Jerusalem Delivered

by Torquato Tasso

  And rears their ladders gainst the assaulted fort:

  He that high on the mount in grave attire

  Is clad, and crowned stands in kingly sort,

  Is Bishop Ademare, a blessed spirit,

  Blest for his faith, crowned for his death and merit.

  XCV

  ‘There, as in life, the lofty northern gate

  Dudoné see with fire and sword assail,

  Arm the assailants and them animate,

  The scaling ladders which he holds, to scale;

  He, who enrobed in venerable stole,

  And crowned with mitre, stands upon the hill,

  Is Bishop Ademar, thrice happy soul!

  See how on you he signs his blessing still.

  XCVI.

  Leva più in su le ardite luci, e tutta

  La grande oste del Ciel congiunta guata.

  Egli alzò il guardo: e vide in un ridutta

  764 Milizia innumerabile, ed alata.

  Tre folte squadre, ed ogni squadra instrutta

  In tre ordini gira, e si dilata;

  Ma si dilata più quanto più in fuori

  768 I cerchj son: son gl’intimi i minori.

  XCVI

  “But higher lift thy happy eyes, and view

  Where all the sacred hosts of Heaven appear.”

  He looked, and saw where winged armies flew,

  Innumerable, pure, divine and clear;

  A battle round of squadrons three they show

  And all by threes those squadrons ranged were,

  Which spreading wide in rings still wider go,

  Moved with a stone calm water circleth so.

  XCVI

  ‘Lift up still higher thy glowing eyes, upon

  Heaven’s host entire together joined.’ Whence he

  Looked up, and saw them all drawn out in one

  Innumerable, wingèd soldiery.

  In three great squadrons, each extended wide,

  And in three ranks, was ranged the heavenly host,

  Which more extended, as the more outside

  The circles were, and least where innermost.

  XCVII.

  Quì chinò vinti i lumi, e gli alzò poi:

  Nè lo spettacol grande ei più rivide.

  Ma riguardando d’ogni parte i suoi,

  772 Scorge che a tutti la vittoria arride.

  Molti dietro a Rinaldo illustri eroi

  Saliano: ei già salito i Siri uccide.

  Il Capitan, che più indugiar si sdegna,

  776 Toglie di mano al fido alfier l’insegna.

  XCVII

  With that he winked, and vanished was and gone;

  That wondrous vision when he looked again,

  His worthies fighting viewed he one by one,

  And on each side saw signs of conquest plain,

  For with Rinaldo gainst his yielding lone,

  His knights were entered and the Pagans slain,

  This seen, the duke no longer stay could brook,

  But from the bearer bold his ensign took:

  XCVII

  Here he cast down, o’erpowered, then raised his eyes,

  Nor more the glorious spectacle could see,

  But looking round upon his troops, descries

  That from all sides on them shone victory.

  Some followed where Rinaldo led the way,

  And slew the Syrians that dared make a stand.

  Godfred at this could brook no more delay,

  But snatched an ensign from its bearer’s hand,

  XCVIII.

  E passa primo il ponte, ed impedita

  Gli è a mezzo il corso dal Soldan la via.

  Un picciol varco è campo ad infinita

  780 Virtù, che in pochi colpi ivi apparia.

  Grida il fier Solimano: all’altrui vita

  Dono e consacro io quì la vita mia.

  Tagliate, amici, alle mie spalle or questo

  784 Ponte: chè quì non facil preda i’ resto.

  XCVIII

  And on the bridge he stepped, but there was stayed

  By Solyman, who entrance all denied,

  That narrow tree to virtue great was made,

  The field as in few blows right soon was tried,

  “Here will I give my life for Sion’s aid,

  Here will I end my days,” the Soldan cried,

  “Behind me cut or break this bridge, that I

  May kill a thousand Christians first, then die.”

  XCVIII

  And was the first to pass the bridge; on it

  The soldan stood, his passage to oppose;

  Small space sufficed for valour infinite,

  Which for its proof required not many blows.

  ‘For others’ lives,’ cried fiery Solyman,

  ‘My own I give a sacrifice to be;

  Cut down the bridge behind me, tho’alone,

  No easy victim shall they find in me.’

  XCIX.

  Ma venirne Rinaldo, in volto orrendo,

  E fuggirne ciascun vedea lontano.

  Or che farò? se quì la vita spendo,

  788 La spando, disse, e la disperdo invano.

  E in se nove difese anco volgendo,

  Cedea libero il passo al Capitano,

  Che minacciando il segue, e della santa

  792 Croce il vessillo in su le mura pianta.

  XCIX

  But thither fierce Rinaldo threatening went,

  And at his sight fled all the Soldan’s train,

  “What shall I do? If here my life be spent,

  I spend and spill,” quoth he, “my blood in vain!”

  With that his steps from Godfrey back he bent,

  And to him let the passage free remain,

  Who threatening followed as the Soldan fled,

  And on the walls the purple Cross dispread:

  XCIX

  But, seeing towards him irate Rinaldo wend,

  And that the Turks before him frightened fled,

  ‘What shall I do? If here my life I spend,

  I spend and waste it uselessly,’ he said.

  Then planning new defences backward falls,

  And yields free passage to the chief across:

  Who, threatening, followed, and on Salem’s walls

  Planted the standard of the Sacred Cross.

  C.

  La vincitrice insegna in mille giri

  Alteramente si rivolge intorno:

  E par che in lei più riverente spiri

  796 L’aura, e che splenda in lei più chiaro il giorno:

  Ch’ogni dardo, ogni stral che in lei si tiri,

  O la declini, o faccia indi ritorno:

  Par che Sion, par che l’opposto monte

  800 Lieto l’adori, e inchini a lei la fronte.

  C

  About his head he tossed, he turned, he cast,

  That glorious ensign, with a thousand twines,

  Thereon the wind breathes with his sweetest blast,

  Thereon with golden rays glad Phoebus shines,

  Earth laughs for joy, the streams forbear their haste,

  Floods clap their hands, on mountains dance the pines,

  And Sion’s towers and sacred temples smile

  For their deliverance from that bondage vile.

  C

  The victor ensign waved in myriad wreaths

  Proudly, as conscious of the victory won; —

  On it the air, it seemed, more softly breathes,

  On it more brilliantly to shine the sun;’

  And every lance and arrow launched ‘gainst it

  Seemed or to shun it or rebound from thence:

  And Sion and the mountain opposite

  Their heads to bow, with joy and reverence.

  CI.

  Allor tutte le squadre il grido alzaro

  Della vittoria altissimo e festante:

  E risonarne i monti, e replicaro

  804 Gli ultimi accenti: e quasi in quello istante

 
Ruppe e vinse Tancredi ogni riparo

  Che gli aveva all’incontro opposto Argante:

  E, lanciando il suo ponte, anch’ei veloce

  808 Passò nel muro, e v’innalzò la Croce.

  CI

  And now the armies reared the happy cry

  Of victory, glad, joyful, loud, and shrill.

  The hills resound, the echo showereth high,

  And Tancred bold, that fights and combats still

  With proud Argantes, brought his tower so nigh,

  That on the wall, against the boaster’s will,

  In his despite, his bridge he also laid,

  And won the place, and there the cross displayed.

  CI

  From the whole force then burst triumphant cheers

  At their great joyous victory: and among

  The hills, in answer to the cavaliers’

  Last shouts, reverberating echoes rung.

  At the same moment Tancred overthrew

  All the defences that Arganté made,

  And his bridge launching forth, passed swiftly too,

  And on the walls the purple Cross displayed.

  CII.

  Ma verso il Mezzogiorno, ove il canuto

  Raimondo pugna, e ‘l Palestin Tiranno,

  I guerrier di Guascogna anco potuto

  812 Giunger la torre alla Città non hanno:

  Chè ‘l nerbo delle genti ha il Re in ajuto,

  Ed ostinati alla difesa stanno:

  E sebben quivi il muro era men fermo,

  816 Di machine v’avea maggior lo schermo.

  CII

  But on the southern hill, where Raymond fought

  Against the townsmen and their aged king,

  His hardy Gascoigns gained small or naught;

  Their engine to the walls they could not bring,

  For thither all his strength the prince had brought,

  For life and safety sternly combating,

  And for the wall was feeblest on that coast,

  There were his soldiers best, and engines most.

  CII

  But, towards the south, where hoary Raymond fought

  With varying odds against the Syrian king,

  As yet the Gascon cavaliers could not

  Up to the battlements their turret bring,

  Since the king’s troops, with stubborn resolute will,

  All efforts of the enemy defied:

  And if the wall was there less solid, still,

  With engines it was better fortified.

  CIII.

  Oltrechè, men che altrove, in questo canto

  La gran mole il sentier trovò spedito.

  Nè tanto arte potè, che pur alquanto

  820 Di sua natura non ritegna il sito.

  Fu l’alto segno di vittoria intanto

  Dai difensori, e dai Guasconi udito:

  Ed avvisò il Tiranno, e ‘l Tolosano,

  824 Che la Città già presa è verso il piano.

  CIII

  Besides, the tower upon that quarter found

  Unsure, uneasy, and uneven the way,

  Nor art could help, but that the rougher ground

  The rolling mass did often stop and stay;

  But now of victory the joyful sound

  The king and Raymond heard amid their fray;

  And by the shout they and their soldiers know,

  The town was entered on the plain below.

  CIII

  Besides that greater hindrance in that part

  Than elsewhere the unwieldy turret found;

  Nor could their utmost exercise of art

  O’ercome the rugged nature of the ground.

  Meanwhile, the Gascons and the Pagans too

  Heard victory’s loud and long-continued strain,

  From which both Raymond and the tyrant knew

  The city had been taken towards the plain.

  CIV.

  Onde Raimondo ai suoi, dall’altra parte,

  Grida: o compagni, è la Città già presa.

  Vinta ancor ne resiste? or soli a parte

  828 Non sarem noi di sì onorata impresa?

  Ma il Re cedendo alfin di là si parte:

  Perch’ivi disperata è la difesa:

  E sen rifugge in loco forte ed alto,

  832 Ove egli spera sostener l’assalto.

  CIV

  Which heard, Raymondo thus bespake this crew,

  “The town is won, my friends, and doth it yet

  Resist? are we kept out still by these few?

  Shall we no share in this high conquest get?”

  But from that part the king at last withdrew,

  He strove in vain their entrance there to let,

  And to a stronger place his folk he brought,

  Where to sustain the assault awhile he thought.

  CIV

  Whence with a cheer, ‘Hark! hark! the city’s won,’

  To his companions gallant Raymond cries;

  ‘Won, shall it us resist? Shall we alone

  Not share the honour of the great emprise? ‘

  Despairing of prolonged defence, at length

  King Aladine retreated, nor did halt

  Until he reached a fortress of great strength,

  Where he still trusted to sustain the assault.

  CV.

  Entra allor vincitore il campo tutto

  Per le mura non sol, ma per le porte.

  Ch’è già aperto, abbattuto, arso, e distrutto

  836 Ciò che lor s’opponea, rinchiuso e forte.

  Spazia l’ira del ferro: e va col lutto

  E con l’orror, compagni suoi, la morte.

  Ristagna il sangue in gorghi, e corre in rivi

  840 Pieni di corpi estinti, e di mal vivi.

  CV

  The conquerors at once now entered all,

  The walls were won, the gates were opened wide,

  Now bruised, broken down, destroyed fall

  The ports and towers that battery durst abide;

  Rageth the sword, death murdereth great and small,

  And proud ‘twixt woe and horror sad doth ride.

  Here runs the blood, in ponds there stands the gore,

  And drowns the knights in whom it lived before.

  CV

  Then entered pell-mell the victorious host

  Thro’ the wide gates, not by the walls alone,

  Since every strong defence, each sheltered post,

  Now open lay, burnt, battered, overthrown;

  Here stalked the falchion’s Fury, there Death goes,

  By Mourning and Despair accompanied;

  In clotted pools here stagnates blood, there flows

  In rivers from the dying and the dead.

  Canto diciannovesimo

  NINETEENTH BOOK

  ARGOMENTO.

  Intera palma del famoso Argante

  Tancredi ottiene in singolar tenzone.

  Salvo è il Re nella rocca. Erminia ha innante

  Vafrino; e questa a lui gran cose espone.

  Riede instrutto: ella è seco; e ‘l caro amante

  Di lei trovano esangue in sul sabbione.

  Piange ella, e ‘l cura poi. Goffredo intende

  Quali insidie il Pagan contra gli tende.

  THE ARGUMENT.

  Argantes strong: the king and Soldan fly

  To David’s tower, and save their persons so;

  Erminia well instructs Vafrine the spy,

  With him she rides away, and as they go

  Finds where her lord for dead on earth doth lie;

  First she laments, then cures him: Godfrey hears

  Ormondo’s treason, and what marks he bears.

  I.

  Già la morte, o il consiglio, o la paura

  Dalle difese ogni Pagano ha tolto:

  E sol non s’è dall’espugnate mura

  4 Il pertinace Argante anco rivolto.

  Mostra ei la faccia intrepida e sicura,

  E pugna pur fra gli avvers
arj avvolto,

  Più che morir, temendo esser rispinto:

  8 E vuol morendo anco parer non vinto.

  I

  Now death or fear or care to save their lives

  From their forsaken walls the Pagans chase:

  Yet neither force nor fear nor wisdom drives

  The constant knight Argantes from his place;

  Alone against ten thousand foes he strives,

  Yet dreadless, doubtless, careless seemed his face,

  Nor death, nor danger, but disgrace he fears,

  And still unconquered, though o’erset, appears.

  I

  Now death, or prudence, or o’erwhelming dread

  Had all the Turks removed from the defence.

  On the won walls alone Arganté stayed,

  With dogged and persistent confidence.

  Still, with unflinching look and resolute eye,

  He sought the sad disaster to redeem.

  He feared to be driven backward, not to die;

  And, even dying, would unconquered seem.

  II.

  Ma sovra ogni altro feritore infesto

  Sovraggiunge Tancredi e lui percote.

  Ben è il Circasso a riconoscer presto,

  12 Al portamento agli atti all’arme note,

  Lui che pugnò già seco, e ‘l giorno sesto

  Tornar promise, e le promesse ir vote.

  Onde gridò: così la fe, Tancredi,

  16 Mi servi tu? così alla pugna or riedi?

  II

  But mongst the rest upon his helmet gay

  With his broad sword Tancredi came and smote:

  The Pagan knew the prince by his array,

  By his strong blows, his armor and his coat;

  For once they fought, and when night stayed that fray,

  New time they chose to end their combat hot,

  But Tancred failed, wherefore the Pagan knight

  Cried, “Tancred, com’st thou thus, thus late to fight?

  II

  But, bitterer far than all his enemies,

  On came Tancredi, and resumed their feud;

  Nor was Arganté slow to recognise,

  By the proud bearing, arms, and attitude,

  The knight he had fought with, and who promisèd

  In six days to return, nor kept his plight.

  Whence: ‘Is it thus thou keepest faith? he said,

  ‘Is it thus returns Tancredi to the fight?

  III.

  Tardi riedi, e non solo. Io non rifiuto