198 Italian literature. | Fune 13; 
pitch of its glory by the immortal poem.of Ludovice 
Ariosto, whom Italy has had no difficulty to comparé 
to Homer. The same author, in the comic and the 
satiric, revived ‘the beauty of Terence and of Horace. 
The Italian bucolic, by the means of Sannazaro, ap- 
peared adorned with new graces and in a new drefs ; 
and from the pen of the same author was seen, for 
the first time, the Latin piscatorial poetry, of which 
only a hint had been given ina fhort idyllium by 
Theocritus. Bembo then taught the manner of imi- 
tating Petrarca, and the same Bembo, together with 
Castighone, and Casa, attained a new manner of wri- 
ting nobly and elegantly in Italian prose. Many other 
fine geniuses enriched Italy with most excellent works 
both in prose and verse, in Latin and Italian. At that 
time Torguato Tafso was eminently conspicuous ; 
and has acquired no lefs fame for his works in prose, 
than for his poems, pastoral, lyric, and epic, in all of 
which heexcelled Bernardo Ta/sohis father, who was a 
very good poet, himself; but knowing how little poetry 
was compatible with an easy life, wifhed to have his: 
son follow the more lucrative profefsion of the law, 
but in vain. At nineteen years of age Torguato 
publifhed 17 Rinaldo; a poem, in which, receding 
both from the stile of his father, and from that of 
Ariosto, he paved his way to the immortal poem of 
the Gerusalemme Liberata, which he afterwards pub- 
lifhed at a riper age. He endeavoured to transfuse — 
into it the greatnefs of thoughts, and the harmoni- 
ous numbers of Virgil, with whom it is generally 
esteemed he deserves to be compared. But as 
Latin poetry, which having reached its highest per= 
