Go in God’s name, and may success be theirs!
Since worth a thousand are these two alone.
XVI.
Tu, come al regio onor più si conviene,
Con gli altri, prego, in su le porte attendi.
E quando poi (chè n’ho sicura spene)
124 Ritornino essi, e desti abbian gl’incendj:
Se stuol nemico seguitando viene,
Lui risospingi, e lor salva e difendi.
Così l’un Re diceva; e l’altro cheto
128 Rimaneva al suo dir, ma non già lieto.
XVI
“Thou, as it best beseems a mighty king,
With ready bands besides the gate attend,
That when this couple have performed the thing,
And shall again their footsteps homeward bend,
From their strong foes upon them following
Thou may’st them keep, preserve, save and defend:”
Thus said the king, “The Soldan must consent,”
Silent remained the Turk, and discontent.
XVI
‘Thee, as befits thy royal rank, I pray,
Within the gates with the others to retire;
And when (as I have firm conviction) they
Return in safety, having waked the fire,
Do thou repulse the foe, if in pursuit
They approach the walls, and save them, and protect.
Thus spoke one king; the other, altho’ mute,
Betrayed his secret chagrin at being checked.
XVII.
Soggiunse allora Ismeno: attender piaccia
A voi, ch’uscir dovete, ora più tarda;
Sinchè, di varie tempre, un misto i’ faccia
132 Ch’alla machina ostil s’appigli e l’arda.
Forse allora avverrà che parte giaccia
Di quello stuol che la circonda e guarda.
Ciò fu concluso; e in sua magion ciascuno
136 Aspetta il tempo al gran fatto opportuno.
XVII
Then Ismen said, “You twain that undertake
This hard attempt, awhile I pray you stay,
Till I a wildfire of fine temper make,
That this great engine burn to ashes may;
Haply the guard that now doth watch and wake,
Will then lie tumbled sleeping on the lay;”
Thus they conclude, and in their chambers sit,
To wait the time for this adventure fit.
XVII
‘May it please you wait,’ then sage Ismeno said,
‘To sally forth until a later hour,
When I a fiery compound shall have made
That will adhere to, and consume the tower.
It then may hap perchance that part of those
Who guard it, and surround, may slumbering be.
This settled, each to his pavilion goes,
To attend the fitting opportunity.
XVIII.
Depon Clorinda le sue spoglie inteste
D’argento, e l’elmo adorno, e l’armi altere:
E, senza piuma o fregio, altre ne veste
140 (Infausto annunzio) rugginose e nere:
Perocchè stima agevolmente in queste
Occulta andar fra le nemiche schiere.
È quivi Arsete eunuco il qual, fanciulla,
144 La nudrì dalle fasce e dalla culla.
XVIII
Clorinda there her silver arms off rent,
Her helm, her shield, her hauberk shining bright,
An armor black as jet or coal she hent,
Wherein withouten plume herself she dight;
For thus disguised amid her foes she meant
To pass unseen, by help of friendly night,
To whom her eunuch, old Arsetes, came,
That from her cradle nursed and kept the dame.
XVIII
Clorinda now took off her snowy plume,
Nor blazoned arms or silver surcoat bore,
But a sad suit, prophetic of her doom,
Rusty and black as darkest midnight, wore;
Deeming, concealed in such disguise, she could
Pass with more ease among the hostile spears.
Near her the eunuch, old Arsete, stood,
Who nursed her childhood from her tenderest years;
XIX.
E per l’orme di lei l’antico fianco
D’ogn’intorno traendo, or la seguia.
Vede costui l’arme cangiate, ed anco
148 Del gran rischio s’accorge ove ella gía:
E se n’affligge: e per lo crin, che bianco
In lei servendo ha fatto, e per la pia
Memoria de’ suo’ uficj istando, prega
152 Che dall’impresa cessi: ed ella il nega.
XIX
This aged sire had followed far and near,
Through lands and seas, the strong and hardy maid,
He saw her leave her arms and wonted gear,
Her danger nigh that sudden change foresaid:
By his white locks from black that changed were
In following her, the woful man her prayed,
By all his service and his taken pain,
To leave that fond attempt, but prayed in vain.
XIX
And dragging after her his aged frame,
And her steps following, wheresoe’er she stirred,
Had marked the change of armour, and became
‘Ware of the grievous perils she incurred.
He showed his hair, gray in her service made
His former cares as arguments he used;
He wept distracted, and, heart-broken, prayed
That she the emprise would leave; but she refused.
XX.
Onde ei le dice alfin: poichè ritrosa
Sì la tua mente nel suo mal s’indura,
Che nè la stanca età, nè la pietosa
156 Voglia, nè i preghi miei, nè il pianto cura;
Ti spiegherò più oltre: e saprai cosa,
Di tua condizion, che t’era oscura:
Poi tuo desir ti guidi, o mio consiglio;
160 Ei segue, ed ella innalza attenta il ciglio.
XX
“At last,” quoth he, “since hardened to thine ill,
Thy cruel heart is to thy loss prepared,
That my weak age, nor tears that down distil,
Not humble suit, nor plaint, thou list regard;
Attend awhile, strange things unfold I will,
Hear both thy birth and high estate declared;
Follow my counsel, or thy will that done,”
She sat to hear, the eunuch thus begun:
XX
At length he said: ‘Since thus more obstinate
Becomes your wayward spirit in its ill,
Nor doth my tears or age commiserate,
My warm entreaties or compassionate will,
I will more plainly speak, and thou shalt hear
Of thy condition things before unknown;
Then to thy plan or my advice adhere.’
Intent she looked, as he continued on:
XXI.
Resse già l’Etiopia, e forse regge
Senapo ancor, con fortunato impero:
Il qual del figlio di Maria la legge
164 Osserva, e l’osserva anco il popol nero.
Quivi io Pagan fui servo, e fui tra gregge
D’ancelle avvolto in femminil mestiero,
Ministro fatto della regia moglie,
168 Che bruna è sì, ma il bruno il bel non toglie.
XXI
“Senapus ruled, and yet perchance doth reign
In mighty Ethiop, and her deserts waste,
The lore of Christ both he and all his train
Of people black, hath kept and long embraced,
To him a Pagan was I sold for gain,
And with his queen, as her chief eunuch, placed;
Black was this queen as jet, yet on her eyes
Sweet loveliness, in black at
tired, lies.
XXI
‘With prosperous sway o’er Ethiopia reigned,
And still perhaps reigns there, Prince Senapus, who
The holy laws of Mary’s Son maintained,
And them maintained his swarthy people too.
There, as a Pagan slave, did I preside
O’er maidens, whom to manage was my duty,
Being made attendant on the royal bride;
Brown she was, yes — but brown destroys not beauty.
XXII.
N’arde il marito, e dell’amore al foco
Ben della gelosia s’agguaglia il gelo.
Si va in guisa avanzando appoco appoco
172 Nel tormentoso petto il folle zelo,
Che da ogn’uom la nasconde; in chiuso loco
Vorria celarla ai tanti occhj del Cielo.
Ella, saggia ed umíl, di ciò che piace
176 Al suo Signor, fa suo diletto e pace.
XXII
“The fire of love and frost of jealousy,
Her husband’s troubled soul alike torment,
The tide of fond suspicion flowed high,
The foe to love and plague to sweet content,
He mewed her up from sight of mortal eye,
Nor day he would his beams on her had bent:
She, wise and lowly, by her husband’s pleasure,
Her joy, her peace, her will, her wish did measure.
XXII
‘Her spouse adored her, but suspicion’s frost
Equalled the intensity of love’s ardent fire,
And many a pang that frantic passion cost
His tortured breast, and did such force acquire,
That he concealed her from all mortal eyes;
Nay, grudged ev’n those that peer from heaven’s bright zone.
She ne’er rebelled, but, humble, chaste, and wise,
Made her lord’s fancies and delights her own.
XXIII.
D’una pietosa istoria, e di devote
Figure la sua stanza era dipinta.
Vergine bianca il bel volto, e le gote
180 Vermiglia, è quivi presso un drago avvinta.
Con l’asta il mostro un cavalier percuote:
Giace la fera nel suo sangue estinta.
Quivi sovente ella s’atterra, e spiega
184 Le sue tacite colpe, e piange e prega.
XXIII
“Her prison was a chamber, painted round
With goodly portraits and with stories old,
As white as snow there stood a virgin bound,
Besides a dragon fierce, a champion bold
The monster did with poignant spear through wound,
The gored beast lay dead upon the mould;
The gentle queen before this image laid.
She plained, she mourned, she wept, she sighed, she prayed:
XXIII
‘With figures that a piteous story told,
Her chamber walls illuminated were:
Near where a dragon lay, her locks all gold,
Her cheeks all roses, stood a maid most fair;
A knight had struck the dragon with his spear,
And at his feet the blood-bathed monster laid;
Here oft she knelt, and mourned with many a tear
Her secret errors, and to Jesus prayed.
XXIV.
Ingravida frattanto, ed espon fuori
(e tu fosti colei) candida figlia.
Si turba; e degl’insoliti colori,
188 Quasi d’un novo mostro, ha maraviglia.
Ma perchè il Re conosce e i suoi furori,
Celargli il parto alfin si riconsiglia:
Ch’egli avria dal candor, che in te si vede,
192 Argomentato in lei non bianca fede.
XXIV
“At last with child she proved, and forth she brought,
And thou art she, a daughter fair and bright,
In her thy color white new terror wrought,
She wondered on thy face with strange affright,
But yet she purposed in her fearful thought
To hide thee from the king, thy father’s sight,
Lest thy bright hue should his suspect approve,
For seld a crow begets a silver dove.
XXIV
‘Pregnant, meanwhile, a little girl she bore,
Thyself — and thou as driven snow wert fair;
Alarmed she was, and marvelled greatly o’er
Thy colour strange, as of some monster rare.
At length she planned thy birth should be concealed,
Knowing the king’s unbounded jealousies,
Since the fair colour thy fair face revealed
Had proved her faith’s unfairness in his eyes.
XXV.
Ed in tua vece una fanciulla nera
Pensa mostrargli, poco innanzi nata.
E perchè fu la torre, ove chius’era,
196 Dalle donne e da me solo abitata;
A me, che le fui servo e con sincera
Mente l’amai, ti diè non battezzata.
Nè già poteva allor battesmo darti:
200 Chè l’uso nol sostien di quelle parti.
XXV
“And to her spouse to show she was disposed
A negro’s babe late born, in room of thee,
And for the tower wherein she lay enclosed,
Was with her damsels only wond and me,
To me, on whose true faith she most reposed,
She gave thee, ere thou couldest christened be,
Nor could I since find means thee to baptize,
In Pagan lands thou knowest it’s not the guise.
XXV
‘And in thy stead, born a short time before,
A Moorish infant to the king was shown;
But since the place where she was hid, the tower,
Was occupied by maids and me alone,
To me, who loved her well and was her slave,
Thee unbaptized she gave with her own hand;
Nor thee in baptism’s waters could she lave,
As such was not the custom of the land.
XXVI.
Piangendo, a me ti porse, e mi commise
Ch’io lontana a nutrir ti conducessi.
Chi può dire il suo affanno, e in quante guise
204 Lagnossi, e raddoppiò gli ultimi amplessi?
Bagnò i bacj di pianto, e fur divise
Le sue querele da i singulti spessi.
Levò alfin gli occhj, e disse: O Dio, che scerni
208 L’opre più occulte, e nel mio cor t’interni:
XXVI
“To me she gave thee, and she wept withal,
To foster thee in some far distant place.
Who can her griefs and plaints to reckoning call,
How oft she swooned at the last embrace:
Her streaming tears amid her kisses fall,
Her sighs, her dire complaints did interlace?
And looking up at last, ‘O God,’ quoth she,
‘Who dost my heart and inward mourning see,
XXVI
‘Thee, weeping, she committed to my care,
And charged to nurture in some distant place;
But how describe her anguish, her despair,
Or how redoubled was each last embrace?
Tears drowned her kisses, sobs and deep-drawn sighs
Choked her laments; at length about to part,
With face upturned to heaven, “O God,” she cries,
“Who know’st all secrets, and canst read my heart,
XXVII.
Se immaculato è questo cor, se intatte
Son queste membra e ‘l marital mio letto;
Per me non prego, chè mille altre ho fatte
212 Malvagità; son vile al tuo cospetto:
Salva il parto innocente, al quale il latte
Nega la madre del materno petto.
Viva, e sol d’onestate a me somigli:
216 L’esempio
di fortuna altronde pigli.
XXVII
“‘If mind and body spotless to this day,
If I have kept my bed still undefiled,
Not for myself a sinful wretch I pray,
That in thy presence am an abject vilde,
Preserve this babe, whose mother must denay
To nourish it, preserve this harmless child,
Oh let it live, and chaste like me it make,
But for good fortune elsewhere sample take.
XXVII
‘If that immaculate is, and undefiled
My nuptial bed, and these frail limbs of mine,
Not for myself I pray, who am reviled
By sins unnumbered in thy sight divine;
But spare, ah spare, this innocent, to whom
A churl her mother of her breast must be;
From other sources may her fortune come,
Nor me resemble but in chastity.
XXVIII.
Tu, celeste guerrier, che la donzella
Togliesti del serpente agli empj morsi;
S’accesi ne’ tuo’ altari umil facella,
220 S’auro o incenso odorato unqua ti porsi;
Tu per lei prega sì, che fida ancella
Possa in ogni fortuna a te raccorsi.
Quì tacque, e ‘l cor le si rinchiuse e strinse,
224 E di pallida morte si dipinse.
XXVIII
“‘Thou heavenly soldier which delivered hast
That sacred virgin from the serpent old,
If on thine altars I have offerings placed,
And sacrificed myrrh, frankincense and gold,
On this poor child thy heavenly looks down cast,
With gracious eye this silly babe behold;’
This said, her strength and living sprite was fled,
She sighed, she groaned, she swooned in her bed.
XXVIII
‘And thou, blest warrior, that didst snatch the maid
From the fierce dragon’s sacrilegious hold,
If on thy altar I have tapers laid,
Or odorous incense offered up, or gold,
Do thou for her with such efficience pray,
That, faithful, she aye turn to thee for aid.”
Emotion choked her breath, she swooned away,
And pallid death was in her face portrayed.
XXIX.
Io piangendo ti presi, e in breve cesta
Fuor ti portai tra fiori e frondi ascosa:
Ti celai da ciascun, chè nè di questa
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