XXVII.
“But all in vain, for I was fixed and bent,
“Rather than sate his ill desire, to die.
“When menace had by him been vainly spent,
“And every prayer and every flattery,
“He would by open force his will content;
“Nor boots it aught that I entreaties try;
“Of his lord’s faith in him the wretch remind,
“And how myself I to his hands resigned.
XXVIII.
“When I perceived that fruitless was my prayer,
“And that I could not hope for other aid;
“For he assailed me like a famished bear,
“With hands and feet I fierce resistance made,
“As he more brutal waxed, and plucked his hair,
“And with my teeth and nails his visage flayed:
“This while I vent such lamentable cries,
“The clamour echoes to the starry skies.
XXIX.
“Were they by chance conducted, or my shriek,
“Which might have well been heard a league around,
“(Or, was it they were wont the shore to seek,
“When any vessel split or ran aground)
“I saw a crowd appear upon the peak,
“Which, to the sea descending, towards us wound.
“Them the Biscayan saw, and at the sight
“Abandoned his design, and turned to flight.
