Ecco già sotto i piè mugghiar l’Inferno.
Quanto gira il palagio, udresti irati
544 Sibili, ed urli, e fremiti, e latrati.
LXVIII
A shadow, blacker than the mirkest night,
Environed all the place with darkness sad,
Wherein a firebrand gave a dreadful light,
Kindled in hell by Tisiphone the mad;
Vanished the shade, the sun appeared in sight,
Pale were his beams, the air was nothing glad,
And all the palace vanished was and gone,
Nor of so great a work was left one stone.
LXVIII
Shades blacker far than night, in which no ray
Of light is mixed, the entire domain surround,
Except where fitfully fierce lightnings play,
And make the gloom by contrast more profound.
At length the darkness ceases, the sun’s face
Peeps forth, though not yet sunny is the air,
Nor of her palace is perceived a trace,
Nor mortal could affirm it once stood there.
LXIX.
Ombra più che di notte, in cui di luce
Raggio misto non è, tutto il circonda;
Se non se in quanto un lampeggiar riluce
548 Per entro la caligine profonda.
Cessa alfin l’ombra, e i raggj il Sol riduce
Pallidi, nè ben l’aura anco è gioconda:
Nè più il palagio appar, nè pur le sue
552 Vestigia, nè dir puossi: egli quì fue.
LXIX
As oft the clouds frame shapes of castles great
Amid the air, that little time do last,
But are dissolved by wind or Titan’s heat,
Or like vain dreams soon made, and sooner past:
The palace vanished so, nor in his seat
Left aught but rocks and crags, by kind there placed;
She in her coach which two old serpents drew,
Sate down, and as she used, away she flew.
LXIX
As clouds at times in the pure welkin form
The fleeting image of some mighty mass,
Which the sun melteth, or dispels the storm;
Or like a sick man’s dreams that swiftly pass;
So disappeared her palace, and remained
Alone the Alps, and gloom before the eye;
Her car, which stood prepared, she quickly gained,
And, as her wont, soared upwards to the sky.
LXX.
Come immagin talor d’immensa mole
Forman nubi nell’aria, e poco dura,
Chè ‘l vento la disperde, o solve il Sole;
556 Come sogno sen va, ch’egro figura;
Così sparver gli alberghi, e restar sole
L’alpi, e l’orror che fece ivi natura.
Ella sul carro suo, che presto aveva,
560 S’assise, e come ha in uso, al Ciel si leva.
LXX
She broke the clouds, and cleft the yielding sky,
And bout her gathered tempest, storm and wind,
The lands that view the south pole flew she by,
And left those unknown countries far behind,
The Straits of Hercules she passed, which lie
Twixt Spain and Afric, nor her flight inclined
To north or south, but still did forward ride
O’er seas and streams, till Syria’s coasts she spied.
LXX
Begirt by storms and wind’s sonorous roll,
She treads the clouds and cleaves the air’s expanse,
Passes the regions of the other pole,
And kingdoms of unknown inhabitants;
Passes Alcides’ bounds, yet will not she
Approach the land of Spaniard or of Moor,
But keeps her course suspended o’er the sea,
Until she reaches Syria’s well-known shore.
LXXI.
Calca le nubi, e tratta l’aure a volo,
Cinta di nembi, e turbini sonori;
Passa i lidi soggetti all’altro Polo,
564 E le terre d’ignoti abitatori;
Passa d’Alcide i termini, nè ‘l suolo
Appressa degli Esperj, o quel de’ Mori;
Ma su i mari sospeso il corso tiene,
568 Insin che ai lidi di Soria perviene.
LXXI
Now she went forward to Damascus fair,
But of her country dear she fled the sight,
And guided to Asphaltes’ lake her chair,
Where stood her castle, there she ends her flight,
And from her damsels far, she made repair
To a deep vault, far from resort and light,
Where in sad thoughts a thousand doubts she cast,
Till grief and shame to wrath gave place at last.
LXXI
Nor to Damascus goes; she shuns the sight
Of her own country, once so loved, so dear;
Her car directing to the barren site,
Where ‘mid the waves her castle towers appear.
Arrived, a place of solitude she sought,
And from her presence banished maid and page;
Then wandered, lost in many an anxious thought;
But shame soon yielded to o’ermastering rage.
LXXII.
Quinci a Damasco non s’invia, ma schiva
Il già sì caro della patria aspetto,
E drizza il carro all’infeconda riva,
572 Ove è tra l’onde il suo castello eretto.
Qui giunta, i servi e le donzelle priva
Di sua presenza, e sceglie ermo ricetto,
E fra varj pensier dubbia s’aggira;
576 Ma tosto cede la vergogna all’ira.
LXXII
“I will not hence,” quoth she, “till Egypt’s lord
In aid of Zion’s king his host shall move;
Then will I use all helps that charms afford,
And change my shape or sex if so behove:
Well can I handle bow, or lance, or sword,
The worthies all will aid me, for my love:
I seek revenge, and to obtain the same,
Farewell, regard of honor; farewell, shame.
LXXII
‘Yes, I will go, ere Egypt’s king,’ she cried,
‘Can to the rescue bring his eastern arms;
I’ll try again those arts which erst I tried,
And to unwonted forms transform my charms:
Slave of the noblest I’ll become again,
And them with bane of rivalry infect;
So that I vengeance ev’n in part obtain,
I care for neither honour nor respect.
LXXIII.
Io n’andrò pur, dice ella, anzi che l’armi
Dell’Oriente il Re d’Egitto muova:
Ritentar ciascun’arte, e trasmutarmi
580 In ogni forma insolita mi giova,
Trattar l’arco, e la spada, e serva farmi
De’ più potenti, e concitargli a prova;
Pur che le mie vendette io veggia in parte,
584 Il rispetto e l’onor stiasi in disparte.
LXXIII
“Nor let mine uncle and protector me
Reprove for this, he most deserves the blame,
My heart and sex, that weak and tender be,
He bent to deeds that maidens ill became;
His niece a wandering damsel first made he,
He spurred my youth, and I cast off my shame,
His be the fault, if aught gainst mine estate
I did for love, or shall commit for hate.”
LXXIII
‘Nor let my guardian uncle me accuse,
But blame himself who made me play this part,
Who first directed to unworthy views
My feeble sex, but bold and manly heart;
Twas he that made a vagrant dame of me,
And did my shame unloose, my courage f
ire;
He is the cause of each indignity
I’ve done from love, and yet will do from ire.’
LXXIV.
Non accusi già me, biasmi se stesso
Il mio custode e zio, che così volse;
Ei l’alma baldanzosa, e ‘l fragil sesso
588 Ai non debiti ufficj in prima volse.
Esso mi fè donna vagante, ed esso
Spronò l’ardire, e la vergogna sciolse;
Tutto si rechi a lui ciò che d’indegno
592 Fei per amore, o che farò di sdegno.
LXXIV
This said, her knights, her ladies, pages, squires
She all assembleth, and for journey fit
In such fair arms and vestures them attires
As showed her wealth, and well declared her wit;
And forward marched, full of strange desires,
Nor rested she by day or night one whit,
Till she came there, where all the eastern bands,
Their kings and princes, lay on Gaza’s sands.
LXXIV
She thus resolves, and summons in all haste
Her pages, serjeants, waiting-maids, and squires;
Seen is her princely fortune and fine taste
In their rich trappings and superb attires.
Away she starts, nor is there one that droops,
Or day or night the least repose obtains,
Until she reaches where the friendly troops
Their ranks extend o’er Gaza’s sunny plains.
LXXV.
Così risolse: e cavalieri, e donne,
Paggj, e sergenti frettolosa aduna,
E ne’ superbi arnesi, e nelle gonne
596 L’arte dispiega, e la regal fortuna,
E in via si pone, e non è mai ch’assonne,
O che si posi al Sole, od alla Luna,
Sin che non giunge ove le schiere amiche
600 Coprian di Gaza le campagne apriche.
LXXV.
LXXV.
Canto diciasettesimo
SEVENTEENTH BOOK
ARGOMENTO.
Il suo esercito immenso in mostra chiama
L’Egizio, e poi contra i Cristian l’invia.
Armida che pur di Rinaldo brama
La morte, con sua gente anco giungía;
E per meglio saziar sua crudel brama,
Sè in guiderdon della vendetta offria.
Ei vestia intanto armi fatali, e dove
Mira impresse degli avi illustri prove.
THE ARGUMENT.
The Caliph sends with Godfrey’s power to fight;
Armida, who Rinaldo’s ruin sought,
To them adjoins herself and Syria’s might.
To satisfy her cruel will and thought,
She gives herself to him that kills her knight:
He takes his fatal arms, and in his shield
His ancestors and their great deeds beheld.
I.
Gaza è Città della Giudea nel fine,
Su quella via che inver Pelusio mena:
Posta in riva del mare, ed ha vicine
4 Immense solitudini d’arena,
Le quai, come austro suol l’onde marine,
Mesce il turbo spirante; onde a gran pena
Ritrova il peregrin riparo o scampo
8 Nelle tempeste dell’instabil campo.
I
Gaza the city on the frontier stands
Of Juda’s realm, as men to Egypt ride,
Built near the sea, beside it of dry sands
Huge wildernesses lie and deserts wide
Which the strong winds lift from the parched lands
And toss like roaring waves in roughest tide,
That from those storms poor passengers almost
No refuge find, but there are drowned and lost.
I
UPON the road that to Pelusium leads,
On Judah’s skirts, the town of Gaza stands,
Close to the margin of the sea, where spreads
A boundless desert of unfruitful sands;
Which, as the south wind does the rolling wave,
The simoom scattereth; when this obtains,
Scarce can himself the passing pilgrim save,
Or refuge find from the unstable plains.
II.
Del Re d’Egitto è la Città frontiera,
Da lui gran tempo innanzi ai Turchi tolta;
E però ch’opportuna e prossima era
12 All’alta impresa ove la mente ha volta:
Lasciando Menfi, ch’è sua reggia altera,
Quì traslato il gran seggio, e quì raccolta
Già da varie provincie insieme avea
16 L’innumerabil’ oste all’assemblea.
II
Within this town, won from the Turks of yore
Strong garrison the king of Egypt placed,
And for it nearer was, and fitted more
That high emprise to which his thoughts he cast,
He left great Memphis, and to Gaza bore
His regal throne, and there, from countries vast
Of his huge empire all the puissant host
Assembled he, and mustered on the coast.
II
Of Egypt’s king the frontier town it is;
Long since he won it from the Turkish states,
But since convenient for the high emprise,
On which unchangeably he meditates,
He, leaving Memphis, his imperial seat,
His court translated to this distant coast,
Ordering, from various provinces, to meet
For muster an innumerable host.
III.
Musa, quale stagione e qual là fosse
Stato di cose, or tu mi reca a mente:
Qual’arme il grande Imperator, quai posse,
20 Qual serva avesse, e qual compagna gente,
Quando del Mezzogiorno in guerra mosse
Le forze, e i Regi, e l’ultimo Oriente.
Tu sol le schiere e i duci, e sotto l’arme
24 Mezzo il mondo raccolto, or puoi dettarme.
III
Come say, my Muse, what manner times these were,
And in those times how stood the state of things,
What power this monarch had, what arms they bear,
What nations subject, and what friends he brings;
From all lands the southern ocean near,
Or morning star, came princes, dukes and kings,
And only thou of half the world well-nigh
The armies, lords, and captains canst descry.
III
O muse! inspire my memory to declare
What force that mighty emperor did bring,
What season ’twas, what state of things was there,
What friends, what vassals followed Egypt’s king,
When, from the south and distant Orient, he
Monarchs led on, and troops in countless swarms:
Thou canst alone the list detail to me,
Of chiefs, and troops, and half a world in arms.
IV.
Poscia che, ribellante, al Greco impero
Si sottrasse l’Egitto, e mutò fede;
Del sangue di Macon nato un guerriero
28 Sen fè Tiranno, e vi fondò la sede.
Ei fu detto Califfo, e del primiero
Chi tien lo scettro al nome anco succede.
Così per ordin lungo il Nilo i suoi
32 Faraon vide, e i Tolommei dappoi.
IV
When Egypt from the Greekish emperor
Rebelled first, and Christ’s true faith denied,
Of Mahomet’s descent a warrior
There set his throne and ruled that kingdom wide,
Caliph he hight, and Caliphs since that hour
Are his successors named all beside:
So Nilus old his kings long time had seen
That Ptolemies and Pharaohs called had been.
IV
When Egypt had her ancient faith forsworn,
Rebelled, and did from Grecian rule retreat,
A warrior rose, of Mahomet’s lineage born,
Became its master, and there fixed his seat;
Caliph was called, and by that ancient style
Are his successors known; and in this wise,
Through countless generations, hath the Nile
Beheld her Pharaohs and her Ptolemies.
V.
Volgendo gli anni, il regno è stabilito
Ed accresciuto in guisa tal che viene,
Asia e Libia ingombrando, al Sirio lito
36 Da’ Marmarici fini, e da Cirene:
E passa addentro incontra all’infinito
Corso del Nilo assai sovra Siene:
E quinci alle campagne inabitate
40 Va della sabbia, e quindi al grande Eufrate.
V
Established was that kingdom in short while,
And grew so great, that over Asia’s lands
And Lybia’s realms it stretched many a mile,
From Syria’s coasts as far as Cirene sands,
And southward passed gainst the course of Nile,
Through the hot clime where burnt Syene stands,
Hence bounded in with sandy deserts waste,
And thence with Euphrates’ rich flood embraced.
V
So ‘stablished grew the realm as years rolled o’er,
And had increased so, that it now engrossed
Afric and Asia to the Syrian shore,
From Barca’s confines and Cyrene’s coast;
Above Syene far its bounds expand,
Where flows the Nile’s interminable tide,
Thence to the unpeopled wilderness of sand,
And to the Euphrates on the other side.
VI.
A destra ed a sinistra in se comprende
L’odorata maremma e ‘l ricco mare.
E, fuor dell’Eritreo, molto si stende
44 Incontro al Sol che mattutino appare.
L’imperio ha in se gran forze, e più le rende
Il Re, ch’or le governa, illustri e chiare:
Ch’è per sangue Signor, ma più per merto,
48 Nell’arti regie e militari esperto.
VI
Maremma, myrrh and spices that doth bring,
And all the rich red sea it comprehends,
And to those lands, toward the morning spring
That lie beyond that gulf, it far extends;
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