Jersusalem Delivered

by Torquato Tasso

  With joyful shouts the soldiers on the plain,

  These tokens bless of long-desiréd rain.

  A sudden cloud, as when Helias prayed,

  Not from dry earth exhaled by Phœbus' beams,

  Arose, moist heaven his windows open laid,

  Whence clouds by heaps out rush, and watery streams,

  The world o'erspread was with a gloomy shade,

  That like a dark mirksome even it seems;

  The crashing rain from molten skies down fell,

  And o'er their banks the brooks and fountains swell.

  In summer season, when the cloudy sky

  Upon the parchéd ground doth rain down send,

  As duck and mallard in the furrows dry

  With merry noise the promised showers attend,

  And spreading broad their wings displayéd lie

  To keep the drops that on their plumes descend,

  And where the streams swell to a gathered lake,

  Therein they dive, and sweet refreshing take:

  So they the streaming showers with shouts and cries

  Salute, which heaven shed on the thirsty lands,

  The falling liquor from the dropping skies

  He catcheth in his lap, he barehead stands,

  And his bright helm to drink therein unties,

  In the fresh streams he dives his sweaty hands,

  Their faces some, and some their temples wet,

  And some to keep the drops large vessels set.

  Nor man alone to ease his burning sore,

  Herein doth dive and wash, and hereof drinks,

  But earth itself weak, feeble, faint before,

  Whose solid limbs were cleft with rifts and chinks,

  Received the falling showers and gathered store

  Of liquor sweet, that through her veins down sinks,

  And moisture new infuséd largely was

  In trees, in plants, in herbs, in flowers, in grass.

  Earth, like the patient was, whose lively blood

  Hath overcome at last some sickness strong,

  Whose feeble limbs had been the bait and food

  Whereon this strange disease depastured long,

  But now restored, in health and welfare stood,

  As sound as erst, as fresh, as fair, as young;

  So that forgetting all his grief and pain,

  His pleasant robes and crowns he takes again.

  Ceaséd the rain, the sun began to shine,

  With fruitful, sweet, benign, and gentle ray,

  Full of strong power and vigor masculine,

  As be his beams in April or in May.

  O happy zeal! who trusts in help divine

  The world's afflictions thus can drive away,

  Can storms appease, and times and seasons change,

  And conquer fortune, fate, and destiny strange.

  | Go to Contents |

  Fourteenth Book

  THE ARGUMENT

  The Lord to Godfrey in a dream doth show

  His will; Rinaldo must return at last;

  They have their asking who for pardon sue:

  Two knights to find the prince are sent in haste,

  But Peter, who by vision all foreknew,

  Sendeth the searchers to a wizard, placed

  Deep in a vault, who first at large declares

  Armida's trains, then how to shun those snares

  NOW from the fresh, the soft and tender bed

  Of her still mother, gentle night out flew,

  The fleeting balm on hills and dales she shed,

  With honey drops of pure and precious dew,

  And on the verdure of green forests spread

  The virgin primrose and the violet blue,

  And sweet-breathed Zephyr on his spreading wings,

  Sleep, ease, repose, rest, peace and quiet brings.

  The thoughts and troubles of broad-waking day,

  They softly dipped in mild Oblivion's lake;

  But he whose Godhead heaven and earth doth sway,

  In his eternal light did watch and wake,

  And bent on Godfrey down the gracious ray

  Of his bright eye, still ope for Godfrey's sake,

  To whom a silent dream the Lord down sent.

  Which told his will, his pleasure and intent.

  Far in the east, the golden gate beside

  Whence Phœbus comes, a crystal port there is,

  And ere the sun his broad doors open wide

  The beam of springing day uncloseth this,

  Hence comes the dreams, by which heaven's sacred guide

  Reveals to man those high degrees of his,

  Hence toward Godfrey ere he left his bed

  A vision strange his golden plumes bespread.

  Such semblances, such shapes, such portraits fair,

  Did never yet in dream or sleep appear,

  For all the forms in sea, in earth or air,

  The signs in heaven, the stars in every sphere

  All that was wondrous, uncouth, strange and rare,

  All in that vision well presented were.

  His dream had placed him in a crystal wide,

  Beset with golden fires, top, bottom, side,

  There while he wondereth on the circles vast,

  The stars, their motions, course and harmony,

  A knight, with shining rays and fire embraced,

  Presents himself unwares before his eye,

  Who with a voice that far for sweetness passed

  All human speech, thus said, approaching nigh:

  "What, Godfrey, knowest thou not thy Hugo here?

  Come and embrace thy friend and fellow dear!"

  He answered him, "Thy glorious shining light

  Which in thine eyes his glistering beams doth place,

  Estrangéd hath from my foreknowledge quite

  Thy countenance, thy favor, and thy face:"

  This said, three times he stretched his hands outright

  And would in friendly arms the knight embrace,

  And thrice the spirit fled, that thrice he twined

  Naught in his folded arms but air and wind.

  Lord Hugo smiled, "Not as you think," quoth he,

  "I clothéd am in flesh and earthly mould,

  My spirit pure, and naked soul, you see,

  A citizen of this celestial hold:

  This place is heaven, and here a room for thee

  Preparéd is among Christ's champions bold:"

  "Ah when," quoth he, "these mortal bonds unknit,

  Shall I in peace, in ease and rest there sit?"

  Hugo replied, "Ere many years shall run,

  Amid the saints in bliss here shalt thou reign;

  But first great wars must by thy hand be done,

  Much blood be shed, and many Pagans slain,

  The holy city by assault be won,

  The land set free from servile yoke again,

  Wherein thou shalt a Christian empire frame,

  And after thee shall Baldwin rule the same.

  "But to increase thy love and great desire

  To heavenward, this blesséd place behold,

  These shining lamps, these globes of living fire,

  How they are turnéd, guided, moved and rolled;

  The angels' singing hear, and all their choir;

  Then bend thine eyes on yonder earth and mould,

  All in that mass, that globe and compass see,

  Land, sea, spring, fountain, man, beast, grass and tree.

  "How vile, how small, and of how slender price,

  Is their reward of goodness, virtue's gain!

  A narrow room our glory vain upties,

  A little circle doth our pride contain,

  Earth like an isle amid the water lies,

  Which sea sometime is called, sometime the main,

  Yet naught therein responds a name so great,

  It's but a lake, a pond, a marish strait."

  Thus said the one,
the other bended down

  His looks to ground, and half in scorn he smiled,

  He saw at once earth, sea, flood, castle, town,

  Strangely divided, strangely all compiled,

  And wondered folly man so far should drown,

  To set his heart on things so base and vild,

  That servile empire searcheth and dumb fame,

  And scorns heaven's bliss, yet proffereth heaven the same.

  Wherefore he answered, "Since the Lord not yet

  Will free my spirit from this cage of clay,

  Lest worldly error vain my voyage let,

  Teach me to heaven the best and surest way:"

  Hugo replied, "Thy happy foot is set

  In the true path, nor from this passage stray,

  Only from exile young Rinaldo call,

  This give I thee in charge, else naught at all.

  "For as the Lord of hosts, the King of bliss,

  Hath chosen thee to rule the faithful band;

  So he thy stratagems appointed is

  To execute, so both shall win this land:

  The first is thine, the second place is his,

  Thou art this army's head, and he the hand,

  No other champion can his place supply,

  And that thou do it doth thy state deny.

  "The enchanted forest, and her charméd treen,

  With cutting steel shall he to earth down hew,

  And thy weak armies which too feeble been

  To scale again these walls reinforcéd new,

  And fainting lie disperséd on the green,

  Shall take new strength new courage at his view,

  The high-built towers, the eastern squadrons all,

  Shall conquered be, shall fly, shall die, shall fall."

  He held his peace; and Godfrey answered so:

  "Oh, how his presence would recomfort me!

  You that man's hidden thoughts perceive and know,

  If I say truth, or if I love him, see.

  But say, what messengers shall for him go?

  What shall their speeches, what their errand be?

  Shall I entreat, or else command the man?

  With credit neither well perform I can."

  "The eternal Lord," the other knight replied,

  "That with so many graces hath thee blest,

  Will, that among the troops thou hast to guide,

  Thou honored be and feared of most and least:

  Then speak not thou lest blemish some betide

  Thy sacred empire if thou make request;

  But when by suit thou movéd art to ruth,

  Then yield, forgive, and home recall the youth.

  "Guelpho shall pray thee, God shall him inspire,

  To pardon this offence, this fault commit

  By hasty wrath, by rash and headstrong ire,

  To call the knight again; yield thou to it:

  And though the youth, enwrapped in fond desire,

  Far hence in love and looseness idle sit,

  Year fear it not, he shall return with speed,

  When most you wish him and when most you need.

  "Your hermit Peter, to whose sapient heart

  High Heaven his secrets opens, tells and shews,

  Your messengers direct can to that part,

  Where of the prince they shall hear certain news,

  And learn the way, the manner, and the art

  To bring him back to these thy warlike crews,

  That all thy soldiers, wandered and misgone,

  Heaven may unite again and join in one.

  "But this conclusion shall my speeches end:

  Know that his blood shall mixéd be with thine,

  Whence barons bold and worthies shall descend,

  That many great exploits shall bring to fine."

  This said, he vanished from his sleeping friend,

  Like smoke in wind, or mist in Titan's shine;

  Sleep fled likewise, and in his troubled thought,

  With wonder, pleasure; joy, with marvel fought.

  The duke looked up, and saw the azure sky

  With argent beams of silver morning spread,

  And started up, for praise and virtue lie

  In toil and travel, sin and shame in bed:

  His arms he took, his sword girt to his thigh,

  To his pavilion all his lords them sped,

  And there in council grave the princes sit,

  For strength by wisdom, war is ruled by wit.

  Lord Guelpho there, within whose gentle breast

  Heaven had infused that new and sudden thought,

  His pleasing words thus to the duke addressed:

  "Good prince, mild, though unasked, kind, unbesought,

  Oh let thy mercy grant my just request,

  Pardon this fault by rage not malice wrought;

  For great offence, I grant, so late commit,

  My suit too hasty is, perchance unfit.

  But since to Godfrey meek benign and kind,

  For Prince Rinaldo bold, I humbly sue,

  And that the suitor's self is not behind

  Thy greatest friends in state or friendship true;

  I trust I shall thy grace and mercy find

  Acceptable to me and all this crew;

  Oh call him home, this trespass to amend,

  He shall his blood in Godfrey's service spend.

  "And if not he, who else dares undertake

  Of this enchanted wood to cut one tree?

  Gainst death and danger who dares battle make,

  With so bold face, so fearless heart as he?

  Beat down these walls, these gates in pieces break,

  Leap o'er these rampires high, thou shalt him see,

  Restore therefore to this desirous band

  Their wish, their hope, their strength, their shield, their hand

  "To me my nephew, to thyself restore

  A trusty help, when strength of hand thou needs,

  In idleness let him consume no more,

  Recall him to his noble acts and deeds!

  Known be his worth as was his strength of yore

  Wher'er thy standard broad her cross outspreads,

  Oh, let his fame and praise spread far and wide,

  Be thou his lord, his teacher and his guide!"

  Thus he entreated, and the rest approve

  His words, with friendly murmurs whispered low.

  Godfrey as though their suit his mind did move

  To that whereon he never thought till now,

  "How can my heart," quoth he, "if you I love,

  To your request and suit but bend and bow?

  Let rigor go, that right and justice be

  Wherein you all consent and all agree.

  "Rinaldo shall return; let him restrain

  Henceforth his headstrong wrath and hasty ire,

  And with his hardy deeds let him take pain

  To correspond your hope and my desire:

  Guelpho, thou must call home the knight again,

  See that with speed he to these tents retire,

  The messengers appoint as likes thy mind,

  And teach them where they should the young man find."

  Up start the Dane that bare Prince Sweno's brand,

  "I will," quoth he, "that message undertake,

  I will refuse no pains by sea or land,

  To give the knight this sword, kept for his sake."

  This man was bold of courage, strong of hand,

  Guelpho was glad he did the proffer make:

  "Thou shalt," quoth he, "Ubaldo shalt thou have

  To go with thee, a knight, stout, wise, and grave."

  Ubaldo in his youth had known and seen

  The fashions strange of many an uncouth land,

  And travelled over all the realms between

  The Arctic circle and hot Meroe's strand,

  And as a man whose wit his guide had been,

  Their customs use he could, tong
ues understand,

  Forthy when spent his youthful seasons were

  Lord Guelpho entertained and held him dear.

  To these committed was the charge and care

  To find and bring again the champion bold,

  Guelpho commands them to the fort repair,

  Where Boemond doth his seat and sceptre hold,

  For public fame said that Bertoldo's heir

  There lived, there dwelt, there stayed; the hermit old,

  That knew they were misled by false report,

  Among them came, and parleyed in this sort:

  "Sir knights," quoth he, "if you intend to ride,

  And follow each report fond people say,

  You follow but a rash and truthless guide

  That leads vain men amiss and makes them stray;

  Near Ascalon go to the salt seaside,

  Where a swift brook falls in with hideous sway,

  An agéd sire, our friend, there shall you find,

  All what he saith, that do, that keep in mind.

  "Of this great voyage which you undertake,

  Much by his skill, and much by mine advise

  Hath he foreknown, and welcome for my sake

  You both shall be, the man is kind and wise."

  Instructed thus no further question make

  The twain elected for this enterprise,

  But humbly yielded to obey his word,

  For what the hermit said, that said the Lord.

  They took their leave, and on their journey went,

  Their will could brook no stay, their zeal, no let;

  To Ascalon their voyage straight they bent,

  Whose broken shores with brackish waves are wet,

  And there they heard how against the cliffs, besprent

  With bitter foam, the roaring surges bet,

  A tumbling brook their passage stopped and stayed,

  Which late-fall'n rain had proud and puissant made,

  So proud that over all his banks he grew,

  And through the fields ran swift as shaft from bow,

  While here they stopped and stood, before them drew

  An agéd sire, grave and benign in show,

  Crowned with a beechen garland gathered new,

  Clad in a linen robe that raught down low,

  In his right hand a rod, and on the flood

  Against the stream he marched, and dry shod yode.

  As on the Rhene, when winter's freezing cold

  Congeals the streams to thick and hardened glass,

  The beauties fair of shepherds' daughters bold

  With wanton windlays run, turn, play and pass;

  So on this river passed the wizard old,

  Although unfrozen soft and swift it was,

  And thither stalkéd where the warriors stayed,

  To whom, their greetings done, he spoke and said: