And in his hands a naked sword he held: He cheer'd the dogs to follow her who fled,

And vow'd revenge on her devoted head.

As Theodore was born of noble kind, The brutal action rous'd his manly mind; Mov'd with unworthy usage of the maid, He, tho' unarm'd, resolv'd to give her aid. A saplin pine he wrench'd from out the ground,

The readiest weapon that his fury found. 130 Thus furnish'd for offense, he cross'd the way

Betwixt the graceless villain and his prey. The knight came thund'ring on, but, from afar,

Thus in imperious tone forbade the war:
"Cease, Theodore, to proffer vain relief,
Nor stop the vengeance of so just a grief;
But give me leave to seize my destin'd

No more a lover, but a mortal foe,
I seek her life (for love is none below):
As often as my dogs with better speed 180
Arrest her flight, is she to death decreed.
Then with this fatal sword, on which I died,
I pierce her open'd back, or tender side,
And tear that harden'd heart from out her
breast,

Which, with her entrails, makes my hungry hounds a feast.

Nor lies she long, but, as her fates ordain, Springs up to life, and fresh to second

Her heart and bowels thro' her back he drew,

And fed the hounds that help'd him to pursue.
Stern look'd the fiend, as frustrate of his will,
Not half suffic'd, and greedy yet to kill.
And now the soul, expiring thro' the wound,
Had left the body breathless on the ground,
When thus the grisly specter spoke again:
"Behold the fruit of ill-rewarded pain:
As many months as I sustain'd her hate,
So many years is she condemn'd by fate 200
To daily death; and ev'ry several place
Conscious of her disdain, and my disgrace,
Must witness her just punishment, and be
A scene of triumph and revenge to me.
As in this grove I took my last farewell,
As on this very spot of earth I fell,
As Friday saw me die, so she my prey
Becomes ev'n here, on this revolving day."
Thus while he spoke, the virgin from
the ground
Upstarted fresh, already clos'd the wound,
And, unconcern'd for all she felt before,
Precipitates her flight along the shore.
The hellhounds, as ungorg'd with flesh and
blood,

209

Pursue their prey, and seek their wonted

food;

But dreams, he knew, no long impression make,

Tho' strong at first; if vision, to what end,

But such as must his future state portend, His love the damsel, and himself the fiend?

But yet reflecting that it could not be From Heav'n, which cannot impious acts decree,

Resolv'd within himself to shun the snare
Which Hell for his destruction did prepare;
And, as his better genius should direct,
From an ill cause to draw a good effect. 230
Inspir'd from Heav'n, he homeward took
his way,

Nor pall'd his new design with long delay;
But of his train a trusty servant sent,
To call his friends together at his tent.
They came, and, usual salutations paid,
With words premeditated thus he said:
"What you have often counsel'd, to remove
My vain pursuit of unregarded love,
By thrift my sinking fortune to repair,
Tho' late, yet is at last become my care: 240
My heart shall be my own; my vast ex-

The fiend's alarm began; the hollow sound

Sung in the leaves, the forest shook around,

Air blacken'd, roll'd the thunder, groan'd the ground.

Nor long before the loud laments arise Of one distress'd, and mastiffs' mingled cries;

And first the dame came rushing thro' the wood,

And next the famish'd hounds that sought their food,

270

And grip'd her flanks, and oft essay'd their jaws in blood,

Last came the felon, on the sable steed, Arm'd with his naked sword, and urg'd his dogs to speed.

She ran, and cried; her flight directly bent

(A guest unbidden) to the fatal tent, The scene of death, and place ordain'd for punishment.

Loud was the noise, aghast was every guest; The women shriek'd, the men forsook the feast;

The hounds at nearer distance hoarsely

bay'd;