ARMIES of box that sportively engage
And mimic real battles in their rage,
Pleased I recount; how, smit with glory’s charms,
Two mighty Monarchs met in adverse arms,
Sable and white; assist me to explore,
Ye Serian Nymphs, what ne’er was sung before.
No path appears: yet resolute I stray
Where youth undaunted bids me force my way.
O’er rocks and cliffs while I the task pursue,
Guide me, ye Nymphs, with your unerring clue.
For you the rise of this diversion know,
You first were pleased in Italy to show
This studious sport; from Scacchis was its name,
The pleasing record of your Sister’s fame.
When Jove through Ethiopia’s parch’d extent
To grace the nuptials of old Ocean went,
Each god was there; and mirth and joy around
To shores remote diffused their happy sound.
Then when their hunger and their thirst no more
Claim’d their attention, and the feast was o’er;
Ocean with pastime to divert the thought,
Commands a painted table to be brought.
Sixty-four spaces fill the chequer’d square;
Eight in each rank eight equal limits share.
Alike their form, but different are their dyes,
They fade alternate, and alternate rise,
White after black; such various stains as those
The shelving backs of tortoises disclose.
Then to the gods that mute and wondering sate,
You see (says he) the field prepared for fate.
Here will the little armies please your sight,
With adverse colours hurrying to the fight:
On which so oft, with silent sweet surprise,
The Nymphs and Nereids used to feast their eyes,
And all the neighbours of the hoary deep,
When calm the sea, and winds were lull’d asleep
But see, the mimic heroes tread the board;
He said, and straightway from an urn he pour’d
The sculptured box, that neatly seem’d to ape
The graceful figure of a human shape:–
Equal the strength and number of each foe,
Sixteen appear’d like jet, sixteen like snow.
As their shape varies various is the name,
Different their posts, nor is their strength the same.
There might you see two Kings with equal pride
Gird on their arms, their Consorts by their side;
Here the Foot-warriors glowing after fame,
There prancing Knights and dexterous Archers came
And Elephants, that on their backs sustain
Vast towers of war, and fill and shake the plain.
And now both hosts, preparing for the storm
Of adverse battle, their encampments form.
In the fourth space, and on the farthest line,
Directly opposite the Monarchs shine;
The swarthy on white ground, on sable stands
The silver King; and then they send commands.
Nearest to these the Queens exert their might;
One the left side, and t’other guards the right:
Where each, by her respective armour known.
Chooses the colour that is like her own.
Then the young Archers, two that snowy-white
Bend the tough yew, and two as black as night;
(Greece call’d them Mars’s favourites heretofore,
From their delight in war, and thirst of gore).
These on each side the Monarch and his Queen
Surround obedient; next to these are seen
The crested Knights in golden armour gay;
Their steeds by turns curvet, or snort or neigh.
In either army on each distant wing
Two mighty Elephants their castles bring,
Bulwarks immense! and then at last combine
Eight of the Foot to form the second line,
The vanguard to the King and Queen; from far
Prepared to open all the fate of war.
So moved the boxen hosts, each double-lined,
Their different colours floating in the wind:
As if an army of the Gauls should go,
With their white standards, o’er the Alpine snow
To meet in rigid fight on scorching sands
The sun-burnt Moors and Memnon’s swarthy bands.
Then Father Ocean thus; you see them here,
Celestial powers, what troops, what camps appear.
Learn now the sev’ral orders of the fray,
For e’en these arms their stated laws obey.
To lead the fight, the Kings from all their bands
Choose whom they please to bear their great commands.
Should a black hero first to battle go,
Instant a white one guards against the blow;
But only one at once can charge or shun the foe.
Their gen’ral purpose on one scheme is bent,
So to besiege the King within the tent,
That there remains no place by subtle flight
From danger free; and that decides the fight.
Meanwhile, howe’er, the sooner to destroy
Th’ imperial Prince, remorseless they employ
Their swords in blood; and whosoever dare
Oppose their vengeance, in the ruin share.
Fate thins their camp; the parti-coloured field
Widens apace, as they o’ercome or yield,
But the proud victor takes the captive’s post;
There fronts the fury of th’ avenging host
One single shock: and (should he ward the blow),
May then retire at pleasure from the foe.
The Foot alone (so their harsh laws ordain)
When they proceed can ne’er return again.
But neither all rush on alike to prove
The terror of their arms: The Foot must move
Directly on, and but a single square;
Yet may these heroes, when they first prepare
To mix in combat on the bloody mead,
Double their sally, and two steps proceed;
But when they wound, their swords they subtly guide
With aim oblique, and slanting pierce his side.
But the great Indian beasts, whose backs sustain
Vast turrets arm’d, when on the redd’ning plain
They join in all the terror of the fight,
Forward or backward, to the left or right,
Run furious, and impatient of confine
Scour through the field, and threat the farthest line.
Yet must they ne’er obliquely aim their blows;
That only manner is allow’d to those
Whom Mars has favour’d most, who bend the stubborn bows.
These glancing sidewards in a straight career,
Yet each confin’d to their respective sphere,
Or white or black, can send th’ unerring dart
Wing’d with swift death to pierce through ev’ry part.
The fiery steed, regardless of the reins,
Comes prancing on; but sullenly disdains
The path direct, and boldly wheeling round,
Leaps o’er a double space at ev’ry bound:
And shifts from white or black to diff’rent colour’d ground.
But the fierce Queen, whom dangers ne’er dismay,
The strength and terror of the bloody day,
In a straight line spreads her destruction wide,
To left or right, before, behind, aside.
Yet may she never with a circling course
Sweep to the battle like the fretful Horse;
But unconfin’d may at her pleasure stray,
If neither friend nor foe block up the way;
For to o’erleap a warrior, ’tis decreed
Those only dare who curb the snorting steed.
With greater caution and majestic state
The warlike Monarchs in the scene of fate
Direct their motions, since for these appear
Zealous each hope, and anxious ev’ry fear.
While the King’s safe, with resolution stern
They clasp their arms; but should a sudden turn
Make him a captive, instantly they yield,
Resolved to share his fortune in the field.
He moves on slow; with reverence profound
His faithful troops encompass him around,
And oft, to break some instant fatal scheme,
Rush to their fates, their sov’reign to redeem;
While he, unanxious where to wound the foe,
Need only shift and guard against a blow.
But none, however, can presume t’ appear
Within his reach, but must his vengeance fear;
For he on ev’ry side his terror throws;
But when he changes from his first repose,
Moves but one step, most awfully sedate,
Or idly roving, or intent on fate.
These are the sev’ral and establish’d laws:
Now see how each maintains his bloody cause.
Here paused the god, but (since whene’er they wage
War here on earth the gods themselves engage
In mutual battle as they hate or love,
And the most stubborn war is oft above),
Almighty Jove commands the circling train
Of gods from fav’ring either to abstain,
And let the fight be silently survey’d;
And added solemn threats if disobey’d.
Then call’d he Phoebus from among the Powers
And subtle Hermes, whom in softer hours
Fair Maia bore: youth wanton’d in their face;
Both in life’s bloom, both shone with equal grace.
Hermes as yet had never wing’d his feet;
As yet Apollo in his radiant seat
Had never driv’n his chariot through the air,
Known by his bow alone and golden hair.
These Jove commission’d to attempt the fray,
And rule the sportive military day;
Bid them agree which party each maintains,
And promised a reward that’s worth their pains.
The greater took their seats; on either hand
Respectful the less gods in order stand,
But careful not to interrupt their play,
By hinting when t’ advance or run away.
Then they examine, who shall first proceed
To try their courage, and their army lead.
Chance gave it for the White, that he should go
First with a brave defiance to the foe.
Awhile he ponder’d which of all his train
Should bear his first commission o’er the plain;
And then determined to begin the scene
With him that stood before to guard the Queen.
He took a double step: with instant care
Does the black Monarch in his turn prepare
The adverse champion, and with stern command
Bid him repel the charge with equal hand.
There front to front, the midst of all the field,
With furious threats their shining arms they wield;
Yet vain the conflict, neither can prevail
While in one path each other they assail.
On ev’ry side to their assistance fly
Their fellow soldiers, and with strong supply
Crowd to the battle, but no bloody stain
Tinctures their armour; sportive in the plain
Mars plays awhile, and in excursion slight
Harmless they sally forth, or wait the fight.
But now the swarthy Foot, that first appear’d
To front the foe, his pond’rous jav’lin rear’d
Leftward aslant, and a pale warrior slays,
Spurns him aside, and boldly takes his place.
Unhappy youth, his danger not to spy!
Instant he fell, and triumph’d but to die.
At this the sable King with prudent care
Removed his station from the middle square,
And slow retiring to the farthest ground,
There safely lurk’d, with troops entrench’d around.
Then from each quarter to the war advance
The furious Knights, and poise the trembling lance:
By turns they rush, by turns the victors yield,
Heaps of dead Foot choke up the crimson’d field:
They fall unable to retreat; around
The clang of arms and iron hoofs resound.
But while young Phoebus pleased himself to view
His furious Knight destroy the vulgar crew,
Sly Hermes long’d t’ attempt with secret aim
Some noble act of more exalted fame.
For this, he inoffensive pass’d along
Through ranks of Foot, and midst the trembling throng
Sent his left Horse, that free without confine
Rov’d o’er the plain, upon some great design
Against the King himself. At length he stood,
And having fix’d his station as he would,
Threaten’d at once with instant fate the King
And th’ Indian beast that guarded the right wing.
Apollo sigh’d, and hast’ning to relieve
The straiten’d Monarch, griev’d that he must leave
His martial Elephant expos’d to fate,
And view’d with pitying eyes his dang’rous state.
First in his thoughts however was his care
To save his King, whom to the neighbouring square
On the right hand, he snatch’d with trembling flight;
At this with fury springs the sable Knight,
Drew his keen sword, and rising to the blow,
Sent the great Indian brute to shades below.
O fatal loss! for none except the Queen
Spreads such a terror through the bloody scene.
Yet shall you ne’er unpunish’d boast your prize,
The Delian god with stern resentment cries;
And wedg’d him round with Foot, and pour’d in fresh supplies.
Thus close besieg’d trembling he cast his eye
Around the plain, but saw no shelter nigh,
No way for flight; for here the Queen oppos’d,
The Foot in phalanx there the passage clos’d:
At length he fell; yet not unpleas’d with fate,
Since victim to a Queen’s vindictive hate.
With grief and fury burns the whiten’d host,
One of their Tow’rs thus immaturely lost.
As when a bull has in contention stern
Lost his right horn, with double vengeance burn
His thoughts for war, with blood he’s cover’d o’er,
And the woods echo to his dismal roar,
So look’d the flaxen host, when angry fate
O’erturn’d the Indian bulwark of their state.
Fired at this great success, with double rage
Apollo hurries on his troops t’ engage,
For blood and havoc wild; and, while he leads
His troops thus careless, loses both his steeds:
For if some adverse warriors were o’erthrown,
He little thought what dangers threat his own.
But slyer Hermes with observant eyes
March’d slowly cautious, and at distance spies
What moves must next succeed, what dangers next arise.
Often would he, the stately Queen to snare,
The slender Foot to front her arms prepare,
And to conceal his scheme he sighs and feigns
Such a wrong step would frustrate all his pains.
Just then an Archer, from the right-hand view,
At the pale Queen his arrow boldly drew,
Unseen by Phoebus, who, with studious thought,
From the left side a vulgar hero brought.
But tender Venus, with a pitying eye,
Viewing the sad destruction that was nigh,
Wink’d upon Phoebus (for the Goddess sat
By chance directly opposite); at that
Roused in an instant, young Apollo threw
His eyes around the field his troops to view:
Perceiv’d the danger, and with sudden fright
Withdrew the Foot that he had sent to fight,
And sav’d his trembling Queen by seasonable flight.
But Maia’s son with shouts fill’d all the coast:
The Queen, he cried, the important Queen is lost.
Phoebus, howe’er, resolving to maintain
What he had done, bespoke the heavenly train.
What mighty harm, in sportive mimic flight,
Is it to set a little blunder right,
When no preliminary rule debarr’d?
If you henceforward, Mercury, would guard
Against such practice, let us make the law:
And whosoe’er shall first to battle draw,
Or white, or black, remorseless let him go
At all events, and dare the angry foe.
He said, and this opinion pleased around:
Jove turn’d aside, and on his daughter frown’d,
Unmark’d by Hermes, who, with strange surprise,
Fretted and foam’d, and roll’d his ferret eyes,
And but with great reluctance could refrain
From dashing at a blow all off the plain.
Then he resolved to interweave deceits, —
To carry on the war by tricks and cheats.
Instant he call’d an Archer from the throng,
And bid him like the courser wheel along:
Bounding he springs, and threats the pallid Queen.
The fraud, however, was by Phoebus seen;
He smiled, and, turning to the Gods, he said:
Though, Hermes, you are perfect in your trade,
And you can trick and cheat to great surprise,
These little sleights no more shall blind my eyes;
Correct them if you please, the more you thus disguise.
The circle laugh’d aloud; and Maia’s son
(As if it had but by mistake been done)
Recall’d his Archer, and with motion due,
Bid him advance, the combat to renew.
But Phoebus watch’d him with a jealous eye,
Fearing some trick was ever lurking nigh,
For he would oft, with sudden sly design,
Send forth at once two combatants to join
His warring troops, against the law of arms,
Unless the wary foe was ever in alarms.
Now the white Archer with his utmost force
Bent the tough bow against the sable Horse,
And drove him from the Queen, where he had stood
Hoping to glut his vengeance with her blood.
Then the right Elephant with martial pride
Roved here and there, and spread his terrors wide:
Glittering in arms from far a courser came,
Threaten’d at once the King and Royal Dame;
Thought himself safe when he the post had seized,
And with the future spoils his fancy pleased.
Fired at the danger a young Archer came,
Rush’d on the foe, and levell’d sure his aim;
(And though a Pawn his sword in vengeance draws,
Gladly he’d lose his life in glory’s cause).
The whistling arrow to his bowels flew,
And the sharp steel his blood profusely drew;
He drops the reins, he totters to the ground,
And his life issued murm’ring through the wound.
Pierced by the Foot, this Archer bit the plain;
The Foot himself was by another slain;
And with inflamed revenge, the battle burns again.
Towers, Archers, Knights, meet on the crimson ground,
And the field echoes to the martial sound.
Their thoughts are heated, and their courage fired,
Thick they rush on with double zeal inspired;
Generals and Foot, with different colour’d mien,
Confusedly warring in the camps are seen, —
Valour and fortune meet in one promiscuous scene.
Now these victorious, lord it o’er the field;
Now the foe rallies, the triumphant yield:
Just as the tide of battle ebbs or flows.
As when the conflict more tempestuous grows
Between the winds, with strong and boisterous sweep
They plough th’ Ionian or Atlantic deep!
By turns prevail the mutual blustering roar,
And the big waves alternate lash the shore.
But in the midst of all the battle raged
The snowy Queen, with troops at once engaged;
She fell’d an Archer as she sought the plain, —
As she retired an Elephant was slain:
To right and left her fatal spears she sent,
Burst through the ranks, and triumph’d as she went;
Through arms and blood she seeks a glorious fate,
Pierces the farthest lines, and nobly great
Leads on her army with a gallant show,
Breaks the battalions, and cuts through the foe.
At length the sable King his fears betray’d,
And begg’d his military consort’s aid:
With cheerful speed she flew to his relief,
And met in equal arms the female chief.
Who first, great Queen, and who at last did bleed?
How many Whites lay gasping on the mead?
Half dead, and floating in a bloody tide,
Foot, Knights, and Archer lie on every side.
Who can recount the slaughter of the day?
How many leaders threw their lives away?
The chequer’d plain is fill’d with dying box,
Havoc ensues, and with tumultuous shocks
The different colour’d ranks in blood engage,
And Foot and Horse promiscuously rage.
With nobler courage and superior might
The dreadful Amazons sustain the fight,
Resolved alike to mix in glorious strife,
Till to imperious fate they yield their life.
Meanwhile each Monarch, in a neighbouring cell,
Confined the warriors that in battle fell,
There watch’d the captives with a jealous eye,
Lest, slipping out again, to arms they fly.
But Thracian Mars, in stedfast friendship join’d
To Hermes, as near Phoebus he reclined,
Observed each chance, how all their motions bend,
Resolved if possible to serve his friend.
He a Foot-soldier and a Knight purloin’d
Out from the prison that the dead confined;
And slyly push’d ’em forward on the plain;
Th’ enliven’d combatants their arms regain,
Mix in the bloody scene, and boldly war again.
So the foul hag, in screaming wild alarms
O’er a dead carcase muttering her charms,
(And with her frequent and tremendous yell
Forcing great Hecate from out of hell)
Shoots in the corpse a new fictitious soul;
With instant glare the supple eyeballs roll,
Again it moves and speaks, and life informs the whole.
Vulcan alone discern’d the subtle cheat;
And wisely scorning such a base deceit,
Call’d out to Phoebus. Grief and rage assail
Phoebus by turns; detected Mars turns pale.
Then awful Jove with sullen eye reproved
Mars, and the captives order’d to be moved
To their dark caves; bid each fictitious spear
Be straight recall’d, and all be as they were.
And now both Monarchs with redoubled rage
Led on their Queens, the mutual war to wage.
O’er all the field their thirsty spears they send,
Then front to front their Monarchs they defend.
But lo! the female White rush’d in unseen,
And slew with fatal haste the swarthy Queen;
Yet soon, alas! resign’d her royal spoils,
Snatch’d by a shaft from her successful toils.
Struck at the sight, both hosts in wild surprise
Pour’d forth their tears, and fill’d the air with cries;
They wept and sigh’d, as pass’d the fun’ral train,
As if both armies had at once been slain.
And now each troop surrounds its mourning chief,
To guard his person, or assuage his grief.
One is their common fear; one stormy blast
Has equally made havoc as it pass’d.
Not all, however, of their youth are slain;
Some champions yet the vig’rous war maintain.
Three Foot, an Archer, and a stately Tower,
For Phoebus still exert their utmost power.
Just the same number Mercury can boast,
Except the Tower, who lately in his post
Unarm’d inglorious fell, in peace profound,
Pierced by an Archer with a distant wound;
But his right Horse retain’d its mettled pride, —
The rest were swept away by war’s strong tide.
But fretful Hermes, with despairing moan,
Griev’d that so many champions were o’erthrown,
Yet reassumes the fight; and summons round
The little straggling army that he found, —
All that had ‘scaped from fierce Apollo’s rage, —
Resolved with greater caution to engage
In future strife, by subtle wiles (if fate
Should give him leave) to save his sinking state.
The sable troops advance with prudence slow,
Bent on all hazards to distress the foe.
More cheerful Phoebus, with unequal pace,
Rallies his arms to lessen his disgrace.
But what strange havoc everywhere has been!
A straggling champion here and there is seen;
And many are the tents, yet few are left within.
Th’ afflicted Kings bewail their consorts dead,
And loathe the thoughts of a deserted bed;
And though each monarch studies to improve
The tender mem’ry of his former love,
Their state requires a second nuptial tie.
Hence the pale ruler with a love-sick eye
Surveys th’ attendants of his former wife,
And offers one of them a royal life.
These, when their martial mistress had been slain,
Weak and despairing tried their arms in vain;
Willing, howe’er, amidst the Black to go,
They thirst for speedy vengeance on the foe.
Then he resolves to see who merits best,
By strength and courage, the imperial vest;
Points out the foe, bids each with bold design
Pierce through the ranks, and reach the deepest line:
For none must hope with monarchs to repose
But who can first, through thick surrounding foes,
Through arms and wiles, with hazardous essay,
Safe to the farthest quarters force their way.
Fired at the thought, with sudden, joyful pace
They hurry on; but first of all the race
Runs the third right-hand warrior for the prize, —
The glitt’ring crown already charms her eyes.
Her dear associates cheerfully give o’er
The nuptial chase; and swift she flies before,
And Glory lent her wings, and the reward in store.
Nor would the sable King her hopes prevent,
For he himself was on a Queen intent,
Alternate, therefore, through the field they go.
Hermes led on, but by a step too slow,
His fourth left Pawn: and now th’ advent’rous White
Had march’d through all, and gain’d the wish’d for site.
Then the pleased King gives orders to prepare
The crown, the sceptre, and the royal chair,
And owns her for his Queen: around exult
The snowy troops, and o’er the Black insult.
Hermes burst into tears, — with fretful roar
Fill’d the wide air, and his gay vesture tore.
The swarthy Foot had only to advance
One single step; but oh! malignant chance!
A towered Elephant, with fatal aim,
Stood ready to destroy her when she came:
He keeps a watchful eye upon the whole,
Threatens her entrance, and protects the goal.
Meanwhile the royal new-created bride,
Pleased with her pomp, spread death and terror wide;
Like lightning through the sable troops she flies,
Clashes her arms, and seems to threat the skies.
The sable troops are sunk in wild affright,
And wish th’ earth op’ning snatch’d ’em from her sight.
In burst the Queen, with vast impetuous swing:
The trembling foes come swarming round the King,
Where in the midst he stood, and form a valiant ring.
So the poor cows, straggling o’er pasture land,
When they perceive the prowling wolf at hand,
Crowd close together in a circle full,
And beg the succour of the lordly bull;
They clash their horns, they low with dreadful sound,
And the remotest groves re-echo round.
But the bold Queen, victorious, from behind
Pierces the foe; yet chiefly she design’d
Against the King himself some fatal aim,
And full of war to his pavilion came.
Now here she rush’d, now there; and had she been
But duly prudent, she had slipp’d between,
With course oblique, into the fourth white square,
And the long toil of war had ended there,
The King had fallen, and all his sable state;
And vanquish’d Hermes cursed his partial fate.
For thence with ease the championess might go,
Murder the King, and none could ward the blow.
With silence, Hermes, and with panting heart,
Perceived the danger, but with subtle art,
(Lest he should see the place) spurs on the foe,
Confounds his thoughts, and blames his being slow.
For shame! move on; would you for ever stay?
What sloth is this, what strange perverse delay? —
How could you e’er my little pausing blame? —
What! you would wait till night shall end the game?
Phoebus, thus nettled, with imprudence slew
A vulgar Pawn, but lost his nobler view.
Young Hermes leap’d, with sudden joy elate;
And then, to save the monarch from his fate,
Led on his martial Knight, who stepp’d between,
Pleased that his charge was to oppose the Queen —
Then, pondering how the Indian beast to slay,
That stopp’d the Foot from making farther way, —
From being made a Queen; with slanting aim
An archer struck him; down the monster came,
And dying shook the earth: while Phoebus tries
Without success the monarch to surprise.
The Foot, then uncontroll’d with instant pride,
Seized the last spot, and moved a royal bride.
And now with equal strength both war again,
And bring their second wives upon the plain;
Then, though with equal views each hop’d and fear’d,
Yet, as if every doubt had disappear’d,
As if he had the palm, young Hermes flies
Into excess of joy; with deep disguise,
Extols his own Black troops, with frequent spite
And with invective taunts disdains the White.
Whom Phoebus thus reproved with quick return —
As yet we cannot the decision learn
Of this dispute, and do you triumph now?
Then your big words and vauntings I’ll allow,
When you the battle shall completely gain;
At present I shall make your boasting vain.
He said, and forward led the daring Queen;
Instant the fury of the bloody scene
Rises tumultuous, swift the warriors fly
From either side to conquer or to die.
They front the storm of war: around ’em Fear,
Terror, and Death, perpetually appear.
All meet in arms, and man to man oppose,
Each from their camp attempts to drive their foes;
Each tries by turns to force the hostile lines;
Chance and impatience blast their best designs.
The sable Queen spread terror as she went
Through the mid ranks: with more reserved intent
The adverse dame declined the open fray,
And to the King in private stole away:
Then took the royal guard, and bursting in,
With fatal menace close besieged the King.
Alarm’d at this, the swarthy Queen, in haste,
From all her havoc and destructive waste
Broke off, and her contempt of death to show,
Leap’d in between the Monarch and the foe,
To save the King and state from this impending blow.
But Phoebus met a worse misfortune here:
For Hermes now led forward, void of fear,
His furious Horse into the open plain,
That onward chafed, and pranced, and pawed amain.
Nor ceased from his attempts until he stood
On the long-wished-for spot, from whence he could
Slay King or Queen. O’erwhelm’d with sudden fears,
Apollo saw, and could not keep from tears.
Now all seem’d ready to be overthrown;
His strength was wither’d, ev’ry hope was flown.
Hermes, exulting at this great surprise,
Shouted for joy, and fill’d the air with cries;
Instant he sent the Queen to shades below,
And of her spoils made a triumphant show.
But in return, and in his mid career,
Fell his brave Knight, beneath the Monarch’s spear.
Phoebus, however, did not yet despair,
But still fought on with courage and with care.
He had but two poor common men to show,
And Mars’s favourite with his iv’ry bow.
The thoughts of ruin made ’em dare their best
To save their King, so fatally distress’d.
But the sad hour required not such an aid;
And Hermes breathed revenge where’er he stray’d.
Fierce comes the sable Queen with fatal threat,
Surrounds the Monarch in his royal seat;
Rushed here and there, nor rested till she slew
The last remainder of the whiten’d crew.
Sole stood the King, the midst of all the plain,
Weak and defenceless, his companions slain.
As when the ruddy morn ascending high
Has chased the twinkling stars from all the sky,
Your star, fair Venus, still retains its light,
And, loveliest, goes the latest out of sight.
No safety’s left, no gleams of hope remain;
Yet did he not as vanquish’d quit the plain,
But tried to shut himself between the foe, —
Unhurt through swords and spears he hoped to go,
Until no room was left to shun the fatal blow.
For if none threaten’d his immediate fate,
And his next move must ruin all his state,
All their past toil and labour is in vain,
Vain all the bloody carnage of the plain, —
Neither would triumph then, the laurel neither gain.
Therefore through each void space and desert tent,
By different moves his various course he bent:
The Black King watch’d him with observant eye,
Follow’d him close, but left him room to fly.
Then when he saw him take the farthest line,
He sent the Queen his motions to confine,
And guard the second rank, that he could go
No farther now than to that distant row.
The sable monarch then with cheerful mien
Approach’d, but always with one space between.
But as the King stood o’er against him there,
Helpless, forlorn, and sunk in his despair,
The martial Queen her lucky moment knew,
Seized on the farthest seat with fatal view,
Nor left th’ unhappy King a place to flee unto.
At length in vengeance her keen sword she draws,
Slew him, and ended thus the bloody cause:
And all the gods around approved it with applause.
The victor could not from his insults keep,
But laugh’d and sneer’d to see Apollo weep.
Jove call’d him near, and gave him in his hand
The powerful, happy, and mysterious wand
By which the Shades are call’d to purer day,
When penal fire has purged their sins away;
By which the guilty are condemn’d to dwell
In the dark mansions of the deepest hell;
By which he gives us sleep, or sleep denies,
And closes at the last the dying eyes.
Soon after this, the heavenly victor brought
The game on earth, and first th’ Italians taught.
For (as they say) fair Scacchis he espied
Feeding her cygnets in the silver tide,
(Sacchis, the loveliest Seriad of the place)
And as she stray’d, took her to his embrace.
Then, to reward her for her virtue lost,
Gave her the men and chequer’d board, emboss’d
With gold and silver curiously inlay’d;
And taught her how the game was to be play’d.
Ev’n now ’tis honour’d with her happy name;
And Rome and all the world admire the game.
All which the Seriads told me heretofore,
When my boy-notes amused the Serian shore.
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