Page images
PDF
EPUB

The other victor-flame a moment flood,
Then fell, and lifeless left th'extinguith'd wood;
For ever loft, th'irrevocable light
Forfook the black'ning coals, and funk to night:
At either end it whiftled as it flew, dew;
And as the brands were green, fo dropp'd the
Infected as it fell with fweat of fanguine hue.
The maid from that ill omen turn'd her eyes,
And with loud fhricks and clamours rent the fkies,
Nor knew what fignify'd the boding fign,
Butfound the pow'rsdifpleas'd, and fear'd thewrath
divine.

Now by her blandishments and pow'rful charms, When yielded the lay curling in thy arms, E'en by thy fhame, if fhame it may be call'd, When Vulcan had thee in his net enthrall'd; O envy'd ignominy, fweet difgrace, When ev'ry God that faw thee wifh'd thy place! By thofe dear pleasures, aid my arms in fight, And make me conquer in my patron's right : For I am young, a novice in the trade, The fool of love, unpractis'd to perfuade: And want the foothing arts that catch the fair, But, caught my felf, lie ftruggling in the fnare: Then thook the facred shrine, and fudden light | And the I love, or laughs at all my pain, Sprung through the vaulted roof, and made the Or knows her worth too well, and pays me with temple bright. For fure I am, unlefs I win in arms, [difdain. To ftand excluded from Emilia's charms : Nor can my strength avail, unless by thee Endu'd by force, I gain the victory; Then for the fire which warm'd thy gen'rous Pity thy fubject's pains and equal smart. [heart, So be the morrow's fweat and labour mine; The palm and honor of the conqueft thine : Then fhall the war, and ftern debate, and ftrife Immortal, be the bus'nefs of my life; And in thy fane, the dufty fpoils among, [hung: High on the burnifh'd roof, my banners shall be Rank'd with my champion's bucklers, and below, With arms revers'd, th'atchievements of my foe: And while thefe limbs the vital spirit feeds, While day to night, and night to day fucceeds, Thy fmoking altar fhall be fat with food Of incenfe, and the grateful steam of blood; Burnt-off'rings morn and ev'ning fhall be thine; And fires eternal in thy temple fhine.

The pow'r, behold the pow'r in glory fhone,
Bv her bent bow and her keen arrows known;
The reft, a huntrefs iffuing from the wood,
Reclining on her cornel fpear the stood.
Then gracious thus began: Difinifs thy fear,
And Heav'n's unchang'd decrees attentive hear :
More pow'rful Gods have torn thee from my side,
Unwilling to refign, and doom'd a bride :

The two contending knights are weigh'd above;
One Mars protects, and one the Queen of Love:
But which the man, is in the Thund'rer's breaft;
This he pronounc'd, 'tis he who loves thee beft.
The fire that once extinct reviv'd again,
Forefhews the love allotted to remain :
Farewell! the faid, and vanifh'd from the place;
The fheaf of arrows fhook, and rattl'd in the cafe.
Aghaft at this, the royal virgin ftood,
Difclaim'd, and now no more a fifter of the wood;
But to the parting Geddefs thus the pray'd;
Propitious ftill be present to my aid,

Nor quite abandon your once favour'd maid.
Then fighing the return'd; but finil'd betwixt,
With hopes and fears, and joys with forrows mixt.
The next returning planetary hour
Of Mars, who fhar'd the heptarchy of pow'r,
His fteps bold Arcite to the temple bent,
T'adore with Pagan rites the pow'r armipotent:
Then proftrate, low before his altar lay,
Andrais'd his manly voice, and thus began to pray:
Strong God of Arms, whofe iron fceptre fways
The freezing North, and Hyperborean feas,
And Scythian colds, and Thracia's winter coaft,
Where ftand thyfeeds,and thou art honour'dmost:
There moft; but ev'rywhere thy pow'r is known,
The fortune of the fight is all thy own:
Terror is thine, and wild amazement, flung
From out thy chariot, withers ev'n the strong:
And difarray and fhameful rout enfue,
And force is added to the fainting crew.
Acknowledg'd as thou art, accept my pray'r,
If aught I have atchiev'd deferve thy care:
If to my utmoft pow'r with fword and thield
I dar'd the death, unknowing how to yield,
And, falling in my rank, ftill kept the field:
Then let my arips prevail, by thee fuftain'd,
That Emily by conqueft may be gain'd.
Have pity on my pains; nor thofe unknown
To Mars, which, when a lover, were his own.
Venus, the public care of all above,
Thy ftubborn heart has foften'd into love:

1

}

The bush of yellow beard, this length of hair,
Which from my birth inviolate I bear,
Guiltlefs of fteel, and from the razor free,
Shall fall a plenteous crop, referv'd for thee.
So may my arms with victory be blest,
I ask no more; let fate difpofe the rest.

The champion ceas'd; there follow'd in the clofe
A hollow groan: a murm'ring wind arose;
The rings of iron, that on the doors were hung,
Sent out a jarring found, and harfhly rung:
The bolted gates flew open at the blast,
The ftorm rush'd in, and Arcite stood aghaft:
The flames were blown afide, yet fhone they
bright,

Fann'd by the wind, and
ruffled light.
gave a
Then from the ground a fcent began to rife,
Sweet-fmelling as accepted facrifice:
This omen pleas'd, and as the flames afpire
With od'rous incenfe Arcite heaps the fire:
Nor wanted hymns to Mars, or heathen charms:
At length the nodding statue clash'd his arms,
And with a fullen found and feeble cry, [tory.
Half funk, and half pronounc'd, the word of Vic-
For this, with foul devout, he thank'd the God,
And, of fuccefs fecure, return'd to his abode.

Thefe vows thus granted, rais'd a strife above,
Betwixt the God of War and Queen of Love.
She granting firft, had right of time to plead ;
But he had granted tɔo, nor would recede.
Jove was for Venus; but he fear'd his wife,
And feem'd unwilling to decide the ftrife;

Till Saturn from his leaden throne arose,
And found a way the diff'rence to compose:
Though fparing of his grace, to mifchief bent,
He feldom does a good with good intent.
Wayward, but wife; by long experience taught
To please both parties, for ill ends, he fought:
For this advantage age from youth has won,
As not to be outridden, though outrun.
By fortune he was now to Venus trin'd,
And with stern Mars in Capricorn was join'd:
Of him difpofing in his own abode,

He footh'd the Goddess, while he gull'd the God:
Cease, daughter, to complain, and stint the ftrife;
Thy Palamon fhall have his promis'd wife :
And Mars, the lord of conqueft, in the fight
With palm and laurel fhall adorn his knight.
Wide is my course, nor turn I to my place,
Till length of time, and move with tardy pace.
Man feels me when I prefs th'etherial plains;
My hand is heavy, and the wound remains.
Mine is the fhipwreck, in a wat❜ry fign:
And in an earthy, the dark dungeon mine.
Cold fhiv'ring agues, melancholy care,
And bitter blafting winds, and poifon'd air,
Are mine, and wilful death, resulting from
defpair.

The throttling quinfey 'tis my ftar appoints,
And rheumatifms afcend to rack the joints:
When churls rebel against their native prince,
I arm their hands and furnish the pretence;
And, houfing in the lion's hateful fign,
Bought fenates and deferting troops are mine.
Mine is the privy pois'ning; I command
Unkindly feafons, and ungrateful land.
By me kings palaces are push'd to ground,
And miners crush'd beneath their mines are found.
'Twas I flew Samfon, when the pillar'd hall
Fell down, and crufh'd the many with the fall.
My looking is the fire of peftilence,

That fweeps at once the people and the prince.
Now weep no more, but truft thy grandfire's art,
Mars fhall be pleas'd, and thou perform thy part.
'Tis ill, though diff'rent your complexions are,
The family of Heav'n for men fhould war.
Th'expedient pleas'd, where neither loft his right;
Mars had the day, and Venus had the night.
The management they left to Chronos' care;
Now turn we to th'effect, and fing the war.

In Athens all was pleasure, mirth, and play, All proper to the fpring, and fprightly May; Which ev'ry foul infpir'd with fuch delight, 'Twas jefting all the day, and love at night. Heav'n fmil'd, and gladded was the heart of man; And Venus had the world as when it firft began. At length in fleep their bodies they compofe, And dreamt the future night, and early rofe. Now scarce the dawning day began to fpring, Asata fignal giv'n, the streets with clamours ring: At once the crowd arofe; confus'd and high, Ev'n from the Heav'n was heard a fhouting cry; For Mars was carly up, and rous'd the sky. The Gods came downward to behold the wars, Sharp'ning their fights,and leaning from theirftars. The neighing of the gen'rous horfe was heard, For battle by the bufy groom prepar'd,

Ruftling of harness, rattling of the shield,
Clatt'ring of armour, furbish'd for the field.
Crowds to the castle mounted up the street,
Batt'ring the pavement with their courfers feet.
The greedy fight might there devour the gold
Of glitt'ring arms, too dazzling to behold;
And polish'd steel that cast the view afide,
And crefted morions, with their plumy pride.
Knights, with a long retinue of their 'fquires,
In gaudy liv'ries march, and quaint attires.
One lac'd the helm, another held the lance,
A third the shining buckler did advance.
The courfer paw'd the ground with restless feet,
And fnorting foam'd, and champ'd the golden bit.
The fmiths and armourers on palfreys ride,
Files in their hands, and hammers at their fide,
And nails for loofen'd fpears, and thongs for
shields provide.

The yeomen guard the streets, in feemly bands;
And clowns come crowding on, with cudgels in

their hands.

The trumpets, next the gate, in order plac'd, Attend the fign to found the martial blast; The palace-yard is fill'd with floating tides, And the laft comers bear the former to the fides. The throng is in the midft; the common crew Shut out, the hall admits the better few; In knots they ftand, or in a rank they walk, Serious in afpect, earneft in their talk; Factious, and favouring this or t'other fide, As their ftrong fancy or weak reafon guide, Their wagers back their wishes; numbers hold With the fair freckled king, and beard of gold; So vig'rous are his eyes, fuch rays they caft, So prominent his eagle's beak is plac'd. But moft their looks on the black monarch bend, His rifing mufcles and his brawn commend; His double-biting axe and beamy fpear, Each asking a gigantic force to rear. All fpoke as partial favour mov'd the mind; And, fafe themselves, at others coft divin'd.

Wak'd by the cries, th' Athenian chief arose, The knightly forms of combat to difpofe; And, paffing thro' th'obfequious guaids, he fat Confpicuous on a throne, fublime in ftate; There, for the two contending knights he fent Arm'd cap-a-pee, with rev'rence low they bent; He fimil'd on both, and with fuperior look, Alike their offer'd adoration took. The people prefs on ev'ry side, to fee Their awful prince, and hear his high decree. Then figning to their heralds with his hand, They gave his orders from their lofty stand. Silence is thrice enjoin'd; then thus aloud [crowd: The king at arms befpeaks the knights andlift'nin g

Our fov'reign lord has ponder'd in his mind The means to fpare the blood of gentle kind; And of his grace and inborn clemency, He modifies his first fevere decree! The keener edge of battle to rebate, The troops for honor fighting, not for hate. He wills not death fhould terminate their ftrife; And wounds, if wounds enfue, be fhort of life: But iffues, ere the fight, his dread command, That flings afar, and poinards hand to hand,

Be

Be banish'd from the field, that none fhall dare
With fhort'ned fword to stab in clofer war;
But in fair combat fight with manly ftrength,
Nor push with biting point, but ftrike at length,
The tourney is allow'd but one career
Of the tough ath, with the fharp grinded fpear;
But knights unhors'd may rife from off the plain,
And fight on foot their honor to regain;
Nor, if at mifchief taken, on the ground
Be flain, but prifoners to the pillar bound,
At either barrier plac'd; nor (captives made)
Be freed, or arm'd anew the fight invade.
The chief of either fide, bereft of life,
Or yielded to his foe, concludes the ftrife. [young
Thus dooms the lord: now valiant knights and
Fight each his fill with fwords and maces long.
The herald ends: the vaulted firmament
With loud acclaim and vaft applause is rent,
Heav'n guard a prince fo gracious and fo good,
So juft, and yet so provident of blood!
This was the gen'ral cry. The trumpets found,
And warlike fymphony is heard around.
The marching troops through Athens take their
The great earl-marthal orders their array. [way,
The fair from high the paffing pomp behold;
A rain of flow'rs is from the window roll'd;
The casements are with golden tissue spread,
And horfes hoofs, for earth, on filken tapestry
The king goes midmoft, and the rivals ride [tread:
In equal rank, and clofe his either fide.
Next after these there rode the royal wife,
With Emily, the cause and the reward of ftrife.
The following cavalcade, by three and three,
Proceed by titles marshal'd in degree.
Thus through the fouthern gate they take their
And at the lift arriv'd ere prime of day. [way,
There, parting from the king, the chiefs divide,
And, wheeling east and weft, before their many

ride.

Th' Athenian monarch mounts his throne on high,
And after him the queen and Emily:

Next thefe the kindred of the crown are grac'd
With nearer feats, and lords by ladies plac'd.
Scarce were they seated, when with clamours loud
In rufh'd at once a rude promifcuous crowd:
The guards and then each other overbear,
And in a moment throng the fpacious theatre.
Now chang'd the jarring noife to whispers low,
As winds forfaking feas more foftly blow;
When at the western gate, on which the car
Is plac'd aloft, that bears the God of war,
Proud Arcite ent'ring arin'd before his train,
Stops at the barrier, and divides the plain.
Red was his banner, and difplay'd abroad
The bloody colours of his patron God.

At that felf moment enters Palamon
The gate of Venus, and the rifing fun;
Wav'd by the wanton winds, his banner flics,
All maiden white, and thares the people's eyes.
From caft to weft, look all the world around,
Two troops fo match'd were never to be found:
Sach bodies built for ftrength, of equal age,
In ftature fiz'd, fo proud an equipage :
The niceft eye could no diftinction make
Where lay th'advantage, or what fide to take.

Thus rang'd, the herald for the laft proclaims A filence, while they answer'd to their names: For fo the king decreed, to fhun the care, The fraud of musters falfe, the common bane of

war.

The tale was juft, and then the gates were clos'd;
And chief to chief, and troop to troop oppos'd.
The heralds laft retir'd, and loudly cry'd,
The fortune of the field be fairly try'd.

At this, the challenger with fierce defy Histrumpet founds; the challeng'd makesreply: With clangor rings the field, refounds the vaulted fky.

Their vizors clos'd, their lances in the reft,
Or at the helmet pointed, or the creft;
They vanish from the barrier, speed the race,
And fpurring fee decreate the middle space.
A cloud of fmoke envelops cither hoft,
And all at once the combatants are loft:
Darkling they join adverse, and shock unfeen,
Courfers with courfers juftling, men with men :
As lab'ring in eclipfe a while they ftay,
Till the next blaft of wind reftores the day.
They look anew: the beauteous form of fight
Is chang'd, and war appears a grizly fight.
Two troops in fair array one moment show'd;
The next, a field with fallen bodies ftrow'd:
Not half the number in their feats are found;
But men and fteeds lie grov'ling on the ground.
The points of fpears are stuck within the fhield,
The fteeds without their riders fcour the field;
The knights unhors'd, on foot renew the fight;
The glitt'ring faulchions caft a gleaming light:
Hauberks and helms are hew'd with many

[blocks in formation]

This thrusts amidst the throng with furious force;
Down goes, at once, the horfeman and the horse:
That courfer ftumbles on the falling fteed,
And flound'ring, throws the rider o'er his head.
One rolls along, a foot-ball to his foes;
One with a broken truncheon deals his blows.
This halting, this difabled with his wound,
In triumph led, is to the pillar bound,
Where by the king's award he must abide:
There goes a captive led on t'other fide.
By fits they ceafe; and, leaning on the lance,
Take breath a while, and to new fight advance.

Full oft the rivals met, and neither fpar'd
His utmoft force, and each forgot to ward.
The head of this was to the faddle bent;
The other backward to the crupper fent :
Both were by turns unhors'd; the jealous blows
Fall thick and heavy, when on foot they close.
So deep their faulchions bite, that ev'ry stroke
Pierc'd to the quick; and equal wounds they
gave and took.

Borne far afunder by the tides of men,
Like adamant and fteel they meet again.

So when a tiger fucks the bullock's blood,
A famith'd lion iffuing from the wood
Roars lordly fierce, and challenges the food.

Each

Each claims poffeffion, neither will obey,
But both their paws are faften'd on the prey;
They bite, they tear; and while in vain they ftrive,
The fwains come arm'd between, and both to
distance drive.
[tend
At length, as fate foredoom'd, and all things
By courfe of time to their appointed end,
So when the fun to weft was far declin'd,
And both afresh in mortal battle join'd,
The strong Emetrius came in Arcite's aid,
And Palamon with odds was overlaid :
For, turning fhort, he struck with all his might
Full on the helmet of th’unwary knight.
Deep was the wound; he stagger'd with the blow,
And turn'd him to his unexpected foe;
Whom with fuch force he ftruck, he fell'd him
down,

And cleft the circle of his golden crown.

But Arcite's men, who now prevail'd in fight, Twice ten at once furround the fingle knight: O'erpow'r'd at length, they force him to the ground Unyielded as he was, and to the pillar bound; And king Lycurgus, while he fought in vain His friend to free, was tumbled on the plain.

Who now laments but Palamon, compell'd No more to try the fortune of the field! And, worse than death, to view with hateful eyes His rival's conquest, and renounce the prize!

The royal judge on his tribunal plac'd,
Who had beheld the fight from first to last,
Bade cease the war, pronouncing from on high,
Arcite of Thebes had won the beauteous Emily.
The found of trumpets to the voice reply'd,
And round the royal lifts, the heralds cry'd,
Arcite of Thebes has won the beauteous bride.
The people rend the skies with vaft applause;
All own the chief when fortune owns the caufe.
Arcite is own'd ev'n by the gods above,
And conqu❜ring Mars infults the Queen of Love.
So laugh'd he, when the rightful Titan fail'd,
And Jove's ufurping arms in heav'n prevail'd;
Laugh'd all the pow'rs who favour tyranny;
And all the standing army of the fky.
But Venus with dejected eyes appears,
And weeping on the lifts, diftill'd her tears;
Her will refus'd, which grieves a woman most,
And, in her champion foil'd, the caufe of Love
is loft.

Till Saturn faid, Fair daughter, now be still,
The bluft'ring fool has fatisfy'd his will;
His boon is giv'n; his knight has gain'd the day,
But loft the prize, th'arrears are yet to pay.
Thy hour is come, and mine the care fhall be
To please thy knight, and fet thy promife free.
Now, while the heralds run the lifts around,
And Arcite, Arcite, heav'n and earth refound,
A miracle (nor less it could be call'd)
Their joy with unexpected forrow pall'd.
The victor knight had laid his helm afide,
Part for his eafe, the greater part for pride:
Bare-headed, popularly low he bow'd,
And paid the falutations of the crowd.
Then, fpurring at full speed, ran headlong on
Where Thefeus fat on his imperial throne;

Furious he drove, and upward caft his eye,
Where, next the queen, was plac'd his Emily;
Then paffing to the faddle-bow he bent:
A fweet regard the gracious virgin lent
(For woman, to the brave an eafy prey,
Still follow fortune where the leads the way);
Just then, from earth fprung out a flashing fire,
By Pluto fent, at Saturn's Lad defire:
The ftartling fteed was feiz'd with fudden fright,
And, bounding, o'er the pommel caft the knight:
Forward he flew, and pitching on his head,
He quiver'd with his feet, and lay for dead.
Black was his count'nance in a little space;
For all the blood was gather'd in his face.
Help was at hand: they rear'd him from the
ground,

And from his cumbrous arms his limbs unbound;
Then lanc'd a vein, and watch'd returning breath;
It came, but clogg'd with fymptoms of his death.
The faddle-bow the noblest parts had preft,
All bruis'd and mortify'd his manly breaft.
Him ftill entranc'd, and in a litter laid,
They bore from field, and to his bed convey'd.
At length he wak'd, and, with a feeble cry,
The word he firft pronounc'd was Emily.

Meantime the king, tho' inwardly he mourn'd,
In pomp triumphant to the town return'd,
Attended by the chiefs who fought the field
(Now friendly mix'd, and in one troop compell'd)
Compos'd his looks to counterfeited cheer,
And bade them not for Arcite's life to fear.
But that which gladded all the warrior-train,
Tho' moft were forely wounded, none were flain.
The furgeons foon defpoil'd them of their arms,
And fome with falves they cure, and fome with
charms;

Foment the bruifes, and the pains affuage,
And heal their inward hurts with fov'reign
draughts of fage.

The king in perfon vifits all around;
Comforts the fick, congratulates the found;
Honours the princely chiefs, rewards the reft,
And holds for thrice three days a royal feast.
None was difgrac'd; for failing is no shame;
And cowardice alone is lofs of fame.

The vent'rous knight is from the faddle thrown;
But 'tis the fault of fortune, not his own.
If crowds and palms the conqu'ring fide adorn,
The victor under better ftars was born:
The brave man feeks not popular applause,
Nor overpow'r'd with arms deferts his caufe;
Unfham'd, tho' foil'd, he does the beft he can;
Force is of brutes, but honour is of man.

Thus Thefeus finil'd on all with equal grace;
And each was fet according to his place.
With cafe were reconcil'd the diff'ring parts;
For envy never dwells in noble hearts.
At length they took their leave, the time expir'd,
Well pleas'd, and to their fev'ral homes retir'd."

Meanwhile the health of Arcite still impairs ; From bad proceeds to worse, and mocks the leeches cares;

Swoln is his breaft; his inward pains increafe;
All means are us'd, and all without fuccefs.

The

The clotted blood lies heavy on his heart,
Corrupts, and there remains in spite of art:
Nor breathing veins, nor cupping will prevail;
All outward remedies and inward fail:
The mold of nature's fabric is destroy'd;
Her vellels difcompos'd, her virtue void:
The bellows of his lungs begin to fwell;
All out of frame is ev'ry fecret cell,
Nor can the good receive, nor bad expel.
Those breathing organs, thus within oppreft
With venom, foon diftend the finews of his breaft.
Nought profits him to fave abandon'd life,
Nor vomits upward aid, nor downward laxative.
The midinoft region batter'd and destroy'd,
When nature cannot work, th’effect of art is void.
For phyfic can but mend our crazy ftate,
Patch an old building, not a new create.
Arcite is doom'd to die in all his pride,
Muft leave his youth, and yield his beauteous
bride,

Gain'd hardly, against right, and unenjov'd.
When 'twas declar'd all hope of life was paft,
Confcience (that of all phyfic works the last)
Caus'd him to fend for Emily in hafte.
With her, at his defire, came Palamon;
Then on his pillow rais'd, he thus begun :
No language can exprefs the fmallest part
Of what I feel, and fuffer in my heart,
For you whom best I love and value moft;
But to your fervice I bequeath my ghost;
Which from this mortal body, when unty'd,
Unfeen, unheard, fhall hover at your fide;
Nor fright you waking, nor your fleep offend,
But wait officious, and your fteps attend.
How I have lov'd-excufe my falt'ring tongue,
My fpirits feeble, and my pains are strong:
This I may fay, I only grieve to die,
Because I lofe my charming Emily.

To die, when Heav'n had put you in my pow'r,
Fate could not choose a more malicious hour!
What greater curfe could envious fortune give,
Than just to die when I began to live!

Vain men,

how vanishing a blifs we crave, Nor warm in love, now with'ring in the grave! Never, O never more to fee the fun! Still dark, in a damp vault, and still alone! This fate is common; but I lofe my breath Near blifs, and yet not blefs'd before my death. Farewell! but take me dying in your arms; 'Tis all I can enjoy of all your charms: This hand I cannot but in death refign; Ah! could I live! but while I live 'tis mine. I feel my end approach, and, thus embrac❜d,. Am pleas'd to die; but hear me fpeak my last: Ah! my fweet foe, for you, and you alone, I broke my faith with injur'd Palamon. But love the fenfe of right and wrong confounds; Strong love and proud ambition have no bounds. And much I doubt, fhould Heav'n my life prolong, I fhould return to juftify my wrong. For, while my former flames remain within, Repentance is but want of pow'r to fin. With mortal hatred I purfu'd his life,

Nor he, nor you, were guilty of the strife;

Nor I, but as I lov'd; yet all combin'd;
Your beauty, and my impotence of mind,
And his concurrent fame, that blew my fire;
For fill our kindred fouls had one defire.
He had a moment's right, in point of time;
Had I feen first, then his had been the crime.
Fate made it mine, and juftify'd his right;
Nor holds this earth a more deferving knight
For virtue, valour, and for noble blood,
Truth, honour, all that is compriz'd in good;
So help me Heav'n, in all the world is none
So worthy to be lov'd as Palamon.
He loves you too, with fuch an holy fire
As will not, cannot, but with life expire:
Our vow'd affections both have often try'd,
Nor any love but yours could ours divide.
Then, by my love's inviolable band,
By my long fuff'ring, and my fhort command,'-
If e'er you plight your vows when I am gone,
Have pity on the faithful Palamon.

This was his laft; for death came on amain,
And exercis'd below his iron reign;
Then upward to the feat of life he goes:
Senfe fled before him, what he touch'd he froze :
Yet could he not his clofing eyes withdraw,
Tho' lefs and lefs of Emily he faw;
So, fpeechlefs, for a little space he lay;
Then grafp'd the hand lie held, and figh'd his
foul away

But whither went his foul, let fuch relate
Who fearch the fecrets of the future ftate.
Divines can fay but what themselves believe;
Strong proofs they have, but not demonstrative:
For, were all pain, then all fides must agree,
And faith itself be loft in certainty.
To live uprightly then is fure the best;

To fave ourselves, and not to damn the rest.
The foul of Arcite went where heathens go,
Who better live than we, tho' lefs they know.
In Palamon a manly grief appears;
Silent, he wept, afham'd to fhew his tears:
Emilia fhrick'd but once, and then, oppreft
With forrow, funk upon her lover's breast;
Till Thefeus in his arms convey'd with care,
Far from fo fad a fight the fwooning fair.
'Twere lofs of time her forrow to relate,
Ill bears the fex a youthful lover's fate,
When juft approaching to the nuptial state;
But, like a low-hung cloud, it rains fo faft,
That all at once it falls, and cannot laft.
The face of things is chang'd, and Athens now,
That laugh'd fo late, becomes the fcene of woe:
Matrons and maids, both fexes, ev'ry state,
With tears lament the knight's untimely fate.
Nor greater grief in falling Troy was feen
For Hector's death; but Hector was not then.
Old men with duft deform'd their hoary hair;
The women beat their breasts, their checks they

tare.

Why would't thou go, with one confent they cry, When thou hadft gold enough, and Emily? Thefeus himself, who thould have cheer'd the grief

Of others, wanted now the fame relief.

Old

« PreviousContinue »