So stings a snake that to the fire is brought,
Which harmless lay benumbed with cold before,
A lion so his rage renewed hath,
Though fame before, if he be moved to wrath.
LXXXV
This thought inflaming his ferocity,
Now cold and torpid from old age, renewed
And aggravated it to such degree
That more than ever he’s athirst for blood.
Ferocious thus in summer’s heat becomes
That which in winter seemed a harmless snake;
Thus a tamed lion his wild rage resumes
If any dare his inborn fury wake.
LXXXVI.
Veggio (dicea) della letizia nova
Veraci segni in questa turba infida.
Il danno universal solo a lei giova:
684 Sol nel pianto comun par ch’ella rida.
E forse insidie e tradimenti or cova,
Rivolgendo fra sè come m’uccida:
O come al mio nemico, e suo consorte
688 Popolo, occultamente apra le porte.
LXXXVI
“I see,” quoth he, “some expectation vain,
In these false Christians, and some new content,
Our common loss they trust will be their gain,
They laugh, we weep; they joy while we lament;
And more, perchance, by treason or by train,
To murder us they secretly consent,
Or otherwise to work us harm and woe,
To ope the gates, and so let in our foe.
LXXXVI
‘I see among these followers of the Cross,’
He cried, ‘true signs of new-born joy, and while
We mourn, they glory in the general loss;
Sole ‘mid our common grief they seem to smile.
It may be, hatching snares and treacheries,
Each how to kill me in his mind debates;
Or how to Godfrey and his Frank allies
Unbar with secrecy the city’s gates.
LXXXVII.
Ma nol farà; prevenirò questi empj
Disegni loro, e sfogherommi appieno.
Gli ucciderò, faronne acerbi scempj:
692 Svenerò i figlj alle lor madri in seno:
Arderò loro alberghi, e insieme i tempj.
Questi i debiti roghi ai morti fieno,
E su quel lor sepolcro, in mezzo ai voti,
696 Vittime pria farò de’ Sacerdoti.
LXXXVII
“But lest they should effect their cursed will,
Let us destroy this serpent on his nest;
Both young and old, let us this people kill,
The tender infants at their mothers’ breast,
Their houses burn, their holy temples fill
With bodies slain of those that loved them best,
And on that tomb they hold so much in price,
Let’s offer up their priests in sacrifice.”
LXXXVII
‘But they shall not: their plans I will forestall,
And to my long pent rancour give full sway.
I’ll make one common slaughter of them all,
Babes at their mother’s breast this hand shall slay;
I’ll burn their dwellings, nor their temples spare:
These for the dead shall be a fitting tomb,
And ‘mid their vows, in that their sepulchre
The priests shall be the first to meet their doom!
LXXXVIII.
Così l’iniquo fra suo cor ragiona;
Pur non segue pensier sì mal concetto.
Ma s’a quegli innocenti egli perdona,
700 È di viltà, non di pietade effetto.
Chè s’un timor a incrudelir lo sprona,
Il ritien più potente altro sospetto:
Troncar le vie d’accordo, e de’ nemici
704 Troppo teme irritar l’arme vittrici.
LXXXVIII
Thus thought the tyrant in his traitorous mind,
But durst not follow what he had decreed,
Yet if the innocents some mercy find,
From cowardice, not truth, did that proceed,
His noble foes durst not his craven kind
Exasperate by such a bloody deed.
For if he need, what grace could then be got,
If thus of peace he broke or loosed the knot?
LXXXVIII
Thus in his heart the villain planned, nor dared
To thought so ill-imagined give effect;
And if at length the innocent he spared,
His purpose cowardice, not pity, checked:
Since if one terror makes him pitiless,
A stronger still restrains him and alarms:
He dreads to cut off every chance of peace,
Or rouse too much his foe’s victorious arms.
LXXXIX.
Tempra dunque il fellon la rabbia insana:
Anzi altrove pur cerca ove la sfoghi;
I rustici edifizj abbatte e spiana,
708 E dà in preda alle fiamme i culti luoghi;
Parte alcuna non lascia integra o sana,
Ove il Franco si pasca, ove s’alloghi.
Turba le fonti e i rivi, e le pure onde
712 Di veneni mortiferi confonde.
LXXXIX
His villain heart his cursed rage restrained,
To other thoughts he bent his fierce desire,
The suburbs first flat with the earth he plained,
And burnt their buildings with devouring fire,
Loth was the wretch the Frenchman should have gained
Or help or ease, by finding aught entire,
Cedron, Bethsaida, and each watering else
Empoisoned he, both fountains, springs, and wells.
LXXXIX
His gall, therefore, the enfeloned craven reins,
And seeks elsewhere to vent his rabid ire:
The rustics’ huts he levels, and the plains,
And waving cornfields gives a prey to fire.
No part he leaves entire, uninjured, where
Shelter or food the Frank may find; nor saves
A single fount, nor doth a river spare,
But with foul poison taints the spotless waves.
XC.
Spietatamente è cauto: e non obblia
Di rinforzar Gerusalem frattanto.
Da tre lati fortissima era pria:
716 Sol verso Borea è men sicura alquanto.
Ma da’ primi sospetti ei le munia
D’alti ripari il suo men forte canto;
E v’accogliea gran quantitade, in fretta,
720 Di gente mercenaria e di soggetta.
XC
So wary wise this child of darkness was;
The city’s self he strongly fortifies,
Three sides by site it well defenced has,
That’s only weak that to the northward lies;
With mighty bars of long enduring brass,
The steel-bound doors and iron gates he ties,
And, lastly, legions armed well provides
Of subjects born, and hired aid besides.
XC
Though cruel, cautious, he with providence
Forgets not Salem’s safety to ensure:
On three sides perfect was the town’s defence.
Northwards alone ’twas somewhat less secure.
But, from his first misgivings, to repair
Its weaker side the king had given commands,
And with all speed large hosts assembled there
Of subject troops and mercenary bands.
Canto secondo
SECOND BOOK
ARGOMENTO.
Novo incanto fa Ismen, che vano uscito,
Vuole Aladin che muoja ogni Cristiano.
La pudíca Sofronia e Olindo ardito,
Perchè cessi il furor del Re Pagano,
Voglion morir. Clorinda, il caso udito,
Non lascia lor più de’
ministri in mano.
Argante, poi che quel ch’Alete dice
Non cura il Franco, a lui guerra aspra indice.
THE ARGUMENT.
Aladine will kill the Christians in his ire:
Sophronia and Olindo would be slain
To save the rest, the King grants their desire;
Clorinda hears their fact and fortunes plain,
Their pardon gets and keeps them from the fire:
Argantes, when Aletes’ speeches are
Despised, defies the Duke to mortal war.
I.
Mentre il Tiranno s’apparecchia all’armi,
Soletto Ismeno un dì gli s’appresenta:
Ismen, che trar di sotto ai chiusi marmi
4 Può corpo estinto, e far che spiri e senta:
Ismen, che al suon de’ mormoranti carmi
Fin nella reggia sua Pluto spaventa,
E i suoi Demon negli empj uficj impiega
8 Pur come servi, e gli discioglie, e lega.
I
While thus the tyrant bends his thoughts to arms,
Ismeno gan tofore his sight appear,
Ismen dead bones laid in cold graves that warms
And makes them speak, smell, taste, touch, see, and hear;
Ismen with terror of his mighty charms,
That makes great Dis in deepest Hell to fear,
That binds and looses souls condemned to woe,
And sends the devils on errands to and fro.
I
WHILE the fell tyrant thus prepared for arms,
To him Ismene came alone one day;
Ismene, who from the grave can raise by charms
The dead, and animate inanimate clay;
Ismene, who by mere sound of muttered spell,
Makes Pluto tremble in his dark domains,
And as his slaves employs the imps of hell
In his foul work, and chains them and unchains.
II.
Questi or Macone adora, e fu Cristiano,
Ma i primi riti anco lasciar non puote;
Anzi sovente in uso empio e profano
12 Confonde le due leggi a sè mal note.
Ed or dalle spelonche, ove, lontano
Dal volgo, esercitar suol l’arti ignote,
Vien nel pubblico rischio al suo Signore;
16 A Re malvagio consiglier peggiore.
II
A Christian once, Macon he now adores,
Nor could he quite his wonted faith forsake,
But in his wicked arts both oft implores
Help from the Lord, and aid from Pluto black;
He, from deep caves by Acheron’s dark shores,
Where circles vain and spells he used to make,
To advise his king in these extremes is come,
Achitophel so counselled Absalom.
II
A Christian once, he now to Mahomet bows,
But cannot from his former rites refrain —
Nay, oft both laws, of which he little knows,
Confounds in uses impious and profane;
And now from caves where he was wont to frame
Far from man’s eye his unknown arts, in the hour
Of public risk to Aladine he came,
To wicked king more wicked counsellor.
III.
Signor, dicea, senza tardar sen viene
Il vincitor esercito temuto;
Ma facciam noi ciò che a noi far conviene;
20 Darà il Ciel, darà il mondo ai forti ajuto.
Ben tu di Re, di duce hai tutte piene
Le parti, e lunge hai visto e provveduto.
S’empie in tal guisa ogn’altro i propri uficj,
24 Tomba fia questa terra a’ tuoi nemici.
III
“My liege,” he says, “the camp fast hither moves,
The axe is laid unto this cedar’s root,
But let us work as valiant men behoves,
For boldest hearts good fortune helpeth out;
Your princely care your kingly wisdom proves,
Well have you labored, well foreseen about;
If each perform his charge and duty so,
Nought but his grave here conquer shall your foe.
III
‘My liege, the dreaded host victorious
Comes, without check it comes,’ the wizard said;
‘Do we our duty as behoveth us,
And Heaven and earth will give the valiant aid.
Thou dost the parts of king and captain fill
Most nobly, all things see to and foresee:
As well their duties did the rest fulfil,
A tomb this country for thy foes would be.
IV.
Io quanto a me ne vengo, e del periglio,
E dell’opre compagno ad aitarte.
Ciò che può dar di vecchia età consiglio,
28 Tutto prometto, e ciò che magica arte.
Gli Angeli che dal Cielo ebbero esiglio
Costringerò delle fatiche a parte.
Ma dond’io voglia incominciar gl’incanti,
32 E con quai modi, or narrerotti avanti.
IV
“From surest castle of my secret cell
I come, partaker of your good and ill,
What counsel sage, or magic’s sacred spell
May profit us, all that perform I will:
The sprites impure from bliss that whilom fell
Shall to your service bow, constrained by skill;
But how we must begin this enterprise,
I will your Highness thus in brief advise.
IV
‘I, for my part, have hither come to share
With thee whatever danger may befall,
And all that can experience, and whate’er
My magic art can do, I promise all.
The angels fallen from heaven I will compel
In our exertions to participate;
But from what point I will begin the spell,
And in what manner, I will first relate.
V.
Nel tempio de’ Cristiani occulto giace
Un sotterraneo altare; e quivi è il volto
Di colei, che sua diva, e madre face,
36 Quel volgo, del suo Dio nato e sepolto.
Dinanzi al simulacro accesa face
Continua splende: egli è in un velo avvolto;
Pendono intorno, in lungo ordine, i voti
40 Che vi portaro i creduli devoti.
V
“Within the Christian’s church from light of skies,
An hidden alter stands, far out of sight,
On which the image consecrated lies
Of Christ’s dear mother, called a virgin bright,
An hundred lamps aye burn before her eyes,
She in a slender veil of tinsel dight,
On every side great plenty doth behold
Of offerings brought, myrrh, frankincense and gold.
V
‘Hid in the temple of the Christians lies
A subterranean shrine, where is adored
She whom that herd of bigots idolize
As mother of their born and buried Lord.
A quenchless lamp before her image shines,
Which a veil shroudeth from the public eye,
And round it hang in long extended lines
The votive offerings of credulity.
VI.
Or questa effigie lor, di là rapita,
Voglio che tu di propria man trasporte,
E la riponga entro la tua Meschita:
44 Io poscia incanto adoprerò sì forte,
Ch’ognor, mentre ella quì fia custodita,
Sarà fatal custodia a queste porte;
Tra mura inespugnabili il tuo impero
48 Sicuro fia, per novo alto mistero.
VI
“This idol would I have removed away
From thence, and by your princely hand transport,
In Macon’s sacred temple
safe it lay,
Which then I will enchant in wondrous sort,
That while the image in that church doth stay,
No strength of arms shall win this noble fort,
Of shake this puissant wall, such passing might
Have spells and charms, if they be said aright.”
VI
‘Now this their image, seized from thence, I will
Thou earnest off, my liege, with thine own arm,
And in thy temple place it: my weird skill
Shall then employ so magical a charm,
That while it there is guarded, it shall be
For Salem’s gates a fatal guard and sure.
In walls impregnable thy monarchy
Shall through new mystic influence be secure.’
VII.
Sì disse, e ‘l persuase: e impaziente
Il Re sen corse alla magion di Dio,
E sforzò i Sacerdoti, e irreverente
52 Il casto simulacro indi rapío;
E portollo a quel tempio, ove sovente
S’irrita il Ciel col folle culto e rio.
Nel profan loco, e su la sacra imago
56 Susurrò poi le sue bestemmie il Mago.
VII
Advised thus, the king impatient
Flew in his fury to the house of God,
The image took, with words unreverent
Abused the prelates, who that deed forbode,
Swift with his prey, away the tyrant went,
Of God’s sharp justice naught he feared the rod,
But in his chapel vile the image laid,
On which the enchanter charms and witchcraft said.
VII
He thus persuaded him. Impatiently
Flew to God’s sacred temple Aladine,
Forced back the priests, and most irreverently
Seized the chaste image from its sacred shrine,
And bore it off to that accursed fane,
Where with foul rites they oft incensed the Lord.
On the blest image in that place profane
The wizard then his blasphemies outpoured.
VIII.
Ma come apparse in ciel l’alba novella,
Quel, cui l’immondo tempio in guardia è dato,
Non rivide l’immagine, dov’ella
60 Fu posta, e invan cerconne in altro lato.
Tosto n’avvisa il Re, ch’alla novella
Di lui si mostra fieramente irato:
Ed immagina ben ch’alcun fedele
64 Abbia fatto quel furto, e che se ‘l cele.
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