But Cymon foon his crooked grapples caft,
Which with tenacious hold his foes embrac'd,
And, arm'd with fword and fhield, amid the

prefs he pafs'd.

}

Fierce was the fight; but, haft'ning to his prey,
By force the furious lover freed his way:
Himself alone difpers'd the Rhodian crew,
The weak difdain'd, the valiant overthrew.
Cheap conqueft for his following friends remain'd;
He reap'd the field, and they but only glean'd.
His victory confefs'd, the foes retreat,
And caft the weapons at the victor's feet,

Not more aghaft the proud archangel fell,
Plung'd from the height of heaven to deepeft hell,
Than ftood the lover of his love poffeft,

Now curs'd the more, the more he had been
bleft;

More anxious for her danger than his own,
Death he defies, but would be loft alone.

Sad Iphigene to womanish complaints
Adds pious prayers, and wearies all the faints ;
Ev'n if he could, her love the would repent;
But, fince the cannot, dreads the punishment:
Her forfeit faith, and Pafimond betray'd,

Whom thus he cheer'd: O Rhodian youth, I Are ever prefent, and her crime upbraid.

fought

For love alone, nor other booty fought:
Your lives are fafe; your veffel I refign;
Yours be your own, reftoring what is mine:
In Iphigene I claim my rightful due,
Robb'd by my rival, and detain'd by you.
Your Pafimond a lawlefs bargain drove,
The parent could not fell the daughter's love;
Or, if he could, my love dildains the laws,
And, like a king, by conqueft gains his caufe:
Where arms take place, all other pleas are vain;
Love taught me force, and force fhall love maintain;
You, what by strength you could not keep, releafe,
And at an easy ranfom buy your peace.
Fear on the conquer'd fide foon fign'd th'accord,
And Iphigene to Cymon was reftor'd:
While to his arms the blushing bride he took,
To feeming fadnefs the compos'd her look ;
As if by force fubjected to his will,

She blames herself, nor blames her lover lefs,
Augments her anger as her fears increase;
From her own back the burden would remove,
And lays the load on his ungovern'd love,
Which interpofing durft, in Heaven's despite,
Invade and violate another's right:

The pow'rs incens'd awhile deferr'd his pain,
And made him mafter of his vows in vain :
But foon they punish'd his prefumptuous pride;
That for his daring enterprise fhe died,
Who rather not refifted than complied.

Then, impotent of mind, with alter'd fenfe
She hugg'd th' offender, and forgave th' offence,
Sex to the laft: meantime, with fails declin'd,
The wand'ring veffel drove before the wind:
Tofs'd and retofs'd, aloft, and then below,
Norport they feek,nor certain course they know,
But every moment wait the coming blow.
Thus blindly driven, by breaking day they view'd
The lands before them, and their fears renew di
The land was welcome, but the tempest bore
The threaten'd fhip against a rocky thore.

Tho' pleas'd diffembling, and a woman ftill.
And (for the wept) he wip'd her falling tears,
And pray'd her to difmifs her empty fears;
For yours I am, he said, and have deferv'd
Your love much better whom fo long I ferv'd,
Than he to whom your formal father tied
Your vows, and fold a flave, not sent a bride.
Thus while he fpoke, he feiz'd the willing prey,
As Paris bore the Spartan fpoufe away.
Faintly the fcream'd, and ev'n her eyes confefs'd
She rather would be thought, than was, diftrefs'd.
Who now exults but Cymon in his mind?
Vain hopes and empty joys of human kind,
Proud of the prefent, to the future blind!
Secure of fate, while Cymon ploughs the fen,
And ftcers to Candy with his conquer'd prey,
Scarce the third glass of meafur'd hours was run,
When, like a fiery meteor, funk the fun,
The promise of a storm; the shifting gales
Forfake by fits, and fill, the flagging fails;
Hoarfe murmurs of the main from far were heard,
And night came on, not by degrees prepar'd,
But all at once; at once the winds arife,
The thunders roll, the forky lightning flies.
In vain the mafter iffucs out commands,
In vain the trembling failors ply their hands:
The tempeft unforefeen prevents their care,
And from the first they labour in defpair.
The giddy fhip, betwixt the winds and tides,
Forc'd back, and forwards, in a circle rides,
Stunn'dwith the different blows; then shoots amain,
Till, counterbuff'd, she stops, and fleeps again. In peace a charge, in war a weak defence:

A winding bay was near; to this they bent,
And juft efcap'd; their force already spent:
Secure from forms, and panting from the fea,
The land unknown at leifure they furvey;
And faw (but foon their fickly fight withdrew)
The rifing tow'rs of Rhodes at diftant view;
And curs'd the hottile fhore of Pafimond,
Sav'd from the feas, and thipwreck'd on the
ground.

The frighted failors tried their strength in vain
To turn the ftern, and tempt the stormy main;
But the stiff wiad withftood the lab'ring oar,
And forc'd them forward on the fatal fhore!
The crooked keel now bites the Rhodian ftrand,
And the hip moor'd conftrains the crew to land.
Yet ftill they might be fafe, because unknown;
But, as ill fortune feldom comes alone,
The veffel they difinits'd was driven before,
Already fhelter'd on their native fhore;
Known each, they know, but each with change
of cheer;

The vanquith'd fide exults, the victors fear;
Not them but theirs, made pris'ners ere they fight,
Defpairing conqueft, and depriv'd of flight.

The country rings around with loud alarms,
And raw in fields the rude militia fwarms;
Mouths without hands, maintain'd at vaft ex.
pence,

Stout

}

Stout once a month they march, a bluft'ring band; | Both fides he weigh'd; but, after much debate,
And ever, but in times of need, at hand;
This was the morn when, iffuing on the guard,
Drawn up in rank and file they ftood prepar'd
Of feeming arms to make a fhort effay,
Then haften to be drunk, the bufinefs of the
day.

The cowards would have fled, but that they
knew

Themfelves fo many, and their foes fo few:
But, crowding on, the last the first impel;
Till overborne with weight the Cyprians fell.
Cymon enflav'd, who first the war begun;
And Iphigene once more is loft and won.

Deep in a dungeon was the captive cast,
Depriv'd of day, and held in fetters falt;
His life was only fpar'd at their request,
Whom taken he fo nobly had releas'd;
But Iphigenia was the ladies' care,
Each in their turn addrefs'd to treat the fair;
While Pafimondandhisthe nuptial feaft prepare.
Her fecret foul to Cymon was inclin'd,
But the must fuffer what her fates aflign'd;
So paffive is the church of womankind.
What worse to Cymon could his fortune deal,
Roll'd to the loweft fpoke of all her wheel?
It refted to difmifs the downward weight,
Or raise him upward to his former height;
The latter pleas'd; and love (concern'd the moft)
Prepar'd th' amends for what by love he loft.

}

The man prevail'd above the magistrate.
Love never fails to mafter what he finds,
But works a diff'rent way in diff'rent minds,
The fool enlightens, and the wife he blinds.
This youth propofing to poffefs and 'scape,
Began in murder, to conclude in rape :
Unprais'd by me, tho' Heaven fometimes may
An impious act with undeferv'd fuccefs;
The great, it feems, are privileg'd alone
To punish all injuftice but their own.
But here I ftop, not daring to proceed,
Yet blush to fatter an unrighteous deed;
For crimes are but permitted, not decreed.

blefs

Refolv'd on force, his wit the prætor bent
To find the means that might fecure th' event;
Nor long he labour'd, for his lucky thought
In captive Cymon found the friend he fought;
Th'example pleas'd; the caufe and crime the fame;
An injur'd lover, and a ravifh'd dame.

How much he durft he knew by what he dar d,
The lefs he had to lofe, the lefs he car'd,
To manage loathfome life when love was the
reward.

This ponder'd well, and fix'd on his intent,
In depth of night he for the pris'ner fent;
In fecret fent, the public view to fhun;
Then, with a fober fimile, he thus begun :
The pow'rs above, who bounteously bestow
Their gifts and graces on mankind below,
Yet prove our merit first, nor blindly give

The fire of Pafimond had left a fon,
Though younger, yet for courage early known,To fuch as are not worthy to receive;
Ormiida call'd, to whom, by promife tied,
A Rhodian beauty was the deftin'd bride;
Calandra was her name, above the reft
Renown'd for birth, with fortune amply bleft.
Lyfimachus, who rul'd the Rhodian state,
Was then by choice their annual magiftrate;
He lov'd Caffandra too with equal fire,
But fortune had not favour'd his defire;
Crofs'd by her friends, by her not difapprov'd,
Nor yet preferr'd, or like Ormifda lov'd :
So ftood th' affair; fome little hope remain'd,
That, fhould his rival chance to lofe, he gain'd.
Mean time young Pafimond his marriage
prefs'd,

For valour and for virtue they provide
Their due reward, but firft they must be tried:
Thefe fruitful feeds within your mind they
fow'd;

Ordain'd the nuptial day, prepar'd the feast ;
And frugally refolv'd (the charge to fun
Which would be double should he wed alone)
To join his brother's bridal with his own.

Lyfimachus, oppress'd with mortal grief,
Receiv'd the news, and ftudied quick relief;
The fatal day approach'd; if force were us'd,
The magiftrate his public trust abus'd;
To juftice liable, as law requir'd;
For, when his office ceas'd, his pow'r expir'd:
While pow'r remain'd, the means were in his
hand,

By force to seize, and then forfake the land :
Betwixt extremes he knew not how to move;
A flave to fame, but more a flave to love:
Reftraining others, yet himself not free,
Made impotent by pow'r, debas'd by dignity.

'Twas yours t' improve the talent they beftow'd:
They gave you to be born of noble kind,
They gave you love to lighten up your mind,
And purge the groffer parts; they gave you care
To pleafe, and courage to deferve the fair.

Thus far they tried you, and by proof they
found

The grain entrusted in a grateful ground;
But fill the great experiment remain'd,
They fuffer'd you to lofe the prize you gain'd,
That you might learn the gift was theirs alone;
And, when reftor'd, to them the bleffing own.
Reftor'd it foon will be; the means prepar'd,
The difficulty fmooth'd, the danger thar'd;
Be but yourself, the care to me refign,
Then Iphigene is yours, Caffandra mine.
Your rival Pafimond purfues your life;
Impatient to revenge his ravith'd wife,
But yet not his; to-morrow is behind,
And love our fortunes in one band has join'd;
Two brothers are our foes; Ormisda mine,
As much declar'd as Pafimond is thine;
To-morrow must their common vows be tied;
With love to friend, and fortune for our guide,
Let both refolve to die, or each redeem a bride.
Right I have none, nor haft thou much to plead;
'Tis force, when done, must justify the deed;
24

Our

Our task perform'd, we next prepare for flight; | When, like the harpies rushing through the hall,

O

§ 33. A Tranflation from Boccace. DRYDEN.

Theodore anel Honoria.

F all the cities in Romanian lands,

The chief,and most renown'd, Ravenna ftands,
Adorn'd in ancient times with arms and arts,
And rich inhabitants, with gen'rous hearts.
But Theodore the brave, above the rest,
With gifts of fortune and of nature blest,
The foremost place for wealth and honour held,
And all in feats of chivalry excell'd.

This noble youth to madnefs lov'd a dame
Of high degree; Honoria was her name;
Fair as the fairest, but of haughty mind,
And fiercer than became fo fott a kind;
Proud of her birth (for equal fhe had none)
The reft the fcorn'd, but hated him alone;
His gifts, his conftant courtship, nothing gain'd;
For fhe, the more he lov'd, the more difdain'd.
He liv'd with all the pomp he could devise,
At tilts and tournaments obtain'd the prize;
But found no favour in his lady's eyes:
Relentless as a rock, the lofty maid
Turn'd all to poifon, that he did or faid:
Nor pray'rs, nor tears, nor offer'd vows, could
[ftrove

move;
The work went backward; and the more he
T'advance his fuit, the farther from her love.

Wearied, at length, and wanting remedy,
He doubted oft, and oft refolv'd to die.
But pride flood ready to prevent the blow,
For who would die to gratify a foe?
His gen'rous mind difdain'd fo mean a fate!
That pafs'd, his next endeavour was to hate.
But vainer that relief than all the reft,
The less he hop'd, with more defire poffefs'd;
Love ftood the fiege, and would not yield his
breaft.

}

Change was the next, but change deceiv'd his

care;

He fought a fairer, but found none fo fair.
He would have worn her out by flow degrees,
As men by fafting ftarve th' untam'd difeafe:
But prefent love requir'd a prefent ease.
Looking he feeds alone his famifh'd eyes,
Feeds ling ring death, but looking not he dies.
Yet ftill he chofe the longest way to fate,
Wafting at once his life, and his eftate.

His friends beheld, and pity'd him in vain,
For what advice can eafe a lover's pain!
Abfence, the beft expedient they could find,
Might fave the fortune, if not cure the mind:
This means they long propos'd, but little gain'd,
Yet, after much puriuit, at length obtain'd.

Hard you may think it was to give confent,
But ftruggling with his own defires he went,
With large expence, and with a pompous train,
Provided as to vifit France and Spain,
Or for fome diftant voyage o'er the main.
But love had clipp'd his wings, and cut him fhoit,
Confin'd within the purlieus of the court.
Three miles he went, nor farther could retreat;
His travels ended at his country-feat:

Of frequent treats, and proud magnificence.
He liv'd as kings retire, tho' more at large
From public butiness, yet with equal charge;
With houfe and heart ftill open to receive;
As well content as love would give him leave:
He would have liv'd more free; but many a guest,
Who could forfake the friend, purfu'd the feaft.

It happ'd one morning, as his fancy led,
Before his ufual hour he left his bed;
To walk within a lonely lawn, that stood
On every fide furrounded by a wood:
Alone he walk'd, to please his penfive mind,
And fought the deepeft folitude to find:
'Twas in a grove of fpreading pines heftray'd;
Thewinds within the quiv'ring branchesplay'd,
And dancing trees a mournful mufic made.
The place itself was fuiting to his care,
Uncouth and favage, as the cruel fair.
He wander'd on, unknowing where he went,
Loft in the wood, and all on love intent :
The day already half his race had run,
And fummon'd him to due repaft at noon,
But love could feel no hunger but his own.

}

While lift'ning to the murm'ring leaves he ftood,
More than a mile immers'd within the wood,
At once the wind was laid; the whifp'ring found
Was dumb; a rifing earthquake rock'd the ground;
With deeper brown the grove was overspread;
A fudden horror feiz'd his giddy head,
And his ears tingled, and his colour fled;
Nature was in alarm; fome danger nigh
Seem'd threaten'd, tho' unfeen to mortal eye.
Unus'd to fear, he fummon'd all his foul,
And food collected in himself, and whole;
Not long for foon a whirlwind rofe around,
And from afar he heard a screaming found,
As of a dame diftrefs'd, who cried for aid,
And fill'd with loud laments the fecret fhade.

A thicket clofe befide the grove there ftood With briers and brambles choak'd, and dwarfish wood;

From thence the noife, which now approaching

near,

With more diftinguish'd notes invades his ear;
He rais'd his head, and faw a beauteous maid,
With hair dishevell'd, iffuing through the fhade,
Stripp'd of her clothes, and ev'n those parts re-
veal'd,

Which modeft nature keeps from fight conceal'd.
Her face, her hands, her naked limbs were torn,
With paffing thro' the brakes, and prickly thorn;
Two maftiffs gaunt and grim her flight purfued,
And oft their fasten'd fangs in blood embru'd:
Oft they came up, and pinch'd her tender fide;
Mercy, O mercy Heaven! fhe ran, and cry'd;

When