A stylistic analysis of Torquato Tasso's 'Rime' and critical prose

This study conducts a detailed stylistic analysis of Torquato Tasso's Rime and critical prose focusing on the related rhetorical figures of repetition, antithesis, and correctio. After a brief preface which signals a lacuna in stylistic studies of Tasso's work with respect to the Rime, this study argues that much of the critical prose is grounded in antithesis and repetition both on the microscopic and macroscopic levels, that is, in the stylistic fabric and as an organizing principle of the works. In the lyric poetry, repetition in the guise of synonymy is examined and the poet's vast repertory of this figure is categorized with respect to stylistic and thematic considerations. In general adjectives found in dittologia synonymica are one manifestation of the "orpello del Tasso", and such an abundance of adjectives falls into Tasso's impressionistic rather than descriptive and naturalistic strategy which spans his oeuvre. The following chapter examines the phenomenon of synesthesia, which is at once emblematic of the binary structures which are omnipresent in the Rime as well as his poetics of indeterminacy. It can be said that the lyric poetry does not evoke vivid images but is rather of a much subtler nature: the lingering scents, the murmuring elements, and the fleeting colors all combine to form an indistinct, yet sweet harmony which plays upon the senses. Along with synesthesia, the related thematic issue of what might be called panpsychism or animism is discussed. The chapter entitled "Biographical and Literary Correctio" posits that there is a trend in Tasso's life which might be termed as a pattern of personal correctio: that is, there is a constant desire on the part of the poet to change or amend either his personal situation or his poetical compositions and the poet's extensive devotion to revisions and editorial emendations invariably influence his style resulting in the correctio and indeterminacy pervasive in his oeuvre. The final chapter revisits some key critical categories such as his poetics of indeterminacy, long applied to Tasso's poetry, and classical dampening, a term formulated by Spitzer with respect to Racine's poetry.