Tasso’s immediate obligations at the court of Ferrara were to Luigi, Cardinal d’Este, brother of the Duke, who seems to have expected nothing from him but duteous attendance, and the completion of the great poem of which the _Rinaldo_ had given promise, and whose theme was still unfixed. Nothing appears to the Cardinal’s disadvantage; nor is any especial reproach addressed to his high-spirited brother the Duke, except the heavy taxation he imposed to maintain a magnificence disproportioned to his revenue. The two great ladies of the court, the Duke’s sisters, were decidedly sympathetic, and there seems no reason to attribute malevolence to his fellow-courtiers. The situation of this child of genius at a court was indeed a false one, and could have no fortunate issue; yet the innate germ of insanity would almost certainly have developed itself, whatever the external circumstances of his lot. For five or six years all went well. Tasso chose the subject of his poem, laboured diligently at it, attracted universal admiration by the brilliancy and fluency of his occasional compositions, disputed successfully with the élite of Ferrara on the subject of Love, and in 1571 accompanied the Cardinal on a mission to France. The French court had not yet resolved upon the St. Bartholomew, and its coquettings with the Huguenots scandalised the devout poet. He composed two discourses upon France and its affairs, which, although in some respects fanciful, display much penetration. On his return he quitted the Cardinal’s service for no very apparent reason, and shortly afterwards entered the Duke’s. This would bring him into more intimate relations with the Duke’s sisters. One of these, Lucrezia, soon contracted, avowedly for reasons of state, a marriage with the Duke of Urbino; but Leonora, weak in health and devoted to good works, remained single. With her the romance of Tasso’s life is associated; and although the belief that a presumptuous attachment occasioned his imprisonment is undoubtedly groundless, the attachment itself is the evident inspiration of much of his lyrical poetry: _Lady, though cruel destiny deny To follow you, and eager feet enchains, Ever the heart upon your vestige strains, And save your tresses knows not any tie. And as the birdling doth attendant fly, Lured by the hand that tempting food detains, Moved by like cause if follows you and plains, Pining for consolation from your eye. Gently within your hand the roamer take Into your breast, and let it nestle there, Soothed to great blissfulness in narrow span, Until at length its soul in song awake, And its dear woe and your great worth declare From Adria’s shore to shores Etrurian._ Such verses are too deeply felt for mere compliment, and, if sincere, could only be addressed to some one much above himself in station. In another sonnet a consciousness of presumption is clearly indicated: