Her fair face the appearance did maintain That sometimes shewn is by the sky in spring, When at the very time that falls the rain, The sun aside his cloudy veil doth fling. And as the nightingale its pleasant strain Then on the boughs of the green trees doth sing, Thus Love doth bathe his pinions at those bright But tearful eyes, enjoying the clear light. (Canto 11.) But as more fickle than the leaf was she, When it in autumn doth more sapless grow, And the old wind doth strip it from the tree, And doth before it in its fury grow. (Canto 21.) He uses the sea: As when a bark doth the deep ocean plough, That two winds strike with an alternate blast, 'Tis now sent forward by the one, and now Back by the other in its first place cast, And whirled from prow to poop, from poop to prow, But urged by the most potent wind at last Philander thus irresolute between The two thoughts, did to the least wicked lean. (Canto 21.) As comes the wave upon the salt sea shore Which the smooth wind at first in thought hath fanned; Greater the second is than that before It, and the third more fiercely follows, and Each time the humour more abounds, and more Doth it extend its scourge upon the land: Against Orlando thus from vales below And hills above, doth the vile rabble grow. (Canto 24.) These comparisons not only shew faithful and personal observation, but are far more subjective and subtle than, for instance, Dante's. The same holds good of Tasso. How beautiful in detail, and how sentimental too, is this from _Jerusalem Delivered_: Behold how lovely blooms the vernal rose When scarce the leaves her early bud disclose, When, half unwrapt, and half to view revealed, She gives new pleasure from her charms concealed. But when she shews her bosom wide displayed, How soon her sweets exhale, her beauties fade! No more she seems the flower so lately loved, By virgins cherished and by youths approved. So swiftly fleeting with the transient day Passes the flower of mortal life away. Not less subjective is: Like a ray of light on water A smile of soft desire played in her liquid eyes. (Sonnet 18.) The most famous lines in this poem are those which describe a romantic garden so vividly that Humboldt says 'it reminds one of the charming scenery of Sorrento.' It certainly proves that even epic poetry tried to describe Nature for her own sake: