The management they left to Chronos' care;
Now turn we to th' effect, and fing the war.
In Athens all was pleasure, mirth, and play,
All proper to the spring, and fpritely May:
Which ev'ry foul infpir'd with such delight,
'Twas jefting all the day, and love at night.
Heav'n fmil'd, and gladded was the heart of man;
And Venus had the world as when it first began.
At length in fleep their bodies they compose,
And dreamt the future fight, and early rofe.
Now scarce the dawning day began to fpring,
As at a fignal giv'n, the ftreets with clamours ring:
At once the crowd arofe; confus'd and high
Ev'n from the heav'n was heard a fhouting cry;
For Mars was early up, and rous'd the sky.
The Gods came downward to behold the wars,
Sharp'ning their fights, and leaning from their ftars.
The neighing of the gen'rous horse was heard,
For battle by the bufy groom prepar❜d:
Ruftling of harness, rattling of the shield,
Clatt'ring of armour, furbish'd for the field.
Crowds to the caftle mounted up the street,
Batt'ring the
pavement with their courfer's feet:
The greedy fight might there devour the gold
Of glitt'ring arms, too dazzling to behold:
And polish'd steel that caft the view afide,
And crefted morions, with their plumy pride.
Knights, with a long retinue of their squires,
In gaudy liv'ries march, and quaint attires.
One lac'd the helm, another held the lance:
A third the shining buckler did advance,
The courfer paw'd the ground with restless feet,
And fnorting foam'd, and champ'd the golden bit.
The fmiths and armourers on palfreys ride,
Files in their hands and hammers at their fide,
And nails for loofen'd fpears, and thongs for fhields.
provide.
The yeomen guard the streets, in feemly bands;
And clowns come crowding on, with cudgels in their hands.
The trumpets, next the gate, in order plac'd,
Attend the fign to found the martial blast:
The palace-yard is fill'd with floating tides,
And the last comers bear the former to the fides.
The throng is in the midft: the common crew
Shut out, the hall admits the better few;
In knots they stand, or in a rank they walk,
Serious in aspect, earnest in their talk:
Factious, and fav'ring this or t' other fide,
As their strong fancy or weak reafon guide:
Their wagers back their wishes; numbers hold
With the fair freckled king, and beard of gold:
So vig'rous are his eyes, fuch rays they caft,
So prominent his eagle's beak is plac'd.
But most their looks on the black monarch bend,
His rifing muscles, and his brawn commend;
His double-biting ax, and beamy spear,
Each asking a gigantic force to rear.
All spoke as partial favour mov'd the mind;
And, fafe themfelves, at other's coft divin'd.
Wak'd by the cries, th' Athenian chief arofe,
The knightly forms of combat to dispose;
And paffing through th' obfequious guards, he fate
Confpicuous on a throne, fublime in ftate;
There, for the two contending knights he fent;
Arm'd cap-a-pee, with rev'rence low they bent;
He fmil'd on both, and with fuperior look
Alike their offer'd adoration took.
The people prefs on ev'ry fide to fee
Their awful prince, and hear his high decree.
Then figning to their heralds with his hand,
They gave
his orders from their lofty ftand.
Silence is thrice enjoin'd; then thus aloud
The king at arms befpeaks the knights and liftning crowd.
Our fovereign lord has ponder'd in his mind
The means to fpare the blood of gentle kind;
And of his grace, and inborn clemency,
He modifies his firft fevere decree!
The keener edge of battle to rebate,
The troops for honour fighting, not for hate.
He wills, not death fhould terminate their ftrife;
And wounds, if wounds ensue, be short of life :
But iffues, ere the fight, his dread command,
That flings afar, and poniards hand to hand,
Be banifh'd from the field; that none fhall dare
With fhortned fword to ftab in clofer war;
But in fair combat fight with manly ftrength,
Nor push with biting point, but ftrike at length,
The tourney is allow'd but one career,
Of the tough afh, with the fharp-grinded fpear,
But knights unhors'd may rise from off the plain,
And fight on foot their honour to regain;
Nor if at mifchief taken, on the ground
Be flain, but pris'ners to the pillar bound,
At either barrier plac'd; nor (captives made,)
Be freed, or arm'd anew the fight invade.
The chief of either fide, bereft of life,
Or yielded to his foe, concludes the strife.
Thus dooms the lord: now valiant knights and
Fight each his fill with fwords and maces long.
The herald ends: the vaulted firmament
With loud acclaims and vaft applause is rent:
Heav'n guard a prince fo gracious and fo good,
So juft, and yet fo provident of blood!
This was the gen'ral cry. The trumpets found,
And warlike fymphony is heard around.
The marching troops thro' Athens take their way,
The great earl-marfhal orders their array.
The fair from high the paffing pomp behold;
A rain of flow'rs is from the windows roll'd.
The cafements are with golden tissue spread,
And horfes hoofs, for earth, on filken tap'ftry tread,
The king goes midmoft, and the rivals ride
In equal rank, and close his either fide.
Next after these, there rode the royal wife,
With Emily, the caufe, and the reward of ftrife.
The following cavalcade, by three and three,
Proceed by titles marfhall'd in degree.
Thus thro' the fouthern, gate they take their way,
And at the lift arriv'd ere prime of day.
There, parting from the king, the chiefs divide,
And wheeling Eaft and Weft, before their many ride.
Th' Athenian monarch mounts his throne on high,
And after him the queen and Emily:
Next thefe, the kindred of the crown are grac'd
With nearer feats, and lords by ladies plac'd.
Scarce were they feated, when with clamours loud
In rush'd at once a rude promifcuous crowd:
The guards, and then each other overbear,
And in a moment throng the fpacious theatre.
Now chang'd the jarring noife to whispers low,
As winds forfaking feas more foftly blow;
When at the western gate, on which the car
Is plac'd aloft, that bears the God of war,
Proud Arcite entring arm'd before his train,
Stops at the barrier, and divides the plain.
Red was his banner, and display'd abroad
The bloody colours of his patron God.
At that felf moment enters Palamon
The gate of Venus, and the rifing-fun;
Wav'd by the wanton winds, his banner flies,
All maiden white, and fhares the people's eyes.
From East to West, look all the world around,
Two troops fo match'd were never to be found;
Such bodies built for ftrength, of equal age,
In ftature fiz'd; fo proud an equipage:
The niceft eye could no distinction make,
Where lay th' advantage, or what fide to take.
Thus rang'd, the herald for the laft proclaims
A filence, while they answer'd to their names:
For fo the king decreed, to fhun the care,
The fraud of muflers falfe, the common bane of war.
The tale was juft, and then the gates were clos'd;
And chief to chief, and troop to troop oppos'd.
The heralds laft retir'd, and loudly cry'd,
The fortune of the field be fairly try'd.
At this, the challenger with fierce defy
His trumpet founds; the challeng'd makes reply:
With clangor rings the field, refounds the vaulted fky.
Their vizors clos'd, their lances in the reft,
Or at the helmet pointed, or the creft;
They vanish from the barrier, speed the race,
And fpurring fee decrease the middle space.
A cloud of smoke envelops either hoft,
And all at once the combatants are loft:
Darkling they join adverfe, and fhock unfeen,
Courfers with courfers justling, men with men:
As lab'ring in eclipfe, a while they stay,
Till the next blaft of wind restores the day.
They look anew: the beauteous form of fight
Is chang'd, and war appears a grizly fight.
Two troops in fair array one moment fhow'd,
The next, a field with fall'n bodies ftrow'd:'
Not half the number in their feats are found;
But men and steeds lie grov'ling on the ground.
The points of fpears are ftuck within the fhield,
The feeds without their riders fcour the field.
The knights unhors'd, on foot renew the fight;
The glitt'ring fauchions cast a gleaming light:
Hauberks and helms are hew'd with many a wound
Out fpins the ftreaming blood and dies the ground.
The mighty maces with fuch hafte defcend,
They break the bones, and make the folid armour bend.
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