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Dio. Come, tell me whose it was.

If souls guide vows, if vows be sanctimony,
If there be rule in unity itself,

Cres. 'Twas one's that loved me better than you If sanctimony be the god's delight,

will.

But, now you have it, take it.

Dio.
Whose was it?
Cres. By all Diana's waiting-women yonder,'
And by herself, I will not tell you whose.

Dio. To-morrow will I wear it on my helm ;
And grieve his spirit that dares not challenge it.
Tro. Wert thou the devil, and wor'st it on thy
horn,

It should be challeng'd.

This was not she. O madness of discourse,
That cause sets up with and against itself!
Bi-fold authority! where reason can revolt
Without perdition, and loss assume all reason
Without revolt; this is, and is not, Cressid!
Within my soul there doth commence a fight
Of this strange nature, that a thing inseparate
Divides more wider than the sky and earth;
And yet the spacious breadth of this division

Cres. Well, well, 'tis done, 'tis past ;-And yet Admits no orifice for a point, as subtle

it is not;

I will not keep my word.

Dio.

Why then, farewell;

Thou never shalt mock Diomed again.

As is Arachne's broken woof, to enter.
Instance, O instance! strong as Pluto's gates;
Cressid is mine, tied with the bonds of heaven:
Instance, O instance! strong as heaven itself;

Cres. You shall not go:-One cannot speak a The bonds of heaven are slipp'd, dissolv'd, and word,

But it straight starts you.
Dio.
I do not like this fooling.
Ther. Nor I, by Pluto: but that that likes not
you, pleases me best.

Dio. What, shall I come? the hour?
Cres.

Ay, come :-O Jove!

Do come :-I shall be plagu'd.
Dio.

Farewell till then.

Cres. Good night. I pr'ythee, come.

[Exit Diomedes.
Troilus, farewell! one eye yet looks on thee;
But with my heart the other eye doth see.
Ah! poor our sex! this fault in us I find,
The error of our eye directs our mind:
What error leads, must err; O then conclude,
Minds, sway'd by eyes, are full of turpitude.

[Exit Cressida. Ther. A proof of strength she could not publish more,

Unless she said, My mind is now turn'd whore.
Ulyss. All's done, my lord.

It is.

Tro.
Ulyss.
Why stay we then?
Tro. To make a recordation2 to my soul
Of every syllable that here was spoke.
But, if I tell how these two did co-act,
Shall I not l'e in publishing a truth?
Sith' yet there is a credence in my heart,
As esperance so obstinately strong,

That doth invert the attest of eyes and ears;
As if those organs had deceptious functions,
Created only to calumniate."

Was Cressid here?

Ulyss.

I cannot conjure, Trojan.
Tro. She was not, sure.
Ulyss.

Most sure she was.

Tro. Why, my negation" hath no taste of mad

ness.

Ulyss. Nor mine, my lord: Cressid was here but

now.

Tro. Let it not be believ'd for womanhood!
Think, we had mothers; do not give advantage
To stubborn critics-apt, without a theme,
For depravation,-to square the general sex
By Cressid's rule: rather think this not Cressid.
Ulyss. What hath she done, prince, that can soil
our mothers?

Tro. Nothing at all, unless that this were she.
Ther. Will he swagger himself out on's own eyes?
Tro. This she? no, this is Diomed's Cressida :
If beauty have a soul, this is not she;

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loos'd;

And with another knot, five-finger-tied,
The fractions of her faith, orts of her love,
The fragments, scraps, the bits, and greasy reliques
Of her o'er-eaten faith, are bound to Diomed.

Ulyss. May worthy Troilus be half attach'd
With that which here his passion doth express?
Tro. Ay, Greek; and that shall be divulged well,
In characters as red as Mars his heart
Inflam'd with Venus: never did young man fancy 10
With so eternal and so fix'd a soul.
Hark, Greek ;-As much as I do Cressid love,
So much by weight hate I her Diomed:
That sleeve is mine, that he'll bear on his helm;
Were it a casque" compos'd by Vulcan's skill,
My sword should bite it: not the dreadful spout,
Which shipmen do the hurricano call,
Constring'd' in mass by the almighty sun,
Shall dizzy with more clamour Neptune's ear
In his descent, than shall my prompted sword
Falling on Diomed.

Ther. He'll tickle it for his concupy."
Tro. O Cressid! O false Cressid! false, false,
false !

Let all untruths stand by thy stain'd name,
And they'll seem glorious.

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Farewell, revolted fair!--and, Diomed,
Stand fast, and wear a castle on thy head!
Ulyss. I'll bring you to the gates.

Tro. Accept distracted thanks.

[Exeunt Troilus, Æneas, and Ulysses. Ther. 'Would, I could meet that rogue Diomed! I would croak like a raven; I would bode, I would bode. Patroclus will give me any thing for the intelligence of this whore: the parrot will not do more for an almond, than he for a commodious drab. Lechery, lechery; still, wars and lechery; nothing else holds fashion: A burning devil take [Exit.

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Where is my brother Hector? And. Here, sister; arm'd, and bloody in intent: Consort with me in loud and dear petition, Pursue we him on knees; for I have dream'd Of bloody turbulence, and this whole night

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Come, Hector, come, go back; Thy wife hath dream'd; thy mother hath had visions;

Cassandra doth foresee; and I myself
Am like a prophet suddenly enrapt,

Hath nothing been but shapes and forms of To tell thee-that this day is ominous: slaughter.

Cas. O, it is true.
Hect.
Ho! bid my trumpet sound!
Cas. No notes of sally, for the heavens, sweet
brother.

Hect. Begone, I say: the gods have heard me

swear.

Cas. The gods are deaf to hot and peevish' vows;
They are polluted offerings, more abhorr'd
Than spotted liver in the sacrifice.

And. O! be persuaded: Do not count it holy
To hurt by being just it is as lawful,
For we would give much, to use violent thefts,
And rob in the behalf of charity.

Cas. It is the purpose that makes strong the vow;
But vows, to every purpose, must not hold :
Unarm, sweet Hector.

Hect. Hold you still, I say ; Mine honour keeps the weather of my fate: Life every man holds dear: but the dear man Holds honour far more precious dear" than life.

Enter Troilus.

How now, young man? mean'st thou to fight today?

And. Cassandra, call my father to persuade.
[Exit Cassandra.
Hect. No, 'faith, young Troilus; doff' thy har-
ness, youth,

I am to-day i'the vein of chivalry:
Let grow thy sinews till their knots be strong,
And tempt not yet the brushes of the war.
Unarm thee, go; and doubt thou not, brave boy,
I'll stand, to-day, for thee, and me, and Troy.

Tro. Brother, you have a vice of mercy in you, Which better fits a lion, than a man.

Hect. What vice is that, good Troilus? chide me for it.

Tro. When many times the captive Grecians fall, Even in the fan and wind of your fair sword, You bid them rise, and live. Hect. O, 'tis fair play. Tro.

Fool's play, by heaven, Hector. Hect. How now? how now?

Tro. For the love of all the gods, Let's leave the hermit Pity with our mother; And when we have our armours buckled on, The venom'd vengeance ride upon our swords; Spur them to ruthful work, rein them from ruth. Hect. Fie, savage, fie!

Tro. Hector, then 'tis wars. Hect. Troilus, I would not have you fight to-day. Tro. Who should withhold me?" Not fate, obedience, nor the hand of Mars Beckoning with fiery truncheon my retire; Not Priamus and Hecuba on knees, Their eyes, o'ergalled with recourse of tears; (2) Valuable.

(1) Foolish.

(3) Put off.

Therefore, come back.
Hect.
Æneas is afield;
And I do stand engag'd to many Greeks,
Even in the faith of valour, to appear
This morning to them.

Pri.

But thou shalt not go.

Hect. I must not break my faith.
You know me dutiful; therefore, dear sir,
Let me not shame respect; but give me leave
To take that course by your consent and voice,
Which you do here forbid me, royal Priam.
Cas. O Priam, yield not to him.

And.
Do not, dear father.
Hect. Andromache, I am offended with you:
Upon the love you bear me, get you in.

[Exit Andromache. Tro. This foolish, dreaming, superstitious, girl, Makes all these bodements.

Cas.

O farewell, dear Hector. Look, how thou diest! look, how thy eye turns pale!

Look, how thy wounds do bleed at many vents!
Hark, how Troy roars! how Hecuba cries out!
How poor Andromache shrills her colours forth!
Behold, destruction, frenzy, and amazement,
Like witless antics, one another meet,
And all cry-Hector! Hector's dead! O Hector!
Tro. Away!-Away!

Cas. Farewell.-Yet, soft:-Hector, I take my leave;

[Ex.

Thou dost thyself and all our Troy deceive.
Hect. You are amaz'd, my liege, at her exclaim:
Go in, and cheer the town: we'll forth, and fight;
Do deels worth praise, and tell you them at night.
Pri. Farewell: the gods with safety stand about
thee!

[Exeuni severally Priam and Hector. Alarums. Tro. They are at it; hark! Proud Diomed, be

lieve,

I come to lose my arm, or win my sleeve.

As Troilus is going out, enter, from the other side,
Pandarus.

Pan. Do you hear, my lord? do you hear?
Tro. What now?

Pan. Here's a letter from yon' poor girl.
Tro. Let me read.

Pan. A whoreson ptisic, a whoreson rascally ptisic so troubles me, and the foolish fortune of this girl; and what one thing, what another, that I shall leave you one o'these days: And I have a rheum in mine eyes too; and such an ache in my bones, that, unless a man were cursed, I cannot tell what to think on't.-What says she there! Tro. Words, words, mere words, no matter from the heart; [Tearing the letter.

The effect doth operate another way.

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Go, wind, to wind, there turn and change to- Appals our numbers; haste we, Diomed,
To reinforcement, or we perish all.

gether.

Enter Nestor.

My love with words and errors still she feeds; But edifies another with her deeds. [Exe. severally. Nest. Go, bear Patroclus' body to Achilles; SCENE IV.-Between Troy and the Grecian And bid the snail-pac'd Ajax arm for shame.camp. Alarums: Excursions. Enter Thersites. There is a thousand Hectors in the field: Ther. Now they are clapper-clawing one another; Now here he fights on Galathe his horse, I'll go look on. That dissembling abominable var- And there lacks work; anon, he's there afoot, let, Diomed, has got that same scurvy doating fool- And there they fly, or die, like scaled sculls ish young knave's sleeve of Troy there, in his helm: Before the belching whale; then is he yonder, I would fain see them meet; that that same young And there the strawy Greeks, ripe for his edge, Trojan ass, that loves the whore there, might send Fall down before him, like the mower's swath that Greekish whoremaster villain, with the sleeve, Here, there, and every where, he leaves, and takes ; back to the dissembling luxurious drab, on a sleeve- Dexterity so obeying appetite,

Enter Ulysses.

Ulyss. O courage, courage, princes! great
Achilles

less errand. O'the other side, The policy of those That what he will, he does; and does so much, crafty swearing rascals,—that stale old mouse-eaten That proof is call'd impossibility. dry cheese, Nestor; and that same dog-fox, Ulysses,-is not proved worth a blackberry:-They set me up, in policy, that mongrel cur, Ajax, against that dog of as bad a kind, Achilles: and now is the cur Ajax prouder than the cur Achilles, and Is arming, weeping, cursing, vowing vengeance: will not arm to-day: whereupon the Grecians begin Patroclus' wounds have rous'd his drowsy blood, to proclaim barbarism, and policy grows into an ill Together with his mangled Myrmidons, opinion. Soft! here come sleeve, and t'other. That noseless, handless, hack'd and chipp'd, come to him,

Enter Diomedes, Troilus following.

Tro. Fly not; for, should'st thou take the river
Styx,

I would swim after.

Dio.

Thou dost miscall retire: I do not fly; but advantageous care Withdrew me from the odds of multitude: Have at thee!

Ther. Hold thy whore, Grecian!-now for thy whore, Trojan!-now the sleeve, now the sleeve!

[Exeunt Troilus and Diomedes, fighting.
Enter Hector.

Hec. What art thou, Greek? art thou for Hec-
tor's match?

Art thou of blood, and honour?

Ther. No, no:-I am rascal; a scurvy railing knave; a very filthy rogue.

Hect. I do believe thee ;-live.

[Exit.

Ther. God-a-mercy, that thou wilt believe me;
But a plague break thy neck, for frighting me
What's become of the wenching rogues? I think,
they have swallowed one another: I would laugh
at that miracle. Yet, in a sort, lechery eats itself.
I'll seek them.
[Exit.

SCENE V.-The same. Enter Diomedes and a
Servant.

Dio. Go, go, my servant, take thou Troilus' horse;
Present the fair steed to my lady Cressid:
Fellow, commend my service to her beauty;
Tell her, I have chastis'd the amorous Trojan,
And am her knight by proof.
Serv.

I go, my lord.

(Exit Servant.

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Crying on Hector. Ajax hath lost a friend,
And foams at mouth, and he is arm'd, and at it,
Roaring for Troilus; who hath done to-day
Mad and fantastic execution;

Engaging and redeeming of himself,
With such a careless force, and forceless care,
As if that luck, in very spite of cunning,
Bade him win all.

Enter Ajax.

Ajax. Troilus! thou coward Troilus!
Dio.

Nest. So, so, we draw together.
Enter Achilles.

[Exit. Ay, there, there.

Achil.
Where is this Hector?
Come, come, thou boy-queller, show thy face;
Know what it is to meet Achilles angry.
Hector! where's Hector? I will none but Hector.
[Exeunt.

SCENE VI.-Another part of the field. Enter
Ajax.

Ajax. Troilus, thou coward Troilus, show thy
head!

Enter Diomedes.
Dio. Troilus, I say! where's Troilus!
Ajax.
What would'st thou ?

Dio. I would correct him.
Ajax. Were I the general, thou should'st have

my office,

Ere that correction:-Troilus, I say! what, Troilus!
Enter Troilus.

Tro. O traitor Diomed!-turn thy false face, thou
traitor,

And pay thy life thou ow'st me for my horse!
Dio. Ha! art thou there?

Ajax. I'll fight with him alone: stand, Diomed.
Dio. He is my prize, I will not look upon."
Tro. Come both, you coggings Greeks; have at
you both.
[Exeunt, fighting.

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Enter Achilles.

Achil. Now do I see thee: Ha!-Have at thee, Hector.

Hect. Pause, if thou wilt.

Achil. I do disdain thy courtesy, proud Trojan. Be happy, that my arms are out of use: My rest and negligence befriend thee now, But thou anon shalt hear of me again; Till when, go seek thy fortune. Hect. Fare thee well:I would have been much more a fresher man, Had I expected thee.-How now, my brother?

Re-enter Troilus.

Tro. Ajax hath ta'en Æneas; Shall it be? No, by the flame of yonder glorious heaven, He shall not carry1 him; I'll be taken too, Or bring him off:-Fate, hear me what I say! I reck2 not though I end my life to-day.

Enter one in sumptuous armour.

[Exit.

[Exit.

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Enter Achilles and Myrmidons.

Achil. Look, Hector, how the sun begins to set; How ugly night comes breathing at his heels: Even with the veil and dark'ning of the sun, To close the day up, Hector's life is done. Hect. I am unarm'd: forego this vantage, Greek. Achil. Strike, fellows, strike; this is the man I seek. [Hector falls. So, Ilion, fail thou next! now, Troy, sink down ; Here lies thy heart, thy sinews, and thy bone.— On, Myrmidons; and cry you all amain, Achilles hath the mighty Hector slain.

[A retreat sounded. Hark! a retreat upon our Grecian part. Myr. The Trojan trumpets sound the like, my

lord.

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Dio. The bruit is-Hector's slain, and by Achilles. Achilles! Hector's slain! Achilles ! Great Hector was as good a man as he. Ajax. If it be so, yet bragless let it be;

Agam. March patiently along:-Let one be sent To pray Achilles see us at our tent.

If in his death the gods have us befriended, Great Troy is ours, and our sharp wars are ended. [Exeunt, marching.

SCENE VIII.-The same. Enter Menelaus SCENE XI.-Another part of the field. Enter

and Paris, fighting: then Thersites. Ther. The cuckold and the cuckold-maker are at it: Now, bull! now, dog! 'Loo, Paris, 'loo! now my double-henned sparrow! 'Loo, Paris, 'loo! The bull has the game:'ware horns, ho! [Exeunt Paris and Menelaus. Enter Margarelon.

Mar. Turn, slave, and fight.
Ther. What art thou?

Mar. A bastard son of Priam's.

Ther. I am a bastard too; I love bastards: I am a bastard begot, bastard instructed, bastard in mind, bastard in valour, in every thing illegitimate. One bear will not bite another, and wherefore should one bastard? Take heed, the quarrel's most ominous to us: if the son of a whore fight for a whore, he tempts judgment: Farewell, bastard. Mar. The devil take thee, coward! SCENE IX.-Another part of the field.

Hector.

[Exeunt.

Enter

Hect. Most putrified core, so fair without, Thy goodly armour thus hath cost thy life. Now is my day's work done; I'll take good breath: Rest, sword; thou hast thy fill of blood and death! [Puts off his helmet, and hangs his shield behind him.

(1) Prevail over. (2) Care. (3) Burst. (4) Employ. (5) Take not this advantage. (6) An arbitrator at athletic games.

Eneas and Trojans.

Ene. Stand, ho! yet are we masters of the field: Never go home; here starve we out the night. Enter Troilus.

Tro. Hector is slain. All. Hector ?-the gods forbid! Tro. He's dead; and at the murderer's horse's tail, In beastly sort, dragg'd through the shameful field.— Sit, gods, upon your thrones, and smile at Troy ! Frown on, you heavens, effect your rage with speed! say, at once let your brief plagues be mercy, And linger not our sure destructions on!

I

Ene. My lord, you do discomfort all the host. I do not speak of flight, of fear, of death; Tro. You understand me not, that tell me so: But dare all imminence, that gods and men Address their dangers in. Hector is gone! Let him, that will a screech-owl aye' be call'd, Who shall tell Priam so, or Hecuba? Go in to Troy, and say there-Hector's dead: There is a word will Priam turn to stone; Make wells and Niobes of the maids and wives, Cold statues of the youth; and, in a word, Scare Troy out of itself. But march, away: Hector is dead; there is no more to say. Stay yet;-You vile abominable tents, Thus proudly pight10 upon our Phrygian plains,

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Let Titan rise as early as he dare,

As many as be here of panders' hall,

I'll through and through you!-And thou, great-Your eyes, half out, weep out at Pandar's fall:

siz'd coward!

No space of earth shall sunder our two hates;
I'll haunt thee like a wicked conscience still,
That mouldeth goblins swift as frenzy thoughts.
Strike a free march to Troy!-with comfort go:
Hope of revenge shall hide our inward wo.
[Exeunt Æneas and Trojans.

As Troilus is going out, enter from the other side,
Pandarus.

Pan. But hear you, hear you!

Tro. Hence, broker lackey! ignomy' and shame Pursue thy life, and live aye with thy name!

[Exit Troilus.

Or, if you cannot weep, yet give some groans,
Though not for me, yet for your aching bones.
Brethren, and sisters, of the hold-door trade,
Some two months hence my will shall here be made:
It should be now, but that my fear is this,-
Some galled goose of Winchester would hiss:
Till then I'll sweat, and seek about for eases;
And, at that time, bequeath you my diseases.

[Exit.

This play is more correctly written than most of Pan. A goodly med'cine for my aching bones!-Shakspeare's compositions, but it is not one of those O world! world! world! thus is the poor agent in which either the extent of his views or elevation despised! O traitors and bawds, how earnestly are of his fancy is fully displayed. As the story aboundyou set a' work, and how ill requited! Why shoulded with materials, he has exerted little invention; our endeavour be so loved, and the performance so but he has diversified his characters with great loathed? what verse for it? what instance for it?-variety, and preserved them with great exactness. Let me see:

Full merrily the humble-bee doth sing,
Till he hath lost his honey, and his sting:
And being once subdued in armed tail,
Sweet honey and sweet notes together fail.-
Good traders in the flesh, set this in your painted
cloths."

His vicious characters disgust, but cannot corrupt, for both Cressida and Pandarus are detested and contemned. The comic characters seem to have been the favourites of the writer: they are of the superficial kind, and exhibit more of manners, than nature; but they are copiously filled, and powerfully impressed. Shakspeare has in his story followed, for the greater part, the old book of Caxton, which was then very popular; but the character of Ignominy. Thersites, of which it makes no mention, is a proof Canvass hangings for rooms, painted with that this play was written after Chapman had pubemblems and mottoes. lished his version of Homer.

83

(2) Ever.

JOHNSON.

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