Classic Poem

Then cried Security, " What can this be?
Though you should do the worst that you know how,
Here you shall die, O Fear, I swear to God.
Your custom is to shake as with an ague,
A hundred times more timorous than a hare;
But now you have put off your cowardice.
The Devil himself, it must be, makes you brave
Thus to face Hardihood, who loves the lists
And, if he but recall it, knows so much
Of tourneying that he no rival has;
While ne'er in all your life you've fought before.
You knew not how to make one fencing thrust
At other times. In all your other bouts
You've either fled or else you've come to terms —
You who this time so well defend yourself.
With Cacus you escaped from Hercules
When you saw him come running, club in hand.
Quite disconcerted then, you lent winged heels,
Such as he'd never had before, to him
When Cacus stole from Hercules his cows
And, dragging them all backward by the tails
That none might track them thither, in his cave,
That distant was, concealed them cleverly.
Then was your valor tried. Beyond a doubt
You showed you were worth nothing in a fight;
Nor have you frequented the battlefield
Since then. You've naught, or little, learned of war.
Now it behooves you to give up your arms
Or flee and not defend yourself. You'll pay
Most dearly for opposing such as he. "
A hardened sword of Flight from Every Care
Security possessed and shield of Peace
Bordered with Concord, surely excellent.
She struck at Fear, thinking to kill her quite;
But Fear took care to cover with her shield
Her body, meeting luckily the blow,
Which grieved her not at all, but, glancing off,
Fell harmless. Then she dealt Security
A blow that stunned her and almost caused her death;
So mighty 'twas, it robbed her of her shield
And sword. What did Security do then?
To give example to the rest, she seized
Her enemy by both the ears; and Fear
To her did likewise. Others intervened
And, grabbing one another similarly,
Struggled in pairs. Never was battle seen
So joined before! The fight was reinforced
On every hand; the struggle was so great
That ne'er before in any tournament
Was there such give-and-take of deadly blows.
Both sides called reinforcements. Here and there
Pell-mell they ran. I never saw strokes given
So thick as then they fell, like hail or snow.
I never saw folk mingle so in fight.
Not one of them but battered was or bruised.
But now, to tell the truth, the besieging host
Was getting the worst of it. The God of Love,
Distrusting lest his men should all be killed,
Sent Franchise and Sweet Sight to tell his dame
That she should come — that no necessity
Should hold her back. Meanwhile he made a truce
To last ten days or twelve, or more or less;
The length was not precisely limited.
Indeed, they might have made it last for aye
Had they desired, but it could broken be
By violation upon either side.
Had not Love seen that it was best for him,
He to the armistice had ne'er agreed;
And if the guardians had not supposed
That Love was desperate and could not break
The truce, they had not freely granted it.
Their anger had flared up had he displayed
Of his intentions but a single sign.
Had Venus' intervention been surmised,
There ne'er had been this truce, which to Love's cause
So advantageous proved; since there was naught
For him to do but flee or respite gain,
As oft occurs when armies fail to rout
Their foes and need to gather force for fresh attack.