This equal shame and envy stirr'd85
In th' enemy, that one should beard
So many warriors, and so stout,
As he had done, and stav'd it. out,
Disdaining to lay down his arms,
And yield on honourable terms.90
Enraged thus, some in the rear
Attack'd him, and some ev'rywhere,
Till down he fell; yet falling fought,
And, being down, still laid about;
As Widdrington, in doleful dumps, 95
Is said to fight upon his stumps.[1]
But all, alas! had been in vain,
And he inevitably slain,
lf Trulla and Cerdon, in the nick,
To rescue him had not been quick: 100
For Trulla, who was light of foot,
As shafts which long-field Parthians shoot:[2]
But not so light as to be borne
Upon the ears of standing corn,[3]
Or trip it o'er the water quicker105
Than witches, when their states they liquor,[4]
As some report, was got among
The foremost of the martial throng;
Where pitying the vanquish'd bear,
She call'd to Cerdon, who stood near,110
Viewing the bloody fight; to whom,
Shall we, quoth she, stand still hum-drum,
And see stout Bruin, all alone,
By numbers basely overthrown?
- ↑ So in the famous song of Chevy Chase:
For Witherington needs must I wail,
As one of the doleful dumps,
For when his legs were smitten off
He fought upon his stumps - ↑ Long-field is a term of archery, and a long-fielder is a hero at a cricket match.
- ↑ A satirical stroke at the character of Camilla, whose speed is hyperbolically described by Virgil, at the end of the seventh book of the Æneid.
- ↑ Witches are said to ride upon broomsticks, and to liquor, or grease them, that they may go faster. See Lucan, vi. 572.
