Jerusalem Delivered

In the last year of the First Crusade, the Christian army under Godfrey of Bouillon besieges Jerusalem. Torquato Tasso's epic follows the campaign and the loves and adventures of its heroes: Rinaldo, who is lured away by the enchantress Armida to her magic garden; Tancredi, who loves the Muslim warrior maiden Clorinda and fights her in a night duel without recognising her; and Erminia, a Muslim princess who loves Tancredi. On the other side the defenders are led by the fierce Argante and the Sultan Solimano.

Tasso (1544–1595) published the poem in 1581, and it inspired operas by Monteverdi, Handel and Rossini. It tells the Crusade from the Christian point of view of its age, though its Muslim heroes are drawn with nobility. This is the celebrated English translation of 1600 by Edward Fairfax. Compare Orlando Furioso and Lessing's Nathan the Wise.