The Romance of Biography Volume I Part 22

O con le Grazie elette, e con gli amori.

The d.u.c.h.ess of Ferrara's maid, the beautiful Livia d'Arco, and even her dwarf, are also immortalised in Ta.s.so's verses, who poured forth his courtly gallantry with an exhaustless and splendid prodigality, fitting their praises to his lyre, as if it had never resounded to higher themes.

At a court festival given by the Duke Alphonso, in honour of his beautiful and ill.u.s.trious visitors, the Countess of Sala appeared with her fine hair wreathed round her head in the form of a coronet, which with her grand style of beauty and majestic deportment, gave her the air of a Juno. The young Countess of Scandiano, on the other hand, enchanted by her Hebe-like graces, her smiles, and the unequalled beauty of a pouting underlip;--nothing was talked of at Ferrara but these braided tresses and this lovely lip; the poets and the young cavaliers were divided into parties on the occasion. Ta.s.so has celebrated both with the same voluptuous elegance of style in which he described his Armida. To the Countess of Scandiano he wrote,

Quel labbro, che le rose han colorito Molle si sporge, e tumidetto in fuore, &c.

To the Countess of Sala,

Barbara! maraviglia de' tempi nostri.

But the Countess of Scandiano was more especially the object of his public adoration. It was a poetical pa.s.sion, openly professed; and flattering, as it appears, both to the lady and to her husband, without in any degree implicating either her discretion or that of Ta.s.so.

Compare his verses to this young Countess--this _peregrina Fenice_,[130]

as he fancifully styles her, who comes s.h.i.+ning forth, not _to be consumed_, but _to consume_,--to the profound tenderness, the intense yet mournful feeling of some of the poems composed for the Princess d'Este, about the same time; when he must have daily contrasted the rich bloom, the smiling eyes, and sparkling graces of the youthful Countess, with the fading or faded beauty, the languid form, and pale cheek of his long-loved Leonora. See particularly the Sonnet

Tre gran Donne vid' io, &c.

"Three ill.u.s.trious ladies did I behold,--I sung them all--_one only_ I loved," &c. And another equally beautiful and significant,

Perch 'n giovenil volto amor mi mostri Talor, Donna _Real_, rose e ligustri Oblio non pone in me, de' miei tril.u.s.tri Affanni, o de miei spesi indarno inchiostri.

E 'l cor, che s' invaghi degli onor vostri Da prima, e vostro fu poscia pi l.u.s.tri Reserba, amo in s forme pi ill.u.s.tri Che perle e gemme, e bei coralli ed ostri.

Queste egli in suono di sospir s chiari Farebbe udir, che d' amorosa face Accenderebbe i pi gelati cori.

Ma oltre suo costume fatto avaro De' vostri pregi, suoi dolci tesori, Che in se medesmo gli vagheggia e _tace_!

TRANSLATION.

"Albeit in younger faces Love at times May show me where a fresher rose is set, Yet, _Royal_ Lady, can I not forget My fifteen years of pain and useless rhymes.

This heart, so touch'd by all thy beauty bright, After so many years is still thine own, And still retaineth forms more exquisite Than pearls, or purple gems, or coral stone.

All this my heart in soft sighs would make known, And thus with fire the coldest bosom fill, But that, unlike itself, that heart hath grown So covetous of thy sweet charms, and thee, (Its secret treasures,) that it aye doth flee Inwards, and dwells upon them, and is still."[131]

Lastly, that most perfect Sonnet, so well known and so celebrated, that I should not insert it here, but that I am enabled to give, for the first time, a translation equally faithful to the sentiment and the poetry of the original.

Negli anni acerbi tuoi, purpurea rosa Sembravi tu, ch' ai rai tepidi, all' ora Non apre 'l sen, ma nel suo verde ancora Verginella s' asconde, e vergognosa.

O pi tosto parei (che mortal cosa, Non s' a.s.somiglia a te) celeste Aurora, Che le campagne imperla, e i monti indora, Lucida in ciel sereno e rugiadosa.

Or la men verde et nulla a te toglie; Ne te, benche negletta, in manto adorno Giovinetta belt vince, o pareggia.

Cosi pi vago 'l fior, poich le foglie Spiega odorate: e 'l sol nel mezzo giorno Vi-pi, che nel mattin, luce e fiammeggia.

TRANSLATION.

"Thou, in thy unripe years, wast like the rose, Which shrinketh from the summer dawn, afraid, And with her green veil, like a bashful maid, Hideth her bosom sweet, and scarcely blows: Or rather,--(for what shape ever arose From the dull earth like thee,) thou didst appear Heavenly Aurora, who, when skies are clear, Her dewy pearls o'er all the country sows.

Time stealeth nought: thy rare and careless grace Surpa.s.seth still the youthful bride when neatest,-- Her wealth of dress, her budding blooming face, So is the full-blown rose for age the sweetest, So doth the mid-day sun outs.h.i.+ne the morn, With rays more beautiful and brighter born!"[132]

Yet all this was too little. His minor lyrics, the unlaboured and spontaneous effusions of leisure, of fancy, of sentiment, would have been glory enough for any other poet, and fame enough for any other woman: but Ta.s.so had founded his hopes of immortality on his great poem, The Jerusalem Delivered; and it was imperfect in his eyes unless Leonora were shrined in it. To convert the pale, gentle, elegant invalid into a heroine, seemed impossible: she was no model for his lovely amazon, Clorinda; nor his exquisite sorceress, Armida; nor his love-sick Erminia: for her, therefore, and to her honour, and to the eternal memory of his love for her, he composed the episode in the second Canto, where we have her portrait at full length as Sophronia.

Vergine era fra lor, di gia matura Verginit, d'alta pensieri e regi, D'alta Belt; ma sua belt non cura, O tanto sol quant' onest sen fregi; E 'l suo pregio maggior che tra le mura D'angusta casa, asconde i suoi gran pregi: E da' vagheggiatori ella s'invola, Alle lodi, agli sguardi, inculta e sola.

Non sai ben dir s'adorno, o se negletta, Se caso od arte, il bel volto compose, Di natura, d'amor, di cieli amici, Le negligenze sue sono artifici.

Mirata da ciascun, pa.s.sa, e non mira L'altera donna!

TRANSLATION.

Among them dwelt a n.o.ble maid, matured In loveliness, of thoughts serene and high, And loftiest beauty;--beauty which herself Esteem'd not more than modesty might own.

Within an humble dwelling did she hide Her peerless charms, and shunning lovers' eyes, From flattering words and glances, lived retired.

Whether 'tis curious care, or sweet neglect, Or chance, or art, that have array'd her thus, One scarce can tell: for each unstudied grace Has been the work of Nature, heaven, and love.

And thus admired by all, unheeding all, Forth steps the n.o.ble maid.

It is impossible to mistake, in this finished and exquisite portrait, the matured beauty, the negligent attire, and love of solitude which characterised Leonora: the resemblance was so perfect, as to be universally recognised and acknowledged. But is it not, as M. Ginguen remarks, equally certain that Ta.s.so has pourtrayed himself as Olindo?

Ei che modesto , com' essa bella, Brama, a.s.sai, poco spera, nulla chiede!

He, full of modesty and truth, Loved much, hoped little, and desired nought!

Has he not in the verse

Ed o mia morte avventurosa appiena,

breathed forth all the smothered pa.s.sion of his soul?--

Ed o mia morte avventurosa appiena!

Oh fortunati miei dolci martiri!

S'impetrer che giunto seno a seno L'anima mia nella tuo bocca io spiri, E venendo tu meco a un tempo meno In me fuor mandi gli ultimi sospiri!

And O! how happy were my death! how blest These tortures,--could I but the meed obtain, That breast to breast, and lip to lip, our souls Might flee together, and our latest sighs Mingle in death.

This episode is critically a defect in the poem: it seems to stand alone, unconnected in any way with the main action; he acknowledged this; but he absolutely, and obstinately, refused to alter it, or strike it out. He, who was in general amenable to criticism, even to a degree of weakness, willed that it should stand an everlasting monument of his tenderness, and of the virtues and the charms of her who inspired it:--and thus it has been.

A cruel, and, as I think, a most unjust imputation rests on the memory of the Princess Leonora. She is accused of cold-heartedness, in suffering Ta.s.so to remain so long imprisoned, without interceding in his favour, or even vouchsafing any reply to his affecting supplications for release, and for her mediation in his behalf. The excuse alledged by those who would fain excuse her,--"That she feared to compromise herself by any interference," is ten times worse than the accusation itself. But though there exists, I suppose, no _written_ proof that Leonora pleaded the cause of Ta.s.so, or sought to mitigate his sufferings; neither is there any proof of the contrary. We know little, or rather nothing, of the private intrigues of Alphonso's palace: we have no "mmoires secrtes" of that day; no diaries kept by prying courtiers, to enlighten us on what pa.s.sed in the recesses of the royal apartments: and upon mere negative presumption, shall we brand the character of a woman, who appears on every other occasion so blameless, so tender-hearted, and beneficent, with the imputation of such barbarous selfishness? for the honour of our s.e.x, and human nature, I must believe it impossible.

In no other instance was the homage which Ta.s.so loved to pay to high-born beauty repaid with ingrat.i.tude; all his life he seems to have been an object of affectionate interest to women. They, in his misery, stood not aloof, but ministered to him the oil and balm, which soothed his vexed and distempered spirit. The Countesses of Sala and Scandiano never forgot him. Lucretia Bendidio, who had married into the Marchiavelli family, sent him in his captivity all the consolation she could bestow, or he receive. The d.u.c.h.ess of Urbino (Lucretia d'Este,) was munificently kind to him. The young Princess of Mantua, she for whom he wrote his "Torrismondo," loaded him with courtesy and proofs of her regard. He was ill at the Court of Mantua, after his release from Ferrara; and her exertions to procure him a copy of Euripides, which he wished to consult, (an anecdote cited somewhere, as a proof of the rarity of the book at that time,) is also a proof of the interest and attention with which she regarded him. It happened when he was at the Court of the Duke of Urbino, that he had to undergo a surgical operation; and the sister of the Duke, the young and beautiful Lavinia di Rovera, prepared the bandages, and applied them with her own fair and princely hands;--a little instance of affectionate interest, which Ta.s.so has himself commemorated. If then we do not find Leonora publicly appearing as the benefactress of Ta.s.so, and using her influence over her brother in his behalf, is it not a presumption that she was implicated in his punishment? What comfort or kindness she could have granted, must, under such circ.u.mstances, have been bestowed with infinite precaution; and, from grat.i.tude and discretion, as carefully concealed.

We know, that after the first year of his confinement, Ta.s.so was removed to a less gloomy prison; and we know that Leonora died a few weeks afterwards; but what share she might have had in procuring this mitigation of his suffering, we do not know; nor how far the fate of Ta.s.so might have affected her so as to hasten her own death. If we are to argue upon probabilities, without any preponderating proof, in the name of womanhood and charity, let it be on the side of indulgence; let us not believe Leonora guilty, but upon such authority as never has been,--and I trust never can be produced.

About two years after the completion of the Jerusalem Delivered, and four years after the first representation of the Aminta;--when all Europe rung with the poet's fame, Ta.s.so fled from the Court of Ferrara, in a fit of distraction. His frenzy was caused partly by religious horrors and scruples; partly by the petty but acc.u.mulated injuries which malignity and tyranny had heaped upon him; partly by a long-indulged and hopeless pa.s.sion; and with these, other moral and physical causes combined. He fled, to hide himself and his sorrows in the arms of his sister Cornelia. The brother and sister had not met since their childish years; and Ta.s.so, wild with misery, forlorn, and penniless, knew not what reception he was to meet with. When arrived within a league of his birthplace, Sorrento,[133] he changed clothes with a shepherd, and in this disguise appeared before his sister, as one sent with tidings of her brother's misfortunes. The recital, we may believe, was not coldly given. Cornelia, who appears to have inherited with the personal beauty, the sensibility and strong domestic affections of her mother, Portia,[134] was so violently agitated by the eloquence of the feigned messenger, that she fainted away; and Ta.s.so was obliged to hasten the denouement by discovering himself. In the same moment he was clasped in her affectionate arms, and bathed with her tears. How often, when I have stood on my balcony at Naples, have I looked towards the white buildings of Sorrento, glittering afar upon the distant promontory, and thought upon this scene! and felt, how that which is already surpa.s.singly beautiful to the eye, may be hallowed to the imagination by such remembrances as these!

Ta.s.so resided with his sister for three years, the object of her unwearied and tender attention. It was on his return to Ferrara, (recalled, as Manso says, by the tenor of Leonora's letters[135]) that he was imprisoned as a lunatic at St. Anne's. They show to travellers the cell in which he was confined. Over the entrance of the gallery leading to it, is written up in large letters, "Ingresso alla Prigione di Torquato Ta.s.so," as if to blazon, in the eye of the stranger, what is at once the renown and disgrace of that fallen city. The cell itself is small, dark and low. The abhorred grate,