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ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON.

FROM the Pepysian Collection, and probably of the time of James the First.

Or Hector's deeds did Homer sing,
And of the sack of stately Troy,
What griefs fair Helena did bring,
That was Sir Paris' only joy;
And by my pen I will recite
St. George's deeds—an English knight.

Against the Saracens so rude,

Fought he full long and many a day,
Where many Giants he subdued,
In honour of the Christian sway;
And after many adventures past,
To Egypt land he came at last.

Now, as the story plain doth tell,

Within that country then did rest
A dreadful Dragon fierce and fell,
Whereby they were full sore opprest;
Who by his poisonous breath each day
many of the city slay.

Did

The grief whereof did grow so great,
Throughout the limits of the land,
That they their wise men did intreat,

To shew their cunning, out of hand,
What way they might this fiend destroy
That did the country thus annoy.

The wise men all before the king,

This answer framed, incontinent,
The Dragon none to death might bring,
By any means they could invent:
His skin more hard than brass was found,
No sword or spear could pierce or wound.

When this the people understood,

They cried out most piteously:
The Dragon's breath infects their blood,
That every day in heaps they die :
Among them such a plague it bred,
The living scarce could bury the dead.

No means there were, as they could hear,
For to appease the Dragon's rage,
But to present some virgin clear,*
Whose blood his fury might appease.
Each day he would a maiden eat,
For to allay his hunger great.

* In the Chivalric ages, dragons formed a striking class in Natural History: they had a most unhappy and wicked custom of eating young ladies, which, however, was generally, in the most interesting cases, frustrated by the appearance of some gallant and generous Knight, who spitted the dragon instead, and was of course rewarded with the hand of the lady, who, in addition to perfect beauty, was adorned with every virtue. So far it is a pretty fable. But "the age of chivalry is gone," as said the eloquent Burke: and the dragons of romance are gone with it,-wings, tails, and all. Yet it is to be feared that the fair sex meet with too many biped ones, who would indeed devour them !-and against whom, in this selfish age, they may look in vain for a generous champion.

This thing by art the wise men found,
Which truly must observed be;
Wherefore throughout the city round
A virgin pure of good degree,
Was, by the King's commission, still
Taken up to serve the Dragon's will.
Thus did the Dragon every day

Untimely crop some virgin flower,
Till all the maids were worn away,

And none were left him to devour, Saving the King's fair daughter bright, Her father's only heart's delight.

Then came the officers to the King,
That heavy message to declare,
Which did his heart with sorrow sting,-
She is, quoth he, my kingdom's heir;

O! let us all be poisoned here,

Ere she should die that is my dear.

Then rose the people presently,

And to the King in rage they went: They said his daughter dear should die, The Dragon's fury to preventOur daughters are all dead, quoth they, And have been made the Dragon's prey.

And by their blood we rescued were, And thou hast saved thy life thereby, And now, in sooth, it is but fair

For us thy daughter thus should die. O, save my daughter, said the King, And let me feel the Dragon's sting!

Then fell fair Sabra on her knees,

And to her father dear did say,

O father, strive not thus for me,
But let me be the Dragon's prey-
It may be, for my sake alone,
This plague upon the land was thrown.

'Tis better I should die, she said,
Than all your subjects perish quite;
Perhaps the Dragon here was laid,

For my offence to work his spite,
And after he has sucked my gore,
Your land shall feel the grief no more.

What hast thou done, my daughter dear,
For to deserve this heavy scourge?

It is my fault, as may appear,

Which makes the Gods our state to purge

Then ought I die to stint the strife,

And to preserve thy happy life.

Like madmen, all the people cried,
Thy death to us can do no good;
Our safety only doth abide

In making her the Dragon's food.*
Lo! here I am— —I come,—quoth she,
Therefore do what you will with me.

Nay, stay, dear daughter, quoth the Queen;
And as thou art a virgin bright,
That hast for virtue famous been,
So let me clothe thee all in white,
And crown thy head with flowers sweet,
An ornament for virgins meet.

* Of such fabulous instances of exposure to monsters, the classical story of Andromeda, and more especially that of Hesione, afford instances in point, with many others. Abundance is also to be found in the early romancers, and in Ariosto, Spenser, &c.

And when she was attired so,

According to her mother's mind,
Unto the stake then did she go;

To which her tender limbs they bind.
And being bound to stake a-thrall,
She bade farewell unto them all.

Farewell, my father dear, quoth she,

And my sweet mother, meek and mild;
Take you no thought, nor weep for me,
For you may have another child—
Since for my country's good I die,
Death I receive most willingly.

The King and Queen, and all their train,
With weeping eyes, went then their way,
And let their daughter there remain

To be the hungry dragon's prey ;
But as she did the re weeping lie,
Behold St. George came riding by.*

* Of this tutelar Champion of England, very little certain is known, beyond the fact of his having been a martyr in the reign of Diocletian, about A. D. 300. It is probable, from the traditions current of his history, that he was a person distinguished for valour, and perhaps an officer in the Roman army. Dr. Milner, a late titular Roman Catholic Bishop, published a treatise on his existence and exploits.

The outline of this legend is taken from the romance of Sir Bevis; in which are some particulars, not adopted here, which Mr. Ellis, in his prose epitome, has placed in rather a ludicrous light. At the first onset, the dragon whipped Sir Bevis with his tail, into a well; and well it was for the Knight he did so, as this was a sainted stream, and endowed with healing properties, by virtue of which Sir Bevis sprung up into the upper regions,-like Antæus from the earth,-with renewed vigour. Twice, or three times more was he flapped backwards into the same receptacle, by the irresistible tail; but at length he succeeded in disabling his truculent enemy, by slicing off a portion, several feet in length, of this useful and ornamental appendage, thus curtailing the dragon of one of his most formidable weapons; and then attacking "the very head and front of his offending," he put a final stop to all his outrages and gambols for the future.

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