Jerusalem Delivered

by Torquato Tasso

  He is that cruel, who on me has thrown

  Such deep affronts, uncancelled yet their shame;

  Hence wrath to reason adds its rankling sting,

  And makes me burn his insults to avenge:

  But what they are, some day you will know, O king;

  Enough at present, that I want revenge.

  XLVII.

  E la procurerò: chè non invano

  Soglion portarne ogni saetta i venti.

  E la destra del Ciel di giusta mano

  372 Drizza l’arme talor contra i nocenti.

  Ma s’alcun fia ch’al barbaro inumano

  Tronchi il capo odioso, e me ‘l presenti,

  A grado avrò questa vendetta ancora;

  376 Benchè fatta da me più nobil fora.

  XLVII

  “And will procure it, for all shafts that fly

  Light not in vain; some work the shooter’s will,

  And Jove’s right hand with thunders cast from sky

  Takes open vengeance oft for secret ill:

  But if some champion dare this knight defy

  To mortal battle, and by fight him kill,

  And with his hateful head will me present,

  That gift my soul shall please, my heart content:

  XLVII

  ‘And I will have it; since not all in vain

  The winds are wont to carry every dart,

  Nor does at times Heaven’s equal hand disdain

  To guide just arms against offender’s heart;

  But if there be who from that wretch will rive

  His odious head, and it present to me,

  That mode of vengeance will some pleasure give,

  Tho’ if I wrought it, ’twould more noble be.

  XLVIII.

  A grado sì, che gli sarà concessa

  Quella ch’io posso dar maggior mercede.

  Me d’un tesor dotata, e di me stessa,

  380 In moglie avrà, se in guiderdon mi chiede.

  Così ne faccio quì stabil promessa:

  Così ne giuro inviolabil fede:

  Or s’alcuno è che stimi i premj nostri

  384 Degni del rischio, parli e si dimostri.

  XLVIII

  “So please, that for reward enjoy he shall,

  The greatest gift I can or may afford,

  Myself, my beauty, wealth, and kingdoms all,

  To marry him, and take him for my lord,

  This promise will I keep whate’er befall,

  And thereto bind myself by oath and word:

  Now he that deems this purchase worth his pain,

  Let him step forth and speak, I none disdain.”

  XLVIII

  Some pleasure — yes; from him I’ll not withhold

  The greatest recompense within my power;

  I, richly endowed by Nature and with gold,

  Will give him, if required, myself and dower;

  Thus with an oath this pledge I solemnise,

  My promise thus inviolable make:

  Now, if there be those that esteem our prize

  Worthy the risk, let them stand forth and speak.

  XLIX.

  Mentre la donna in guisa tal favella,

  Adrasto affigge in lei cupidi gli occhj.

  Tolga il Ciel, dice poi, che le quadrella

  388 Nel barbaro omicida unqua tu scocchi:

  Chè non è degno un cor villano, o bella

  Saettatrice, che tuo colpo il tocchi.

  Atto, dell’ira tua, ministro io sono:

  392 Ed io del capo suo ti farò dono.

  XLIX

  While thus the princess said, his hungry eyne

  Adrastus fed on her sweet beauty’s light,

  “The gods forbid,” quoth he, “one shaft of thine

  Should be discharged gainst that discourteous knight,

  His heart unworthy is, shootress divine,

  Of thine artillery to feel the might;

  To wreak thine ire behold me prest and fit,

  I will his head cut off, and bring thee it.

  XLIX

  As thus Armida spoke, his greedy eyes

  Love-struck Adrastus riveted on her:

  ‘Nay, Heaven forbid thou shouldst discharge,’ he cries,

  ‘One shaft against that barbarous murderer;

  A villain heart like his, O archer fair,

  Were quite unworthy of thy touch: instead,

  I will the arrows of thy anger bear,

  And thee present with his accursed head.

  L.

  Io sterperogli il core: io darò in pasto

  Le membra lacerate agli avoltoj.

  Così parlava l’Indiano Adrasto:

  396 Nè soffrì Tisaferno i vanti suoi.

  E chi sei, disse, tu che sì gran fasto

  Mostri, presente il Re, presenti noi?

  Forse è quì tal ch’ogni tuo vanto audace

  400 Supererà co’ fatti, e pur si tace.

  L

  “I will his heart with this sharp sword divide,

  And to the vultures cast his carcass out.”

  Thus threatened he, but Tisapherne envied

  To hear his glorious vaunt and boasting stout,

  And said, “But who art thou, that so great pride

  Thou showest before the king, me, and this rout?

  Pardie here are some such, whose worth exceeds

  Thy vaunting much yet boast not of their deeds.”

  L

  ‘I’ll tear his heart out, and his limbs divide,

  As food for ravenous vultures to devour.’

  Thus the Indian potentate, Adrastus, cried;

  But Tisapherne his vaunts could not endure.

  ‘And who art thou,’ said he,’ that show’st such brass,

  In thy king’s presence and thy peers among;

  Here’s one, maybe, that would thy boasts surpass

  By valiant actions, and yet holds his tongue.’

  LI.

  Rispose l’Indo fero: io mi sono uno

  Ch’appo l’opre il parlare ho scarso e scemo.

  Ma s’altrove che quì così importuno

  404 Parlavi tu, parlavi il detto estremo.

  Seguíto avrian; ma raffrenò ciascuno,

  Distendendo la destra, il Re supremo.

  Disse ad Armida poi: Donna gentile,

  408 Ben hai tu cor magnanimo e virile;

  LI

  The Indian fierce replied, “I am the man

  Whose acts his words and boasts have aye surpassed;

  But if elsewhere the words thou now began

  Had uttered been, that speech had been thy last.”

  Thus quarrelled they; the monarch stayed them than,

  And ‘twixt the angry knights his sceptre cast:

  Then to Armida said, “Fair Queen, I see

  Thy heart is stout, thy thoughts courageous be;

  LI

  The fiery Indian answered: ‘I am one

  Whose deeds were never by his words surpassed,

  And hadst thou spoken elsewhere, as thou hast done

  Before me here, such words had been thy last.’

  They had continued; but the king supreme,

  His hand extending, bade the rivals part;

  Then to Armida said: ‘Illustrious dame,

  Thou hast, indeed, a manly generous heart.

  LII.

  E ben sei degna, a cui suoi sdegni ed ire

  L’uno e l’altro di lor conceda e done:

  Perchè tu poscia a voglia tua le gire

  412 Contra quel forte predator fellone.

  Là fian meglio impiegate; e ‘l loro ardire

  Là può chiaro mostrarsi in paragone.

  Tacque ciò detto; e quegli offerta nova

  416 Fecero a lei di vendicarla a prova.

  LII

  “Thou worthy art that their disdain and ire

  At thy commands these knights should both appease,

  That gainst thy foe their courage hot as fire


  Thou may’st employ, both when and where you please,

  There all their power and force, and what desire

  They have to serve thee, may they show at ease.”

  The monarch held his peace when this was said,

  And they new proffer of their service made.

  LII

  ‘And worthy art, that they to thee transfer

  The scorn and passions which their bosoms fill,

  That ‘gainst this strong enfeloned plunderer

  Thou mayst hereafter launch them at thy will;

  There they were best employed, their courage there

  In friendly rivalry were best displayed,’

  This said, he ceased; again the jealous pair

  To avenge their idol’s cause fresh offers made.

  LIII.

  Nè quelli pur, ma qual più in guerra è chiaro

  La lingua al vanto ha baldanzosa e presta.

  S’offerser tutti a lei: tutti giuraro

  420 Vendetta far sull’esecrabil testa:

  Tante contra il guerrier, ch’ebbe sì caro,

  Arme or costei commove, e sdegni desta!

  Ma esso, poi ch’abbandonò la riva,

  424 Felicemente al gran corso veniva.

  LIII

  Nor they alone, but all that famous were

  In feats of arms boast that he shall be dead,

  All offer her their aid, all say and swear,

  To take revenge on his condemned head:

  So many arms moved she against her dear,

  And swore her darling under foot to tread,

  But he, since first the enchanted isle he left,

  Safe in his barge the roaring waves still cleft.

  LIII

  Not only these, but all most famous there,

  Offer with ready tongue their blood to shed;

  All volunteer, all bloody vengeance swear

  Against Rinaldo’s execrable head.

  Such arms she moved, such anger roused meanwhile,

  ‘Gainst the bold warrior once esteemed so dear:

  But he, as soon as he had left the isle,

  Began his homeward prosperous course to steer.

  LIV.

  Per le medesme vie, che in prima corse,

  La navicella in dietro si raggira:

  E l’aura ch’alle vele il volo porse,

  428 Non men seconda al ritornar vi spira.

  Il giovinetto or guarda il Polo, e l’Orse,

  Ed or le stelle rilucenti mira,

  Via dell’opaca notte; or fiumi, or monti

  432 Che sporgono sul mar le alpestre fronti.

  LIV

  By the same way returned the well-taught boat

  By which it came, and made like haste, like speed;

  The friendly wind, upon her sail that smote,

  So turned as to return her ship had need:

  The youth sometimes the Pole or Bear did note,

  Or wandering stars which dearest nights forthspread:

  Sometimes the floods, the hills, or mountains steep,

  Whose woody fronts o’ershade the silent deep.

  LIV

  The shallop, favoured by the western gales

  Returning, did its former course pursue,

  And the fair breeze, that winged the bellying sails,

  To waft it back no less propitious blew.

  The youth now saw the Pole and either Bear,

  And now the stars that, as bright Pharos, keep

  Illumed the path of Night; here streams, and there

  Hills, whose rough peaks rise beetling o’er the deep.

  LV.

  Or lo stato del campo, or il costume

  Di varie genti investigando intende.

  E tanto van per le salate spume,

  436 Che lor dall’Orto il quarto Sol risplende.

  E quando omai n’è disparito il lume,

  La nave terra finalmente prende.

  Disse la donna allor: le Palestine

  440 Piaggie son quì: quì del viaggio è il fine.

  LV

  Now of the camp the man the state inquires,

  Now asks the customs strange of sundry lands;

  And sailed, till clad in beams and bright attires

  The fourth day’s sun on the eastern threshold stands:

  But when the western seas had quenched those fires,

  Their frigate struck against the shore and sands;

  Then spoke their guide, “The land of Palestine

  This is, here must your journey end and mine.”

  LV

  News of the camp now, now the usages

  Of various realms he asks; and they had gone

  So far already through the briny seas,

  That the fourth morning from the Orient shone;

  But when the sun’s declining rays had fled,

  The enchanted vessel reached the Syrian shore.

  ‘Behold fair Palestine,’ the lady said;

  ‘Your journey’s ended, and my task is o’er.’

  LVI.

  Quinci i tre cavalier sul lido spose,

  E sparve in men che non si forma un detto.

  Sorgea la notte intanto, e delle cose

  444 Confondea i varj aspetti un solo aspetto.

  E in quelle solitudini arenose

  Essi veder non ponno o muro o tetto:

  Nè d’uomo, o di destriero appajon l’orme;

  448 Od altro pur, che del cammin gl’informe.

  LVI

  The knights she set upon the shore all three,

  And vanished thence in twinkling of an eye,

  Uprose the night in whose deep blackness be

  All colors hid of things in earth or sky,

  Nor could they house, or hold, or harbor see,

  Or in that desert sign of dwelling spy,

  Nor track of man or horse, or aught that might

  Inform them of some path or passage right.

  LVI

  The three knights then upon the beach she placed,

  And, ere a word could uttered be, had gone;

  Meanwhile dark night the lingering twilight chased,

  And blent the varied colours into one.

  They could not in those sandy deserts scan

  Or circling wall or sheltering abode;

  No trace appeared of either horse or man,

  Or any sign to indicate the road.

  LVII.

  Poi che stati sospesi alquanto foro,

  Mossero i passi, e dier le spalle al mare:

  Ed ecco di lontano agli occhj loro

  452 Un non so che di luminoso appare,

  Che con raggj d’argento e lampi d’oro

  La notte illustra, e fa l’ombre più rare.

  Essi ne vanno allor contra la luce:

  456 E già veggion chè sia quel che sì luce.

  LVII

  When they had mused what way they travel should,

  From the west shore their steps at last they twined,

  And lo, far off at last their eyes behold

  Something, they wist not what, that clearly shined

  With rays of silver and with beams of gold

  Which the dark folds of night’s black mantle lined.

  Forward they went and marched against the light,

  To see and find the thing that shone so bright.

  LVII

  But when perplexed they had some moments been,

  Their shoulders to the sounding sea they turned,

  When going, lo! before their eyes was seen

  Something that with unusual lustre burned,

  And lit with gold and silver rays the night,

  Making the shadows rarer; whereupon

  Their footsteps they directed towards the light,

  And see already what it is that shone.

  LVIII.

  Veggiono a un grosso tronco armi novelle,

  Incontra i raggj della Luna, appese:

  E fiammeggiar, più che nel Ciel le
stelle,

  460 Gemme nell’elmo aurato e nell’arnese:

  E scoprono a quel lume immagin belle

  Nel grande scudo in lungo ordine stese.

  Presso, quasi custode, un vecchio siede,

  464 Che contra lor sen va, come gli vede.

  LVIII

  High on a tree they saw an armor new,

  That glistered bright gainst Cynthia’s silver ray,

  Therein, like stars in skies, the diamonds show

  Fret in the gilden helm and hauberk gay,

  The mighty shield all scored full they view

  Of pictures fair, ranged in meet array;

  To keep them sate an aged man beside,

  Who to salute them rose, when them he spied.

  LVIII

  On a huge trunk arms newly made they spy,

  Suspended opposite the moon’s clear rays,

  And, brighter far than planets in the sky,

  Gems in the gilded casque and breastplate blaze;

  In the great shield they see, by Dian lit,

  Fair figures stretching in extended rows:

  Near, as if guardian, did an old man sit,

  Who, when he saw, to meet them straightway rose.

  LIX.

  Ben è dai due guerrier riconosciuto

  Del saggio amico il venerabil volto.

  Ma poi ch’ei ricevè lieto saluto,

  468 E ch’ebbe lor cortesemente accolto;

  Al giovinetto, il qual tacito e muto

  Il riguardava, il ragionar rivolto:

  Signor, te sol, gli disse, io quì soletto

  472 In cotal’ ora desiando aspetto.

  LIX

  The twain who first were sent in this pursuit

  Of their wise friend well knew the aged face:

  But when the wizard sage their first salute

  Received and quitted had with kind embrace,

  To the young prince, that silent stood and mute,

  He turned his speech, “In this unused place

  For you alone I wait, my lord,” quoth he,

  “My chiefest care your state and welfare be.

  LIX

  Well, by two of the noble knights, the face

  Of their sage venerable friend is known,

  Who, when he had received their warm embrace,

  And had to them a courteous greeting shown,

  Turned to the youth, who mute and silently

  Returned his gaze, and said to him: ‘For none,

  Save thee, O prince, at such an hour have I

  Thus waited here, impatient and alone.