Canto X of Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata

Canto 10 of Torquato Tasso’s Gerusa- lemme liberata is the textual center, but not the narrative center, of the work as far as Canto 10 the role and fortune of the pagan forces are still predominant. The narrative turn- Julianne VanWagenen ing point will not come until canto 13, with the rain delivered through Gof- fredo’s prayer, yet in canto 10 there are already hints of a grand-scale change, complicated allusions to Dante’s Purgato- rio and an overcoming of the Inferno, as well as signs of discord amongst the pa- gans and unity in the Christian troops, a

unity that for Tasso is the decisive feature

of a victorious army (not to mention, yet, 1 successful literature); together, these fea- tures give the reader a sense that s/he has arrived at a cusp and that a breaking- point is near. Canto 10, as the textual, if not narrative, center, is a fruitful place to examine the sometimes tense and always complex dialectical mirroring of charac- ters and forces in the Liberata. The pagan

and Christian wise men, Ismeno and Pie-

tro l’Eremita, predict the future in mir- Julianne VanWagenen is a PhD candidate in rored scenes, Solimano arises as a Dante- Harvard University’s Department of Romance esque pilgrim-hero, while the Christian Languages and Literatures. She is interested in hero is the incomplete (Rinaldo is still ab- 20th century Italian cultural studies, particularly sent) triad of Goffredo/Rinaldo/Tancre- pre-WWI cultural spasms, anarchy, rock and roll, di. In a more subtle case of mirroring, and the crisis of identity and self-conception in Tasso deals with the question, ever im- contemporary Italy. portant to him, of poetry as imitation, di-

Julianne VanWagenen, Gerusalemme liberata: Canto 10

verging from Dante’s model and collocat- stop a peace treaty that has been issued ing all of the fantastic aspects of the canto forth by Orcanus. When Tasso returns to under the subject heading, “Dark Arts,” the Christian camp, almost three-quarters imitations of God’s power rather than of the way into the canto, we find the re- manifestations of it, while at the same cently returned soldiers regaling the time connecting the idea and act of magic, troops with their story of imprisonment the fantastic, to the acts of reading and in Armida’s castle and their deliverance writing. Thus, as he creates a complex by Rinaldo as they were being trans- paralleling of the dark and light arts, of ported to Egypt in chains. The canto ends black and white magic, he problematizes with Pietro l’Eremita’s affirmation that the issue of ‘faith’ and situates literature Rinaldo lives, his rapt vision of the fu- in an unclear position between the fantas- ture, and night falling once again on the tic imitation of nature created by dark characters. The canto, thus, completes one powers and a valid tool for manifesta- diurnal and thematic cycle, it progresses tions of god-given imagination. In a final from a state of uncertainty and violence, point, this chapter functions as a knot, a the end of a battle and Solimano’s flight coming together and/or a tending to- to Egypt, then his redemption at Mount ward of diverse stories, that momentarily Zion, and Ismeno’s hesitant vision of a redeems the unity of action in the work as distant happy-ending, to a state of joy a whole, as a single canvas that Tasso and peace, the lost soldiers’ deliverance works to weave without giving up the from Egypt, the promised redemption of audience-friendly complexity of multiple the complete Christian hero as Tancredi subplots with seemingly variant teleolo- returns and Rinaldo is revealed to be gies. alive, and Pietro l’Eremita’s teleological Canto 10 continues the plot of canto 9 reassurance to the soldiers of the war almost seamlessly. After, in canto 9, Soli- they wage, if not in a revelation of ulti- mano guides his troops to a night assault mate victory, at least in a clear declara- of the Christian camp and the Christians tion that the “Ciel,” that is, God is on prevail with the intervention of the arch- their side. angel Michael as well as the opportune Within the work as a whole, this return of Tancredi and the fifty soldiers canto is positioned at the center of the who had been prisoners at Armida’s cas- book and of the section generally referred tle, canto 10 tells of the injured Soli- to as the perturbazione, or “disturbance,” mano’s flight from the battlefield, to- which comes after the introduction in wards Egypt, and the appearance of Is- cantos 1-3 and before the rivolgimento or meno, the wizard, who transports him in “Upheaval” of cantos 14-18 and the ulti- an invisible carriage to Jerusalem. There, mate denouement of the final two can- he spies on a pagan war council and re- tos.2 As part of a continual game of veil- veals himself to the council in order to ing and unveiling, canto 10 marks the be-

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ginning of a sustained trend of unmask- you from me, o God and Father? / Miser- ing that will continue until the end of the able, without you I am nothing. Oh mis- perturbazione section. Armida is revealed ery! / I hope for nothing: oh exhaustion! to the army as a wicked enchantress (only and nothing do I yearn for]. to be masked again at the begin of the Canto 10 begins, as already noted, next section), Rinaldo is revealed to be with Solimano’s nighttime flight from the alive, and the opposing wise men lift the battlefield. He is injured and, stopping to veil from the future, telling each his own rest, he falls asleep and awakens in a truth. In the succeeding cantos, Clorinda quasi-dream state. While it is always will first be revealed as of Christian birth, dangerous to draw too many compari- then she will be unmasked by Tancredi sons between works, with the opening of upon her death (only to be masked again this dream-state, canto 10 takes on in the form of the enchanted tree at the enough striking similarities to Dante’s end of the section), realigning Tancredi Purgatorio that they are worth mentioning teleologically with Goffredo’s war but here. These similarities are, furthermore, complicating and highlighting his inner interestingly complicated by the fact that battle. These “unmaskings” gain speed the pilgrim-hero is a pagan, not on a path toward the ultimate unveiling, which to Christian, spiritual salvation, and by comes in the form of an answer to Gof- the fact that the fantastic elements in the fredo’s prayer in canto 13, as Pietro account are artifices of black magic, not l’Eremita predicted, God unveils himself manifestations of God’s will. While Dante as Goffredo’s patron and salvation, deliv- included the fantastic in order to create in ering the rain that will squelch the seeds the intellect and imagination of the reader of the Christian troops’ inquietude and an imitation of God’s universe, scope, reassure the Christians of their chosen power, love, light, Tasso’s inventions of “side” or faith. This revelation seems the wonderment in canto 10—which Aristotle fictional representation of the sign that in his Poetics allows for in epic poetry, as Tasso so long sought himself in his strug- long as they are still part of an imitation gle for the concept of faith,3 a sign that, of reality, life as it is, should be, or is however, never manifested itself to Tasso. thought to be—are imitations of the real- For, as Claudio Gigante points out, Tasso ity of the poem, not of life, they are mas- laments still in the Mondo creato: God the querades within the poetic reality. Tasso creator of everything but egotistically in- explains the inclusion of angels, demons, visible: “Dove sei? dove sei? chi mi ti nas- and magicians, converted from the conde? / chi mi t’invola, o mio Signore e knightly tradition of enchanted rings, Padre? / Misero, senza te son nulla. Ahi shields, and swords, through an interpre- lasso! / e nulla spero: ahi lasso! e nulla tation from Aristotle’s Poetics that allows bramo”4 [Where are you? Where are you? for the credibly impossible before the Who hides you from me? Who conceals possible that is not credible. Tasso points

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Julianne VanWagenen, Gerusalemme liberata: Canto 10

out that Church leaders have taught, and for example, is said, by the narrator in the Bible teaches, that there are miracles, first person in an aside that he dedicates saints who perform the impossible, and to the “maraviglie” to come, to be not angels and demons. As Tasso states in his only enshrouded in a cloud, but also in- Discorsi dell’arte poetica: “leggendo e sen- visible, thus doubly veiled: “sì che ‘l gran tendo ogni dì ricordarne novi essempi [di carro ne ricopre e cinge, / ma non appar miracoli, angeli, ecc.], non parrà loro fuori la nube o poco o molto” [The chariot hid- del verisimile quello che credono esser ing and environing; / The subtile mist no possible” [reading and hearing everyday mortal eye could view] (10, 16),6 yet the of reminders and new examples [of mira- riders from inside can see out, even if its a cles, angels, etc.], these do not seem to us vision fogged by the cloud that en- outside of the plausible, they are both shrouds them. Thus, this miracle bidirec- credible and possible].5 Interesting here is tionally occludes a clear vision of nature his use of the verbs “leggendo e sen- and reality, just as we see later that Ar- tendo” rather than “vedendo.” Tasso re- mida’s many tricks do. The most poign- interprets Aristotle as a foundation for ant occlusion of vision in Armida’s mira- the creation of a work that is successful cles occurs with her use of mirrors to en- precisely because it contains the neces- chant and imprison Rinaldo, but already sary degree of verisimilitude in its his- in canto 10 Tasso uses her character to toricity, fictional realism and invention. play fascinating games of occlusion. Yet, he removes visible “miracles” from The soldiers’ vision when trapped by imitations of reality by one degree in Armida devolves into a seeming to see, canto 10: miracles here are imitations of an appearing, which is brought about poetry, they are fantastic, while the mira- through the words read by Armida from cles of the Christian God, presumably a book. “Ella d’un parlar dolce e d’un bel real miracles for Tasso, are those that are, riso / temprava altrui cibo mortale e rio” for the most part, realistic, if opportune, [She, with sweet words and false enticing like the rain that ends a drought. smiles / Infused love among the dainties There is, furthermore, a subtle dis- set] (10, 65). While “Con una man picciola crepancy between the apparently “visible verga cote / tien l’altra un libro, e legge miracles” produced by black magic and in bassa note. // Legge la maga, ed io the actual “seeing” of them. While pensiero e voglia / sento mutar, mutar Dante’s increasingly miraculous fantasy vita ed albergo” [A charming rod, a book, transports him through veils towards the with her she brings / On which she ultimate “seeing,” which is “understand- mumbled strange and secret things. // ing” and the truth of faith in God, Tasso’s She read, and chang’d I felt my will and fantastic actions in canto 10 are agents thought, / I long’d to change my life and that veil rather than unveil. The carriage place of biding] (10, 65-66). Tasso under- that transports Solimano to Mount Zion, lines here the power of literature to in-

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voke the intellect and the imagination to words, her transformations, takes the lis- create credible verisimilitudes that are, tener lower, he dives under the water, however, sometimes deceptions rather down towards Plutone’s realm, and re- than representations of profound truths. moves himself by one sphere, in a sense, Thus, he calls into question his own proc- from God’s truth, now seeing reality ess, which he will go on for years ques- through blurred aquatic diffraction. tioning, as he tweaks and frets over the This movement in canto 10 of the Liberata’s possible heresies, ultimately Christians through Sodom, where Ar- writing the reformed Gerusalemme con- mida’s castle is located, and away from quistata. The scene in Armida’s castle calls Paradiso, to a lower sphere, if considered into question, as well, if only for a mo- in a Dantean sense, brings us back to the ment, the authority and veracity of “visi- opposite movement of the pagan hero, ble miracles” in the Bible. Canto 10’s Solimano, up Mount Zion, which, is a miracles are heard rather than seen, just kind of arrival at Monte Purgatorio. The as Tasso pointed out in Discorsi that resonances begin linguistically in the Christian miracles are. Armida’s miracles third octave: “E come è sua ventura, a le are recounted by William, who, upon sonanti / quadrella, ond’a lui intorno un hearing her read from her book is trans- nembo vola, / a tante spade, a tante lan- formed: “(Strana virtù!) novo pensier cie, a tanti / instrumenti di morte alfin m’invoglia” [That virtue strange in me s’invola / e sconosciuto pur camina new pleasure wrought] (10, 66) in inanti / per quella cia ch’è più deserta e thought and body. He dives into the wa- sola” [And (as his fortune would) he ter, taking the form of a fish. Tasso plays ‘scaped free / From thousand arrows here, momentarily, with the tenuous line which about him flew, / From swords between saint and witch, a line that is and lances, instruments that be / Of cer- perhaps only divided by faith, the story- tain death, himself he safe withdrew; / teller’s faith, that is. Is the Bible like Ar- Unknown, unseen, disguised, travell’d he mida’s book? Or is it like Tasso’s own / By desert paths and ways but us’d by book, which mixes the true and the won- few] (10, 3) We slide from a physical bat- derful to create a level of verisimilitude tle to an internal battle, as Solimano that describes a deeper truth? Or is it, in- walks alone and is overcome by a dis- deed, the word of God? If the Bible’s veri- traught psyche: “e rivolgendo in sé quel similitude is literature par excellence, how- che far deggia, / in gran tempesta di pen- ever, whether vero or verosimile, the effect sieri ondeggia” [And rode, revolving in is what is important and it is the opposite his troubled thought / What course to of Armida’s. Tasso sees the Bible, pre- take, and yet resolv’d on naught] (10, 3), sumably, as unveiling the world, as and falls asleep trying to fight off, not bringing the reader, just as God brings enemies, but thoughts, to “quetar i moti Dante, closer to Paradiso, but Armida’s del pensier suo stanco” [To ease the griefs

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Julianne VanWagenen, Gerusalemme liberata: Canto 10

of his distemper’d thought] (10, 6). He The men arrive at a hidden gate, awakes in a dream state, reminiscent of known only to Ismeno, much like the Dante’s first dream in Purgatorio, where hidden gate in Purgatorio, which is so dream and reality mix, and before the small that “l cavaliero allotta / co ‘l gran pagan stands his guide, the wise man Is- corpo ingombrò l’umil caverna” (10, 33). meno, who says: “Io mi sono un … al In the English translation by Edward quale / in parte è noto il tuo novel Fairfax, it is interesting that the translator disegno” [I am the man, of thine intent finds Tasso’s tone to be one that would (quoth he) / And purpose new that sure allow for the use in English of an inverted conjecture hath] (10, 10), which critics metaphor that in Matthew 19 describes a compare to Purgatorio 24, 52: “E io a lui: rich man’s entrance into heaven: “that ‘I’ mi sono un che, quando / Amor mi narrow entrance past the knight / (So spira, noto, e a quel modo / ch’è ditta creeps a camel through a needle’s eye).” dentro vo significando,’” [I said to him: ‘I Solimano is the camel who does not fit am one who, when Love / inspires me, through the needle’s eye in the Gospel yet takes careful note and then, / gives form who squeezes through in the Liberata, and to what he dictates in my heart’]7 which in so doing becomes, in a sense, improba- is, in turn, compared to Exodus 3.14, God bly redeemed. Lexical choices at the gate saying “Ego sum qui sum.”8 Thus we see continue to echo Dante, as Solimano is the same complex mirroring that we saw said to follow his guide, intimating a before, with the overlap of black magic sense of humility that lends complexity and Christian miracles; Ismeno is Soli- and sympathy to the pagan hero: “seguì mano’s guide, his Virgil, and is, in turn, colui che ‘l suo camin governa” [He fol- given words and a path that resemble lowed him that did him rule and guide] Dante’s Christian pilgrimage.9 Solimano (10, 33). Ismeno guides Solimano, not to responds like a Christian pilgrim to his Monte Purgatorio, but, to Mount Zion, guide: “Padre, io già pronto e veloce / where he will arrive just in time to end sono a seguirti: ove tu vuoi mi gira” [And discussions of a peace treaty and advance humbly said—I willing am and prest / To the pagan crusade against the Christians. follow where thou leadest, reverend sire] His proud defiance in the face of a peace (10, 13). Thus, as they mount the magical proposal by Orcanes, is an echo of Gof- carriage, Tasso opens up a parenthesis of fredo’s refusal of the treaty offered by meraviglia, that is a sort of sacred paren- Argante and Alete. Both men, Solimano thesis as well. Solimano, ostensibly the and Goffredo, must fight their wars, and enemy, begins to win the sympathy of both men, it seems, are lent divine help readers, which is furthered by the fact towards the continued fight.10 Solimano that he is the Nicaean prince, who, like reveals himself and confronts the council, Goffredo in Jerusalem, is fighting to lib- revealing to the reader signs of discord erate his land. and disunity amongst the pagans, which

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will eventually lead to their undoing. I annali, / troppo è audace desio, troppo will take up this theme again further on, alti preghi: / non è tanto concesso a noi when I look at Tasso’s realigning of mortali” [But that I should the sure power, victory, success and salvation, not events unfold / Of things to come, or des- along a trajectory guided by the correct tinies foretell, Too rash is your desire, faith (for as we have seen already he your wish too bold, / To mortal heart complicates delegation of “good” and such knowledge never fell] (10, 20). In “evil” in his depiction of “Christian” and what can be read as either an apology for “pagan”), but along a trajectory guided his lacking visionary power or a moment by unity over discord. Before that, how- of humanistic modernity, Ismeno adds: ever, I would like to take a moment to “Ciascun qua giù le forze e ‘l senno im- look at the teleological parallels for the pieghi / per avanzar fra le sciagure e i two camps as seen through the mirrored mali, / ché sovente adivien che ‘l saggio e episodes of pagan and Christian visions ‘l forte / fabro a se stesso è di beata sorte” of the future. For, in the Liberata, it is not [Our wit and strength on us bestow’d, I only the Christian God who furnishes a hold, / To shun th’ evils and harms divine purpose for his men, but Tasso’s ‘mongst which we dwell; / They make pagans as well, as is historically accurate, their fortune who are stout and wise, / are promised an eventual victory. Thus, Wit rules the heav’ns, discretion guides their fight is not only caused by the Chris- the skies] (10, 20). Ismeno’s vision, in fact, tians but designed according to their faith is only partial and only partially correct. as part of an eventual reconquering. He says it is in Solimano’s power to de- Ismeno’s vision comes first, in canto feat the Christians and hopes that it will 10 when Solimano, after recovering from be so, but the main portion of his vision is the shock of seeing the magical carriage dedicated to a further future. The vision and hearing Ismeno divine his intentions, is only foggy and uncertain: “pur dirò … says: “dimmi qual riposo o qual ruina / a che oscuro vegg’io quasi per nebbia. // i gran moti de l’Asia il Ciel destina” Veggio o parmi vedere, anzi che lustri [Then say what issue and what end the molti rivolga il gran pianeta eterno, / stars / Allot to Asia’s troubles, broils, and uom che l’Asia ornerà co’ fatti illustri, e wars] (10, 18). Ismeno begins by clarify- del fecondo Egitto avrà il governo … ing that he is known as a wizard in Syria basti sol questo a te, che da lui scosse / but that his ability to tell the future is lim- non pur saranno le cristiane posse, // ma ited. In this introduction we see the same insin dal fondo suo l’impero ingiusto / manipulation and play with the ideas of svelto sarà ne l’ultime contese, / e le affli- seeing and reading, veiling and unveil- ette reliquie entro uno angusto / giro so- ing, as we have seen before in the canto. spinte e sol dal mar difese. / Questi fia “Ma ch ‘io scopra il futuro e ch’io del tuo sangue” [Know this, which I as in dispieghi / de l’occulto destin gli eterni a cloud foresee: // I guess (before the

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Julianne VanWagenen, Gerusalemme liberata: Canto 10

over-gilded sun / Shall many years mete / volgeva al cielo l’una e l’altra luce … out by weeks and days) / A prince (that più sacro e venerabile or riluce! / Pieno shall in fertile Egypt won) / Shall fill all di Dio, rapto dal zelo, a canto / a Asia with his prosp’rous frays; … Let this l’angeliche menti ei si conduce: / gli si suffice, by him these Christians shall / In svela il futuro, e ne l’eterna / serie de gli fight subdued fly, and conquered fall; // anni e de l’età s’interna // e la bocca And their great empire and usurped state sciogliendo in maggior suono / scopre le / Shall overthrown in dust and ashes lie; cose altrui ch’indi verranno” [with hum- / Their woful remnant in an angle strait, ble cheer / The hermit sage to heav’n cast / Compass’d with sea, themselves shall his eyne, … With heavenly grace his fortify. / From thee shall spring this lord looks and visage shine; / Ravish’d with of war and fate] (10, 21-23). Ismeno’s vi- zeal, his soul approached near / The seat sion, while unfaithful to the present out- of angels pure and saints divine; / And come, is faithful to the final outcome, there he learn’d of things and haps to which will be a Muslim victory brought come, / To give foreknowledge true, and about by Solimano’s descendent. Is- certain doom. // At last he spoke (in meno’s vision is, furthermore, historically more than human sound) / And told accurate and refers to Sala al’Din Yusuf what things his wisdom great foresaw] ibn Ayyub, who, in 1187, reconquers Je- (10, 73-74). As Emilio Russo points out, rusalem. The vision goes on to recount Tasso’s lexical choices are definite and that the Christians will be finally eradi- powerful, in sharp contrast to the words cated from Asia as they, in fact, were, chosen to describe Ismeno’s vision.11 His their final landhold was the island of Cy- first prediction: “‘Vive’ dice ‘Rinaldo … prus which the Venetians ceded to the Vive, e la vita giovanetta acerba / a più Turks in 1571. Ismeno’s vision is de- mature glorie il Ciel riserba’” [Rinaldo signed textually to appear lesser than Pie- lives, he said; … He lives, and heav’n will tro l’Eremita’s, which concludes the long preserve his days / To greater glory canto. The lexical choices emphasize un- and to greater praise] (10, 74). One notes clarity and uncertainty, yet his truth is that both visions refer to the power and nonetheless grander, in a sense, than Pie- destiny provided by one and the same tro’s. He sees further and his teleological “Ciel.” There is, provocatively, no distinc- purpose is ultimate in comparison. The tion or difference in the name of the god vision for Solimano is bittersweet, he is they reference. Like Ismeno’s vision, Pie- both envious that the victory will appar- tro l’Eremita tells of a distant future: ently not be his, but proud that it will be his seed to bring it about. Ecco chiaro vegg’io, correndo gli anni ch’egli s’oppone a l’empio Augusto e ‘l doma Pietro l’Eremita does not refer to e sotto l’ombra de gli argentei vanni reading; his vision, rather, is direct from l’aquila sua copre le Chiesa e Roma, the heavens and clear: “l’Eremita intanto che de la fèra avrà tolte a gli artigli;

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e ben di lui nasceran degni i figli. truth left to tell displeases him. The canto De’ figli i figli, e chi verrà da quelli, ends with night falling on the camp, quinci avran chiari e memorandi essempi; e da Cesari ingiusti e da rubelli Tasso’s imagery lends a sense of assur- difenderan le mitre e i sacri tèmpi. ance and peace to the scene: “Sorge in- Premer gli alteri e sollevar gli imbelli, tanto la notte, e ‘l velo nero / per l’aria difender gli innocenti e punir gli empi, spiega e l’ampia terra abbraccia” [But fian l’arti lor: così verrà che vole now from deeps of regions underneath / l’aquila estense oltra le vie del sole. Night’s veil arose, and sun’s bright lustre (10, 75-76) chased; / When all full sweetly in their [I well foresee he shall do greater thing, And wicked emperors conquer and subdue; cabins slept] (10, 78). Under the shadow of his eagle’s wings It is as if the poem takes a breath Shall holy church preserve her sacred crew; here, Tasso has brought the action of the From Caesar’s bird he shall the sable train poem, for a moment, into unity, Tancredi Pluck off, and break her talons sharp in twain. has returned, Solimano has guaranteed His children’s children at his hardiness And great attempts shall take ensample fair, that the fight will continue, Goffredo From emperors unjust in all distress knows that Rinaldo is alive, and both They shall defend the state of Peter’s chair; sides are spurred on by a common pur- To raise the humble up, pride to suppress, pose: their faith. Women are absent for a To help the innocents, shall be their care: sustained period, and with them goes the This bird of east shall fly with conquest great distraction of the knightly, romantic sub- As far as moon gives light or sun gives heat.] plots. The action is either united or In this prediction we get an Aeneid- aligned in direct conflict, and this unity of esque apology for, or distraction from, action is reinforced by a moment of union the eventual historical loss of the Asian within the Christian camp, while the war: Rinaldo’s progeny will defend both Muslim side is discordant. The idea of the Church and Rome, as well as piously union over discord, a dialectic between defend the weak and innocent. But after one and many, is doubly important to this great, initial effort Pietro l’Eremita is Tasso, both as it regards poetry and faith. quiet. The vision ends abruptly, if am- In his Discorsi dell’arte poetica, he affirms biguously, with Tasso stating “il saggio absolutely Aristotle’s unity of action as a Piero / stupido tace, e ‘l cor ne l’alma fac- norm (and, in so doing, disapproves of cia / troppo gran cose de l’estense altero Ariosto’s multiplicity), even in contempo- / valor ragiona, onde tutto altro spiaccia” rary literature, and he arrives at a pro- [These words of his, of Prince Rinaldo’s posal for the unity sustained amidst vari- death / Out of their troubled hearts the ety,12 the latter of which was not neces- fear had rased: / In all this joy yet God- sary in ancient times but which contem- frey smil’d uneath] (10, 78). He says noth- porary audiences expected. Tasso de- ing else, because he is tired from his ec- scribes a small world, a picciol mondo, cre- static vision and because, perhaps, the ated in the best literature, which abounds

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Julianne VanWagenen, Gerusalemme liberata: Canto 10

with variety, like our world, but which is looking to the same place and using the so cohesive in form that it all unites as same name for guidance: “Ciel.” Their vi- one. This dialectic is grafted into his sions unite them, as well, with larger his- plot—there is the dialectic of the one God torical truths that in a way betray the po- and the many diabolic powers and spir- etic teleology in the Liberata for a grander, its, as well as that of the discordant and more complex and encompassing, story, united armies—and is the source of moral with human history, with a teleology that tension, just as the dialectic of variety and can only perhaps be decried through in- unity in plot is a source of poetic tension. dividual faith. All men in canto 10, pagan In canto 10, however, both poetic and and Christian, are guided by their faith, moral multiplicity come together, even and strong in their faith, and the men beyond the story, above the story, to in- who are strong in faith rise out of the text scribe themselves into human history and as heroes, whether pagan or Christian. a remarkably modern ontology. Ismeno and Pietro, in their visions, cohere the pic- ciol mondo that Tasso is constructing by

1 As Zatti argues, in the Liberata it is not the nature of the faith, itself, so much as the ability of the faith to unite an army that will create a victorious army (Sergio Zatti, “Christian Uniformity, Pagan Mul- tiplicity,” in The Quest for Epic: From Ariosto to Tasso, University of Toronto Press, 2006, pp. 135-59). 2 See Paul Larivaille, Poesia e ideologia. Letture della Gerusalemme liberata, Liguori, 1987. See also Tor- quato Tasso, Discorsi dell’arte poetica e del poema eroico, ed. Luigi Poma, Laterza, 1964, p. 74. 3 For the many who see Tasso as a poster-child for the Counter-Reformation, thus would find it hard to believe that the author struggled with a lifelong crisis of faith, it is enlightening the parallel that Mar- garet Ferguson points out between Tasso’s father’s role in the rebellion against the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition in Naples in 1547 and Tasso’s subsequent view of drama. Ferguson claims that the event was formative for Tasso and that when paralleled with his choice of historical narrative, the align- ment of the two plots is surprising: “Tasso’s epic is about a fundamental conflict between a city inhabited largely by pagans and the Christian forces which aim to “liberate” that city from spiritual error” (Marga- ret W. Ferguson, Trials of Desire: Renaissance Defenses of Poetry, Yale University Press, 1983, p. 71). 4 Torquato Tasso, Il mondo creato, ed. Giorgio Petrocchi, Le Monnier, 1951, vv. 10-14 (translation from Italian is my own). See Claudio Gigante, Tasso, Salerno editrice, 2007, p. 412. 5 Tasso, Discorsi dell’arte poetica e del poema eroico, p. 8. Translation from the Italian is my own. 6 All quotes from Torquato Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, ed. Franco Tomasi, Rizzoli BUR, 2009; and Torquato Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered, trans. Edward Fairfax (1600), Capricorn, 1963. 7 Dante Alighieri, Commedia, ed. Anna Maria Chiavacci Leonardi, vol. 2, Mondadori, 1994, p. 710; and The Divine Comedy, ed. Mark Musa, vol. II: Purgatory, Penguin Books, 1985, p. 259.

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8 See Ronald L. Martinez, “The Pilgrim’s Answer to Bonagiunta and the Poetics of the Spirit,” Stan- ford Italian Review, 3 (1983), 37-63. 9 Lanfranco Caretti calls this “bifrontismo spirituale” or his bifrontal spirituality. That is, both the pagans and the Christians show signs of what the reader considers positive spirituality, giving the text a dualistic nature (Lanfranco Caretti, Ariosto e Tasso, Einaudi, 1977, p. 73). 10 It is interesting to note here that our heroes deny peace agreements, not because they threaten nec- essarily the faith of the hero, but as Timothy Hampton points out: “they threaten Tasso’s very poem.” Thus an ambassador of peace, whether ambassador to the pagans or Christians, is an enemy (Timothy Hampton, Fictions of Embassy: Literature and Diplomacy in Early Modern Europe, Cornell University Press, 2009, p. 86). 11 Emilio Russo, “Canto X.” in Lettura della Gerusalemme Liberata, ed. Franco Tomasi, Edizioni dell’Orso, 2005. 12 Tasso, Discorsi dell’arte poetica e del poema eroico, p. 35.

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