Th' appointment for th' enfuing night he heard;
And therefore in the cavern had prepar'd
Two brawny yeomen of his trufty guard.
Scarce had unwary Guifcard fet his foot
Within the foremost entrance of the grot,
When these in fecret ambush ready lay;
And rushing on the fudden feiz'd the prey:
Encumber'd with his frock, without defence,
An eafy prize, they led the pris'ner thence,
And, as commanded, brought before the prince.
The gloomy fire, too fenfible of wrong,
To vent his in words, reftrain'd his tongue,
And only faid, Thus fervants are preferr'd,
And, trufted, thus their fov'reigns they reward.
Had I not feen, had not these eyes receiv'd
Too clear a proof, I could not have believ'd.
He paus'd and choak'd the reft. The youth, who faw His forfeit life abandon'd to the law,
The judge th' accufer, and th' offence to him.
Who had both pow'r and will t' avenge the crime,
No vain defence prepar'd; but thus reply'd:
The faults of love by love are justify'd:
With unrefifted might the monarch reigns,
He levels mountains, and he raises plains;
And not regarding diff'rence of degree,
Abas'd your daughter, and exalted me.
This bold return with feeming patience heard,
The pris'ner was remitted to the guard.
The fullen tyrant flept not all the night,
But lonely walking by a winking light,
Sobb'd, wept, and groan'd, and beat his wither'd breaft,
But would not violate his daughter's reft;
Who long expecting lay, for blifs prepar'd,
Lift'ning for noise, and griev'd that none fhe heard;
Oft rofe, and oft in vain employ'd the key,
And oft accus'd her lover of delay;
And pafs'd the tedious hours in anxious thoughts away.
The morrow came; and at his ufual hour
Old Tancred vifited his daughter's bower;
Her cheek (for fuch his cuftom was) he kiss'd
Then blefs'd her kneeling, and her maids difmifs'd.
The royal dignity thus far maintain'd,
Now lett in private he no longer feign'd;
But all at once his grief and rage appear'd,
And floods of tears ran trickling down his beard.
O Sigifmonda, he began to fay:
Thrice he began, and thrice was forc'd to ftay,
'Till words with often trying found their way:
I thought, O Sigifmonda, (but how blind
Are parents eyes, their children's faults to find!
Thy virtue, birth, and breeding were above
A mean defire, and vulgar feníe of love;
Nor less than fight and hearing could convince
So fond a father, and fo juft a prince,
Of fuch an unforeseen, and unbeliev'd offence.
Then what indignant forrow must I have,
To fee thee lye fubjected to my flave!
A man fo fmelling of the people's lee,
The court receiv'd him first for charity;
And fince with no degree of honour grac'd,
But only fuffer'd, where he firft was plac'd.
A groveling infect still; and so defign'd
By nature's hand, nor born of noble kind:
A thing, by neither man nor woman priz❜d,
And scarcely known enough to be despis'd.
To what has heav'n referv'd my age? Ah! why
Should man, when nature calls, not choose to die,
Rather than ftretch the span of life, to find
Such ills as fate has wifely caft behind,
For those to feel, whom fond defire to live
Makes covetous of more than life can give!
Each has his fhare of good; and when 'tis gone,
The gueft, though hungry, cannot rise too soon.
But I, expecting more, in my own wrong
Protracting life, have liv'd a day too long.
If yesterday could be recall'd again,
Ev'n now would I conclude my happy reign:
But 'tis too late, my glorious race is run,
And a dark cloud o'ertakes my setting fun.
Hadft thou not lov'd, or loving fav'd the shame,
If not the fin, by fome illuftrious name,
This little comfort had reliev'd my mind,
'Twas frailty, not unusual to thy kind:
But thy low fall beneath thy royal blood,
Shews downward appetite to mix with mud:
Thus not the least excufe is left for thee,
Nor the leaft refuge for unhappy me.
For him I have refolv'd: whom by furprize
I took, and scarce can call it, in disguise;
For fuch was his attire, as, with intent
Of nature, fuited to his mean defcent:
The harder question yet remains behind,
What pains a parent and a prince can find
To punish an offence of this degen'rate kind.
As I have lov'd, and yet I love thee more
Than ever father lov'd a child before;
So that indulgence draws me to forgive:
Nature, that gave thee life, would have thee live.
But, as a public parent of the state,
My juftice, and thy crime requires, thy fate.
Fain would I choose a middle courfe to fteer;
Nature's too kind, and justice too severe :
Speak for us both, and to the balance bring
On either fide the father and the king.
Heav'n knows, my heart is bent to favour thee;
Make it but fcanty weight, and leave the reft to me.
Here ftopping with a figh, he pour'd a flood
Of tears, to make his laft expreffion good.
She who had heard him speak, nor faw alone
The fecret conduct of her love was known,
But he was taken who her foul poffefs'd,
Felt all the pangs of forrow in her breast:
And little wanted, but a woman's heart,
With cries and tears had teftified her smart,
But inborn worth, that fortune can controul,
New ftrung, and stiffer bent her fofter foul;
The heroine affum'd the woman's place,
Confirm'd her mind, and fortify'd her face :
Why should she beg, or what could she pretend,
When her flern father had condemn'd her friend.
Her life fhe might have had; but her despair
Of faving his, had put it past her care;
Refolv'd on fate, she wou'd not lose her breath,
But, rather than not die, follicit death.
Fix'd on this thought, fhe, not as women use,
Her fault by common frailty would excufe;
But boldly justify'd her innocence,
And while the fact was own'd, deny'd th' offence:
hen with dry eyes, and with an open look,
She met his glance mid-way, and thus undaunted fpoke,
Tancred, I neither am difpos'd to make
Request for life, nor offer'd life to take;
Much lefs deny the deed; but leaft of all
Beneath pretended juftice weakly fall,
My words to facred truth fhall be confin'd,
My deeds fhall fhew the greatness of my mind.
That I have lov'd, I own; that ftill I love,
I call to witnefs all the pow'rs above:
Yet more I own: to Guilcard's love I give
The final remaining time I have to live;
And if beyond this life defire can be,
Not fate itself fhall fet my paffion free.
This firft avow'd; nor folly warp'd my mind,
Nor the frail texture of the female kind
Betray'd my virtue: for, too well I knew
What honour was, and honour had his due:
Before the holy priest my vows were ty'd,
So came I not a ftrumpet, but a bride.
This for my fame, and for the public voice:
Yet more, his merits juftify'd my choice:
Which had they not, the firft election thine,
That bond diffolv'd, the next is freely mine;
Or grant I err'd, (which yet I must deny)
Had parents power ev'n second vows to tie,
Thy little care to mend my widow'd nights,
Has forc'd me to recourfe of marriage rites,
To fill an empty fide, and follow known delights.
What have I done in this, deferving blame?
State-laws may alter: nature's are the fame;
Those are ufurp'd on helpless woman kind,
Made without our confent, and wanting pow'r to bind.
Thou, Tancred, better fhouldft have understood,
That as thy father gave thee flesh and blood,
So gav'ft thou me: not from the quarry hew'd,
But of a fofter mould, with fense endu'd;
Ev'n fofter than thy own, of fuppler kind,
More exquifite of taste, and more than man refin'd.
Nor needeft thou by thy daughter to be told,
Tho' now thy spritely blood with age be cold,
Thou hast been young and canft remember still,
That when thou hadft the pow'r, thou hadft the will;
And from the paft experience of thy fires,
Canft tell with what a tide our ftrong defires
Comerushing on in youth, and what their rage requires.
And grant thy youth was exercis'd in arms,
When love no leifure found for fofter charms,
My tender age in luxury was train'd,
With idle ease and pageants entertain❜d;
My hours my own, my pleasures unrestrain'd.
So bred, no wonder if I took the bent
That feem'd ev'n warranted by thy confent,
For, when the father is too fondly kind,
Such feed he fows, fuch harvest shall he find,
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