P R .A mi AW )F CONGRESS. jrright No Chap... l.lUopy right No UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. JOHN DRYDEN. S«atli'fi Ctnglist) Classics DRYDEN'S PALAMON AND ARCITE % * EDITED WITH NOTES AND CRITICAL SUGGESTIONS BY W. H..CRAWSHAW, A.M. Professor of English Literature in Colgate Universitv 2nd COPY, ;i898 J 2/ 1898. BOSTON. U.S.A. D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 1898 ED- 6651 Copyright, 1898, By W. H. CRAWSHAW. TYPOGRAPHY BY J. S. CTX8HING & CO., NORWOOD, MASS I'RERSWORK BY ROCKWELL & CHURCHILL, IloSTON. PREFACE. Dryden's poem is placed first in this volume because it is with the poem that the student is first and chiefly concerned. The notes following are intended to be explanatory and sug- gestive, to aid the student in the understanding and appre- ciation of the poem. While the editor has endeavored to avoid too great fulness of annotation, he has also sought to avoid the opposite extreme of leaving the student to seek in vain for the meaning of an obscure passage. Time saved in understanding the language and allusions of the poem may* be more profitably spent in seeking to appreciate its literary qualities. Toward this end it is hoped that the suggestions for the study of the poem will serve as a welcome guide. Acknowledgments for valuable advice and suggestion are due to my friends and colleagues, Professor D. F. Estes, D.D., of Hamilton Theological Seminary, Professor John Greene, Ph.D., of Colgate University, and Professor E. W. Smith. A.M., of Colgate Academy. W. H. C. Hamilton, N.Y., January, 1898. Hear how Timotheus' vary'd lays surprise, And bid alternate passions fall and rise ! While at each change, the son of Libyan Jove Now burns with glory, and then melts with love; Now his fierce eyes with sparkling fury glow, Now sighs steal out, and tears begin to flow : Persians and Greeks like turns of nature found, And the world's victor stood subdu'd by sound ! The power of music all our hearts allow, And what Timotheus was, is Dryden now. Pope's Essay on Criticism. Waller was smooth; but Dryden taught to join The varying verse, the full-resounding line, The long majestic march, and energy divine Ev'n copious Dryden wanted, or forgot, The last and greatest art, the art to blot. Pope's First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace Imitated. CONTENTS. PAGE Dryden's Dedication i PalAx\ion and Arcite ; or, The Knight's Tale . . 7 Notes 88 John Dryden 118 The Study of the Poem 122 Dryden and Chaucer 137 Dryden's Views on Chaucer ...... 142 Behold, where Dryden's less presumptuous car, Wide o'er the fields of glory bear Two coursers of ethereal race, With necks in thunder clothed, and long-resounding pace. Hark, his hands the lyre explore ! Bright-eyed Fancy, hovering o'er, Scatters from her pictured urn Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn. Gray's The Progress of Poesy. DEDICATION TO HER GRACE THE DUCHESS OF ORMOND, WITH THE FOLLOWING POEM OF PALAMON AND ARCITE FROM CHAUCER. Madam, The bard who first adorned our native tongue Tuned to his British lyre this ancient song ; Which Homer might without a blush rehearse, And leaves a doubtful palm in Virgil's verse : He matched their beauties, where they most excel ; Of love sung better, and of arms as well. Vouchsafe, illustrious Ormond, to behold What power the charms of beauty had of old ; Nor wonder if such deeds of arms were done, Inspired by two fair eyes that sparkled like your own. i If Chaucer by the best idea wrought, And poets can divine each other's thought, The fairest nymph before his eyes he set ; And then the fairest was Plantagenet, Who three contending princes made her prize, And ruled the rival nations with her eyes ; Who left immortal trophies of her fame, And to the noblest order gave the name. Like her, of equal kindred to the throne, You keep her conquests, and extend your own : 2< B I 2 DEDICATION As when the stars, in their ethereal race, At length have rolled around the liquid space, At certain periods they resume their place, From the same point of heaven their course advance, And move in measures of their former dance ; Thus, after length of ages, she returns, Restored in you, and the same place adorns ; Or you perform her office in the sphere, Born of her blood, and make a new Platonic year. O true Plantagenet, O race divine, 30 (For beauty still is fatal to the line,) Had Chaucer lived that angel face to view, Sure he had drawn his Emily from you ; Or had you lived to judge the doubtful right, Your noble Palamon had been the knight ; And conquering Theseus from his side had sent Your generous lord, to guide the Theban government. Time shall accomplish that ; and I shall see A Palamon in him, in you an Emily. Already have the Fates your path prepared, 40 And sure presage your future sway declared : When westward, like the sun, you took your way, And from benighted Britain bore the day, Blue Triton gave the signal from the shore, The ready Nereids heard, and swam before To smooth the seas ; a soft Etesian gale But just inspired, and gently swelled the sail ; Portunus took his turn, whose ample hand Heaved up the lightened keel, and sunk the sand, And steered the sacred vessel safe to land. 50 The land, if not restrained, had met your way, TO THE DUCHESS OF ORMOND. 3 Projected out a neck, and jutted to the sea. Hibernia, prostrate at your feet, adored In you the pledge of her expected lord, Due to her isle ; a venerable name ; His father and his grandsire known to fame ; Awed by that house, accustomed to command, The sturdy kerns in due subjection stand, Nor hear the reins in any foreign hand. At your approach, they crowded to the port ; 60 And scarcely landed, you create a court : As Ormond's harbinger, to you they run, For Venus is the promise of the Sun. The waste of civil wars, their towns destroyed, Pales unhonoured, Ceres unemployed, Were all forgot ; and one triumphant day Wiped all the tears of three campaigns away. Blood, rapines, massacres, were cheaply bought, So mighty recompense your beauty brought. As when the dove returning bore the mark 70 Of earth restored to the long-labouring ark, The relics of mankind, secure of rest, Oped every window to receive the guest, And the fair bearer of the message blessed : So, when you came, with loud repeated cries, The nation took an omen from your eyes, And God advanced his rainbow in the skies, To sign inviolable peace restored ; The saints with solemn shouts proclaimed the new accord. When at your second coming you appear, 80 (For I foretell that millenary year) The sharpened share shall vex the soil no more, 4 DEDICATION But earth unbidden shall produce her store ; The land shall laugh, the circling ocean smile, And Heaven's indulgence bless the holy isle. Heaven from all ages has reserved for you That happy clime, which venom never knew ; Or if it had been there, your eyes alone Have power to chase all poison, but their own. Now in this interval, which Fate has cast 90 Betwixt your future glories and your past, This pause of power, 'tis Ireland's hour to mourn ; While England celebrates your safe return, By which you seem the seasons to command, And bring our summers back to their forsaken land. The vanquished isle our leisure must attend, Till the fair blessing we vouchsafe to send ; Nor can we spare you long, though often we may lend. The dove was twice employed abroad, before The world was dried, and she returned no more. 100 Nor dare we trust so soft a messenger, New from her sickness, to that northern air ; Rest here awhile your lustre to restore, That they may see you, as you shone before ; For yet, the eclipse not wholly past, you wade Through some remains and dimness of a shade, A subject in his prince may claim a right, Nor suffer him with strength impaired to fight ; Till force returns, his ardour we restrain, And curb his warlike wish to cross the main. no Now past the danger, let the learned begin The inquiry, where disease could enter in ; How those malignant atoms forced their way, TO THE DUCHESS OF ORAIOND. 5 What in the faultless frame they found to make their prey, Where every element was weighed so well, That Heaven alone, who mixed the mass, could tell Which of the four ingredients could rebel ; And where, imprisoned in so sweet a cage, A soul might well be pleased to pass an age. And yet the fine materials made it weak ; 120 Porcelain, by being pure, is apt to break. Even to your breast the sickness durst aspire, And forced from that fair temple to retire, Profanely set the holy place on fire. In vain your lord, like young Vespasian, mourned, When the fierce flames the sanctuary burned ; And I prepared to pay in verses rude A most detested act of gratitude : Even this had been your Elegy, which now Is offered for your health, the table of my vow. 130 Your angel sure our Morley's mind inspired, To find the remedy your ill required ; As once the Macedon, by Jove's decree, Was taught to dream an herb for Ptolemy : Or Heaven, which had such over-cost bestowed As scarce it could afford to flesh and blood, So liked the frame, he would not work anew, To save the charges of another you ; Or by his middle science did he steer, And saw some great contingent good appear, 140 Well worth a miracle to keep you here, And for that end preserved the precious mould, Which all the future Ormonds was to hold ; And meditated, in his better mind, 6 DEDICATION. An heir from you who may redeem the failing kind. Blessed be the power which has at once restored The hopes of lost succession to your lord ; Joy to the first and last of each degree, Virtue to courts, and, what I longed to see, To you the Graces, and the Muse to me. 150 O daughter of the Rose, whose cheeks unite The differing titles of the Red and White ; Who heaven's alternate beauty well display, The blush of morning and the milky way ; Whose face is Paradise, but fenced from sin ; For God in either eye has placed a cherubin. All is your lord's alone ; even absent, he Employs the care of chaste Penelope. For him you waste in tears your widowed hours, For him your curious needle paints the flowers ; 160 Such works of old imperial dames were taught, Such for Ascanius fair Elissa wrought. The soft recesses of your hours improve The three fair pledges of your happy love : All other parts of pious duty done, You owe your Ormond nothing but a son, To fill in future times his father's place, And wear the garter of his mother's race. PALAMON AND ARCITE, OR THE KNIGHT'S TALE; FROM CHAUCER. IN THREE BOOKS. — ♦ — BOOK I. In days of old there lived, of mighty fame, A valiant Prince, and Theseus was his name ; A chief, who more in feats of arms excelled, The rising nor the setting sun beheld. Of Athens he was lord ; much land he won, And added foreign countries to his crown. In Scythia with the warrior Queen he strove, Whom first by force he conquered, then by love ; He brought in triumph back the beauteous dame, With whom her sister, fair Emilia, came. With honour to his home let Theseus ride, With Love to friend, and Fortune for his guide, And his victorious army at his side. I pass their warlike pomp, their proud array, Their shouts, their songs, their welcome on the way ; But, were it not too long, I would recite The feats of Amazons, the fatal fight Betwixt the hardy Queen and hero Knight ; The town besieged, and how much blood it cost 7 8 PALAMON AND ARCITE— Book I. The female army, and the Athenian host ; 20 The spousals of Hippolyta the Queen ; What tilts and tourneys at the feast were seen ; The storm at their return, the ladies' fear : But these and other things I must forbear. The field is spacious I design to sow, With oxen far unfit to draw the plough : The remnant of my tale is of a length To tire your patience, and to waste my strength And trivial accidents shall be forborne, That others may have time to take their turn, 30 As was at first enjoined us by mine host, That he, whose tale is best and pleases most, Should win his supper at our common cost. And therefore where I left, I will pursue This ancient story, whether false or true, In hope it may be mended with a new. The Prince I mentioned, full of high renown, In this array drew near the Athenian town ; When, in his pomp and utmost of his pride Marching, he chanced to cast his eye aside, 40 And saw a quire of mourning dames, who lay By two and two across the common way : At his approach they raised a rueful cry, And beat their breasts, and held their hands on high, Creeping and crying, till they seized at last His courser's bridle and his feet embraced. " Tell me," said Theseus, " what and whence you are, " And why this funeral pageant you prepare ? " Is this the welcome of my worthy deeds, "To meet my triumph in ill-omened weeds? 50 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. 9 " Or envy you my praise, and would destroy " With grief my pleasures, and pollute my joy? " Or are you injured, and demand relief? " Name your request, and I will ease your grief." The most in years of all the mourning train Began ; but sounded first away for pain ; Then scarce recovered spoke : " Nor envy we " Thy great renown, nor grudge thy victory ; " 'Tis thine, O King, the afflicted to redress, " And fame has filled the world with thy success : 60 " We wretched women sue for that alone, " Which of thy goodness is refused to none ; " Let fall some drops of pity on our grief, " If what we beg be just, and we deserve relief; "For none of us, who now thy grace implore, " But held the rank of sovereign queen before ; " Till, thanks to giddy Chance, which never bears " That mortal bliss should last for length of years, " She cast us headlong from our high estate, " And here in hope of thy return we wait, 70 " And long have waited in the temple nigh, " Built to the gracious goddess Clemency. " But reverence thou the power whose name it bears, " Relieve the oppressed, and wipe the widows' tears. " I, wretched I, have other fortune seen, " The wife of Capaneus, and once a Queen ; " At Thebes he fell ; cursed be the fatal day ! " And all the rest thou seest in this array " To make their moan their lords in battle lost, " Before that town besieged by our confederate host. 80 " But Creon, old and impious, who commands io PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. " The Theban city, and usurps the lands, " Denies the rites of funeral fires to those " Whose breathless bodies yet he calls his foes. " Unburned, unburied, on a heap they lie ; " Such is their fate, and such his tyranny ; "No friend has leave to bear away the dead, " But with their lifeless limbs his hounds are fed." At this she shrieked aloud ; the mournful train Echoed her grief, and grovelling on the plain, 90 With groans, and hands upheld, to move his mind, Besought his pity to their helpless kind. The Prince was touched, his tears began to flow, And, as his tender heart would break in two, He sighed ; and could not but their fate deplore, So wretched now, so fortunate before. Then lightly from his lofty steed he flew, And raising one by one the suppliant crew, To comfort each, full solemnly he swore, That by the faith which knights to knighthood bore, 100 And whate'er else to chivalry belongs, He would not cease, till he revenged their wrongs ; That Greece should see performed what he declared, And cruel Creon find his just reward. He said no more, but shunning all delay, Rode on, nor entered Athens on his way ; But left his sister and his queen behind, And waved his royal banner in the wind, Where in an argent field the God of War Was drawn triumphant on his iron car ; no Red was his sword, and shield, and whole attire, And all the godhead seemed to glow with fire ; PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. u Even the ground glittered where the standard flew, And the green grass was dyed to sanguine hue. High on his pointed lance, his pennon bore His Cretan fight, the conquered Minotaur : The soldiers shout around with generous rage, And in that victory their own presage. He praised their ardour, inly pleased to see His host, the flower of Grecian chivalry. 120 All day he marched, and all the ensuing night, And saw the city with returning light. The process of the war I need not tell, How Theseus conquered, and how Creon fell ; Or after, how by storm the walls were won, Or how the victor sacked and burned the town ; How to the ladies he restored again The bodies of their lords in battle slain ; And with what ancient rites they were interred ; All these to fitter time shall be deferred : 130 I spare the widows' tears, their woful cries, And howling at their husbands' obsequies ; How Theseus at these funerals did assist, And with what gifts the mourning dames dismissed. Thus when the victor chief had Creon slain, And conquered Thebes, he pitched upon the plain His mighty camp, and when the day returned, The country wasted and the hamlets burned, And left the pillagers, to rapine bred, Without control to strip and spoil the dead. 140 There, in a heap of slain, among the rest Two youthful knights they found beneath a load oppressed Of slaughtered foes, whom first to death they sent, 12 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. The trophies of their strength, a bloody monument. Both fair, and both of royal blood they seemed, Whom kinsmen to the crown the heralds deemed ; That day in equal arms they fought for fame ; Their swords, their shields, their surcoats were the same : Close by each other laid they pressed the ground, Their manly bosoms pierced with many a grisly wound ; 150 Nor well alive nor wholly dead they were, But some faint signs of feeble life appear ; The wandering breath was on the wing to part, Weak was the pulse, and hardly heaved the heart. These two were sisters' sons ; and Arcite one, Much famed in fields, with valiant Palamon. From these their costly arms the spoilers rent, And softly both conveyed to Theseus' tent : Whom, known of Creon's line and cured with care, He to his city sent as prisoners of the war ; 160 Hopeless of ransom, and condemned to lie In durance, doomed a lingering death to die. This done, he marched away with warlike sound, And to his Athens turned with laurels crowned, Where happy long he lived, much loved, and more renowned. But in a tower, and never to be loosed, The woful captive kinsmen are enclosed. Thus year by year they pass, and day by day, Till once ('twas on the morn of cheerful May) The young Emilia, fairer to be seen 170 Than the fair lily on the flowery green, More fresh than May herself in blossoms new, (For with the rosy colour strove her hue,) PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. 13 Waked, as her custom was, before the day, To do the observance due to sprightly May ; For sprightly May commands our youth to keep The vigils of her night, and breaks their sluggard sleep; Each gentle breast with kindly warmth she moves ; Inspires new flames, revives extinguished loves. In this remembrance Emily ere day 1S0 Arose, and dressed herself in rich array ; Fresh as the month, and as the morning fair, Adown her shoulders fell her length of hair : A ribband did the braided tresses bind, The rest was loose, and wantoned in the wind : Aurora had but newly chased the night, And purpled o'er the sky with blushing light, When to the garden-walk she took her way, To sport and trip along in cool of day, And offer maiden vows in honour of the May. 190 At every turn she made a little stand, And thrust among the thorns her lily hand To draw the rose ; and every rose she drew. She shook the stalk, and brushed away the dew ; Then party-coloured flowers of white and red She wove, to make a garland for her head : This done, she sung and carolled out so clear, That men and angels might rejoice to hear ; Even wondering Philomel forgot to sing, And learned from her to welcome in the spring. 200 The tower, of which before was mention made, Within whose keep the captive knights were laid, Built of a large extent, and strong withal, Was one partition of the palace wall : 14 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. The garden was enclosed within the square, Where young Emilia took the morning air. It happened Palamon, the prisoner knight, Restless for woe, arose before the light, And with his jailor's leave desired to breathe An air more wholesome than the damps beneath. 210 This granted, to the tower he took his way, Cheered with the promise of a glorious day ; Then cast a languishing regard around, And saw with hateful eyes the temples crowned With golden spires, and all the hostile ground. He sighed, and turned his eyes, because he knew 'Twas but a larger jail he had in view ; Then looked below, and from the castle's height Beheld a nearer and more pleasing sight ; The garden, which before he had not seen, 220 In spring's new livery clad of white and green, Fresh flowers in wide parterres, and shady walks between. This viewed, but not enjoyed, with arms across He stood, reflecting on his country's loss ; Himself an object of the public scorn, And often wished he never had been born. At last, (for so his destiny required,) With walking giddy, and with thinking tired, He through a little window cast his sight, Though thick of bars, that gave a scanty light ; 230 But even that glimmering served him to descry The inevitable charms of Emily. Scarce had he seen, but, seized with sudden smart, Stung to the quick, he felt it at his heart ; Struck blind with overpowering light he stood, PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. 15 Then started back amazed, and cried aloud. Young Arcite heard ; and up he ran with haste, To help his friend, and in his arms embraced ; And asked him why he looked so deadly wan, And whence, and how, his change of cheer began ? 240 Or who had done the offence? " But if," said he, " Your grief alone is hard captivity, " For love of Heaven with patience undergo " A cureless ill, since Fate will have it so : " So stood our horoscope in chains to lie, " And Saturn in the dungeon of the sky, " Or other baleful aspect, ruled our birth, " When all the friendly stars were under earth ; " Whate'er betides, by Destiny 'tis done ; " And better bear like men than vainly seek to shun." 250 " Nor of my bonds," said Palamon again, " Nor of unhappy planets I complain ; " But when my mortal anguish caused my cry, " That moment I was hurt through either eye ; " Pierced with a random shaft, I faint away, " And perish with insensible decay : " A glance of some new goddess gave the wound, " Whom, like Actaeon, unaware I found. " Look how she walks along yon shady space ; " Not Juno moves with more majestic grace, 260 " And all the Cyprian queen is in her face. " If thou art Venus, (for thy charms confess " That face was formed in heaven,) nor art thou less, " Disguised in habit, undisguised in shape, " O help us captives from our chains to scape ! " But if our doom be past in bonds to lie 16 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. " For life, and in a loathsome dungeon die, " Then be thy wrath appeased with our disgrace, " And show compassion to the Theban race, "Oppressed by tyrant power !" — While yet he spoke, 270 Arcite on Emily had fixed his look ; The fatal dart a ready passage found And deep within his heart infixed the wound : So that if Palamon were wounded sore, Arcite was hurt as much as he or more : Then from his inmost soul he sighed, and said, " The beauty I behold has struck me dead : " Unknowingly she strikes, and kills by chance ; " Poison is in her eyes, and death in every glance. " Oh, I must ask ; nor ask alone, but move 280 " Her mind to mercy, or must die for love." Thus Arcite : and thus Palamon replies, (Eager his tone, and ardent were his eyes,) " Speakst thou in earnest, or in jesting vein?" "Jesting," said Arcite, " suits but ill with pain." " It suits far worse," (said Palamon again, And bent his brows,) " with men who honour weigh, "Their faith to break, their friendship to betray ; " But worst with thee, of noble lineage born, " My kinsman, and in arms my brother sworn. 290 " Have we not plighted each our holy oath, " That one should be the common good of both ; " One soul should both inspire, and neither prove " His fellow's hindrance in pursuit of love? " To this before the Gods we gave our hands, " And nothing but our death can break the bands. " This binds thee, then, to further my design, PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. 17 " As I am bound by vow to further thine : " Nor canst, nor darest thou, traitor, on the plain " Appeach my honour, or thy own maintain, 300 " Since thou art of my council, and the friend 14 Whose faith I trust, and on whose care depend. " And wouldst thou court my lady's love, which I " Much rather than release, would choose to die? " But thou, false Arcite, never shalt obtain " Thy bad pretence ; I told thee first my pain : " For first my love began ere thine was born ; " Thou as my council, and my brother sworn, " Art bound to assist my eldership of right, " Or justly to be deemed a perjured knight." 310 Thus Palamon : but Arcite with disdain In haughty language thus replied again : " Forsworn thyself : the traitor's odious name " I first return, and then disprove thy claim. " If love be passion, and that passion nurst " With strong desires. I loved the lady first. " Canst thou pretend desire, whom zeal inflamed " To worship, and a power celestial named ? " Thine was devotion to the blest above, " I saw the woman, and desired her love ; 320 " First owned my passion, and to thee commend " The important secret, as my chosen friend. " Suppose (which yet I grant not) thy desire " A moment elder than my rival fire ; " Can chance of seeing first thy title prove ? " And knowst thou not, no law is made for love ? " Law is to things which to free choice relate ; " Love is not in our choice, but in our fate ; 18 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. " Laws are but positive ; love's power we see " Is Nature's sanction, and her first decree. 330 " Each day we break the bond of human laws " For love, and vindicate the common cause. " Laws for defence of civil rights are placed, " Love throws the fences down, and makes a general waste. " Maids, widows, wives without distinction fall ; " The sweeping deluge, love, comes on and covers all. " If then the laws of friendship I transgress, " I keep the greater, while I break the less ; " And both are mad alike, since neither can possess. " Both hopeless to be ransomed, never more 340 " To see the sun, but as he passes o'er. " Like T^Esop's hounds contending for the bone, " Each pleaded right, and would be lord alone ; " The fruitless fight continued all the day, " A cur came by and snatched the prize away. " As courtiers therefore justle for a grant, " And when they break their friendship, plead their want, " So thou, if Fortune will thy suit advance, " Love on, nor envy me my equal chance : " For I must love, and am resolved to try 350 " My fate, or failing in the adventure die." Great was their strife, which hourly was renewed, Till each with mortal hate his rival viewed : Now friends no more, nor walking hand in hand ; But when they met, they made a surly stand. And glared like angry lions as they passed, And wished that every look might be their last. It chanced at length, Pirithous came to attend This worthy Theseus, his familiar friend : PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. 19 Their love in early infancy began, 360 And rose as childhood ripened into man, Companions of the war ; and loved so well, That when one died, as ancient stories tell, His fellow to redeem him went to hell. But to pursue my tale : to welcome home His warlike brother is Pirithous come : Arcite of Thebes was known in arms long since, And honoured by this young Thessalian prince. Theseus, to gratify his friend and guest, Who made our Arcite's freedom his request, 370 Restored to liberty the captive knight, But on these hard conditions I recite : That if hereafter Arcite should be found * Within the compass of Athenian ground, By day or night, or on whate'er pretence, His head should pay the forfeit of the offence. To this Pirithous for his friend agreed, And on his promise was the prisoner freed. Unpleased and pensive hence he takes his way, At his own peril ; for his life must pay. 380 Who now but Arcite mourns his bitter fate, Finds his dear purchase, and repents too late ? " What have I gained," he said, " in prison pent, " If I but change my bonds for banishment? " And banished from her sight, I suffer more " In freedom than I felt in bonds before ; " Forced from her presence and condemned to live, " Unwelcome freedom and unthanked reprieve : " Heaven is not but where Emily abides, " And where she's absent, all is hell besides. 390 20 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. " Next to my day of birth, was that accurst " Which bound my friendship to Pirithous first : " Had I not known that prince, I still had been " In bondage, and had still Emilia seen : " For though I never can her grace deserve, " Tis recompense enough to see and serve. " O Palamon, my kinsman and my friend, " How much more happy fates thy love attend ! " Thine is the adventure, thine the victory, " Well has thy fortune turned the dice for thee : 400 " Thou on that angel's face mayest feed thy eyes, " In prison, no ; but blissful paradise ! " Thou daily seest that sun of beauty shine, " And lovest at least in love's extremest line. " I mourn in absence, love's eternal night ; " And who can tell but since thou hast her sight, " And art a comely, young, and valiant knight, " Fortune (a various power) may cease to frown, " And by some ways unknown thy wishes crown ? " But I, the most forlorn of human kind, 410 " Nor help can hope nor remedy can find ; " But doomed to drag my loathsome life in care, " For my reward, must end it in despair. " Fire, water, air, and earth, and force of fates " That governs all, and Heaven that all creates, " Nor art, nor Nature's hand can ease my grief; " Nothing but death, the wretch's last relief: "iThen farewell youth, and all the joys that dwell "With youth and life, and life itself, farewell ! " But why, alas ! do mortal men in vain 420 " Of Fortune, Fate, or Providence complain? PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. 21 " God gives us what he knows our wants require, " And better things than those which we desire : " Some pray for riches ; riches they obtain ; " But, watched by robbers, for their wealth are slain ; " Some pray from prison to be freed ; and come, " When guilty of their vows, to fall at home ; " Murdered by those they trusted with their life, " A favoured servant or a bosom wife. " Such dear-bought blessings happen every day, 430 " Because we know not for what things to pray. • " Like drunken sots about the streets we roam : " Well knows the sot he has a certain home, " Yet knows not how to find the uncertain place, " And blunders on, and staggers every pace. " Thus all seek happiness ; but few can find,! " For far the greater part of men are blind. " This is my case, who thought our utmost good " Was in one word of freedom understood : " The fatal blessing came : from prison free, 440 " I starve abroad, and lose the sight of Emily." Thus Arcite : but if Arcite thus deplore His sufferings, Palamon yet suffers more. For when he knew his rival freed and gone, He swells with wrath ; he makes outrageous moan ; He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground ; The hollow tower with clamours rings around : With briny tears he bathed his fettered feet, And dropped all o'er with agony of sweat. " Alas ! " he cried, " I, wretch, in prison pine, 450 " Too happy rival, while the fruit is thine : (t Thou livest at large, thou drawest thy native air, 22 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. " Pleased with thy freedom, proud of my despair : " Thou mayest, since thou hast youth and courage joined, " A sweet behaviour and a solid mind, " Assemble ours, and all the Theban race, " To vindicate on Athens thy disgrace ; " And after (by some treaty made) possess " Fair Emily, the pledge of lasting peace. " So thine shall be the beauteous prize, while I 460 " Must languish in despair, in prison die. " Thus ail the advantage of the strife is thine, " Thy portion double joys, and double sorrows mine." The rage of jealousy then fired his soul, And his face kindled like a burning coal : Now cold despair, succeeding in her stead, To livid paleness turns the glowing red. His blood, scarce liquid, creeps within his veins, Like water which the freezing wind constrains. Then thus he said : " Eternal Deities, 47° " Who rule the world with absolute decrees, " And write whatever time shall bring to pass " With pens of adamant on plates of brass ; " What is the race of human kind your care " Beyond what all his fellow-creatures are ? " He with the rest is liable to pain, " And like the sheep, his brother-beast, is slain. " Cold, hunger, prisons, ills without a cure, " All these he must, and guiltless oft, endure ; " Or does your justice, power, or prescience fail, 480 " When the good suffer and the bad prevail? " What worse to wretched virtue could befall, PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. 23 " If Fate or giddy Fortune governed all ? " Nay, worse than other beasts is our estate : " Them, to pursue their pleasures, you create ; " We, bound by harder laws, must curb our will, " And your commands, not our desires, fulfil : " Then, when the creature is unjustly slain, " Yet, after death at least, he feels no pain : " But man, in life surcharged with woe before, 490 " Not freed when dead, is doomed to suffer more. " A serpent shoots his sting at unaware : " An ambushed thief forelays a traveller ; " The man lies murdered, while the thief and snake, " One gains the thickets, and one thrids the brake. " This let divines decide ; but well I know, "Just or unjust, I have my share of woe : " Through Saturn seated in a luckless place, " And Juno's wrath that persecutes my race ; " Or Mars and Venus in a quartil move 500 "My pangs of jealousy for Arcite's love." Let Palamon oppressed in bondage mourn, While to his exiled rival we return. By this the sun, declining from his height, The day had shortened to prolong the night : The lengthened night gave length of misery, Both to the captive lover and the free : For Palamon in endless prison mourns, And Arcite forfeits life if he returns ; The banished never hopes his love to see, 510 Nor hopes the captive lord his liberty. 'Tis hard to say who suffers greater pains; 24 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. One sees his love, but cannot break his chains ; One free, and all his motions uncontrolled, Beholds whate'er he would but what he would behold. Judge as you please, for I will haste to tell What fortune to the banished knight befell. When Arcite was to Thebes returned again, The loss of her he loved renewed his pain ; What could be worse than never more to see 520 His life, his soul, his charming Emily? He raved with all the madness of despair, He roared, he beat his breast, he tore his hair. Dry sorrow in his stupid eyes appears, For wanting nourishment, he wanted tears ; His eyeballs in their hollow sockets sink, Bereft of sleep ; he loathes his meat and drink ; He withers at his heart, and looks as wan As the pale spectre of a murdered man : That pale turns yellow, and his face receives 530 The faded hue of sapless boxen leaves ; In solitary groves he makes his moan, Walks early out, and ever is alone ; Nor, mixed in mirth, in youthful pleasure shares, But sighs when songs and instruments he hears. His spirits are so low, his voice is drowned ; He hears as from afar, or in a swound, Like the deaf murmurs of a distant sound : . Uncombed his locks, and squalid his attire, Unlike the trim of love and gay desire ; 540 But full of musefnl mopings, which presage The loss of reason and conclude in rage. PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. 25 This when he had endured a year and more, Now wholly changed from what he was before, It happened once, that, slumbering as he lay, He dreamt (his dream began at break of day) That Hermes o'er his head in air appeared, And with soft words his drooping spirits cheered ; His hat adorned with wings disclosed the god, And in his hand he bore the sleep-compelling rod ; 550 Such as he seemed, when, at his sire's command, On Argus' head he laid the snaky wand. " Arise," he said, " to conquering Athens go ; "There Fate appoints an end of all thy woe." The fright awakened Arcite with a start, Against his bosom bounced his heaving heart; But soon he said, with scarce recovered breath, " And thither will I go to meet my death, " Sure to be slain \ but death is my desire, "Since in Emilia's sight I shall expire." 560 By chance he spied a mirror while he spoke, And gazing there beheld his altered look : Wondering, he saw his features and his hue So much were changed, that scarce himself he knew. A sudden thought then starting in his mind, "Since I in Arcite cannot Arcite find, " The world may search in vain with all their eyes, " But never penetrate through this disguise. " Thanks to the change which grief and sickness give, " In low estate I may securely live, 570 "And see, unknown, my mistress day by day." He said, and clothed himself in coarse array, A labouring hind in show ; then forth he went, 26 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. And to the Athenian towers his journey bent : One squire attended in the same disguise, Made conscious of his master's enterprise. Arrived at Athens, soon he came to court, Unknown, unquestioned in that thick resort : Proffering for hire his service at the gate, To drudge, draw water, and to run or wait. 580 So fair befell him, that for little gain He served at first Emilia's chamberlain ; And, watchful all advantages to spy, Was still at hand, and in his master's eye ; And as his bones were big, and sinews strong, Refused no toil that could to slaves belong; But from deep wells with engines water drew, And used his noble hands the wood to hew. He passed a year at least attending thus On Emily, and called Philostratus. 590 But never was there man of his degree So much esteemed, so well beloved as he. So gentle of condition was he known, That through the court his courtesy was blown : All think him worthy of a greater place, And recommend him to the royal grace ; That, exercised within a higher sphere, His virtues more conspicuous might appear. Thus by the general voice was Arcite praised, And by great Theseus to high favour raised ; 600 Among his menial servants first enrolled, And largely entertained with sums of gold : Besides what secretly from Thebes was sent, Of his own income and his annual rent. PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book I. 27 This well employed, he purchased friends and fame, But cautiously concealed from whence it came. Thus for three years he lived with large increase In arms of honour, and esteem in peace ; To Theseus' person he was ever near, And Theseus for his virtues held him dear. 610 BOOK II. While Arcite lives in bliss, the story turns Where hopeless Palamon in prison mourns. For six long years immured, the captive knight Had dragged his chains, and scarcely seen the light : Lost liberty and love at once he bore ; His prison pained him much, his passion more : Nor dares he hope his fetters to remove, Nor ever wishes to be free from love. But when the sixth revolving year was run, And May within the Twins received the sun, 620 Were it by Chance, or forceful Destiny, Which forms in causes first whate'er shall be, Assisted by a friend one moonless night, This Palamon from prison took his flight : A pleasant beverage he prepared before Of wine and honey mixed, with added store Of opium ; to his keeper this he brought, Who swallowed unaware the sleepy draught, And snored secure till morn, his senses bound In slumber, and in long oblivion drowned. 630 Short was the night, and careful Palamon Sought the next covert ere the rising sun. A thick-spread forest near the city lay, To this with lengthened strides he took his way, (For far he could not fly, and feared the day.) Safe from pursuit, he meant to shun the light, 28 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book II. 29 Till the brown shadows of the friendly night To Thebes might favour his intended flight. When to his country come, his next design Was all the Theban race in arms to join, 640 And war on Theseus, till he lost his life, Or won the beauteous Emily to wife. Thus while his thoughts the lingering day beguile, To gentle Arcite let us turn our style ; Who little dreamt how nigh he was to care, Till treacherous fortune caught him in the snare. The morning lark, the messenger of day, Saluted in her song the morning gray ; And soon the sun arose with beams so bright, That all the horizon laughed to see the joyous sight ; 650 He with his tepid rays the rose renews, And licks the dropping leaves, and dries the dews ; When Arcite left his bed, resolved to pay Observance to the month of merry May : Forth on his fiery steed betimes he rode, That scarcely prints the turf on which he trod : At ease he seemed, and prancing o'er the plains, Turned only to the grove his horse's reins, The grove I named before, and, lighting there, A woodbine garland sought to crown his hair ; 660 Then turned his face against the rising day, And raised his voice to welcome in the May : " For thee, sweet month, the groves green liveries wear, " If not the first, the fairest of the year : " For thee the Graces lead the dancing hours, " And Nature's ready pencil paints the flowers : " When thy short reign is past, the feverish sun 3 o PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book II. " The sultry tropic fears, and moves more slowly on. " So may thy tender blossoms fear no blight, " Nor goats with venomed teeth thy tendrils bite, 670 " As thou shalt guide my wandering feet to find "The fragrant greens I seek, my brows to bind." His vows addressed, within the grove he strayed, Till Fate or Fortune near the place conveyed His steps where secret Palamon was laid. Full little thought of him the gentle knight, Who, flying death, had there concealed his flight, In brakes and brambles hid, and shunning mortal sight ; And less he knew him for his hated foe, But feared him as a man he did not know. 680 But as it has been said of ancient years, That fields are full of eyes and woods have ears, For this the wise are ever on their guard, For unforeseen, they say, is unprepared. Uncautious Arcite thought himself alone, And less than all suspected Palamon, Who, listening, heard him, while he searched the grove, And loudly sung his roundelay of love : But on the sudden stopped, and silent stood, As lovers often muse, and change their mood ; 690 Now high as heaven, and then as low as hell, Now up, now down, as buckets in a well : For Venus, like her day, will change her cheer, And seldom shall we see a Friday clear. Thus Arcite, having sung, with altered hue Sunk on the ground, and from his bosom drew A desperate sigh, accusing Heaven and Fate, And angry Juno's unrelenting hate : PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book II. 31 " Cursed be the day when first I did appear ; " Let it be blotted from the calendar, 700 " Lest it pollute the month, and poison all the year. " Still will the jealous Queen pursue our race? " Cadmus is dead, the Theban city was : " Yet ceases not her hate ; for all who come " From Cadmus are involved in Cadmus' doom. " I suffer for my blood : unjust decree, " That punishes another's crime on me. " In mean estate I serve my mortal foe, " The man who caused my country's overthrow. " This is not all • for Juno, to my shame, 710 " Has forced me to forsake my former name ; " Arcite I was, Philostratus I am. " That side of heaven is all my enemy : " Mars ruined Thebes ; his mother ruined me. " Of all the royal race remains but one "Besides myself, the unhappy Palamon, " Whom Theseus holds in bonds and will not free ; "Without a crime, except his kin to me. " Yet these and all the rest I could endure ; " But love's a malady without a cure : 720 " Fierce Love has pierced me with his fiery dart, " He fries within, and hisses at my heart. " Your eyes, fair Emily, my fate pursue ; " I suffer for the rest, I die for you. . " Of such a goddess no time leaves record, " Who burned the temple where she was adored : " And let it burn, I never will complain, " Pleased with my sufferings, if you knew my pain." At this a sickly qualm his heart assailed, 32 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book 11. His ears ring inward, and his senses failed. 730 No word missed Palamon of all he spoke ; But soon to deadly pale he changed his look : He trembled every limb, and felt a smart, As if cold steel had glided through his heart ; Nor longer stayed, but starting from his place, Discovered stood, and showed his hostile face : " False traitor, Arcite, traitor to thy blood, " Bound by thy sacred oath to seek my good, " Now art thou found forsworn for Emily, " And darest attempt her love, for whom I die. 740 " So hast thou cheated Theseus with a wile, " Against thy vow, returning to beguile " Under a borrowed name : as false to me, "So false thou art to him who set thee free. " But rest assured, that either thou shalt die, " Or else renounce thy claim in Emily ; " For though unarmed I am, and, freed by chance, " Am here without my sword or pointed lance, " Hope not, base man, unquestioned hence to go, " For I am Palamon, thy mortal foe." 750 Arcite, who heard his tale and knew the man, His sword unsheathed, and fiercely thus began : " Now, by the gods who govern heaven above, " Wert thou not weak with hunger, mad with love, "That word had been thy last ; or in this grove " This hand should force thee to renounce thy love : " The surety which I gave thee I defy : " Fool, not to know that love endures no tie, " And Jove but laughs at lovers' perjury. " Know, I will serve the fair in thy despite ; 760 PA LAM ON AND A K CITE— Book 11. 33 " But since thou art my kinsman and a knight, " Here, have my faith, to-morrow in this grove "Our arms shall plead the titles of our love : " And Heaven so help my right, as I alone " Will come, and keep the cause and quarrel both unknown, " With arms of proof both for myself and thee ; " Choose thou the best, and leave the worst to me. " And, that at better ease thou mayest abide, " Bedding and clothes 1 will this night provide, " And needful sustenance, that thou mayest be 770 "A conquest better won, and worthy me." His promise Palamon accepts ; but prayed, To keep it better than the first he made. Thus fair they parted till the morrow's dawn ; For each had laid his plighted faith to pawn. Oh Love ! thou sternly dost thy power maintain, And wilt not bear a rival in thy reign ! Tyrants and thou all fellowship disdain. This was in Arcite proved and Palamon : Both in despair, yet each would love alone. 7S0 Arcite returned, and, as in honour tied, His foe with bedding and with food supplied ; Then, ere the day, two suits of armour sought, Which borne before him on his steed he brought : Both were of shining steel, and wrought so pure As might the strokes of two such arms endure. Now, at the time, and in the appointed place, The challenger and challenged, face to face, Approach ; each other from afar they knew, And from afar their hatred changed their hue. 790 So stands the Thracian herdsman with his spear, 34 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book Ii. Full in the gap, and hopes the hunted bear, And hears him rustling in the wood, and sees His course at distance by the bending trees : And thinks, Here comes my mortal enemy, And either he must fall in fight, or I : This while he thinks, he lifts aloft his dart ; A generous chillness seizes every part, The veins pour back the blood, and fortify the heart. Thus pale they meet ; their eyes with fury burn ; Soo None greets, for none the greeting will return ; But in dumb surliness each armed with care His foe professed, as brother of the war ; Then both, no moment lost, at once advance Against each other, armed with sword and lance : They lash, they foin, they pass, they strive to bore Their corslets, and the thinnest parts explore. Thus two long hours in equal arms they stood, And wounded, wound, till both were bathed in blood ; And not a foot of ground had either got, 810 As if the world depended on the spot. Fell Arcite like an angry tiger fared, And like a lion Palamon appeared : Or, as two boars whom love to battle draws, With rising bristles and with frothy jaws, Their adverse breasts with tusks oblique they wound ; With grunts and groans the forest rings around. So fought the knights, and fighting must abide, Till Fate an umpire sends their difference to decide. The power that ministers to God's decrees, 820 And executes on earth what Heaven foresees, Called Providence, or Chance, or Fatal sway, PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book II. 35 Comes with resistless force, and finds or makes her wav. Nor kings, nor nations, nor united power One moment can retard the appointed hour ; And some one day, some wondrous chance appears, Which happened not in centuries of years : For sure, whate'er we mortals hate or love Or hope or fear depends on powers above : They move our appetites to good or ill, 330 And by foresight necessitate the will. In Theseus this appears, whose youthful joy Was beasts of chase in forests to destroy ; This gentle knight, inspired by jolly May, Forsook his easy couch at early day, And to the wood and wilds pursued his way. Beside him rode Hippolyta the queen, And Emily attired in lively green, With horns and hounds and all the tuneful cry, To hunt a royal hart within the covert nigh : 840 And, as he followed Mars before, so now He serves the goddess of the silver bow. The way that Theseus took was to the wood, Where the two knights in cruel battle stood : The laund on which they fought, the appointed place In which the uncoupled hounds began the chase. Thither forth-right he rode to rouse the prey, That shaded by the fern in harbour lay ; And thence dislodged, was wont to leave the wood For open fields, and cross the crystal flood. S50 Approached, and looking underneath the sun, He saw proud Arcite and fierce Palamon, In mortal battle doubling blow on blow ; 36 PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book II. Like lightning flamed their falchions to and fro, And shot a dreadful gleam ; so strong they strook, There seemed less force required to fell an oak. He gazed with wonder on their equal might, Looked eager on, but knew not either knight. Resolved to learn, he spurred his fiery steed With goring rowels to provoke his speed. 860 The minute ended that began the race, So soon he was betwixt them on the place ; And with his -sword unsheathed, on pain of life Commands both combatants to cease their strife ; Then with imperious tone pursues his threat : " What are you ? why in arms together met ? " How dares your pride presume against my laws, " As in a listed field to fight your cause, " Unasked the royal grant ; no marshal by, " As knightly rites require, nor judge to try ? " 870 Then Palamon, with scarce recovered breath, Thus hasty spoke : " We both deserve the death, " And both would die ; for look the world around, " A pair so wretched is not to be found. " Our life's a load ; encumbered with the charge, " W T e long to set the imprisoned soul at large. " Now, as thou art a sovereign judge, decree " The rightful doom of death to him and me ; " Let neither find thy grace, for grace is cruelty. " Me first, O kill me first, and cure my woe ; 880 "Then sheath the sword of justice on my foe ; " Or kill him first, for when his name is heard, " He foremost will receive his due reward. " Arcite of Thebes is he, thy mortal foe, PALAMON AND ARCITE — Book II. 37 " On whom thy grace did liberty bestow ; " But first contracted, that, if ever found " By day or night upon the Athenian ground, " His head should pay the forfeit ; see returned " The perjured knight, his oath and honour scorned : " For this is he, who, with a borrowed name 890 " And proffered service, to thy palace came, " Now called Philostratus ; retained by thee, " A traitor trusted, and in high degree, " Aspiring to the bed of beauteous Emily. " My part remains ; from Thebes my birth I own. " And call myself the unhappy Palamon. " Think me not like that man ; since no disgrace " Can force me to renounce the honour of my race. " Know me for what I am : I broke thy chain, " Nor promised I thy prisoner to remain : 900 " The love of liberty with life is given, " And life itself the inferior gift of Heaven. " Thus without crime I fled ; but farther know, " I, with this Arcite, am thy mortal foe : " Then give me death, since I thy life pursue : " For safeguard of thyself, death is my due. " More wouldst thou know? I love bright Emily. "And for her sake and in her sight will die : " But kill my rival too, for he no less " Deserves ; and I thy righteous doom will bless, 910 " Assured that what I lose he never shall possess." To this replied the stern Athenian Prince, And sourly smiled : " In owning your offence " You judge yourself, and I but keep record " In place of law, while you pronounce the word. 3