But since on others I shall see your might
Far better try'd-I claim no more the fight:
But this I claim--my arms with yours to wield,
With yours to join this helmet, lance and shield,
And trust to prove, when on your side I stand,
Not undeserving of so brave a band.
Some here may wish to learn the warrior's name, Who thus, a fearless candidate for fame,
Would with Rogero and his fellows meet
The dreadful hazards of their hardy feat.
SHE then (no longer HE this champion call)
Was bold Marphisa, from whose hand his fall
Zerbino suffer'd, sworn by her to guard,
Gabrina foul, for every ill prepar❜l.
The good Rogero, and each noble lord
Of Clarmont's house, receiv'd with one accord
The proffer'd aid of her, whom all esteem'd
Of manly sex, as by her dress she seem'd.
Not long they stay'd, ere Aldiger beheld,
And show'd his friends at distance on the field,
A banner rais'd, that to the breezes flow'd,
And round the banner throng'd a mingled crowd.
When now advanc'd, so near in sight they drew,
That by their Moorish garb the warriors knew
The hostile band; amid the shouting throng
They saw the hapless brethren borne along
On two low steeds, expecting to behold,
For sums of wealth their persons chang'd and sold.
Then thus Marphisa---Wherefore such delay,
When these are present, to begin the fray 2
Rogero answer'd---Of th' invited train
To crown the banquet, many guests remain,
Nor yet arriv'd---we form a solemn treat,
And all must join to make the feast complete,
Soon will the rest attend---While thus he said,
His bold compeors the remnant foes survey'd:
The traitors of Maganza's line advance,
And all is ready to begin the dauce.
There swarm'd the numbers of Maganza's crew, With groaning mules in loaded wains, that drew Gold, vests, and precious wealth; while here were seen The captive brethren, with dejected mien;
Who slowly rode, in shameful shackles bound,
With lances, swords, and bows, encompass'd round;
And Bertolagi (cause of either's grief)
Was heard conferring with the Moorish chief.
Not Buovo's son, nor he* of Amon's strain,
The traitor present, could their wrath contain.
At once his spear in rest each warrior took;
And each, at once the proud Maganzan struck.
One through his helm the deadly wound impress'd;
One drove the thrilling weapon through his breast.
As Bertolagi by these knights was slain,
Like him so perish al!, that wrong maintain.
At this Marphisa with Rogero fir'd,
No other signal for th' attack requir'd;
And ere her spear she broke, the martial maid
Low on the ground three warriors breathless laid.
The other impious chief was worthy found,
From fierce Rogero's spear to meet his wound:
He fell; and, by the same dire weapon slain,
Two more were sent to Death's relentless reign.
An error now amidst th' assail'd was bred,
That wide and wider to their ruin spread:
Those of Maganza deem'd themselves betray'd
By the fierce Saracens; the Moors, dismay'd
By frequent wounds and deaths on every hand,
With treacherous murder charg'd Maganza's band;
Till fell reproach to mutual carnage rose,
With spears in rest, drawn swords, and bended bows.
Now here, now there, by turns Rogero flew
On either troop; now ten, now twenty slew.
As many by the virgin's weapon kill'd,
In divers parts lay scatter'd o'er the field.
The rider from his saddle lifeless fell,
Whene'er descended either trenchant steel;
Helmet and corslets yielded where it came;
As crackling serewood to destroying flame,
If e'er you saw, or e'er have heard the tale,
How, when fierce factions in the hive prevail,
As to the standard in the fields of air,
The buzzing legions for the fight prepare,
Amidst them oft the hungry swallow pours,
Rends, kills, or scatters, and whole troops devours:
So think Marphisa, so Rogero rag'd;
Alike by turns each dastard troop engag'd.
But Richardetto, nor his kinsman chang'd
The slaughter thus; nor thus alternate rang'd;
The band of Saracens untouch'd they leave,
While all their furies to Maganza's cleave.
Rinaldo's brother, to the dauntless mind
That fits a knight, had mighty prowess join'd;
And now the hatred he Maganza bore,
Gave twofold vigour to his wonted power:
This fir'd the base-born son of Buovo's bed,
Who, like a lion, his resentment fed:
Through helm and head his weapon took its course,
And both gave way before the crashing force.
What soul but here had caught the martial ire?
What breast but here had glow'd with Hector's fire? 150
Here, with Marphisa and Rogero join'd,
The choice, the flower of all the warrior-kind.
Marphisa, as she fought, oft turn'd her eyes,
And view'd her comrades' deeds with vast surprise;
She prais'd them all; but good Rogero rais'd
Her wonder most, him o'er mankind she prais'd:
Sometimes she deem'd that Mars had from above
Left his fifth heaven, the fights of men to prove.
She mark'd his dreadful sword, that never fail'd,
Against whose edge no temper'd steel avail'd;
The helm and cuirass strong it pierces through,
It cleaves the rider to the seat in two,
And sends, divided, in a crimson tide,
The corse in equal parts on either side,
Ver. 163. And sends, divided in a crimson tide,
The corse in equal parts on either side,
Nor, deaden'd there, &c.] These passages remind us of the wounds given by knights-errant in romances, so often ridiculed by Cervantes, and for which Ariosto is, with these authors, liable to the censure of extravagance. The host, who, like Don Quixote, is intoxicated with reading romances, makes the following eulogium on those performances, in answer to the priest who had recommended history. "Before God, your worship should have read what I have read concerning Felixmarte of Hyrcania, who with one back-stroke, cut asunder five giants in the middle, as if they had been so many bean-cods."
Jarvis's Don Quixote, Vol. I. B. iv. C. v.
Nor, deaden'd there, its dreadful fury stays,
But with his wretched lord
From many a neck his falchion lops the head;
Oft o'er the hips, sheer through the body sped,
It parts the trunk: now five the rapid steel
Severs at once---and more I fear to tell,
Lest truth should falsehood seem: but
Who knew the truth, and what he knew
Leaves men to credit or reject his page,
Which blazons deeds unknown in this degenerate
Alike appear'd Marphisa's martial ire,
Her foes all frozen, and herself all fire!`
While she no less attracts Rogero's gaze,
Than he before might claim the virgin's praise:
And as she deem'd him Mars, so, had he known
His partner's sex, to equal wonder won
Of her great deeds, he sure had styl❜d the fair
The dread Bellona, patroness of war!
Caught each from each, their kindling ardor rose,
Dire emulation for their wretched foes!
On whom they thus their mutual prowess show'd, 185
On nerve, on bone, on limbs all drench'd in blood.
Full soon the might of these resistless four
Dispers'd each camp, and broke their strongest power.
Who hop'd to 'scape, his limbs from armour freed,
And stript in lighter vesture urg'd his speed..
Happy the man whose courser swiftest flies,
No common pace his safety now supplies;
While he, who wants a steed, laments the harms
That more on foot attend the trade of arms.
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