The Triumph Of Chastity
THE TRIUMPH OF CHASTITY.
Quando ad un giogo ed in Un tempo quivi.
When to one yoke at once I saw the heightOf gods and men subdued by Cupid's might,I took example from their cruel fate,And by their sufferings eased my own hard state;Since Phœbus and Leander felt like pain,The one a god, the other but a man;One snare caught Juno and the Carthage dame(Her husband's death prepared her funeral flame—'Twas not a cause that Virgil maketh one);I need not grieve, that unprepared, alone,Unarm'd, and young, I did receive a wound,Or that my enemy no hurt hath foundBy Love; or that she clothed him in my sight,And took his wings, and marr'd his winding flight;No angry lions send more hideous noiseFrom their beat breasts, nor clashing thunder's voiceRends heaven, frights earth, and roareth through the airWith greater force than Love had raised, to dareEncounter her of whom I write; and sheAs quick and ready to assail as he:Enceladus when Etna most he shakes,Nor angry Scylla, nor Charybdis makesSo great and frightful noise, as did the shockOf this (first doubtful) battle: none could mock[Pg 362]Such earnest war; all drew them to the heightTo see what 'mazed their hearts and dimm'd their sight.Victorious Love a threatening dart did showHis right hand held; the other bore a bow,The string of which he drew just by his ear;No leopard could chase a frighted deer(Free, or broke loose) with quicker speed than heMade haste to wound; fire sparkled from his eye.I burn'd, and had a combat in my breast,Glad t' have her company, yet 'twas not best(Methought) to see her lost, but 'tis in vainT' abandon goodness, and of fate complain;Virtue her servants never will forsake,As now 'twas seen, she could resistance make:No fencer ever better warded blow,Nor pilot did to shore more wisely rowTo shun a shelf, than with undaunted powerShe waved the stroke of this sharp conqueror.Mine eyes and heart were watchful to attend,In hope the victory would that way bendIt ever did; and that I might no moreBe barr'd from her; as one whose thoughts beforeHis tongue hath utter'd them you well may seeWrit in his looks; "Oh! if you victor beGreat sir," said I, "let her and me be boundBoth with one yoke; I may be worthy found,And will not set her free, doubt not my faith:"When I beheld her with disdain and wrathSo fill'd, that to relate it would demandA better muse than mine: her virtuous handHad quickly quench'd those gilded fiery dartsWhich, dipp'd in beauty's pleasure, poison hearts.Neither Camilla, nor the warlike hostThat cut their breasts, could so much valour boastNor Cæsar in Pharsalia fought so well,As she 'gainst him who pierceth coats of mail;All her brave virtues arm'd, attended there,(A glorious troop!) and marched pair by pair:Honour and blushes first in rank; the twoReligious virtues make the second row;(By those the other women doth excel);Prudence and Modesty, the twins that dwell[Pg 363]Together, both were lodgèd in her breast:Glory and Perseverance, ever blest:Fair Entertainment, Providence without,Sweet Courtesy, and Pureness round about;Respect of credit, fear of infamy;Grave thoughts in youth; and, what not oft agree,True Chastity and rarest Beauty; theseAll came 'gainst Love, and this the heavens did please,And every generous soul in that full height.He had no power left to bear the weight;A thousand famous prizes hardly gain'dShe took; and thousand glorious palms obtained.Shook from his hands; the fall was not more strangeOf Hannibal, when Fortune pleased to changeHer mind, and on the Roman youth bestowThe favours he enjoy'd; nor was he soAmazed who frighted the Israelitish host—Struck by the Hebrew boy, that quit his boast;Nor Cyrus more astonish'd at the fallThe Jewish widow gave his general:As one that sickens suddenly, and fearsHis life, or as a man ta'en unawaresIn some base act, and doth the finder hate;Just so was he, or in a worse estate:Fear, grief, and shame, and anger, in his faceWere seen: no troubled seas more rage: the placeWhere huge Typhœus groans, nor Etna, whenHer giant sighs, were moved as he was then.I pass by many noble things I see(To write them were too hard a task for me),To her and those that did attend I go:Her armour was a robe more white than snow;And in her hand a shield like his she bareWho slew Medusa; a fair pillar thereOf jasp was next, and with a chain (first wetIn Lethe flood) of jewels fitly set,Diamonds, mix'd with topazes (of old'Twas worn by ladies, now 'tis not) first holdShe caught, then bound him fast; then such revengeShe took as might suffice. My thoughts did changeAnd I, who wish'd him victory before,Was satisfied he now could hurt no more.[Pg 364]I cannot in my rhymes the names containOf blessèd maids that did make up her train;Calliope nor Clio could suffice,Nor all the other seven, for th' enterprise;Yet some I will insert may justly claimPrecedency of others. Lucrece cameOn her right hand; Penelope was by,Those broke his bow, and made his arrows lieSplit on the ground, and pull'd his plumes awayFrom off his wings: after, Virginia,Near her vex'd father, arm'd with wrath and hate.Fury, and iron, and love, he freed the stateAnd her from slavery, with a manly blow;Next were those barbarous women, who could showThey judged it better die than suffer wrongTo their rude chastity; the wise and strong—The chaste Hebræan Judith follow'd these;The Greek that saved her honour in the seas;With these and other famous souls I seeHer triumph over him who used to beMaster of all the world: among the restThe vestal nun I spied, who was so bless'dAs by a wonder to preserve her fame;Next came Hersilia, the Roman dame(Or Sabine rather), with her valorous train,Who prove all slanders on that sex are vain.Then, 'mongst the foreign ladies, she whose faithT' her husband (not Æneas) caused her death;The vulgar ignorant may hold their peace,Her safety to her chastity gave place;Dido, I mean, whom no vain passion led(As fame belies her); last, the virtuous maidRetired to Arno, who no rest could find,Her friends' constraining power forced her mind.The Triumph thither went where salt waves wetThe Baian shore eastward; her foot she setThere on firm land, and did Avernus leaveOn the one hand, on th' other Sybil's cave;So to Linternus march'd, the village whereThe noble Africane lies buried; thereThe great news of her triumph did appearAs glorious to the eye as to the ear[Pg 365]The fame had been; and the most chaste did showMost beautiful; it grieved Love much to goAnother's prisoner, exposed to scorn,Who to command whole empires seemèd born.Thus to the chiefest city all were led,Entering the temple which Sulpicia madeSacred; it drives all madness from the mind;And chastity's pure temple next we find,Which in brave souls doth modest thoughts beget,Not by plebeians enter'd, but the greatPatrician dames; there were the spoils display'dOf the fair victress; there her palms she laid,And did commit them to the Tuscan youth,Whose marring scars bear witness of his truth:With others more, whose names I fully knew,(My guide instructed me,) that overthrewThe power of Love: 'mongst whom, of all the rest,Hippolytus and Joseph were the best.