Who runs awhile, till rising from the plain,

He spurns the ground beneath and soars amain.

So when the master lets the falcon fly,

340

At once he sees his prey, and shoots along the sky. 335
The maid, alarm'd, beheld with shuddering sight,
Her dear Rogero in this dangerous plight:
Such various passions in her bosom wrought,
She seem'd awhile depriv'd of sense and thought.
What she of youthful Ganymede had heard,
To heaven, by Jove's almighty will preferr'd,
She doubts may prove of her Rogero true,
Whose equal graces charm'd the gazer's view.
His course she follows through the distant skies,
While yet his course she reaches with her eyes;
Even when the distance leaves her sight behind,
She follows still, and views him in her mind.
Her tender bosom heaves with labouring sighs,
While ceaseless sorrows trickle from her eyes.
But when her lover long in vain she mourn'd,
Her looks upon his gallant steed she turn'd,
Then, parting, took Frontino by the rein,

345

350

In hopes to give him to his lord again.

Meantime the monster flew, nor knew the knight

To rule the reins, or stop his rapid flight.

355

He sees the face of earth decreas'd in show,

And every lofty summit left below;

So far remov'd, no more his eye descries

Where the vales sink, or where the mountains rise.
But when the steed has gain'd so vast a height,

He seem'd a little spot to mortal sight,

He steer'd his course, to where in western streams
The sun descends, when Cancer feels his beams.

360

He cuts his airy way; as vessels sail

On prosperous seas before the driving gale.
But let him go, and well his voyage speed,
While to Rinaldo must the tale proceed.

Rinaldo that, and all th' ensuing day,
Was driven by tempests o'er the watery way:
From morn till eve the wind unceasing blew :
Now to the west, and now the north they drew;
At last upon the shore of Scotland light,

Where Caledonia's forest rose to sight,

365

370

Ver. 366. But let him go,-] He returns to Rogero, B. vi. ver. 3. and to Bradamant, B. vii. ver. 212.

Ver. 373.-Caledonia's forest---] The forest of Caledonia, famous for its dreary solitudes, was the scene of the exploits of many of the knights errant, of which such fabulous accounts are given in the books of chivalry of those times: of these knights, the principal were the five following mentioned by our author.

Tristram, son of Meliadis, king of Leonis, and one of the first of the errant knights sworn at the round table. Marco, king of Corn. wall, having engaged to marry Isotta, daughter of king Languines, sent his nephew Tristram to Ireland, to fetch over the bride. Isotta's mother, having prepared an enchanted potion to make her daughter beloved by her husbaud, had entrusted it to a confidante, when it happened, that Tristram and Isotta, in the voyage, tasted of the potion, and became violently enamoured of each other. King Marco, having some time afterwards surprised the lovers together, snatched up Tristram's lance, which stood without the chamber, and slew him therewith: upon which Isotta fell on the body and expired. Tristram's companion was,

Launcelot, a knight also sworn of the round table, and son of Bando, king of Benoich: he was deeply in love with queen Guenever, wife to king Arthur, and no less beloved by her: after her death he became a hermit. Launcelot was deceived by a daughter of king Piscatore, who, seeing his passion for the queen, by a crafty wile, lay with him in her stead, and had by him a son called,

Galasso, who being created a knight by his father, was the first that sat in the chair of Merlin: he is said to have obtained the holy

That midst its ancient oaks was wont to hear

The riven target, and the shiver'd spear:

375

Here once were seen, beneath these shades rever'd,
Each errant-knight in Britain's combats fear'd:

vessel in which our Saviour cat with his disciples; and was reputed a saint.

Arthur was the son of Uther Pendragon, king of England: Jeffery of Monmouth informs us, that Uther Pendragon fell in love with Igerne (or Jogerne) the wife of Gorlois, prince of Cornwall. In the absence of Gorlois, Merlin, by his magic, transformed Uther into the likeness of Jordan, a familiar friend of Gorlois, hiniself assuming the figure of one Bricel; by means of which artifice Uther enjoyed Igerne, and begot king Arthur, who is said to have been the greatest king that ever lived: he was so renowned a warrior, that he slew with his own hand four hundred and sixty men in battle, and added other kingdoms to his own: he wore a golden helmet, with a dragon for his crest; thus Spenser in his Fairy Queen:

His haughty helmet, horrid all with gold,

Both glorious brightness and great terror bred,
For all the crest a dragon did enfold
With greedy paws......

B. i. C. vii.

On his shield was engraved the effigies of the Virgin Mary: he bore a lance of uncommon size and weight, with which he slew his son Mordites, who had rebelled against him, and lay in ambush to assassinate him; hence Dante says:

Con ess' un colpo per le man d'Artù.

With this a blow from Arthur's hand......

This prince was the first that established the order of the round table, with so many famous knights: his end is uncertain; some say, that he received his mortal wound in fighting against his traiterous nephew Mordred; but the old Welch bards had a strange tradition, that he was not dead, but would return after a time, and reign in as great authority as ever.

Galvano, (or Gawaine) there were two of this name, one the nephew of Arthur, a man of great valour, and one of the round table: the other was under Amadis de Gaule: they were both great knights, and achieved many adventures. On the beach of the sea, near Milford-haven, is a natural rock shaped into a chapel, which

From regions far and near, well known to fame,
From Norway, Germany, and Gallia came

Each gallant chief, who nobly scorn'd his life,
Where death or conquest crown'd the glorious strife!
Here Tristram mighty deeds perform'd of old,
Galasso, Launcelot, and Arthur bold,

Galvano brave; with more that titles drew

Both from the ancient table, and the new;

Knights, who have left to speak their valiant mind,
More than one trophy of their worth behind.

Rinaldo arms, his steed Bayardo takes,

And landing on the shore, the sea forsakes:
He bids the pilot Berwick speed to gain,
And there till his arrival to remain.

Without a squire the fearless knight pervades

380

385

390

The gloomy horror of those dreary shades;

Now here, now there, as most he hop'd to find
Adventures of a new and dreadful kind.

395

tradition reports to have been the burying place of Sir Gawaine, the nephew of Arthur."

See Porcacchi, Warton's, and Upton's notes on Spenser, &c.

Ver. 385.--the ancient table, and the new;] "The round table was not peculiar to the reign of king Arthur, but was common in all the ages of chivalry. Any king was said to "hold a round table," when he proclaimed a tournament attended with some peculiar solemni. ties."

See Reliques of Ancient Poetry, Vol.i. p. 35.

Ver. 392.--the knight pervades] This passage has more the air of the old romances than most parts of the poem. A prince, sent from his sovereign on an embassy to a foreign power, being landed near a forest, instead of taking the nearest way to execute his commission, wanders up and down in search of adventures: however, the reader may perhaps be tempted to overlook this inconsistency for the sake of the episode thereby introduced.

The first day brought him to an abbey fair,

Whose wealth was spent with hospitable care,
Beneath its roof reception to provide

For knights and dames that through the forest ride.
The monks and abbot with a friendly grace,
Welcom'd the brave Rinaldo to the place;

Who now inquir'd (but not till grateful food
Had cheer'd his spirits and his strength renew'd)
How in the compass of that savage ground,

400

Adventures strange by wandering knights were found. 405
He might (they answer'd) 'midst the woods essay
A thousand perils in the lonely way;

But, as the place, so were the deeds conceal'd,
And seldom to the wondering world reveal'd.
Far rather go (they cry'd) where, done in sight,
Your actions may be view'd in open light:
Where after toil and danger follows fame,
With ready trump your praises to proclaim.
But if indeed your honour you regard,
Then hear the noblest enterprise prepar'd,

410

415

That ever yet, in ancient times or new,

A courteous warrior could in arms pursue.

Our monarch's daughter needs a gallant knight,
In her defence to wage a single fight

Against a lord (Lurcanio is his name)

420

Who seeks to spoil her of her life and fame.

He to her father thus accus'd the maid,
(Perhaps by hatred more than reason sway'd)
That she receiv'd, confest before his sight,
A lover at her window in the night.

425

Her crime in flames she expiates by the laws,
Unless a champion rises in her cause