bove any lyrist of ancient or
modern times.'

So independent in his conduct and so bold in his opinions was the author
of the _Secchia Rapita_. The composition of this poem grew out of the
disputes which followed Tassoni's _Remarks on Petrarch_. He found
himself assailed by two scurrilous libels, which were traced to the
Count Alessandro Brusantini, feudal lord of Culagna and Bismozza.
Justice could not be obtained upon the person of so eminent a noble.
Tassoni, with true Italian refinement, resolved to give himself the
unique pleasure of ingenious vengeance. The name of the Count's fief
supplied him with a standing dish of sarcasm. He would write a satiric
poem, of which the Conte Culagna should be the burlesque hero. After ten
months' labor, probably in the year 1615, the _Secchia Rapita_ already
went abroad in MS.[199] Tassoni sought to pass it off as a product of
his youth; but both the style and the personalities which it contained
rendered this impossible. Privately issued, the poem had a great
success. 'In less than a year,' writes the author, 'more MS. copies were
in circulation than are usually sent forth from the press in ten years
of the most famous works.' One professional scribe made 200 ducats in
the course of a few months by reproducing it; and the price paid for
each copy was eight crowns. It became necessary to publish the _Secchia
Rapita_. But now arose innumerable difficulties. The printers of Modena
and Padua refused; Giuliano Cassiani had been sent to prison in 1617 for
publishing some verses of Testi against Spain. The Inquisition withheld
its _imprimatur_. Attempts were made to have it printed on the sly at
Padua; but the craftsman who engaged to execute this job was imprisoned.
At last, in 1622, Tassoni contrived to have the poem published in Paris.
The edition soon reached Italy. In Rome it was prohibited, but freely
sold; and at last Gregory XV. allowed it to be reprinted with some
canceled passages. There is, in truth, nothing prejudicial either to the
Catholic creed or to general morality in the _Secchia Rapita_. We note,
meanwhile, with interest, that it first saw the light at Paris, sharing
thus the fortunes of the _Adone_, which it preceded by one year. If the
greatest living Italians at this time were exiles, it appears that the
two most eminent poems of their literature first saw the light on
foreign shores.

[Footnote 199: For the date 1615 see Carducci's learned essay prefixed
to his