Torquato Tasso, (born March 11, 1544, Sorrento, Kingdom of Naplesādied April 25, 1595, Rome), Italian poet. The son of a poet and courtier, Tasso became a courtier of Duke Alfonso II dāEste at Ferrara. In a period of intense poetic activity he produced the pastoral drama LāAminta (1581; performed 1573), a lyrical idealization of court life. In 1575 he completed his celebrated masterpiece on the First Crusade, Gerusalemme liberata (1581; Jerusalem Delivered), a heroic epic in ottava rima that blends historical events with imaginary romantic and idyllic episodes. He developed a persecution mania and from 1579 to 1586 was incarcerated in a hospital by order of the duke. Gerusalemme was translated and imitated in many European languages, and Tasso was the subject of literary legend for centuries. He is regarded as the greatest Italian poet of the late Renaissance.
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Torquato Tasso summary
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