Yet know'st thou not (this noblest gift with-held)
No virtue, courage, ever yet excell'd!
As objects only by reflection bright,
Viewless themselves, must shine by borrow'd light. 270 Alas! how easy was an artless maid
By him she lov'd beyond herself betray'd!
By him whose words her fond belief had won
To think the day-spring dark, and cold the sun!
Sure no remorse can e'er thy bosom move,
If unrepenting thou behold'st her love
Who dies by thec-all crimes with thee are light,
If breach of faith is little in thy sight.
Since she who loves, such pains to thee must owe,
Thou can'st not more t' afflict thy direst foe.
Sure justice never will in Heaven awake,
Unless swift vengeance reach thee for my sake,
If dire ingratitude is deem'd the worst;
Midst all the sins with which mankind are curst,
If for this cause the fairest angel driven
To chains and woe was hurl'd from highest Heaven;
If heavier sins with heavier scourge must smart,
Unless repentance purify the heart;
Heed, lest on thee some dreadful scourge be sent,
Who, thus ingrate, refusest to repent!
Of theft, no little crime amidst the train
Of human crimes, with justice I complain:
Not for my heart detain'd---that heart be thine-
At such a theft I never shall repine:
But thou thyself art mine, and in despite
Of every claim, thou robb'st me of my right.
Restore thyself--for never shall he thrive
Who can another of his right deprive.
Thou leav'st me, cruel!--yet from thee to fly
Alas! my will and power alike deny!
But not from life---to end this hated breath,
And leave my griefs and thee in welcome death.
O! had I dy'd while treasur'd in thy breast,
What fate so envy'd, and what death so blest!
She said; and fix'd to die, with furious haste
Leapt from the bed, while at her heart she plac'd
The sword's determin'd point, but soon she found
Her arms prevent the meditated wound.
Meantime a better Genius seem'd to warn
Her desperate thoughts----O! virgin, nobly born!
Think of thy high descent, thy spotless name,
Nor give this period to a life of fame!
Seek yonder camp---there nobler mayst thou try
(If such thy wish) the honour'd means to die.
Before Rogero shouldst thou yield thy breath,
Some tears even he may shed to grace thy death:
But should his sword thy breast of life bereave,
What lover could a happier fate receive?
And just it seems that he thy life should take,
That life his cruelty could wretched make.
Who knows, before thou dy'st, but vengeance due
To thy wrong'd vows Marphisa may pursue?
Whose fraud (as ill beseems a virtuous maid)
Has won Rogero and thy love betray'd.
These better thoughts approv'd, the virgin fram'd 325 A surcoat new that o'er her arms proclaim'd
Ver. 326. A surcoat new,---] The custom of assuming arms and devices expressive of the good or ill fortune of the wearer, was one great characteristic of the heroes and heroines of chivalry: thus Orlando in the eighth book puts on black armour. Guido in the nineteenth book is thus described:
Her state of mind, and such as might imply
A soul despairing, and resolv'd to die.
Well suited to her grief, her vest receives
The faded hue of sapless wither'd leaves,
Torn from the bough; or such as autumn shows
When from the root the sap no longer flows;
The veil with cypress trunks embroider❜d o'er,
That sever'd like her hopes could sprout no more.
The horse, which once Astolpho rode, she took,
Then grasp'd the golden lance, whose lightest stroke
Each knight unhors'd; nor how the lance she gain'd
Need here be told, or how the duke obtain'd
The weapon first, suffice that this she bore
All unsuspecting of its wondrous power.
Thus, unaccompany'd, the virgin went
Without a squire, and from the hill's descent
To Paris' walls pursu'd her eager way,
Where late encamp'd the Pagan army lay:
For yet she heard not that Rinaldo's might
With aid of Charles and many a noble knight
From Mount Albano and the Christian train
Had rais'd th' impending siege and thousands slain.
Clad like his steed, in sable weeds of woe,
The champion came, as if he meant to show
An emblem of his own distressfal state,
How small his comforts, and his griefs how great!
So Ariodantes, Book vi. wears a shield fringed with yellow-green, the colour of Bradamant's scarf.
The weapon first---] Bradamant received this lance from Astolpho, Book xxiii. ver. 104. which lance came into the duke's possession after it was left behind by Argalia. See General View of Boyardo's Story.
She leaves Cadurci now, and now she leaves
Chaorse's town, nor more behind perceives
Dordona's mount, and soon the towers espies
Of Clarmont and of Montferrante rise:
When, as she journey'd, on her way was seen
A dame of comely form and courteous mien :
A buckler at her saddle-bow was ty'd,
And three bold knights attended at her side:
Before, behind, in long procession came
Damsels and squires that waited on the dame.
Brave Amon's daughter who to learn desir'd
Her name, of one amidst her train enquir'd.
To the great leader of the Franks (he cries)
From where within the arctic circle lies
A land remote, she plough'd with heavy toil
A length of ocean from Perduta's isle :
Perduta some, and some Islanda name
This distant isle, where reigns a queen whose fame
For peerless form was sure by Heaven design'd
The first of all her sex's lovely kind.
The shield thou see'st to royal Charles she sends,
And this condition with the shield commends;
That this high gift shall grace the bravest knight
Whom such he holds in dreadful fields of fight:
She by herself, by all the world esteem'd
The fairest dame, would seek a champion deem'd
Ver. 354. A dame of comely form---] Nothing can be told with more ease of language, or vigour of description, than this pleasingly romantic incident: the demeanour of Bradamant, her meeting the shepherd, arrival at the lodge, the jousts by moonlight, her defence of Ulania, are all circumstances that can never be too much admired.
The first in arms, for long her secret mind
A purpose, nothing e'er shall shake, design'd;
That he alone who bears his victor-sword.
O'er every chief, shall be her spouse and lord.
At Charlemain's imperial court she thought
The first of gallant knights might best be sought. 380
Yon three, that as her guard attend the dame,
All three are kings, and from three kingdoms came:
One Sweden, Gothland one, one Norway sways,
And few with these in arms have equal praise.
These three, whose lands beneath another sky,
Less distant than the isle Perduta lie;
(So call'd, as few amidst the sailor-train
Were ever known to stem the northern main)
These kings enamour'd have alike pursu'd
The fair queen's love, and for their consort woo'd; 390
And for her sake transcendent acts have done,
To last while planets circle round the sun.
But she to these, to none her hand will yield,
Who stands not first, the phoenix of the field.
I little prize (thus oft declar'd the dame)
Your deeds that here such boasted merit claim :
Amidst the three, should one outshine as far
His rivals, as the sun each little star,
I give him praise--but thinks he hence from all
The knights on earth, to him the palm must fall?
To Charlemain, whom through the world I hold
The wisest prince, I send a shield of gold,
On this condition, that amidst his court,
Him, who in arms may bear the first report,
The monarch with this honour'd gift shall grace,
Whether a subject or of alien race.
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