great verse." It has even been argued, mainly on the strength of "that affable familiar ghost," that Tasso was the rival of whom Shakespeare complains; however this may be, no description could better express the peculiarity of his lyrical style. The manner, unfortunately, is often far in advance of the matter. There is no more splendid example, for instance, than his "Coronal"[1] of sonnets, where a sonority and impetuosity that might have celebrated the battle of Lepanto are squandered upon the house of Este. The same qualities, however, are always present when his feelings are deeply moved, as when he accompanies in thought his lady to the verge of the sea:
"Silver and diamond and gem and gold—
Wealth from wrecks anciently by tempests rent—
And coral of its own with pearl besprent,
The sea in homage at thy feet uprolled;—
For whom might Jupiter again be bold
In shape of bull to plough the element—
And, foaming at thy feet in billows spent,
With liquid tongue its murmuring story told:
O Nymph, O Goddess, not from cavemed bower
Of ocean sprung, but heaven, who canst enchain
My seething turbulence, not now the power
Of gentle moon conducts the obedient main,
But thine; fear nothing; I but swell to shower
My gifts, and turn me to my deeps again."
- ↑ A series of twelve sonnets on the same subject, interlinked by each successive piece beginning with the last line of the preceding.
