XXXIII.
He of the squire demanded what the vest
And bearings, which the valiant stranger wore;
Who answered, ‘that he went without a crest,
‘And sable shield and sable surcoat bore.’
—And, sir, ’twas true; for so was Roland drest;
The old device renounced he had before:
For as he mourned within, so he without,
The symbols of his grief would bear about.
XXXIV.
Marsilius had to Mandricardo sped,
As gift, a courser of a chesnut stain,
Whose legs and mane were sable; he was bred
Between a Friesland mare and nag of Spain.
King Mandricardo, armed from foot to head,
Leapt on the steed and galloped o’er the plain,
And swore upon the camp to turn his back
Till he should find the champion clad in black.
XXXV.
The king encounters many of the crew
Whom good Orlando’s arm had put to flight;
And some a son, and some a brother rue,
Who in the rout had perished in their sight;
And in the coward’s cheek of pallid hue
Is yet pourtrayed the sad and craven sprite:
—Yet, through the fear endured, they far and nigh,
Pallid, and silent, and insensate fly.
