Jerusalem Delivered
Page 294
Il misero se ‘l vede, e se ‘l comporta,
Assai miglior che capitano, amante.
Scorge Armida in sicuro; e torna poi,
560 Intempestiva aita, ai vinti suoi.
LXX
To the ill-guarded chariot swift he flew,
His weapon made him way with bloody war:
Meanwhile Lord Godfrey and Rinaldo slew
His feeble bands, his people murdered are,
He saw their loss, but aided not his crew,
A better lover than a leader far,
He set Armida safe, then turned again
With tardy succor, for his folk were slain.
LXX
Escorting then her ill-protected car,
A path he opened with his sword for it;
But at that moment his battalions were
By Godfred and Rinaldo put to flight
Their desperate plight the wretched prince discerned
And better lover than commander made;
When, having saved Armida, he returned,
With, to his beaten troops, untimely aid.
LXXI.
Chè da quel lato de’ Pagani il Campo
Irreparabilmente è sparso e sciolto.
Ma dall’opposto, abbandonando il campo
564 Agl’infedeli, i nostri il tergo han volto.
Ebbe l’un de’ Roberti appena scampo,
Ferito dal nemico il petto e ‘l volto:
L’altro è prigion d’Adrasto. In cotal guisa
568 La sconfitta egualmente era divisa.
LXXI
And on that side the woful prince beheld
The battle lost, no help nor hope remained;
But on the other wing the Christians yield,
And fly, such vantage there the Egyptians gained,
One of the Roberts was nigh slain in field;
The other by the Indian strong constrained
To yield himself his captive and his slave;
Thus equal loss and equal foil they have.
LXXI
Since upon that side from their fierce attack
The Turks were routed irretrievably;
But, on the other, the Franks turned their back,
The field abandoning to the enemy.
Maimed in the face and in the bosom struck,
One Robert scarce effected a retreat;
The other prisoner Prince Adrastus took:
Thus equally was balanced the defeat
LXXII.
Prende Goffredo allor tempo opportuno:
Riordina sue squadre, e fa ritorno
Senza indugio alla pugna; e così l’uno
572 Viene ad urtar nell’altro intero corno.
Tinto sen vien di sangue ostil ciascuno:
Ciascun di spoglie trionfali adorno.
La vittoria e l’onor vien da ogni parte:
576 Sta dubbia in mezzo la Fortuna, e Marte.
LXXII
Godfredo took the time and season fit
To bring again his squadrons in array,
And either camp well ordered, ranged and knit,
Renewed the furious battle, fight and fray,
New streams of blood were shed, new swords them hit;
New combats fought, new spoils were borne away,
And unresolved and doubtful, on each side,
Did praise and conquest, Mars and Fortune ride.
LXXII
Then Godfred seized the opportunity,
Re-formed his line, and, without waiting, dashed
Back to the fight in that emergency;
Thus the two wings entire together clashed.
Each was adorned with glorious spoils, each dyed
With the bright crimson of his foeman’s blood;
Victory and honour shone on either side,
‘Twixt whom, still doubtful, Mars and Fortune stood.
LXXIII.
Or mentre in guisa tal fera tenzone
È tra ‘l Fedele esercito e ‘l Pagano;
Salse in cima alla torre ad un balcone,
580 E mirò (benchè lunge) il fier Soldano,
Mirò (quasi in teatro, od in agone)
L’aspra tragedia dello stato umano:
I varj assalti, e ‘l fero orror di morte,
584 E i gran giochi del caso e della sorte.
LXXIII
Between the armies twain while thus the fight
Waxed sharp, hot, cruel, though renewed but late,
The Soldan clomb up to the tower’s height,
And saw far off their strife and fell debate,
As from some stage or theatre the knight
Saw played the tragedy of human state,
Saw death, blood, murder, woe and horror strange,
And the great acts of fortune, chance, and change.
LXXIII
While in such manner raged the bloody fight
Between the Christian and the Pagan host,
Up to a terrace on the turret’s height
The soldan went, and from that distant post
Beheld, as on a stage or lists beneath,
The tragic drama of the human state,
The assault, the foul unsightliness of death,
And the great game of accident and fate.
LXXIV.
Stette attonito alquanto e stupefatto
A quelle prime viste, e poi s’accese:
E desiò trovarsi anch’egli in atto
588 Nel periglioso campo alle alte imprese.
Nè pose indugio al suo desir; ma ratto
D’elmo s’armò, ch’aveva ogni altro arnese.
Su su, gridò, non più, non più dimora,
592 Convien ch’oggi si vinca, o che si mora.
LXXIV
At first astonished and amazed he stood
Then burnt with wrath, and self-consuming ire,
Swelled his bosom like a raging flood,
To be amid that battle; such desire,
Such haste he had; he donned his helmet good,
His other arms he had before entire,
“Up, up!” he cried, “no more, no more, within
This fortress stay, come follow, die or win.”
LXXIV
Somewhat surprised and stupefied he stood,
When that dread sight first shocked upon his eyes;
But, as he gazed upon that field of blood,
He burned to share the perils of the emprise;
Nor curbed his impulse, but without delay
Braced on his helmet, else armed cap-à-pie,
‘Up, up!’ he cried; ‘no shrinking — for to-day
Our doom is sealed — or death or victory.’
LXXV.
O che sia forse il provveder divino
Che spira in lui la furiosa mente,
Perchè quel giorno sian del Palestino
596 Imperio le reliquie in tutto spente,
O che sia ch’alla morte omai vicino
D’andarle incontra stimolar si sente;
Impetuoso e rapido disserra
600 La porta, e porta inaspettata guerra.
LXXV
Whether the same were Providence divine
That made him leave the fortress he possessed,
For that the empire proud of Palestine
This day should fall, to rise again more blessed;
Or that he breaking felt the fatal line
Of life, and would meet death with constant breast,
Furious and fierce he did the gates unbar,
And sudden rage brought forth, and sudden war.
LXXV
Or that, perhaps, ’twas Providence divine,
That did him with such furious spirit fire,
That, to its very ashes, Palestine
Might on that day, that fatal day, expire;
Or that an impulse to confront his fate
Constrained him, since he felt it was not far;
Downwards he rushed, unlocked the steel-barred gate,
/> And bore impetuous, unexpected war;
LXXVI.
E non aspetta pur che i feri inviti
Accettino i compagni; esce sol esso,
E sfida sol mille nemici uniti:
604 E sol fra mille, intrepido, s’è messo.
Ma dall’impeto suo quasi rapiti
Seguon poi gli altri, ed Aladino stesso.
Chi fu vil chi fu cauto or nulla teme;
608 Opera di furor più che di speme.
LXXVI
Nor stayed he till the folk on whom he cried
Assemble might, but out alone he flies,
A thousand foes the man alone defied,
And ran among a thousand enemies:
But with his fury called from every side,
The rest run out, and Aladine forth hies,
The cowards had no fear, the wise no care,
This was not hope, nor courage, but despair.
LXXVI
Nor waited till his comrades had complied
With his fierce call, but sallied forth alone;
Alone, a thousand foemen he defied,
Alone, through thousands he pushed boldly on;
But, as if by his spirit rapt, the rest,
Ev’n Aladino, caught his martial air;
The vile, the timid, no more fears exprest;
’Twas less the work of hope than of despair.
LXXVII.
Quel che prima ritrova il Turco atroce,
Caggiono ai colpi orribili improvvisi:
E in condur loro a morte è sì veloce,
612 Ch’uom non gli vede uccidere, ma uccisi.
Dai primieri ai sezzaj, di voce in voce,
Passa il terror, vanno i dolenti avvisi;
Tal che ‘l volgo fedel della Soria,
616 Tumultuando, già quasi fuggia.
LXXVII
The dreadful Turk with sudden blows down cast
The first he met, nor gave them time to plain
Or pray, in murdering them he made such haste
That dead they fell ere one could see them slain;
From mouth to mouth, from eye to eye forth passed
The fear and terror, that the faithful train
Of Syrian folk, not used to dangerous fight,
Were broken, scattered, and nigh put to flight.
LXXVII
Beneath his dreadful rapid strokes fell thick
Those the fierce Turk first met; he was so skilled
In dealing death around him, and so quick,
That him you saw not killing, but them killed.
From tongue to tongue, from front to rear, there ran
A sudden panic as the tidings spread,
So that the Syrian Christians, to a man,
Thrown into dire disorder, almost fled.
LXXVIII.
Ma con men di terrore e di scompiglio
L’ordine e ‘l loco suo fu ritenuto
Dal Guascon; benchè, prossimo al periglio,
620 All’improvviso ei sia colto e battuto.
Nessun dente giammai, nessun artiglio
O di silvestre, o d’animal pennuto
Insanguinossi in mandra, o tra gli augelli,
624 Come la spada del Soldan tra quelli.
LXXVIII
But with less terror, and disorder less,
The Gascoigns kept array, and kept their ground,
Though most the loss and peril them oppress,
Unwares assailed they were, unready found.
No ravening tooth or talon hard I guess
Of beast or eager hawk, doth slay and wound
So many sheep or fowls, weak, feeble, small,
As his sharp sword killed knights and soldiers tall.
LXXVIII
But with less terror and less disarray,
Their ground the Gascons held, and order kept,
Altho’, as nearest to the danger, they
The foremost were o’er whom the tempest swept.
No fang, no claw of beast or bird of prey
Was e’er so crimsoned with the blood outpoured
From lamb or dove, as in that bloody fray
Among the Franks was Solymano’s sword.
LXXIX.
Sembra quasi famelica e vorace:
Pasce le membra quasi, e ‘l sangue sugge.
Seco Aladin, seco lo stuol seguace
628 Gli assediatori suoi percuote e strugge.
Ma il buon Raimondo accorre ove disface
Soliman le sue squadre, e già nol fugge,
Sebben la fera destra ei riconosce
632 Onde percosso ebbe mortali angosce.
LXXIX
It seemed his thirst and hunger ‘suage he would
With their slain bodies, and their blood poured out,
With him his troops and Aladino old
Slew their besiegers, killed the Gascoign rout:
But Raymond ran to meet the Soldan bold,
Nor to encounter him had fear or doubt,
Though his right hand by proof too well he know,
Which laid him late for dead at one huge blow.
LXXIX
Athirst and hungry, it appeared almost
To feed upon their limbs and drink their blood.
With him the king, with him the vassal host,
Their sabres in the assailant’s gore imbrued;
But Raymond rushed where Solymano broke
His squadron’s ranks; disdaining he to fly,
Tho’ well he recognised that arm whose stroke
Had caused him erst such mortal agony.
LXXX.
Pur di novo l’affronta, e pur ricade
Pur ripercosso ove fu prima offeso:
E colpa è sol della soverchia etade,
636 A cui soverchio è de’ gran colpi il peso.
Da cento scudi fu, da cento spade
Oppugnato in quel tempo anco e difeso.
Ma trascorre il Soldano, o che sel creda
640 Morto del tutto, o ‘l pensi agevol preda.
LXXX
They met, and Raymond fell amid the field,
This blow again upon his forehead light,
It was the fault and weakness of his eild,
Age is not fit to bear strokes of such might,
Each one lift up his sword, advanced his shield,
Those would destroy, and these defend the knight.
On went the Soldan, for the man he thought
Was slain, or easily might be captive brought.
LXXX
Again his foe he fronted, again fell,
Re-stricken where he stricken was before;
’Twas age excessive now began to tell,
For which excessive were the blows he bore.
For him at once a hundred falchions gleamed,
Him hundred shields defended; but away
The fiery soldan strode, or that he deemed
Him dead outright, or a too easy prey,
LXXXI.
Sovra gli altri ferisce, e tronca, e svena,
E in poca piazza fa mirabil prove.
Ricerca poi, come furore il mena,
644 A nova uccision materia altrove.
Qual da povera mensa a ricca cena
Uom, stimolato dal digiun, si move;
Tal vanne a maggior guerra, ov’egli sbrame
648 La sua di sangue infuriata fame.
LXXXI
Among the rest he ran, he raged, he smote,
And in small space, small time, great wonders wrought
And as his rage him led and fury hot,
To kill and murder, matter new he sought:
As from his supper poor with hungry throat
A peasant hastes, to a rich feast ybrought;
So from this skirmish to the battle great
He ran, and quenched with blood his fury’s heat.
LXXXI
And hewed and hacked and massacred the rest,
And in small compass mighty wonders wrought;
And as fresh fury urged his savage breast,
Material elsewhere for fresh carnage sought
As, pinched with hunger, one leaves frugal fare
For a rich banquet of abundant food,
So rushed he to more ample battle, where
To sate his maddened appetite for blood.
LXXXII.
Scende egli giù per le abbattute mura,
E s’indirizza alla gran pugna in fretta.
Ma il furor ne’ compagni e la paura
652 Riman, che i suoi nemici han già concetta:
E l’una schiera d’asseguir procura
Quella vittoria ch’ei lasciò imperfetta.
L’altra resiste si; ma non è senza
656 Segno di fuga omai la resistenza.
LXXXII
Where battered was the wall he sallied out,
And to the field in haste and heat he goes,
With him went rage and fury, fear and doubt
Remained behind, among his scattered foes:
To win the conquest strove his squadron stout,
Which he unperfect left; yet loth to lose
The day, the Christians fight, resist and die,
And ready were to yield, retire and fly.
LXXXII
And down descended thro’ the shattered wall
To the great battle with intolerant haste,
His troops their rage retain, his foemen all
The fears that had them from his fury chased.
The Turks would fain the imperfect victory close,
And, by success emboldened, madly fight;
The Franks resist; but their resistance shows
Less symptoms of resistance than of flight.
LXXXIII.
Il Guascon ritirandosi cedeva;
Ma se ne gía disperso il popol Siro.
Eran presso all’albergo, ove giaceva
660 Il buon Tancredi, e i gridi entro s’udiro.
Dal letto il fianco infermo egli solleva:
Vien sulla vetta, e volge gli occhj in giro.
Vede, giacendo il Conte, altri ritrarsi,
664 Altri del tutto già fugati e sparsi.
LXXXIII
The Gascoign bands retired, but kept array,
The Syrian people ran away outright,
The fight was near the place where Tancred lay,
His house was full of noise and great affright,
He rose and looked forth to see the fray,
Though every limb were weak, faint, void of might;
He saw the country lie, his men o’erthrown,