Page:A History of Italian Literature - Garnett (1898).djvu/260

242 And as the birdling doyh attendant fly, Lured by the hand that tempting food detains, Moved by like cause it follows you and plains, Pining for consolation from your eye. Gently within your hand the roamer take Into your breast, and let it nestle there, Soothed to great blissfulness in narrow span, Until at length its soul in song awake, And its dear woe and your great worth declare From Adria's shore to shores Etrurian."

Such verses are too deeply felt for mere compliment, and, if sincere, could only be addressed to some one much above himself in station. In another sonnet a consciousness of presumption is clearly indicated:

Neither Tasso nor Leonora, however, was of an amorous temperament; and there is no reason to suppose that he experienced any great difficulty in keeping his passion within Platonic bounds. The hidden flame may well have wrought him to the production of his unsurpassed Aminta in 1572–73. But in 1574 a severe illness marks an era in his life; he is never again quite the same man.