for the
massacre of St. Bartholomew; but in order to avert the suspicions of
the intended victims, the Huguenots were treated with such
extraordinary favour by the authorities that the Pope himself was
incensed, and remonstrated with the King. Tasso, ignorant of the
dreadful secret, spoke candidly and vehemently against the reformed
doctrines and those who professed them. His patron therefore simulated
deep indignation on account of this imprudence; and as the step fell
in both with his personal avarice and his State policy, he broke off
the cordial relations that formerly existed between them.

On the return of Tasso to Ferrara he occupied himself for about two
months with the composition of a pastoral drama called the _Aminta_.
This species of poem, which originated with Theocritus, who
represented the shepherds of Sicily nearly as they were, and was
imitated by Virgil, who idealised the shepherd life, was revived at
the court of Ferrara; and some years before a local poet wrote a
pastoral describing a romantic Arcadia, which was acted at the palace,
and seems to have inspired Tasso with the idea of writing one too. But
all previous pastorals--the _Sacrifizio_ of Beccari, the _Aretusa_ of
Lollio, the _Sfortunato_ of Argenti--were rough and incongruous
medleys compared with the finished production of Tasso, which may be
said to mark an era in the history of dramatic poetry. Although Tasso
himself did not think much of it, and did not take any steps to
publish it, the judgment of his contemporaries and of posterity has
placed it next in point of merit to the _Gerusalemme_; and by Italians
it is especially admired for its graceful elegance of diction. Leigh
Hunt executed a very good translation of it, which he dedicated to
Keats. Its choruses, which are so many "lyrical voices floating in
the air," are very beautiful. It was designed for the theatre, and was
acted with great splendour at the court of Ferrara, and a few years
later at Mantua, when the well-known artist and architect Buontalenti
painted the scenery. This fact, however, shows how primitive was the
state of the theatre at this time; and how the spectators, little
accustomed to histrionic representations, were content to witness
dramas that had no plot or action, and to follow the progress of a
beautiful poem rather than a dramatic development. The _Aminta_ long
retained its popularity as an acted poem in Italy. It was often
represented in open-air theatres