Jerusalem Delivered

by Torquato Tasso

  II.

  Erano essi già sorti, e l’arme intorno

  Alle robuste membra avean già messe:

  Onde, per vie che non rischiara il giorno,

  12 Tosto seguono il vecchio; e son l’istesse

  Vestigia ricalcate, or nel ritorno,

  Che furon prima nel venire impresse.

  Ma giunti al letto del suo fiume: amici,

  16 Io v’accommiato, ei disse; ite felici.

  II

  They started up, and every tender limb

  In sturdy steel and stubborn plate they dight,

  Before the old man stalked, they followed him

  Through gloomy shades of sad and sable night,

  Through vaults obscure again and entries dim,

  The way they came their steps remeasured right;

  But at the flood arrived, “Farewell,” quoth he,

  “Good luck your aid, your guide good fortune be.”

  II

  Already they had risen, already they

  Their stalwart limbs in armour had arrayed,

  And, by paths never lighted by the day,

  The old man followed thro’ the gloomy shade;

  And the same footmarks ‘gan again retread,

  That on their coming first imprinted were;

  But on arriving at the river’s bed,

  ‘Success be yours,’ he cried; ‘I leave you here.’

  III.

  Gli accoglie il rio nell’alto seno, e l’onda

  Soavemente in su gli spinge e porta

  Come suole innalzar leggiera fronda,

  20 La qual da violenza in giù fu torta:

  E poi gli espon sovra la molle sponda:

  Quinci mirar la già promessa scorta.

  Vider picciola nave, e in poppa quella,

  24 Che guidar gli dovea, fatal donzella.

  III

  The flood received them in his bottom low

  And lilt them up above his billows thin;

  The waters so east up a branch or bough,

  By violence first plunged and dived therein:

  But when upon the shore the waves them throw,

  The knights for their fair guide to look begin,

  And gazing round a little bark they spied,

  Wherein a damsel sate the stern to guide.

  III

  Them in its buoyant breast the stream receives,

  And bears up gently to the surface; so

  Are wont to rise up from the bottom leaves

  That violent eddies have forced down below.

  Thus to the humid bank they now return,

  Where they the escort promised them behold;

  The little bark is there, and in its stem

  The fatal damsel that its course controlled.

  IV.

  Crinita fronte essa dimostra, e ciglia

  Cortesi e favorevoli e tranquille:

  E nel sembiante agli Angioli somiglia;

  28 Tanta luce ivi par ch’arda e sfaville!

  La sua gonna or azzurra, ed or vermiglia

  Diresti, e si colora in guise mille:

  Sicch’uom sempre diversa a se la vede,

  32 Quantunque volte a riguardarla riede.

  IV

  Upon her front her locks were curled new,

  Her eyes were courteous, full of peace and love;

  In look a saint, an angel bright in show,

  So in her visage grace and virtue strove;

  Her robe seemed sometimes red and sometimes blue,

  And changed still as she did stir or move;

  That look how oft man’s eye beheld the same

  So oft the colors changed, went and came.

  IV

  Her hair voluminous round her forehead lies,

  Most heavenly is her aspect, and as fair

  As angel’s are her calm propitious eyes,

  Such radiant lustre burns and sparkles there;

  Her robe you’d call now crimson and now blue,

  As at each moment with new colours lit,

  So that you see it wear a different hue

  As oft as you return to look at it.

  V.

  Così piuma talor, che di gentile

  Amorosa colomba il collo cinge,

  Mai non si scorge a se stessa simíle;

  36 Ma in diversi colori al Sol si tinge.

  Or d’accesi rubin sembra un moníle:

  Or di verdi smeraldi il lume finge:

  Or insieme gli mesce: e varia e vaga,

  40 In cento modi, i riguardanti appaga.

  V

  The feathers so, that tender, soft, and plain,

  About the dove’s smooth neck close couched been,

  Do in one color never long remain,

  But change their hue gainst glimpse of Phoebus’ sheen;

  And now of rubies bright a vermeil chain,

  Now make a carknet rich of emeralds green;

  Now mingle both, now alter, turn and change

  To thousand colors, rich, pure, fair, and strange.

  V

  Thus the gay plumage, which at times we view

  Encircling amorous turtle’s delicate neck,

  Ne’er for a moment keeps the self-same hue,

  But from the sun doth countless colours take;

  Of burning rubies it now necklace seems,

  Now with the green of softer emerald vies,

  Now all confused in one bright iris beams,

  And in a hundred ways delights the eyes.

  VI.

  Entrate, dice, o fortunati, in questa

  Nave ond’io l’Ocean, sicura, varco:

  Cui destro è ciascun vento, ogni tempesta

  44 Tranquilla, e lieve ogni gravoso incarco.

  Per ministra e per duce or mi v’appresta

  Il mio signor, del favor suo non parco.

  Così parlò la donna; e più vicino

  48 Fece poscia alla sponda il curvo pino.

  VI

  “Enter this boat, you happy men,” she says,

  “Wherein through raging waves secure I ride,

  To which all tempest, storm, and wind obeys,

  All burdens light, benign is stream and tide:

  My lord, that rules your journeys and your ways,

  Hath sent me here, your servant and your guide.”

  This said, her shallop drove she gainst the sand,

  And anchor cast amid the steadfast land.

  VI

  ‘Enter this bark, O favoured pair!’ she cries,

  ‘In which I safely cross the sounding main;

  ‘Gainst it no storms spring up, no tempests rise;

  The heaviest weights it can with ease sustain.

  My gracious lord, unsparing of his grace,

  Me sends as escort to conduct you o’er.’

  Thus spake the damsel, and began to place

  The graceful shallop nearer to the shore.

  VII.

  Come la nobil coppia ha in quel raccolta,

  Spinge la ripa, e gli rallenta il morso:

  Ed avendo la vela all’aure sciolta,

  52 Ella siede al governo, e regge il corso.

  Gonfio il torrente è sì ch’a questa volta

  I naviglj portar ben può sul dorso;

  Ma questo è sì leggier, che ‘l sosterrebbe

  56 Qual altro rio per novo umor men crebbe.

  VII

  They entered in, her anchors she upwound,

  And launched forth to sea her pinnace flit,

  Spread to the wind her sails she broad unbound,

  And at the helm sat down to govern it,

  Swelled the flood that all his banks he drowned

  To bear the greatest ship of burthen fit;

  Yet was her fatigue little, swift and light,

  That at his lowest ebb bear it he might.

  VII

  When safely had embarked the noble pair,

  She slacks the bit, and leaves the river’s sides;

&nbs
p; And having spread the canvas to the air,

  Sits at the rudder, and the vessel guides.

  So swoln the torrent was, its back would seem

  Able to carry ships however great;

  But this so light was, any other stream,

  However slightly increased, had borne its weight.

  VIII.

  Veloce sovra il natural costume

  Spingon la vela in verso il lido i venti.

  Biancheggian l’acque di canute spume,

  60 E rotte dietro mormorar le senti.

  Ecco giungono omai là dove il fiume

  Queta, in letto maggior, l’onde correnti:

  E nell’ampie voragini del mare

  64 Disperso, o divien nulla o nulla appare.

  VIII

  Swifter than thought the friendly wind forth bore

  The sliding boat upon the rolling wave,

  With curded foam and froth the billows hoar

  About the cable murmur roar and rave;

  At last they came where all his watery store

  The flood in one deep channel did engrave,

  And forth to greedy seas his streams he sent,

  And so his waves, his name, himself he spent.

  VIII

  Swifter, far swifter, than their natural way,

  The breezes drive the vessel towards the shore

  Around its prow the sea is blanched with spray,

  And in its wake the broken billows roar.

  Lo! they now reach a spacious estuary,

  Whose larger bed the river calms, since here,

  Merged in the vast abysses of the sea,

  It nought becomes, at least doth naught appear.

  IX.

  Appena ha tocco la mirabil nave

  Della marina, allor turbata, il lembo;

  Che spariscon le nubi, e cessa il grave

  68 Noto che minacciava oscuro nembo.

  Spiana i monti dell’onde aura soave,

  E solo increspa il bel ceruleo grembo:

  E d’un dolce seren diffuso ride

  72 Il Ciel, che sè più chiaro unqua non vide.

  IX

  The wondrous boat scant touched the troubled main

  But all the sea still, hushed and quiet was,

  Vanished the clouds, ceased the wind and rain,

  The tempests threatened overblow and pass,

  A gentle breathing air made even and plain

  The azure face of heaven’s smooth looking-glass,

  And heaven itself smiled from the skies above

  With a calm clearness on the earth his love.

  IX

  Scarce did the enchanted vessel touch the mouth

  Of the great troubled deep that roared and rolled,

  Than disappeared the clouds, and from the south

  Ceased the strong blasts that had a storm foretold;

  Planed was each mountain wave by zephyrs mild,

  That only curled its fair cerulean breast;

  And heaven, a sweet serene diffusing, smiled,

  Nor ever had a calmer look possessed.

  X.

  Trascorse oltre Ascalona, ed a mancina

  Andò la navicella inver Ponente.

  E tosto a Gaza si trovò vicina,

  76 Che fu porto di Gaza anticamente.

  Ma poi, crescendo dell’altrui rovina,

  Città divenne assai grande e possente:

  Ed eranvi le piagge allor ripiene

  80 Quasi d’uomini sì come d’arene.

  X

  By Ascalon they sailed, and forth drived,

  Toward the west their speedy course they frame,

  In sight of Gaza till the bark arrived,

  A little port when first it took that name;

  But since, by others’ loss so well it thrived

  A city great and rich that it became,

  And there the shores and borders of the land

  They found as full of armed men as sand.

  X

  They passed by Ascalon, and westward steered

  The little vessel thro’ the halcyon sea,

  And soon the famous town of Gaza neared,

  Which was the port of Gaza formerly;

  Increasing then, on others’ fall, it rose

  Into a city powerful, great, and grand,

  Whose teeming plains and swarming shores disclose

  Almost as many men as grains of sand.

  XI.

  Volgendo il guardo a terra, i naviganti

  Scorgean di tende numero infinito.

  Miravan cavalier, miravan fanti

  84 Ire e tornar dalla cittade al lito:

  E da cammeli onusti, e da elefanti

  L’arenoso sentier calpesto e trito:

  Poi del porto vedean ne’ fondi cavi

  88 Sorte, e legate all’ancore le navi;

  XI

  The passengers to landward turned their sight,

  And there saw pitched many a stately tent,

  Soldier and footman, captain, lord and knight,

  Between the shore and city, came and went:

  Huge elephants, strong camels, coursers light,

  With horned hoofs the sandy ways outrent,

  And in the haven many a ship and boat,

  With mighty anchors fastened, swim and float;

  XI

  The travellers, looking towards the land, descry

  Of fluttering tents illimitable store;

  Distinguish cavalry and infantry

  Pass to and fro from city to the shore;

  Camels and elephants great weights transport,

  Beneath whose tread the sandy paths subside;

  And in the deep recesses of the port

  View the moored vessels at their anchors ride.

  XII.

  Altre spiegar le vele, e ne vedieno

  Altre i remi trattar veloci e snelle:

  E da essi e da’ rostri il molle seno

  92 Spumar percosso in queste parti e in quelle.

  Disse la donna allor: benchè ripieno

  Il lido e ‘l mar sia delle genti felle;

  Non ha insieme però le schiere tutte

  96 Il potente Tiranno anco ridutte.

  XII

  Some spread their sails, some with strong oars sweep

  The waters smooth, and brush the buxom wave,

  Their breasts in sunder cleave the yielding deep,

  The broken seas for anger foam and rave,

  When thus their guide began, “Sir knights, take keep

  How all these shores are spread with squadrons brave

  And troops of hardy knights, yet on these sands

  The monarch scant hath gathered half his bands.

  XII

  Some spread the flowing canvas, some attest

  The strength and swiftness of the straining oar;

  And as they cleave the water’s yielding breast,

  Sparkles the foam in silver clouds before.

  Then spake the damsel: ‘Tho’ ye now behold

  Both land and sea filled with the impious race,

  Not all his forces has the king enrolled;

  This does not all his mighty host embrace.

  XIII.

  Sol dal regno d’Egitto, e dal contorno

  Raccolte ha queste; or le lontane attende:

  Chè verso l’Oriente e ‘l Mezzo giorno

  100 Il vasto imperio suo molto si stende.

  Sicchè sper’io che prima assai ritorno

  Fatto avrem noi, che mova egli le tende:

  Egli, o quel che in sua vece esser soprano

  104 Dell’esercito suo de’ capitano.

  XIII

  “Of Egypt only these the forces are,

  And aid from other lands they here attend,

  For twixt the noon-day sun and morning star,

  All realms at his command do bow and bend;

  So that I trust we shall return from far,

  And bring our journey long to wished end,


  Before this king or his lieutenant shall

  These armies bring to Zion’s conquered wall.”

  XIII

  ‘Alone from Egypt and its confines he

  Has mustered these; those distant he attends,

  Since the vast sway of his authority

  Far to the east and glowing south extends;

  So that I trust we shall have homewards sped

  Ere he has struck his tents, or left the coast,

  He, or whatever captain in his stead

  Appointed may be to command the host.’

  XIV.

  Mentre ciò dice, come aquila suole

  Tra gli altri augelli trapassar sicura,

  E sorvolando ir tanto appresso il Sole

  108 Che nulla vista più la raffigura;

  Così la nave sua sembra che vole

  Tra legno e legno: e non ha tema o cura

  Che vi sia chi l’arresti, o chi la segua:

  112 E da lor s’allontana, e si dilegua.

  XIV

  While thus she said, as soaring eagles fly

  Mongst other birds securely through the air,

  And mounting up behold with wakeful eye,

  The radiant beams of old Hyperion’s hair,

  Her gondola so passed swiftly by

  Twixt ship and ship, withouten fear or care

  Who should her follow, trouble, stop or stay,

  And forth to sea made lucky speed and way.

  XIV

  While speaking thus, like scornful eagle, who

  Passes ‘mid other birds in fearless flight,

  And, soaring upwards, is soon lost to view

  In the full splendour of the sun’s broad light;

  So ‘mid the different ships her shallop flew,

  Nor had the damsel the least care or dread

  That they would either hinder or pursue.

  Away, away, with unslacked speed she sped,

  XV.

  E in un momento incontra Raffia arriva,

  Città la qual in Siria appar primiera

  A chi d’Egitto muove: indi alla riva

  116 Sterilissima vien di Rinocera.

  Non lunge un monte poi le si scopriva,

  Che sporge sovra ‘l mar la chioma altera,

  E i piè si lava nelle instabili onde,

  120 E l’ossa di Pompeo nel grembo asconde.

  XV

  Themselves fornenst old Raffia’s town they fand,

  A town that first to sailors doth appear

  As they from Syria pass to Egypt land: