A holier bondage-by itself repaid- Mine, mine be this! let him the mortal hold! Many other of the lyrical compositions of B. TASSO are in praise of Ginevra Malatesta, whom he often celebrates under the allegory of the Ginebro, or Ginepro, on account of her name. To her he dedicated the whole of the first volume of his amatory lyrics, and praised her highly in his Amadigi. Yet she was not the only object of his affection. There lived in Italy, in Tasso's time, a distinguished lady, who, both on account of the poet's affection for her, and of her having written a romanesque narrative poem, deserves that a few words should be bestowed upon her. This lady was TULLIA d'ARAGONA, an illegitimate daughter of the Cardinal Pietro Tagliavia, of the sovereign house of Aragon. Some writers assert that TUL Quella parte più nobile e migliore, Questa sia mia; e d'altri l'ombra e il velo; LIA was born at Rome, others at Naples; she seems to have died at Florence, whither she retired when her devotion, which kept increasing with her years, after she had passed the meridian of life, rendered her inclined to solitude. This lady, when less bigoted, was a kind of syren. To a most beautiful person she united the most refined manners, and the most accomplished mind. Neither the sweetness of her voice, nor her skill in music was ever equalled; and whether she spoke in earnest or in jest, no one surpassed her in eloquence, wit, and grace. Her poetry is not above mediocrity, but if any coquette, as young, handsome and accomplished as TULLIA, were to write in our days lines like hers, the hearts of the sternest reviewers would be touched, and their eyes dazzled. In her retirement, when fatigued with the world, (or, as some say, when the world was tired of her) she wrote a poem in forty-five cantos, called Guerino il Meschino. Guerino is a hero highly celebrated in an old Italian prose romance, known under the same name. In this poem she boasted of the most rigid morality, and, in fact, Guerino is a very well behaved youth. The poetess, to give relief to his austere qualities, puts them to a most extraordinary test; and both to show off the morality of the knight in resisting, and her own skill in pourtraying the temptations which he could withstand, she indulges in a description, the freedom of which singularly contrasts with the moral professions of the authoress. Although TULLIA could paint a hero like Zenocrates, she has been formally accused by several of her contemporaries, and in very plain words, of having given herself up to the most immoral life. Muzio, a poet of the same age, who appears to have been her favourite, says with great naïveté, that although all the poets of those days loved her, they were not either envious or jealous; so great was the skill of the lady and the good faith of the gentlemen. Oh gran bontà de' cavalieri antiqui! In a comedy printed at Florence in 1560, she is said to have been (è stata) a very immoral woman. The word used is as low and expressive as any the Italian language offers. She was in favour at the court of Tuscany; and although the past tense may be employed, speaking of a woman of a certain age, as being, with regard to the vanities of this world, dead; yet it a Dameta (that is Muzio himself) says: Tirsi, non ha veduto il secol nostro Pastor, ch' io creda, alcun, che d'alcun pregio Abbia colto ghirlanda in Elicona, Che, s'ha lei vista, e se gli accenti suoi Ha nell' alma raccolti, tale ardore Tirrenia. "RAZZI, la Balia, quoted by MAZZUCHELLI in the biogra phy of TULLIA. cannot be conceived that RAZZI would have dared to say of her what he has said, had she been still alive in 1560. It was in that year only that TASSO printed his Amadigi, which will explain why no mention of TULLIA is made in that poem where so many other ladies are praised. e TULLIA D'ARAGONA, as has been already observed by GINGUENE, is the person introduced by SPERONI, in his Dialogo d'Amore, to argue, so cleverly and so impudently, on the subject. The annotator of that dialogue in SPERONI's works, as well as CORNIANI, evidently did not know who the Tullia was, who takes such a share in that licentious conversation. She was introduced as one of the interlocutors, because she had studied the subject deeply; practically, as was well known to all those who were acquainted with her; and theoretically, as may be gathered from a dialogue written by her Della infinità d'amore. In SPERONI's dialogue, she is made to say, that B. TASSO has praised TULLIA in his verses; and although there is no composition of that poet addressed to TULLIA D' ARAGONA by name, yet several lyric pieces to a Royal Lady must be intended for her. It is moreover certain, that TASSO wrote of her in poetry, as is positively asserted by MUZIO in the Tirrenia. Per lei fatt' anco ha risonare i boschi Cantando all' ombra d'un umil Ginebro. Gli alpestri gioghi here spoken of, are the mountains of Bergamo, of which city B. TASSO was a native; and the Ginebro in the last line alludes to the love of TASSO for GINEVRA MALATESTA already mentioned. Having had occasion to mention that several cotemporary ladies are praised in the Amadigi, it will perhaps afford some gratification to see in B. TASSO was a long time in the service of the Prince of Salerno, Ferrante Sanseverino, who what manner the poet speaks both of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth of England. Sol quelle due, di cui dal lido Moro, La di maggior età, che'n testa porta Strada, alla dritta e vera; e la svïata Di Carlo Quinto Imperador Romano L'altra è la sua sorella Elisabetta, XI. 29-31. These extravagant praises were dictated to TASSO by his desire of recovering the good graces of the Spanish monarch. He made the utmost exertions to obtain this end: he not only sent to King Philip II. a handsome copy of his poem, but he had even the meanness to ask that king's pardon, and |