But that he came to give her timely aid,
Leapt in the flood, and her to land convey'd.
He sought his steed, but loosen'd from his hand
The steed awaited not his lord's command:
All day he fled, and scarce with setting light,
Resign'd his bridle to the weary'd knight.
Two hundred miles o'er hill and plain he pass'd,
But where he found stern Rodomont at last,
And how they met, I shall not here record,
With small advantage to Circassia's lord.
How there he lost his steed, and how he fell,
In captive bonds---I hasten now to tell,
How fir'd with wrath, before the princes sham'd,
Against his mistress and his king inflam'd;
Far from the camp the king of Sarza went,
And how on both he gave his anger vent.
Where'er the Saracen in frenzy griev'd,
The ambient air his burning sighs receiv'd.
In pity Echo from her cavern mourn'd,
And to his plaints, in plaintive notes return'd.
O female sex! he cry'd) whose worthless mind,
Inconstant, shifts with every changing wind;
O faithless woman! perjur'd and unjust,
Most wretched those who place in thee their trust!
Not all my service try'd, my love exprest
By thousand proofs, could in one cruel breast
Secure a heart, so soon, alas! estrang'd
From truth like mine, and to another chang'd.
Ver. 856. In captive bonds---] In another part, mention is made of Sacripant being vanquished by Rodomont at the bridge; but no particular account is given of that incident.
Nor have I lost thee now, because my name
Is deem'd eclips'd by Mandricardo's fame:
Nor know I what my source of woe to call-
But thou art woman--that comprizes all!
O sex accurs'd!--by God and Nature sent,
A deadly bane to poison man's content!
So hateful snakes are bred, the wolf and bear
So haunt the shades; so nurs❜d by genial air
Swarm gnats and wasps, the venom'd insect train,
And tares are bred amidst the golden grain.
Why could not Nature (fostering nurse of earth!)
Without thy aid, give man his happier birth?
As trees, by human skill engrafted, bear
The juicy fig, smooth plum, or racy pear?
But, ah! can Nature aught that's perfect frame,
When Nature bears herself a female name?
Ver. 877. O sex accurs'd !] This exclamation of Rodomont against the female sex, may recall to the mind of the reader the reflections of Adam on the transgression of Eve, particularly these lines:
..........O! why did God,
Creator wise, who peopled highest heaven
With spirits masculine, create at last
This novelty on earth, this fair defect
Of nature, and not fill the world at once
With men, as angels, without feminine,
Or find some other way to generate
Mankind......
But it must be frankly acknowledged, that the passage of Ariosto is, as too usual, debas'd by ludicrous images and expressions.
Ver. 888. When Nature bears herself a female name?] Surely the poet has carried this conceit to the utmost, that Nature, being herself a female, and consequently imperfect, could produce nothing perfect.
Yet he not hence with empty pride o'er-run,
To think, O woman! man is born your son.
On prickly thorns appears the blooming rose;
And from a fetid herb the lily grows.
Insidious, cruel sex! whose faithless mind
No love can influence, and no truth can bind;
Ingrate and impious, plagues of human kind!
Complaining thus, the king of Sarza rode,
Now murmur'd low, now rais'd his voice aloud,
Heard far and wide; with undistinguish'd ħlame,
At once involving all the female name.
Rash! unadvis'd! though some our anger raise,
For three found ill, a hundred merit praise.
What, if amidst the fair I yet have lov'd,
Not one, perchance I met, that faithful prov'd:
Shall I the whole with general censure blot,
And not accuse my own unhappy lot?
Such was my chance---if, midst a hundred, one
Were faithless found, on her my choice must run.
But still I trust, ere life with years decay,
Ere creeping age shall change these locks to grey,
Some happier hour may yet my hope renew,
And see my love repaid with love as true.
Should e'er such future bliss my vows befall,
That faithful she will make amends for all:
Ver. 902. What, if amidst the fair, &c.
Ere creeping age shall change these locks to grey.] The attachment of Ariosto to the fair sex, has been shewn in the account of his life, and appears in various parts of his works, and this passage in particular, among many others, seems to prove that his love had. been divided by a number of objects, though, at the same time, it likewise seems to prove that he had been rather unsuccessful in the fidelity of his mistresses.
While to the height her honours I rehearse,
With pen or tongue, in prose, or numerous verse.
The Saracen, who thus his mistress blam'd
As ill advis'd against his king exclaim'd;
And oft he wish'd some storm of adverse fate
Might fall unlook'd, to overwhelm his state;
To make each wretched house in Afric mourn,
And to the lowest stone each pile o'erturn;
That Agramant, expell'd his realm in grief,
Might rove a mendicant without relief;
Till once again his prowess should restore
The exil'd monarch to the regal power;
And in his proof of loyal duty show,
What to a faithful friend a friend must owe;
A faithful friend, whose merits should receive,
(Though worlds oppos'd) whate'er his prince could give.
The Pagan thus, as troubled passions wrought,
Now on his king, now on his mistress thought:
He spurr'd his steed, but ne'er to sleep address'd
His watchful eyes, nor gave Frontino rest:
Next day his course to Sonna's banks he sped,
(That to Provence with winding current led)
For Africa once more to cross the main,
And see his long forsaken realms again.
He view'd the river, fill'd from side to side
With barks and vessels floating on the tide;
That from afar, with all provisions stow'd,
To Pagan bands convey'd the welcome load.
The country round was subject to the Moors,
From Paris' walls to Acquamorta's shores;
A pleasing tract! and all from plain to plain,
Stretch'd on the right, that reach'd the bounds of Spain.
Now from the ships remov'd, the busy crowd
On many a beast and wain the burthens stow'd:
From different parts the banks were cover'd round
With well-fed herds, that graz'd the verdant ground;
And near the river divers huts were kept,
Where all night long the hinds and drivers slept.
The king of Algiers here, surpriz'd by night,
When damps and gloom succeed departing light;
Yields to a country host (there born and bred)
Who begg'd him for his guest at board and bed.
His steed dispos'd; rich plenty crown'd the board,
With Greekish wines, and wines of Corfù stor❜d.
In all the rest a Moor the Pagan show'd,
But in his drink preferr'd the Gallic mode.
The host, with welcome looks and sumptuous fare, 960
Would every honour for his guest prepare;
Whom by his garb and mien he well divin'd,
A knight of prowess high, and noble kind."
But he, at variance with himself (whose heart,
As if divided from its better part,
Still to his mistress turn'd) with pensive look
There sate, nor with a word the silence broke.
Our jolly host, who better could advance
His private good than any host of France;
Who midst a land with foreign foes o'er-run,
Preserv'd his chattels, goods, and house his own;
Ver. 958. In all the rest a Moor, &c.] By the law of Mahomet, his votaries are forbidden the use of wine: but the poet, who meant Rodomont for a character of impiety, makes him pay no attention to the dictates of his own religion, and only observe the customs of a Moor when they did not combat his passions.
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