But not for vengeance, long delayed,

Alone, did Alp, the renegade,

The Moslem warriors sternly teach

His skill to pierce the promised breach: 180

Within these walls a Maid was pent

His hope would win, without consent

Of that inexorable Sire,

Whose heart refused him in its ire,

When Alp, beneath his Christian name,

Her virgin hand aspired to claim.

In happier mood, and earlier time,

While unimpeached for traitorous crime,

Gayest in Gondola or Hall,

He glittered through the Carnival; 190

And tuned the softest serenade

That e'er on Adria's waters played

At midnight to Italian maid.[om]