Jerusalem Delivered. Torquato Tasso

"Suppose no weapon can thy valor's pride

       Subdue, that by no force thou may'st be won,

       Admit no steel can hurt or wound thy side,

       And be it Heaven hath thee such favor done:

       'Gainst Famine yet what shield canst thou provide?

       What strength resist? What sleight her wrath can shun?

       Go, shake the spear, and draw thy flaming blade,

       And try if hunger so be weaker made.

      LXXV

       "The inhabitants each pasture and each plain

       Destroyed have, each field to waste is laid,

       In fenced towers bestowed is their grain

       Before thou cam'st this kingdom to invade,

       These horse and foot, how canst them sustain?

       Whence comes thy store? whence thy provision made?

       Thy ships to bring it are, perchance, assigned,

       Oh, that you live so long as please the wind!

      LXXVI

       "Perhaps thy fortune doth control the wind,

       Doth loose or bind their blasts in secret cave,

       The sea, pardie, cruel and deaf by kind,

       Will hear thy call, and still her raging wave:

       But if our armed galleys be assigned

       To aid those ships which Turks and Persians have,

       Say then, what hope is left thy slender fleet?

       Dare flocks of crows, a flight of eagles meet?

      LXXVII

       "My lord, a double conquest must you make,

       If you achieve renown by this emprize:

       For if our fleet your navy chase or take,

       For want of victuals all your camp then dies;

       Of if by land the field you once forsake,

       Then vain by sea were hope of victories.

       Nor could your ships restore your lost estate:

       For steed once stolen, we shut the door too late.

      LXXVIII

       "In this estate, if thou esteemest light

       The proffered kindness of the Egyptian king,

       Then give me leave to say, this oversight

       Beseems thee not, in whom such virtues spring:

       But heavens vouchsafe to guide my mind aright,

       To gentle thoughts, that peace and quiet bring,

       So that poor Asia her complaints may cease,

       And you enjoy your conquests got, in peace.

      LXXIX

       "Nor ye that part in these adventures have,

       Part in his glory, partners in his harms,

       Let not blind Fortune so your minds deceive,

       To stir him more to try these fierce alarms,

       But like the sailor 'scaped from the wave

       From further peril that his person arms

       By staying safe at home, so stay you all,

       Better sit still, men say, than rise to fall."

      LXXX

       This said Aletes: and a murmur rose

       That showed dislike among the Christian peers,

       Their angry gestures with mislike disclose

       How much his speech offends their noble ears.

       Lord Godfrey's eye three times environ goes,

       To view what countenance every warrior bears,

       And lastly on the Egyptian baron stayed,

       To whom the duke thus for his answer said:

      LXXXI

       "Ambassador, full both of threats and praise,

       Thy doubtful message hast thou wisely told,

       And if thy sovereign love us as he says,

       Tell him he sows to reap an hundred fold,

       But where thy talk the coming storm displays

       Of threatened warfare from the Pagans bold:

       To that I answer, as my cousin is,

       In plainest phrase, lest my intent thou miss.

      LXXXII

       "Know, that till now we suffered have much pain,

       By lands and seas, where storms and tempests fall,

       To make the passage easy, safe, and plain

       That leads us to this venerable wall,

       That so we might reward from Heaven obtain,

       And free this town from being longer thrall;

       Nor is it grievous to so good an end

       Our honors, kingdoms, lives and goods to spend.

      LXXXIII

       "Nor hope of praise, nor thirst of worldly good,

       Enticed us to follow this emprise,

       The Heavenly Father keep his sacred brood

       From foul infection of so great a vice:

       But by our zeal aye be that plague withstood,

       Let not those pleasures us to sin entice.

       His grace, his mercy, and his powerful hand

       Will keep us safe from hurt by sea and land.

      LXXXIV

       "This is the spur that makes our coursers run;

       This is our harbor, safe from danger's floods;

       This is our bield, the blustering winds to shun:

       This is our guide, through forests, deserts, woods;

       This is our summer's shade, our winter's sun:

       This is our wealth, our treasure, and our goods:

       This is our engine, towers that overthrows,

       Our spear that hurts, our sword that wounds our foes.

      LXXXV

       "Our courage hence, our hope, our valor springs,

       Not from the trust we have in shield or spear,

       Not from the succors France or Grecia brings,

       On such weak posts we list no buildings rear:

       He can defend us from the power of kings,

       From chance of war, that makes weak hearts to fear;

       He can these hungry troops with manna feed,

       And make the seas land, if we passage need.

      LXXXVI

       "But if our sins us of his help deprive,

       Of his high justice let no mercy fall;

       Yet should our deaths us some contentment give,

       To die, where Christ received his burial,

       So might we die, not envying them that live;

       So would we die, not unrevenged all:

       Nor Turks, nor Christians, if we perish such,

       Have cause to joy, or to complain too much.

      LXXXVII

       "Think not that wars we love, and strife affect,

       Or that we hate sweet peace, or rest denay,