The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-12-28
GREAT LOVE
STORIES
of HISTORY
BY Albert PaySon Terhune
TasSO and LeOnora
D'ESIe
iCopyrisnt. by the Autaer.l

D'ESle

A 21-year-old boy-the idol of poet
ical Italy-fell in love with a woman
nine years older than himself. She
was a princess: he a mere poet He
was destined to pay a terrible price
for his presum ption in daring to lose
his heart to SO exalted a parsonage.
The young lover was Torquato Tas-
so, son of brilliant, unfortunate tia
liam nobleman. Tasso was born in
1874, at an age WREN Italy was rising
far above medieval gloom to the
glory of literary renown. He was
poet. AS a mere child his genius drew
upon him the wonder and admiration
of every one. In early manhood he
became an honored member of the
suite of Duke Alfonso of Ferrara. He
become immortal ("Jerusalem Liber-
ated' is the foremost Of them), and
was the central figure of the gay
court. Handsome, accomplished, at
tractive. he won all hearts.
Alfonso, Tasso's patron, had beau
tiful sister, Leonora D'Este. While
she was much older than Tasso. her
delight in poetry and her boundless
admiration for his
"1 own writings
quickly turned the
young genius head Nor was she deaf
to his suit. Apart for his personal
attractions, the fact that half the
women in Ferrara adored him and
sought to win his favor helped to fan
the princess fancy into ardent love.
Chroniclers of the time differ as to
the exact course of the romance. Many
OF its incidents have been hushed up
or denied. Here is one of the various
versions:
The duke, finding out at last that
Tasso was seriously in love with Leo
nora, suspected that she had encour-
aged the poet. Fearing lest her broth
er's anger might fall upon the prin-
cess should this suspicion be verified.
Tasso devised a daring course to draw
the whole blame upon himself. He
pretended to be insane-in the hope
that Alfonso might think the love for
Leonora a part Of his madness. This
plan meant the ruin of Tasso's high
position at court, but the poet never
the less carried it out. He burst into
senseless RACES, Quarreled noisily,
tried to murder a servant, and in a
dozen other ways led Alfonso to be-
lieve him a lunatic. The duke sent
him to q monastery to recover his sup
posedly scattered wits. Tasso, dis
guised as a shepherd. escaped and fed
to his sister at Sorrento, where. for
the time, he was safe.
But his love for Leonora gave him
no peace of mind He could not live
out of her sight. So back he came
to Ferrara. By this time, however.
Alfonso seems to have discovered the
truth. Furious at the trick played
upon him by Tasso's imposition and
equally enraged that Leonora should
stoop to lavish her royal affections on
a poet, the duke plotted revenge. He
dared not have
Of Revenge. death. for the
Italians worshiped the luckless au-
thor and would have resented his
murder So Alfonso had him seized
and carried to the madhouse Of Saint
Anna. There Tasso was locked in a
cell and treated as a common lunatic.
The affair was in this way effectually
ended, for the poet was undergoing a
living death and was shut of utterly
from the outside world. 1t is not
known that he ever again saw or
heard from Leonora 'dEste.
For seven long years Tasso was i'm
prisoned at Saint Anna. Then a pow
erful Italian prince secured his re-
lease But it was too late. The mans
wonderful brain was affected by the
confinement and horrors of the mad
house. He became a wanderer on the
face of the earth. A dozen courts
were open to him. Everywhere he
would have been received as an hon
ored guest But he wandered desc
lately from place to place in lonely
poverty. His health was gone; his
genius was fading. At last the pope
sent for him to come to Rome, there
to be crowned poet laureate and re-
ceive a large pension. 1t was a daz-
cling reward for his life work. Tasso
hurried to Rome to accept this honor.
There, before the crown or the pen
sion could be bestowed, the wretched
wanderer fell i'll and died.