Jersusalem Delivered

by Torquato Tasso

  Haste hitherward, or else within short while,—

  For gladly we accept the war you bring,—

  Let him expect us on the banks of Nile."

  He entertained them then with banqueting,

  And gifts presented to those Pagans vile;

  'Aletes had a helmet, rich and gay,

  'Late found at Nice among the conquered prey.

  Argant a sword, whereof the web was steel,

  Pommel, rich stone; hilt gold; approved by touch

  With rarest workmanship all forgéd weel,

  The curious art excelled the substance much:

  Thus fair, rich, sharp, to see, to have, to feel,

  Glad was the Paynim to enjoy it such,

  'And said, "How I this gift can use and wield,

  'Soon shall you see, when first we meet in field."

  Thus took they congée, and the angry knight

  Thus to his fellow parleyed on the way,

  "Go thou by day, but let me walk by night,

  Go thou to Egypt, I at Sion stay,

  The answer given thou canst unfold aright,

  No need of me, what I can do or say,

  'Among these arms I will go wreak my spite;

  'Let Paris court it, Hector loved to fight."

  Thus he who late arrived a messenger

  Departs a foe, in act, in word, in thought,

  The law of nations or the lore of war,

  If he transgress or no, he recketh naught,

  Thus parted they, and ere he wandered far

  The friendly star-light to the walls him brought:

  'Yet his fell heart thought long that little way,

  'Grieved with each stop, tormented with each stay.

  Now spread the night her spangled canopy,

  And summoned every restless eye to sleep;

  On beds of tender grass the beasts down lie,

  The fishes slumbered in the silent deep,

  Unheard were serpent's hiss and dragon's cry,

  Birds left to sing, and Philomen to weep,

  'Only that noise heaven's rolling circles kest,

  'Sung lullaby to bring the world to rest.

  Yet neither sleep, nor ease, nor shadows dark,

  Could make the faithful camp or captain rest,

  They longed to see the day, to hear the lark

  Record her hymns and chant her carols blest,

  They yearned to view the walls, the wishéd mark

  To which their journeys long they had addressed;

  'Each heart attends, each longing eye beholds

  'What beam the eastern window first unfolds.

  | Go to Contents |

  Third Book

  THE ARGUMENT

  The camp at great Jerusalem arrives:

  Clorinda gives them battle, in the breast

  Of fair Erminia Tancred's love revives,

  He jousts with her unknown whom he loved best;

  Argant th' adventurers of their guide deprives,

  With stately pomp they lay their Lord in chest:

  Godfrey commands to cut the forest down,

  And make strong engines to assault the town.

  THE purple morning left her crimson bed,

  And donned her robes of pure vermilion hue,

  Her amber locks she crowned with roses red,

  In Eden's flowery gardens gathered new.

  When through the camp a murmur shrill was spread,

  Arm, arm, they cried; arm, arm, the trumpets blew,

  Their merry noise prevents the joyful blast,

  So hum small bees, before their swarms they cast.

  Their captain rules their courage, guides their heat,

  Their forwardness he stayed with gentle rein;

  And yet more easy, haply, were the feat

  To stop the current near Charybdis main,

  Or calm the blustering winds on mountains great,

  Than fierce desires of warlike hearts restrain;

  He rules them yet, and ranks them in their haste,

  For well he knows disordered speed makes waste.

  Feathered their thoughts, their feet in wings were dight,

  Swiftly they marched, yet were not tired thereby,

  For willing minds make heaviest burdens light.

  But when the gliding sun was mounted high,

  Jerusalem, behold, appeared in sight,

  Jerusalem they view, they see, they spy,

  Jerusalem with merry noise they greet,

  With joyful shouts, and acclamations sweet.

  As when a troop of jolly sailors row

  Some new-found land and country to descry,

  Through dangerous seas and under stars unknowe,

  Thrall to the faithless waves, and trothless sky,

  If once the wishéd shore begin to show,

  They all salute it with a joyful cry,

  And each to other show the land in haste,

  Forgetting quite their pains and perils past.

  To that delight which their first sight did breed,

  That pleaséd so the secret of their thought

  A deep repentance did forthwith succeed

  That reverend fear and trembling with it brought,

  Scantly they durst their feeble eyes dispreed

  Upon that town where Christ was sold and bought,

  Where for our sins he faultless suffered pain,

  There where he died and where he lived again.

  Soft words, low speech, deep sobs, sweet sighs, salt tears

  Rose from their breasts, with joy and pleasure mixed;

  For thus fares he the Lord aright that fears,

  Fear on devotion, joy on faith is fixed:

  Such noise their passions make, as when one hears

  The hoarse sea waves roar, hollow rocks betwixt;

  Or as the wind in holts and shady greaves,

  A murmur makes among the boughs and leaves.

  Their naked feet trod on the dusty way,

  Following the ensample of their zealous guide,

  Their scarfs, their crests, their plumes and feathers gay,

  They quickly doffed, and willing laid aside,

  Their molten hearts their wonted pride allay,

  Along their watery cheeks warm tears down slide,

  And then such secret speech as this, they used,

  While to himself each one himself accused.

  "Flower of goodness, root of lasting bliss,

  Thou well of life, whose streams were purple blood

  That flowéd here, to cleanse the soul amiss

  Of sinful man, behold this brinish flood,

  That from my melting heart distilléd is,

  Receive in gree these tears, O Lord so good,

  For never wretch with sin so overgone

  Had fitter time or greater cause to moan."

  This while the wary watchman lookéd over,

  From tops of Sion's towers, the hills and dales,

  And saw the dust the fields and pastures cover,

  As when thick mists arise from moory vales.

  At last the sun-bright shields he gan discover,

  And glistering helms for violence none that fails,

  The metal shone like lightning bright in skies,

  And man and horse amid the dust descries.

  Then loud he cries, "O what a dust ariseth!

  O how it shines with shields and targets clear!

  Up, up, to arms, for valiant heart despiseth

  The threatened storm of death and danger near.

  Behold your foes;" then further thus deviseth,

  "Haste, haste, for vain delay increaseth fear,

  These horrid clouds of dust that yonder fly,

  Your coming foes does hide, and hide the sky."

  The tender children, and the fathers old,

  The aged matrons, and the virgin chaste,

  That durst not shake the spear, nor target hold,

  Themselves devoutly in their te
mples placed;

  The rest, of members strong and courage bold,

  On hardy breasts their harness donned in haste,

  Some to the walls, some to the gates them dight,

  Their king meanwhile directs them all aright.

  All things well ordered, he withdrew with speed

  Up to a turret high, two ports between,

  That so he might be near at every need,

  And overlook the lands and furrows green.

  Thither he did the sweet Erminia lead,

  That in his court had entertainéd been

  Since Christians Antioch did to bondage bring,

  And slew her father, who thereof was king.

  Against their foes Clorinda sallied out,

  And many a baron bold was by her side,

  Within the postern stood Argantes stout

  To rescue her, if ill mote her betide:

  With speeches brave she cheered her warlike rout,

  And with bold words them heartened as they ride,

  "Let us by some brave act," quoth she, "this day

  Of Asia's hopes the groundwork found and lay."

  While to her folk thus spake the virgin brave,

  Thereby behold forth passed a Christian band

  Toward the camp, that herds of cattle drave,

  For they that morn had forayed all the land;

  The fierce virago would that booty save,

  Whom their commander singled hand for hand,

  A mighty man at arms, who Guardo hight,

  But far too weak to match with her in fight.

  They met, and low in dust was Guardo laid,

  'Twixt either army, from his sell down kest,

  The Pagans shout for joy, and hopeful said,

  Those good beginnings would have endings blest:

  Against the rest on went the noble maid,

  She broke the helm, and pierced the arméd breast,

  Her men the paths rode through made by her sword,

  They pass the stream where she had found the ford.

  Soon was the prey out of their hands recovered,

  By step and step the Frenchmen gan retire,

  Till on a little hill at last they hovered,

  Whose strength preserved them from Clorinda's ire:

  When, as a tempest that hath long been covered

  In watery clouds breaks out with sparkling fire,

  With his strong squadron Lord Tancredi came,

  His heart with rage, his eyes with courage flame.

  Mast great the spear was which the gallant bore

  That in his warlike pride he made to shake,

  As winds tall cedars toss on mountains hoar:

  The king, that wondered at his bravery, spake

  To her, that near him seated was before,

  Who felt her heart with love's hot fever quake,

  "Well shouldst thou know," quoth he, "each Christian knight,

  By long acquaintance, though in armor dight.

  "Say, who is he shows so great worthiness,

  That rides so rank, and bends his lance so fell?"

  To this the princess said nor more nor less,

  Her heart with sighs, her eyes with tears, did swell;

  But sighs and tears she wisely could suppress,

  Her love and passion she dissembled well,

  And strove her love and hot desire to cover,

  Till heart with sighs, and eyes with tears ran over:

  At last she spake, and with a crafty sleight

  Her secret love disguised in clothes of hate:

  "Alas, too well," she says, "I know that knight,

  I saw his force and courage provéd late,

  Too late I viewed him, when his power and might

  Shook down the pillar of Cassanoe's state;

  Alas what wounds he gives! how fierce, how fell!

  No physic helps them cure, nor magic's spell.

  "Tancred he hight, O Macon, would he wear

  My thrall, ere fates him of this life deprive,

  For to his hateful head such spite I bear,

  I would him reave his cruel heart on live."

  Thus said she, they that her complainings hear

  In other sense her wishes credit give.

  She sighed withal, they construed all amiss,

  And thought she wished to kill, who longed to kiss.

  This while forth pricked Clorinda from the throng

  And 'gainst Tancredi set her spear in rest,

  Upon their helms they cracked their lances long,

  And from her head her gilden casque he kest,

  For every lace he broke and every thong,

  And in the dust threw down her pluméd crest,

  About her shoulder shone her golden locks,

  Like sunny beams, on alabaster rocks.

  Her looks with fire, her eyes with lightning blaze,

  Sweet was her wrath, what then would be her smile?

  Tancred, whereon think'st thou? what dost thou gaze?

  Hast thou forgot her in so short a while?

  The same is she, the shape of whose sweet face

  The God of Love did in thy heart compile,

  The same that left thee by the cooling stream,

  Safe from sun's heat, but scorched with beauty's beam.

  The prince well knew her, though her painted shield

  And golden helm he had not marked before,

  She saved her head, and with her axe well steeled

  Assailed the knight; but her the knight forbore,

  'Gainst other foes he proved him through the field,

  Yet she for that refrainéd ne'er the more,

  But following, "Turn thee," cried, in ireful wise;

  And so at once she threats to kill him twice.

  Not once the baron lift his arméd hand

  To strike the maid, but gazing on her eyes,

  Where lordly Cupid seemed in arms to stand,

  No way to ward or shun her blows he tries;

  But softly says, "No stroke of thy strong hand

  Can vanquish Tancred, but thy conquest lies

  In those fair eyes, which fiery weapons dart,

  That find no lighting place except this heart."

  At last resolved, although he hoped small grace,

  Yet ere he did to tell how much he loved,

  For pleasing words in women's ears find place,

  And gentle hearts with humble suit are moved:

  "O thou," quoth he, "withhold thy wrath a space,

  For if thou long to see my valor proved,

  Were it not better from this warlike rout

  Withdrawn, somewhere, alone to fight it out?

  "So singled, may we both our courage try:"

  Clorinda to that motion yielded glad,

  And helmless to the forestward gan hie,

  Whither the prince right pensive went and sad,

  And there the virgin gan him soon defy.

  One blow she strucken, and he warded had,

  When he cried, "Hold, and ere we prove our might,

  First hear thou some conditions of the fight."

  She stayed, and desperate love had made him bold;

  "Since from the fight thou wilt no respite give,

  The covenants be," he said, "that thou unfold

  This wretched bosom, and my heart out rive,

  Given thee long since, and if thou, cruel, would

  I should be dead, let me no longer live,

  But pierce this breast, that all the world may say,

  The eagle made the turtle-dove her prey.

  "Save with thy grace, or let thine anger kill,

  Love hath disarmed my life of all defence;

  An easy labor harmless blood to spill,

  Strike then, and punish where is none offence."

  This said the prince, and more perchance had will

  To have declared, to move her cruel sense.

  But in ill time of Pagans thither camer />
  A troop, and Christians that pursued the same.

  The Pagans fled before their valiant foes,

  For dread or craft, it skills not that we know,

  A soldier wild, careless to win or lose,

  Saw where her locks about the damsel flew,

  And at her back he proffereth as he goes

  To strike where her he did disarméd view:

  But Tancred cried, "Oh stay thy curséd hand,"

  And for to ward the blow lift up his brand.

  But yet the cutting steel arrivéd there,

  Where her fair neck adjoined her noble head,

  Light was the wound, but through her amber hair

  The purple drops down railéd bloody red,

  So rubies set in flaming gold appear:

  But Lord Tancredi, pale with rage as lead,

  Flew on the villain, who to flight him bound;

  The smart was his, though she received the wound.

  The villain flies, he, full of rage and ire,

  Pursues, she stood and wondered on them both,

  But yet to follow them showed no desire,

  To stray so far she would perchance be loth,

  But quickly turned her, fierce as flaming fire,

  And on her foes wreakéd her anger wroth,

  On every side she kills them down amain,

  And now she flies, and now she turns again.

  As the swift ure by Volga's rolling flood

  Chased through the plains the mastiff curs toforn,

  Flies to the succor of some neighbor wood,

  And often turns again his dreadful horn

  Against the dogs imbrued in sweat and blood,

  That bite not, till the beast to flight return;

  Or as the Moors at their strange tennice run,

  Defenced, the flying balls unhurt to shun:

  So ran Clorinda, so her foes pursued,

  Until they both approached the city's wall,

  When lo! the Pagans their fierce wrath renewed,

  Cast in a ring about they wheeléd all,

  And 'gainst the Christians' backs and sides they showed

  Their courage fierce, and to new combat fall,

  When down the hill Argantes came to fight,

  Like angry Mars to aid the Trojan knight.

  Furious, tofore the foremost of his rank,

  In sturdy steel forth stept the warrior bold,

  The first he smote down from his saddle sank,

  The next under his steed lay on the mould,

  Under the Saracen's spear the worthies shrank,

  No breastplate could that curséd tree outhold,

  When that was broke his precious sword he drew,

  And whom he hit, he felléd, hurt, or slew.

  Clorinda slew Ardelio; aged knight,

  Whose graver years would for no labor yield,