With arms of proof both for myself and thee;
Choose thou the best, and leave the worst to me.
And, that at better ease thou mayst abide,
Bedding and clothes I will this night provide,
And needful sustenance, that thou mayst be
A conquest better won, and worthy me.'
His promise Palamon accepts; but pray'd,
To keep it better than the first he made.
Thus fair they parted till the morrow's dawn;
For each had laid his plighted faith to pawn.
O love! thou sternly dost thy power maintain,
And wilt not bear a rival in thy reign;
Tyrants and thou all fellowship disdain.
This was in Arcite proved and Palamon,
Both in despair, yet each would love alone.
Arcite return'd, and as in honour tied,
His foe with bedding and with food supplied;
Then, ere the day, two suits of armour sought,
Which, borne before him, on his steed he brought :
Both were of shining steel, and wrought so pure,
As might the strokes of two such arms endure.
Now, at the time, and in the appointed place,
The challenger and challenged, face to face
Approach; each other from afar they knew,
And from afar their hatred changed their hue.
So stands the Thracian herdsman with his spear,
Full in the gap, and hopes the hunted bear,
And hears him rustling in the wood, and sees
His course at distance by the bending trees;
And thinks, here comes my mortal enemy,
And either he must fall in fight, or I:
This, while he thinks, he lifts aloft his dart;
A generous chillness seizes every part;
The veins pour back the blood, and fortify the
Thus pale they meet; their eyes with fury burn;
None greets; for none the greeting will return :
But in dumb surliness, each arm'd with care
His foe profess'd, as brother of the war:
Then both, no moment lost, at once advance
Against each other, arm'd with sword and lance:
They lash, they foin, they pass, they strive to bore
Their corslets, and the thinnest parts explore.
Thus, two long hours, in equal arms they stood,
And wounded, wound; till both were bathed in
blood;
And not a foot of ground had either got,
As if the world depended on the spot.
Fell Arcite like an augry tiger fared,
And like a lion Palamon appear'd:
Or as two boars whom love to battle draws,
With rising bristles, and with frothy jaws,
Their adverse breasts with tusks oblique they wound,
With grunts and groans the forest rings around :
So fought the knights, and fighting must abide,
Till fate an umpire sends their difference to decide.
The power that ministers to God's decrees,
And executes on earth what Heaven foresees,
Call'd providence, or chance, or fatal sway,
Comes with resistless force, and finds or makes
her way.
Nor kings nor nations, nor united power,
One moment can retard the appointed hour :
And some one day, some wondrous chance appears,
Which happen'd not in centuries of years:
For sure, whate'er we mortals hate or love,
Or hope or fear, depends on powers above;
They move our appetites to good or ill,
And by foresight, nécessitate the will.
In Theseus this appears; whose youthful joy
Was beasts of chase in forests to destroy :
This gentle knight, inspired by jolly May,
Forsook his easy couch at early day,
And to the woods and wilds pursued his way.
Beside him rode Hippolita, the queen,
And Emily, attired in lively green;
With horns, and hounds, and all the tuneful cry,
To hunt a royal hart within the covert nigh:
And as he follow'd Mars before, so now
He serves the goddess of the silver bow.
The way that Theseus took was to the wood
Where the two knights in cruel battle stood :
The land on which they fought, the appointed place
In which the uncoupled hounds began the chase.
Thither forth-right he rode to rouse the prey,
That shaded by the fern in harbour lay;
And thence dislodged, was wont to leave the wood,
For open fields, and cross the crystal flood.
Approach'd, and looking underneath the sun,
He saw proud Arcite and fierce Palamon
In mortal battle, doubling blow on blow;
Like lightning flamed their falchions to and fro,
And shot a dreadful gleam; so strong they struck,
There seem'd less force required to fell an oak.
He gazed with wonder on their equal might,
Look'd eager on, but knew not either knight:
Resolved to learn, he spur'd his fiery steed
With goring rowels, to provoke his speed.
The minute ended that began the race,
So soon he was betwixt them on the place;
And with his sword unsheathed, on pain of life
Commands both combatants to cease their strife;
Then, with imperious tone, pursues his threat :
'What are you? Why in arms together met?
How dares your pride presume against my laws,
As in a listed field to fight your cause,
Unask'd the royal grant; no marshal by,
As knightly rites require; no judge to try?'
Then Palamon, with scarce recover'd breath,
Thus hasty spoke: We both deserve the death,
And both would die; for look the world around,
A pair so wretched is not to be found.
Our life's a load; encumber'd with the charge,
We long to set the imprison'd soul at large.
Now as thou art a sovereign judge, decree
The rightful doom of death to him and me;
Let neither find thy grace; for grace is cruelty.
Me first! O kill me first! and cure my woe;
Then sheathe the sword of justice on my foe:
Or kill him first; for when his name is heard,
He, foremost, will receive his due reward.
Arcite of Thebes is he! thy mortal foe,
On whom thy grace did liberty bestow;
But first contracted, that if ever found
By day or night upon the Athenian ground,
His head should pay the forfeit: see return'd
The perjured knight, his oath and honour scorn'd!
For this is he, who, with a borrow'd name,
And proffer'd service, to thy palace came,
Now call'd Philostratus: retain'd by thee,
A traitor trusted, and in high degree,
Aspiring to the bed of beauteous Emily.
My part remains :-From Thebes my birth I own,
And call myself the unhappy Palamon.
Think me not like that man, since no disgrace
Can force me to renounce the honour of my
Know me for what I am; I broke thy chain,
Nor promised I thy prisoner to remain :
The love of liberty with life is given,
And life itself the inferior gift of Heaven.
Thus, without crime, I fled; but further know,
I, with this Arcite, am thy mortal foe :
Then give me death, since I thy life pursue,
For safeguard of thyself, death is my due.
More wouldst thou know? I love bright Emily,
And for her sake and in her sight will die :
But kill my rival too; for he no less
Deserves; and I thy righteous doom will bless!
Assured, that what I lose, he never shall possess.'
To this replied the stern Athenian prince,
And sourly smiled, In owning your offence
You judge yourself; and I but keep record
In place of law, while you pronounce the word.
Take your desert, the death you have decreed;
I seal your doom, and ratify the deed.
By Mars, the patron of my arms, you die!"
He said: dumb sorrow seized the standers by.
The queen above the rest, by nature good,
(The pattern form'd of perfect womanhood)
For tender pity wept: when she began,
Through the bright quire the infectious virtue ran.
All dropp'd their tears, ev'n the contended maid;
And thus, among themselves, they softly said:
'What eyes can suffer this unworthy sight?
Two youths of royal blood, renown'd in fight,
The mastership of Heaven in face and mind,
And lovers, far beyond their faithless kind:
See their wide streaming wounds; they neither came
For pride of empire, nor desire of fame :
Kings fight for kingdoms, madmen for applause;
But love for love alone; that crowns the lover's
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