Till, 'twixt a laurel and a pine-tree plac'd,
He to a verdant myrtle ties him fast.
Near this a cool and crystal fountain flows,
Which fruitful palins and cedars round enclose.
Iis helm and buckler here aside he threw;
And from his hands his warlike gauntlets drew.
Now to the hills he turn'd, and now the seas,
Receiving in his face the kindly breeze,
Which gently in the oaks and beeches play'd,
Whose waving tops a pleasing murmur made.
Now in the limpid stream he bathes his lips;
And now his hands within the water dips,

165

170

130

To cool his throbbing pulse, and veins that glow'd 175
Opprest beneath his massy armour's load.
Nor was it strange he should so fiercely burn,
Who had no little time his cuirass worn;
But, thus completely arm'd, had made his way
Three thousand miles without a moment's stay.
Meantime his courser, that beside him stood
In the close shadow of the tufted wood,
Drew sudden back, impell'd with starting fear,
As from some object in the covert near;
But while in vain to loose his bands he try'd,
He shook the myrtle where his reins were ty'd;

185

Shook with such force, as made the leaves around
Fall from the boughs, and strow in heaps the ground.
As, when by chance a hollow cane is plac'd
Amid the flames by slow degrees to waste,
Soon as the heat has rarify'd the wind
That in its narrow womb remains confin'd,
IIissing it raves to be so closely pent,
Till freed at length the fury finds a vent:

190

So writh'd with pain th' offended tree appear'd,
Till, groaning, from its bark these words were heard.
If pity in your breast can entrance find,
As sure your looks proclaim a courteous mind;
From my torn trunk unbind this monster's rein:
Enough my own afflictions give me pain!
Nor need, alas! external rage be shown

195

200

T' increase the woes I have already known.
Rogero started at the vocal sound,

But when his ears the wondrous speaker found,
Amaz'd he hasten'd and his steed unty'd,

His glowing face with flushing colour dy'd.

Forgive my crime, whate'er thou art (he said)

Or parted ghost, or goddess of the shade!

205

Ver. 196.these words were heard.] Spenser has a story of this kind, where Fadrubio is described as turned into a tree; on which passage Mr. Upton has the following remark:

"I believe that the reader need not be put in mind, that this wonderful tale (so well adapted to the genius of romance) is taken from Virgil, where Eneas plucking a bough of myrtle, sees from the rifte drops of blood trickling down, from whence a piteous voice was heard:

Spare to pollute thy pious hands with blood-
O fly from this inhospitable shore,
Warn'd by my fate, for I am Polydore.

Dryden En. B. III. ver. 60.

""Tis no wonder that Ariosto, (who is an allegorical and a moral writer, as well as a romance writer) should copy this tale from Virgil. Rogero, having tied his winged horse to a myrtle-tree, the ghost, which was therein lodged by enchantment, speaks to him and tells him, he was formerly a knight; but by the witchcraft of Alcina, he was transform'd into a tree; and that others were changed into various beasts and other forms; the true image of the man being lost through sensuality."

Upton's Notes to Fairy Queen, B. i. C. ii.

Unknowing, that beneath thy rugged rind
Conceal'd, an inmate spirit lay confin'd,
I suffer'd thus thy leaves to strow the place,
And to thy greens permitted this disgrace.
But, gracious still, refuse not to declare
Thy name that dost so strange a body wear,
In which inclos'd a human spirit lies;

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215

So Heaven defend thee from inclement skies!
If all the power I from above receive

Can ease thy suffering, or thy woes relieve;
Behold, I promise by that virgin fair

Whose image in my better part I bear,

220

I will with word and deed thy cause maintain,

As may deserve thy grateful thanks again.

Rogero ceas'd; and, as the warrior spoke,

From head to foot the trembling myrtle shook:
Then from the bark exhal'd a dewy sweat;
Like greenwood crackling in the fiery heat.

Thy courtesy (the myrtle thus began)
Persuades me to reveal my secret pain;
Both who I was, and what enchanted power
Transform'd my shape upon this fatal shore.
A Paladin of France was I, by name
Astolpho call'd, and not unknown to fame.

225

230

Ver. 232. Astolpho call'd,---] Astolpho makes a considerable figure in the Orlando Innamorato, where, in the course of his adventures, he is imprisoned by Monodant, a Pagan king, in the east, together with Rinaldo, Gryphon, Aquilant, and Dudon: but these knights being afterwards delivered by Orlando, set out to go to the assistance of Charlemain. Astolpho, Rinaldo, and Dudon, travelling in company, arrive at the castle of Alcina, where Astolpho is decoyed from the rest, in the manner here related by Ariosto.

Orlando and Rinaldo (who shall grace

With mighty deeds the earth) partake my race;
And, at my father Otho's death, the land
Of England would have fall'n to my command.
So fair was I, that many a damsel sought

235

My love, till I my own destruction wrought.

Returning from those isles, around whose shores,

Remote from hence, the Indian ocean roars;

240

Where good Rinaldo and myself detain❜d,
With others long in prisons dark remain'd,
Till we again review'd the joyful light,
Freed by the valiant arm of Brava's knight:
Against the west, along those sands we came
That feel the southern heat of Phoebus' flame;
There, as our way and cruel fortune drew,

245

One morn we chanc'd a stately tower to view,
And issu'd thence Alcina we espy'd

Alone, and standing by the ocean side;

250

Where without hook or net (most strange to thought)
Whatever fish she pleas'd, to land she brought.
At her command, the dolphins left the stream;
With open mouths the mighty tunnies came;

Ver. 235.-Otho-] Ariosto has this tradition of a king of England by the name of Otho, from the romance writers.

See the genealogy of the house of Clarmont, Book xxiii. ver. 156. Ver. 244.---Brava's knight :] Orlando, called the knight of Brava. Ver. 251.---without hook or net--] This passage is entirely taken from Boyardo: Alcina fishing, her deceiving Astolpho with the whale which appeared an island, &c. may be seen in the Orlando Innam. B. ii. C. xiii.

The various fishes taken by Alcina, are said to denote the different ranks and conditions of men, that are captivated by vice, and the whale which carries away Astolpho, to shew that we often forsake solid happiness for fallacious appearances.

The sea-calves, rising troubled from their sleep,
Forsook their beds, and hasten'd from the deep:
Of various forms and size, a thousand more,
In numerous shoals came swimming to the shore.
The monsters of the seas, tremendous whales
Above the water show'd their ample scales.
Among the rest a mighty whale we view'd,
The greatest sure that ever swam the flood,
And, as he lay unmov'd, by looks deceiv'd,
We all the monster for an isle believ'd;

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260

So huge he seem'd, so vast a distance spread

265

From his broad tail extending to his head!

Alcina drew the fishes to the shore,

With nought but simple words and magic power.

Her, with Morgana, both for ill design'd,

One womb produc'd to punish human kind.

270

Ver. 269.---Morgana ---] Morgana, a fairy, is a considerable personage in Boyardo, though but lightly touched upon in Ariosto; the former poet calls her the Fairy of Riches; she imprisons many knights in her enchanted palace, and among the rest Rinaldo, Dudon, Prasilde, and Iroldo, who are released by the valour of Orlando: she tempts Orlando with the prospect of riches, which he despises. Spenser seems to have taken his idea of Mammon's tempting Guion, from this fiction of Boyardo. Orlando being urged to prosecute an adventure that was to procure him great treasure, replies:

......di pericol solo e di fatica,

Il cavalier si pasce e si nutrica:
Speranza d'acquistar oro ed argento,
La spada non m'aria fatto cavare.

The hardy knight to deeds of glory bred,

Is nurs'd by labour and with danger fed,
Then deem not that I draw the sword in vain,
The silver bright, or gleaming gold to gain.

Berni, Orlando Innam. B. i. C. xxv.