For all that humble lore to him was know;
His sober lips then did he softly part,
Whence of pure rhetoric, whole streams outflow,
And thus he said, while on the Christian lords
Down fell the mildew of his sugared words:
LXI
But on his breast Alethes placed his hand,
Bowed down his head, and bent on earth his eyes,
And, in the fashion of his native land,
His deep respect and reverence testifies.
He then began, and from his lips outsprung
In honeyed streams of eloquence a flood;
And as the Franks had learned the Syrian tongue,
That which he said was fully understood.
LXII.
O degno sol, cui d’ubbidire or degni
Questa adunanza di famosi eroi,
Che per l’addietro ancor le palme e i regni
492 Da te conobbe, e dai consiglj tuoi.
Il nome tuo, che non riman tra i segni
D’Alcide, omai risuona anco fra noi:
E la fama d’Egitto in ogni parte
496 Del tuo valor chiare novelle ha sparte.
LXII
“O only worthy, whom the earth all fears,
High God defend thee with his heavenly shield,
And humble so the hearts of all thy peers,
That their stiff necks to thy sweet yoke may yield:
These be the sheaves that honor’s harvest bears,
The seed thy valiant acts, the world the field,
Egypt the headland is, where heaped lies
Thy fame, worth, justice, wisdom, victories.
LXII
‘O worthy only thou, that this famed band
Of heroes deign obedience unto thee;
Who through thy counsel and thy powerful hand,
Have kingdoms gained in many a victory;
Ev’n that which scorned Alcides’ bounds, thy name,
Has to our distant territory sped,
And in all parts of Egypt’s realm has Fame
Most brilliant tidings of thy valour spread.
LXIII.
Nè v’è fra tanti alcun che non le ascolte,
Come egli suol le maraviglie estreme;
Ma dal mio Re con istupore accolte
500 Sono non sol, ma con diletto insieme:
E s’appaga in narrarle anco più volte,
Amando in te ciò ch’altri invidia e teme.
Ama il valore, e volontario elegge
504 Teco unirsi d’amor, se non di legge.
LXIII
“These altogether doth our sovereign hide
In secret store-house of his princely thought,
And prays he may in long accordance bide,
With that great worthy which such wonders wrought,
Nor that oppose against the coming tide
Of proffered love, for that he is not taught
Your Christian faith, for though of divers kind,
The loving vine about her elm is twined.
LXIII
‘Nor ‘mid so many of us is there one
Hears it, but as he greatest wonders might;
But my king hears thy exploits not alone
With deep amazement, but extreme delight;
Well pleased he is thy prowess to record,
Praising in thee what were to others cause
Of envious fear; and of his own accord
A league now seeks of love, if not of laws.
LXIV.
Da sì bella cagion dunque sospinto,
L’amicizia e la pace a te richiede;
E l’ mezzo, onde l’un resti all’altro avvinto,
508 Sia la virtù, s’esser non può la fede.
Ma perchè inteso avea che t’eri accinto
Per iscacciar l’amico suo di sede;
Volle, pria ch’altro male indi seguisse,
512 Ch’a te la mente sua per noi s’aprisse.
LXIV
“Receive therefore in that unconquered hand
The precious handle of this cup of love,
If not religion, virtue be the band
‘Twixt you to fasten friendship not to move:
But for our mighty king doth understand,
You mean your power ‘gainst Juda land to prove,
He would, before this threatened tempest fell,
I should his mind and princely will first tell.
LXIV
‘ — Urged then by such praiseworthy motives, he
Demandeth peace and friendship on thy side,
And if faith cannot, then let valour be
The means by which ye may become allied.
But having heard that thou hadst armed, to drive
From his dominions Aladine, his friend,
He wished, ere further evils should arrive,
His mind to thee through us, his envoys, send.
LXV.
E la sua mente è tal: che s’appagarti
Vorrai di quanto hai fatto in guerra tuo,
Nè Giudea molestar, nè l’altre parti
516 Che ricopre il favor del regno suo;
Ei promette all’incontro assicurarti
Il non ben fermo stato: e se voi duo
Sarete uniti, or quando i Turchi e i Persi
520 Potranno unqua sperar di riaversi?
LXV
“His mind is this, he prays thee be contented
To joy in peace the conquests thou hast got,
Be not thy death, or Sion’s fall lamented,
Forbear this land, Judea trouble not,
Things done in haste at leisure be repented:
Withdraw thine arms, trust not uncertain lot,
For oft to see what least we think betide;
He is thy friend ‘gainst all the world beside.
LXV
‘ — His mind is this: That thou contented rest
With what thou hast gained already in the war;
Nor Judah, nor the other parts molest,
That by his sovran grace protected are:
He, on the other hand, will guarantee
Thy own not firm position: if ye two
Should in alliance thus united be,
What can the Turk or Persian hope to do?
LXVI.
Signor, gran cose in picciol tempo hai fatte,
Che lunga età porre in obblio non puote;
Eserciti, città, vinti, e disfatte,
524 Superati disagj, e strade ignote;
Sicch’al grido, o smarrite o stupefatte
Son le provincie intorno, e le remote;
E se ben acquistar puoi novi imperj,
528 Acquistar nova gloria indarno speri.
LXVI
“True labour in the vineyard of thy Lord,
Ere prime thou hast the imposed day-work done,
What armies conquered, perished with thy sword?
What cities sacked? what kingdoms hast thou won?
All ears are mazed while tongues thine acts record,
Hands quake for fear, all feet for dread do run,
And though no realms you may to thraldom bring,
No higher can your praise, your glory spring.
LXVI
‘Important things in a short space thou hast done,
Which time can never in oblivion hide;
Razed rampired cities, famous battles won,
Surmounted hardships, unknown tracks defied.
So that or frightened or confounded, sire,
At the mere news, those far and near remain;
And though thou mayst new provinces acquire,
To acquire fresh glory thou must hope in vain.
LXVII.
Giunta è tua gloria al sommo, e per l’innanzi
Fuggir le dubbie guerre a te conviene;
Ch’ove tu vinca, sol di stato avanzi,
532 Nè tua gloria maggior quinci diviene:
Ma l’imperio acquistato e preso di
anzi,
E l’onor perdi, se ‘l contrario avviene.
Ben gioco è di fortuna audace e stolto,
536 Por contra il poco e incerto, il certo e ‘l molto.
LXVII
“Thy sign is in his Apogaeon placed,
And when it moveth next, must needs descend,
Chance in uncertain, fortune double faced,
Smiling at first, she frowneth in the end:
Beware thine honor be not then disgraced,
Take heed thou mar not when thou think’st to mend,
For this the folly is of Fortune’s play,
‘Gainst doubtful, certain; much, ‘gainst small to lay.
LXVII
‘Thy fame has reached its zenith, and ‘twere right
That thou henceforth all dubious wars forswore;
If conqueror, conquest would increase thy might,
But could not, sire, increase thy glory more:
But should reverses happen, thou wouldst lose
Honour, to mention not each captured state;
And he is mad at Fortune’s game who throws
Sure stakes ‘gainst doubtful, against small ones great
LXVIII.
Ma il consiglio di tal, cui forse pesa
Ch’altri gli acquisti a lungo andar conserve,
E l’aver sempre vinto in ogni impresa,
540 E quella voglia natural che ferve,
E sempre è più ne’ cor più grandi accesa,
D’aver le genti tributarie e serve;
Faran, per avventura, a te la pace
544 Fuggir, più che la guerra altri non face.
LXVIII
“Yet still we sail while prosperous blows the wind,
Till on some secret rock unwares we light,
The sea of glory hath no banks assigned,
They who are wont to win in every fight
Still feed the fire that so inflames thy mind
To bring more nations subject to thy might;
This makes thee blessed peace so light to hold,
Like summer’s flies that fear not winter’s cold.
LXVIII
‘But the advice of one who, perhaps, grieves
That others keep for long what they have gained,
In each emprise to have won fresh laurel leaves,
And that innate desire which is ingrained,
And glows most strongly in the strongest core,
To have kings subjected, provinces o’errun,
Will make thee peace avoid, it may be, more
Than others would war’s deadliest perils shun.
LXIX.
T’esorteranno a seguitar la strada
Che t’è dal fato largamente aperta:
A non depor questa famosa spada,
548 Al cui valore ogni vittoria è certa,
Finchè la legge di Macon non cada:
Finchè l’Asia per te non sia deserta.
Dolci cose ad udire, e dolci inganni,
552 Ond’escon poi sovente estremi danni.
LXIX
“They bid thee follow on the path, now made
So plain and easy, enter Fortune’s gate,
Nor in thy scabbard sheathe that famous blade,
Till settled by thy kingdom, and estate,
Till Macon’s sacred doctrine fall and fade,
Till woeful Asia all lie desolate.
Sweet words I grant, baits and allurements sweet,
But greatest hopes oft greatest crosses meet.
LXIX
‘Thee such will urge to follow to its close
That path now largely opened by the Fates,
And ne’er that celebrated sword depose,
Upon whose valour certain victory waits,
Until a desert Asia’s made by thee,
And Mahmoud’s crescent sinks before the Cross.
Delusions sweet: still, pleasant though they be,
They often end in most disastrous loss.
LXX.
Ma s’animosità gli occhj non benda,
Nè il lume oscura in te della ragione,
Scorgerai ch’ove tu la guerra prenda,
556 Hai di temer, non di sperar cagione;
Chè fortuna quaggiù varia a vicenda,
Mandandoci venture or triste, or buone:
Ed ai voli troppo alti e repentini
560 Sogliono i precipizj esser vicini.
LXX
“For, if thy courage do not blind thine eyes,
If clouds of fury hide not reason’s beams,
Then may’st thou see this desperate enterprise.
The field of death, watered with danger’s streams;
High state, the bed is where misfortune lies,
Mars most unfriendly, when most kind he seems,
Who climbeth high, on earth he hardest lights,
And lowest falls attend the highest flights.
LXX
‘But should blind passion not obscure thine eyes,
And cause the light of Truth to disappear,
Thou’lt find in any future enterprise
No cause at all for hope, but much for fear;
Since Fortune changes — clouded now, now bright —
Varying by turns; and they who madly soar
In too ambitious and too high a flight,
Are apt to haste their ruinous downfall more.
LXXI.
Dimmi, s’a danni tuoi l’Egitto move,
D’oro e d’arme potente, e di consiglio:
E s’avvien che la guerra anco rinove
564 Il Perso e ‘l Turco, e di Cassano il figlio;
Quai forzi opporre a sì gran furia, o dove
Ritrovar potrai scampo al tuo periglio?
Ti affida forse il Re malvagio Greco,
568 Il qual dai sacri patti unito è teco?
LXXI
“Tell me if, great in counsel, arms and gold,
The Prince of Egypt war ‘gainst you prepare,
What if the valiant Turks and Persians bold,
Unite their forces with Cassanoe’s heir?
Oh then, what marble pillar shall uphold
The falling trophies of your conquest fair?
Trust you the monarch of the Greekish land?
That reed will break; and breaking, wound your hand.
LXXI
‘To move ‘gainst thee if Egypt once begun,
Powerful in council, arms, and riches; or
Should it e’er happen that Cassano’s son,
With Turks and Persians leagued, renewed the war;
What force against their fury canst thou bring,
Or where asylum for thyself provide?
Thou trust’st perhaps the wicked Grecian king,
Who is to thee by sacred bonds allied?
LXXII.
La fede Greca a chi non è palese?
Tu da un sol tradimento ogn’altro impara:
Anzi da mille; perchè mille ha tese
572 Insidie a voi la gente infida, avara.
Dunque chi dianzi il passo a voi contese,
Per voi la vita esporre or si prepara?
Chi le vie, che comuni a tutti sono,
576 Negò, del proprio sangue or farà dono?
LXXII
“The Greekish faith is like that half-cut tree
By which men take wild elephants in Inde,
A thousand times it hath beguiled thee,
As firm as waves in seas, or leaves in wind.
Will they, who erst denied you passage free,
Passage to all men free, by use and kind,
Fight for your sake? Or on them do you trust
To spend their blood, that could scarce spare their dust?
LXXII
‘But who in Grecian faith would credence place?
From one sole treachery thou may’st gather all;
Nay, from a thousand: since that faithless race
A thousand schemes has plotted for thy fall.
Th
ink’st thou that he for thee will risk his life —
He who with arms thy host’s advance withstood?
Will he who barred the roads — which ere the strife
Were free to all — present thee with his blood?
LXXIII.
Ma forse hai tu riposta ogni tua speme
In queste squadre, ond’ora cinto siedi.
Quei che sparsi vincesti, uniti insieme
580 Di vincer anco agevolmente credi:
Sebben son le tue schiere or molto sceme,
Tra le guerre e i disagj, e tu tel vedi:
Sebben novo nemico a te s’accresce,
584 E co’ Persi e co’ Turchi Egizj mesce.
LXXIII
“But all your hope and trust perchance is laid
In these strong troops, which thee environ round;
Yet foes unite are not so soon dismayed
As when their strength you erst divided found:
Besides, each hour thy bands are weaker made
With hunger, slaughter, lodging on cold ground,
Meanwhile the Turks seek succors from our king,
Thus fade thy helps, and thus thy cumbers spring.
LXXIII
‘ — But all thy hopes thou hast, it may be, set
On these brave squadrons that environ thee,
And think’st perhaps o’er foes combined to get,
As when detached, as easy victory,
Although thy ranks much thinned and weakened are
By hardships and by fighting, as thou know’st;
Though a new foe has swoln the tide of war,
And Egypt joined the Turk and Persian host
LXXIV.
Or, quando pur estimi esser fatale,
Che vincer non ti possa il ferro mai;
Siati concesso: e siati a punto tale
588 Il decreto del Ciel, qual tu tel fai.
Vinceratti la fame: a questo male
Che rifugio, per Dio, che schermo avrai?
Vibra contra costei la lancia, e stringi
592 La spada, e la vittoria anco ti fingi.
LXXIV
“Suppose no weapon can thy valor’s pride
Subdue, that by no force thou may’st be won,
Admit no steel can hurt or wound thy side,
And be it Heaven hath thee such favor done:
‘Gainst Famine yet what shield canst thou provide?
What strength resist? What sleight her wrath can shun?
Go, shake the spear, and draw thy flaming blade,
And try if hunger so be weaker made.
Jerusalem Delivered Page 166
