Charles Cowden Clarke

“ But say, who are ye, who are thus boldly fighting here, as if in the actual lists, without judge or other officer?'
To whom Palamon answered hastily:—'Sir, there need few words. We have both deserved death: we are two unfortunate wretches burthened with our lives; as, therefore, you are a just judge, grant us neither refuge nor mercy. Slay me first, but let him follow—or rather let him first die; for, though you little know it, this is Arcite your mortal foe, whom you banished from Athens: this, his return, alone, merits death. ”

“ Love is itself a higher law than any framed by man!" All decrees, therefore, however stern, are daily broken in favour of the more positive commands of love. Whether maiden or widow, a man must needs love in spite of his head; he not help himself. There is no likelihood that you, any more than myself, shall ever stand in her favour; seeing that we are condemned to perpetual imprisonment without hope of ransom. We are but like the two hounds striving for a bone ”

“ Then came the mourner Palamon, with dishevelled hair and beard, in a black suit bedropped with his tears, and, excepting Emily, the ruefullest of the train.
After these came three steeds, caparisoned with glittering steel, adorned with the arms of Arcite. Their riders bore his shield, his spear, and his bow, the case and furniture of which were of burnished gold. They rode forth towards the grove at a solemn pace. The bier was supported upon the shoulders of the noblest Greeks; and the great street of the city through which they passed was hung with black. ”

“ The figure of the goddess, glorious to behold, was seen naked floating in the wide sea: half her form hidden by the bright green waves. In her hand she bore a harp, and on her head a fresh garland of roses: above it were her doves hovering. Before her stood her son Cupid, winged and hoodwinked. He carried a bow with bright and keen arrows.
The interior of the mighty Mars' temple was painted like the famous one in Thrace, that frosty region where the god holds his chief dwelling. ”

“ The wonders he achieves proclaim him a God, for he makes all hearts subservient to his will. This Palamon and Arcite, who had wholly escaped from my prison, have lived here, in Athens, knowing me to be their mortal enemy, and that their lives were in my power; yet hath love, in spite of their heads, brought them both here to die. Who but a fool would be in love? ”

“ They are like Friday, which seldom resembles the other days in the week—now rain, now shine. So the Goddess of Love overcasts the hearts of her worshippers, and makes them as variable as the complexion of the day devoted to her worship. ”

“ When this gentle conqueror heard them so speak, his heart ached to think that those who were then before him in such a plight had been persons of high estate; so, leaping from his horse, he went and raised them from the ground, bidding them be comforted, for that upon the oath of a true knight he would so avenge them upon the tyrant Creon, that all Greece should acknowledge the deserved death he would receive from the hand of Theseus. ”

“ At sunrise Emily arose, and attended by her maidens, went forth to the Temple of Diana; taking with them the fire, and the incense, the garments, and the horns of mead fit to perform sacrifice. The preparation for the holy ceremony, by the purifying of her body at a well-spring, being attended to, and the sacred place being fumed with odorous gums, the maiden princess (gentle and debonair of heart) having her head crowned with a garland of oak, and her bright hair untressed, and flowing down her back, proceeded to kindle two fires on the altar. ”

“ Who was now light of heart, but Palamon? who bounded for joy but Arcite? and who can describe the rejoicings which were made when Theseus granted this fair favour? All, as well as the two Thebans, went on their knees and thanked him with grateful hearts. And so blithely the Knights took leave, and rode homeward towards old Thebes.
I must not omit to recount the great expense at which Theseus erected the lists. A nobler theatre I may say the world never beheld. It was a full mile in circuit, walled with stone, and without the wall ran a moat. ”

“ When Palamon heard these words he turned upon him fiercely, and answered, 'Is this said in soberness or in jest?'
'Seriously by my truth,' said Arcite, 'or evil befall me.'
'Then,' replied Palamon, knitting his brows, 'it were no great honour to you to be false, and a traitor to me, your cousin and brother, who have so deeply sworn to each other, that nothing but death should separate us, and dissolve the pledge: that neither in love nor in any event we should cross each other ”

“ It so happened that in one heap they found, grievously wounded, two young knights lying side by side, both dressed in the same armour, which was richly wrought. Palamon was the name of one knight, and Arcite that of the other. The heralds recognised them as members of the royal family of Thebes; they were sons of two sisters. The plunderers drew them forth from the heaps of the slain, and bore them tenderly to the tent of Theseus, who soon had them conveyed to Athens, and strictly confined in prison, rejecting every offer that was proposed for their ransom. ”

“ He thought that every man will, if possible, help himself in love; and that he will seize the chance of escape from prison. Moreover, he had compassion on the weeping women, and he concluded that it were a shame to a lord of gentle heart, who will have no mercy, but still maintains a lion-heart both in word and deed, as well towards him who repents, as to the unrelenting man that stiffly maintains his first determination: he can have little discretion who would confound pride and humility. ”

“ The statue of Mars, armed and of grim aspect, was standing upright in a chariot, and at his feet was a wolf, with fiery eyes, eating the body of a man. And now to finish shortly with the Temple of the chaste Diana. The walls were adorned with deeds of hunting and shamefaced chastity. There was the unfortunate Calistope, whom for wrath Diana changed into a bear, and afterwards she became the polar star. Dane, also, turned to a tree. Acteon, too, changed by Diana to a deer, in punishment for his having seen her naked. His own hounds were worrying him, not knowing that he was their master. ”

“ And now, since fortune has been so adverse to me, that I am to endure the absence from her, while you enjoy her sight, the possibility is, that being an honourable and valiant knight, you may hereafter by some farther favour of fortune, be placed in the full attainment of all you desire, while I am exiled, and barren of her sweet favour. ”

“ Palamon condemned to perpetual imprisonment, loaded with chains and fetters: Arcite exiled evermore from the country where his lady dwelt, and never again to behold her face. I would put the question to you, who are lovers, which of these two had the harder lot; the one who is able to see his lady day by day, yet must ever remain in prison; or the other, who can go whither he pleases, but must never again look upon her whom he loves?
When Arcite returned to Thebes, his loss so pressed upon his heart that he became estranged from sleep and food: he grew lean and hollow-eyed ”

“ But, young or old, man will at one time be a fool. As I have myself, however, in times past, engaged in the same service, and know the sore straits to which one may be brought through love, I here, at the request of my kneeling Queen, and dear sister Emily, wholly acquit you, Knights, of your trespass ”

“ The strongest chargers are overthrown; and men and horses are hurtling together upon the ground, in mad confusion.
Frequently during the conflict the two Thebans encountered; and like wild beasts bereft of their young, or mad with hunger, thirsted for each other's blood. But while they were engaged, the King Emetrius seized hold of Palamon, whose sword had made a bitter wound in Arcite's flesh, and with the strength of twenty men was dragging him to the stake: Licurgus, in rushing to his rescue was borne down ”

“ For, like another beast, man is slain; and pounded in prison, and tormented: he suffers sickness, and great adversity, and often with a guiltless and unupbraiding heart.' Many such impatient complaints did he continue to pour forth; but I must leave him for a time, and give you some tidings of Arcite. ”

“ Then was the bond of marriage drawn up by the council, and Palamon wedded his Emily. Long did he live in bliss, health, and riches; Emily loving him tenderly, and he serving her with so much gentleness, that no word of strife or jealousy was ever heard between them.
So ends the history of Palamon and Arcite; and God save all this fair company.
↑ Friday was devoted to the worship of the Goddess Venus. The Romans entitled it 'The day of Venus'—'Dies Veneris.' ↑ The ancient term 'gentle' was used only to imply high breeding. A gentle knight was a knight of high family. ”

“ The lists, with the temples and theatre being finished at a great cost, I will leave speaking of Theseus for a time, and turn to Palamon and Arcite.
The day draws near for their returning, when each should bring his hundred knights to Athens to try the battle, as I have already said. Those who accompanied Palamon were variously appointed according to their several fancies. Some were clad in a light coat of mail, with a short cassock and breastplate: some in two simple plates of armour, and a shield: others well defended their limbs, and were armed with an axe, or mace of steel. ”

“ When the people had assembled round, a herald commanded silence, and thus signified the royal will.
'To prevent the needless destruction of gentle blood by fighting after the manner of mortal battles, the King decrees that no man, upon pain of death, shall take into the lists any halberd, short sword, or knife; that no one shall ride more than one course, with a sharp spear, against his antagonist; that if he choose, he may defend himself on foot ”