Torquato Tasso: poetics, thoughts and most famous works of the sixteenth-century man of letters, author of Gerusalemme liberata and Aminta.
Torquato Tasso: Poetics
Torquato Tasso defines his conception of the epic poem in Discorsi dell’arte poetica, composed in 1565–1566. This is a fundamental work for understanding Tasso’s poetics and the prevalence of that serious and severe vision of poetry that reflects the spirit of the Counter-Reformation and which will be the basis of his major poem.
It marks the detachment from the Ariosto and Renaissance taste and manifests, on the contrary, that intention to educate also through the use of the emphasis of the historical truth and the plausible marvel . Tasso translates all this into a rigid and unitary narrative construction that prevents the poem from resolving itself into a free and fantastic succession of adventures as happened in Ariosto , but without being reduced to a chronicle and giving space to fantasy through the magical and Christian marvel .
The solution that Tasso proposes is therefore a return to the models of classical perfection , illuminated however by Christian spirituality, a heroic greatness united with an intimate religiosity. Perfect morality, therefore, and perfect poetry: these are the ideals that inspire his poem. Tasso starts from the Renaissance conception of poetry as an imitation of nature, of the verisimilitude of reality, that which should be grasped in its ideal meaning. Its material is therefore “the authority of history” and the “truth of religion”.
In the poem, however, there must also be the marvelous , based on divine and infernal interventions, magicians and spells, angels and demons. To achieve this goal, Tasso proposes to use uncommon but peregrinatory words and from popular and distant use , grandiose and imaginative metaphors in a solemn rhythm supported by the verse.
This is possible with a long construction or even by using enjambement , which almost always gives Tasso’s speech a magnificent and sublime rhythm. Tasso, since he aspires to the consensus of a vast public, therefore believes that he must mix unity and variety in his poem. Unity will give the poem that superior dignity that is necessary for the heroic poem, a mirror of a noble and select conception of life; variety will make it more compelling (“Unity and Variety”).
Torquato Tasso: works
The most famous works of Torquato Tasso:
- Jerusalem Delivered : is Tasso’s most famous work, an epic poem that narrates the events of the first crusade and the conquest of Jerusalem by the Christians. The poem is characterized by a mixture of epic, chivalric and sentimental elements, with unforgettable characters such as Tancredi, Clorinda, Rinaldo and Armida. The work explores themes of faith, heroism and love
- Aminta : it is a pastoral fable in verse, representative of the Renaissance tradition. The work celebrates bucolic life and the theme of love in an idyllic context, while expressing a subtle melancholy. It is considered one of the masterpieces of pastoral theatre.
- The Rhymes : a collection of poems that includes love, religious and moral compositions. Through his rhymes, Tasso explores personal and universal themes, often reflecting on the human condition and the relationship with God
