Still he might easily have been dispatched by the poniard; and these words throw not insignificant light upon Tasso's terror of assassination.
[Footnote 181: Guarini may be compared with Trissino in these points of his private life.

See _Renaissance in Italy_, vol.v.

303-305.] [Footnote 182: _Lettere_, p.

196.] The Duke Alfonso died in 1597, and Ferrara reverted to the Holy See.
Upon this occasion, Guarini was free to follow his own inclinations.

He therefore established himself at the Court of the Grand Duke, into whose confidence he entered upon terms of flattering familiarity.