, Rome, Venice, Padua, and Bologna. In 1572 he attached
himself to the court of Ferrara, which he had visited in 1565 in the suite
of the Cardinal d'Este, and by whose duke he had been treated with great
consideration. Here his pastoral drama "Aminta" was written and performed,
and here he began to write his epic. The duke, angry because of Tasso's
affection for his sister Eleanora, and fearful lest the poet should
dedicate his poem to the Medicis, whom he visited in 1575, and into whose
service he was asked to enter, kept him under strict surveillance, and
pretended to regard him as insane. Feigning sympathy and a desire to
restore his mind, he had the unfortunate poet confined in a mad-house.
Tasso escaped several times, but each time returned in the hope of a
reconciliation with the duke. During his confinement his poem was
published without his permission: first in 1580, a very imperfect version;
in 1581, a genuine one. This at once brought him great fame; but while its
publishers made a fortune, Tasso received nothing. Neither did the duke
relent, although powerful influences were brought to bear on him.
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