XXX.

And her reproves for having lent an ear
To a suspicion so unjust and blind;

And so, this thought absolves the cavalier;
And that accuses; and both audience find;
And now this way, now that, she seemed to veer;
Nor this, nor that-irresolute of mind-

:

Preferred yet still to what gave most delight Most promptly leaned, and loathed its opposite : XXXI.

And thinking, ever and anon, anew

On that so oft repeated by the knight,

As for grave sin, remorse and sorrow grew
That she had nursed suspicion and affright;
And she, as her Rogero were in view,

Would blame herself, and would her bosom smite; And say; "I see 'twas ill such thoughts to nurse, "But he, the cause, is even cause of worse.

XXXII.

"Love is the cause; that in my heart inlaid

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Thy form, so graceful and so fair to see ; "And so thy daring and thy wit pourtrayed, "And worth, of all so bruited, that to me "It seems impossible that wife or maid,

"Blest with thy sight, should not be fired by thee; "And that she should not all her art apply "To unbind, and fasten thee with other tie.

XXXIII.

"Ah! wellaway! if in my thought Love so 1
"Thy thought, as thy fair visage, had designed,
This-am I well assured-in open show,

"As I unseen believe it, should I find;

"And be so quit of Jealousy, that foe

66

Would not still harass my suspicious mind;

'And, where she is by me repulsed with pain,

"Not quelled and routed would she be, but slain.

XXXIV.

I am like miser, so intent on gear,

"And who hath this so buried in his heart, "That he, for hoarded treasure still in fear, "Cannot live gladly from his wealth apart. "Since I Rogero neither see nor hear,

"More puissant far than Hope, O Fear! thou art; "To thee, though false and die, I give way; "And cannot choose but yield myself thy prey.

But I, Rogero, shall no sooner spy

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The light of thy glad countenance appear,

Against mine every credence, from mine eye "Concealed (and woe is me), I know not where,"Oh! how true Hope false Fear shall from on high Depose withal, and to the bottom bear!

"Ah! turn to me, Rogero! turn again,

"And comfort Hope, whom Fear hath almost slain. XXXVI.

"As when the sun withdraws his glittering head, "The shadows lengthen, causing vain affright; "And as the shadows, when he leaves his bed,

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Vanish, and reassure the timid wight:

"Without Rogero so I suffer dread;
"Dread lasts not, if Rogero is in sight.
"Return to me, return, Rogero, lest
"My hope by fear should wholly be opprest.
XXXVII.

"As every spark is in the night alive,

"And suddenly extinguished when 'tis morn; "When me my sun doth of his rays deprive, Against me felon Fear uplifts his horn:

46

But they the shades of night no sooner drive, "Than Fears are past and gone, and Hopes return. Return, alas! return, O radiance dear!

66

And drive from me that foul, consuming Fear.

XXXVIII.

"If the sun turn from us and shorten day,

Earth all its beauties from the sight doth hide; The wild winds howl, and snows and ice convey; "Bird sings not; nor is leaf or flower espied.

"So, whensoever thou thy gladsome ray,

O my fair sun, from me dost turn aside,

A thousand, and all evil, dreads, make drear "Winter within me many times a year.

XXXIX.

* Return, my sun, return! and springtide sweet,
"Which evermore I long to see, bring back;
"Dislodge the snows and ice with genial heat;
"And clear my mind, so clouded o'er and black."
As Philomel, or Progne, with the meat

Returning, which her famished younglings lack,
Mourns o'er an empty nest, or as the dove
Laments himself at having lost his love;

XL.

The unhappy Bradamant laments her so,
Fearing the Child is reft from her and gone;
While often tears her visage overflow:

But she, as best she can, conceals her moan.
Oh! how-oh! how much worse would be her woe,
If what she knew not to the maid were known!
That, prisoned and with pain and pine consumed.
Her consort to a cruel death was doomed.

XLI.

The cruelty which by that beldam ill
Was practised on the prisoned cavalier,
And who prepared the wretched Child to kill,
By torture new, and pains unused whilere,
While so Rogero pined, the gracious will
Of Heaven conveyed to gentle Leo's ear;
And put into his heart the means to aid,
And not to let such worth be overlaid.

XLII.

The courteous Leo that Rogero loved,
Not that the Grecian knew howe'er that he
Rogero was, but by that valour moved

Which sole and superhuman seemed to be,

Thought much, and mused, and planned, how it behoved
-And found at last a way-to set him free;
So that his cruel aunt should have no right
To grieve or say he did her a despite.

XLIII.

In secret, Leo with the man that bore
The prison-keys a parley had, and said,
He wished to see that cavalier, before
Upon the wretch was done a doom so dread.'
When it was night, one, faithful found of yore.
Bold, strong, and good in brawl, he thither led;
And-by the silent warder taught that none
Must know 'twas Leo-was the door undone.
XLIV.

Leo, escorted by none else beside,

Was led by the compliant castellain,

With his companion, to the tower, where stied
Was he, reserved for nature's latest pain.
There round the neck of their unwary guide,
Who turns his back the wicket to unchain
A slip-knot Leo and his follower cast;

And, throttled by the noose, he breathes his last.*