LVII.
“I have to thank thee that from death, too dread
“And monstrous, thy good arm deliverance gave;
“Which would have been too monstrous, had I fed
“The beast, and in his belly found a grave:
“But cannot thank thee that I am not dead,
“Since death alone can me from misery save.
“Well shall I thank thee for that wished relief,
“Which can deliver me from every grief.”
LVIII.
Next she related, with loud sobs and sighs,
How her false spouse betrayed her as she lay
Asleep, and how of pirates made the prize,
They bore her from the desert isle away.
And, as she spake, she turned her in the guise
Of Dian, framed by artists, who pourtray
Her carved or painted, as in liquid font
She threw the water in Actæon’s front,
LIX.
For, as she can, her waist she hides, and breast,
More liberal of her flowing flank and reins.
Roland desires his ship, to find a vest
To cover her, delivered from her chains:
While he is all intent upon this quest,
Oberto comes; Oberto, he that reigns
O’er Ireland’s people[12], who had understood
How lifeless lay the monster of the flood;
