At length he lifted up the helm he wore,
Disclosing features oft disclos'd before:
Then Ariodantes all with joy perceiv'd
Him, for whose loss the realm of Scotland griev'd ;-
That Ariodantes, whom, by fame misled,
Geneura and his brother wept for dead;
For whom the king, the court, the people mourn'd; 25
So brave a knight, with every grace adorn'd!
In this the peasant's truth appear'd to fail,
Whose lips had told the fair that fatal tale:
Yet had his eyes beheld the desperate knight
Leap headlong from the rocky mountain's height.
But, as it oft befalls the wretch, whose grief
Calls death, when distant, to his wish'd relief;
To quit his purpose, when he sees him near,
So dark and comfortless his paths appear,
Thus Ariodantes, plunging in the wave,
With late repentance sought his life to save;
And strong of limbs above the waters bore
His head, and ply'd his arms and swam to shore.
Now every former thought of death he blam'd,
And senseless and unjust his fancy nam'd,
Then journey'd on with garments briny wet,
Till in a hermit's cave he shelter met;
Resolv'd awhile in secret there to stay,
Till time should to his ears the truth convey,
If for his loss suppos'd, Geneura griev'd,
Or if with joy the tidings she receiv'd.
And soon he heard so far her sorrows wrought,
As near to death th' unhappy virgin brought;
That stern Lurcanio, by resentment sway'd, u
Had to the king accus'd the guiltless maid.
Now fierce his wrath against his brother turn'd,
Fierce as before for love his bosom burn'd.
With grief he learnt, that yet no gallant knight
Had ventur'd in Geneura's cause to fight:
Lurcanio's wisdom and his valour known,
All seem'd with care the doubtful strife to shun;
And thought the youth in such a dangerous strife,
T'assert a falsehood ne'er would risk his life.
But Ariodantes by despair impell'd,
Resolv'd to meet his brother in the field.
Can I behold (the faithful lover said)
To cruel death my fair Geneura led?
Whom still I must my queen and goddess prize,
Dear as the light that shines before my eyes!
Just or unjust the cause, still let me fly
For her lov'd sake to conquer or to die.
Yet, ah! too sure I shall the wrong defend;
But be it wrong; my blood the strife shall end!
One thought alone in death will give me pain,
That, if I fall, Geneura must be slain!
This comfort yet remains,--'twill then be prov❜d
How well by Polinesso was she lov'd:
Then may she view her lover's faith display'd,
Who ne'er appear❜d to combat in her aid;
While me, whose truth she could so ill requite, ́
She sees, for her defence, thus slain in fight.
Lurcanio too his punishment shall feel,
For having kindled first this flame of ill.
Remorse and grief shall rend his tortur'd breast,
When all the fatal conflict stands confest:
When, thinking to revenge his brother's death,
He finds him by his hand depriv'd of breath!
So mus'd the knight; and, having thus deereed,
Procur'd new armour, and a horse with speed;
His scarf was black; and round his ample shield,
With yellow-green was fring'd the sable field.
He next receiv'd a squire from Fortune's hand
Unknown to all, a stranger in the land:
Thus well disguis'd, with him the knight pursu'd
His way, and arm'd before his brother stood.
What follow'd then, my tale before has shown,
And how he was for Ariodantes known.
Not less the king rejoic'd his face to see,
Than his lov'd daughter from her danger free;
And justly deem'd he ne'er again could view
A youth in love so valiant and so true;
Who, when such seeming wrongs inflam'd his thought,
With his own brother, in her cause, had fought.
Urg'd by his court, and at Rinaldo's prayer
He gave to Ariodant Geneura fair:
Albania's dukedom, which the king again
Receiv'd, the traitor Polinesso slain,
Which could not chance in more propitious hour,
He
gave his daughter for her marriage dower.
Rinaldo then Dalinda's cause embrac❜d,
And pardon gain'd for all her errors past,
Who, weary'd with the world's unhappy state,
Had vow'd to Heaven her mind to dedicate.
Forsaking Scotland, she to Dacia went,
And there her days in hallow'd cloisters spent.
Ver. 86. With yellow-green---] The colour of fading leaves: In chivalry, this colour was worn as a mark of desperation. So Brada mant wears a scarf of the same colour. Book xxxii. ver. 325.
But now 'tis time to view Rogero's course,
Who cuts the skies upon the winged horse.
Though brave Rogero was to fear unbred, Nor yet the colour from his cheeks had filed; Full well I dare affirm, his heart must quake, Like trembling leaves that to the breezes shake. He now has left Europa's climes afar,
And past a mighty space that region, where
Unconquer'd Hercules, in ages past,
His boundary to mariners had plac'd,
The Griffin-horse, a beast most strange to sight,
With such a strength of pinion urg'd his flight;
No winged animal of swiftest breed,
Could dare to mate with him in rapid speed:
Nor can we, join'd with him, the bird compare
Whose mighty talons Jove's artillery bear.
Not swifter scarce the glancing lightning flies;
Or vengeful bolt that rends the sullen skies.
At length he seems preparing, tir'd with flight,
In airy rings upon an isle to light:
Ver. 111. But now 'tis time---] He returns again to Rinaldo, in the viiith book.
Ver. 120. His boundary to mariners---] The straits of Gibraltar, where Hercules was said to have planted his pillars, as the utmost bounds of navigation, the great ocean lying beyond: Thus Tasso....
Tempo verrà, che sian d'Ercole i segni.
Favola vile ai naviganti industri.
The time will come, when sailors yet unborn,
Shall name Alcides' narrow bounds in scorn.
Jer. Del. B. xv. ver. 220.
An isle like that, where, from her lover fled,
Long time conceal'd within her secret bed,
The virgin Arethusa runs in vain
By a strange course beneath the roaring main.
Midst all his way through ample fields of air,
Rogero had not seen a place so fair;
Nor had he search'd the vary'd world around,
A more transporting clime could e'er have found.
To this the monster with his rider bends,
And, after many a spacious wheel, descends.
There cultur'd plains, and grassy hills appear,
Green meadows, shady banks, and waters clear;'
Delightful groves where palms and laurels grew,
Cedars, and myrtles, pleasing to the view:
With flowers and fruits the orange stands between ;
All intermix'd, a various sylvan scene!
These, with their shade, afford a safe retreat
From all the burning of meridian heat.
Amid the boughs secure, with fluttering wing,
The nightingales with tuneful voices sing;
While midst the roses red, and lilies fair,
For ever nurs'd by kindly Zephyr's care,
The nimble hares, in wanton mazes, play'd;
And stately stags with branching antlers stray'd:
Without the fear of hostile hands they stood
To crop, or ruminate their grassy food.
The wild goats frolic; leap the nimble deer;
That in this rural place in troops appear.
Soon as the earth so nigh Rogero found,
To reach with safety, on th' enamell'd ground
With gladsome heart he leaps, but still detains
His flying courser by the straitened reins;
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