2. Should he the lust of vengeance lay aside? Too long had Arvalan in ill been train'd; Nurst up in power and tyranny and pride, His soul the ignominious thought disdain'd. Or to his mighty father should he go, Complaining of defeature twice sustain'd, And ask new powers to meet the immortal foe? . . . Repulse he fear'd not, but he fear'd rebuke, And sham'd to tell him of his overthrow. There dwelt a dread Enchantress in a nook Obscure; old help-mate she to him had been, Lending her aid in many a secret sin; And there, for counsel, now his way he took. 3. She was a woman whose unlovely youth, Even like a cankered rose, which none will cull, Had withered on the stalk; her heart was full Of passions which had found no natural scope, Feelings which there had grown but ripened not; {112} Desires unsatisfied, abortive hope, Repinings which provoked vindictive thought, These restless elements for ever wrought, Fermenting in her with perpetual stir, And thus her spirit to all evil mov'd; She hated men because they lov'd not her, And hated women because they were lov'd. And thus, in wrath and hatred and despair, She tempted Hell to tempt her; and resign'd Her body to the Demons of the Air, Wicked and wanton fiends who, where they will, Wander abroad, still seeking to do ill, And take whatever vacant form they find, Carcase of man or beast, that life hath left; Foul instrument for them of fouler mind. To these the Witch her wretched body gave, So they would wreak her vengeance on mankind, She thus at once their mistress and their slave; And they, to do such service nothing loth, Obeyed her bidding, slaves and masters both.