Since he refixed the Moslem's sway; And gave the guidance of the van To Alp, who well repaid the trust 110 By cities levelled with the dust; And proved, by many a deed of death, And as the fabric sank beneath The shattering shell's volcanic breath, In red and wreathing columns flashed Its earth-stars melted into heaven; Whose clouds that day grew doubly dun, 125 With volumed smoke that slowly grew 130 To one wide sky of sulphurous hue. VII, But not for vengeance, long delayed, The Moslem warriors sternly teach His skill to pierce the promised breach : 135 Within these walls a maid was pent His hope would win, without consent Whose heart refused him in its ire, When Alp, beneath his Christian name, 140 Her virgin hand aspired to claim. In happier mood, and earlier time, While unimpeached for traitorous crime, He glittered through the Carnival; 145 And tuned the softest serenade That e'er on Adria's waters played At midnight to Italian maid. VIII. And Still by the church's bonds unchained : Lanciotto to the Paynim shore, 150 Her wonted smiles were seen to fail, 155 And pensive waxed the maid and pale; More constant at confessional, More rare at masque and festival; Or seen at such, with downcast eyes, Which conquered hearts they ceased to prize: 160 With listless look she seems to gaze; Her voice less lively in the song; Her step, though light, less fleet among 165 IX. Sent by the state to guard the land, (Which, wrested from the Moslem's hand, While Sobieski tamed his pride By Buda's wall and Danube's side, The chiefs of Venice wrung away From Patra to Euboea's bay,) 170 Had fairer form adorned the shore Than she, the matchless stranger, bore. X. The wall is rent, the ruins yawn; 185 And, with to-morrow's earliest dawn, O'er the disjointed mass shall vault The foremost of the fierce assault. XI. "Tis midnight: on the mountain's brown The cold, round moon shines deeply down; Blue roll the waters, blue the sky Spreads like an ocean hung on high, Calm, clear, and azure as the air; 190 195 200 205 |