Citatepedia^®.com

Jerusalem Delivered - Book 06 - part 04

XLIII

The Pagan ill defenced with sword or targe,
Tancredi's thigh, as he supposed, espied
And reaching forth gainst it his weapon large,
Quite naked to his foe leaves his left-side;
Tancred avoideth quick his furious charge,
And gave him eke a wound deep, sore and wide;
That done, himself safe to his ward retired,
His courage praised by all, his skill admired.

XLIV

The proud Circassian saw his streaming blood,
Down from his wound, as from a fountain, running,
He sighed for rage, and trembled as he stood,
He blamed his fortune, folly, want of cunning;
He lift his sword aloft, for ire nigh wood,
And forward rushed: Tancred his fury shunning,
With a sharp thrust once more the Pagan hit,
To his broad shoulder where his arm is knit.

XLV

Like as a bear through pierced with a dart
Within the secret woods, no further flieth,
But bites the senseless weapon mad with smart,
Seeking revenge till unrevenged she dieth;
So mad Argantes fared, when his proud heart
Wound upon wound, and shame on shame espieth,
Desire of vengeance so o'ercame his senses,
That he forgot all dangers, all defences.

XLVI

Uniting force extreme, with endless wrath,
Supporting both with youth and strength untired,
His thundering blows so fast about he layeth,
That skies and earth the flying sparkles fired;
His foe to strike one blow no leisure hath,
Scantly he breathed, though he oft desired,
His warlike skill and cunning all was waste,
Such was Argantes' force, and such his haste.

XLVII

Long time Tancredi had in vain attended
When this huge storm should overblow and pass,
Some blows his mighty target well defended,
Some fell beside, and wounded deep the grass;

[...] Read more

poem by Torquato Tasso
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

How A Naked Mole

breed pit bull puppy pictures breed pitbull pics breed pitbull pure breed pitbull snooty breed pitbulls breed platies breed platties breed plecos breed plecostomus breed point tabulating breed points breed points dog breed points havanese breed points veterans breed pomeranians breed poo puppy shih breed poodle chihuahua breed poodle toy breed portuguese water dog breed poultry rare breed predisposition to cruciate injurie breed primarily seal points breed problems with labadoodles breed problems with labradoodles breed professional pug training breed profile american pit bull terrier breed profile bierwer breed profile bierwer yorkshire terrier breed profile british blue breed profile exmoor pony breed profile german bierwer breed profile hungarian hound breed profile hungarian viszla breed profile labrador retriever breed profile maine coon cats breed profile munchkin cats breed profile of the weimaraner breed profile persian cats temperament breed profile schipperke breed profile selle francais breed profile siamese cat breed profile sphynx breed profile sphynx cat breed profiles dog breeds boxer breed puddle of mudd breed puppies breed puppy pure breed puppy teacup breed puppymill rescue toy wolfspirit breed pure rescue breed pygmy goats breed quail breed questionaire breed quiz selector breed rabbit tan breed rabbits for sale kansas city breed rabbits timeline breed racing greyhound breed ragdoll breed ragdoll cats breed rankings breed rap game mp3 breed rare survival trust breed rare turkey breed rarr monster tee breed rat terrier breed receiver breed red cows breed registry usa breed registry wikipedia the free encycl breed reptans breed rescue and virginia breed rescue black labradors breed rescue club minnesota breed rescue corgi breed rescue corgie breed rescue dallas breed rescue feline breed rescue french bulldogs breed rescue georgia breed rescue groups houston texas breed rescue groups in texas breed rescue groups indianapolis indiana breed rescue groups minnesota breed rescue husky breed rescue in colorado breed rescue in illinois breed rescue in michigan breed rescue in new jersey breed rescue jack russell breed rescue list cat breed rescue list co ok breed rescue list utah breed rescue maine coon breed rescue mississippi breed rescue northern virginia breed rescue of south louisiana breed rescue of terriers nz breed rescue organizations lake charles breed rescue organizations list texas breed rescue policies and procedures breed rescue policy and procedures breed rescue springer spaniel breed rescue wa breed rescue wa huesemann breed rescue weimerainer breed rescue zealots breed rescues list national cat breed rescues of mississippi breed rescuing st louis breed rescuw breed responsibly breed restrctions huskies breed restriction laws breed restriction list insurance breed restriction on german shepard dogs breed restrictions akita breed restrictions huskies breed restrictive legislation breed retrievr breed reviews breed rhodesian ridgeback dogs breed roan to dun breed roan to dun genetics breed roan to roan breed roll mp3 breed rooster breed rottie arizona breed rottweiler name ranger location mi breed rottweler breed rough mix breed s tobacco activism guide breed san juan rabbits breed savannah cat breed scarab beetle breed schipperke breed selecter dog quiz breed selection quiz breed selective legislation breed selector breed selector akc breed selector and dog breed selector au breed selector dog breed selector dog iams breed selector dog purina breed selector dog quiz breed selector dominance breed selector interactive breed selector quiz breed selectors breed seminar content breed seminar presentations breed series breed service golden retriever mi breed severum breed severum in a ten gallon breed sheba breed sheep hebridean rare year graze breed sheep in spring breed sheltie breed shi shus breed shiny pokemon breed shitzu breed shiz shus breed short ears black muzzle stocky breed showing papillons ears breed shrimp labrador retriever dog breed labrador retriever dog breed handbook labrador retriever english breed labrador retriever pit bull mixed breed labrador retriever puppies breed nsw aus labrador retriever puppies the dogs bree labrador retriever types breeds labrador retrievers breed distinctive labrador retrievers breeds labrador types of breeds labradore cross breed labradore spaniel cross breed labraodor retreivers labrador breeders l labrodoodle breed labrodor and rottweiler mixed breed lactating small breed dogs lactating small breed dogs calcium lady and the tramp dog breed lady and the tramp dog breeds laege cow breeds lagotta dog breed lagotto romognolo dog breed lahore pigeon breed laika breed club laika breed club uk laika breeds beregovoy laika dog breed laika the dog breed lake pepin half breed lake pepin half breed rolls lakeland terrier breed info lakeside large dog breed rescue lakewood wa dog breed restrictions lama breeds lamancha breed weaknesses lamb breeds and pictures lamb breeds chart lancier dog breed landrace breed landseer breed standard landseer dog breed landseer dog breed information lanois dog breed lap boxer breed lap cat breed lap cat breeds lap dog breeds lap dog mix breeds lapaso dog breed lapdog breeds laperm breed lapponian herder breed standard laps apso breed standard laps psa dog breed lapsa breeds lapsa dog breed lapsa opsa dog breed lapso opso mixed breed with pomeranian lard hog breed larg breed dog boxes for sale large aggressive breeds of dogs large breed 2 leather dog collar large breed animal boarding large breed animal boarding minnesota large breed bat large breed beagles large breed bluetick pitbull puppies large breed boarding kennels az large breed brazilian fella dog large breed brazilian fella dog pictures large breed canine nutrition calcium req large breed canine nutrition research large breed cedar dog house large breed chihuahua large breed chows large breed christmas clothing large breed crate large breed designer dog collars large breed discrimination in parks large breed doag easy to train large breed doberman large breed dog accerseries large breed dog apparel large breed dog bath large breed dog bathtub large breed dog bed large breed dog beds free shipping large breed dog calcium and phosphorus large breed dog clothes patterns large breed dog collar large breed dog collars fish large breed dog collors large breed dog crate large breed dog crate cover large breed dog cysts large breed dog exercise large breed dog exercise guidelines large breed dog exercise warnings large breed dog facts large breed dog feeders large breed dog food protein large breed dog gestation large breed dog gestation period large breed dog harness large breed dog igloo large breed dog items large breed dog kennel large breed dog muzzles large breed dog names large breed dog nutrition large breed dog photo gallery large breed dog ramp large breed dog shock collars large breed dog surgery saint louis large breed dog sweaters large breed dog trivia large breed dog tub large breed dog veteranarians wisconsin large breed doggy door large breed doghouse large breed doghouses large breed dogs and bone problems large breed dogs bloat large breed dogs bloat prevention large breed dogs good with ren large breed dogs great white large breed dogs guard castles large breed dogs hurcules large breed dogs in airline cabins large breed dogs in airplane cabins large breed dogs tan large breed dogs thailand large breed dogs that dont shed large breed duplex dog houses large breed family and protection dogs large breed german shepards large breed german shepherd large breed glucosamine benefits large breed glucosamine chondroitin bene large breed guard dog large breed harnesses large breed horse large breed house cats large breed housecats large breed hypo alergenic large breed hypoallergenic large breed kitten food large breed labradors large breed lamb and rice large breed leather collars large breed leather dog collar large breed leather dog collars large breed litterbox large breed meetup large breed non shedding dogs large breed of catahoulas large breed of dog mountain rescue large breed of doghouses large breed of dogs large breed of domestic house cats large breed of housecat large breed of pet cat large breed pet friendly rental properti large breed pitbull large breed pitbull kennels large breed pitbull terriers large breed pitbulls large breed plastic kennel large breed professional dog clippers large breed puppies in austin tx large breed puppy care briard large breed puppy care kit large breed puppy diet large breed puppy dog food large breed puppy dogfood large breed puppy food large breed puppy food protein large breed puppy food review large breed puppy food sample large breed puppy food trials large breed puppy foods large breed puppy foods lonewolf brand large breed puppy foods wolf large breed puppy foods wolf brand large breed puppy for sale large breed puppy nutrition large breed puppy rescue large breed red heelers large breed reflective vest large breed rescue norco ca large breed rescue ontario large breed rescue quebec large breed resuce evansville in large breed short hair dogs large breed shorthair dog coat sweater large breed size cats large breed soft dog crate large breed south beach dog collars large breed spayed dogs large breed temple dog large breed toys large breed vet in levittown pa large breed veterinarian tucson large breed veterinarians large breed waist belt large breed water dogs large breed whelping box large breeds of cats large breeds of ponies large bully breed large bully breeds large cat breed large cats breed large cats breed exotic large chested medium sized dog breeds large docked tails mixed breed pup large dof breeds large dog breed large dog breed elevated bowl large dog breed english bull hound large dog breed from south africa large dog breed info large dog breed no drool large dog breed pictures large dog breed recipes watch dogs breeds watch horses breed watch monkeys breed watch the breed watch wife breed watchdog breed watchdog breed dog watchdog breed pitbull watchdog breeds watchdogs breeds watching animals breed watching animals breed humans watching wild animals breed watching wives breed water conditions to breed mosquitos water dog breed water dragon breed standards water rescue breed dog water resistant wool breed water spaniel dog breed water test pointing breeds waterdog breed watusi breed of cattle wax worm breed we are a dying breed we breed speed we worship you isarel new breed we worship you israel new breed web foot breeds web-footed dog breeds web-footed hound breeds webbed feet dog breeds webfoot breeds webkinz codes for rare breeds webquest dog breeds website for all dog breeds websites on horse breeds wee-chon mixed breed weenie dogs breeds weight chart dog breeds weight limit on rabbit breeds weimaraner breed weimaraner breed clubs weimaraner breed diseases weimaraner breed info weimaraner breed information weimaraner breed photos weimaraner breed profile weimaraner breed standards weimaraner dog breed weimaraner dog breeds weimaraner mixed breed weimaraner rottweiler cross breed weimaraners dog breed weimer raner breed of dog weimerainer breed standard weimeraner breed weimeraner breed information weimeraner breeds weimeraner dog breed weimeraner dog breed akc weimeraner dog breeds weimeraner rottweiler cross breed weimeraner viszla mix breed weimerarner breed clubs weimereimer breed info weimereimer breed photos weimereiner breed photos weimeriener darker breeds weiner dog breed weinhaimer breed weinheimer breed weinheimer dog breed weinmaraner breed disposition weinmariner breed weinmeraner breed info weinmeraner dog breed weinmeraner dog breed standards weinreimer dog breed weird cross breeds weird crss breeds weird dog breed mixes weird mixed breed animals weirdest dog breed welch dog breed well behaved dog breeds well breed pets well mannered dog breed well-mannered poniy breeds well-mannered pony breeds wellness kibble for small toy breed wells and breed wellsummer chicken breed characteristics welsch terrior breed information welsh breed welsh breed of dog welsh cardigan corgies breed clubs welsh cardin corgi breed info welsh cat breed welsh corgi and collie mix breed welsh corgi breed infomation welsh corgi breed pembroke dog welsh corgi dog breed welsh corgi dog rescue breed purebreds welsh dog breed welsh dog breeds welsh gorgi breed welsh pembrook corgi breed welsh pony breed welsh terrier breed information welsh terrier breed standard welsh terriers and dog breeds welsumer chicken breed wendy rose half breed chronicles were a albatross breeds were did the pitbull breed originate were is the dying breed now werriwa all breeds dog training club wes craven the breed wes cravens the breed west bend insurance dog breed restrictio west half breed scrip 1885 west highland terrier beagle cross breed west highland terrier breed west highland terrier breed info west highland white dog breed west highland white terrier breed standa west highland white terrier dog breed west higland terrier dog breed west indies dog breeds westerhoven dog breed western breed tack michigan western nc all breed dog rescue western painted turtle breed western pond turtle captive breed westhighland terrier breed of dogs westie bichon mix breed dogs westie breed westie breed info westie breed of dog westie breed of dogs westie cairn breed westie dog breed westie dog breeds westie mixed breed dogs westie shih tzu mixed breed dog westies breed westies breeds westies cairn breed westies dog breed westin breed of dog westminster breed 2008 westminster breed club westminster breed judging video westminster dog breeds westminster dog show breed entries westminster dog show breed judging westminster dog show breed winners westminster dog show breeds westminster dog show new breeds westminster new breeds westminster results 2008 breed westminsters dog breeds weston breed of dog westphalian breed registry brand westphalian horse breed westphalian horse breed brands westy dog breed wether goat breed information whales breeds southern ocean what 2 breeds make a clydesdale what age can you breed chihuahuas what age do cats breed what age do i breed labradors what age do you breed maltese what age to breed a cat what age to breed flemish giants what age to breed pigs what age to breed yorkies what age to breed your dog what are animal breeds what are breed rescue groups what are breeds of smart dogs what are breeds unique characteristics p what are bull breeds of cattle what are european breeds of cattle what are gated horse breeds what are pug breeds like what are some cat breeds what are some squirrel dog breeds what are the breeds of llamas what are the oldest horse breeds what breed are cop dogs what breed are ginger cats what breed dog is gentlest what breed dog should i choose what breed dog was lassie what breed dogs fit my personality what breed horse originated in czechoslo what breed horse you what breed horses gladiators ride what breed hosre originated in czechosla what breed is a crusader rabbit what breed is a dolly dog what breed is a jug dog what breed is a morkie dog what breed is a samoyed dog what breed is a silly dog what breed is a tabby what breed is a tobiano what breed is a tuxedo cat what breed is benji what breed is czechoslovakia what breed is devon rex what breed is flicka pug puppies breed pug sheltie mix breed pugalier hybrid breed puggat breed information puggle breed puggle breed info puggle breed information puggle breed traits puggle dog breed puggle dog breeds puggle mixed breed puggles breeds puggles dog breed puggles new breed pugle dog breed pugs and larger breeds pugs breed pugs breed with beagels pugs dog breed pugs getting along with larger breeds pugs to breed puli breed puli breed as a pet puli breeds puli dog breed pulik dog breed pulldoggies working dog breeds pulldoggies working dog breeds text java pulli dog breed pultry breeds punish the breed not the deed punish the deed not the breed punish tjhe deed not the breed puppia dog harness for large breeds puppie breed puppie breed hybrid poodle puppie breed hybrid poodle bichon puppie breeds puppie mix breed puppies all breeds puppies arkansas breed puppies arkansas breed kennel puppies arkansas breed mill puppies breed puppies breed information dog breeds puppies breeds puppies by breed puppies cute breeds puppies diffrent breeds puppies for sale by breed puppies in different breeds puppies mixed breed puppies mixed breed poodles puppies mixed breeds puppies new breeds puppies of mixed breeds puppies small breeds for sale puppies toy breeds puppies what breed puppy and dog breeds puppy birth weight by breed puppy breed puppy breed choice puppy breed finder puppy breed finder quiz puppy breed illinois puppy breed illinois poodle puppy breed info puppy breed information puppy breed photo gallery puppy breed photos puppy breed picks puppy breed pics puppy breed picture puppy breed pictures puppy breed search puppy breed selector puppy breed selector quiz puppy breed shih poo puppy breed test puppy breeds puppy breeds and info puppy breeds and pictures puppy breeds collage puppy breeds identification puppy breeds identify photos puppy breeds list puppy breeds photos puppy breeds pictures puppy breeds that do not chew puppy breeds with pictures puppy care by breed puppy care for small breed dogs puppy care for specific breeds puppy cross breeds for sale puppy cut for maltese dog breed puppy designer breeds michigan puppy development by breed puppy dog breeds puppy dog breeds chihuahua shar pei puppy finder mixed breed puppy food large breed dogs puppy food vs large breed puppy puppy large breed puppy lhaso poo dog breed puppy love a new breed puppy love all breed puppy luv a new breed puppy luv new breed puppy markings breed puppy mills dogs breed pet stores puppy mills i breed dogs puppy mix breed puppy mixed breed puppy mixed breed finder puppy mixed breed wisconsin puppy names by breed puppy names for small breeds puppy nutrition for small breeds puppy page corgi breed pembroke welsh puppy photos by breed puppy pictures all breeds puppy pictures breeds puppy pictures by breed puppy pictures of every breed puppy pictures with breed name puppy pug breed info puppy purse carrier toy breeds puppy shar pei breed info puppy supplies for small breeds puppycat breed info puppys breeds puppys cross breed pur breed dog rescues pur breed spaniel purchase greyhoud pure breed puppy purdue glee club brian breed dismisal purdue glee club brian breed dismissal purdue glee club brian breed resigned pure bred dog breeds pure bred poodle breed pure breed pure breed 100 pound german shepard pure breed adoption pure breed akitas in philadelphia pa pure breed american eskimos pure breed american pitbull puppies pure breed animal shelters in virginia pure breed animal shelters sites pure breed animals cats health informati pure breed australian sheperd california pure breed beagle pure breed beagle puppies pure breed beagles pure breed beagles for sale pure breed beagles in texas pure breed beagles pups for sale pure breed black poddle pure breed blood test pure breed bloodtest pure breed boer goats pure breed boerboel pups pure breed boerboels pups pure breed boxer pure breed boxer pictures pure breed boxer puppies for sale pure breed boxer puppy pure breed boxer pups pure breed boxers pure breed breeding requirements pure breed brindle boxer pure breed brittney spaniel pure breed buldogs pure breed bulldogs pure breed california rabbits pure breed cat pure breed cat rescue pure breed cat rescues pure breed cats pure breed cats for sale pure breed cats kittens pure breed cattle pure breed charolias cattle pure breed chicken pure breed chickens pure breed chickens catologs pure breed chihuahua pure breed chihuahuas pure breed chiken pure breed chinese shitsu pure breed chinese shitsu in maryland pure breed chiuaua pure breed chocolate lab puppy pure breed chow chow puppies pure breed chow dogs for sale pure breed chow puppies pure breed cocker spanial pure breed cocker spanial puppies pure breed cocker spanial puupies pure breed collie breeder pure breed collie in joplin mo pure breed collies pure breed dalmations pure breed deog adoption orange county pure breed dog pure breed dog adoption horse breed societies horse breed societies uk horse breed society horse breed speeds horse breed standards horse breed sub-species horse breed symbols horse breed tatoos horse breed that originated from czechos horse breed that originated in czechoslo horse breed that oriniginated in czechos horse breed the conquistadores rode horse breed thoroughbred horse breed video horse breed with naturally bad temperame horse breed with pictures horse breed zorse horse breeded in czechoslovakia horse breeds horse breeds 101 horse breeds a through z horse breeds a to z horse breeds a z horse breeds and characteristics horse breeds and color horse breeds and colors horse breeds and head shape horse breeds and information horse breeds and pictures horse breeds and pictures of horses horse breeds and prices horse breeds and senior riders horse breeds and their characteristics horse breeds and there pictures horse breeds and training horse breeds and types horse breeds and what they do horse breeds anglo arabs horse breeds az horse breeds biggest horse breeds blue roan horse breeds brands horse breeds by country horse breeds capella horse breeds charger horse breeds clydale horse breeds clydesdale horse breeds definitions horse breeds description horse breeds different training horse breeds draft horse breeds drafts horse breeds education horse breeds f horse breeds fjords horse breeds for cattle drives horse breeds for ren horse breeds for s horse breeds for riding horse breeds from a to z horse breeds from a-z horse breeds from czechoslovakia horse breeds from czeck horse breeds from czeckoslovakia horse breeds german horse breeds gray horse breeds hanoverian horse breeds havasu horse breeds healthy horse breeds horses pictures horse breeds how many horse breeds in ancient greece horse breeds in canada horse breeds in czechoslovakia horse breeds in mauritius horse breeds in sd horse breeds in the 1500-1600 horse breeds in the civil war horse breeds in the world horse breeds info horse breeds irish draught horse breeds largest horse breeds list horse breeds listing horse breeds mauw horse breeds morgan horse breeds morgon horse breeds most bought horse breeds of horse breeds of czechoslavakia horse breeds of czechoslovakia horse breeds of the old west horse breeds of the world horse breeds of the world museum horse breeds of west texas horse breeds oklahoma state horse breeds originated czechoslovakia horse breeds pdf horse breeds pdf horse breeds horse breeds percherons about horse breeds personality horse breeds photo horse breeds pics horse breeds pictures horse breeds pony horse breeds quarterhorse horse breeds ratings horse breeds regency england horse breeds rocky mountian horse breeds selected girls and animals horse breeds sizes draft horse breeds south africa horse breeds south africa endurance horse breeds spanish barbs horse breeds spanish barbs new york horse breeds spped horse breeds starting with n horse breeds summary for s horse breeds tarpan horse breeds that start with a horse breeds that start with y horse breeds trak horse breeds used in show jumping horse breeds warm cold hot bloods horse breeds wikipedia horse breeds with definitions or descrip horse breeds with definitions or discrip horse breeds with dun color horse breeds with feathers horse breeds with picture horse breeds with pictures horse breeds x horse breeds zorse horse by breed horse cock breed horse colors and breeds chart horse colour breed black to chestnut horse colour breeds australia horse cross breeds horse crossbreeds create new breeds char horse farms in michigan breeds horse jokes breed stereotypes horse ky breed incentive aqha horse lover foal stallion world breed horse numbers by breed horse nutrition b breed horse pedigree all breeds horse personalities pictures breeds horse pictures and breeds horse pictures breeds horse pony breed horse pony breeds horse pony breeds of the world horse racing breed horse racing breeds horse rescue breed horse rescues by breed horse roach back breed horse stud breed horse training tack half breed sidepull horse types breeds horse types breeds feathered feet horse zebra cross breed horsee breeds horseland no breed horses all breeds horses and breeds horses breed horses breed by joy mccarty horses breeds horses in breed horses large breed horses rare breed spaniard horses standard breed horses that are breed in czechoslovakia horses thin skin breeds horses to breed hose breeds hose breeds and types hosre breeds hostile breed hot blood horse breeds hot blooded horse breeds hot climate dog breed hot lake water breeds illness hot pepper breeds hot to breed parakeetes hot to breed whites tree frogs hot wheels street breed hothouse tomato breeds hotsheet odp recreation pets dogs breeds hottest dog breeds houdan poultry breed information houdn dog breed hound breed hound breed caps hound breed characteristics hound breed photos hound breeds hound breeds and disposition hound breeds european hound cross breeds hound dog breed hound dog breeds american hound dog breeds pictures hound of the baskervilles breed hound sight breed hound temperament dog breed hound temperment dog breed hound type dog breeds hounds breeds hounds breeds info hounds hunting breeds hourse breeds house breed dog house breeds house cat breed house cat breeds house cats breeds house insurance agressive breed dogs house pet breeds house rabbit breeds house signs with dog breeds housebreaking a puppy toy breed housebreaking dog breeds housebreaking small breed dogs housebreaking small breed puppies housebreaking toy breeds housing different breeds of ducks togeth hovawart breed how a naked mole rat breeds how a red kangaroo breeds how and when do budgies breed how are ligers breeded how are rottweilers breeded how are toy breeds produced how are wholphins breed how big does a pelican breed how birds breed

poem by Rwetewrt Erwtwer
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Court Of Love

With timerous hert and trembling hand of drede,
Of cunning naked, bare of eloquence,
Unto the flour of port in womanhede
I write, as he that non intelligence
Of metres hath, ne floures of sentence;
Sauf that me list my writing to convey,
In that I can to please her hygh nobley.

The blosmes fresshe of Tullius garden soote
Present thaim not, my mater for to borne:
Poemes of Virgil taken here no rote,
Ne crafte of Galfrid may not here sojorne:
Why nam I cunning? O well may I morne,
For lak of science that I can-not write
Unto the princes of my life a-right

No termes digne unto her excellence,
So is she sprong of noble stirpe and high:
A world of honour and of reverence
There is in her, this wil I testifie.
Calliope, thou sister wise and sly,
And thou, Minerva, guyde me with thy grace,
That langage rude my mater not deface.

Thy suger-dropes swete of Elicon
Distill in me, thou gentle Muse, I pray;
And thee, Melpomene, I calle anon,
Of ignoraunce the mist to chace away;
And give me grace so for to write and sey,
That she, my lady, of her worthinesse,
Accepte in gree this litel short tretesse,

That is entitled thus, 'The Court of Love.'
And ye that ben metriciens me excuse,
I you besech, for Venus sake above;
For what I mene in this ye need not muse:
And if so be my lady it refuse
For lak of ornat speche, I wold be wo,
That I presume to her to writen so.

But myn entent and all my besy cure
Is for to write this tretesse, as I can,
Unto my lady, stable, true, and sure,
Feithfull and kind, sith first that she began
Me to accept in service as her man:

[...] Read more

poem by Anonymous Olde English
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Aeneid of Virgil: Book 10

THE GATES of heav’n unfold: Jove summons all
The gods to council in the common hall.
Sublimely seated, he surveys from far
The fields, the camp, the fortune of the war,
And all th’ inferior world. From first to last, 5
The sov’reign senate in degrees are plac’d.
Then thus th’ almighty sire began: “Ye gods,
Natives or denizens of blest abodes,
From whence these murmurs, and this change of mind,
This backward fate from what was first design’d? 10
Why this protracted war, when my commands
Pronounc’d a peace, and gave the Latian lands?
What fear or hope on either part divides
Our heav’ns, and arms our powers on diff’rent sides?
A lawful time of war at length will come, 15
(Nor need your haste anticipate the doom),
When Carthage shall contend the world with Rome,
Shall force the rigid rocks and Alpine chains,
And, like a flood, come pouring on the plains.
Then is your time for faction and debate, 20
For partial favor, and permitted hate.
Let now your immature dissension cease;
Sit quiet, and compose your souls to peace.”
Thus Jupiter in few unfolds the charge;
But lovely Venus thus replies at large: 25
“O pow’r immense, eternal energy,
(For to what else protection can we fly?)
Seest thou the proud Rutulians, how they dare
In fields, unpunish’d, and insult my care?
How lofty Turnus vaunts amidst his train, 30
In shining arms, triumphant on the plain?
Ev’n in their lines and trenches they contend,
And scarce their walls the Trojan troops defend:
The town is fill’d with slaughter, and o’erfloats,
With a red deluge, their increasing moats. 35
Æneas, ignorant, and far from thence,
Has left a camp expos’d, without defense.
This endless outrage shall they still sustain?
Shall Troy renew’d be forc’d and fir’d again?
A second siege my banish’d issue fears, 40
And a new Diomede in arms appears.
One more audacious mortal will be found;
And I, thy daughter, wait another wound.
Yet, if with fates averse, without thy leave,
The Latian lands my progeny receive, 45
Bear they the pains of violated law,
And thy protection from their aid withdraw.
But, if the gods their sure success foretell;
If those of heav’n consent with those of hell,
To promise Italy; who dare debate 50

[...] Read more

poem by Publius Vergilius Maro
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Aeneid of Virgil: Book 12

WHEN Turnus saw the Latins leave the field,
Their armies broken, and their courage quell’d,
Himself become the mark of public spite,
His honor question’d for the promis’d fight;
The more he was with vulgar hate oppress’d, 5
The more his fury boil’d within his breast:
He rous’d his vigor for the last debate,
And rais’d his haughty soul to meet his fate.
As, when the swains the Libyan lion chase,
He makes a sour retreat, nor mends his pace; 10
But, if the pointed jav’lin pierce his side,
The lordly beast returns with double pride:
He wrenches out the steel, he roars for pain;
His sides he lashes, and erects his mane:
So Turnus fares; his eyeballs flash with fire, 15
Thro’ his wide nostrils clouds of smoke expire.
Trembling with rage, around the court he ran,
At length approach’d the king, and thus began:
“No more excuses or delays: I stand
In arms prepar’d to combat, hand to hand, 20
This base deserter of his native land.
The Trojan, by his word, is bound to take
The same conditions which himself did make.
Renew the truce; the solemn rites prepare,
And to my single virtue trust the war. 25
The Latians unconcern’d shall see the fight;
This arm unaided shall assert your right:
Then, if my prostrate body press the plain,
To him the crown and beauteous bride remain.”
To whom the king sedately thus replied: 30
“Brave youth, the more your valor has been tried,
The more becomes it us, with due respect,
To weigh the chance of war, which you neglect.
You want not wealth, or a successive throne,
Or cities which your arms have made your own: 35
My towns and treasures are at your command,
And stor’d with blooming beauties is my land;
Laurentum more than one Lavinia sees,
Unmarried, fair, of noble families.
Now let me speak, and you with patience hear, 40
Things which perhaps may grate a lover’s ear,
But sound advice, proceeding from a heart
Sincerely yours, and free from fraudful art.
The gods, by signs, have manifestly shown,
No prince Italian born should heir my throne: 45
Oft have our augurs, in prediction skill’d,
And oft our priests, a foreign son reveal’d.
Yet, won by worth that cannot be withstood,
Brib’d by my kindness to my kindred blood,
Urg’d by my wife, who would not be denied, 50

[...] Read more

poem by Publius Vergilius Maro
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Orlando Furioso Canto 18

ARGUMENT
Gryphon is venged. Sir Mandricardo goes
In search of Argier's king. Charles wins the fight.
Marphisa Norandino's men o'erthrows.
Due pains Martano's cowardice requite.
A favouring wind Marphisa's gallery blows,
For France with Gryphon bound and many a knight.
The field Medoro and Cloridano tread,
And find their monarch Dardinello dead.

I
High minded lord! your actions evermore
I have with reason lauded, and still laud;
Though I with style inapt, and rustic lore,
You of large portion of your praise defraud:
But, of your many virtues, one before
All others I with heart and tongue applaud,
- That, if each man a gracious audience finds,
No easy faith your equal judgment blinds.

II
Often, to shield the absent one from blame,
I hear you this, or other, thing adduce;
Or him you let, at least, an audience claim,
Where still one ear is open to excuse:
And before dooming men to scaith and shame,
To see and hear them ever is your use;
And ere you judge another, many a day,
And month, and year, your sentence to delay.

III
Had Norandine been with your care endued,
What he by Gryphon did, he had not done.
Profit and fame have from your rule accrued:
A stain more black than pitch he cast upon
His name: through him, his people were pursued
And put to death by Olivero's son;
Who at ten cuts or thrusts, in fury made,
Some thirty dead about the waggon laid.

IV
Whither fear drives, in rout, the others all,
Some scattered here, some there, on every side,
Fill road and field; to gain the city-wall
Some strive, and smothered in the mighty tide,
One on another, in the gateway fall.
Gryphon, all thought of pity laid aside,
Threats not nor speaks, but whirls his sword about,
Well venging on the crowd their every flout.

[...] Read more

poem by Ludovico Ariosto
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Pharsalia - Book VII: The Battle

Ne'er to the summons of the Eternal laws
More slowly Titan rose, nor drave his steeds,
Forced by the sky revolving, up the heaven,
With gloomier presage; wishing to endure
The pangs of ravished light, and dark eclipse;
And drew the mists up, not to feed his flames,
But lest his light upon Thessalian earth
Might fall undimmed.

Pompeius on that morn,
To him the latest day of happy life,
In troubled sleep an empty dream conceived.
For in the watches of the night he heard
Innumerable Romans shout his name
Within his theatre; the benches vied
To raise his fame and place him with the gods;
As once in youth, when victory was won
O'er conquered tribes where swift Iberus flows,
And where Sertorius' armies fought and fled,
The west subdued, with no less majesty
Than if the purple toga graced the car,
He sat triumphant in his pure white gown
A Roman knight, and heard the Senate's cheer.
Perhaps, as ills drew near, his anxious soul,
Shunning the future wooed the happy past;
Or, as is wont, prophetic slumber showed
That which was not to be, by doubtful forms
Misleading; or as envious Fate forbade
Return to Italy, this glimpse of Rome
Kind Fortune gave. Break not his latest sleep,
Ye sentinels; let not the trumpet call
Strike on his ear: for on the morrow's night
Shapes of the battle lost, of death and war
Shall crowd his rest with terrors. Whence shalt thou
The poor man's happiness of sleep regain?
Happy if even in dreams thy Rome could see
Once more her captain! Would the gods had given
To thee and to thy country one day yet
To reap the latest fruit of such a love:
Though sure of fate to come! Thou marchest on
As though by heaven ordained in Rome to die;
She, conscious ever of her prayers for thee
Heard by the gods, deemed not the fates decreed
Such evil destiny, that she should lose
The last sad solace of her Magnus' tomb.
Then young and old had blent their tears for thee,
And child unbidden; women torn their hair
And struck their bosoms as for Brutus dead.
But now no public woe shall greet thy death
As erst thy praise was heard: but men shall grieve

[...] Read more

poem by Marcus Annaeus Lucanus
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Hudibras: Part 1 - Canto III

THE ARGUMENT

The scatter'd rout return and rally,
Surround the place; the Knight does sally,
And is made pris'ner: Then they seize
Th' inchanted fort by storm; release
Crowdero, and put the Squire in's place;
I should have first said Hudibras.

Ah me! what perils do environ
The man that meddles with cold iron!
What plaguy mischiefs and mishaps
Do dog him still with after-claps!
For though dame Fortune seem to smile
And leer upon him for a while,
She'll after shew him, in the nick
Of all his glories, a dog-trick.
This any man may sing or say,
I' th' ditty call'd, What if a Day?
For HUDIBRAS, who thought h' had won
The field, as certain as a gun;
And having routed the whole troop,
With victory was cock a-hoop;
Thinking h' had done enough to purchase
Thanksgiving-day among the Churches,
Wherein his mettle, and brave worth,
Might be explain'd by Holder-forth,
And register'd, by fame eternal,
In deathless pages of diurnal;
Found in few minutes, to his cost,
He did but count without his host;
And that a turn-stile is more certain
Than, in events of war, dame Fortune.

For now the late faint-hearted rout,
O'erthrown, and scatter'd round about,
Chas'd by the horror of their fear
From bloody fray of Knight and Bear,
(All but the dogs, who, in pursuit
Of the Knight's victory, stood to't,
And most ignobly fought to get
The honour of his blood and sweat,)
Seeing the coast was free and clear
O' th' conquer'd and the conqueror,
Took heart again, and fac'd about,
As if they meant to stand it out:
For by this time the routed Bear,
Attack'd by th' enemy i' th' rear,
Finding their number grew too great
For him to make a safe retreat,

[...] Read more

poem by Samuel Butler
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Beowulf

LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings
of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,
we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!
Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,
from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,
awing the earls. Since erst he lay
friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:
for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,
till before him the folk, both far and near,
who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,
gave him gifts: a good king he!
To him an heir was afterward born,
a son in his halls, whom heaven sent
to favor the folk, feeling their woe
that erst they had lacked an earl for leader
so long a while; the Lord endowed him,
the Wielder of Wonder, with world's renown.
Famed was this Beowulf: far flew the boast of him,
son of Scyld, in the Scandian lands.
So becomes it a youth to quit him well
with his father's friends, by fee and gift,
that to aid him, aged, in after days,
come warriors willing, should war draw nigh,
liegemen loyal: by lauded deeds
shall an earl have honor in every clan.
Forth he fared at the fated moment,
sturdy Scyld to the shelter of God.
Then they bore him over to ocean's billow,
loving clansmen, as late he charged them,
while wielded words the winsome Scyld,
the leader beloved who long had ruled….
In the roadstead rocked a ring-dight vessel,
ice-flecked, outbound, atheling's barge:
there laid they down their darling lord
on the breast of the boat, the breaker-of-rings,
by the mast the mighty one. Many a treasure
fetched from far was freighted with him.
No ship have I known so nobly dight
with weapons of war and weeds of battle,
with breastplate and blade: on his bosom lay
a heaped hoard that hence should go
far o'er the flood with him floating away.
No less these loaded the lordly gifts,
thanes' huge treasure, than those had done
who in former time forth had sent him
sole on the seas, a suckling child.
High o'er his head they hoist the standard,
a gold-wove banner; let billows take him,
gave him to ocean. Grave were their spirits,
mournful their mood. No man is able

[...] Read more

poem by Charles Baudelaire
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Orlando Furioso Canto 16

ARGUMENT
Gryphon finds traitorous Origilla nigh
Damascus city, with Martano vile.
Slaughtered the Saracens and Christians lie
By thousands and by thousands heaped this while;
And if the Moor outside of Paris die,
Within the Sarzan so destroys each pile,
Such slaughter deals, that greater ill than this
Never before has been exprest, I wiss.

I
Love's penalties are manifold and dread:
Of which I have endured the greater part,
And, to my cost, in these so well am read,
That I can speak of them as 'twere my art.
Hence if I say, or if I ever said,
(Did speech or living page my thoughts impart)
'One ill is grievous and another light.'
Yield me belief, and deem my judgment right.

II
I say, I said, and, while I live, will say,
'He, who is fettered by a worthy chain,
Though his desire his lady should gainsay,
And, every way averse, his suit disdain;
Though Love deprive him of all praised pay,
After long time and trouble spent in vain,
He, if his heart be placed well worthily,
Needs not lament though he should waste and die.'

III
Let him lament, who plays a slavish part,
Whom two bright eyes and lovely tresses please:
Beneath which beauties lurks a wanton heart
With little that is pure, and much of lees.
The wretch would fly; but bears in him a dart,
Like wounded stag, whichever way he flees;
Dares not confess, yet cannot quench, his flame,
And of himself and worthless love has shame.

IV
The youthful Gryphon finds him in this case,
Who sees the error which he cannot right;
He sees how vilely he his heart does place
On faithless Origille, his vain delight:
Yet evil use doth sovereign reason chase,
And free will is subdued by appetite.
Though a foul mind the lady's actions speak,
Her, wheresoe'er she is, must Gryphon seek.

[...] Read more

poem by Ludovico Ariosto
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Third Monarchy, being the Grecian, beginning under Alexander the Great in the 112. Olympiad.

Great Alexander was wise Philips son,
He to Amyntas, Kings of Macedon;
The cruel proud Olympias was his Mother,
She to Epirus warlike King was daughter.
This Prince (his father by Pausanias slain)
The twenty first of's age began to reign.
Great were the Gifts of nature which he had,
His education much to those did adde:
By art and nature both he was made fit,
To 'complish that which long before was writ.
The very day of his Nativity
To ground was burnt Dianaes Temple high:
An Omen to their near approaching woe,
Whose glory to the earth this king did throw.
His Rule to Greece he scorn'd should be confin'd,
The Universe scarce bound his proud vast mind.
This is the He-Goat which from Grecia came,
That ran in Choler on the Persian Ram,
That brake his horns, that threw him on the ground
To save him from his might no man was found:
Philip on this great Conquest had an eye,
But death did terminate those thoughts so high.
The Greeks had chose him Captain General,
Which honour to his Son did now befall.
(For as Worlds Monarch now we speak not on,
But as the King of little Macedon)
Restless both day and night his heart then was,
His high resolves which way to bring to pass;
Yet for a while in Greece is forc'd to stay,
Which makes each moment seem more then a day.
Thebes and stiff Athens both 'gainst him rebel,
Their mutinies by valour doth he quell.
This done against both right and natures Laws,
His kinsmen put to death, who gave no cause;
That no rebellion in in his absence be,
Nor making Title unto Sovereignty.
And all whom he suspects or fears will climbe,
Now taste of death least they deserv'd in time,
Nor wonder is t if he in blood begin,
For Cruelty was his parental sin,
Thus eased now of troubles and of fears,
Next spring his course to Asia he steers;
Leavs Sage Antipater, at home to sway,
And through the Hellispont his Ships made way.
Coming to Land, his dart on shore he throws,
Then with alacrity he after goes;
And with a bount'ous heart and courage brave,
His little wealth among his Souldiers gave.
And being ask'd what for himself was left,
Reply'd, enough, sith only hope he kept.

[...] Read more

poem by Anne Bradstreet
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Orlando Furioso Canto 17

ARGUMENT
Charles goes, with his, against King Rodomont.
Gryphon in Norandino's tournament
Does mighty deeds; Martano turns his front,
Showing how recreant is his natural bent;
And next, on Gryphon to bring down affront,
Stole from the knight the arms in which he went;
Hence by the kindly monarch much esteemed,
And Gryphon scorned, whom he Martano deemed.

I
God, outraged by our rank iniquity,
Whenever crimes have past remission's bound,
That mercy may with justice mingled be,
Has monstrous and destructive tyrants crowned;
And gifted them with force and subtlety,
A sinful world to punish and confound.
Marius and Sylla to this end were nursed,
Rome with two Neros and a Caius cursed;

II
Domitian and the latter Antonine;
And, lifted from the lowest rabble's lees,
To imperial place and puissance, Maximine:
Hence Thebes to cruel Creon bent her knees,
Mezentius ruled the subject Agiline,
Fattening his fields with blood. To pests like these
Our Italy was given in later day,
To Lombard, Goth, and Hun a bleeding prey.

III
What shall I of fierce Attila, what say
Of wicked Ezzeline, and hundreds more?
Whom, because men still trod the crooked way,
God sent them for their pain and torment sore.
Of this ourselves have made a clear assay,
As well as those who lived in days of yore;
Consigned to ravening wolves, ordained to keep
Us, his ill-nurturing and unuseful sheep;

IV
Who, as if having more than served to fill
Their hungry maw, invite from foreign wood
Beyond the mountain, wolves of greedier will,
With them to be partakers of their food.
The bones which Thrasymene and Trebbia fill,
And Cannae, seem but few to what are strewed
On fattened field and bank, where on their way
Adda and Mella, Ronco and Tarro stray.

[...] Read more

poem by Ludovico Ariosto
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Aeneid of Virgil: Book 11

SCARCE had the rosy Morning rais’d her head
Above the waves, and left her wat’ry bed;
The pious chief, whom double cares attend
For his unburied soldiers and his friend,
Yet first to Heav’n perform’d a victor’s vows: 5
He bar’d an ancient oak of all her boughs;
Then on a rising ground the trunk he plac’d,
Which with the spoils of his dead foe he grac’d.
The coat of arms by proud Mezentius worn,
Now on a naked snag in triumph borne, 10
Was hung on high, and glitter’d from afar,
A trophy sacred to the God of War.
Above his arms, fix’d on the leafless wood,
Appear’d his plumy crest, besmear’d with blood:
His brazen buckler on the left was seen; 15
Truncheons of shiver’d lances hung between;
And on the right was placed his corslet, bor’d;
And to the neck was tied his unavailing sword.
A crowd of chiefs inclose the godlike man,
Who thus, conspicuous in the midst, began: 20
“Our toils, my friends, are crown’d with sure success;
The greater part perform’d, achieve the less.
Now follow cheerful to the trembling town;
Press but an entrance, and presume it won.
Fear is no more, for fierce Mezentius lies, 25
As the first fruits of war, a sacrifice.
Turnus shall fall extended on the plain,
And, in this omen, is already slain.
Prepar’d in arms, pursue your happy chance;
That none unwarn’d may plead his ignorance, 30
And I, at Heav’n’s appointed hour, may find
Your warlike ensigns waving in the wind.
Meantime the rites and fun’ral pomps prepare,
Due to your dead companions of the war:
The last respect the living can bestow, 35
To shield their shadows from contempt below.
That conquer’d earth be theirs, for which they fought,
And which for us with their own blood they bought;
But first the corpse of our unhappy friend
To the sad city of Evander send, 40
Who, not inglorious, in his age’s bloom,
Was hurried hence by too severe a doom.”
Thus, weeping while he spoke, he took his way,
Where, new in death, lamented Pallas lay.
Acoetes watch’d the corpse; whose youth deserv’d 45
The father’s trust; and now the son he serv’d
With equal faith, but less auspicious care.
Th’ attendants of the slain his sorrow share.
A troop of Trojans mix’d with these appear,
And mourning matrons with dishevel’d hair. 50

[...] Read more

poem by Publius Vergilius Maro
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Orlando Furioso Canto 19

ARGUMENT
Medoro, by Angelica's quaint hand,
Is healed, and weds, and bears her to Catay.
At length Marphisa, with the chosen band,
After long suffering, makes Laiazzi's bay.
Guido the savage, bondsman in the land,
Which impious women rule with civil sway,
With Marphisa strives in single fight,
And lodges her and hers at full of night.

I
By whom he is beloved can no one know,
Who on the top of Fortune's wheel is seated;
Since he, by true and faithless friends, with show
Of equal faith, in glad estate is greeted.
But, should felicity be changed to woe,
The flattering multitude is turned and fleeted!
While he who loves his master from his heart,
Even after death performs his faithful part.

II
Were the heart seen as is the outward cheer,
He who at court is held in sovereign grace,
And he that to his lord is little dear,
With parts reversed, would fill each other's place;
The humble man the greater would appear,
And he, now first, be hindmost in the race.
But be Medoro's faithful story said,
The youth who loved his lord, alive or dead.

III
The closest path, amid the forest gray,
To save himself, pursued the youth forlorn;
But all his schemes were marred by the delay
Of that sore weight upon his shoulders born.
The place he knew not, and mistook the way,
And hid himself again in sheltering thorn.
Secure and distant was his mate, that through
The greenwood shade with lighter shoulders flew.

IV
So far was Cloridan advanced before,
He heard the boy no longer in the wind;
But when he marked the absence of Medore,
It seemed as if his heart was left behind.
'Ah! how was I so negligent,' (the Moor
Exclaimed) 'so far beside myself, and blind,
That I, Medoro, should without thee fare,
Nor know when I deserted thee or where?'

[...] Read more

poem by Ludovico Ariosto
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Pharsalia - Book IV: Caesar In Spain. War In The Adriatic Sea. Death Of Curio.

But in the distant regions of the earth
Fierce Caesar warring, though in fight he dealt
No baneful slaughter, hastened on the doom
To swift fulfillment. There on Magnus' side
Afranius and Petreius held command,
Who ruled alternate, and the rampart guard
Obeyed the standard of each chief in turn.
There with the Romans in the camp were joined
Asturians swift, and Vettons lightly armed,
And Celts who, exiled from their ancient home,
Had joined 'Iberus' to their former name.
Where the rich soil in gentle slope ascends
And forms a modest hill, Ilerda stands,
Founded in ancient days; beside her glides
Not least of western rivers, Sicoris
Of placid current, by a mighty arch
Of stone o'erspanned, which not the winter floods
Shall overwhelm. Upon a rock hard by
Was Magnus' camp; but Caesar's on a hill,
Rivalling the first; and in the midst a stream.
Here boundless plains are spread beyond the range
Of human vision; Cinga girds them in
With greedy waves; forbidden to contend
With tides of ocean; for that larger flood
Who names the land, Iberus, sweeps along
The lesser stream commingled with his own.

Guiltless of war, the first day saw the hosts
In long array confronted; standard rose
Opposing standard, numberless; yet none
Essayed attack, in shame of impious strife.
One day they gave their country and her laws.
But Caesar, when from heaven fell the night,
Drew round a hasty trench; his foremost rank
With close array concealing those who wrought.
Then with the morn he bids them seize the hill
Which parted from the camp Ilerda's walls,
And gave them safety. But in fear and shame
On rushed the foe and seized the vantage ground,
First in the onset. From the height they held
Their hopes of conquest; but to Caesar's men
Their hearts by courage stirred, and their good swords
Promised the victory. Burdened up the ridge
The soldier climbed, and from the opposing steep
But for his comrade's shield had fallen back;
None had the space to hurl the quivering lance
Upon the foeman: spear and pike made sure
The failing foothold, and the falchion's edge
Hewed out their upward path. But Caesar saw
Ruin impending, and he bade his horse

[...] Read more

poem by Marcus Annaeus Lucanus
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

XI. Guido

You are the Cardinal Acciaiuoli, and you,
Abate Panciatichi—two good Tuscan names:
Acciaiuoli—ah, your ancestor it was
Built the huge battlemented convent-block
Over the little forky flashing Greve
That takes the quick turn at the foot o' the hill
Just as one first sees Florence: oh those days!
'T is Ema, though, the other rivulet,
The one-arched brown brick bridge yawns over,—yes,
Gallop and go five minutes, and you gain
The Roman Gate from where the Ema's bridged:
Kingfishers fly there: how I see the bend
O'erturreted by Certosa which he built,
That Senescal (we styled him) of your House!
I do adjure you, help me, Sirs! My blood
Comes from as far a source: ought it to end
This way, by leakage through their scaffold-planks
Into Rome's sink where her red refuse runs?
Sirs, I beseech you by blood-sympathy,
If there be any vile experiment
In the air,—if this your visit simply prove,
When all's done, just a well-intentioned trick,
That tries for truth truer than truth itself,
By startling up a man, ere break of day,
To tell him he must die at sunset,—pshaw!
That man's a Franceschini; feel his pulse,
Laugh at your folly, and let's all go sleep!
You have my last word,—innocent am I
As Innocent my Pope and murderer,
Innocent as a babe, as Mary's own,
As Mary's self,—I said, say and repeat,—
And why, then, should I die twelve hours hence? I—
Whom, not twelve hours ago, the gaoler bade
Turn to my straw-truss, settle and sleep sound
That I might wake the sooner, promptlier pay
His due of meat-and-drink-indulgence, cross
His palm with fee of the good-hand, beside,
As gallants use who go at large again!
For why? All honest Rome approved my part;
Whoever owned wife, sister, daughter,—nay,
Mistress,—had any shadow of any right
That looks like right, and, all the more resolved,
Held it with tooth and nail,—these manly men
Approved! I being for Rome, Rome was for me.
Then, there's the point reserved, the subterfuge
My lawyers held by, kept for last resource,
Firm should all else,—the impossible fancy!—fail,
And sneaking burgess-spirit win the day.
The knaves! One plea at least would hold,—they laughed,—
One grappling-iron scratch the bottom-rock

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Lara. A Tale

The Serfs are glad through Lara's wide domain,
And slavery half forgets her feudal chain;
He, their unhoped, but unforgotten lord--
The long self-exiled chieftain is restored:
There be bright faces in the busy hall,
Bowls on the board, and banners on the wall;
Far chequering o'er the pictured window, plays
The unwonted fagots' hospitable blaze;
And gay retainers gather round the hearth,
With tongues all loudness, and with eyes all mirth.

II.
The chief of Lara is return'd again:
And why had Lara cross'd the bounding main?
Left by his sire, too young such loss to know,
Lord of himself;--that heritage of woe,
That fearful empire which the human breast
But holds to rob the heart within of rest!--
With none to check, and few to point in time
The thousand paths that slope the way to crime;
Then, when he most required commandment, then
Had Lara's daring boyhood govern'd men.
It skills not, boots not, step by step to trace
His youth through all the mazes of its race;
Short was the course his restlessness had run,
But long enough to leave him half undone.

III.
And Lara left in youth his fatherland;
But from the hour he waved his parting hand
Each trace wax'd fainter of his course, till all
Had nearly ceased his memory to recall.
His sire was dust, his vassals could declare,
'Twas all they knew, that Lara was not there;
Nor sent, nor came he, till conjecture grew
Cold in the many, anxious in the few.
His hall scarce echoes with his wonted name,
His portrait darkens in its fading frame,
Another chief consoled his destined bride,
The young forgot him, and the old had died;
'Yet doth he live!' exclaims the impatient heir,
And sighs for sables which he must not wear.
A hundred scutcheons deck with gloomy grace
The Laras' last and longest dwelling-place;
But one is absent from the mouldering file,
That now were welcome to that Gothic pile.

IV.
He comes at last in sudden loneliness,
And whence they know not, why they need not guess;

[...] Read more

poem by Byron
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Iliad: Book 11

And now as Dawn rose from her couch beside Tithonus, harbinger of
light alike to mortals and immortals, Jove sent fierce Discord with
the ensign of war in her hands to the ships of the Achaeans. She
took her stand by the huge black hull of Ulysses' ship which was
middlemost of all, so that her voice might carry farthest on either
side, on the one hand towards the tents of Ajax son of Telamon, and on
the other towards those of Achilles- for these two heroes,
well-assured of their own strength, had valorously drawn up their
ships at the two ends of the line. There she took her stand, and
raised a cry both loud and shrill that filled the Achaeans with
courage, giving them heart to fight resolutely and with all their
might, so that they had rather stay there and do battle than go home
in their ships.
The son of Atreus shouted aloud and bade the Argives gird themselves
for battle while he put on his armour. First he girded his goodly
greaves about his legs, making them fast with ankle clasps of
silver; and about his chest he set the breastplate which Cinyras had
once given him as a guest-gift. It had been noised abroad as far as
Cyprus that the Achaeans were about to sail for Troy, and therefore he
gave it to the king. It had ten courses of dark cyanus, twelve of
gold, and ten of tin. There were serpents of cyanus that reared
themselves up towards the neck, three upon either side, like the
rainbows which the son of Saturn has set in heaven as a sign to mortal
men. About his shoulders he threw his sword, studded with bosses of
gold; and the scabbard was of silver with a chain of gold wherewith to
hang it. He took moreover the richly-dight shield that covered his
body when he was in battle- fair to see, with ten circles of bronze
running all round see, wit it. On the body of the shield there were
twenty bosses of white tin, with another of dark cyanus in the middle:
this last was made to show a Gorgon's head, fierce and grim, with Rout
and Panic on either side. The band for the arm to go through was of
silver, on which there was a writhing snake of cyanus with three heads
that sprang from a single neck, and went in and out among one another.
On his head Agamemnon set a helmet, with a peak before and behind, and
four plumes of horse-hair that nodded menacingly above it; then he
grasped two redoubtable bronze-shod spears, and the gleam of his
armour shot from him as a flame into the firmament, while Juno and
Minerva thundered in honour of the king of rich Mycene.
Every man now left his horses in charge of his charioteer to hold
them in readiness by the trench, while he went into battle on foot
clad in full armour, and a mighty uproar rose on high into the
dawning. The chiefs were armed and at the trench before the horses got
there, but these came up presently. The son of Saturn sent a portent
of evil sound about their host, and the dew fell red with blood, for
he was about to send many a brave man hurrying down to Hades.
The Trojans, on the other side upon the rising slope of the plain,
were gathered round great Hector, noble Polydamas, Aeneas who was
honoured by the Trojans like an immortal, and the three sons of
Antenor, Polybus, Agenor, and young Acamas beauteous as a god.
Hector's round shield showed in the front rank, and as some baneful

[...] Read more

poem by Homer, translated by Samuel Butler
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Lara

LARA. [1]

CANTO THE FIRST.

I.

The Serfs are glad through Lara's wide domain, [2]
And slavery half forgets her feudal chain;
He, their unhoped, but unforgotten lord —
The long self-exiled chieftain is restored:
There be bright faces in the busy hall,
Bowls on the board, and banners on the wall;
Far chequering o'er the pictured window, plays
The unwonted fagots' hospitable blaze;
And gay retainers gather round the hearth,
With tongues all loudness, and with eyes all mirth.

II.

The chief of Lara is return'd again:
And why had Lara cross'd the bounding main?
Left by his sire, too young such loss to know,
Lord of himself; — that heritage of woe,
That fearful empire which the human breast
But holds to rob the heart within of rest! —
With none to check, and few to point in time
The thousand paths that slope the way to crime;
Then, when he most required commandment, then
Had Lara's daring boyhood govern'd men.
It skills not, boots not, step by step to trace
His youth through all the mazes of its race;
Short was the course his restlessness had run,
But long enough to leave him half undone.

III.

And Lara left in youth his fatherland;
But from the hour he waved his parting hand
Each trace wax'd fainter of his course, till all
Had nearly ceased his memory to recall.
His sire was dust, his vassals could declare,
'Twas all they knew, that Lara was not there;
Nor sent, nor came he, till conjecture grew
Cold in the many, anxious in the few.
His hall scarce echoes with his wonted name,
His portrait darkens in its fading frame,
Another chief consoled his destined bride,
The young forgot him, and the old had died;
"Yet doth he live!" exclaims the impatient heir,
And sighs for sables which he must not wear.

[...] Read more

poem by Byron
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Vida's Game Of Chess

TRANSLATED

ARMIES of box that sportively engage
And mimic real battles in their rage,
Pleased I recount; how, smit with glory's charms,
Two mighty Monarchs met in adverse arms,
Sable and white; assist me to explore,
Ye Serian Nymphs, what ne'er was sung before.
No path appears: yet resolute I stray
Where youth undaunted bids me force my way.
O'er rocks and cliffs while I the task pursue,
Guide me, ye Nymphs, with your unerring clue.
For you the rise of this diversion know,
You first were pleased in Italy to show
This studious sport; from Scacchis was its name,
The pleasing record of your Sister's fame.

When Jove through Ethiopia's parch'd extent
To grace the nuptials of old Ocean went,
Each god was there; and mirth and joy around
To shores remote diffused their happy sound.
Then when their hunger and their thirst no more
Claim'd their attention, and the feast was o'er;
Ocean with pastime to divert the thought,
Commands a painted table to be brought.
Sixty-four spaces fill the chequer'd square;
Eight in each rank eight equal limits share.
Alike their form, but different are their dyes,
They fade alternate, and alternate rise,
White after black; such various stains as those
The shelving backs of tortoises disclose.
Then to the gods that mute and wondering sate,
You see (says he) the field prepared for fate.
Here will the little armies please your sight,
With adverse colours hurrying to the fight:
On which so oft, with silent sweet surprise,
The Nymphs and Nereids used to feast their eyes,
And all the neighbours of the hoary deep,
When calm the sea, and winds were lull'd asleep
But see, the mimic heroes tread the board;
He said, and straightway from an urn he pour'd
The sculptured box, that neatly seem'd to ape
The graceful figure of a human shape:--
Equal the strength and number of each foe,
Sixteen appear'd like jet, sixteen like snow.
As their shape varies various is the name,
Different their posts, nor is their strength the same.
There might you see two Kings with equal pride
Gird on their arms, their Consorts by their side;
Here the Foot-warriors glowing after fame,

[...] Read more

poem by Oliver Goldsmith
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Pharsalia - Book III: Massilia

With canvas yielding to the western wind
The navy sailed the deep, and every eye
Gazed on Ionian billows. But the chief
Turned not his vision from his native shore
Now left for ever, while the morning mists
Drew down upon the mountains, and the cliffs
Faded in distance till his aching sight
No longer knew them. Then his wearied frame
Sank in the arms of sleep. But Julia's shape,
In mournful guise, dread horror on her brow,
Rose through the gaping earth, and from her tomb
Erect, in form as of a Fury spake:
'Driven from Elysian fields and from the plains
The blest inhabit, when the war began,
I dwell in Stygian darkness where abide
The souls of all the guilty. There I saw
Th' Eumenides with torches in their hands
Prepared against thy battles; and the fleets
Which by the ferryman of the flaming stream
Were made to bear thy dead: while Hell itself
Relaxed its punishments; the sisters three
With busy fingers all their needful task
Could scarce accomplish, and the threads of fate
Dropped from their weary hands. With me thy wife,
Thou, Magnus, leddest happy triumphs home:
New wedlock brings new luck. Thy concubine,
Whose star brings all her mighty husbands ill,
Cornelia, weds in thee a breathing tomb.
Through wars and oceans let her cling to thee
So long as I may break thy nightly rest:
No moment left thee for her love, but all
By night to me, by day to Caesar given.
Me not the oblivious banks of Lethe's stream
Have made forgetful; and the kings of death
Have suffered me to join thee; in mid fight
I will be with thee, and my haunting ghost
Remind thee Caesar's daughter was thy spouse.
Thy sword kills not our pledges; civil war
Shall make thee wholly mine.' She spake and fled.
But he, though heaven and hell thus bode defeat,
More bent on war, with mind assured of ill,
'Why dread vain phantoms of a dreaming brain?
Or nought of sense and feeling to the soul
Is left by death; or death itself is nought.'

Now fiery Titan in declining path
Dipped to the waves, his bright circumference
So much diminished as a growing moon
Not yet full circled, or when past the full;
When to the fleet a hospitable coast

[...] Read more

poem by Marcus Annaeus Lucanus
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!