But ever brighter burns and leaps afresh
The flame of jealousy he would put out:
As when a bird, entangled in a mesh
Or lime, in vain will beat its wings about
In frantic efforts; so in feverish
Delusions, tighter yet the Count is caught.
To where the mountain like an archway passed
Across the crystal stream he came at last.
A grotto was thus formed, inside adorned
By ivy tendrils and by vines which traced
Their twisted paths; here from the sun which burned
At noon, the happy pair would lie embraced,
And all around, where'er the gaze was turned,
Their names in lovers' knots they interlaced,
With chalk or charcoal or a pointed knife,
In token of their blissful married life.
Downcast, the Count dismounted here to rest.
As he draws near the entrance to the cave,
Words which Medoro wrote his glance arrest.
Thanking the grotto for the joy it gave,
These sentiments in verse he had expressed
(The letters still a pristine freshness have),
Which in his tongue are more elaborate,
I think, than in our own to translate:
'O happy plants, green grass and limpid stream
O cave so cool and generous of shade,
Wherein Angelica of whom men dream,
To whom so many hopeless suit have paid,
Lay naked in these arms, pressed limb to limb,
Where in sweet dalliance we oft delayed,
Humble Medoro here his tribute pays,
Though he has naught to offer you but praise,
'Begging all lovers who shall pass this way,
Ladies or cavaliers or rustic swains,
Or travellers whom choice or Fortune may
Bring hither, here to ease a while their pains,
To bless these plants, this cave, this stream and say:
"O choir of nymphs sing here your sweetest strains,
O sun and moon shine kindly on this place,
These hallowed precincts let no flocks deface."'
These verses were in Arabic, a tongue
Which the Count knew as if it were his own.
Of those which he had learnt when he was young,
The language of the Arabs had been one.
This saved him much dishonour when among
The Saracens he found himself; but gone
Are all such benefits he e'er might boast.
His knowledge now he rues with bitter cost.
