No More Learning

XLII
"Behold the Frank returns, and here behold
Is broken, by the faithless Swiss betrayed,
He, that his royal father seized and sold,
Whose succour dearly by the youth is paid.
Those over whom false Fortune's wheel had rolled,
Erewhile, beneath another king arraid,
You here behold, preparing to efface
With vengeful deed Novara's late disgrace;

XLIII
"And see with better auspices return
The valiant Francis, foremost of his train,
Who so shall break the haughty Switzer's horn,
That little short of spent their bands remain;
And them shall nevermore the style adorn,
Usurped by that foul troop of churlish vein,
Of scourge of princes, and the faith's defence,
To which those rustics rude shall make pretence.

XLIV
"Lo! he takes Milan, in the league's despite:
Lo! with the youthful Sforza makes accord:
Lo! Bourbon the fair city keeps, in right
Of Francis, from the furious German horde:
Lo! while in other high emprize and fight
Elsewhere is occupied his royal lord,
Nor knows the pride and license of his host,
Through these the city shall anew be lost.

XLV
"Lo! other French who his grandsire's vein
Inherits, not his generous name alone!
Who by the Church's favour will regain
-- The Gaul expelled -- a land which was his own.
France too returns, but keeps a tighter rein,
Nor over Italy, as wont, has flown:
For Mantua's noble duke the foe shall stay,
And, at Ticino's passage, bar his way.

XLVI
"Though on his cheek youth's blossoms scarce appear,
Worthy immortal glory, Frederick shines;
And well that praise deserves, since by his spear,
But more by care and skill, Pavia's lines
Against the French defends that cavalier,
And frustrates the sea-lion's bold designs.
You see two marquises, Italia's boast,
And both, alike the terror of our host.

XLVII
"Both of one blood and of one nest they are;
The foremost is the bold Alphonso's seed,
Whom, led by that false black into the snare,
You late beheld in purple torrent bleed.
You see defeated by his counsel ware,
How oft the Franks from Italy recede.
The next, of visage so benign and bright,
Is lord of Guasto and Alphonso hight;

XLVIII
"This is that goodly knight, whose praise you heard
When rugged Ischia's island I displayed,
Of whom sage Merlin, with prophetic word,
To Pharamond such mighty matters said;
Whose birth should to that season be deferred,
When more than ever such a champion's aid,
Against the barbarous enemy's attack,
Vext Italy, and Church, and Empire lack.

XLIX
"He in his cousin of Pescara's rear,
-- Prosper Colonna, chief of that emprize --
Makes the rude Switzer pay Bicocca dear,
Paid by the Frenchman in yet dearer wise.
Behold where France prepares for fresh career,
And to repair her many losses tries
Behold one host on Lombardy descend!
Behold that other against Naples wend!

L
"Bust she, that moves us like the dust which flies
Before the restless wind, which whirls it round,
Lifts if aloft awhile, and from the skies
Blows back anew the rising cloud to ground,
To a hundred thousand swells, in Francis' eyes,
The soldiers who Pavia's walls surround.
The monarch sees but that which he commands,
Nor marks how wax or waste his leaguering bands.

LI
" `Tis thus that, through the greedy servant's sin,
And easy sovereign's goodness, on his side,
The files beneath his banners muster thin,
When in his midnight camp, `to arms,' is cried,
For by the wary Spaniards charged within
His ramparts is he; foes that with the guide
Of Avalo's fair lineage, would assay
To make to heaven or hell their desperate way.

LII
"You see the best of the nobility
Of all fair France extinguished on the field;
How many swords, how many lances, see
The Spaniards round the valiant monarch wield.
Behold! his horse falls under him; yet he
Will neither own himself subdued, or yield;
Though to assault him from all sides is run
By wrathful bands, and succour there is none.

LIII
"The monarch well defends him from the foe,
All over bathed with blood of hostile vein.
But valour stoops at last to numbers; lo!
The king is taken, is conveyed to Spain;
And all upon Pescara's lord bestow
And him of that inseparable twain --
Of Guasto hight -- the praise and prime renown
For that great king captived and host o'erthrown.

LIV
"This host o'erthrown upon Pavia's plains,
That, bound for Naples, halts upon its way:
As an ill-nourished lamp or taper wanes,
For want of wax or oil, with flickering ray.
Lo! the king leaves his sons in Spanish chains,
And home returns, his own domain to sway.