Of all the cities in Romanian lands,
The chief, and most renown'd, Ravenna stands,
Adorn'd in ancient times with arms and arts,
And rich inhabitants, with generous hearts.
But Theodore the Brave, above the rest,
With gifts of fortune and of nature bless'd,
The foremost place for wealth and honour held,
And all in feats of chivalry excell'd.
This noble youth to madness loved a dame
Of high degree, Honoria was her name;
Fair as the fairest, but of haughty mind,
And fiercer than became so soft a kind.
Proud of her birth (for equal she had none);
The rest she scorn'd, but hated him alone,
His gifts, his constant courtship, nothing gain'd;
For she, the more he loved, the more disdain'd.
He lived 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 poison that he did, or said;
Nor prayers, nor tears, nor offer'd vows, could move; The work went backward; and the more he strove T'advance his suit, the farther from her love.
Wearied at length, and wanting remedy,
He doubted oft, and oft resolved to die.
But pride stood ready to prevent the blow,
For who would die, to gratify a foe?
generous mind disdain'd so mean a fate ; That pass'd, his next endeavour was to hate. But vainer that relief than all the rest,
The less he hoped, with more desire possess'd;
Love stood the siege, and would not yield his breast.
Change was the next, but change deceived his care;
He sought a fairer, but found none so fair.
He would have worn her out by slow degrees,
As men by fasting starve th'untamed disease:
But present love required a present ease.
Looking, he feeds alone his famish'd eyes,
Feeds lingering death, but looking not he dies.
Yet still he chose the longest way to fate,
Wasting at once his life and his estate.
His friends beheld, and pity'd him in vain,
For what advice can ease a lover's pain!
Absence, the best expedient they could find,
Might save the fortune, if not cure the mind:
This means they long proposed, but little gain'd,
Yet, after much pursuit, at length obtain'd.
think it was to give consent,
But, struggling with his own desires, he went,
With large expence, and with a pompous train,
Provided as to visit France and Spain,
Or for some distant voyage o'er the main.
But love had clipp'd his wings, and cut him short,
Confin'd within the purlieus of the court,
Three miles he went, no farther could retreat;
His travels ended at his country seat:
To Chassi's pleasing plains he took his
There pitch'd his tents, and there resolved to stay.
The spring was in the prime; the neighbouring grove Supplied with birds, the choristers of love :
Music unbought, that minister'd delight
To morning walks, and lull'd his cares by night:
There he discharged his friends; but not th'
Of frequent treats, and proud magnificence.
He lived as kings retire, though more at large
From public business, yet with equal charge;
With house and heart still open to receive;
As well content as love would give him leave:
He would have lived more free; but many a guest
Who could forsake the friend, pursued the feast.
It hapt one morning, as his fancy led,
Before his usual hour he left his bed ;
To walk within a lonely lawn that stood
every side surrounded with a wood;
Alone he walk'd, to please his pensive mind,
And sought the deepest solitude to find ;
'Twas in a grove of spreading pines he stray'd;
The winds within the quivering branches play'd,
And dancing trees a mournful music made.
The place itself was suiting to his care,
Uncouth and savage as the cruel fair.
He wander'd on, unknowing where he went,
Lost in the wood, and all on love intent:
The day already half his race had run,
And summon'd him to due repast at noon,
But love could feel no hunger but his own.
Whilst listening to the murmuring leaves he stood, More than a mile immersed within the wood,
At once the wind was laid; the whispering sound
Was dumb; a rising earthquake rock d the ground;
With deeper brown the grove was overspread;
A sudden horror seized his giddy head,
And his ears tinkled, and his colour fled.
Nature was in alarm; some danger nigh
Seem'd threaten'd, though unseen to mortal
Unused to fear, he summon'd all his soul,
And stood collected in himself, and whole;
Not long for soon a whirlwind rose around,
And from afar he heard a screaming sound
As of a dame distress'd, who cried for aid,
And fill'd with loud laments the secret shade.
A thicket close beside the grove there stood, With briers and brambles choked, and dwarfish wood; From thence the noise, which now approaching near, With more distinguish'd notes invades his ear; He raised his head, and saw a beauteous maid, With hair dishevel'd, issuing through the shade; Stripp'd of her clothes, and e'en those parts reveal'd, Which modest nature keeps from sight conceal'd. Her face, her hands, her naked limbs, were torn, With passing through the brakes, and prickly thorn;
|