{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/orl/orl05.htm","path":"neu/orl/orl05.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/orl/orl05.htm","text":"| ARGUMENT. | \n| Lurcanio, by a false report abused, Deemed by Geneura\u2019s fault his brother dead, Weening the faithless duke, whom she refused, Was taken by the damsel to her bed; And her before the king and peers accused: But to the session Ariodantes led, Strives with his brother in disguise. In season Rinaldo comes to venge the secret treason. | \n| I. | AMONG all other animals who prey On earth, or who unite in friendly wise, Whether they mix in peace or moody fray, No male offends his mate. In safety hies The she bear, matched with hers, through forest gray: The lioness beside the lion lies: Wolves, male and female, live in loving cheer; Nor gentle heifer dreads the wilful steer. | \n| II. | What Fury, what abominable Pest Such poison in the human heart has shed, That still \u2019twixt man and wife, with rage possessed, Injurious words and foul reproach are said? And blows and outrage base their peace molest, And bitter tears still wash the genial bed; Not only watered by the tearful flood, But often bathed by senseless ire with blood? | \n| III. | Not simply a rank sinner, he appears To outrage nature, and his God to dare, Who his foul hand against a woman rears, Or of her head would harm a single hair. But who what drug the burning entrail sears, Or who for her would knife or noose prepare, No man appears to me, though such to sight He seem, but rather some infernal sprite. | \n| IV. | Such, and no other were those ruffians two, Whom good Rinaldo from the damsel scared, Conducted to these valleys out of view, That none might wot of her so foully snared. I ended where the damsel, fair of hue, To tell the occasion of her scathe prepared, To the good Paladin, who brought release; And in conclusion thus my story piece. | \n| V. | \u201cOf direr deed than ever yet was done,\u201d The gentle dame began, \u201cSir cavalier, In Thebes, Mycene, Argos, or upon Other more savage soil, prepare to hear; And I believe, that if the circling sun To these our Scottish shores approach less near Than other land, \u2019tis that he would eschew A foul ferocious race that shocks his view. | \n| VI. | \u201cAll times have shown that man has still pursued With hair, in every clime, his natural foe; But to deal death to those who seek our good Does from too ill and foul a nature flow. Now, that the truth be better understood, I shall from first to last the occasion show, Why in my tender years, against all right, Those caitiffs would have done me foul despite. | \n| VII. | \u201c\u2009\u2019Tis fitting you should know, that in the spring Of life, I to the palace made resort; There served long time the daughter of the king, And grew with her in growth, well placed in court. When cruel love, my fortune envying, Willed I should be his follower and his sport; And made, beyond each Scottish lord and knight, Albany\u2019s duke find favour in my sight. | \n| VIII. | \u201cAnd for he seemed to cherish me above All mean; his love a love as ardent bred. We hear, indeed, and see, but do not prove Man\u2019s faith, nor is his bosom\u2019s purpose read. Believing still, and yielding to my love, I ceased not till I took him to my bed; Nor, of all chambers, in that evil hour, Marked I was in Geneura\u2019s priviest bower. | \n| IX. | \u201cWhere, hoarded, she with careful privacy Preserved whatever she esteemed most rare; There many times she slept. A gallery From thence projected into the open air. Here oft I made my lover climb to me, And (what he was to mount) a hempen stair, When him I to my longing arms would call, From the projecting balcony let fall. | \n| X. | \u201cFor here my passion I as often fed As good Geneura\u2019s absence made me bold; Who with the varying season changed her bed, To shun the burning heat or pinching cold, And Albany, unseen and safely sped; For, fronting a dismantled street, and old, Was built that portion of the palace bright; Nor any went that way by day or night. | \n| XI. | \u201cSo was for many days and months maintained By us, in secrecy, the amorous game; Still grew by love, and such new vigour gained, I in my inmost bosom felt the flame; And that he little loved, and deeply feigned Weened not, so was I blinded to my shame: Though, in a thousand certain signs betrayed, The faithless knight his base deceit bewrayed. | \n| XII. | \u201cAfter some days, of fair Geneura he A suitor showed himself; I cannot say If this began before he sighed for me, Or, after, of this love he made assay: But judge, alas! with what supremacy He ruled my heart, how absolute his sway! Since this he owned, and thought no shame to move Me to assist him in his second love. | \n| XIII. | \u201cUnlike what he bore me, he said, indeed, That was not true which he for her displayed: But so pretending love, he hoped to speed, And celebrate due spousals with the maid. He with her royal sire might well succeed, Were she consenting to the boon he prayed; For after our good king, for wealth and birth In all the realm, was none of equal worth. | \n| XIV. | \u201cMe he persuades, if through my ministry He the king\u2019s son-in-law elected were, For I must know he next the king would be Advanced as high, as subject could repair, The merit should be mine, and ever he So great a benefit in mind would bear; And he would cherish me above his bride, And more than every other dame beside. | \n| XV. | \u201cI, who to please him was entirely bent, Who never could or would gainsay his will, Upon those days alone enjoy content, When I find means his wishes to fulfil: And snatch at all occasions which present A mode, his praise and merits to instil: And for my lover with all labour strain, And industry, Geneura\u2019s love to gain. | \n| XVI. | \u201cWith all my heart, in furtherance of his suit, I wrought what could be done, God truly knows; But with Geneura this produced no fruit, Nor her to grace my duke could I dispose. For that another love had taken root In her, whose every fond affection flows Towards a gentle knight of courteous lore, Who sought our Scotland from a distant shore: | \n| XVII. | \u201cAnd with a brother, then right young, to stay In our king\u2019s court, came out of Italy; And there of knightly arms made such assay, Was none in Britain more approved than he; Prized by the king, who (no ignoble pay), Rewarding him like his nobility, Bestowed upon the youth, with liberal hand, Burghs, baronies, and castles, woods and land. | \n| XVIII. | \u201cDear to the monarch, to the daughter still This lord was dearer, Ariodantes hight. Her with affection might his valour fill; But knowledge of his love brought more delight. Nor old Vesuvius, nor Sicilia\u2019s hill, Nor Troy-town, ever, with a blaze so bright, Flamed, as with all his heart, the damsel learned, For love of her young Ariodantes burned. | \n| XIX. | \u201cThe passion which she bore the lord, preferred And loved with perfect truth and all her heart, Was the occassion I was still unheard; Nor hopeful answer would she e\u2019er impart: And still the more my lover\u2019s suit I stirred, And to obtain his guerdon strove with art, Him she would censure still, and ever more Was strengthened in the hate she nursed before. | \n| XX. | \u201cMy wayward lover often I excite So vain and bootless an emprize to quit; Nor idly hope to turn her stedfast sprite, Too deeply with another passion smit; And make apparent to the Scottish knight, Ariodantes such a flame had lit In the young damsel\u2019s breast, that seas in flood Would not have cooled one whit her boiling blood. | \n| XXI. | \u201cThis Polinesso many times had heard From me (for such the Scottish baron\u2019s name) Well warranted by sight as well as word, How ill his love was cherished by the dame. To see another to himself preferred Not only quenched the haughty warrior\u2019s flame, But the fond love, which in his bosom burned Into despiteful rage and hatred turned. | \n| XXII. | \u201cBetween Geneura and her faithful knight Such discord and ill will he schemed to shed, And put betwixt the pair such foul despite. No time should heal the quarrel he had bred; Bringing such scandal on that damsel bright, The stain should cleave to her, alive or dead: Nor, bent to wreck her on this fatal shelf, Counselled with me, or other but himself. | \n| XXIII. | \u201c\u2009\u2018Dalinda mine,\u2019 he said, his project brewed, (Dalinda is my name) \u2018you needs must know, That from the root although the trunk be hewed, Successive suckers many times will grow. Thus my unhappy passion is renewed, Tenacious still of life, and buds; although Cut off by ill success, with new increase: Nor, till I compass my desire, will cease. | \n| XXIV. | \u201c\u2009\u2018Nor hope of pleasure this so much has wrought, As that to compass my design would please; And, if not in effect, at least in thought To thrive, would interpose some little ease. Then every time your bower by me is sought, When in her bed Geneura slumbers, seize What she puts off, and be it still your care To dress yourself in all her daily wear. | \n| XXV. | \u201c\u2009\u2018Dispose your locks and deck yourself as she Goes decked; and, as you can, with cunning heed, Imitate her; then to the gallery You, furnished with the corded stair, shall speed: I shall ascend it in the phantasy That you are she, of whom you wear the weed: And hope, that putting on myself this cheat, I in short time shall quench my amorous heat.\u2019 | \n| XXVI. | \u201cSo said the knight; and I, who was distraught, And all beside myself, was not aware That the design, in which he help besought, Was manifestly but too foul a snare; And in Geneura\u2019s clothes disguised, as taught, Let down (so oft I used) the corded stair. Nor I the traitor\u2019s foul deceit perceived, Until the deadly mischief was achieved. | \n| XXVII. | \u201cThe duke, this while, to Ariodantes\u2019 ears Had these, or other words like these, addressed; (For leagued in friendship were the cavaliers, Till, rivals, they pursued this common quest) \u2018I marvel, since you are of all my peers He, whom I must have honoured and caressed, And held in high regard, and cherished still, You should my benefits repay so ill. | \n| XXVIII. | \u201c\u2009\u2018I am assured you comprehend and know Mine and Geneura\u2019s love, and old accord; And, in legitimate espousal, how I am about to claim her from my lord: Then why disturb my suit, and why bestow Your heart on her who offers no reward? By Heaven, I should respect your claim and place, Were your condition mine, and mine your case.\u2019 | \n| XXIX. | \u201c\u2009\u2018And I,\u2019 cried Ariodantes, \u2018marvel more\u2019 (In answer to the Scottish lord) \u2018at you, Since I of her enamoured was, before That gentle damsel ever met your view; And know, you are assured how evermore We two have loved;\u2014was never love more true\u2014 Are certain she alone would share my lot; And are as well assured she loves you not. | \n| XXX. | \u201c\u2009\u2018Why have not I from you the same respect, To which, for friendship past, you would pretend From me; and I should bear you in effect, If your hope stood more fair to gain its end? No less than you, to wed her I expect; And if your fortunes here my wealth transcend, As favoured of the king, as you, above You, am I happy in his daughter\u2019s love.\u2019 | \n| XXXI. | \u201c\u2009\u2018Of what a strange mistake,\u2019 (to him replied The duke) \u2018your foolish passion is the root! You think yourself beloved; I, on my side, Believe the same; this try we by the fruit. You of your own proceeding nothing hide, And I will tell the secrets of my suit: And let the man who proves least favoured, yield, Provide himself elsewhere, and quit the field. | \n| XXXII. | \u201c\u2009\u2018I am prepared, if such your wish, to swear Nothing of what is told me to reveal; And will that you assure me, for your share, You shall what I recount as well conceal.\u2019 Uniting in the pact, the rival pair Their solemn vows upon the Bible seal: And when they had the mutual promise plighted, Ariodantes first his tale recited. | \n| XXXIII. | \u201cThen plainly, and by simple facts averred, How with Geneura stood his suit, avows; And how, engaged by writing and by word, She swore she would not be another\u2019s spouse. How, if to him the Scottish king demurred, Virgin austerity she ever vows; And other bridal bond for aye eschewed, To pass her days in barren solitude. | \n| XXXIV. | \u201cThen added, how he hoped by worth, which he Had more than once avouched, with knightly brand, And yet might vouch, to the prosperity And honour of the king, and of his land, To please so well that monarch, as to be By him accounted worthy of the hand Of his fair child, espoused with his consent: Since he in this her wishes would content. | \n| XXXV. | \u201cThen so concludes\u2014\u2018I stand upon this ground, Nor I intruder fear, encroaching nigh; Nor seek I more; \u2019tis here my hopes I bound; Nor, striving for Geneura\u2019s love, would I Seek surer sign of it than what is found, By God allowed, in wedlock\u2019s lawful tie; And other suit were hopeless, am I sure, So excellent she is, and passing pure.\u2019 | \n| XXXVI. | \u201cWhen Ariodantes had, with honest mind, Told what reward he hoped should quit his pain, False Polinesso, who before designed To make Geneura hateful to her swain, Began\u2014\u2018Alas! you yet are far behind My hopes, and shall confess your own are vain And say, as I the root shall manifest Of my good fortune, I alone am blest. | \n| XXXVII. | \u201c\u2009\u2018With you Geneura feigns, nor pays nor prizes Your passion, which with hopes and words is fed; And, more than this, your foolish love despises: And this to me the damsel oft has said, Of hers I am assured; of no surmises, Vain, worthless words, or idle promise bred. And I to you the fact in trust reveal, Though this I should in better faith conceal. | \n| XXXVIII. | \u201c\u2009\u2018There passes not a month, but in that space Three nights, four, six, and often ten, the fair Receives me with that joy in her embrace, Which seems to second so the warmth we share. This you may witness, and shall judge the case; If empty hopes can with my bliss compare. Then since my happier fortune is above Your wishes, yield, and seek another love.\u2019 | \n| XXXIX. | \u201c\u2009\u2018This will I not believe,\u2019 in answer cried Ariodantes, \u2018well assured you lie, And that you have this string of falsehoods tied, To scare me from the dear emprize I try. But charge, so passing foul, you shall abide, And vouch what you have said in arms; for I Not only on your tale place no reliance; But as a traitor hurl you my defiance.\u2019 | \n| XL. | \u201cTo him rejoined the duke, \u2018I ween \u2019twere ill To take the battle upon either part, Since surer mean our purpose may fulfill; And if it please, my proof I can impart.\u2019 Ariodantes trembled, and a chill Went through his inmost bones; and sick at heart, Had he in full believed his rival\u2019s boast, Would on the spot have yielded up the ghost. | \n| XLI. | \u201cWith wounded heart, and faltering voice, pale face, And mouth of gall, he answered, \u2018When I see Proofs of thy rare adventure, and the grace With which the fair Geneura honours thee, I promise to forego the fruitless chase Of one, to thee so kind, so cold to me. But think not that thy story shall avail, Unless my very eyes confirm the tale.\u2019 | \n| XLII. | \u201c\u2009\u2018To warn in due time shall be my care.\u2019 (Said Polinesso) and so went his way. Two nights were scarcely passed, ere his repair To the known bower was fixed for the assay. And, ready now to spring his secret snare, He sought his rival on the appointed day, And him to hide, the night ensuing, prayed I\u2019 the street, which none their habitation made. | \n| XLIII. | \u201cAnd to the youth a station over-right The balcony, to which he clambered, shows. Ariodantes weened, this while, the knight Would him to seek that hidden place dispose, As one well suited to his fell despite, And, bent to take his life, this ambush chose, Under the false pretence to make him see What seemed a sheer impossibility. | \n| XLIV. | \u201cTo go the peer resolved, but in such guise, He should not be with vantage overlaid; And should he be assaulted by surprise, He need not be by fear of death dismay\u2019d. He had a noble brother, bold and wise, First of the court in arms; and on his aid, Lurcanio hight, relied with better heart Than if ten others fought upon his part. | \n| XLV. | \u201cHe called him to his side, and willed him take His arms; and to the place at evening led: Yet not his secret purpose would be break; Nor this to him, or other would have read: Him a stone\u2019s throw removed he placed, and spake: \u2018\u2014Come if thou hearest me cry,\u2019 the warrior said; \u2018But as thou lovest me (whatsoe\u2019er befall) Come not and move not, brother, till I call.\u2019 | \n| XLVI. | \u201c\u2009\u2018Doubt not\u2019 (the valiant brother said) \u2018but go;\u2019 And thither went that baron silently, And hid within the lonely house, and low, Over against my secret gallery. On the other side approached the fraudful foe, So pleased to work Geneura\u2019s infamy; And, while I nothing of the cheat divine, Beneath my bower renews the wonted sign. | \n| XLVII. | \u201cAnd I in costly robe, in which were set Fair stripes of gold upon a snowy ground, My tresses gathered in a golden net, Shaded with tassels of vermillion round, Mimicking fashions, which were only met In fair Geneura, at the accustomed sound, The gallery mount, constructed in such mode, As upon every side my person showed. | \n| XLVIII. | \u201cThis while Lurcanio, either with a view To snares which might beset his brother\u2019s feet, Or with the common passion to pursue, And play the spy on other, where the street Was darkest, and its deepest shadows threw, Followed him softly to his dim retreat: And not ten paces from the knight aloof, Bestowed himself beneath the self same roof. | \n| XLIX. | \u201cSuspecting nought, I seek the balcony, In the same habits which I mentioned, dressed; As more than once or twice (still happily) I did before; meanwhile the goodly vest Was in the moonlight clearly seen, and I, In aspect not unlike her, in the rest Resembling much Geneura\u2019s shape and cheer, One visage well another might appear. | \n| L. | \u201cSo much the more, that there was ample space Between the palace and the ruined row: Hence the two brothers, posted in that place, Were lightly cheated by the lying show. Now put yourself in his unhappy case, And figure what the wretched lover\u2019s woe, When Polinesso climbed the stair, which I Cast down to him, and scaled the gallery. | \n| LI. | \u201cArrived, my arms about his neck I throw, Weening that we unseen of others meet, And kiss his lips and face with loving show, As him I hitherto was wont to greet; And he assayed, with more than wonted glow, Me to caress, to mask his hollow cheat. Led to the shameful spectacle, aghast, That other, from afar, viewed all that passed, | \n| LII. | \u201cAnd fell into such fit of deep despair, He there resolved to die; and, to that end, Planted the pommel of his falchion bare I\u2019 the ground, its point against his breast to bend. Lurcanio, who with marvel by that stair, Saw Polinesso to my bower ascend, But knew not who the wight, with ready speed Sprang forward, when he saw his brother\u2019s deed. | \n| LIII. | \u201cAnd hindered him in that fell agony From turning his own hand against his breast. Had the good youth been later, or less nigh, To his assistance he had vainly pressed. Then, \u2018Wretched brother, what insanity,\u2019 (He cried) \u2018your better sense has dispossessed? Die for a woman! rather let her kind Be scattered like the mist before the wind! | \n| LIV. | \u201c\u2009\u2018Compass her death! \u2019tis well deserved; your own Reserve, as due to more illustrious fate. \u2019Twas well to love, before her fraud was shown, But she, once loved, now more deserves your hate: Since, witnessed by your eyes, to you is known A wanton of what sort you worshipped late. Her fault before the Scottish king to attest, Reserve those arms you turn against your breast.\u2019 | \n| LV. | \u201cAriodantes, so surprised, forewent, Joined by his brother, the design in show; But resolute to die, in his intent Was little shaken: Rising thence to go, He bears away a heart not simply rent, But dead and withered with excess of woe: Yet better comfort to Lurcanio feigns, As if the rage were spent which fired his veins. | \n| LVI. | \u201cThe morn ensuing, without further say To his good brother, or to man beside, He from the city took his reckless way With deadly desperation for his guide; Nor, save the duke and knight, for many a day Was there who knew what moved the youth to ride: And in the palace, touching this event, And in the realm, was various sentiment. | \n| LVII. | \u201cBut eight days past or more, to Scotland\u2019s court A traveller came, and to Geneura he Related tidings of disastrous sort; That Ariodantes perished in the sea: Drowned of his own free will was the report, No wind to blame for the calamity! Since from a rock, which over ocean hung, Into the raging waves he headlong sprung; | \n| LVIII. | \u201cWho said, before he reached that frowning crest, To me, whom he encountered by the way, \u2018Come with me, that your tongue may manifest, And what betides me to Geneura say; And tell her, too, the occasion of the rest, Which you shall witness without more delay; In having seen too much, the occasion lies; Happy had I been born without these eyes!\u2019 | \n| LIX. | \u201cBy chance, upon a promontory we Were standing, overright the Irish shore; When, speaking thus on that high headland, he Plunged from a rock amid the watery roar. I saw him leap, and left him in the sea; And, hurrying thence, to you the tidings bore. Geneura stood amazed, her colour fled, And, at the fearful tale, remained half dead. | \n| LX. | \u201cO God! what said, what did she, when alone, She on her faithful pillow layed her head! She beat her bosom, and she tore her gown, And in despite her golden tresses shed Repeating often, in bewildered tone, The last sad words which Ariodantes said;\u2014 That the sole source of such despair, and such Disaster, was that he had seen too much. | \n| LXI. | \u201cWide was the rumour scattered that the peer Had slain himself for grief; nor was the cry By courtly dame, or courtly cavalier, Or by the monarch, heard with tearless eye. But, above all the rest, his brother dear Was whelmed with sorrow of so deep a dye, That, bent to follow him, he well nigh turned His hand against himself, like him he mourned. | \n| LXII. | \u201cAnd many times repeating in his thought, It was Geneura who his brother slew, Who was to self-destruction moved by nought But her ill deed, which he was doomed to view, So on his mind the thirst of vengeance wrought, And so his grief his season overthrew; That he thought little, graced of each estate, To encounter king and people\u2019s common hate; | \n| LXIII. | \u201cAnd, when the throng was fullest in the hall, Stood up before the Scottish king, and said, \u2018Of having marred my brother\u2019s wits withal, Sir king, and him to his destruction led, Your daughter only can I guilty call: For in his inmost soul such sorrow bred The having seen her little chastity, He loathed existence, and preferred to die. | \n| LXIV. | \u201c\u2009\u2018He was her lover; and for his intent Was honest, this I seek not, I, to veil; And to deserve her by his valour meant Of thee, if faithful service might avail; But while he stood aloof, and dared but scent The blossoms, he beheld another scale, Scale the forbidden tree with happier boot, And bear away from him the wished-for fruit.\u2019 | \n| LXV. | \u201cThen added, how into the gallery came Geneura, and how dropped the corded stair; And how into the chamber of the dame Had climbed a leman of that lady fair; Who, for disguise (he knew not hence his name), Had changed his habits, and concealed his hair; And, in conclusion, vowed that every word So said, he would avouch with lance and sword. | \n| LXVI. | \u201cYou may divine how grieves the sire, distraught With woe, when he the accusation hears: As well that what he never could have thought, He of his daughter learns with wondering ears, As that he knows, if succour be not brought By cavalier, that in her cause appears, Who may upon Lurcanio prove the lie, He cannot choose, but doom the maid to die. | \n| LXVII. | \u201cI do not think our Scottish law to you Is yet unknown, which sentences to fire The miserable dame, or damsel, who Grants other than her wedded lord\u2019s desire. She dies, unless a champion, good and true, Arm on her side before a month expire; And her against the accuser base maintain Unmeriting such death, and free from stain. | \n| LXVIII. | \u201cThe king has made proclaim by town and tower, (For he believes her wronged, his child to free) Her he shall have to wife, with ample dower, Who saves the royal maid from infamy. But each to the other looks, and to this hour No champion yet, \u2019tis said, appears: for he, Lurcanio, is esteemed so fierce in fight, It seems as he were feared of every knight. | \n| LXIX. | \u201cAnd evil Fate has willed her brother dear, Zerbino, is not here the foe to face; Since many months has roved the cavalier, Proving his matchless worth with spear and mace; For if the valiant champion were more near, (Such is his courage) or in any place, Whither in time the news might be conveyed, He would not fail to bear his sister aid. | \n| LXX. | \u201cThe king, mean time, who would the quest pursue, And by more certain proof than combat, try If the accuser\u2019s tale be false or true, And she deserve, or merit not, to die, Arrests some ladies of her retinue, That, as he weens, the fact can verify. Whence I foresaw, that if I taken were, Too certain risque the duke and I must share. | \n| LXXI. | \u201cThat very night I from the palace flee, And to the duke repair, escaped from court; And, were I taken, make him plainly see How much it either\u2019s safety would import: He praised, and bade me of good courage be, And, for his comfort, prayed me to resort To a strong castle which he held hard by; And gave me two to bear me company. | \n| LXXII. | \u201cWith what full proofs, sir stranger, you have heard, I of my love assured the Scottish peer; And clearly can discern, if so preferred, That lord was justly bound to hold me dear. Mark, in conclusion, what was my reward; The glorious meed of my great merit hear! And say if woman can expect to earn, However well she love, her love\u2019s return. | \n| LXXIII. | \u201cFor this perfidious, foul, ungrateful man, At length suspicious of my faith and zeal, And apprehending that his wily plan, In course of time, I haply might reveal, Feigned that meanwhile the monarch\u2019s anger ran Too high, he would withdraw me, and conceal Within a fortress of his own, where I (Such was his real end) was doomed to die. | \n| LXXIV. | \u201cFor secretly the duke enjoined the guide, Who with me through the gloomy forest went, The worthy guerdon of a faith so tried, To slay me; and had compassed his intent, But for your ready succour, when I cried. Behold! what wages love\u2019s poor slaves content.\u201d Thus to Rinaldo did Dalinda say, As they together still pursued their way. | \n| LXXV. | Above all other fortune, to the knight Was welcome to have found the gentle maid, Who the whole story of Geneura bright, And her unblemished innocence displayed; And, if he hoped, although accused with right, To furnish the afflicted damsel aid, Persuaded of the calumny\u2019s disproof, He with more courage warred in her behoof. | \n| LXXVI. | And for St. Andrew\u2019s town, with eager speed, Where was the king with all his family, And where the single fight, in listed mead, Upon his daughter\u2019s quarrel, was to be, The good Rinaldo pricked, nor spared his steed, Until, within an easy distance, he Now near the city, met a squire who brought More recent tidings than the damsel taught: | \n| LXXVII. | That thither had repaired a stranger knight, To combat in Geneura\u2019s quarrel bent, With ensigns strange, not known of living wight, Since ever close concealed the warrior went; Not, since he had been there, had bared to sight His visage, aye within his helmet pent: And that the very squire who with him came, Swore that he knew not what the stranger\u2019s name. | \n| LXXVIII. | Not far they ride before the walls appear, And now before the gate their coursers stand. To advance the sad Dalinda was in fear, Yet followed, trusting in Rinaldo\u2019s brand. The gate was shut, and to the porter near, \u2018What this implies\u2019 Rinaldo makes demand: To him was said, the people, one and all, Were trooped to see a fight without the wall: | \n| LXXIX. | Beyond the city, fought upon accord, Between Lurcanio and a stranger knight; Where, on a spacious meadow\u2019s level sward, The pair already had begun the fight. The porter opened to Mount Alban\u2019s lord, And straight behind the peer the portal hight. Rinaldo through the empty city rode, But in a hostel first the dame bestowed: | \n| LXXX. | And wills that she (he will not long delay To seek her there) till his return repose; And quickly to the lists pursued his way, Where the two made that fell exchange of blows, And strove and struggled yet in bloody fray. Lurcanio\u2019s heart with vengeful hatred glows Against Geneura; while that other knight As well maintains the quarrel for her right. | \n| LXXXI. | Six knights on foot within the palisade Stand covered with the corslet\u2019s iron case; Beneath the Duke of Albany arrayed, Borne on a puissant steed of noble race: Who there, as lord high-constable obeyed, Was keeper of the field and of the place, And joyed Geneura\u2019s peril to espy With swelling bosom and exulting eye. | \n| LXXXII. | Rinaldo pierces through the parted swarm, (So wide is felt the good Bayardo\u2019s sway,) And he who hears the courser come in storm, Halts not, in his desire to make him way: Above is seen Rinaldo\u2019s lofty form, The flower of those who mix in martial fray. He stops his horse before the monarch\u2019s chair, While all to hear the paladin repair. | \n| LXXXIII. | \u201cDread sir,\u201d to him the good Rinaldo said, \u201cLet not the pair this combat longer ply; Since whichsoever of the two falls dead, Know, that you let him perish wrongfully: This thinks that he is right, and is misled, Vouches the false, and knows not \u2019tis a lie: Since that which brought his brother to his end, Moves him in causeless battle contend. | \n| LXXXIV. | \u201cThat, in pure gentleness, with little care If what he here maintains be wrong or right, Because he would preserve a maid so fair, Perils his person in the furious fight. To injured innocence I safety bear, And to the evil man its opposite. But first, for love of God, the battle stay; Then list, sir king, to what I shall display.\u201d | \n| LXXXV. | So moved the king the grave authority Of one who seemed so worthy, by his cheer, That he made sign the battle should not be Further continued then with sword or spear: To whom, together with his chivalry, And barons of the realm and others near Rinaldo all the treacherous plot displayed, Which Polinesso for Geneura layed. | \n| LXXXVI. | Next that he there in arms would testify The truth of what he vouched, the warrior cried. False Polinesso, called, with troubled eye, Stood forth, but daringly the tale denied. To him the good Rinaldo in reply; \u201cBy deeds be now the doubtful quarrel tried.\u201d The field was cleared, and, ready armed, the foes, Without more let, in deadly duel close. | \n| LXXXVII. | How was the hope to king and people dear, The proof might show Geneura innocent! All trust that God will make the treason clear, And show she was accused with foul intent: For Polinesso, greedy and severe, And proud was held, and false and fraudulent. So that none there, of all assembled, deemed It marvel, if the knight such fraud had schemed. | \n| LXXXVIII. | False Polinesso, with a mien distressed, A pallid cheek, and heart which thickly beat, At the third trumpet, laid his lance in rest; As well Rinaldo spurred the knight to meet, And levelled at his evil foeman\u2019s breast, Eager to finish at a single heat. Nor counter to his wish was the event; Since through the warrior half his weapon went. | \n| LXXXIX. | Him, through his breast, impaled upon the spear, More than six yards beyond his horse he bore. With speed alighted Mount Albano\u2019s peer, And, ere he rose, unlaced the helm he wore: But he for mercy prayed with humble cheer, Unfit to strive in joust or warfare more: And, before king and court, with faltering breath, Confessed the fraud which brought him to his death. | \n| XC. | He brings not his confession to a close, And pangs of death the failing accents drown: The prince, who ended saw his daughter\u2019s woes, Redeemed from death and scorn, her virtue shown, With more delight and rapture overflows, Than if he, having lost his kingly crown, Then saw it first upon his head replaced; So that he good Rinaldo singly graced. | \n| XCI. | And when, through his uplifted casque displaid, Features, well known before, the king descried, His thanks to God with lifted hands he paid, That he had deigned such succour to provide. That other cavalier, who bared his blade, Unknown of all, upon Geneura\u2019s side, And thither came from far, his aid to impart, Looked upon all that passed, and stood apart. | \n| XCII. | Him the good king entreated to declare His name, or, at the least, his visage shew; That he might grace him with such guerdon fair, As to his good intent was justly due. The stranger, after long and earnest prayer, Lifted to covering casque, and bared to view What in the ensuing canto will appear, If you are fain the history to hear. |","title":"Orlando Furioso: Canto 5","type":"page"}