It was in these festive scenes that the bard made acquaintance with the Princess Lucrezia. Among the portraits in the Palace of Courtesy, whither _Rinaldo_ was conducted, and which, by an ingenious turn of flattery, are made to represent those personages whom Tasso was most disposed to conciliate, were those of Duke Guidobaldo and his son, with their respective consorts. The passage may be thus literally rendered:-- "He of expression stern and brow severe, His mien ennobled by a royal state, The great Francesco Maria's son, is here, In peace superior, in the field his mate; Beneath whose prudent sway, no peril ere Urbino's favoured duchy shall await, While o'er her happy vales, and golden plains, A joyous and enduring summer reigns. "Such is the sire to whom our planet owes Yon youthful gallant, with expression bright, Second to none, a terror to his foes, A wary leader though a dauntless knight: On him the weight of thousand wars repose, A thousand armies guiding to the fight. Whoe'er is doomed to immortality Shrined in men's hearts and mouths, HE may not die. "Turn your admiring gaze to yonder side On all that heaven of loveliness can yield, Elsewhere unmatched within Sol's circuit wide, From whose bright beams no beauty lies concealed; The ducal crown and robe can scarcely hide The regal bearing on that brow revealed: Vittoria she, from great Farnese traced, Courteous and gentle, generous and chaste. "Lucrezia d'Este is yon other fair, Whose dazzling tresses seem a treasure given For guileless love therewith to weave a snare And toils, purveyed by Him who rules in heaven. Say, do Minerva and the Muses share Praise and disparagement in portions even,-- Praise, since she them to imitate is fain; Blame, that their rivalry with her is vain? "These dames, in charms and chastity compeers, And proudly rich in every virtue rare"--