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So that if Palamon were wounded fore,
Arcite was hurt as much as he, or more:
Then from his inmoft foul he figh'd, and faid,
The beauty I behold has ftruck me dead:
Unknowingly the ftrikes, and kills by chance;
Poifon's in her eyes, and death in ev'ry glance.
O, I must afk; nor afk alone, but move
Her mind to mercy, or muft die for love.

}

Thus Arcite: and thus Palamon replies
(Eager his tone, and ardent were his eyes)
Speak'ft thou in carneft, or in jefting vein ?
Jefting, faid Arcite, fuits but ill with pain.
It fuits far worfe (faid Palamon again,
And bent his brows) with men who honor weigh,
Their faith to break, their friendship to betray;
But worst with thee, of noble lineage born,
My kinfman, and in arms my brother fworn.
Have we not plighted each our holy oath,
That one fhould be the common good of both;
One foul should both infpire, and neither prove
His fellow's hindrance in purfuit 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 defign
(As I am bound by vow to further thine):
Nor can'ft, nor dar'st thou, traitor, on the plain
Approach my honour, or thine own maintain,
Since thou art of my council, and the friend
Whofe faith I truft, and on whofe care depend:
And would'st thou court my lady's love, which I
Much rather than releafe would choose to die?
But thou, falfe Arcite, never fhalt obtain
Thy bad pretence; I told thee firft my pain:
For first my love began ere thine was born,
Thou, as my counfel, and my brother fworn,
Art bound t'affift my elderfhip of right:
Or justly to be deem'd a perjur'd knight.

Thus Palamon: but Arcite with disdain,
In haughty language, thus reply'd again;
Forfworn thyfelf: the traitor's odious name
I first return, and then difprove thy claim.
If love be paffion, and that paffion nurst
With ftrong defires, I lov'd the lady firft.
Canft thou pretend defire, whom zeal inflam'd
To worship, and a pow'r celeftial nam'd?
Thine was devotion to the bleft above;
I faw the woman, and defir'd her love;
Firft own'd my paffion, and to thee commend
Th'important fecret, as my chofen friend.
Suppofe (which yet I grant not) thy defire
A moment elder than my rival fire;
Can chance of fecing first thy title prove?
And know'st 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;
Laws are but pofitive; love's pow'r, we fee,-
Is Nature's fanction, and her first decree.
Each day we break the bond of human laws
For love, and vindicate the common cause.
Laws for defence of civil rights are plac'd;
Love throws the fences down, and makes a
gen'ral wafte:

Maids, widows, wives, without diftinction fall;
The fweeping deluge, Love, comes on, and
covers all.

If then the laws of friendship I transgress,
I keep the greater, while I break the lefs;
And both are mad alike,fince neither can poffefs.
Both hopeless to be ranfom'd, never more
To fee the fun, but as he paffes o'er.

Like Afop's hounds contending for the bone,
Each pleaded right, and would be lord alone;
The fruitless fight continu'd all the day;
A cur came by, and fnatch'd the prize away.
As courtiers therefore juftle for a grant, [want,
And when they break their friendship plead their
So thou, if fortune will thy fuit advance,
Love on, nor envy me my equal chance :
For I must love, and am refolv'd to try
My fate, or, failing in th'adventure, die.

Great was their ftrife,which hourly was renew’d,
Till each with mortal hate his rival view'd:
Now friends no more, nor walking hand in hand;
But when they met they made a furly stand,
And glar'd like angry lions as they pafs'd,
And wifh'd that ev'ry look might be their last.

It chanc'd at length, Pirithous came t'attend
This worthy Thefeus, his familiar friend;
Their love in early infancy began,

And rofe as childhood ripen'd into man.
Companions of the war, and lov'd fo well,
That when one dy'd, as ancient stories tell,
His fellow to redeem him went to hell.

But to purfue my tale; to welcome home
His warlike brother is Pirithous come:
Arcite of Thebes was known in arms long
fince,

And honour'd by this young Theffalian prince.
Thefeus, to gratify his friend and guest,
Who made our Arcite's freedom his request,
Reftor'd to liberty the captive knight,
But on thefe 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 fhould pay the forfeit of th'offence.
To this Pirithous for his friend agreed;
And on his promife was the pris'ner freed.

Unpleas'd and penfive hence he takes his way;
At his own peril; for his life muft pay.
Who now but Arcite mourns his bitter fate,
Finds his dear purchase, and repents too late?
What have I gain'd, he faid, in prifon pent,
If I but change my bonds for banishment?
And banish'd from her fight, I fuffer more
In freedom than I felt in bonds before;
Forc'd from her prefence, and condemn'd to live:
Unwelcome freedom, and untbank'd reprieve :
Heav'n is not but where Emily abides;
And where she's abfent-all is hell befides,
Next to my day of birth was that accurft,
Which bound my friendship to Pirithous firft:
Had I not known that prince, I ftill had been
In bondage, and had ftill Emilia feen:
For tho' I never can her grace deserve,
'Tis recompence enough to fee and ferve.
O Palamon, my kinfiman and my friend,
How much more happy fates thy love attend!
Thine is th'adventure; thine the victory:"
Well has thy fortune turn'd the dice for thee:

Thou

Thou on that angel's face may't feed thine eyes,
In priton No; but blifsful paradife!
Thou daily feeft that fun of beauty fhine,
And lov't at leaft in love's extremeft line.
I mourn in absence, love's eternal night;
And who can tell but since thou haft her fight,
And art a comely, young, and valiant knight,
Fortune (a various pow'r)may cease to frown,
And, by fome ways unknown, thy wishes crown?
But I, the most forlorn of human kind,
Nor help can hope, nor remedy can find;
But, doom'd to drag my loathfome life in care,
For my reward, muft end it in defpair.
Fire, water, air, and carth, and force of fates
That governs all, and Heav'n that all creates,
Nor art, nor nature's hand can ease my grief;
Nothing but death, the wretch's last relief:
Then farewell youth, and all the joys that dwell
With youth and life, and life itself farewell.

But why, alas! do mortal men in vain
Of fortune, fate, or providence complain?
God gives us what he knows our wants require,
And better things than those which we defire:
Some pray for riches; riches they obtain;
But, watch'd by robbers, for their wealth are flain:
Some pray from prifon to be freed; and come,
When guilty of their vows, to fall at home;
Murder'd by thofe they trusted with their life,
A favour'd fervant, or a bosom wife.
Such dear-bought bleffings happen ev'ry day,
Because we know not for what things to pray.
Like drunken fots, about the street we roam:
Well knows the fot he has a certain home;
Yet knows not how to find th'uncertain place,
And blunders on, and ftaggers ev'ry pace.
Thus all feek happiness, but few can find;
For far the greater part of men are blind.
This is my cafe, who thought our utmost good
Was in one word of freedom understood :
The fatal bleffing came; from prifon free,
I ftarve abroad, and lose the sight of Emily.
Thus Arcite but if Arcite thus deplore
His fuff'rings, Palamon yet fuffers more.
For when he knew his rival freed and gone,
He fwells with wrath; he makes outrageous moan:
He frets, he fumes, he ftares, he stamps the ground;
The hollow tow'r with clamours rings around:
With briny tears he bath'd his fetter'd feet,
And drept all o'er with agony of sweat,
Alas! he cry'd, I, wretch, in prifon pine.
Too happy rival, while the fruit is thine,
Thou liv'ft at large, thou draw'ft thy native air,
Pleas'd with thy freedom, proud of my despair!
Thou may'ft, fince thou haft youth and courage
A fweet behaviour and a folid mind,
Affemble ours, and all the Theban race,
To vindicate on Athens thy difgrace;
And after, by fome treaty made, poffefs
Fair Emily, the pledge of lafting peace.
So thine fhall be the beauteous prize, while I
Muft languish in despair, in prifon die.
Thus all th’advantage of the ftrife is thine;
Thy portion double joys, and double forrows mine.
The rage of jealoufy then fir'd his foul,
And his face kindl'd like a burning coal:

[join'd,

your care

Now cold Defpair, fucceeding in her ftead,
To livid palenefs turns the glowing red.
His blood, fcarce liquid, creeps within his veins,
Like water, which the freezing wind constrains.
Then thus he faid: Eternal Deities,
Who rule the world with abfolute decrees,
And write whatever time fhall bring to país,
With pens of adamant on plates of brais;
What, is the race of human kind
Beyond what all his fellow-creatures are?
He with the reft is liable to pain,
And like the fheep, his brother beaft, is flain.
Cold, hunger, prifons, ills without a cure,
All these he muft, and guiltlefs oft endure;
Or does your juftice, pow'r, or prefcience fail
When the good fuffer, and the bad prevail?
What worke to wretched virtue could befal,
If fate or giddy fortune govern'd all?
Nay, worfe than other beafts is our estate;
Them, to purfue their pleafures, you create;
We, bound by harder laws, muft curb our will,
And your commands, not our defires, fulfil;
Then when the creature is unjustly flain,
Yet after death at least he feels no pain;
But man, in life furcharg'd with woe before,
Not freed when dead, is doom'd to fuffer more.
A ferpent fhoots his fting at unaware;
An ambush'd thief forelays a traveller:
The man lies murder'd, while the thief and fnake,
One gains the thickets, and one thrids the brake.
This let divines decide; but well I know,
Juft or unjust, I have my thare of woe,
Through Saturn feated in a lucklefs place,
And Juno's wrath that perfecutes my race;
Or Mars and Venus in a quartil, move
My pangs of jealoufy for Arcite's love.

Let Palamon, opprefs'd in bondage, mourn,
While to his exil'd rival we return.
By this, the fun, declining from his height,
The day had fhorten'd to prolong the night:
The lengthen'd night gave length of milery
Both to the captive lover and the free;
For Palamon in endlefs prifon mourns,
And Arcite forfeits life if he returns:
The banish'd never hopes his love to fee,
Nor hopes the captive lord his liberty:
'Tis hard to fay who fuffers greater pains:
One fees his love, but cannot break his chains:
One free, and all his motions uncontroul'd,
Beholds whate'er he would, but what he would
behold.

Judge as you pleafe, for I will hafte to tell
What fortune to the banish'd knight befel.
When Arcite was to Thebes return'd again,
The lofs of her he lov'd renew'd his pain;
What could be worfe, than never more to fee
His life, his foul, his charming Emily?
He rav'd with all the madnefs of defpair,
He roar'd, he beat his breaft, he tore his hair.
Dry forrow in his stupid eyes appears;
For waating nourishment, he wanted tears;
His eve-balls in their hollow fockets fink;
Bereft of sleep, he loathes his meat and drink.
He withers at his heart, and looks as wan
As the pale fpe&tre of a murder'd man :

That

That pale turns yellow, and his face receives
The faded hue of faplefs boxen leaves :
In folitary groves he makes his moan,
Walks carly out, and ever is alone:
Nor, mix'd in mirth, in youthful pleafures fhares,
But fighs when fongs and inftruments he hears.
His fpirits are fo low, his voice is drown'd,
He hears as from afar, or in a fwoon,
Like the deaf murmurs of a diftant found:
Uncomb'd his locks, and fqualid his attire,
Unlike the trim of love and gay defire :
But full of mufeful mopings, which prefage
The lofs of reafon, and conclude in rage.
This when he had endur'd a year and more,
Now wholly chang'd from what he was before,
It happen'd once that, flumb'ring as he lay,
He dream'd (his dream began at break of day)
That Hermes o'er his head in air appear'd,
And with foft words his drooping fpirits cheer'd:
His hat, adorn'd with wings, difclos'd the God,
And in his hand he bore the fleep-compelling rod:
Such as he feem'd, when, at his fire's command,
On Argus' head he laid the fnaky wand.
Arife, he faid, to conqu❜ring Athens go;
There Fate appoints an end to all thy woc.
The fright awaken'd Arcite with a start;
Againft his bofom bounc'd his heaving heart;
But foon he said, with fcarce-recover'd breath,
And thither will I go to meet my death,
Sure to be flain; but death is my defire,
Since in Emilia's fight I fhall expire.
By chance he spy'd a mirror while he spoke,
And gazing there, beheld his alter'd look;
Wond'ring, he faw his features and his hue
So much were chang'd, that scarce himselfheknew.
A fudden thought then starting in his mind,
Since I in Arcite cannnot Arcite find,
The world may fearch in vain with all their eyes,
But never penetrate through this difguife.
Thanks to the change which grief and fickness
In low eftate I may fecurely live,
And fee, unknown, my miftrefs day by day.
He faid; and cloth'd himfelf in coarse array:
A lab'ring hind in fhew; then forth he went,
And to th' Athenian tow'rs his journey bent:
One 'fquire attended in the fame difguife,
Made confcious of his master's enterprise :
Arriv'd at Athens, foon he came to court,
Unknown, unqueftion'd, in that thick refort:
Proff'ring for hire his fervice at the gate,
To drudge, draw water, and to run or wait.
So far befel him, that for little gain
He ferv'd at first Emilia's chamberlain ;
And, watchful all advantages to spy,
Was ftill at hand, and in his master's eye;
And as his bones were big, and finews ftrong,
Refus'd no toil that could to flaves belong;
But from deep wells with engines water drew,
And us'd his noble hands the wood to hew.
He pafs'd a year at least attending thus
On Emily, and call'd Philoftratus.
But never was there man of his degree
So much cfteem'd, fo well belov'd as he.
So gentle of condition was he known,
That thro' the court his courtefy was blown :

[give;

All think him worthy of a greater place,
And recommend him to the royal grace:
That, exercis'd within a higher sphere,
His virtues more confpicuous might appear.
Thus by the gen'ral voice was Arcite prais'd,
And by great Thefeus to high favour rais'd :
Among his menial fervants first caroll'd,
And largely entertain'd with fums of gold;
Befides what fecretly from Thebes was fent,
Of his own income, and his annual rent: [fame,
This well employ'd, he purchas'd friends and
But cautiously conceal'd from whence it came.
Thus for three years he liv'd with large increase,
In arms of honor, and esteem in peace;
To Thefeus' perfon he was ever near;
And Thefeus, for his virtues, held him dear.
Palamon and Arcite; or, the Knight's Tale.
BOOK II.

WHILE Arcite lives in blifs, the story turns
Where hopeless Palamon in prifon mourns.
For fix long years immur'd, the captive knight
Had dragg'd his chains, and scarcely feen the light:
Loft liberty and love at once he bore:
His prifon pain'd him much, his paffion more :
Nor dares he hope his fetters to remove,
Nor ever wishes to be free from love.

But when the fixth revolving year was run,
And May within the Twins receiv'd the fun,
Were it by chance, or forceful destiny,
Which forms in caufes first whate'er shall be,
Affifted by a friend, one moonless night,
This Palamon from prifon took his flight:
A pleafant bev'rage he prepar'd before
Of wine and honey, mix'd with added store
Of opium; to his keeper this he brought,
Who fwallow'd unaware the fleepy draught,
And fnor'd fecure till morn, his fenfes bound
In flumber, and in long oblivion drown'd.
Short was the night, and careful Palamon
Sought the next covert ere the rising fun.
A thick fpread foreft near the city lay;
To this with lengthen'd ftrides he took his way
(For far he could not fly, and fear'd the day).
Safe from purfuit, he meant to fhun the light,
Till the brown fhadows of the friendly night
To Thebes might favour his intended flight.
When to his country come, his next defign
Was all the Theban race in arms to join,
And war on Thefeus, till he loft his life,
Or won the beauteous Emily to wife.
Thus while his thoughts the ling'ring day beguile,
To gentle Arcite let us turn our stile;
Who little dreamt how nigh he was to care,
Till treach'rous fortune caught him in the fnare,
The morning-lark, the metlenger of day,
Saluted in her fong the morning gray;
And foon the fun arofe with beams fo bright,
That all th'horizon laugh'd to see the joyous fight;
He with his tepid rays the rose renews,
And licks the drooping leaves, and dries the dews;
When Arcite left his bed, refolv'd to pay
Obfervance to the month of merry May:
Forth on his fiery fteed betimes he rode,
That fcarcely prints the turf on which he trod:

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He fires within, and hiifes at my heart.
Your eyes, fair Emily, my fate purfue;
I fuffer for the reft, I die for you.
Of fuch a Goddefs no time leaves record,
Who burn'd the temple where fhe was ador'd:
And let it burn, I never will complain,
Pleas'd with my fuff'rings, if you knew my pain.

At cafe he seem'd, and, prancing o'er the plains, | Fierce Love has pierc'd me with his fiery dart;
Turn'd only to the grove his horse's reins,
The grove I nam'd before; and, lighted there,
A woodbine garland fought to crown his hair;
Then turn'd his face against the rifing day,
And rais'd his voice to welcome in the May.
For thee, fweet month, the groves green live-
If not the first, the fairest of the year: [ries wear:
For thee the Graces lead the dancing hours,
And Nature's ready pencil paints the flow'rs:
When thy fhort reign is past, the fev'rish sun
The fultry tropic fears and moves more slowly on.
So may thy tender blossoms fear no blight,
Nor goats with venom'd teeth thy tendrils bite,
As thou fhalt guide my wand'ring feet to find
The fragrant greens I feek, my brows to bind.
His vows addrefs'd, within the grove heftray'd,
Till fate, or fortune, near the place convey'd
His fteps where fecret Palamon was laid.
Full little thought of him the gentle knight,
Who flying death had there conceal'd his flight,
In brakes and brambles hid, and fhunning mor-
tal fight:

}

And lefs he knew him for his hated foe,
But fear'd him as a man he did not know.
But as it has been faid of ancient years,
That fields are full of eyes, and woods have ears;
For this the wife are ever on their guard;
For, unforeseen, they fay, is unprepar'd.
Uncautious Arcite thought himfelf alone,
And lefs than all fufpected Palamon;
Who lift'ning heard him, while he search'd the
And loudly fung his roundelay of love: [grove,
But on the fudden ftopp'd, and filent stood,
As lovers often muse, and change their mood;
Now high as heav'n, 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 fhall we fee a Friday clear.
Thus Arcite, having fung, with alter'd hue.
Sunk on the ground, and from his bosom drew
A defp'rate figh, accusing Heav'n and fate,
And angry Juno's unrelenting hate.
Curs'd be the day when first I did appear;
Let it be blotted from the calendar, [year.
Left it pollute the month, and poifon all the
Still will the jealous Queen pursue our race ?
Cadmus is dead, the Theban city was :
Yet ceafes not her hate: for all who come.
From Cadmus are involv'd in Cadmus' doom.
I fuffer for my blood: unjust decree !
That punishes another's crime on me.
In mean eftate I ferve my mortal foe,
The man who caus'd my country's overthrow.
This is not all; for Juno, to my shame,
Has forc'd me to forfake my former name;
Arcite I was, Philoftratus I am.
That fide of heav'n is all my enemy:
Mars ruin'd Thebes: his mother ruin'd me.
Of all the royal race remains but one
Befides myself, th'unhappy Palamon,

}

At this a fickly qualm his heart assail'd,
His ears ring inward, and his fenfes fail'd.
No word mifs'd Palamon of all he spoke,
But foon to deadly pale he chang'd his look:
He trembl'd ev'ry limb, and felt a finart,
As if cold fteel had glided through his heart;
No longer ftaid, but, ftarting from his place,
Difcover'd ftood, and thew'd his hoftile face.
Falfe traitor Arcite, traitor to thy blood,
Bound by thy facred oath to feek my good,
Now art thou found forefworn, for Emily;
And dar'ft attempt her love, for whom I die.
So haft thou cheated Thefeus with a wile,
Against thy vow, returning to beguile
Under a borrow'd name: as falfe to me,
So falfe thou art to him who fet thee free?
But reft aflur'd, that either thou shalt die,
Or elfe renounce thy claim in Emily:
For though unarm'd I am, and (free'd by chance)
Am here without my fword, or pointed lance,
Hope not, base man, unquestion'd hence to go;
For I am Palamon, thy mortal foe.

Arcite, who heard his tale, and knew the man,
His fword unfheath'd, and fiercely thus began:
Now, by the Gods who govern heav'n above,
Wert thou not weak with hunger, mad with love,
That word had been thy laft, or in this grove
This hand should force thee to renounce thy love.
The furety 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 ferve the fair in thy defpight;
But fince thou art my kinfman, and a knight,
Here, have my faith, to-morrow in this grove
Ours arms fhall plead the titles of our love :
And Heav'n fo help my right, as I alone
Will come, and keep the caufe and quarrel both
unknown;

With arms of proof both for myself and thee;
Chufe thou the best, and leave the worft to me.
And, that a better ease thou may'st abide,
Bedding and clothes I will this night provide,
And needful fuftenance, that thou mayst be
A conqueft better won, and worthy me.
His promife Palamon accepts; but pray'd,
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 fternly doft thy pow'r maintain,
And wilt not bear a rival in thy reign,
Tyrants and thou all fellowship difdain.
This was in Arcite prov'd, and Palamon;
Both in defpair, yet each would love alone.

Whom Thefeus holds in bonds, and will not free; Arcite return'd, and, as in honor ty'd,

Without a crime, except his kin to me.

Yet thefe, and all the reft, I could endure;
But Love's a malady without a cure;

His foe with bedding and with food fupply'd;
Then, ere the day, two fuits of armour fought,
Which borne before him on his fteed he brought:
T

Both

:}

Both were of fhining fteel, and wrought fo pure,
As might the ftrokes of two fuch arms endure.
Now, at the time, and in th’appointed place,
The challenger and challeng'd, face to face,
Approach; each other from afar they knew,
And from afar their hatred chang'd their hue.
So ftands the Thracian herdiinan with his fpear,
Full in the gap, and hopes the hunted bear,
And hears him ruftling in the wood, and fees
His courfe at diftance, 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 gen'rous chilness feizes ev'ry part: [heart.
The veins pour back the blood, and fortify the
Thus pale they meet; their eyes with fury burn;
None greets; for
none the greeting will return;
But in dumb furlinefs, each arm'd with care
His foe profeft, as brother of the war:
Then both, no moment loft, at once advance
Against each other, arm'd with fword and lance:
They lafh, they foin, they pafs, they strive to bore
Their corflets, and the thinneft parts explore.
Thus two long hours in equal arms they stood,
And wounded, wound, till both were bath'd in
And not a foot of ground had either got, [blood;
As if the world depended on the spot.
Fell Arcite like an angry tyger far'd;
And like a lion Palamon appear'd:
Or as two boars whom love to battle draws,
With rifing briftles, and with frothy jaws,
Their adverse breafts with tusks oblique they
wound;

With grunts and groans the foreft rings around.
So fought the knights, and fighting must abide,
Till fate an umpire fends their diff 'rence to decide.
The pow'r that minifters to God's decrees,
And executes on earth what Heav'n forfees,
Call'd providence, or chance, or fatal sway,
Comes with refiftlefs force, and finds or makes her
Nor kings, nor nations, nor united pow'r, [way.
One moment can retard th'appointed hour. [pears,
And fome one day, fome wond'rous chance ap-
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 chace in forefts to destroy;
This gentle knight; infpir'd by jolly May,
Forfook his eafy couch at carly day,
And to the wood and wilds pui fu'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, so now
He ferves the goddefs of the filver bow.
The way 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’uncoupl'd hounds began the chace.
Thither forth-right he rode to reuse the prey,
That, fhaded by the fern, in harbour lay;

And, thence diflodg'd, was wont to leave the wood
For open fields, and cross the crystal flood,
Approach'd, and looking underneath the fun,
He law proud Arcite and fierce Palamon
In mortal battle doubling blow on blow;
Like lightning flam'd their faulchions to and fro,
And thot a dreadful gleam; fo ftrong 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 steed
With goring rowels to provoke his speed.
The minute ended that began the race,
So foon he was betwixt them on the lace;
And with his fword unfheath'd, on pain of life,
Commands both combatants to ceafe their ftrife:
Then with imperious tone pursues 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 caule ?
Unafk'd the royal grant; no marfhal by,
As knightly rites require, nor judge to try?
Then Palamon, with fcarce recover'd breath,
Thus hafty spoke: We both deserve the death,
And both would 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'imprifon'd foul at large.
Now as thou art a fov'reign judge, decree
The rightful doom of death to him and me,
Let neither find thy grace; for grace is cruelty.
Me firft, O kill me first, 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 honor 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 trufted, and in high degree,
Afpiring to the bed of beauteous Emily.
My part remains; from Thebes my birth I own,
And call myself th'unhappy Palamon.

}

Think me not like that man; fince no difgrace
Can force me to renounce the honor 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 itfelf 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 fafeguard of thy felf, death is my due.
More wouldst thou know? I love bright Emily,
And for her fake and in her fight will die :
But kill my rival too; for he no less
Deferves; and 1 thy righteous doom will blefs,
Affur'd that what I loote he never fhall poffefs.
To this reply'd the ftern Athenian prince,
And fourly fmil'd,-In owning your offence,

You

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