The pow'r that minifters to God's decrees,
And executes on earth what heav'n forefees,
Call'd providence, or chance, or fatal fway,
Comes with refiftlefs force, and finds or makes her way.
Nor kings, nor nations, nor united pow'r,
One moment can retard th' appointed hour.
And fome one day, fome wond'rous chance appears,
Which happen'd not in centuries of years:
For fure, whate'er we mortals hate, or love,
Or hope, or fear, depends on pow'rs above;
They move our appetites to good or ill,
And by forefight neceffitate the will.
In Thefeus this appears; whofe youthful joy
Was beafts of chase in forests to destroy,
This gentle knight, infpir'd by jolly May,
Forfook his eafy couch at early day,
And to the wood and wilds purfu'd his way.
Befide him rode Hippolita the queen,
And Emily attir'd in lively green,
With horns, and hounds, and all the tuneful cry,
To hunt a royal hart within the covert nigh:
And as he follow'd Mars before, fo now
He ferves the goddess of the filver bow.
The that Thefeus took was to the wood
Where the two knights in cruel battle stood:
The lawn on which they fought, th' appointed place
In which th' uncoupled hounds began the chace.
Thither forth-right he rode to roufe the prey,
That fhaded by the fern in harbour lay;
And thence difledg'd, was wont to leave the wood,
For open fields, and cross the chrystal flood.
Approach'd, and looking underneath the fun,
He faw proud Arcite, and fierce Palamon,
In mortal battle doubling blow on blow,
Like lightning flam'd their fauchions to and fro,
VOL. III.
And fhot a dreadful gleam; so strong they ftrook,
There feem'd lefs force requir'd to fell an oak:
He gaz'd with wonder on their equal might,
Look'd eager on, but knew not either knight:
Refolv'd to learn, he fpurr'd his fiery feed
With goring rowels to provoke his speed.
The minute ended that began the race,
So foon he was betwixt 'em on the place;
And with his fword unfheath'd, on pain of life
Commands both combatants to ceafe their ftrife:
Then with imperious tone purfues his threat;
What are you? why in arms together met?
How dares your pride prefume against my laws,
As in a lifted field to fight your caufe?
Unask'd the royal grant; no marshal by,
As knightly rites require; nor judge to try ?
Then Palamon, with scarce recover'd breath,
Thus hafty spoke: We both deserve the death,
And both wou'd die; for look the world around,
A pair fo wretched is not to be found,
Our life's a load; encumber'd with the charge,
We long to fet th' imprison'd soul at large.
Now as thou art a fovereign 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 firft; and cure my woe:
Then fheath the fword of juftice on my foe:
Or kill him firft; for when his name is heard,
He foremost will receive his due reward.
Arcite of Thebes is he; thy mortal foe:
On whom thy grace did liberty bestow,
But first contracted, that if ever found
By day or night upon th' Athenian ground,
His head fhould pay the forfeit; fee return'd
The perjur'd knight, his oath and honour scorn'd.
For this is he, who, with a borrow'd name
And proffer'd fervice, to thy palace came,
Now call'd Philoftratus: retain'd by thee,
A traitor trufled, and in high degree,
Afpiring to the bed of beauteous Emily.
My part remains; from Thebes
my birth I own,
And call myfelf th' unhappy Palamon.
Think me not like that man; fince no difgrace
Can force me to renounce the honour of my race.
Know me for what I am: I broke my chain,
Nor promis'd I thy pris'ner to remain:
The love of liberty with life is giv'n,
And life itself th' inferior gift of Heav'n.
Thus without crime I fled; but farther know,
I with this Arcite am thy mortal foe:
Then give me death, fince I thy life purfue;
For faleguard of thyfelf, death is my due,
More wou'dft thou know? I love bright Emily,
And for her fake and in her fight will die :
But kill my rival too; for he no lefs
Deferves; and I thy righteous doom will blefs,
Affur'd that what I lofe, he never fhall poffefs.
To this reply'd the ftern Athenian prince,
And fourly fmil'd, In owning your offence
You judge yourself; and I but keep record
In place of law, while you pronounce the word.
Take your defert, the death you have decreed;
I feal your doom, and ratify the deed:
By Mars, the patron of my arms, you die.
He faid; dumb forrow feiz'd the ftanders-by.
The
queen above the reft, by nature good,
(The pattern form'd of perfect womanhood).
For tender pity wept: when fhe began,
Thro' the bright quire th' infectious virtue ran.
All dropt their tears, ev'n the contended maid:
And thus among themfelves they foftly faid:
What eyes can fuffer this unworthy fight!
Two youths of royal blood, renown'd in fight,
The maftership of heav'n in face and mind,
And lovers, far beyond their faithlefs kind:
See their wide ftreaming wounds; they neither came
For pride of empire, nor defire of fame:
Kings fight for kingdoms, madmen for applaufe:
But love for love alone; that crowns the lover's cause.
This thought, which ever bribes the beauteous kind,
Such pity wrought in ev'ry lady's mind,
They left their steeds, and proftrate on the place,
From th' fierce king, implor'd th' offenders grace.
He paus'd a while, ftood filent in his mood,
(For yet his rage was boiling in his blood ;)
But foon his tender mind th' impreffion felt,
(As fofteft metals are not flow to melt,
And pity fooneft runs in softest minds:)
Then reafons with himself; and firft he finds
His paffion caft a mift before his fenfe,
And either made, or magnify'd th' offence.
Offence! of what? to whom? who judg'd the caufe?
The pris'ner freed himfelf by nature's laws:
Born free, he fought his right: the man he freed
Was perjur'd, but his love excus'd the deed:
Thus pondering, he look'd under with his eyes,
And faw the women's tears, and heard their cries;
Which mov'd compaffion more, he shook his head,
And foftly fighing to himfelf he faid:
Curfe on th' unpard'ning prince, whom tears can draw
To no remorfe; who rules by lions law;
And deaf to pray'rs, by no fubmiffion bow'd,
Rends all alike; the penitent, and proud:
At this, with look ferene, he rais'd his head;
Reafon refum'd her place, and paffion fled:
Then thus aloud he fpoke: the pow'r of love,
In earth, and feas, and air, and heav'n above,
Rules, unrefifted, with an awful nod;
By daily miracles declar'd a God:
He blinds the wife, gives eye-fight to the blind;
And moulds and stamps anew the lover's mind.
Behold that Arcite, and this Palamon,
Freed from my fetters, and in fafety gone,
What hinder'd either in their native foil
At eafe to reap the harvest of their toil;
But Love, their lord, did otherwise ordain,
And brought 'em in their own defpite again,
To fuffer death deferv'd; for well they know,
'Tis in my pow'r, and I their deadly foe;
The proverb holds, that to be wife and love,
Is hardly granted to the Gods above.
See how the madmen bleed: behold the gains
With which their mafter, Love, rewards their pains;
For fev'n long years, on duty ev'ry day,
Lo their obedience, and their monarch's pay:
Yet, as in duty bound, they ferve him on;
And, afk the fools, they think it wifely done;
Nor ease, nor wealth, nor life itself regard,
For 'tis their maxim, Love is love's reward.
This is not all; the fair for whom they ftrove
Nor knew before, nor could fufpect their love,
Nor thought, when the beheld the fight from far,
Her beauty was th' occcafion of the war.
But fure a general doom on man is past,
And all are fools and lovers, first or laft:
This both by others and myfelf I know,
For I have ferv'd their fov'reign long ago;
Oft have been caught within the winding train
Of female fnares, and felt the lover's pain,
And learn'd how far the God can human hearts conftrain.
To this remembrance, and the prayers of thofe
Who for th' offending warriors, interpofe,
|