Tasso - Gerusalemme Liberata

[Behemoth]

Hi all,
I'm currently reading Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata for my dissertation on Italian Renaissance Epic, and came across a reference on imdb.com to a film version, however I can't seem to find one online, or on amazon. I would just be interested to know if anyone else can find a link / the actual product? Italian or English versions would both be fine.
Cheers x

[aabbcc]

(Disregard, I thought you were looking for a link to text so I gave you one.)

[Petrarch's Love]

Hi Behemoth--I was completely unaware of such a film but now, of course, I'm just itching to see it. I did a little poking around the internet myself and also did a jstor search where I found the film mentioned in a couple of cinema studies journals, though just in filmography lists with no useful indications as to whether a current copy may or may not exist. It seems possible that something may have survived given that, from what I can tell, there were either different versions or different releases in 1910, 1911 (US release, with the unfortunate title of The Crusaders making it easily confused with the more famous Griffith film of that title), 1918, and 1934 or '35. A silent film site I've sometimes found useful had "unknown" by its survival status. Let me know if you do ever track down a copy somewhere, since I would love to see it. I specialize in epic and romance across the Med/Ren period myself, and have an additional interest in the interaction between the visual and verbal arts. I've always thought it would be a pleasant project someday to trace the history of artistic influence and/or response to scenes in epic poetry, and have often thought of Tasso especially while spending many an hour reading him in front of the Tiepolos in Chicago, where I study. What fun it would be to see what the silent era did with the GL.

Is your dissertation dedicated solely to Tasso, or is this just one chapter in the larger project? In any case, certainly a great poet to spend time with.

[JBI]

Hi Behemoth--I was completely unaware of such a film but now, of course, I'm just itching to see it. I did a little poking around the internet myself and also did a jstor search where I found the film mentioned in a couple of cinema studies journals, though just in filmography lists with no useful indications as to whether a current copy may or may not exist. It seems possible that something may have survived given that, from what I can tell, there were either different versions or different releases in 1910, 1911 (US release, with the unfortunate title of The Crusaders making it easily confused with the more famous Griffith film of that title), 1918, and 1934 or '35. A silent film site I've sometimes found useful had "unknown" by its survival status. Let me know if you do ever track down a copy somewhere, since I would love to see it. I specialize in epic and romance across the Med/Ren period myself, and have an additional interest in the interaction between the visual and verbal arts. I've always thought it would be a pleasant project someday to trace the history of artistic influence and/or response to scenes in epic poetry, and have often thought of Tasso especially while spending many an hour reading him in front of the Tiepolos in Chicago, where I study. What fun it would be to see what the silent era did with the GL.

Is your dissertation dedicated solely to Tasso, or is this just one chapter in the larger project? In any case, certainly a great poet to spend time with.

How difficult is his Italian, for someone who only knows the modern Tuscan dialect at an intermediate level?

[mortalterror]

How difficult is his Italian, for someone who only knows the modern Tuscan dialect at an intermediate level?

I didn't read it in the Italian, but Anthony Esolen did a nice translation published by the University of Chicago called Jerusalem Delivered, and I liked that better than The Aeneid, The Iliad, Paradise Lost, or Orlando Furioso. I saved a quote to my computer I liked it so much. It's from the beginning of book one.

I sing the reverent armies, and that Chief
who set the great tomb of our Savior free;
much he performed with might and judgement, much
he suffered in the glorious victory;
in vain Hell rose athwart his path, in vain
two continents combined in mutiny.
Heaven graced him with it's favor, and restored
his straying men to the banner of the Lord.

O Muse, who do not string a garland of
the fading laurel fronds of Helicon,
but far in heaven among the blessed choirs
wreathe deathless stars into a golden crown
breathe into my heart the fire of Heavenly love,
illuminate my song and if I have sewn
embroideries of the truth in any place,
I ask forgiveness for their lesser grace.
-Jerusalem Delivered Esolen translation

Edit: Wikisource has the original Italian poem so I thought I'd post the Italian up with the English translation for JBI.

Canto l'arme pietose e 'l capitano
che 'l gran sepolcro liberò di Cristo.
Molto egli oprò co 'l senno e con la mano,
molto soffrí nel glorioso acquisto;
e in van l'Inferno vi s'oppose, e in vano
s'armò d'Asia e di Libia il popol misto.
Il Ciel gli diè favore, e sotto a i santi
segni ridusse i suoi compagni erranti.

Musa, tu che di caduchi allori
non circondi la fronte in Elicona,
ma su nel cielo infra i beati cori
hai di stelle immortali aurea corona,
tu spira al petto mio celesti ardori,
tu rischiara il mio canto, e tu perdona
s'intesso fregi al ver, s'adorno in parte
d'altri diletti, che de' tuoi, le carte.

I've always thought it would be a pleasant project someday to trace the history of artistic influence and/or response to scenes in epic poetry, and have often thought of Tasso especially while spending many an hour reading him in front of the Tiepolos in Chicago, where I study.

Shortly after I finished reading the poem, I heard an opera based upon it on the radio. Apparently, Jerusalem Delivered has been adapted to music quite a few times by Handel, Gluck, Haydn, Rossini, Brahms, Monteverdi, and Dvorak. Here's what Handel did with it.

[stlukesguild]

I personally enjoyed Edward Fairfax' translation which may sound archaic now... but was essentially a near contemporary translation. It has long been highly regarded... although, like all translations... admittedly some elements are lost. Criticism I have read suggest Fairfax was more eloquent... fluid... and less forceful at places. I can't speak of a comparison with Esolen, not having read the latter.

I
The sacred armies, and the godly knight,
That the great sepulchre of Christ did free,
I sing; much wrought his valor and foresight,
And in that glorious war much suffered he;
In vain 'gainst him did Hell oppose her might,
In vain the Turks and Morians armed be:
His soldiers wild, to brawls and mutinies prest,
Reduced he to peace, so Heaven him blest.

II
O heavenly Muse, that not with fading bays
Deckest thy brow by the Heliconian spring,
But sittest crowned with stars' immortal rays
In Heaven, where legions of bright angels sing;
Inspire life in my wit, my thoughts upraise,
My verse ennoble, and forgive the thing,
If fictions light I mix with truth divine,
And fill these lines with other praise than thine.

I can't say I prefer it to the Iliad or Aeneid... let alone Paradise Lost. Indeed... in response to these opening lines I actually far prefer Spencer:

I SING of deadly dolorous debate,
Stir'd vp through wrathfull Nemesis despight,
Betwixt two mightie ones of great estate,
Drawne into armes, and proofe of mortall fight,
Through prowd ambition, and hartswelling hate,
Whilest neither could the others greater might
And sdeignfull scorne endure; that from small iarre
Their wraths at length broke into open warre.

The rote whereof and tragicall effect,
Vouchsafe, O thou the mournfulst Muse of nyne,
That wontst the tragick stage for to direct,
In funerall complaints and waylfull tyne,
Reueale to me, and all the meanes detect,
Through which sad Clarion did at last declyne
To lowest wretchednes; And is there then
Such rancor in the harts of mightie men?

Thus beginning the the grandiose war between the spider and the fly

[mortalterror]

I can't say I prefer it to the Iliad or Aeneid... let alone Paradise Lost. Indeed... in response to these opening lines I actually far prefer Spencer

I didn't say that I liked his opening better. In fact I think the Aeneid has possibly the greatest opening to a work of literature ever written. It's funny you should make the comparison; because the file I drew the quote from is my file of great classical openings, for a post I never made about the correct way to start a work of epic literature. The very best are like variations on a theme, like chess openings, containing an advanced degree of structure and purpose.

Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus’ son Achilleus
and its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians,
hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls
of heroes, but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting
of dogs, of all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished
since that time when first there stood in division of conflict
Atreus’ son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus
Iliad Lattimore translation

Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story
of that man skilled in all ways of contending,
the wanderer, harried for years on end,
after he plundered the stronghold
on the proud height of Troy.
He saw the townlands
and learned the minds of many distant men,
and weathered many bitter nights and days
in his deep heart at sea, while he fought only
to save his life, to bring his shipmates home.
But not by will nor valor could he save them,
for their own recklessness destroyed them all —
children and fools, they killed and feasted on
the cattle of Lord Hêlios, the Sun,
and he who moves all day through the heaven
took from their eyes the dawn of their return.
Odyssey Fitzgerald translation

Arms, and the man I sing, who, forc'd by fate,
And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate,
Expell'd and exil'd, left the Trojan shore.
Long labors, both by sea and land, he bore,
And in the doubtful war, before he won
The Latian realm, and built the destin'd town;
His banish'd gods restor'd to rites divine,
And settled sure succession in his line,
From whence the race of Alban fathers come,
And the long glories of majestic Rome.
O Muse! the causes and the crimes relate;
What goddess was provok'd, and whence her hate;
For what offense the Queen of Heav'n began
To persecute so brave, so just a man;
Involv'd his anxious life in endless cares,
Expos'd to wants, and hurried into wars!
Can heav'nly minds such high resentment show,
Or exercise their spite in human woe?
Aeneid Dryden translation

My intention is to tell of bodies changed
To different forms; the gods, who made the changes,
Will help me-or I hope so-with a poem
That runs from the world's beginning to our own days.
Metamorphoses Humphries translation

Wars worse than civil on Emathian plains,
And crime let loose we sing; how Rome's high race
Plunged in her vitals her victorious sword;
Armies akin embattled, with the force
Of all the shaken earth bent on the fray;
And burst asunder, to the common guilt,
A kingdom's compact; eagle with eagle met,
Standard to standard, spear opposed to spear.

Whence, citizens, this rage, this boundless lust
To sate barbarians with the blood of Rome?
Did not the shade of Crassus, wandering still,
Cry for his vengeance? Could ye not have spoiled,
To deck your trophies, haughty Babylon?
Why wage campaigns that send no laurels home?
What lands, what oceans might have been the prize
Of all th eblood thus shed in civil strife!
...
First of such deeds I purpose to unfold
The causes -- task immense -- what drove to arms
A maddened nation, and from all the world
Struck peace away.
Pharsalia

I sing of knights and ladies, of love and arms, of courtly chivalry, of courageous deeds- all from the time when the Moors crossed the sea from Africa and wrought havoc in France. I shall tell of the anger, the fiery rage of young Agramant their king, whos boast it was that he would avenge himself on Charles, Emperor of Rome, for King Trojan's death. I shall tell of Orlando, too, setting down what has never before been recounted in prose or rhyme: of Orlando driven raving mad by love- and he a man who had been
always esteemed for his great prudence-
Orlando Furioso Waldman translation

Lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske,
As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds,
Am now enforst a far unfitter taske,
For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds,
And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds; 5
Whose prayses having slept in silence long,
Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds
To blazon broade emongst her learned throng:
Fierce warres and faithfull loves shall moralize my song.

Helpe then, O holy Virgin chiefe of nine, 10
Thy weaker Novice to performe thy will;
Lay forth out of thine everlasting scryne
The antique rolles, which there lye hidden still,
Of Faerie knights and fairest Tanaquill,
Whom that most noble Briton Prince so long 15
Sought through the world, and suffered so much ill,
That I must rue his undeserved wrong:
O helpe thou my weake wit, and sharpen my dull tong.
The Faery Queen Spencer

OF Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
Rose out of Chaos. Or if Sion Hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd
Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.
And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support;
That to the highth of this great Argument
I may assert th' Eternal Providence,
And justifie the wayes of God to men.
Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view
Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause
Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State,
Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off
From their Creator, and transgress his Will
For one restraint, Lords of the World besides?
Who first seduc'd them to that fowl revolt?
Paradise Lost Milton

WHAT dire Offence from am'rous Causes springs,
What mighty Contests rise from trivial Things,
I sing -- This Verse to C---, Muse! is due;
This, ev'n Belinda may vouchfafe to view:
Slight is the Subject, but not so the Praise,
If She inspire, and He approve my Lays.
Say what strange Motive, Goddess! cou'd compel
A well-bred Lord t'assault a gentle Belle?
Oh say what stranger Cause, yet unexplor'd,
Cou'd make a gentle Belle reject a Lord?
And dwells such Rage in softest Bosoms then?
And lodge such daring Souls in Little Men?
The Rape of the Lock Pope

Any of those would offer an exemplary study for students learning to write. I just happened to like the Jerusalem Delivered book more as a whole, although like most epic it did bore me in places with repetitive battle scenes. I thought Tasso's Ekphrasis was probably the best I'd ever seen, although it's been some time since I've read the work and couldn't point to what exactly stood out to me then.

[stlukesguild]

Shortly after I finished reading the poem, I heard an opera based upon it on the radio. Apparently, Jerusalem Delivered has been adapted to music quite a few times by Handel, Gluck, Haydn, Rossini, Brahms, Monteverdi, and Dvorak. Here's what Handel did with it.

A lovely piece. Unfortunately Handel is often underrated... lost in the shadow of his admittedly greater peer, J.S. Bach... but also under the weight of his reputation for that single masterpiece, The Messiah.

[Virgil]

I didn't say that I liked his opening better. In fact I think the Aeneid has possibly the greatest opening to a work of literature ever written. It's funny you should make the comparison; because the file I drew the quote from is my file of great classical openings, for a post I never made about the correct way to start a work of epic literature. The very best are like variations on a theme, like chess openings, containing an advanced degree of structure and purpose.

...

Any of those would offer an exemplary study for students learning to write. I just happened to like the Jerusalem Delivered book more as a whole, although like most epic it did bore me in places with repetitive battle scenes. I thought Tasso's Ekphrasis was probably the best I'd ever seen, although it's been some time since I've read the work and couldn't point to what exactly stood out to me then.

What a great post Mortal! I have never read Tasso but pperhaps I should find a copy, in translation of course. Now as to openning of epics, one can't forget, "Call me Ishmael."

[Petrarch's Love]

How difficult is his Italian, for someone who only knows the modern Tuscan dialect at an intermediate level?

I find Tasso's Italian a bit of a challenge myself (I read Dante more easily) and read it for the first time with a translation in one hand and the original in the other. The Esolen translation is certainly the recommended modern translation, and quite enjoyable.

I personally enjoyed Edward Fairfax' translation which may sound archaic now... but was essentially a near contemporary translation. It has long been highly regarded... although, like all translations... admittedly some elements are lost. Criticism I have read suggest Fairfax was more eloquent... fluid... and less forceful at places. I can't speak of a comparison with Esolen, not having read the latter.

Yes, Fairfax is a nice translation with some eloquent pieces to it. I would still recommend the Esolen to most modern readers, but those who enjoy late Elizabethan language (can't actually remember the year of Fairfax's publication, but am guessing very late 16th or very early 17th century) may well prefer it. It's also a Renaissance translation that, at least as far as I can remember, takes less liberty than some from roughly the same period such as Harrington's Orlando Furioso or Golding's Ovid. Here's a link to the Fairfax if any are interested: Fairfax Tasso

I can't say I prefer it to the Iliad or Aeneid... let alone Paradise Lost. Indeed... in response to these opening lines I actually far prefer Spencer...Thus beginning the the grandiose war between the spider and the fly

My personal favorite as well! (But--forgive the poor pedant--Spenser with a double "s," my friend!)

Shortly after I finished reading the poem, I heard an opera based upon it on the radio. Apparently, Jerusalem Delivered has been adapted to music quite a few times by Handel, Gluck, Haydn, Rossini, Brahms, Monteverdi, and Dvorak. Here's what Handel did with it.

Very cool. I had never looked very deeply into the musical offsprings of GL. Seems there's much more than I was aware of. I had heard bits of the Handel before. I like the excerpt you provide.

I thought Tasso's Ekphrasis was probably the best I'd ever seen, although it's been some time since I've read the work and couldn't point to what exactly stood out to me then.

I agree about Tasso's ekphrastic qualities. The scenes around Armida's garden (the description of the wall, and, afterward, the sheild, as well as the garden itself) are the most intensely visual. Clearly Spenser thought the garden was well worth the stealing. Hmm...maybe I'll work GL into my dissertation yet.

What a great post Mortal! I have never read Tasso but pperhaps I should find a copy, in translation of course. Now as to openning of epics, one can't forget, "Call me Ishmael."

Never read Tasso?! Anyone who enjoys the Aeneid as much as you has got to rectify this forthwith!

[Virgil]

Thanks Petrarch. I do have to. I wonder where I'll find the time.

[kilted exile]

Just a forewarning to anyone considering getting a copy of this:

AVOID the version published by the Echo Library. There are no notes,which ok, is workable, but even worse it has been printed with the stanzas in prose - no regard for the verse whatsoever

[stlukesguild]

...forgive the poor pedant--Spenser with a double "s," my friend!

Of course! I remember being stumped when I was first looking up Spenser on the Net and finding next to nothing... until it dawned upon me that I had spelled his name wrong. And here I am a stickler for reading him and Chaucer only in the original (non-modernized/standardized) spellings.

[Virgil]

Just a forewarning to anyone considering getting a copy of this:

AVOID the version published by the Echo Library. There are no notes,which ok, is workable, but even worse it has been printed with the stanzas in prose - no regard for the verse whatsoever

Thanks Kilt.

[Behemoth]

Hi Behemoth--I was completely unaware of such a film but now, of course, I'm just itching to see it. I did a little poking around the internet myself and also did a jstor search where I found the film mentioned in a couple of cinema studies journals, though just in filmography lists with no useful indications as to whether a current copy may or may not exist. It seems possible that something may have survived given that, from what I can tell, there were either different versions or different releases in 1910, 1911 (US release, with the unfortunate title of The Crusaders making it easily confused with the more famous Griffith film of that title), 1918, and 1934 or '35. A silent film site I've sometimes found useful had "unknown" by its survival status. Let me know if you do ever track down a copy somewhere, since I would love to see it. I specialize in epic and romance across the Med/Ren period myself, and have an additional interest in the interaction between the visual and verbal arts. I've always thought it would be a pleasant project someday to trace the history of artistic influence and/or response to scenes in epic poetry, and have often thought of Tasso especially while spending many an hour reading him in front of the Tiepolos in Chicago, where I study. What fun it would be to see what the silent era did with the GL.

Is your dissertation dedicated solely to Tasso, or is this just one chapter in the larger project? In any case, certainly a great poet to spend time with.

Thanks for your post! I'm actually working on Dante, Tasso and Ariosto, looking at the development of the epic tradition from the Graeco-Roman period to the Italian medieval and renaissance epics. I have the Esolen translation of Gerusalemme Liberata which was very enjoyable to read, and I agree, it's definitely on a par with, if not surpassing in some respects, the Aeneid. I'll certainly let you know if I come across a copy of the film somewhere, thanks for your help and input