And with fresh fuel its fierce flame foments.
XXXIII.
Lodata passa, e vagheggiata Armida,
Fra le cupide turbe, e se n’avvede.
Nol mostra già, benchè in suo cor ne rida,
260 E ne disegni alte vittorie e prede.
Mentre sospesa alquanto, alcuna guida
Che la conduca al Capitan, richiede;
Eustazio occorse a lei, che del sovrano
264 Principe delle squadre era germano.
XXXIII
Thus passed she, praised, wished, and wondered at,
Among the troops who there encamped lay,
She smiled for joy, but well dissembled that,
Her greedy eye chose out her wished prey;
On all her gestures seeming virtue sat,
Toward the imperial tent she asked the way:
With that she met a bold and lovesome knight,
Lord Godfrey’s youngest brother, Eustace hight.
XXXIII.
Admired and courted, through the love-smit files
Armida passes, and perceives her power,
But shows it not, though in her heart she smiles,
Designing thence rich spoil in victory’s hour.
Meanwhile, perplexed somewhat, she sought a guide,
To lead her to the captain of the host,
When youthful Eustace darted to her side,
Brother of him who held that sovran post.
XXXIV.
Come al lume farfalla, ei si rivolse
Allo splendor della beltà divina;
E rimirar dappresso i lumi volse,
268 Che dolcemente atto modesto inchina:
E ne trasse gran fiamma, e la raccolse,
Come da foco suole esca vicina:
E disse verso lei, ch’audace e baldo
272 Il fea degli anni e dell’amore il caldo:
XXXIV
This was the fowl that first fell in the snare,
He saw her fair, and hoped to find her kind;
The throne of Cupid had an easy stair,
His bark is fit to sail with every wind,
The breach he makes no wisdom can repair:
With reverence meet the baron low inclined,
And thus his purpose to the virgin told,
For youth, use, nature, all had made him bold.
XXXIV.
He to the splendour of her beauty flew,
Attracted as gay butterfly to light,
And turned more closely those fair eyes to view,
That drooped with decent shame before his sight;
Whence he inhaled and caught their fervid flame,
As tinder does when near a glowing fire,
And to her said, since he now bold became
From heat of youth and from intense desire:
XXXV.
Donna, se pur tal nome a te conviensi;
Chè non somigli tu cosa terrena:
Nè v’è figlia d’Adamo, in cui dispensi
276 Cotanto il ciel di sua luce serena:
Chè da te si ricerca? e donde viensi?
Qual tua ventura o nostra or quì ti mena?
Fà ch’io sappia chi sei; fà ch’io non erri
280 Nell’onorarti, e s’è ragion, m’atterri.
XXXV
“Lady, if thee beseem a stile so low,
In whose sweet looks such sacred beauty shine, —
For never yet did Heaven such grace bestow
On any daughter born of Adam’s line —
Thy name let us, though far unworthy, know,
Unfold thy will, and whence thou art in fine,
Lest my audacious boldness learn too late
What honors due become thy high estate.”
XXXV.
‘Lady! — if such a name be not misplaced,
Since thou resemblest nothing upon earth,
Nor is there one of Adam’s daughters graced
With such appearance of celestial birth —
Say what thou seek’st from us: whence com’st, and how?
What brings thee here? Ah, tell me, I entreat,
Who, what thou art, that I in homage bow,
Or, if it need, fall prostrate at thy feet!’
XXXVI.
Risponde: Il tuo lodar troppo alto sale;
Nè tanto in suso il merto nostro arriva:
Cosa vedi, Signor, non pur mortale,
284 Ma già morta ai diletti, al duol sol viva.
Mia sciagura mi spinge in loco tale,
Vergine peregrina e fuggitiva:
Ricorro al pio Goffredo, e in lui confido;
288 Tal va di sua bontade intorno il grido.
XXXVI
“Sir Knight,” quoth she, “your praises reach too high
Above her merit you commenden so,
A hapless maid I am, both born to die
And dead to joy, that live in care and woe,
A virgin helpless, fugitive pardie,
My native soil and kingdom thus forego
To seek Duke Godfrey’s aid, such store men tell
Of virtuous ruth doth in his bosom dwell.
XXXVI.
She answered him: ‘Thy praises soar too high;
To such a height my merit hath not flown.
A thing thou seest too truly mortal: I,
To joy long dead, exist for grief alone.
Into this camp by harsh misfortune thrust,
An outcast maid, a stranger, I resort
For help to pious Godfred, whom I trust:
Such is of this great goodness the report.
XXXVII.
Tu l’adito m’impetra al Capitano,
S’hai, come pare, alma cortese e pia.
Ed egli: è ben ragion ch’all’un germano
292 L’altro ti guidi, e intercessor ti sia.
Vergine bella, non ricorri invano:
Non è vile appo lui la grazia mia:
Spender tutto potrai, come t’aggrada,
296 Ciò che vaglia il suo scettro, o la mia spada.
XXXVII
“Conduct me then that mighty duke before,
If you be courteous, sir, as well you seem.”
“Content,” quoth he, “since of one womb ybore,
We brothers are, your fortune good esteem
To encounter me whose word prevaileth more
In Godfrey’s hearing than you haply deem:
Mine aid I grant, and his I promise too,
All that his sceptre, or my sword, can do.”
XXXVII.
‘Thither find means my errant steps to guide,
If, as it seems, thou good and courteous art.’
“Tis right that to one brother,’ he replied,
‘Another leads thee, ay, and takes thy part.
Relief, fair maid, thou seekest not in vain,
Since that, at my request, he will afford;
Thou canst, as best it pleaseth thee, obtain
The assistance of his sceptre or my sword.’
XXXVIII.
Tace, e la guida ove tra i grandi eroi
Allor dal volgo il pio Buglion s’invola.
Essa inchinollo riverente, e poi
300 Vergognosetta non facea parola.
Ma quei rossor, ma quei timori suoi
Rassicura il guerriero, e riconsola;
Sicchè i pensati inganni alfine spiega
304 In suon che di dolcezza i sensi lega.
XXXVIII
He led her easily forth when this was said,
Where Godfrey sat among his lords and peers,
She reverence did, then blushed, as one dismayed
To speak, for secret wants and inward fears,
It seemed a bashful shame her speeches stayed,
At last the courteous duke her gently cheers;
Silence was made, and she began her tale,
They sit to hear, thus sung this nightingale:
XXXVIII.
He ceased, and led th
e blushing damsel where,
Apart, Prince Godfred with his dukes conferred.
To him she bowed with meek respectful air,
Yet uttered not, from bashfulness, a word;
But her the courteous paladin consoled,
And so removed her diffidence and fears,
That she at length her artful story told,
In tones whose melody entranced all ears.
XXXIX.
Principe invitto, disse, il cui gran nome
Sen vola adorno di sì chiari fregj;
Chè l’esser da te vinte, e in guerra dome
308 Recansi a gloria le provincie e i Regi:
Noto per tutto è il tuo valore, e come
Sin dai nemici avvien che s’ami e pregi;
Così anco i tuoi nemici affida, e invita
312 Di ricercarti, e d’impetrarne aita.
XXXIX
“Victorious prince, whose honorable name
Is held so great among our Pagan kings,
That to those lands thou dost by conquest tame
That thou hast won them some content it brings;
Well known to all is thy immortal fame,
The earth, thy worth, thy foe, thy praises sings,
And Paynims wronged come to seek thine aid,
So doth thy virtue, so thy power persuade.
XXXIX.
‘Unconquered prince,’ she said, ‘whose glorious name
Flies, pranked with ornaments so passing bright,
That kings and provinces esteem it fame
Defeat to suffer at thy hands in fight,
Known is thy valour everywhere, and so
Approved and valued is thy worth that we,
Thy very foes, our blind reliance show
By aid imploring, in our straits, from thee.
XL.
Ed io che nacqui in sì diversa fede,
Che tu abbassasti, e ch’or d’opprimer tenti,
Per te spero acquistar la nobil sede,
316 E lo scettro regal de’ miei parenti:
E s’altri aita ai suoi congiunti chiede
Contra il furor delle straniere genti;
Io, poichè ‘n lor non ha pietà più loco,
320 Contra il mio sangue il ferro ostíle invoco.
XL
“And I though bred in Macon’s heathenish lore,
Which thou oppressest with thy puissant might,
Yet trust thou wilt an helpless maid restore,
And repossess her in her father’s right:
Others in their distress do aid implore
Of kin and friends; but I in this sad plight
Invoke thy help, my kingdom to invade,
So doth thy virtue, so my need persuade.
XL.
‘Thus I, though born in faith so opposite,
Which thou wouldst humble by exhaustive wars,
Hope to regain through thee, magnanimous knight,
The throne and sceptre of my ancestors;
If others seek assistance from their own,
Themselves to rescue from the stranger’s yoke,
I, since my kin have no compassion shown,
‘Gainst my own blood thy hostile steel invoke.
XLI.
Te chiamo, ed in te spero; e in quell’altezza
Puoi tu sol pormi, onde sospinta io fui.
Nè la tua destra esser dee meno avvezza
324 Di sollevar, che d’atterrar altrui:
Nè meno il vanto di pietà si prezza,
Che ‘l trionfar degli avversarj sui;
E s’hai potuto a molti il regno torre,
328 Fia gloria egual nel regno or me riporre.
XLI
“In thee I hope, thy succors I invoke,
To win the crown whence I am dispossest;
For like renown awaiteth on the stroke
To cast the haughty down or raise the opprest;
Nor greater glory brings a sceptre broke,
Than doth deliverance of a maid distrest;
And since thou canst at will perform the thing,
More is thy praise to make, than kill a king.
XLI.
‘On thee I call and hope; alone canst thou
Replace me on that height whence I was thrown;
Nor shouldst thou be less prompt to raise the low,
Than from their seats to cast the mighty down;
Nor prize the vaunt of tender pity’s trait
Less than the brilliant triumphs thou hast won;
And if, from many, realms thou hast ta’en away,
Win equal fame by now restoring one.
XLII.
Ma se la nostra fe varia ti move
A disprezzar forse i miei preghi onesti,
La fe ch’ho certa in tua pietà, mi giove:
332 Nè dritto par ch’ella delusa resti.
Testimon è quel Dio ch’a tutti è Giove,
Ch’altrui più giusta aita unqua non desti.
Ma perchè il tutto appieno intenda, or odi
336 Le mie sventure insieme, e le altrui frodi.
XLII
“But if thou would’st thy succors due excuse,
Because in Christ I have no hope nor trust,
Ah yet for virtue’s sake, thy virtue use!
Who scorneth gold because it lies in dust?
Be witness Heaven, if thou to grant refuse,
Thou dost forsake a maid in cause most just,
And for thou shalt at large my fortunes know,
I will my wrongs and their great treasons show.
XLII.
‘But if our faith, so different, moveth thee
To slight, it may be, this my honest prayer,
Let my faith in thy pity plead for me;
Nor right it seems, it disappointed were.
That God is witness, who is Jove to all,
A cause more just ne’er pleaded for thy aid
But to know fully what did me befall,
Hear how I was by others’ fraud betrayed:
XLIII.
Figlia i’ son d’Arbilan, che ‘l regno tenne
Del bel Damasco, e in minor sorte nacque:
Ma la bella Cariclia in sposa ottenne,
340 Cui farlo erede del suo imperio piacque.
Costei col suo morir quasi prevenne
Il nascer mio; chè in tempo estinta giacque,
Ch’io fuori uscia dell’alvo: e fu il fatale
344 Giorno ch’a lei diè morte, a me natale.
XLIII
“Prince Arbilan that reigned in his life
On fair Damascus, was my noble sire,
Born of mean race he was, yet got to wife
The Queen Chariclia, such was the fire
Of her hot love, but soon the fatal knife
Had cut the thread that kept their joys entire,
For so mishap her cruel lot had cast,
My birth, her death; my first day, was her last.
XLIII.
‘Daughter I am of Arbilan, who reigned
O’er proud Damascus; though less well-born, he
Fair Cariclea for his wife obtained,
Who made him heir of that great monarchy;
But dying she as if forestalled my birth,
Since at the moment that defunct she lay,
I, helpless infant, from her womb came forth;
And thus her fatal was my natal day.
XLIV.
Ma il primo lustro appena era varcato
Dal dì ch’ella spogliossi il mortal velo;
Quando il mio genitor, cedendo al fato,
348 Forse con lei si ricongiunse in Cielo:
Di me cura lasciando e dello stato
Al fratel ch’egli amò con tanto zelo;
Chè se in petto mortal pietà risiede,
352 Esser certo dovea della sua fede.
XLIV
“And ere five years were fully come and gone
Since his dear spouse to hasty death did yield,
> My father also died, consumed with moan,
And sought his love amid the Elysian fields,
His crown and me, poor orphan, left alone,
Mine uncle governed in my tender eild;
For well he thought, if mortal men have faith,
In brother’s breast true love his mansion hath.
XLIV.
‘But scarce five summers had elapsed entire
From the sad day she burst earth’s mortal ties,
Than, yielding to our common fate, my sire
Was called, perhaps to meet her in the skies,
Leaving the charge of me and of the state
To his dear brother, whom he loved so well:
Assured fidelity would animate
His breast, if pity did in mortal dwell.
XLV.
Preso dunque di me questi il governo,
Vago d’ogni mio ben si mostrò tanto,
Che d’incorrotta fe, d’amor paterno,
356 E d’immensa pietade ottenne il vanto.
O che ‘l maligno suo pensiero interno
Celasse allor sotto contrario manto;
O che sincere avesse ancor le voglie,
360 Perch’al figliuol mi destinava in moglie.
XLV
“He took the charge of me and of the crown,
And with kind shows of love so brought to pass
That through Damascus great report was blown
How good, how just, how kind mine uncle was;
Whether he kept his wicked hate unknown
And hid the serpent in the flowering grass,
On that true faith did in his bosom won,
Because he meant to match me with his son.
XLV.
‘Whence he assumed my guardianship, and feigned
For my well-being such concern that he
The vaunt of boundless piety obtained,
Of love paternal and fidelity;
Or that black thoughts, beneath outside most fair, —
To hide within his bosom he begun; —
Or that his love was really sincere, —
Since he would make me consort of his son.
XLVI.
Io crebbi, e crebbe il figlio; e mai nè stile
Di cavalier, nè nobil’arte apprese;
Nulla di pellegrino o di gentile
364 Gli piacque mai, nè mai troppo alto intese:
Sotto deforme aspetto animo vile,
E in cor superbo avare voglie accese:
Ruvido in atti, ed in costumi è tale,
Jerusalem Delivered Page 177
