riding nigh. 
     “See, Roland, see them, how close they are,
     The Saracen foemen, and Karl how far! 
     Thou didst disdain on thy horn to blow. 
     Were the king but here we were spared this woe. 
     Look up through Aspra’s dread defile,
     Where standeth our doomed rear-guard the while;
     They will do their last brave feat this day,
     No more to mingle in mortal fray.” 
     “Hush!” said Roland, “the craven tale—­
     Foul fall who carries a heart so pale;
     Foot to foot shall we hold the place,
     And rain our buffets and blows apace.”

     Xci

     When Roland felt that the battle came,
     Lion or leopard to him were tame;
     He shouted aloud to his Franks, and then
     Called to his gentle compeer agen. 
     “My friend, my comrade, my Olivier,
     The Emperor left us his bravest here;
     Twice ten thousand he set apart,
     And he knew among them no dastard heart. 
     For his lord the vassal must bear the stress
     Of the winter’s cold and the sun’s excess—­
     Peril his flesh and his blood thereby: 
     Strike thou with thy good lance-point and I,
     With Durindana, the matchless glaive
     Which the king himself to my keeping gave,
     That he who wears it when I lie cold
     May say ’twas the sword of a vassal bold.”

     Xcii

     Archbishop Turpin, above the rest,
     Spurred his steed to a jutting crest. 
     His sermon thus to the Franks he spake:—­
     “Lords, we are here for our monarch’s sake;
     Hold we for him, though our death should come;
     Fight for the succor of Christendom. 
     The battle approaches—­ye know it well,
     For ye see the ranks of the infidel. 
     Cry mea culpa, and lowly kneel;
     I will assoil you, your souls to heal. 
     In death ye are holy martyrs crowned.” 
     The Franks alighted, and knelt on ground;
     In God’s high name the host he blessed,
     And for penance gave them—­to smite their best.

     XCIII

     The Franks arose from bended knee,
     Assoiled, and from their sins set free;
     The archbishop blessed them fervently: 
     Then each one sprang on his bounding barb,
     Armed and laced in knightly garb,
     Apparelled all for the battle line. 
     At last said Roland, “Companion mine,
     Too well the treason is now displayed,
     How Ganelon hath our band betrayed. 
     To him the gifts and the treasures fell;
     But our Emperor will avenge us well. 
     King Marsil deemeth us bought and sold;
     The price shall be with our good swords told.”

     Xciv

     Roland rideth the passes