This is the first appearance of Clorinda, who is destined to play so large a part in the poem, and who shows the nobility of her character by interceding for the lovers with the king. The king, delighted at having so powerful an auxiliary in his hour of danger and need, willingly grants Clorinda's request, and the lovers are saved. In the meantime the Christian army approach Jerusalem, which they reach at early dawn, and which they greet with deep emotion: The odorous air, morn's messenger, now spread Its wings to herald, in serenest skies, Aurora issuing forth, her radiant head Adorned with roses plucked in Paradise; When in full panoply the hosts arise, And loud and spreading murmurs upward fly, Ere yet the trumpet sings; its melodies They miss not long, the trumpet's tuneful cry Gives the command to march, shrill sounding to the sky. * * * * * Winged is each heart, and winged every heel; They fly, yet notice not how fast they fly; But by the time the dewless meads reveal The fervent sun's ascension in the sky, Lo, towered Jerusalem salutes the eye! A thousand pointing fingers tell the tale; "Jerusalem!" a thousand voices cry, "All hail, Jerusalem!" hill, down, and dale Catch the glad sounds, and shout, "Jerusalem, all hail!" Erminia, daughter of the deceased king of Antioch, points out to King Aladine from a high tower the famous warriors among the Christians, and especially praises Tancred, who had conquered her father and taken her prisoner, and who, by his courtesy and gentle treatment, had won her love. A sortie is made from the city, and Tancred, finding himself engaged in battle with Clorinda, whom he esteems a man, breaks her helmet, and discovering her to be the maiden whom he loves, refuses to fight further with her. Meanwhile Clorinda rushes to assail The Prince, and level lays her spear renowned; Both lances strike, and on the barred ventayle In shivers fly, and she remains discrowned For, burst its silver rivets, to the ground Her helmet leaped (incomparable blow!) And by the rudeness of the shock unbound, Her sex to all the field emblazoning so, Loose to the charmed winds her golden tresses flow. Thus begins the most famous episode of the Jerusalem Delivered. For the next half of the poem Tancred and Clorinda are the real hero and heroine.