The "rustic" poem in ottava rima Il vendemmiatore (‘The Grape Gatherer’, 1532) combines a celebration of carnal love and enjoyment of life with elegiac evocations of the golden age and fleeting youth.

The mythological poem Clorida (1547) uses the story of a nymph who inhabits the country villa of Tansillo's protector as a pretext for descriptions of the natural setting and praise of don García's military prowes.

Other works of interest inclucde the didactic poem La balia (‘The nurse’, 1552) and Il podere (‘The farm’, 1560), an idyll celebrating serene country life inspired by Columella.

Tansillo is considered the most important Southern Italian Petrarchist, and was admired by Torquato Tasso and Giambattista Marino, no doubt for his anticipations of the Baroque manner.

His original reelaboration of Petrarchan and classical models expressed itself most significantly through his intensely sensual descriptions of natural landscapes, the musicality of his verse, and his virtuosic shows of technical ability, often through the use of unusual conceits.