Great is that empire, greater by the king
That rules it now, whose worth the land amends,
And makes more famous, lord thereof by blood,
By wisdom, valor, and all virtues good.
VI
To right and left its compass comprehends
The odorous marsh and teeming sea, and on
Long past the Erythraean it extends
In the direction of the rising sun.
Great is the empire in itself; its worth
Its present prince enhances, whose desert
Is even greater than his royal birth;
In state-craft politic, in war expert.
VII.
Questi, or co’ Turchi or con le genti Perse
Più guerre fè: le mosse, e le respinse:
Fu perdente, e vincente: e nell’avverse
52 Fortune fu maggior che quando vinse.
Poi che la grave età più non sofferse
Dell’arme il peso, alfin la spada scinse;
Ma non depose il suo guerriero ingegno,
56 Nè d’onor il desio vasto, e di regno.
VII
With Turks and Persians war he oft did wage,
And oft he won, and sometimes lost the field,
Nor could his adverse fortune aught assuage
His valor’s heat or make his proud heart yield,
But when he grew unfit for war through age,
He sheathed his sword and laid aside his shield:
But yet his warlike mind he laid not down,
Nor his great thirst of rule, praise and renown,
VII
Oft ‘gainst the Persian, ‘gainst the Turk fought he;
Attacked and routed them, and gained great fame.
Now lost, now won; and in adversity
Proved greater still than when he overcame.
But when old age permitted him to bear
The weight of arms no more, he laid them down;
Yet could not from his warlike bent forbear,
Nor from his lust of empire and renown.
VIII.
Ancor guerreggia per ministri: ed have
Tanto vigor di mente e di parole,
Che della monarchia la soma grave
60 Non sembra agli anni suoi soverchia mole.
Sparsa in minuti regni Africa pave
Tutta al suo nome, e ‘l remoto Indo il cole:
E gli porge altri volontario ajuto
64 D’armate genti, ed altri d’or tributo.
VIII
But by his knights still cruel wars maintained.
So wise his words, so quick his wit appears,
That of the kingdom large o’er which he reigned,
The charge seemed not too weighty for his years;
His greatness Afric’s lesser kings constrained
To tremble at his name, all Ind him fears,
And other realms that would his friendship hold;
Some armed soldiers sent, some gifts, some gold.
VIII
He still conducts campaigns by deputy;
And so robust in intellect appears,
That the great fabric of the monarchy
Seems no excessive burden for his years.
Thro’ each small province Afric is afraid,
Her homage even Ind doth not withhold;
Some send him troops, a voluntary aid;
Others pay tribute to their liege in gold.
IX.
Tanto e sì fatto Re l’arme raguna:
Anzi pur adunate omai le affretta
Contra il sorgente imperio, e la fortuna
68 Franca, nelle vittorie omai sospetta.
Armida ultima vien: giunge opportuna
Nell’ora appunto alla rassegna eletta.
Fuor delle mura in spazioso campo
72 Passa dinanzi a lui schierato il Campo.
IX
This mighty prince assembled had the flower
Of all his realms, against the Frenchmen stout,
To break their rising empire and their power,
Nor of sure conquest had he fear or doubt:
To him Armida came, even at the hour
When in the plains, old Gaza’s walls without,
The lords and leaders all their armies bring
In battle-ray, mustered before their king.
IX
Such is the king that now collects his ranks;
Nay, urges those already gathered there
Against the rising fortune of the Franks,
Whose recent victories so mistrusted were.
Last came Armida; at the very hour
Fixed for the muster she arrived at last.
On a great plain, beyond the walls, the power
Of Asia marshalled, before him march past.
X.
Egli in sublime soglio, a cui per cento
Gradi eburnei s’ascende, altero siede:
E sotto l’ombra d’un gran ciel d’argento
76 Porpora intesta d’or preme col piede:
E ricco di barbarico ornamento,
In abito regal splender si vede.
Fan, torti in mille fasce, i bianchi lini
80 Alto diadema in nova forma ai crini.
X
He on his throne was set, to which on height
Who clomb an hundred ivory stairs first told,
Under a pentise wrought of silver bright,
And trod on carpets made of silk and gold;
His robes were such as best beseemen might
A king, so great, so grave, so rich, so old,
And twined of sixty ells of lawn and more
A turban strange adorned his tresses hoar.
X
Proudly he sits upon his throne on high,
To which a hundred steps of ivory led,
And, underneath a silver canopy,
His feet on gold-embroidered purple tread.
Rich with barbaric splendour you behold
His golden robes to glisten; linen fair,
Twisted around in many a tortuous fold,
A diadem forms, new fashioned, for his hair.
XI.
Lo scettro ha nella destra: e per canuta
Barba appar venerabile e severo.
E dagli occhj, ch’etade ancor non muta,
84 Spira l’ardire e ‘l suo vigor primiero.
E ben da ciascun atto è sostenuta
La maestà degli anni, e dell’impero.
Apelle forse o Fidia in tal sembiante
88 Giove formò; ma Giove allor tonante.
XI
His right hand did his precious sceptre wield,
His beard was gray, his looks severe and grave,
And from his eyes, not yet made dim with eild,
Sparkled his former worth and vigor brave,
His gestures all the majesty upheild
And state, as his old age and empire crave,
So Phidias carved, Apelles so, pardie,
Erst painted Jove, Jove thundering down from sky.
XI
His right hand holds the sceptre; he appears
Sedate and reverend, from his beard of snow;
And his bright eyes, undimmed, unchanged by years,
With all youth’s fire and resolution glow;
Nor failed his every attitude to prove
The majesty of age and of command.
Apelles thus, or Phidias, had formed Jove,
But Jove when thundering with imperial hand.
XII.
Stannogli a destra l’un, l’altro a sinistra
Due Satrapi i maggiori: alza il più degno
La nuda spada del rigor ministra;
92 L’altro il sigillo, del suo uficio in segno.
Custode un de’ secreti, al Re ministra
Opra civil ne’ grandi affar del regno:
Ma Prence degli eserciti, e con piena
96 Possanza, è l’altro ordinator di pena.
XII
On either side him stood a noble lord,
Whereof the first held in his upright hand
Of severe justice the unpartial sword;
The other bare the seal, and causes scanned,
Keeping his folk in peace and good accord,
And termed was lord chancellor of the land;
But marshal was the first, and used to lead
His armies forth to war, oft with good speed.
XII
On either side of him a satrap stands,
Of whom the worthiest bears the naked steel,
Stem minister of justice; in his hands
The other holds his office-badge, the seal.
One, secretary, for the king transacts
All civil business in affairs of state;
Prince is the other of his troops, and acts
With powers most ample as chief magistrate.
XIII.
Sotto, folta corona al seggio fanno
Con fedel guardia i suoi Circassi astati:
Ed oltra l’aste hanno corazze, ed hanno
100 Spade lunghe e ricurve all’un de’ lati.
Così sedea, così scopria il Tiranno
Da eccelsa parte i popoli adunati.
Tutte a’ suoi piè, nel trapassar, le schiere
104 Chinan, quasi adorando, armi e bandiere.
XIII
Of bold Circassians with their halberts long,
About his throne his guards stood in a ring,
All richly armed in gilden corslets strong,
And by their sides their crooked swords down hing:
Thus set, thus seated, his grave lords among,
His hosts and armies great beheld the king,
And every band as by his throne it went,
Their ensigns low inclined, and arms down bent:
XIII
Below, his own Circassian lancers formed
A bristling circle round his throne; besides
Lances, they were with steel cuirasses armed,
And scimetars hung jangling at their sides.
Thus sat the king; thus from his lofty seat
Reviewed the troops assembled in such swarms,
Who, as they marched past, lowered to his feet,
As to a god, their colours and their arms.
XIV.
Il popol dell’Egitto in ordin primo
Fa di se mostra: e quattro i duci sono,
Duo’ dell’alto paese, e duo’ dell’imo,
108 Ch’è del celeste Nilo opera e dono.
Al mare usurpò il letto il fertil limo,
E rassodato al coltivar fu buono.
Sì crebbe Egitto: o quanto addentro è posto
112 Quel che fu lido ai naviganti esposto!
XIV
Their squadrons first the men of Egypt show,
In four troops, and each his several guide,
Of the high country two, two of the low
Which Nile had won out of the salt seaside,
His fertile slime first stopped the waters’ flow,
Then hardened to firm land the plough to bide,
So Egypt still increased, within far placed
That part is now where ships erst anchor cast.
XIV
Heading the column, the Egyptians show
Their gallant ranks; with them four chiefs defile,
Two from the upper part, two from the low,
Gift and creation of the heavenly Nile,
Whose fertile slime, usurping the sea strand,
Consolidated grew, and pregnant bore.
Thus Egypt waxed: how much is now inland
That was the coast, exposed to ships before.
XV.
Nel primiero squadron appar la gente
Ch’abitò d’Alessandria il ricco piano,
Ch’abitò il lido volto all’Occidente,
116 Ch’esser comincia omai lido Africano.
Araspe è il duce lor, duce potente
D’ingegno più che di vigor di mano;
Ei di furtivi aguati è mastro egregio,
120 E d’ogni arte Moresca in guerra ha il pregio.
XV
The foremost band the people were that dwelled
In Alexandria’s rich and fertile plain,
Along the western shore, whence Nile expelled
The greedy billows of the swelling main;
Araspes was their guide, who more excelled
In wit and craft than strength or warlike pain,
To place an ambush close, or to devise
A treason false, was none so sly, so wise.
XV
In the first squadron comes the swarthy host
That dwells on Alexandria’s fertile plain,
That dwells upon the westward fronting coast,
Which there commences to be African.
Their chief Araspes is, more famous far
For subtile head-piece, than for strength of arm;
Master of all the Moorish arts of war,
The secret ambuscade, the false alarm.
XVI.
Secondan quei che, posti inver l’Aurora,
Nella costa Asiatica albergaro:
E gli guida Aronteo, cui nulla onora
124 Pregio o virtù; ma i titoli il fan chiaro.
Non sudò il molle sotto l’elmo ancora:
Nè mattutine trombe anco il destaro;
Ma dagli agj e dall’ombre a dura vita
128 Intempestiva ambizion l’invita.
XVI
The people next that gainst the morning rays
Along the coasts of Asia have their seat,
Arontes led them, whom no warlike praise
Ennobled, but high birth and titles great,
His helm ne’er made him sweat in toilsome frays,
Nor was his sleep e’er broke with trumpet’s threat,
But from soft ease to try the toil of fight
His fond ambition brought this carpet knight.
XVI
Then follow those that, towards the Orient placed,
Inhabit Asia’s shores; this troop was led
By Aronteo, whom no virtues graced,
But accident of birth illustrious made.
Ne’er sweated had ‘neath helm this carpet knight,
Nor ever heard the morning bugle’s blast,
When from a life of idlesse to the fight
Untimely ambition summoned him at last.
XVII.
Quella che terza è poi, squadra non pare;
Ma un’oste immensa: e campi e lidi tiene.
Non crederai ch’Egitto mieta ed are
132 Per tanti: e pur da una Città sua viene:
Città ch’alle provincie emula e pare,
Mille cittadinanze in se contiene:
Del Cairo i’ parlo; indi il gran volgo adduce,
136 Volgo all’arme restío, Campsone il duce.
XVII
The third seemed not a troop or squadron small,
But an huge host; nor seemed it so much grain
In Egypt grew as to sustain them all;
Yet from one town thereof came all that train,
A town in people to huge shires equal,
That did a thousand streets and more contain,
Great Caire it hight, whose commons from each side
Came swarming out to war, Campson their guide.
XVII
That which is third doth not a squadron seem,
But a vast army filling land and coast,
For whom not Egypt’s harvests you would deem
Sufficient; yet from one town comes this host,
A town that equals provinces in size,
And in itself a thousand guilds contains —
I speak of Cairo, which this mob supplies:
O’er them averse to arms, Campsoné reigns.
XVIII.
Vengon sotto Gazel quei che le biade
Segaron nel vicin campo fecondo,
E
più suso, infin là dove ricade
140 Il fiume al precipizio suo secondo.
La turba Egizia avea sol archi e spade:
Nè sosterria d’elmo o corazza il pondo.
D’abito è ricca: onde altrui vien che porte
144 Desio di preda, e non timor di morte.
XVIII
Next under Gazel marched they that plough
The fertile lands above that town which lie
Up to the place where Nilus tumbling low
Falls from his second cataract from high;
The Egyptians weaponed were with sword and bow,
No weight of helm or hauberk list they try,
And richly armed, in their strong foes no dreed
Of death but great desire of spoil they breed.
XVIII
Under Gazel come marshalled those that reap
Rich harvests in the adjacent fertile tract,
And up to where falls down, with giant leap,
The river at the second cataract.
The Egyptian rabble have but swords and bows,
Nor could sustain cuirass or helmet; they
So richly clothed are, that they cause their foes
Less dread of danger than desire for prey.
XIX.
Poi la plebe di Barca, e nuda e inerme
Quasi, sotto Alarcon passar si vede:
Che la vita famelica nell’erme
148 Piagge gran tempo sostentò di prede.
Con istuol manco reo, ma inetto a ferme
Battaglie, di Zumara il Re succede.
Quel di Tripoli poscia: e l’uno e l’altro
152 Nel pugnar volteggiando è dotto e scaltro.
XIX
The naked folk of Barca these succeed,
Unarmed half, Alarcon led that band,
That long in deserts lived, in extreme need,
On spoils and preys purchased by strength of hand.
To battle strong unfit, their king did lead
His army next brought from Zumara land.
Then he of Tripoli, for sudden fight
And skirmish short, both ready, bold, and light.
XIX
Under Alarcon, Barca’s people passed,
That almost naked and unarmed campaigned;
Who upon plunder in its deserts vast,
From times remote, half-famished lives sustained.
With hordes less barbarous, but still unfit
For regular war, succeeds Zumara’s king,
Then Tripoli’s lord; both skilled in running fight,
In raids irregular, and skirmishing.
Jerusalem Delivered Page 264