That seems so fierce, so hardy, stout and strong,
The Moors or weak Arabians vanquish could,
Yet can he not resist your valors long.
What can he do, though wise, though sage, though bold,
In that confusion, trouble, thrust and throng?
Ill known he is, and worse he knows his host,
Strange lords ill feared are, ill obeyed of most.
XVII
‘Yon chief, with gold and purple glittering o’er,
Who looks so fierce and has supreme command,
May have subdued the Arab or the Moor,
Yet not be able against us to stand.
What, when all is in wild confusion thrown,
Can he, however sage or gallant, do?
His troops he knows not, nor by them is known,
And “there I was, there thou,” can say to few.
XVIII.
Ma Capitano i’ son di gente eletta:
Pugnammo un tempo, e trionfammo insieme.
E poscia un tempo a mio voler l’ho retta.
140 Di chi di voi non so la patria e ‘l seme?
Quale spada m’è ignota? o qual saetta,
Benchè per l’aria ancor sospesa treme,
Non saprei dir s’è Franca, o se d’Irlanda,
144 E quale appunto il braccio è che la manda?
XVIII
“But I am captain of this chosen crew,
With whom I oft have conquered, triumphed oft,
Your lands and lineages long since I knew,
Each knight obeys my rule, mild, easy, soft,
I know each sword, each dart, each shaft I view,
Although the quarrel fly in skies aloft,
Whether the same of Ireland be, or France,
And from what bow it comes, what hand perchance.
XVIII
‘But I am captain of a chosen host;
Together we have fought, together won;
And since, to have commanded you I boast,
To me, whose land or lineage is unknown?
Know I not every sword and every lance,
Ev’n while it trembles pendent in the air?
Can I not tell if Ireland or if France,
Nay, ev’n whose arm impelled the stroke, declare?
XIX.
Chiedo solite cose; ogn’un quì sembri
Quel medesmo ch’altrove i’ l’ho già visto:
E l’usato suo zelo abbia, e rimembri
148 L’onor suo, l’onor mio, l’onor di Cristo.
Ite, abbattete gli empj, e i tronchi membri
Calcate, e stabilite il santo acquisto.
Chè più vi tegno a bada? assai distinto
152 Negli occhj vostri il veggio; avete vinto.
XIX
“I ask an easy and a usual thing,
As you have oft, this day, so win the field,
Let zeal and honor be your virtue’s sting,
Your lives, my fame, Christ’s faith defend and shield,
To earth these Pagans slain and wounded bring,
Tread on their necks, make them all die or yield, —
What need I more exhort you? from your eyes
I see how victory, how conquest flies.”
XIX
‘I ask for nothing new; let me but find
Each show that zeal which formerly he showed,
Each prove himself the same, and bear in mind
His honour, mine, and the honour of his God.
Away! cut down the infidel — away!
And through their deaths secure your sacred prize.
But why wait more, or your advance delay?
Ye have won — I read your triumph in your eyes.’
XX.
Parve che nel finir di tai parole
Scendesse un lampo lucido e sereno,
Come tal volta estiva notte suole
156 Scuoter dal manto suo stella o baleno.
Ma questo creder si potea che ‘l Sole
Giuso il mandasse dal più interno seno:
E parve al capo irgli girando: e segno
160 Alcun pensollo di futuro regno.
XX
Upon the captain, when his speech was done,
It seemed a lamp and golden light down came,
As from night’s azure mantle oft doth run
Or fall, a sliding star, or shining flame;
But from the bosom of the burning sun
Proceeded this, and garland-wise the same
Godfredo’s noble head encompassed round,
And, as some thought, foreshowed he should be crowned.
XX
From heaven a crystalline translucent light
Seemed to descend, as thus the captain spake;
So, from her mantle, a midsummer night
Is wont sheet-lightning or a star to shake;
But this, one might imagine, was sent down
From the sun’s inmost core, and there were some
(As round his head it played and formed a crown)
Deemed it a symbol of his reign to come.
XXI.
Forse (se deve infra’ celesti arcani
Prosuntuosa entrar lingua mortale)
Angel custode fu, che dai soprani
164 Cori discese, e ‘l circondò con l’ale.
Mentre ordinò Goffredo i suoi Cristiani,
E parlò fra le schiere in guisa tale;
L’Egizio Capitan lento non fue
168 Ad ordinare, a confortar le sue.
XXI
Perchance, if man’s proud thought or saucy tongue
Have leave to judge or guess at heavenly things,
This was the angel which had kept him long,
That now came down, and hid him with his wings.
While thus the Duke bespeaks his armies strong,
And every troop and band in order brings.
Lord Emiren his host disposed well,
And with bold words whet on their courage fell;
XXI
It may be that, if man’s presumptuous tongue
Dare pierce the mystery of celestial things,
A guardian angel from Heaven’s choir had flung
Round him the sheen of his seraphic wings.
While thus the pious Christian cavalier
The Franks addressed, and issued his commands,
Not backward was Prince Emiren to cheer,
And orders give to the Egyptian bands.
XXII.
Trasse le squadre fuor, come veduto
Fu da lunge venirne il popol Franco.
E fece anch’ei l’esercito cornuto,
172 Co’ fanti in mezzo, e i cavalieri al fianco.
E per se il corno destro ha ritenuto:
E prepose Altamoro al lato manco.
Muleasse fra loro i fanti guida:
176 E in mezzo è poi della battaglia Armida.
XXII
The man brought forth his army great with speed,
In order good, his foes at hand he spied,
Like the new moon his host two horns did spreed,
In midst the foot, the horse were on each side,
The right wing kept he for himself to lead,
Great Altamore received the left to guide,
The middle ward led Muleasses proud,
And in that battle fair Armida stood.
XXII
His numerous troops he ranged in order, soon
As he caught sight of the approaching Franks,
And likewise formed his force in a half-moon,
Foot in the centre, horse upon the flanks.
The right in person he resolved to head;
Charge of the left on Altamore bestowed;
The foot, between them, Muleasses led,
And in the centre fair Armida rode.
XXIII.
Col Duce a destra è il Re degl’Indiani,
E Tisaferno, e tutto il regio stuolo.
Ma dove stender può ne’ larghi
piani
180 L’ala sinistra più spedito il volo,
Altamoro ha i Re Persi, e i Re Africani,
E i due che manda il più fervente suolo.
Quinci le frombe, e le balestre, e gli archi
184 Esser tutti dovean rotate e scarchi.
XXIII
On the right quarter stood the Indian grim,
With Tisipherne and all the king’s own band;
But when the left wing spread her squadrons trim
O’er the large plain, did Altamoro stand,
With African and Persian kings with him,
And two that came from Meroe’s hot sand,
And all his crossbows and his slings he placed,
Where room best served to shoot, to throw, to cast.
XXIII
The Indian monarch and the imperial train
With Tisapherne were on the captain’s right;
But, where the left wing o’er the spacious plain
Could in more free and open order fight,
With Altamoro, Libya’s, Persia’s kings,
And the two chieftains of the desert were;
And cross-bowmen, with those that whirled the slings,
And shafts discharged, were concentrated there.
XXIV.
Così Emiren gli schiera, e corre anch’esso
Per le parti di mezzo, e per gli estremi:
Per interpreti or parla, or per se stesso,
188 Mesce lodi, e rampogne, e pene, e premj.
Talor dice ad alcun: perchè dimesso
Mostri, Soldato, il volto? e di che temi?
Chè puote un contra cento? io mi confido
192 Sol con l’ombra fugargli, e sol col grido.
XXIV
Thus Emiren his host put in array,
And rode from band to band, from rank to rank,
His truchmen now, and now himself, doth say,
What spoil his folk shall gain, what praise, what thank.
To him that feared, “Look up, ours is the day,”
He says, “Vile fear to bold hearts never sank,
How dareth one against an hundred fight?
Our cry, our shade, will put them all to flight.”
XXIV
Thus marshalled, Emireno dashed his spurs
Into his steed, and galloped down the ranks;
Now spoke himself, now thro’ interpreters,
Mingling rewards with threats, rebukes with thanks.
To some he said: ‘ Why such dejection show?
What, soldiers, you, and yet betray such fright?
Why, what can one against a hundred do?
Your shouts, your shadows should put them to flight.’
XXV.
Ad altri: o valoroso, or via con questa
Faccia a ritor la preda a noi rapita.
L’immagine ad alcuno in mente desta,
196 Gliela figura quasi e gliel’addita,
Della pregante patria, e della mesta
Supplice famigliuola sbigottita.
Credi, dicea, che la tua patria spieghi
200 Per la mia lingua in tai parole i preghi:
XXV
But to the bold, “Go, hardy knight,” he says,
“His prey out of this lion’s paws go tear:”
To some before his thoughts the shape he lays,
And makes therein the image true appear,
How his sad country him entreats and prays,
His house, his loving wife, and children dear:
“Suppose,” quoth he, “thy country doth beseech
And pray thee thus, suppose this is her speech.
XXV
To others: ‘Go, belie not your bold look,
And from the foe their lawless plunder wrest.’
In some, the harrowing imagery woke,
And in their minds it moulded and impressed,
Of their imploring country, and the dread
Felt by their suppliant and affrighted young.
‘Fancy your country now unfolds,’ he said,
‘These plaints, these supplications, thro’ my tongue:
XXVI.
Guarda tu le mie leggi, e i sacri tempj
Fa ch’io del sangue mio non bagni e lavi.
Assicura le vergini dagli empj,
204 E i sepolcri e le ceneri degli avi.
A te, piangendo i lor passati tempi,
Mostran la bianca chioma i vecchj gravi:
A te la moglie le mammelle e ‘l petto,
208 Le cune, e i figlj, e ‘l marital suo letto.
XXVI
“Defend my laws, uphold my temples brave,
My blood from washing of my streets withhold,
From ravishing my virgins keep, and save
Thine ancestors’ dead bones and ashes cold!
To thee thy fathers dear and parents grave
Show their uncovered heads, white, hoary, old,
To thee thy wife — her breasts with tears o’erspread —
Thy sons, their cradles, shows, thy marriage bed.”
XXVI
‘My laws preserve, and in this fatal hour
Let not my blood our sacred temples lave;
Our virgins from pollution of the Giaour,
The tombs and ashes of our fathers, save.
To you, lamenting happy times, now fled,
The afflicted elders show their silver hair;
Matrons to you their babes and marriage bed,
Their little cradles, and their bosoms bare.
XXVII.
A molti poi dicea: l’Asia campioni
Vi fa dell’onor suo: da voi s’aspetta
Contra que’ pochi barbari ladroni
212 Acerba, ma giustissima vendetta.
Così con arti varie, in varj suoni
Le varie genti alla battaglia alletta.
Ma già tacciono i duci, e le vicine
216 Schiere non parte omai largo confine.
XXVII
To all the rest, “You for her honor’s sake
Whom Asia makes her champions, by your might
Upon these thieves, weak, feeble, few, must take
A sharp revenge, yet just, deserved and right.”
Thus many words in several tongues he spake,
And all his sundry nations to sharp fight
Encouraged, but now the dukes had done
Their speeches all, the hosts together run.
XXVII
‘Asia,’ to many he exclaimed, ‘selects
You as the champions of her fame; from you
On you barbaric robbers she expects
Vengeance most bitter, but most justly due.’
Thus varied natures to his point he gained,
By varied speeches, and by varied mien;
But now the captains ceased, for there remained
But little space the rival hosts between.
XXVIII.
Grande e mirabil cosa era il vedere
Quando quel campo e questo a fronte venne:
Come, spiegate in ordine le schiere,
220 Di mover già, già d’assalire accenne:
Sparse al vento ondeggiando ir le bandiere,
E ventolar su i gran cimier le penne:
Abiti, fregj, imprese, arme, e colori,
224 D’oro e di ferro, al Sol lampi e fulgóri.
XXVIII
It was a great, a strange and wondrous sight,
When front to front those noble armies met,
How every troop, how in each troop each knight
Stood prest to move, to fight, and praise to get,
Loose in the wind waved their ensigns light,
Trembled the plumes that on their crests were set;
Their arms, impresses, colors, gold and stone,
Against the sunbeams smiled, flamed, sparkled, shone.
XXVIII
Oh! ’twas a grand and wondrous sight to see,
How, with their ranks deployed, the camps at last
Fronted each other in dread rivalry,
Ready to move at the first signal blast
Spread to the breeze, the banners waved on high,
Plumes gaily danced the towering helms upon;
And arms, crests, colours, and embroidery,
All steel and gold, flashed brightly in the sun.
XXIX.
Sembra d’alberi densi alta foresta
L’un campo e l’altro; di tant’aste abbonda!
Son tesi gli archi, e son le lance in resta:
228 Vibransi i dardi, e rotasi ogni fionda.
Ogni cavallo in guerra anco s’appresta;
Gli odj, e ‘l furor del suo signor seconda:
Raspa, batte, nitrisce, e si raggira,
232 Gonfia le nari, e fumo e foco spira.
XXIX
Of dry topped oaks they seemed two forests thick,
So did each host with spears and pikes abound,
Bent were their bows, in rests their lances stick,
Their hands shook swords, their slings held cobbles round:
Each steed to run was ready, prest and quick,
At his commander’s spur, his hand, his sound,
He chafes, he stamps, careers, and turns about,
He foams, snorts, neighs, and fire and smoke breathes out.
XXIX
Appearance of a thick-set wood suggest
The two great camps — so thick the spears abound.
Bent are the bows, the lances placed in rest,
The arrows vibrate, and the slings whirl round;
The destriers, too, beneath their riders bound,
And seem to second their infuriate ire;
They stamp, snort, neigh, and restless paw the ground,
And their swoln nostrils breathe forth smoke and fire.
XXX.
Bello in sì bella vista anco è l’orrore:
E di mezzo la tema esce il diletto.
Nè men le trombe orribili e canore
236 Sono agli orecchj lieto e fero oggetto.
Pur il campo fedel, benchè minore,
Par di suon più mirabile, e d’aspetto.
E canta in più guerriero e chiaro carme
240 Ogni sua tromba: e maggior luce han l’arme.
XXX
Horror itself in that fair fight seemed fair,
And pleasure flew amid sad dread and fear;
The trumpets shrill, that thundered in the air,
Were music mild and sweet to every ear:
The faithful camp, though less, yet seemed more rare
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