Torquato Tasso, at the age of eighteen, composed his first epic poem, "Rinaldo." It combines romantic epic -- a form popularized by Italian masters like Boiardo and Ariosto -- with classical influences from Virgil and Aristotle. Despite Tasso's youth, his "Rinaldo" was a remarkably original achievement in terms of style, organization and plot. Tasso's story-telling abilities are clear as he manages to shape an enormous array of characters, geographical backdrops, uncanny events and mysterious devices into an impressively unified narrative.

The hero of the poem begins his quest for knighthood spurred on by his own sense of unworthiness in the shadow of Orlando, his world-famous cousin. Rinaldo quickly enters a world of jousts and maidens, love and magic spells, hidden enemies and secret friends, disastrous shipwrecks, enchanted castles and unexpected meetings. Tasso's work has all the elements of the best of Renaissance tales of noble fortunes gone wrong and righted. Max Wickert's introduction opens the reader to the literary scene of mid-cinquecento Italy: a complex world of competition, jealousy and innovation. In this world Tasso's own father Bernardo, a court poet and diplomat, had tried his hand at an enormous epic, "Amadigi," which met with more prestige than success. Planning to protect his son from the disappointments of a writer's life, he arranged for him to study law at the University of Padua. The call of the literary life proved too strong, however. While he should have been pursuing his legal studies, Torquato published his "Rinaldo" at Venice in 1562, only two years after his father's own epic.

Introduction, bibliography, glossary, chronology, plot summary, index. 492 pages.