Jerusalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso

Jerusalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso

Ralph Nash, in his approach to Gerusalemme Liberata, concluded that a close, fluent translation in prose of Tasso's epic would offer the most successful rendering of this important chivalric romance.

Ralph Nash, in his approach to Gerusalemme Liberata, concluded that a close, fluent translation in prose of Tasso's epic would offer the most successful rendering of this important chivalric romance. In addition to conveying the imagery more accurately, a prose translation avoids deforming or modifying the text by forcing it into a poetic format. As a result, Nash has given the general reader and the student a fluent, accurate English version of Tasso's great narrative of the first crusade.
Nash's introduction aids the reader in understanding the place of the poem in the corpus of Renaissance literature. Annotations and a glossary clarify the numerous historical, geographical, and mythological references.

Anthony Esolen is a professor of English at Providence College. He is the editor and translator of Lucretius: On the Nature of Things, also available from Johns Hopkins.