“About the hill lay other islands small,
Where other rocks, crags, cliffs, and mountains stood,
The Isles Fortunate these elder time did call,
To which high Heaven they reigned so kind and good,
And of his blessings rich so liberal,
That without tillage earth gives corn for food,
And grapes that swell with sweet and precious wine
There without pruning yields the fertile vine.The olive fat there ever buds and flowers,
The honey-drops from hollow oaks distil,
The falling brook her silver streams downpours
With gentle murmur from their native hill,
The western blast tempereth with dews and showers
The sunny rays, lest heat the blossoms kill,
The fields Elysian, as fond heathen sain,
Were there, where souls of men in bliss remain.”

—  Torquato Tasso

Ecco altre isole insieme, altre pendíci
Scoprian alfin men erte ed elevate.
Ed eran queste l'isole felici;
Così le nominò la prisca etate,
A cui tanto stimava i Cieli amici,
Che credea volontarie, e non arate
Quì partorir le terre, e in più graditi
Frutti, non culte, germogliar le viti.<p>Quì non fallaci mai fiorir gli olivi,
E 'l mel dicea stillar dall'elci cave:
E scender giù da lor montagne i rivi
Con acque dolci, e mormorio soave:
E zefiri e rugiade i raggj estivi
Temprarvi sì, che nullo ardor v'è grave:
E quì gli Elisj campi, e le famose
Stanze delle beate anime pose.
Canto XV, stanzas 35–36 (tr. Fairfax)
Gerusalemme Liberata (1581)

Original

Ecco altre isole insieme, altre pendíci Scoprian alfin men erte ed elevate. Ed eran queste l'isole felici; Così le nominò la prisca etate, A cui tanto stimava i Cieli amici, Che credea volontarie, e non arate Quì partorir le terre, e in più graditi Frutti, non culte, germogliar le viti.<p>Quì non fallaci mai fiorir gli olivi, E 'l mel dicea stillar dall'elci cave: E scender giù da lor montagne i rivi Con acque dolci, e mormorio soave: E zefiri e rugiade i raggj estivi Temprarvi sì, che nullo ardor v'è grave: E quì gli Elisj campi, e le famose Stanze delle beate anime pose.

Gerusalemme Liberata (1581)

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Torquato Tasso 94
Italian poet 1544–1595

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