Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tassowas an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata, in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem. He suffered from mental illness and died a few days before he was due to be crowned as the king of poets by the Pope. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Tasso remained one of...
NationalityItalian
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth11 March 1544
CountryItaly
Fortune rarely accompanies anyone to the door.
O happy, golden age! Not for that rivers ran With streams of milk, and honey dropped from trees
Not for no cold did freeze, Nor any cloud beguile Th'eternal flowering spring
O subtle love! a thousand wiles thou hast, by humble suit, by service, or by hire, to win a maiden's hold,--a thing soon done, for nature framed all women to be won.
Virtue's guard is labor; ease, her sleep.
It is the fortunate who should extol fortune.
He, full of bashfulness and truth, loved much, hoped little, and desired naught.