Giovanni Battista, a celebrated Italian poet, was born at Ferrara, on the 10th of December 1537. He studied at the university of Padua, under the direction of his father, Alexander, to whom he owed the greater part of his acquisitions in knowledge, and more particularly his taste for poetry. Guarini succeeded his father in the chair of humanity at Ferrara, though then scarcely twenty; but some lyrical compositions already published by him had inspired such hopes of future eminence as fully justified his promotion. Called to the court of the Duke of Ferrara, at that period the resort of men of the first talents in Italy, he there became acquainted with Tasso, who was seven years younger than himself, gained his friendship, and afterwards became his most zealous defender and ardent panegyrist. The duke having knighted Guarini, intrusted him with several important missions to the different courts of Europe; but, during fourteen years that he remained in the service of this prince, he never obtained the slightest recompense, and in the mean while had expended the greater part of his fortune. Guarini complained of this; the duke, conscious that his complaints were well founded, became irritated; recrimination ensued, and the poet retired in disgust from court. Some time afterwards, he passed into the service of Emmanuel Philibert, duke of Savoy, and next into that of Vincent, duke of Mantua; but as, at both courts, he received much praise and no salary, he at length retired to his estate of Guarina, near Reggio. Having lost his wife, he formed a design of taking holy orders, and with this view repaired to Rome. But Guarini had too much ambition to persevere in such a scheme, and, accustomed as he had been to the gaieties of courts, he found himself but little disposed to relish the sweets of retirement. He accordingly returned to Ferrara, and thence proceeded to Florence, where the Grand Duke Ferdinand loaded him with presents and honours. His good fortune, however, was not of long duration. The grand duke, wishing to establish suitably a lady of Pisa to whom he had been attached, induced one of the sons of Guarini to marry her without the knowledge of his father, whose delicacy on the point of honour was well known to him. When the latter was made acquainted with the marriage of his son, his indignation knew no bounds, and, justly offended at the despotic proceeding of the grand duke, he quitted Tuscany without the ceremony of taking leave. But after passing some months with his protectress, the Duchess of Urbino, he became reconciled to the Duke of Ferrara; and, in 1603, he was sent by that prince to Rome as ambassador to Pope Paul V. Guarini, however, was constantly the sport of fortune; for, besides the ingratitude of the great, of which he had had painful experience, his life was embittered by domestic misfortunes. He had lost in the flower of her age a wife whom he adored; and his three sons frequently stirred up domestic quarrels about the division of a fortune almost entirely exhausted. But the most severe blow he received was by the tragic death of his daughter Anna. On returning from one of his journeys, he went to visit his beloved child, and when he fondly expected to fold her in his arms, he found only a bloody corpse. She had just fallen a victim to the jealousy of a suspicious and violent husband. But all these misfortunes did not prevent Guarini from occupying himself with his works, the principal of which are, 1. Il Pastor Fido, a pastoral tragicomedy in five acts, and in verse, which passed through forty editions during the lifetime of the author, and by which his name has been rendered for ever famous; 2. Verrato Primo, Ferrara, 1588; 3. Verrato Secondo, Florence, 1595; 4. Il Segretario, dialogo, Venice, 1594–1600; 5. Idropica, a comedy in five acts, and in prose, Rome, 1614. A very beautiful edition of the works of Guarini was published at Ferrara, in 1737, four vols. 4to, with superb engravings, and very beautiful vignettes. The second volume contains the lyrical compositions of the author, some of which are highly esteemed; the fourth is filled with annotations, and apologies or defences of the Pastor Fido, by different authors. Guarini also left a treatise on public liberty, which reasons of state, however, prevented him from publishing. His death took place at Venice, whither he had latterly retired, on the 6th of October 1612, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. Guarini's claim to the character of a great poet must rest exclusively on his Pastor Fido, which, with all its faults, contains innumerable redeeming beauties, and still maintains its place as an Italian classic. His style, though it wants the purity, sweetness, and elegance, which characterise that of Tasso, is full of rich and sparkling imagery; and his sentiments, if not always natural or just, are seldom deficient in force and vivacity. The greatest blemish of the Pastor Fido is its frequent indecency and exceptionable morality. It is no doubt true that Corisco repents towards the conclusion of the piece, and that there is an apparent conformity in this respect to the established rule; but this professed repentance comes only after having displayed a character equally vile and perfidious, and promulgated maxims of the most relaxed morality. Although the Pastor Fido had been represented in all the courts of Italy, and even before popes, yet it was afterwards put into the Index by reason of the licentiousness which pervades it, and particularly on account of the passage commencing Se l'peccear è si dolce e il non peccear si necessario. But with all these defects, it is a work of undoubted genius, and will continue to maintain the reputation which it originally acquired for its author.