Tasso enters, and presents his _Jerusalem Delivered_ to his patron, the Duke of Ferrara. Alphonso, seeing the laurel wreath on the bust of Virgil, makes a sign to his sister; and the princess, after some remonstrance on the part of Tasso, transfers it from the statue to the head of the living poet. As she crowns him, she says-- "Thou givest me, Tasso, here the rare delight, With silent act, to tell thee what I think." But the poet is no sooner crowned than he entreats that the wreath should be removed. It weighs on him, it is a burden, a pressure, it sinks and abashes him. Besides, he feels, as the man of genius must always feel, that not to wear the crown but to earn it, is the real joy as well as task of his life. The laurel is indeed for the bust, not for the living head. "Take it away! Oh take, ye gods, this glory from my brow! Hide it again in clouds! Bear it aloft To heights all unattainable, that still My whole of life for this great recompense, Be one eternal course." He obeys, however, the will of the princess, who bids him retain it. We are now introduced to the antagonist, in every sense of the word, of Tasso,--Antonio, secretary of state. In addition to the causes of repugnance springing from their opposite characters, Antonio is jealous of the favour which the young poet has won at the court of Ferrara, both with his patron and the ladies. This representative of the practical understanding speaks with admiration of the court of Rome, and the ability of the ruling pontiff. He says-- "No nobler object is there in the world Than this--a prince who ably rules his people, A people where the proudest heart obeys, Where each man thinks he serves himself alone, Because what fits him is alone commanded. Alphonso speaks of the poem which Tasso has just completed, and points to the crown which he wears. Then follow some of the unkindest words which a secretary of state could possibly bestow on the occasion. "_Antonio._--You solve a riddle for me. Entering here I saw to my surprise _two_ crowned. [_Looking towards the bust of Ariosto._ "_Tasso._ I wish Thou could'st as plainly as thou see'st my honours, Behold the oppress'd and downcast spirit within. "_Antonio_--I have long known that in his recompenses Alphonso is immoderate; 'tis thine To prove to-day what all who serve the prince Have learn'd, or will." Antonio then launches into an eloquent eulogium upon the _other_ crowned one--upon Ariosto--which has for its object as well to dash the pride of the living, as to do homage to the dead. He adds, with a most cruel ambiguity, "Who ventures near this man to place himself, Even for his boldness may deserve a crown." The seeds of enmity, it is manifest, are plentifully sown between Antonio and Tasso. Here ends the 1st Act.