And either made, or magnified the offence. 
  Offence! of what? to whom? who judged the cause? 
  The prisoner freed himself by nature’s laws: 
  Born free, he sought his right:  the man he freed
  Was perjured, but his love excused the deed. 
  Thus pondering, he look’d under with his eyes, 340
  And saw the women’s tears, and heard their cries;
  Which moved compassion more; he shook his head,
  And, softly sighing, to himself he said: 
  Curse on the unpardoning prince, whom tears can draw
  To no remorse; who rules by lions’ law;
  And deaf to prayers, by no submission bow’d,
  Rends all alike; the penitent, and proud! 
  At this, with look serene, he raised his head;
  Reason resumed her place, and passion fled: 
  Then thus aloud he spoke:  The power of love, 350
  In earth, and seas, and air, and heaven above,
  Rules, unresisted, with an awful nod;
  By daily miracles declared a god: 
  He blinds the wise, gives eyesight to the blind;
  And moulds and stamps anew the lover’s mind. 
  Behold that Arcite, and this Palamon,
  Freed from my fetters, and in safety gone,
  What hinder’d either in their native soil
  At ease to reap the harvest of their toil? 
  But Love, their lord, did otherwise ordain, 360
  And brought them in their own despite again,
  To suffer death deserved; for well they know,
  ’Tis in my power, and I their deadly foe. 
  The proverb holds, that to be wise and love,
  Is hardly granted to the gods above. 
  See how the madmen bleed! behold the gains
  With which their master, Love, rewards their pains! 
  For seven long years, on duty every day,
  Lo, their obedience, and their monarch’s pay: 
  Yet, as in duty bound, they serve him on; 370
  And, ask the fools, they think it wisely done;
  Nor ease, nor wealth, nor life itself regard,
  For ’tis their maxim, Love is love’s reward. 
  This is not all; the fair, for whom they strove,
  Nor knew before, nor could suspect their love;
  Nor thought, when she beheld the sight from far,
  Her beauty was the occasion of the war. 
  But sure a general doom on man is past,
  And all are fools and lovers, first or last: 
  This both by others and myself I know, 380
  For I have served their sovereign long ago;
  Oft have been caught within the winding train
  Of female snares, and felt the lover’s pain,
  And learn’d how far the god can human hearts constrain. 
  To this remembrance, and the prayers of those
  Who for the offending warriors interpose,
  I give their forfeit lives; on this accord,
  To do me homage as their sovereign lord;
  And, as my vassals, to their utmost might,
  Assist my person, and assert my right. 390