Vincenzo Gonzaga, Prince of Mantua, obtained of the Duke of Ferrara, in 1586, permission to maintain the poet in his own household, and took him away with him. While living with this patron, Tasso completed his tragedy, II re Tor rismondo (published at Bergamo. 1587), but his malady regained control of him and, fleeing again, he resumed his wandering life. Having visited Bologna, Naples, Rome, and Florence, he returned to the Court of Mantua in 1591; but toward the end of the year he went again to Rome in company with the Duke, and during the little while he was yet to live he spent his time between Rome and Naples. In 1593 the Gerusa lemme conquistata was published, and in 1594 Pope Clement VIIT. summoned Tasso to the Capi tol to be crowned as poet laureate. This.cercmony was prevented, however, by the increasing illness of Tasso, who died April 25, 1595. Legendary ac counts of the adventures of the unfortunate poet have played a considerable part in the literature of both Italy and other foreign lands, and have afforded themes for the imagination of Goethe, Byron, Lamartine, Espronceda, Leopardi, Prati, and Carlucci; but sober historical investigation has made clear that the poet was insane and that Alfonso d'Este was his friend and patron rather than his tyrannical master.
Tasso's prose works embrace his correspondence (Epistolario), Dialogbi (dialogues on philosophi cal. moral, literary. and wsthetical subjects). Orazioni, Trattati, Diseorsi (these last deal with the nature of heroic poetry, the polemic stirred up by his Gentsalem me, etc.). The poetical works include his Rime (sonnets, octaves, eon zoni, etc., some of them love lyrics in the Pe trarchian manner, others religious and political in tone) : the Rinaldo (his early chivalrous poem of twelve cantos in octaves, narrating the adventures of the French hero. Reliant de Mon tauban. and thus dealing with the Old French legendary matter about Charlemagne and his peers, which had been introduced into Northern Italy at a very early date—to this matter the post has added a good deal of his own invention) ; the Aminta, the best Italian pastoral drama ; the tragedy Torrismondo (notable as being one of the first literary attempts in Italy to deal with the Northern Germanic matter that has since been so important in the romantic move ment); Ii Monte Oliveto (a fragment in octaves, celebrating the origin of the congregation of the monks of Mount Olivet) ; Le sette giornate del mondo ereato (a philosophical and imaginative account of the creation written in blank verse) ; La. Gerusalemme liberata (his masterpiece and
one of the greatest glories of Italian literature. singing in twenty cantos of octaves the crusade of Godfrey of Bouillon and developing in con nection with it many beautiful love episodes).
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Solerti's ed. of the Opera minori Bibliography. Solerti's ed. of the Opera minori in vcrsi (vols. i. and ii., Poemi minori, Bologna, 1891: vol. iii., realm. ib., 1895: vols. iv. vii., Rime) and the eds. of the Gerusalemme liberata by S. Ferrari (Florence, 1890) and So lerti (Florence, 1895). Consult: Solerti, Vita di Torquato Tasso (Turin. 1895) ; Ferrazzi, Tor quato Tasso. stwli biogratiei-eritici-bibliografiei (Bassano. 1880) Cherbuliez, Le prince Vital, essai et Writ rl propos de la folir du Tasse (Paris. 1864) ; D'Ovidio, "II carattere. gli amori e he sventure di Torquato Tasso," in the Stud j eritiei (Naples. 1879) ; Proto, 8/// Rinaldo di Torquato Tasso (Naples. 1895) : Vivaldi, Salle fonti della Gerusalemme liberata (Catanzaro, 1893) ; Multinerldu, Le fonti della Gerusalemme liberata (Sassari, 1895) : De Grisy, Dc T. Tassi Poemate quint Inscribitur Gerusalemme eonquis iota (Paris. 18137) : 'Mazzoni. "Della Geru salemme conquistata." in In Biblioteca (Bologna, ISS(3) ; Guidfi, Annuli defile edixfiomi e defile ver sioni della Gerusalemme liberate (Bologna, 1868) ; Solerti, "Bibliogratia dclle publicazioni tassiane in occasione del terzo centenario." in the Rivista dello bibliotcchc c urchin (1395). Of the English translations of the Gerusalemme liberate the most noted is that by Fairfax (Lon don, 1600).