42
The first Booke of
Cant. III.
Loth was that other, and did faint through feare,To taste th'vntryed dint of deadly steele;But yet his Lady did so well him cheare,That hope of new good hap he gan to feele;So bent his speare, and spurd his horse with yron heele.
But that proud Paynim forward came so ferce,And full of wrath, that with his sharphead speareThrough vainly crossed shield he quite did perce,And had his staggering steed not shronke for feare,Through shield and body eke he should him beare:Yet so great was the puissance of his push,That from his sadle quite he did him beare:He tombling rudely downe to ground did rush,And from his gored wound a well of bloud did gush.
Dismounting lightly from his loftie steed,He to him lept, in minde to reaue his life,And proudly said, Lo there the worthie meedOf him, that slew Sansfoy with bloody knife;Henceforth his ghost freed from repining strife,In peace may passen ouer Lethe lake,When mourning altars purgd with enimies life,The black infernall Furies doen aslake:Life from Sansfoy thou tookst, Sansloy shall frō thee take.
Therewith in haste his helmet gan vnlace,Till Vna cride, O hold that heauie hand,Deare Sir, what euer that thou be in place:Enough is, that thy foe doth vanquisht standNow at thy mercy: Mercy not withstand:For he is one the truest knight aliue,Though conquered now he lye on lowly land,And whilest him fortune fauourd, fayre did thriueIn bloudy field: therefore of life him not depriue.
Her
