And, to be but undone, entail
Their vessels on perpetual jail,
And bless the devil to let them farms
Of forfeit souls on no worse terms.'
1665 This said, a near and louder shout
Put all th' assembly to the rout,
Who now began t' outrun their fear,
As horses do, from those they bear;
But crowded on with so much haste,
1670 Until th' had blocked the passage fast,
And barricadoed it with haunches
Of outward men, and bulks and paunches,
That with their shoulders strove to squeeze,
And rather save a crippled piece
1675 Of all their crushed and broken members,
Than have them grillied on the embers;
Still pressing on with heavy packs
Of one another on their backs,
The van-guard could no longer bear
1680 The charges of the forlorn rear,
But, borne down headlong by the rout
Were trampled sorely under foot;
Yet nothing proved so formidable,
As th' horrid cookery of the rabble;
1685 And fear, that keeps all feeling out,
As lesser pains are by the gout,
Relieved 'em with a fresh supply
Of rallied force, enough to fly,
And beat a Tuscan running-horse,
1690 Whose jockey-rider is all spurs.
The knight and squire's prodigious flight
To quit th' enchanted bower by night.
He plods to turn his amorous suit,
Ta plea in law, and prosecute:
Repairs to counsel, to advise
'Bout managing the enterprise;
But first resolves to try by letter,
And one more fair address, to get her.
HO would believe what strange bugbears
Mankind creates itself, of fears,
That spring, like fern, that insect weed,
Equivocally, without seed,
5 And have no possible foundation,
But merely in th' imagination?
And yet can do more dreadful feats
Than hags, with all their imps and teats;
Make more bewitch and haunt themselves,
10 Than all their nurseries of elves.
For fear does things so like a witch,
'Tis hard t'unriddle which is which; Sets up communities of senses,
To chop and change intelligences;
As Rosicrucian virtuosos
Can see with ears, and hear with noses;
And when they neither see nor hear,
Have more than both supplied by fear,
That makes them in the dark see visions,
20 And hag themselves with apparitions,
And when their eyes discover least,
Discern the subtlest objects best;
Do things not contrary alone,
To th' course of nature, but its own,
25 The courage of the bravest daunt,
And turn poltroons as valiant :
For men as resolute appear
With too much, as too little fear;
And, when they 're out of hopes of flying,
30 Will run away from death, by dying;
Or turn again to stand it out,
And those they fled, like lions, rout.
This Hudibras had proved too true,
Who, by the furies, left perdue,
35 And haunted with detachments, sent
From Marshal Legion's regiment,
Was by a fiend, as counterfeit,
Relieved and rescued with a cheat,
When nothing but himself, and fear,
Was both the imps and conjurer;
As by the rules o' th' virtuosi,
It follows in due form of poesie.
Disguised in all the masks of night,
We left our champion on his flight,
45 At blindman's buff, to grope his way,
In equal fear of night and day;
Who took his dark and desperate course,
He knew no better than his horse;
And by an unknown devil led,
He knew as little, whither, fled,
He never was in greater need,
Nor less capacity of speed;
Disabled, both in man and beast,
To fly and run away, his best;
To keep the enemy, and fear,
From equal falling on his rear.
And though with kicks and bangs he plied
The further and the nearer side;
As seamen ride with all their force,
60 And tug as if they rowed the horse,
And when the hackney sails more swift,
Believe they lag, or run a-drift;
So, though he posted e'er so fast,
His fear was greater than his haste:
65 For fear, though fleeter than the wind,
Believes 'tis always left behind.
But when the morn began t' appear,
And shift t' another scene his fear,
He found his new officious shade,
70 That came so timely to his aid,
And forced him from the foe t' escape,
Had turned itself to Ralpho's shape,
So like in person, garb, and pitch,
'Twas hard t' interpret which was which.
For Ralpho had no sooner told
The lady all he had t' unfold,
But she conveyed him out of sight,
To entertain the approaching knight;
And while he gave himself diversion,
80 T'accommodate his beast and person,
And put his beard into a posture
At best advantage to accost her,
She ordered th' antimasquerade,
For his reception, aforesaid:
85 But when the ceremony was done,
The lights put out, the furies gone,
And Hudibras, among the rest,
Conveyed away, as Ralpho guessed,
The wretched caitiff, all alone,
90 As he believed, began to moan,
And tell his story to himself,
The knight mistook him for an elf;
And did so still, till he began
To scruple at Ralph's outward man,
And thought, because they oft agreed
T'appear in one another's stead,
And act the saint's and devil's part,
With undistinguishable art,
They might have done so now, perhaps,
100 And put on one another's shapes;
And, therefore, to resolve the doubt,
He stared upon him, and cried out,
'What art? My squire, or that bold sprite
That took his place and shape to-night?
105 Some busy independent pug,
Retainer to his synagogue?'
'Alas!' quoth he, 'I'm none of those Your bosom friends, as you suppose,
But Ralph himself, your trusty squire,
110 Wh' has dragged your dunship out o' th' mire, And from th' enchantments of a widow,
Wh' had turned you int' a beast, have freed you;
And, though a prisoner of war,
Have brought you safe, where now you are;
115 Which you would gratefully repay,
Your constant presbyterian way.'
'That's stranger,' quoth the knight, 'and stranger ; Who gave thee notice of my danger?'
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