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At length in sleep their bodies they compose, And dreamt the future fight, and early rose.

Now scarce the dawning day began to spring, As ata signal given the streets with clamors ring, At once the crowd arose confus'd and high Even from the Heaven was hearda shouting cry; For Mars was early up, and rous'd the sky. The Gods came downward to behold the wars, Sharp'ningtheirsights, and leaningfromtheirstars. The neighing of the gen'rous horse was heard, For battle by the busy groom prepar'd. Rustling of harness, rattling of the shield, Clattering of armor furbish'd for the field. ` Crowds to the castle mounted up the street, Batt'ring the pavement with their coursers' feet: The greedy fight might there devour the gold Of glittering arms, too dazzling to behold: And polish'd steel that cast the view aside, And crested morions, with their plumy pride. Knights with a long retinue of their 'squires, In gaudy liveries march, and quaint attires. One lac'd the helm, another held the lance: A third the shining buckler did advance. The courser paw'd the ground with restless feet, And snorting foam'd,and champ'd the golden bit. The smiths and armors on palfreys ride, Files in their hands, and hanummers at their side, And nails for loosen'd spears, and thongs for( shields provide.

The yeomen guard the streets in seemly bands; And clowns come crowding on, with cudgels in their bands.

:

The trumpets, next the gate, in order placed, Attend the sign to sound the martial blast; The palace-yard is fill'd with floating tides, And the last comers bear the former to the sides. The throng is in the midst the common crew Shut out, the hall admits the better few; In knots they stand, or in a rank they walk, Serious in aspect, earnest in their talk: Factious, and favoring this or t' other side, As their strong fancy or weak reason guidė : Their wagers back their wishes: numbers hold With the fair freckled king, and beard of gold: So vigorous are his eyes, such rays they cast, So prominent his eagle's beak is plac'd. But most their looks on the black monarch bend, His rising muscles and his brawn commend; His double-biting axe and beamy spear, Fach asking a gigantic force to rear. All spoke as partial favor mov'd the mind; And, safe themselves, at others cost divin'd. Wak'd by the cries, th' Athenian chief arose, The Knightly forms of combat to dispose ; And passing thro' th' obsequious guards he sat Conspicuous on a throne, sublime in state; There for the two contending knights he sent: Arm'd cap-a-pee, with rev'rence low they bent. He smil'd on both, and with superior look Alike their offered adoration took, The people press on ev'ry side, to see Their awful prince, and hear his high decree. Then signing to their heralds with his hand, They gave his orders from their lofty stand..

Silence is thrice enjoin'd; then thus aloud The king at arms bespeaks the knights and list'ning crowd.

Our sov'reign lord has ponder'd in his mind
The means to spare the blood of gentle kind;
And of his grace and inborn clemency,
He modifies his first severe decree;
The keener edge of battle to rebate,
The troops for honor fighting, nor for hate.
He wills not death should terminate their strife;
And wounds, if wounds ensue, be short of life:
But issues, ere the fight, his dread command,
That flings afar the poniards hand to hand,
Be banish'd front the field; that none shall dare
With shorten'd sword to stab in closer war;
But in fair combat fight with manly strength,
Nor push with biting point, but strike at length.
The tourney is allow'd but one career

Of the tough ash, with the sharp grinded spear:
But knights unhors'd may rise from off the plain,
And fight on foot their honor to regain;
Nor, if at mischief taken, on the ground-
Be slain, but prisoners to the pillar bound,
At either barrier plac'd; nor, captives made,
Be freed, or armed anew, the fight invade.
The chief of either side, bereft of life,
Or yielded to his foe, concludes the strife.
Thus dooms the lord: now valiant knights and

young,

Fight each his fill with swords and maces long.
The herald ends: the vaulted firmament
With loud acclaims and vast applause is rent:
Heaven guard a prince so gracious and so good,
So just and yet so provident of blood!
This was the genral cry. The trumpets sound,
And warlike symphony is heard around.
The marching troops thro' Athens take their way,
The great earl-martial orders their array.
The fair from high the passing pomp
A rain of flow'rs is from the windows roll'd,
The casements are with golden tissue spread,
And horses' hoofs, for earth, or silken tapestry

tread :

behold;

The king goes midmost, and the rivals ride
In equal rank, and elose his either side.
Next after them there rode the royal wife,
With Emily, the cause and the reward of strife,
The following cavalcade, by three and three,
Proceed by titles marshall'd in degree.
Thus thro' the southern gate they take their way,
And at the list arrive ere prime of day.
There, parting from the king, the chiefs divide,
And, wheeling cast and west, before their many
ride.
Thigh,
Th' Athenian monarch mounts his throne on
And after him the queen and Emily:
Next these the kindred of the crown are grac'd
With nearer seats, and lords by ladies plac'd.
Scarce were they seated, when with clamors loud
In rush'd at once a rude promiscuous crowd:
The guards, and then each other overbear,
And in a moment throng the spacious theatre.
Now chane'd the jarring noise to whispers low,
As winds forsaking seas more softly blow;

Whey

When at the western gate, on which the car
Is plac'd aloft, that bears the God of war,
Proud Arcite ent'ring arm'd before his train,
Stops at the barrier and divides the plain.
Red was his banner, and display'd abroad
The bloody colors of his patron God.

At that self moment enters Palamon
The gate of Venus, and the rising sun;
Way'd by the wanton winds, his banner flies,
All maiden white, and shares the people's eyes.
From east to west, look all the world around,
Two troops so match'd were never to be found:
Such bodies built for strength, of equal age,
In stature siz'd; so proud an equipage :
The nicest eye cou'd no distinction make
Where lay th' advantage, or what side to take.
Thus, rang'd the herald, for the last proclaims
A silence, while they answer to their names:
For so the king decreed, to shun the care, [war.
The fraud of musters false, the common bane of
The tale was just, and then the gates were clos'd,
And chief to chief, and troop to troop oppos'd.
The heralds last retir'd and loudly cried,
The fortune of the field be fairly tried.

At this, the challenger with fierce defy
His trumpet sounds, the challeng'd makesreply:
With clangor rings the field, resounds the
vaulted sky.

Their vizors clos'd, their lances in the rest,
Or at the helmet pointed, or the crest;
They vanish from the barrier, speed the race,
Aud spurring see decrease the middle space.
A cloud of smoke envelops either host,

And all at once the combatants are lost :
Darkling they join adverse, and shock unseen,
Coursers with coursers justling, men with men:
As lab'ring in eclipse, awhile they stay,
Till the next blast of wind restores the day.
They look anew: the beauteous form of fight
Is chang'd, and war appears a grizly sight.
Two troops in fair array one moment show'd,
The next, a field with fallen bodies strew'd:
Not half the number in their seats are found;
But men and steeds lie grov'ling on the ground.
The points of spears are struck within the shield,
The steeds without their riders scour the field.
The knights unhors'd on foot renew the fight;
The glitt'ring falchions cast a gleaming light:
Hauberksandhelins are hew'd withmanyawound:
Out spins the streaming blood, and dyes the
ground.

The mighty maces with such haste descend,
They break the bones, and make the solid
mor bend.

By fits they cease; and, leaning on the lance,
Take breath awhile, and to new fight advance.

Full oft the rivals met, and neither spar'd
His utmost force, and each forgot to ward.
The head of this was to the saddle bent,
The other backward to the crupper sent:
Both were by turns unhors'd; the jealous blows
Fall thick and heavy, when on foot they close.
So deep their falchions bite, that ev'ry stroke
Pierc'd to the quick; and equal wounds they
gave and took.

Borne far asunder by the tides of men,
Like adamant and steel they meet again.

So when a tiger sucks the bullock's blood,
A famish'd lion issuing from the wood
Roars lordly fierce, and challenges the food.
Each claims possession, neither will obey,
But both their paws are fastened on the prey;
They bite, they tear, and while in vain they strive,
The swains come armi'd between, and both to
distance drive.

At length, as fate foredoom'd, and all things
tend

By course of time to their appointed end,
So when the sun to west was far declin'd,
And both afresh in mortal battle join'd,
The strong Emetrius came in Arcite's aid,
Aud Palamon with odds was overlaid :
For, turning short, he struck with all his might
Full on the helmet of the unwary knight.
Deep was the wound; he stagger'd with the
blow,

And turn'd him to his unexpected foe:
Whom with such force he struck, he fell'd him
down,

And cleft the circle of his golden crown.
But Arcite's men who now prevail'd in fight,
Twice ten at once surround the single knight:
O'erpower'd at length, they force him to the
ground

Unyielded as he was, and to the pillar bound;
And king Lycurgus, while he fought in vain
His friend to free, was tumbled on the plain.

Who now laments but Palamon, compell'd
No more to try the fortune of the field!
And, worse than death, to view with hateful eyes
His rival's conquest, and renounce the prize!

The royal judge on his tribunal plac'd,
Who had beheld the fight from first to last,
Bade cease the wars: pronouncing from on high,
Arcite of Thebes has won the beauteous Emily,
The sound of trumpets to the voice replied,
ar-And round the royal lists the heralds cried,
Arcite of Thebes has won the beauteous bride.

This thrusts amid the throng with furious force;
Down goes at once, the horseman and the horse:
That courser stumbles on the fallen steed,
And found'ring throws the rider o'er his head.
One rolls along a foot-ball to his foes;
One with a broken truncheon deals his blows.
This halting, this disabled with his wound,
In triumph led, is to the pillar bound;
Where by the king's award he must abide :
There goes a captive led on t' other side.

The people rend the skies with vast applause;
All own the chief, when fortune owns the cause.
Arcite is own'd ev'n by the gods above,
And conqu'ring Mars insults the Queen of Love.
So langh'd he, when the rightful Titan fail'd,
And Jove's usurping arms in heaven prevail'd.
Laugh'd all the pow'rs who favor tyranny;
And all the standing army of the sky.
But Venus with dejected eyes appears.
And weeping on the lists distils her tears;

Her

Her will refus'd, which grieves a woman most, And in her champion foil'd, the cause of love is Till, Saturn said, Fair daughter, now be still, [lost. The blust'ring fool has satisfied his will; His boon is given; his knight has gain'd the day, But lost the prize; th' arrears are yet to pay. Thy hour is come, and mine the care shall be To please thy knight, and set thy promise free. Now while the heralds run the lists around, And Arcite, Arcite, heaven and earth resound; A miracle (not less it could he call'd) Their joy with unexpected sorrow pall'd. The victor knight had laid his helm aside, Part for his ease, the greater part for pride: Bare-headed, popularly low he bow'd, And paid the salutations to the crowd. Then spurring at full speed, ran headlong on Where Theseus sat on his imperial throne; Furious he drove, and upward cast his eye, Where, next the queen, was plac'd his Emily; Then passing to the saddle-bow he bent: A sweet regard the gracious virgin lent. (For woman, to the brave an easy prey, Still follow fortune where she leads the way.) Just then from earth sprung out a flashing fire, By Pluto sent, at Saturn's bad desire: The startling steed was seis'd with sudden fright, And, bounding,o'er the pommel cast the knight: Forward he flew, and, pitching on his head, He quiver'd with his feet, and lay for dead. Black was his count'nance in a little space; For all the blood was gather'd in his face. [ground, Help was at hand: they rear'd him from the And from his cumbrous arms his limbs unbound: Then lanc'd avein, and watch'd returning breath; It came, but clogg'd with symptoms of his death. The saddle-bow the nobler parts had prest, All bruis'd and mortified his manly breast. Him still entranc'd, and in a litter laid, They bore from field, and to his bed convey'd. At length he wak'd, and, with a feeble cry, The word he first pronounc'd was Emily. Meantime the king, though inwardly mourn'd,

he

In pomp triumphant to the town return'd,
Attended by the chiefs who fought the field
(Now friendly mix'd, and in one troopcompell'd),
Compos'd his looks to counterfeited cheer,
And bade them not for Arcite's life to fear.
But that which gladded all the warrior train,
Though most were sorely wounded none were
slain.

The surgeons soon despoil'd them of their arms, And some with salves they cure, and some with charms;

Fonient the bruises, and the pains assuage,
And heal their inward hurts with sov'reign
draughts of sage,
The king in person visits all around;
Comforts the sick, congratulates the sound;
Honors the princely chiefs, rewards the rest,
And holds for thrice three days a royal feast.
None was disgrac'd; for failing is no shame,
An' cowardice alone is loss of fame.

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The vent'rous knight is from the saddle throw
But 'tis the fault of fortune, not his own.
If crowns and palms the conqu'ring side adorn,
The victor under better stars was born :
The brave man seeks not popular applause,
Nor overpower'd with arms deserts his cause;
Unsham'd, tho' foil'd, he does the best he can ;
Force is of brutes, but honor is of man.

Thus Theseus smil'd on al, with equal grace,
And each was set according to his place.
With ease were reconcil'd the diff'ring parts,
For envy never dwells in noble hearts.
At length they took their leave, the time expir'd,
Well pleas'd, and to their several homes retir'd.

Meanwhile the health of Arcite still impairs; From bad proceeds to worse, and mocks the leeches cares ;

Swoln is his breast, his inward pains increase;
All means are us'd, and all without success.
The clotted blood lies heavy on his heart,
Corrupts, and there remains in spite of art:
Nor breathing veins, nor cupping, will prevail;
All outward remedies and inward fail:
The mould of nature's fabric is destroy'd;
Her vessels discompos'd, her virtue void:
The bellows of his lungs begin to swell:
All out of frame is every secret cell,
Nor can the good receive, nor bad expel.
Those breathing organs thus within oppress'd,
With renom soon distend the sinews of hisbreast.
Nought profits him to save abandon'd life,
Nor vomits upward aid, nor downward laxative.
The midmost region batter'd and destroy'd,
When nature cannot work th' effect of art is
void.

For physic can but mend our crazy state,
Patch an old building, not a new create.
Arcite is doom'd to die in all his pride,
Must leave his youth, and yield his beauteous
bride,

Gain'd hardly, against right, and unenjoy'd.
When 'twas declar'd all hope of life was past
Conscience (that of all physic works the last)
Caus'd him to send for Emily in haste.
With her, at his desire, came Palamon;
Then on his pillow rais'd, he thus begun ;
No language can express the smallest part
Of what I feel, and suffer in my heart,
For you, whom best I love and value most;
But to your service I bequeath my ghost;
Which from this mortal body when untied,
Unseen, unheard, shall hover at your side;
Nor fright you waking, nor your sleep offend,
But wait officious, and your steps attend.
How I have lov'd, excuse my falt'ring tongue,
My spirits feeble, and my pains are strong:
This I may say, I only grieve to die,
Because I lose my charming Emily:
To die, when Heaven had put you in my pow'r,
Fate could not choose a more malicious hour!
What greater curse could envious fortune give,
Than just to die when I began to live!
Vain men, how vanishing a bliss we crave,
Now warm in love, now with'ring in the grave!-

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Never, O never inore to see the sun!
Still dark, in a damp vault, and still alone!
This fate is common; but I lose my breath,
Near bliss, and yet not bless'd before my death.
Farewell, but take me dying in your arins,
"Tis all I can enjoy of all your charms:
This hand I cannot but in death resign;
Ah! could I live! but while I live tis mine.
I feel my end approach, and thus embrac'd,
Am pleas'd to die; but hear me speak my last
Ah! my sweet foe, for you, and you alone,
I broke my faith with injur'd Palamon.
But love the sense of right and wrong confounds,
Strong love and proud ambition have no bounds:
And much I doubt, should Heaven my life pro-
long,

I should return to justify my wrong.
For, while my foriner flames remain within,
Repentance is but want of pow'r to sin.
With mortal haired I pursued his life;
Nor he, nor you, were guilty of the strife:
Nor I, but as I lov'd; yet all combin'd,
Your beauty, and my impotence of mind,
And his concurrent flame, that blew my fire;
For still our kindred souls had one desire.
He had a moment's right in point of time;
Had I seen first, then his had been the crime.
Fate made it mine, and justified his right;
Nor holds this earth a more deserving knight
For virtue, valor, and for noble blood,
Truth, honor, all that is compris'd in good;
So help me Heaven, in all the world is none
So worthy to be lov'd as Palaion.
He loves you too with such an holy fire
As will not, cannot, but with life expire:
Our vow'd affections both have often tried,
Nor love but yours could ours divide.
any
Then, by my love's inviolable band,

By my long suff'ring, and my short cominand,
If e'er you plight your vows when I am gone,
Have pity on the faithful Palamon.

Till Theseus in his arms convey'd with care,
Far from so sad a sight, the swooning fair.
"Twere loss of time her sorrow to relate;
Ill bears the sex a youthful lover's fate,
When just approaching to the nuptial state;
But, like a low-hung cloud, it rains so fast,
That all at once it falls, and cannot last.
The face of things is chang'd, and Athens now,
That laugh'd so late, becomes the scene of woe:
: Matrous and maids, both sexes, ev'ry state,
With tears lament the knight's untiinely fate.
Nor greater grief in falling Troy was seen
For Hector's death; but Hector was not then.
Old men with dust deform'd their hoary hair,
The women beat their breasts, their cheeks they

This was his fast; for death came on amain,
And exercis'd below his iron reign;
Then upward to the seat of life he goes:
Sense fled before him, what he touch'd he froze.
Yet could he not his closing eyes withdraw,
Though less and less of Emily he saw;
So, speechless, for a little space he lay;
Then grasp'd the hand he held, and sigh'd his
soul away.

But whither went his soul, let such relate
Who search the secrets of the future state:
Divines can say but what themselves believe;
Strong proofs they have, but not demonstrative:
For were all plain, then all sides must agree,
And faith itself be lost in certainty.
To live uprightly then is sure the best;
To save ourselves, and not to damn the rest.
The soul of Arcite went where heathens go,
Who better live than we, though less they know.
In Palamon a lively grief appears;
Silent he wept, asham'd to show his tears:
Emilia shriek'd but once, and then oppress'd
With sorrow, sunk upon her lover's breast:

tear.

Why wouldst thon go, with one consent they cry,
When thou hadst gold enough, and Emily?

Theseus himself, who should have cheer'd the
grief

Of others, wanted now the same relief.
Old Egeus only could revive his son,
Who various changes of the world had known;
And strange vicissitudes of human fate,
Still alt'ring, never in a steady state;
Good after ill, and after pain delight;
Alternate, like the scenes of day and night:
Since ev'ry man who lives is born to die,
And none can boast sincere felicity,
With equal mind what happens let us bear,
Nor joy nor grieve too much for things beyond

our care.

Like pilgrims to th' appointed place we tend;
The world's an inn, and death the journey's end.
Even kings but play; and when their part is done,
Some other, worse or better, mount the throne.
With words like these the crowd was satisfied:
And so they would have been had Theseus died.
But he, their king, was lab'ring in his mind
A fitting place for fun'ral pomps to find,
Which were in honor of the dead design'd:
And, after long debate, at last he found
(As love itself had mark'd the spot of ground)
That grove for ever green, that conscious land,
Where he with Palmon fought hand to hand:
That where he fed his amorous desires

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This once resolv'd, the peasants were enjoin'd
Sere-wood, and firs, and dodder'd oaks to fud.
With sounding axes to the grove they go,
Fell, split, and lay the fuel on a row,
Vulcanian food: a bier is next prepar'd,
On which the lifeless body should be rear'd,
Cover'd with cloth of gold, on which was laid
The corpse of Arcite, in like robes array'd.
White gloves were on his hands, and on his head
A wreath of laurel, mix'd with myrtle, spread.
A sword keen-edg'd within his right he held,
The warlike emblem of the conquer'd field :
Bare was his manly visage on the bier:
Menac'd his count'nance; even in death severe.
Then

Then to the palace-hall they bore the knight,
To lie in solemn state, a public sight.

Groans, cries, and howlings, fill the crowded place,
And unaffected sorrow sat on ev'ry face.
Sad Palamon above the rest appears,

In sable garments, dew'd with gushing tears:
His auburn locks on either shoulder flow'd,
Which to the fun'ral of his friend he vow'd:
But Emily, as chief, was next his side,
A virgin-widow, and a mourning bride.
And, that the princely obsequies might be
Perform'd according to his high degree,
The steed that bore him living to the fight
Wastrapp'dwithpolish'dsteel,allshiningbright,,

And cover'd with th'achievementsoftheknight..
The riders rode abreast, and one his shield,
His lance of cornel-wood another held;
The third his bow, and, glorious to behold,
The costly quiver, all of burnish'd gold.
The noblest of the Grecians next appear,
And, weeping, on their shoulders bore the bier;
With sober pace they march'd, and often staid,
And thro' the master-street the corpse convey'd.
The houses to their tops with black were spread,
And even the pavements were with mourning hid.
The right side of the pall old Egeus kept,
And on the left the royal Theseus wept;
Each bore a golden bowl of work divine,
With honey fill'd, and milk, and mix'd with
ruddy wine.

Then Palamon, the kinsman of the slain,
And after him appear'd th' illustrious train,
To grace the pomp, came Emily the bright,
With cover'd fire, the fun'ral pile to light.
With high devotion was the service made,
And all the rites of Pagan honor paid:
So lofty was the pile, a Parthian bow,
With vigor drawn, must send the shaft below.
The bottom was full twenty fathom broad,
With crackling straw beneath in due proportion

strew'd.

The fabric seem'd a wood of rising green,
With sulphur and bitumen cast between,
To feed the flames: the trees were unctuous fir,"
And mountain-ash, the mother of the spear:
The mourner-yew and builder-oak were there:.
The beech, the swimming alder, and the plane,"
Hard box, and linden of a softer grain,
And laurels, which the Gods for conqu'ring

chiefs ordain.

How they were rank'd shall rest untold by me,
With nameless nymphs that liv'd in ev'ry tree:
Nor how the dryads, or the woodland train,
Disherited, ran howling o'er the plain :
Nor how the birds to foreign seats repair'd,
Or beasts, that bolted out, and saw the forest
bar'd:

Nor how the ground, now clear'd, with ghastly fright,

Beheld the sudden sun, a stranger to the light. The straw, as I first said, was laid below: Of chips and sere-wood was the second row; The third of greens, and timber newly fell'd; The fourth high stage the fragrant odors held.

And pearls, and precious stones, and rich array;
In midst of which, embalmed, his body lay.
The service sung, the maid with mourning eyes
The stubble fir'd; the sinould'ring flames arise:
This office done, she sunk upon the ground;
But what she spoke recover'd from her swoon,
I want the wit in moving words to dress;
But by themselves the tender sex may guess.
While the devouring fire was burning fast,
Rich jewels in the flame the wealthy cast;
And some their shields, and some their lances
threw,

And gave their warrior's ghost a warrior's due.
Full bowls of wine, of honey, milk, and blood,"
Where pour'd upon the pile of burning wood,
And hissing flames receive, and, hungry, lick
the food.

Then thrice the mounted squadrons ride around The fire, and Arcite's name they thrice resound; Hail, and farewell, they shouted thrice amain Thrice facing to the left, and thrice they turn'd again:

Still as they turn'd, they beat theirclatt'ring shields; The women mix their cries; and clamor fills the fields.

The warlike wakes continu'd all the night,
And fun'ral games were play'd at new returning
light.

Who naked wrestled best, besmear'd with oil,
Or who with gauntlets gave or took the foil,
I will not tell you, nor would you attend;
But briefly haste to my long story's end.

I pass the rest; the year was fully mourn'd,
And Palamon long since to Thebes return'd :
When, by the Grecians general consent,
At Athens Theseus held his parliament ·
Among the laws that pass'd, it was decreed,
That conquer'd Thebes from bondage should be
freed,

Reserving homage to th' Athenian throne, To which the sovereign summon'd Palamon. Unknowing of the cause, he took his way, Mournful in mind, and still in black array.

The monarch mounts the throne, and, plac'd on high,

Commands into the court the beauteous Emily: So call'd, she came; the senate rose, and paid Becoming rev'rence to the royal maid.

And first soft whispers through th'assembly went: With silent wonder then they watch'd the event: All hush'd, the king arose with awful grace: Deep thought was in his breast, and counsel in his face.

At length he sighed; and, having first prepar'd Th' attentive audience, thus his will declar'd:

The cause and spring of motion, from above, Hung down on earth the golden chain of love Great was th' effect, and high was his intent, When peace among the jarring seeds he sent. Fire, flood, and earth, and air, by this were bound, And Love, the common link, the new creation crown'd.

The chain still holds, for, though the forms decay, Eternal matter never wears away:

The

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