Jerusalem Delivered: Gerusalemme Liberata

Gerusalemme Liberata

Jerusalem Delivered

By

Torquato Tasso (1544-1595)

Published 1581 in Parma, Italy

Translated by Edward Fairfax (1560-1635); translation first published in London, 1600

COMPLETE EDITION

Jerusalem Delivered (Italian: La Gerusalemme liberata) is an epic poem by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso first published in 1581, which tells a largely mythified version of the First Crusade in which Christian knights, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, battle Muslims in order to take Jerusalem. The poem is composed of eight line stanzas grouped into 20 cantos of varying length.

The work belongs to the Italian Renaissance tradition of the romantic epic poem, and Tasso frequently borrows plot elements and character types directly from Ariosto's Orlando furioso. Tasso's poem also has elements inspired by the classical epics of Homer and Virgil (especially in those sections of their works that tell of sieges and warfare). One of the most characteristic literary devices in Tasso's poem is the emotional conundrum endured by characters torn between their heart and their duty; the depiction of love at odds with martial valour or honor is a central source of lyrical passion in the poem.