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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Fight With The Dragon</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">Why run the crowd? What means the throng<br>That rushes fast the streets along?<br>Can Rhodes a prey to flames, then, be?<br>In crowds they gather hastily,<br>And, on his steed, a noble knight<br>Amid the rabble, meets my sight;<br>Behind him--prodigy unknown!--<br>A monster fierce they're drawing on;<br>A dragon stems it by its shape,<br> With wide and crocodile-like jaw,<br>And on the knight and dragon gape,<br> In turns, the people, filled with awe.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">And thousand voices shout with glee<br>"The fiery dragon come and see,<br>Who hind and flock tore limb from limb!--<br>The hero see, who vanquished him!<br>Full many a one before him went,<br>To dare the fearful combat bent,<br>But none returned home from the fight;<br>Honor ye, then, the noble knight!"<br>And toward the convent move they all,<br> While met in hasty council there<br>The brave knights of the Hospital,<br> St. John the Baptist's Order, were.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">Up to the noble master sped<br>The youth, with firm but modest tread;<br>The people followed with wild shout,<br>And stood the landing-place about,<br>While thus outspoke that daring one:<br>"My knightly duty I have done.<br>The dragon that laid waste the land<br>Has fallen beneath my conquering hand.<br>The way is to the wanderer free,<br> The shepherd o'er the plains may rove;<br>Across the mountains joyfully<br> The pilgrim to the shrine may move."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">But sternly looked the prince, and said:<br>"The hero's part thou well hast played<br>By courage is the true knight known,--<br>A dauntless spirit thou hast shown.<br>Yet speak! What duty first should he<br>Regard, who would Christ's champion be,<br>Who wears the emblem of the Cross?"--<br>And all turned pale at his discourse.<br>Yet he replied, with noble grace,<br> While blushingly he bent him low:<br>"That he deserves so proud a place<br> Obedience best of all can show."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"My son," the master answering spoke,<br>"Thy daring act this duty broke.<br>The conflict that the law forbade<br>Thou hast with impious mind essayed."--<br>"Lord, judge when all to thee is known,"<br>The other spake, in steadfast tone,--<br>"For I the law's commands and will<br>Purposed with honor to fulfil.<br>I went not out with heedless thought.<br> Hoping the monster dread to find;<br>To conquer in the fight I sought<br> By cunning, and a prudent mind."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"Five of our noble Order, then<br>(Our faith could boast no better men),<br>Had by their daring lost their life,<br>When thou forbadest us the strife.<br>And yet my heart I felt a prey<br>To gloom, and panted for the fray;<br>Ay, even in the stilly night,<br>In vision gasped I in the fight;<br>And when the glimmering morning came,<br> And of fresh troubles knowledge gave,<br>A raging grief consumed my frame,<br> And I resolved the thing to brave."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"And to myself I thus began:<br>'What is't adorns the youth, the man?<br>What actions of the heroes bold,<br>Of whom in ancient song we're told,<br>Blind heathendom raised up on high<br>To godlike fame and dignity?<br>The world, by deeds known far and wide,<br>From monsters fierce they purified;<br>The lion in the fight they met,<br> And wrestled with the minotaur,<br>Unhappy victims free to set,<br> And were not sparing of their gore.'"</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"'Are none but Saracens to feel<br>The prowess of the Christian steel?<br>False idols only shall be brave?<br>His mission is the world to save;<br>To free it, by his sturdy arm,<br>From every hurt, from every harm;<br>Yet wisdom must his courage bend,<br>And cunning must with strength contend.'<br>Thus spake I oft, and went alone<br> The monster's traces to espy;<br>When on my mind a bright light shone,--<br> 'I have it!' was my joyful cry."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"To thee I went, and thus I spake:<br>'My homeward journey I would take.'<br>Thou, lord, didst grant my prayer to me,--<br>Then safely traversed I the sea;<br>And, when I reached my native strand,<br>I caused a skilful artist's hand<br>To make a dragon's image, true<br>To his that now so well I knew.<br>On feet of measure short was placed<br> Its lengthy body's heavy load;<br>A scaly coat of mail embraced<br> The back, on which it fiercely showed."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"Its stretching neck appeared to swell,<br>And, ghastly as a gate of hell,<br>Its fearful jaws were open wide,<br>As if to seize the prey it tried;<br>And in its black mouth, ranged about,<br>Its teeth in prickly rows stood out;<br>Its tongue was like a sharp-edged sword,<br>And lightning from its small eyes poured;<br>A serpent's tail of many a fold<br> Ended its body's monstrous span,<br>And round itself with fierceness rolled,<br> So as to clasp both steed and man."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"I formed the whole to nature true,<br>In skin of gray and hideous hue;<br>Part dragon it appeared, part snake,<br>Engendered in the poisonous lake.<br>And, when the figure was complete,<br>A pair of dogs I chose me, fleet,<br>Of mighty strength, of nimble pace,<br>Inured the savage boar to chase;<br>The dragon, then, I made them bait,<br> Inflaming them to fury dread,<br>With their sharp teeth to seize it straight,<br> And with my voice their motions led."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"And, where the belly's tender skin<br>Allowed the tooth to enter in,<br>I taught them how to seize it there,<br>And, with their fangs, the part to tear.<br>I mounted, then, my Arab steed,<br>The offspring of a noble breed;<br>My hand a dart on high held forth,<br>And, when I had inflamed his wrath,<br>I stuck my sharp spurs in his side,<br> And urged him on as quick as thought,<br>And hurled my dart in circles wide<br> As if to pierce the beast I sought."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"And though my steed reared high in pain,<br>And champed and foamed beneath the rein,<br>And though the dogs howled fearfully,<br>Till they were calmed ne'er rested I.<br>This plan I ceaselessly pursued,<br>Till thrice the moon had been renewed;<br>And when they had been duly taught,<br>In swift ships here I had them brought;<br>And since my foot these shores has pressed<br> Flown has three mornings' narrow span;<br>I scarce allowed my limbs to rest<br> Ere I the mighty task began."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"For hotly was my bosom stirred<br>When of the land's fresh grief I heard;<br>Shepherds of late had been his prey,<br>When in the marsh they went astray.<br>I formed my plans then hastily,--<br>My heart was all that counselled me.<br>My squires instructing to proceed,<br>I sprang upon my well-trained steed,<br>And, followed by my noble pair<br> Of dogs, by secret pathways rode,<br>Where not an eye could witness bear,<br> To find the monster's fell abode."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"Thou, lord, must know the chapel well,<br>Pitched on a rocky pinnacle,<br>That overlooks the distant isle;<br>A daring mind 'twas raised the pile.<br>Though humble, mean, and small it shows<br>Its walls a miracle enclose,--<br>The Virgin and her infant Son,<br>Vowed by the three kings of Cologne.<br>By three times thirty steps is led<br> The pilgrim to the giddy height;<br>Yet, when he gains it with bold tread,<br> He's quickened by his Saviour's sight."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"Deep in the rock to which it clings,<br>A cavern dark its arms outflings,<br>Moist with the neighboring moorland's dew,<br>Where heaven's bright rays can ne'er pierce through.<br>There dwelt the monster, there he lay,<br>His spoil awaiting, night and day;<br>Like the hell-dragon, thus he kept<br>Watch near the shrine, and never slept;<br>And if a hapless pilgrim chanced<br> To enter on that fatal way,<br>From out his ambush quick advanced<br> The foe, and seized him as his prey."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"I mounted now the rocky height;<br>Ere I commenced the fearful fight,<br>There knelt I to the infant Lord,<br>And pardon for my sins implored.<br>Then in the holy fane I placed<br>My shining armor round my waist,<br>My right hand grasped my javelin,<br>The fight then went I to begin;<br>Instructions gave my squires among,<br> Commanding them to tarry there;<br>Then on my steed I nimbly sprung,<br> And gave my spirit to God's care."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"Soon as I reached the level plain,<br>My dogs found out the scent amain;<br>My frightened horse soon reared on high,--<br>His fear I could not pacify,<br>For, coiled up in a circle, lo!<br>There lay the fierce and hideous foe,<br>Sunning himself upon the ground.<br>Straight at him rushed each nimble hound;<br>Yet thence they turned, dismayed and fast,<br> When he his gaping jaws op'd wide,<br>Vomited forth his poisonous blast,<br> And like the howling jackal cried."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"But soon their courage I restored;<br>They seized with rage the foe abhorred,<br>While I against the beast's loins threw<br>My spear with sturdy arm and true:<br>But, powerless as a bulrush frail,<br>It bounded from his coat of mail;<br>And ere I could repeat the throw,<br>My horse reeled wildly to and fro<br>Before his basilisk-like look,<br> And at his poison-teeming breath,--<br>Sprang backward, and with terror shook,<br> While I seemed doomed to certain death."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"Then from my steed I nimbly sprung,<br>My sharp-edged sword with vigor swung;<br>Yet all in vain my strokes I plied,--<br>I could not pierce his rock-like hide.<br>His tail with fury lashing round,<br>Sudden he bore me to the ground.<br>His jaws then opening fearfully,<br>With angry teeth he struck at me;<br>But now my dogs, with wrath new-born,<br> Rushed on his belly with fierce bite,<br>So that, by dreadful anguish torn,<br> He howling stood before my sight."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"And ere he from their teeth was free,<br>I raised myself up hastily,<br>The weak place of the foe explored,<br>And in his entrails plunged my sword,<br>Sinking it even to the hilt;<br>Black gushing forth, his blood was spilt.<br>Down sank he, burying in his fall<br>Me with his body's giant ball,<br>So that my senses quickly fled;<br> And when I woke with strength renewed,<br>The dragon in his blood lay dead,<br> While round me grouped my squires all stood."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">The joyous shouts, so long suppressed,<br>Now burst from every hearer's breast,<br>Soon as the knight these words had spoken;<br>And ten times 'gainst the high vault broken,<br>The sound of mingled voices rang,<br>Re-echoing back with hollow clang.<br>The Order's sons demand, in haste,<br>That with a crown his brow be graced,<br>And gratefully in triumph now<br> The mob the youth would bear along<br>When, lo! the master knit his brow,<br> And called for silence 'mongst the throng.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">And said, "The dragon that this land<br>Laid waste, thou slew'st with daring hand;<br>Although the people's idol thou,<br>The Order's foe I deem thee now.<br>Thy breast has to a fiend more base<br>Than e'en this dragon given place.<br>The serpent that the heart most stings,<br>And hatred and destruction brings,<br>That spirit is, which stubborn lies,<br> And impiously cast off the rein,<br>Despising order's sacred ties;<br> 'Tis that destroys the world amain."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">"The Mameluke makes of courage boast,<br>Obedience decks the Christian most;<br>For where our great and blessed Lord<br>As a mere servant walked abroad,<br>The fathers, on that holy ground,<br>This famous Order chose to found,<br>That arduous duty to fulfil<br>To overcome one's own self-will!<br>'Twas idle glory moved thee there:<br> So take thee hence from out my sight!<br>For who the Lord's yoke cannot bear,<br> To wear his cross can have no right."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=393389" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">A furious shout now raise the crowd,<br>The place is filled with outcries loud;<br>The brethren all for pardon cry;<br>The youth in silence droops his eye--<br>Mutely his garment from him throws,<br>Kisses the master's hand, and--goes.<br>But he pursues him with his gaze,<br>Recalls him lovingly, and says:<br>"Let me embrace thee now, my son!<br> The harder fight is gained by thee.<br>Take, then, this cross--the guerdon won<br> By self-subdued humility."</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><a href="http://poems.citatepedia.com/">poem</a> by <strong><a rel="author" href="http://authors.citatepedia.com/by.php?a=Friedrich+Schiller">Friedrich Schiller</a></strong></div>

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