And tho' his countrymen, the Huns, Did stew their meat between their bums 275 And th' horses backs o'er which they straddle, And ev'ry man ate up his saddle, He was not half so nice as they, 280 Live And got on her a race of worthies Each striving to obtain the crown Of a sav'd citizen: the one To guard his Bear, the other fought To aid his dog; both made more stout, By several spurs of neighbourhood, Church, fellow-membership, and blood; i But Talgol, mortal foe to cows, Never got ought of him but blows; Had lent, repaid with usury, 285 290 295 Yet Talgol was of courage stout, And vanquish'd oft'ner than he fought; Inur'd to labour, sweat, and toil, And, like a champion, shone with oil, 800 305 310 And many a serpent of fell kind, With wings before, and stings behind, Subdu'd, as poets say, long agone, Bold Sir George, St. George, did the dragon. For he was of that noble. trade, !, ! That demi-gods and heroes: made, Slaughter and knocking on the head, ma- The latter in a two-wheel'd chariot, So sacred with vile bungling. Next these the brave Magnano came, Magnano! great in martial fame. Yet when with Orsin he wag'd fight, Yet he was fierce as forest boar, 325 330 335 But brass was feeble to resist, The fury of his armed fist: Nor could the hardest iron hold out 340 Against his blows, but they would through't.' In magic he was deeply read, As he that made the brazen head! As English Merlin for his heart; 846 But far more skilful in the spheres, Than he was at the sieve and shears. As like the devil as a collier; 350 As like as hypocrites in show, Are to true saints, or crow to crow. Of warlike engines he was author, 355 To make, and how to stop a breach. $60 A lance he bore with iron pike, Th' one half would thrust, the other strike; Through perils both of wind and limb, 370 In ev'ry adventure h' undertook, At breach of wall, or hedge surprise, 375 Their naked tools in open field As stout Armida, bold Thalestris, And she that would have been the mistress |