The miscellaneous works (1739)

The palace in a circling figure rose,
Its lofty bounds a sylvan scene inclose;
Expanded there a beauteous garden lay,
Where never-fading flow'rs their pride display,
A thousand dæmons kept their lodgings round,
Whose arts with endless labyrinths confound
Each passage to the fair enchanted ground.
A hundred gates adorn the stately place,
The chief of which the heroes wond'ring pass:
The folding-doors on golden hinges turn,
With polish'd gold the radiant pillars burn;
But all the dazzling precious metal's cost,
Was in the rich, unvalu'd sculpture lost.

The figures which the spacious portals grace,
With human motion seem to leave their place;
In ev'ry visage, an expressive mind
Th' inimitable artist had design'd,
And life in all their looks and gestures shin'd.
Nor speech was wanting, fancy that supplies;
They breathe and speak, while each consults his eyes.

The story first with Hercules begins;
With virgins seated here he tamely spins:
The god-like man, who hell's strong passage gain'd,
And heav'n, and all its rolling orbs sustain'd,
A spindle wields, and with soft tales beguiles
The flying hours; fond Love stands by and smiles;
His useless club the fair Iole holds,
The lion's rugged skin her tender limbs infolds.

Remote from this a sea its surges rears,
Hoary with foam the azure field appears;
Two warlike fleets advance on either side,
And o'er the waves with equal terror ride:
The flashes which from brandish'd weapons came,
With dreadful splendor all the deep inflame.
Conspicuous far the bright Egyptian queen,
Urging the fierce encounter on is seen:
Antonius here conducts the eastern kings,
The mighty Romans there illustrious Cæsar brings.
As when two floating isles amidst the main,
Push'd on by winds, each other's shock sustain,
And mountains clash with mountains on the wat'ry plain:

With such a force the hostile fleets ingage,
Their thund'ring chiefs oppos'd with equal rage;
While javelins, darts, and flaming torches fly,
And foreign spoils above the waters lie.
To Cæsar now the victory inclines,
The beauteous queen the liquid field resigns;
She flies, nor wou'd the fond Antonius stay,
But madly left the scarce-decided day,
And threw the empire of the world away.
Nor touch'd with fear, nor conquer'd by his foes,
Th' unhappy man the doubtful field foregoes,
But by his love betray'd; yet gen'rous shame
And martial honour oft his thoughts reclaim:
And now he wou'd the fainting fight renew,
And now the charming fugitive pursue;
With her inglorious to the shore he flies,
And careless there, and lost in pleasure lies;
Abandon'd loosely to her fatal charms,
Resolves to soften fate in Cleopatra's arms.

The champions all these costly wonders view,
And thro' the palace now their course pursue:
As wild Meander winds along his shores,
Now sinks, and now his silver wave restores;
Now to the ocean runs in various ways,
And backward now in wanton motion plays;
Such crooked paths, such labyrinths they pass,
As they the dubious structure's windings trace;
And thro' th' uncertain maze they still had err'd,
But the wise Magus' scheme their passage clear'd;
Whence disengag'd, before their ravish'd eyes
The beauteous garden's pleasant prospect lies;

The shining lakes, and moving crystal here,
The flow'rs, and various plants at once appear;
At once a shady vale, and sunny hill,
And groves, and mossy caves the landscape fill;
At once its self the charming scene reveals,
And all its wise contriver's art conceals:
Nor art does copying nature here appear,
But sportive nature imitating her.
The air was mild, and calm the morning breeze,
Which breath'd eternal verdure on the trees;
The trees their branches proudly here display,
With full-ripe fruits, and purple blossoms gay;
Beneath one spreading leaf, a bending twig
Presents the immature and rip'ning fig:
Depending on a loaded branch are seen
The gold, the blushing apple, and the green:
The lofty vines their various clusters show;
Ungrateful those, while these with Nectar flow:
The joyful birds beneath the happy shade,
In guided parts a tuneful concert made.
The whisp'ring winds, and waters murm'ring fall,
With trembling cadence softly answer'd all:
Now ceas'd the birds, the winds and waters high,
In warbling sounds return the harmony;
But falling, now the birds resume their part,
Yet scarce this order seems th' effect of art:
But one with gaudy plumes, among the rest,
And purple bill, superior skill exprest;
Now imitating human words begun,
The sweet, the shrill, the melting note her own:
The wing'd musicians all stood mute to hear,
The winds suspend their murmurs in the air,

And list'ning staid while she her song recites,
Which in alluring strains to love invites:
Her part perform'd, the feather'd chorus round,
Thro' all the groves their glad assent resound.
The pensive doves in sighs their pain reveal,
The whisp'ring trees a passion seem to feel:
The floods, the fields, and lightsome air above
Confess the flame, and gently breathe out love.

Unconquer'd yet the stedfast knights remain,
And all the tempting baits of vice disdain;
But now retir'd beneath a pleasant shade,
The lovers at a distance they survey'd:
Armida seated on the flow'rs they find,
And in her lap Rinaldo's head reclin'd;
Inspiring love, and languishing her air,
Unbound and curling to the winds her hair:
Her careless robes flow with an am'rous grace,
And rosy blushes paint her lovely face.
Fix'd on her charms he fed his wanton fires,
And feeding still increas'd his fierce desires;
Plung'd in licentious pleasures thus he lay,
And melts his life ingloriously away.

At certain times Armida to her cells
Retires to practise her mysterious spells:
The hour was come, she sighs a soft adieu,
And from his arms unwillingly withdrew.
In glitt'ring armour rushing from the wood,
Before him strait the pious heroes stood.
As the fierce steed, for justs and battel bred,
Now useless grown, with herds in pastures fed,

Ranges at large, and lives ignobly free
From former toils; if arms he chance to see,
Or hears from far the trumpet's sprightly sounds,
He neighs aloud, and breaks the flow'ry bounds;
Longs on his back to feel the hardy knight,
Measure the lists, and meet the promis'd fight.
Their sight the brave Rinaldo thus alarm'd,
Recall'd his honour, and his courage warm'd;
Its long inglorious sleep his virtue broke,
And martial ardor sparkled in his look.
When with a friendly scorn Ubaldo held
Before the youth his adamantine shield;
Surpriz'd he meets his own reflection there,
His gaudy robes hung loose, his flowing hair,
Clouds with the rich perfume, and sweetens all the air.
A bright, but useless sword adorns his side;
Asham'd he views this nice fantastic pride,
And, like a man that long in idle dreams
Has lain, deluded to himself he seems:
Enrag'd, the hateful object now he flies,
Confus'd and silent downward bends his eyes,
Half wish'd the cleaving ground might open wide,
Or overwhelming seas his shame wou'd hide.
Ubaldo sees the time, and thus begun,

While fame, while so much glory may be won,
While Asia, while all Europe are in arms,
And shake the universe with loud alarms;
Bertoldo's son alone exempt from fear,
Remains a woman's noble champion here.
What lethargy, what fatal spells controul
Thy vig'rous honour, and unman thy soul?

Come on! the camp, and mighty Godfrey send,
Fortune and victory thy sword attend;
The destin'd hero thou the doubtful war to end:
Conclude the conquest o'er thy pagan foes,
What might can thy resistless arm oppose?

Speechless he stood; and now a decent shame,
And now a gen'rous pride his looks inflame:
He rends the badges of his lewd disgrace,
And flies with horror the detested place.

University of Virginia Library

A description of the enchanted palace and garden of Armida; whither two knights from the Christian camp were come in search of Rinaldo.