They gave you to be born of noble kind;
They gave you love to lighten up your mind,
And purge the grosser parts; they gave you care
To please, and courage to deserve the fair.
Thus far they tried you, and by proof they
found
The grain intrusted in a grateful ground;
But still the great experiment remain'd,
They suffer'd you to lose the prize you gain'd,
That you might learn the gift was theirs alone;
And, when restor'd, to them the blessing own.
Restor'd it soon will be; the means prepar'd,
The difficulty smooth'd, the danger shar'd;
Be but yourself, the care to me resign,
Then Iphigene is yours, Cassandra mine.
Your rival Pasimond pursues your life;
Impatient to revenge his ravish'd wife.
But yet not his, to-morrow is behind,
And love our fortunes in one band has join'd:
Two brothers are our foes; Ormisda mine,
As much declar'd as Pasimond is thine.
To-morrow must their common vows be tied;
With love to friend, and fortune for our guide,
Let both resolve to die, or each redeem a bride.
Right I have none, nor hast thou much to
plead;
"Tis force, when done, must justify the deed:
Our task perform'd, we next prepare for flight,
And let the losers talk in vain of right:
We with the fair will sail before the wind;
If they are griev'd, I leave the laws behind.
Speak thy resolves; if now thy courage droop,
Despair in prison, and abandon hope:
But if thou dar'st in arms thy love regain
(For liberty without thy love were vain)
Then second my design to seize the prey,
Or lead to second rape, for well thou know'st
Said Cymon, overjoy'd, Do thou propose The means to fight, and only show thy foes: For from the first, when love had fir'd my mind,
Resolv'd I left the care of life behind.
To this the bold Lysimachus replied:
Let Heav'n be neuter, and the sword decide;
The spousals are prepar'd, already play
The minstrels, and provoke the tardy day:
By this the brides are wak'd, their grooms are
dress'd;
All Rhodes is summon'd to the nuptial feast,
All but myself, the sole unbidden guest.
Unbidden though I am, I will be there;
And, join'd by thee, intend to joy the fair.
Now hear the rest; when day resigns
light,
And cheerful torches gild the jolly night,
Be ready at my call; my chosen few
With arms administer'd shall aid thy crew.
Then, ent'ring unexpected, will we seize
Our destin'd prey, from men dissolv'd in case,
By wine disabled, unprepar'd for fight;
And, hastening to the seas, suborn our flight:
The seas are ours, for I command the fort;
A ship well-mann'd expects us in the port:
The pow'rs, and feed the flames with fragrant
This done, they feast, and at the close of night,
By kindled torches vary their delight;
These lead the lively dance, and those the
brimming bowls invite.
Now at th' appointed place and hour asWith souls resolv'd, the ravishers were join'd: Three bands are form'd; the first is sent before To favor the retreat, and guard the shore; The second at the palace gate is plac'd, And up the lofty stairs ascend the last; A peaceful troop they seem with shining vests, But coats of mail beneath secure their breasts.
Dauntless they enter, Cymon at their head, And find the feast renew'd, the table spread; Sweet voices, mix'd with instrumental sounds, Ascend the vaulted roof, the vaulted roof rebounds: [hall, When, like the harpies, rushing through the The sudden troop appears, the tables fall, Their smoking load is on the pavement thrown; Each ravisher prepares to seize his own; The brides, invaded with a rude embrace, Shriek out for aid, confusion fills the place. Quick to redeem the prey, their plighted lords Advance, the palace gleams with shining swords.
But late is all defence, and succour vain; The rape is made, the ravishers remain; Two sturdy slaves were only sent before To bear the purchas'd prize in safety to the shore :
The troop retires, the lovers close the rear, With forward faces not confessing fear; Backward they move, but scorn their pace to mend; [scend. Then seek the stairs, and with slow haste deFierce Pasimond, their passage to prevent, Thrust full on Cymon's back in his descent; The blade return'd unbath'd, and to the handle bent.
Stout Cymon soon remounts, and cleft in two His rival's head with one descending blow; And as the next in rank Ormisda stood,
He turn'd the point; the sword, inur'd to blood, Bor'd his unguarded breast, which pour'd a purple flood.
With vow'd revenge, the gath'ring crowd pur
The ravishers turn head, the fight renews; The hall is heap'd with corps; the sprinkled gore [floor. Besmears the walls, and floats the marble
Dispers'd at length, the drunken squadron flies; | But pride stood ready to prevent the blow,
The victors to their vessel bear the prize; [cries. For who would die to gratify a foe!
And hear behind loud groans and lamentable His gen'rous mind disdain'd so mean a fate!
The crew with merry shouts their anchors weigh, That pass'd, his next endeavour was to hate.
Then ply their oars, and brush the buxom sea,
But vainer that relief than all the rest,
While troops of gather'd Rhodians crowd the The less he hop'd, with more desire possess'd;
key.
Love stood the siege, and would not yield his
breast.
What should the people do when left alone?
The governor and government are gone:
The public wealth to foreign parts convey'd;
Some troops disbanded, and the rest unpaid.
Rhodes is the sov'reign of the sea no more;
Their ships unrigg'd, and spent their naval store;
They neither could defend, nor can pursue,
But grinn'd their teeth, and cast a helpless view;
In vain with darts a distant war they try,
Short, and more short, the missive weapons fly.
Meanwhile the ravishers their crimes enjoy,
And flying sails and sweeping oars employ:
The cliffs of Rhodes in little space are lost;
Jove's isle they seek, nor Jove denies his coast.
In safety landed on the Candian shore,
With gen'rous wines their spirits they restore;
There Cymon with his Rhodian friends resides,
Both court and wed at once the willing brides.
A war ensues, the Cretans own their cause,
Stiff to defend their hospitable laws;
Both parties lose by turns, and neither wins,
Till peace propounded by a truce begins.
The kindred of the slain forgive the deed,
But a short exile must for show proceed :
The term expir'd, from Candia they remove;
And happy each at home enjoys his love.
§ 30. Theodore and Honoria.
A Translation from Boccace. Dryden.
Or all the cities in Romanian lands,
The chief, and most renown'd, Ravenna stands,
Adorn'd in ancient times with arms and arts,
And rich inhabitants with gen'rous hearts.
But Theodore the brave, above the rest,
With gifts of fortune and of nature blest,
The foremost place for wealth and honor held,
And all in feats of chivalry excell'd.
This noble youth to madness lov'd a dame
Of high degree; Honoria was her name;
Fair as the fairest, but of haughty mind,
And fiercer than became so soft a kind;
Proud of her birth (for equal she had none)
The rest she scorn'd, but hated him alone;
His gifts, his constant courtship, nothing gain'd;
For she, the more he lov'd, the more disdain'd.
He liv'd with all the pomp he could devise,
At tilts and tournaments obtain'd the prize:
But found no favor in his lady's eyes;
Relentless as a rock, the lofty maid
Turn'd all to poison that he did or said:
Nor prayers, nor tears, nor offer'd vows, could
[strove
The work went backward: and the more he
Tadvance his suit, the farther from her love
Wearied, at length, and wanting remedy,
He doubted oft, and oft resolv'd to die :
Change was the next, but change deceiv'd his
He sought a fairer, but found none so fair.
He would have worn her out by slow degrees,
As men by fasting starve th' untam'd disease ;
But present love requir'd a present ease.
Looking he feeds alone his famish'd eyes,
Feeds ling'ring death; but looking not he dies.
Yet still he chose the longest way to fate,
Wasting at once his life, and his estate.
His friends beheld, and pity'd him in vain ;
For what advice can ease a lover's pain?
Absence, the best expedient they could find,
Might save the fortune, if not cure the mind:
This means they long propos'd, but little gain'd;
Yet, after much pursuit, at length obtain❜d.
Hard you may think it was to give consent,
But struggling with his own desires he went,
With large expense, and with a pompous
Provided, as to visit France and Spain,
Or for some distant voyage o'er the main.
But love had clipp'd his wings and cut him
Confin'd within the purlieus of the court.
Three miles he went, nor farther could retreat;
His travels ended at his country-seat:
To Chassis' pleasing plains he took his way,
There pitch'd his tents, and there resolv'd to stay
The spring was in the prime; the neighb'ring
grove
Supply'd with birds, the choristers of love;
Music unbought, that minister'd delight
To morning walks, and lull'd his cares by night:
There he discharg'd his friends; but not th ́ex-
Of frequent treats, and proud magnificence.
He liv'd as kings retire, though more at large
From public business, yet with equal charge;
With house and heart still open to receive;
As well content as love would give him leave:
He would have liv'd more free; but many a
guest,
Who could forsake the friend, pursu'd the feast.
It happ'd one morning as his fancy led,
Before his usual hour he left his bed;
To walk within a lonely lawn that stood
On every side surrounded by a wood :
Alone, he walk'd to please his pensive mind,
And sought the deepest solitude to find:
'Twas in a grove of spreading pines he stray'd;
The winds within the quiv'ring branches play,
And dancing trees a mournful music made.
The place itself was suiting to his care,
Uncouth and savage, as the cruel fair.
He wander'd on, unknowing where he went,
Lost in the wood, and all on love intent:
The day already half his race had run,
And summon'd him to due repast at noon;
But love could feel no hunger but his own.
While list ning to the murm'ring leaves he
stood,
More than a mile immers'd within the wood,
At once the wind was laid; the whisp'ring sound
Was dumb; a rising earthquake rock'd the
ground;
With deeper brown the grove was overspread;
A sudden horror seiz'd his giddy head,
And his ears tingled, and his color fled :
Nature was in alarm; some danger nigh
Seem'd threaten'd, though unseen to mortal eye.
Unus'd to fear, he summon'd all his soul,
And stood collected in himself, and whole;
Not long for soon a whirlwind rose around,
And from afar he heard a screaming sound,
As of a dame distress d, who cried for aid,
And fill'd with loud laments the secret shade.
A thicket close beside the grove there stood
With briers and brambles choak'd, and dwarfish
wood:
From thence the noise, which now approaching
With more distinguish'd notes invades his ear: He rais'd his head, and saw a beauteous maid, With hair dishevell'd, issuing through the shade, Stripp'd of her clothes, and e'en those parts reveal'd,
Which modest nature keeps from sight conceal'd. Her face, her hands, her naked limbs were torn, With passing through the brakes, and prickly thorn,
Two mastiffs gaunt and grim her flight pursu'd,
And oft their fasten'd fangs in blood embru'd:
Oft they came up, and pinch'd her tender side;
Mercy, O mercy, Heaven! she ran, and cry'd:
When Heav'n was nam'd, they loos'd their hold
again;
Then sprung she forth, they follow'd her amain.
Not far behind, a knight of swarthy face,
High on a coal-black steed pursu'd the chase;
With flashing flames his ardent eyes were fill'd,
And in his hand a naked sword he held:
He cheer'd the dogs to follow her who fled,
And vow'd revenge on her devoted head.
As Theodore was born of noble kind,
The brutal action rous'd his manly mind;
Mov'd with unworthy usage of the maid,
He, though unarm'd, resolv'd to give her aid.
A saplin pine he wrench'd from out the ground,
The readiest weapon that his fury found.
Thus furnish'd for offence, he cross'd the way
Betwixt the graceless villain and his prey.
The knight came thund'ring on, but, from
afar,
Thus, in imperious tone, forbad the war :
Cease, Theodore, to proffer vain relief,
Nor stop the vengeance of so just a grief;
But give me leave to seize my destin'd
prey,
And let eternal justice take the way:
I but revenge my fate, disdain'd, betray'd,
And suff'ring death for this ungrateful maid.
He said, at once dismounting from the steed; For now the hell-hounds, with superior speed, Had reach'd the dame, and, fast'ning on her
The ground with issuing streams of purple dy'd;
Stood Theodore surpris'd in deadly fright,
With chatt ring teeth, and bristling hair up-
right;
Yet arm'd with inborn worth, Whate'er said he,
Thou art, who know'st me better than I thee,
Or
prove thy rightful cause, or be defied.
The spectre, fiercely staring, thus reply'd:
Know, Theodore, thy ancestry I claim,
And Guido Cavalcanti was my name:
One common sire our fathers did beget,
My name and story some remember yet:
Thee, then a boy, within my arms I laid,
When for my sins I lov'd this haughty maid;
Not less ador'd in life, nor serv'd by me,
Than proud Honoria now is lov'd by thee.
What did I not her stubborn heart to gain?
But all my vows were answer'd with disdain :
She scorn'd my sorrows, and despis'd my pain.
Long time I dragg'd my days in fruitless care;
Then, loathing life, and plung'd in deep despair,
To finish my unhappy life, I fell
On this sharp sword, and now am damn’d in hell.
Short was her joy, for soon the insulting maid
By Heaven's decree in this cold grave was laid:
And as in unrepented sin she dy'd,
Doom'd to the same bad place, is punish'd for her
pride;
Because she deem'd I well deserv'd to die,
And made a merit of her cruelty.
There, then, we met; both try'd, and both
And this irrevocable sentence pass'd;
That she, whom I so long pursu'd in vain,
Should suffer from my hands a ling'ring pain!
Renew'd to life, that she might daily die,
I daily doom'd to follow, she to fly:"
No more a lover, but a mortal foe,
I seek her life (for love is none below):
As often as my dogs with better speed
Arrest her flight, is she to death decreed :
Then with this fatal sword, on which I dy'd,
I pierce her open back, or tender side,
And tear that harden'd heart from out her
breast,
Which, with her entrails, makes my hungry hounds a feast.
Nor lies she long, but, as the fates ordain,
Springs up to life, and, fresh to second pain,
Is sav'd to-day, to-morrow to be slain.
This, vers'd in death, the infernal knight relates,
And then for proof fulfill'd the common fates; Her heart and bowels through her back he drew,
And fed the hounds that help'd him to pursue.
Stern look'd the fiend, as frustrate of his will,
Not half suffic'd, and greedy yet to kill.
And now the soul, expiring through the wound,
Had left the body breathless on the ground,
When thus the grisly spectre spoke again:
Behold the fruit of ill-rewarded pain:
As many months as I sustain'd her hate,
So many years is she condemn'd by fate
To daily death; and ev'ry several place,
Conscious of her disdain and my disgrace,
Must witness her just punishment, and be
A scene of triumph and reyenge to me!
As in this grove I took the last farewell,
As on this very spot of earth I fell,
As Friday saw me die, so she my prey
Becomes e'en here, on this revolving day.
Thus while he spoke, the virgin from the
ground
Upstarted fresh, already clos'd the wound,
And unconcern'd for all she felt before,
Precipitates her flight along the shore:
The hell-hounds, as ungorg'd with flesh and
blood,
Pursue their prey, and seek their wonted food:
The fiend remounts his courser, mends his pace,
And all the vision vanish'd from the place.
Long stood the noble youth oppress'd with awe,
And stupid at the wondrous things he saw,
Surpassing common faith, transgressing nature's
He would have been asleep, and wish'd to wake; But dreams, he knew, no long impression make,
The place ordain'd was in that haunted grove,
Where the revenging ghost pursu'd his love.
The tables in a proud pavilion spread,
With flow'rs below, and tissue overhead:
The rest in rank, Honoria chief in place,
Was artfully contriv'd to set her face
To front the thicket, and behold the chase.
The feast was serv'd, the time so well forecast,
That just when the dessert and fruits were
plac'd,
The fiend's alarm began; the hollow sound
Sung in the leaves, the forest shook around,
Air blacken'd, roll'd the thunder, groan'd the
ground.
Nor long before the loud laments arise
Of one distress'd, and mastiffs' mingled cries;
And first the dame came rushing through the
[food, And next the famish'd hounds that sought their And grip'd her flanks, and oft essay'd their jaws in blood.
Last came the felon, on his sable steed,
Arm'd with his naked sword, and urg'd his dogs
She ran, and cry'd, her flight directly bent
(A guest unbidden) to the fatal tent,
The scene of death, and place design'd for pu
Loud was the noise, aghast was ev'ry guest, Though strong at first; if vision, to what end,The women shriek'd, the men forsook the feast;
But such as must his future state portend?
His love the damsel, and himself the fiend.
But yet, reflecting that it could not be
From Heaven, which cannot impious acts decree,
Resolv'd within himself to shun the snare,
Which hell for his destruction did prepare;
And as his better genius should direct,
From an ill cause to draw a good effect.
Inspir'd from heaven, he homeward took his
Nor pall'd his new design with long delay :
But of his train a trusty servant sent
To call his friends together at his tent.
They came, and, usual salutations paid,
With words premeditated, thus he said :
What you have often counsell'd, to remove
My vain pursuit of unregarded love,
By thrift my sinking fortune to repair,
Though late, yet is at last become my care:
My heart shall be my own; my vast expense
Reduc'd to bounds, by timely providence:
This only I require; invite for me
Honoria, with her father's family,
Her friends and mine; the cause I shall display,
On Friday next; for that's the appointed day.
Well pleas'd were all his friends, the task was
light,
The father, mother, daughter, they invite;
Hardly the dame was drawn to this repast;
But yet resolv'd, because it was the last.
The day was come, the guests invited came,
And with the rest, th' inexorable dame :
A feast prepar'd with riotous expense,
Much cost, more care, and most magnificence,
The hounds at nearer distance hoarsely bay'd;
The hunter close pursu'd the visionary maid.
She rent the heav'n with loud laments, implor-
ing aid.
The gallants, to protect the lady's right,
Their falchions brandish'd at the grisly spright
High on his stirrups he provok'd the fight.
Then on the crowd he cast a furious look,
And wither'd all their strength before he spoke:
Back, on your lives; let be, said he, my prey,
And let my vengeance take the destin'd way:
Vain are your arms, and vainer your defence,
Against th' eternal doom of Providence:
Mine is th' ungrateful maid by heaven design'd,
Mercy she would not give, nor mercy shall she
At this the former tale again he told,
With thund'ring tone, and dreadful to behold:
Sunk were the hearts with horror of the crime
Nor needed to be warn'd a second time,
But bore each other back: some knew the face,
And all had heard the much lamented case
Of him who fell for love, and this the fatal place.
And now th' infernal minister advanc'd,
Seiz'd the due victim, and with fury lanc'd
Her back, and piercing through her inmost
heart,
Drew backward, as before, th' offending part.
The reeking entrails next he tore away,
And to his meagre mastiffs made a prey.
The pale assistants on each other star'd,
With gaping mouths for issuing words prepar'd,
The still-born sounds upon the palate hung,
And dy'd imperfect on the falt'ring tongue.
The fright was gen'ral; but the female band (A helpless train) in more confusion stand; With horror shudd'ring, on a heap they run, Sick at the sight of hateful justice done; For conscience rung the alarm, and made the case their own
So spread upon a lake, with upward eye,
A plump of fowl behold their foe on high;
They close their trembling troop, and all attend
On whom the sowsing eagle will descend.
But most the proud Honoria fear'd the event,
And thought to her alone the vision sent.
Her guilt presents to her distracted mind
Heaven's justice, Theodore's revengeful kind,
And the same fate to the same sin assign'd:
Already sees herself the monster's prey,
And feels her heart and entrails torn away.
'Twas a mute scene of sorrow, mix'd with fear:
Still on the table lay th' unfinish'd cheer:
The knight and hungry mastiffs stood around,
The mangled dame lay breathless on the
ground;
When on a sudden, re-inspir'd with breath,
Again she rose, again to suffer death;
Nor staid the hell-hounds, nor the hunter staid,
But follow'd, as before, the flying maid:
Th' avenger took from earth th' avenging sword,
And mounting light as air his sable steed he
spurr'd
The clouds dispell'd, the sky resum'd the light,
And nature stood recover'd of her fright.
But fear, the last of ills, remain'd behind,
And horror heavy sat on ev'ry mind.
Nor Theodore encourag'd more the feast,
But sternly look'd, as hatching in his breast
Some deep designs; which when Honoria
view'd,
The fresh impulse her former fright renew'd; She thought herself the trembling dame who fled,
And him the grisly ghost that spurr'd th' infernal steed:
The more dismay'd, for when the guests withdrew,
Their courteous host, saluting all the crew, Regardless pass'd her o'er; nor grac'd with kind
That sting infix'd within her haughty mind, The downfall of her empire she divin'd;
Awak'd, she turn'd her side, and slept again;
The same black vapors mounted in her brain,
And the same dreams return'd with double pain.
Now forc'd to wake, because afraid to sleep,
Her blood all fever'd, with a furious leap,
She sprang from bed, distracted in her mind,
And fear'd, at ev'ry step, a twitching spright be-
hind.
Darkling and desperate, with stagg'ring pace,
Of death afraid, and conscious of disgrace;
Fear, pride, remorse, at once her heart assail'd,
Pride put remorse to flight, but fear prevail'd.
Friday, the fatal day, when next it came,
Her soul forethought the fiend would change his
And her pursue, or Theodore be slain,
And two ghosts join their packs to hunt her o'er
the plain.
This dreadful image so possess'd her mind,
That, desperate any succour else to find,
She ceas'd all farther hope; and now began
To make reflection on th' unhappy man.
Rich, brave, and young, who past expression
lov'd,
Proof to disdain, and not to be remov'd:
Of all the men respected and admir'd,
Of all the dames, except herself, desir'd:
Why not of her? preferr'd above the rest,
By him with knightly deeds, and open love
profess'd?
[dress'd.
So had another been, where he his vows ad-
This quell'd her pride; yet other doubts re-
'main'd,
That, once disdaining, she might be disdain’d.
The fear was just, but greater fear prevail'd,
Fear of her life by hellish hounds assail'd:
He took a low'ring leave; but who can tell
What outward hate might inward love conceal?
Her sex's arts she knew; and why not, then,
Might deep dissembling have a place in men?
Here hope began to dawn; resolv'd to try,
She fix'd on this her utmost remedy:
Death was behind, but hard it was to die.
'Twas time enough at last on death to call,
The precipice in sight: a shrub was all,
That kindly stood betwixt to break the fatal fall.
One maid she had, belov'd above the rest:
Secure of her, the secret she confess'd;
And now the cheerful light her fears dispell'd,
And her proud heart with secret sorrow pin'd.She with no winding turns the truth conceal'd,
Home as they went, the sad discourse renew'd
Of the relentless dame to death pursu'd,
And of the sight obscene so lately view'd.
None durst arraign the righteous doom she bore,
E'en they who pity'd most, yet blam'd her more:
The parallel they needed not to name,
But in the dead they damn'd the living dame.
At ev'ry little noise she look'd behind,
For still the knight was present to her mind :
And anxious oft she started on the way,
And thought the horseman-ghost came thun-
d'ring for his prey.
Return'd, she took her bed with little rest, But in soft slumbers dreamt the fun'ral feast:
But put the woman off, and stood reveal'd:
With faults confess'd commission'd her to go,
If pity yet had place, and reconcile her foe:
The welcome message made, was soon receiv'd;
Twas to be wish'd, and hop'd, but scarce be-
Fate seem'd a fair occasion to present; [liev'd;
He knew the sex, and fear'd she might repent,
Should he delay the moment of consent.
There yet remain'd to gain her friends (a care.
The modesty of maidens well might spare ;)
But she with such a zeal the cause embrac'd
(As women, where they will, are all in haste)
The father, mother, and the kin beside,
Were overborne by fury of the tide ;
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