Its further progress, and destroyed its force.
CIII.
Dell’usbergo lo stral si tragge il Conte,
Ed ispicciarne fuori il sangue vede:
E con parlar pien di minacce ed onte
820 Rimprovera al Pagan la rotta fede.
Il Capitan, che non torcea la fronte
Dall’amato Raimondo, allor s’avvede
Che violato è il patto: e perchè grave
824 Stima la piaga, ne sospira e pave.
CIII
Twanged the string, out flew the quarrel long,
And through the subtle air did singing pass,
It hit the knight the buckles rich among,
Wherewith his precious girdle fastened was,
It bruised them and pierced his hauberk strong,
Some little blood down trickled on the grass;
Light was the wound; the angel by unseen,
The sharp head blunted of the weapon keen.
CIII.
From his cuirass the count the arrow drew,
And when the blood, that followed, met his sight.
He hurled reproaches on the Pagan, who
Had broken the conditions of the fight.
The captain, who ne’er took his anxious eye
From his beloved Raimondo, now perceived
The pact was broken by the enemy,
And since he deemed the wound was dangerous, grieved,
CIV.
E con la fronte le sue genti altere,
E con la lingua a vendicarlo desta:
Vedi tosto inchinar giù le visiere,
828 Lentare i freni, e por le lancie in resta;
E quasi in un sol punto alcune schiere
Da quella parte muoversi, e da questa.
Sparisce il campo, e la minuta polve,
832 Con densi globi, al ciel s’innalza e volve.
CIV
Raymond drew forth the shaft, as much behoved,
And with the steel, his blood out streaming came,
With bitter words his foe he then reproved,
For breaking faith, to his eternal shame.
Godfrey, whose careful eyes from his beloved
Were never turned, saw and marked the same,
And when he viewed the wounded County bleed,
He sighed, and feared, more perchance than need;
CIV.
And woke with glowing words and angry frown
His knights, to see Raimondo’s wrongs redressed.
With one accord they drew their vizors down.
Their bridles slacked, and lances placed in rest;
And in an instant from both sides are seen
Some squadrons spurring forward. From all eyes
The field is hid; and to the blue serene
Clouds of rare dust in solid circles rise.
CV.
D’elmi e scudi percossi, e d’aste infrante
Ne’ primi scontri un gran romor s’aggira.
Là giacere un cavallo, e girne errante
836 Un altro là senza rettor si mira:
Quì giace un guerrier morto, e quì spirante
Altri singhiozza e geme, altri sospira.
Fera è la pugna, e quanto più si mesce
840 E stringe insieme, più s’inaspra e cresce.
CV
And with his words, and with his threatening eyes,
He stirred his captains to revenge that wrong;
Forthwith the spurred courser forward hies,
Within their rests put were their lances long,
From either side a squadron brave out flies,
And boldly made a fierce encounter strong,
The raised dust to overspread begun
Their shining arms, and far more shining sun.
CV.
At the first shock was heard the ringing sound
Of shivered spear, of splintering helm and shield;
Here lay a destrier prostrate on the ground,
There, riderless, one galloped o’er the field;
Here lay a warrior dead; still breathing, there
Another sobbed and groaned, another sighed.
Fierce was the fight; and as more close they were,
More fierce the struggle grew on either side.
CVI.
Salta Argante nel mezzo agile e sciolto,
E toglie ad un guerrier ferrata mazza:
E, rompendo lo stuol calcato e folto,
844 La rota intorno, e si fa larga piazza.
E sol cerca Raimondo, e in lui sol volto
Ha il ferro, e l’ira impetuosa e pazza:
E quasi avido lupo, ei par che brame
848 Nelle viscere sue pascer la fame.
CVI
Of breaking spears, of ringing helm and shield,
A dreadful rumor roared on every side,
There lay a horse, another through the field
Ran masterless, dismounted was his guide;
Here one lay dead, there did another yield,
Some sighed, some sobbed, some prayed, and some cried;
Fierce was the fight, and longer still it lasted,
Fiercer and fewer, still themselves they wasted.
CVI.
Into the middle lithe Arganté sprung,
And from a soldier snatched an iron mace,
And, bursting through the serried masses, swung
It round and round, and soon cleared ample space,
But only Raymond sought; his steel and ire
‘Gainst him alone were turned with frantic hate;
Like greedy wolf, his ravening desire
Was on his blood his appetite to sate.
CVII.
Ma duro ad impedir viengli il sentiero
E fero intoppo, acciocchè ‘l corso ei tardi.
Si trova incontra Ormanno, e con Ruggiero
852 Di Balnavilla, un Guido, e due Gherardi.
Non cessa, non s’allenta, anzi è più fero,
Quanto ristretto è più da que’ gagliardi;
Siccome, a forza, da rinchiuso loco
856 Se n’esce e muove alte ruine il foco.
CVII
Argantes nimbly leapt amid the throng,
And from a soldier wrung an iron mace,
And breaking through the ranks and ranges long,
Therewith he passage made himself and place,
Raymond he sought, the thickest press among.
To take revenge for late received disgrace,
A greedy wolf he seemed, and would assuage
With Raymond’s blood his hunger and his rage.
CVII.
But soon his path is so beset with foes,
And so encumbered, that it checks his course;
‘Gainst him Ormanno, Balneville oppose,
With Guido and the Gerards, all their force.
Yet paused not he, nor slacked, nay, grew more hot
The more he hindrance from those galliards found,
As fire pent up within a narrow spot
Bursts forth, and spreads still greater ruin round.
CVIII.
Uccide Ormanno, piaga Guido, atterra
Ruggiero infra gli estinti egro e languente.
Ma contra lui crescon le turbe, e ‘l serra
860 D’uomini e d’arme cerchio aspro e pungente.
Mentre, in virtù di lui, pari la guerra
Si mantenea fra l’una e l’altra gente;
Il buon Duce Buglion chiama il fratello,
864 Ed a lui dice: or muovi il tuo drappello.
CVIII
The way he found not easy as he would,
But fierce encounters put him oft to pain,
He met Ormanno and Rogero bold,
Of Balnavile, Guy, and the Gerrards twain;
Yet nothing might his rage and haste withhold,
These worthies strove to stop him, but in vain,
With these strong lets increased still his ire,
Like rivers stopped, or closely smouldered fire
.
CVIII.
He wounded Guido, Prince Ormanno slew,
And languid Roger stretched among the slain;
But still the crowds increased, and round him drew
A serried cirque of bristling arms and men:
While through his valour was maintained the fray
On equal terms between the rival foes,
Godfred his brother called, and said: ‘Away!
And on the Paynim with thy squadron close;
CIX.
E là dove battaglia è più mortale,
Vattene ad investir nel lato manco.
Quegli si mosse, e fu lo scontro tale
868 Ond’egli urtò degli avversarj il fianco,
Che parve il popol d’Asia imbelle e frale;
Nè potè sostener l’impeto Franco
Che gli ordini disperde, e co’ destrieri
872 L’insegne insieme abbatte, e i cavalieri.
CIX
He slew Ormanno, and wounded Guy, and laid
Rogero low, among the people slain,
On every side new troops the man invade,
Yet all their blows were waste, their onsets vain,
But while Argantes thus his prizes played,
And seemed alone this skirmish to sustain,
The duke his brother called and thus he spake,
“Go with thy troop, fight for thy Saviour’s sake;
CIX.
‘And ‘gainst their left, where seems most desperate
The battle’s rage, lead on thy serried ranks.’
Away he dashed, and was the shock so great
With which he charged his adversary’s flanks,
That Asia’s languid sons had not the force
To stand the impetuous onslaught of the Frank:
The line is broken, and beneath their horse
The Pagan cavalry and standards sank.
CX.
Dall’impeto medesmo in fuga è volto
Il destro corno: e non v’è alcun che faccia,
Fuor che Argante, difesa; a freno sciolto
876 Così il timor precipiti gli caccia.
Egli sol ferma il passo, e mostra il volto:
Nè chi con mani cento, e cento braccia
Cinquanta scudi insieme ed altrettante
880 Spade movesse, or più faria d’Argante.
CX
“There enter in where hottest is the fight,
Thy force against the left wing strongly bend.”
This said, so brave an onset gave the knight,
That many a Paynim bold there made his end:
The Turks too weak seemed to sustain his might,
And could not from his power their lives defend,
Their ensigns rent, and broke was their array,
And men and horse on heaps together lay.
CX.
From the same charge the right wing turned and fled,
Nor was there any made the least defence,
Except Arganté; with loose rein they sped
Headlong, impelled by fear’s o’erwhelming sense.
Alone he stood his ground, and showed bold front;
Nor had Briareus with a hundred hands
Equalled Arganté in the battle’s brunt,
Though fifty shields he waved, and fifty brands.
CXI.
Ei gli stocchi e le mazze, egli dell’aste
E de’ corsieri l’impeto sostenta:
E solo par che incontra tutti baste:
884 Ed ora a questo, ed ora a quel s’avventa.
Peste ha le membra, e rotte l’arme e guaste,
E sudor versa e sangue, e par nol senta.
Ma così l’urta il popol denso e ‘l preme,
888 Ch’alfin lo svolge, e seco il porta insieme.
CXI
O’erthrown likewise away the right wing ran,
Nor was there one again that turned his face,
Save bold Argantes, else fled every man,
Fear drove them thence on heaps, with headlong chase:
He stayed alone, and battle new began,
Five hundred men, weaponed with sword and mace,
So great resistance never could have made,
As did Argantes with his single blade:
CXI.
The charge of cavalry, the thrusts, the blows,
And flying shafts, he valiantly sustained;
Able for all he seemed, as now on those
He boldly threw himself, now these restrained.
Bruised were his limbs, his armour hacked and torn,
Tho’ blood and sweat he poured, unconscious all;
At last, by surging numbers overborne,
He with the crowd was backward forced to fall.
CXII.
Volge il tergo alla forza ed al furore
Di quel diluvio che ‘l rapisce, e ‘l tira.
Ma non già d’uom che fugga ha i passi, e ‘l core;
892 S’all’opre della mano il cor si mira.
Serbano ancora gli occhj il lor terrore,
E le minacce della solita ira:
E cerca ritener con ogni prova
896 La fuggitiva turba, e nulla giova.
CXII
The strokes of swords and thrusts of many a spear,
The shock of many a joust he long sustained,
He seemed of strength enough this charge to bear,
And time to strike, now here, now there, he gained
His armors broke, his members bruised were,
He sweat and bled, yet courage still he feigned;
But now his foes upon him pressed so fast,
That with their weight they bore him back at last.
CXII.
His back he turned to that great torrent’s might
That swept him on, and forced him to withdraw,
Tho’step or heart betrayed no signs of flight,
If thro’ his hand’s bold deeds that heart you saw.
Terror still shone from his defiant eyes,
Which failed not their old menace to retain;
And superhuman were his energies
To check the flying masses, but in vain.
CXIII.
Non può far quel magnanimo ch’almeno
Sia lor fuga più tarda, o più raccolta:
Chè non ha la paura arte, nè freno,
900 Nè pregar quì, nè comandar s’ascolta.
Il pio Buglion, che i suoi pensieri appieno
Vede Fortuna a favorir rivolta,
Segue della vittoria il lieto corso,
904 E invia novello ai vincitor soccorso.
CXIII
His back against this storm at length he turned,
Whose headlong fury bore him backward still,
Not like to one that fled, but one that mourned
Because he did his foes no greater ill,
His threatening eyes like flaming torches burned,
His courage thirsted yet more blood to spill,
And every way and every mean he sought,
To stay his flying mates, but all for naught.
CXIII.
Not ev’n could that Magnanimous obtain,
That they retired in more collected bands;
Since fear obeys no reason and no rein,
Nor heedeth now entreaties or commands.
But pious Buglion had no sooner viewed
That Fortune turned to favour his intent,
Than the smooth path of victory he pursued,
And fresh assistance to the victors sent.
CXIV.
E se non che non era il dì che scritto
Dio negli eterni suoi decreti avea;
Quest’era forse il dì che ‘l campo invitto,
908 Delle sante fatiche al fin giungea.
Ma la schiera infernal che in quel conflitto
La tirannide sua cader vedea;
Sendole ciò permesso, in un momento
912 L’aria in nube ristrinse, e mosse il vento.
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CXIV
This good he did, while thus he played his part,
His bands and troops at ease, and safe, retired;
Yet coward dread lacks order, fear wants art,
Deaf to attend, commanded or desired.
But Godfrey that perceived in his wise heart,
How his bold knights to victory aspired,
Fresh soldiers sent, to make more quick pursuit,
And help to gather conquest’s precious fruit.
CXIV.
And were it not that it was not the day.
By the Almighty’s changeless laws decreed,
This was perhaps the very hour that they,
Their blest toils o’er, Jerusalem had freed.
But Satan’s satellites, who in that fight
Beheld how their own tyranny declined
(Permission gained), obscured with clouds the light,
And, in a moment, loosed the raging wind.
CXV.
Dagli occhj de’ mortali un negro velo
Rapisce il giorno e ‘l Sole: e par ch’avvampi
Negro, via più ch’orror d’inferno, il Cielo;
916 Così fiammeggia infra baleni e lampi.
Fremono i tuoni, e pioggia accolta in gelo
Si versa, e i paschi abbatte, e inonda i campi:
Schianta i rami il gran turbo, e par che crolli
920 Non pur le querce, ma le rocche, e i colli.
CXV
But this, alas, was not the appointed day,
Set down by Heaven to end this mortal war:
The western lords this time had borne away
The prize, for which they travelled had so far,
Had not the devils, that saw the sure decay
Of their false kingdom by this bloody war,
At once made heaven and earth with darkness blind,
And stirred up tempests, storms, and blustering wind.
CXV.
Before men’s eyes a veil of darkness fell,
Shrouding the day and sun. Then seemed to blare
The lurid heaven more horribly than hell;
The lightning flashed with such terrific rays;
Peals rattling thunder; rains in hail descend,
That drowns the fallows, and the meadows fills;
The whirlwind’s force cracks boughs, and seems to bend,
Not oaks alone, but even rocks and hills.
CXVI.
L’acqua in un tempo, il vento, e la tempesta
Negli occhj ai Franchi impetuosa fere:
Jerusalem Delivered Page 205