For tho' unarm'd I am, and (freed by chance)
Am here without my fword, or pointed lance:
Hope not, bafe man, unqueftion'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 fhould 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 kinsman, and a knight,
Here, have my faith, to-morrow in this grove
Our arms fhall plead the titles of our love:
And Heaven fo help my right, as I alone

}

Will come, and keep the cause and quarrel both unknown; With arms of proof both for myself and thee;

Chufe thou the beft, and leave the worft to me.

And, that a better ease thou may'st abide,
Bedding and cloaths I will this night provide,
And needful fuftenance, that thou may'st be
A conqueft better won, and worthy me.
His promise Palamon accepts; but pray'd,
To keep it better than the firft 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.
Arcite return'd, and, as in honor ty'd,
His foe with bedding, and with food fupply'd;

}

Thea,

Then, ere the day, two fuits of armour fought,
Which borne before him on his steed he brought:
Both were of fhining fteel, and wrought fo pure,
As might the strokes of two such 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 herdsman with his spear,
Full in the gap, and hopes the hunted bear,
And hears him ruftling in the wood, and fees
His courfe at diflance 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 chilnefs feizes ev'ry part:

The veins pour back the blood, and fortify the heart.

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 lath, they foin, they pafs, they ftrive to bore
Their corflets and the thinnest parts explore..

Thus two long hours in equal arms they ftood,

And wounded, wound; till both were bath'd in blood;

And not a foot of ground had either got,
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 froathy jaws,
Their adverfe breafts with tufks 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 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 some 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 deftroy,
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 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' uncoupled hounds began the chace.
Thither forth-right he rode to rouse the prey,
That shaded by the fern in harbour lay;

And thence diflodg'd, was wont to leave the wood,
For open fields, and cross the chryftal 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.

D

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And

And fhot 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 'em on the place;
And with his sword unfheath'd, on pain of life
Commands both combatants to cease 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 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 honour scorn'd.

For

For this is he, who, with a borrow'd na
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 ov
And call myfelf th' unhappy Palamon.

Think me not like that man; fince no disgrace
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 pursue;
For fafeguard 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 she began,
Thro' the bright quire th' infectious virtue ran.
All dropt their tears, ev'n the contended maid:
And thus among themselves they softly faid:

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