GUARFNI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA, was born at Ferrara in 1537, of a family which had produced several distinguished men of letters. His ancestor Guarino of Verona was one of the restorers of Greek etc:idles in Italy. He died at Ferrara in 1460, leaving a son, Giovanni Battista Guarini, who was many years professor of belles-lettres at Ferrara, where he died in 1494, and left several works; among others a dissertation De Secta Epicuri,' and another, ' De Ordine docendi et studendi: Guarini, the subject of the present article, after receiving a careful education was taken into the service of his sovereign Alfonso II., duke of Ferrara, who sent him on several missions as his ambassador to Venice, Rome, Turin, and also to Germany and Poland. In 1582 Guarini retired to his villa near Rovigo, where he applied himself to his studies and to his domestic affairs, which were much impaired by the expenses attending his various journeys. After four years he was recalled by Alfonso, who appointed him secretary of state ; but Guarini soon after resigned again, and passed into the service first of the Duke of Savoy, and afterwards of Vincenzo Gonzaga, duke of Mantua. In 1590 he was once more recalled to Ferrara, and restored to Alfonso's favour. In 1592, Alfonso having died, and Ferrara being taken possession of by the pope, Guarini offered his services to Ferdinand de' Medici, grand duke of Tuscany, by whom they were readily accepted; but having some time after quarrelled with him also, he passed into the court of Francesco Maria, duke of Urbino. Becoming dissatisfied here also, he left the Duke of Urbino, and went to Rome, Ferrara, and lastly to Venice, where he died in October, 1612. He often complained of the trammels, jealousies, and ingratitude of courts; and yet, although he was not destitute of the means of independence, he could not live away from courts, and after repeatedly quitting in dudgeon one prince, he looked about for another to take him into his service. Guarini wrote poetry
of various kinds: the most celebrated of his compositions is his 'Pastor Fido,' (the faithful swain), a pastoral drama, which was per formed with great splendour at Turin on the occasion of the marriage of Charles Emanuel, duke of Savoy, with the infanta Catharine of Spain. It was published for the first time at Venice, in 1590, ten years after the publication of Tasso's pastoral drama, the Aminta.' The two dramas however ;aro very different, that of Guarini being more complicated in its plot, and more elevated in its sentimeuts and style ; perhaps too much so for a composition called pastoral But Guarini's shepherds are in fact men of the world and smart reasoners. The greatest charm of the poem is in the softness and fluency of its versification. It is said that the author spent many years in touching and retouching his work. It must also be observed that the ' Pastor Fido' contains some loose passages and immoral sentiments. The beauties and the faults of this production have been commented upon by a host of critics, the titles alone of whose works fill up a whole chapter of Fontaninfs 'Biblioteca dell' Eloquenza Italians; vol. i. class 4, chap. 5. Some of these commentaries, with the name of Verrato, or Verato, in defence of his poem, were written by Guarini himself. The ' Pastor Fido' went through more than thirty editions in Italy alone ; it was performed with applause in the different Italian cities, and has been translated into almost every language of Europe. Guarini wrote also a number of madrigals, and other specimens of lyric poetry. His works were collected and published in 4 vols. 4to. Venice, 1737.