Fix’d as a sentinel, all eye, all ear,
All expectation of the coming foe. 890
Rouse, stand in arms, nor lean against thy spear;
Lest slumber steal one moment o’er thy soul,
And Fate surprise thee nodding. Watch, be strong:
Thus give each day the merit, and renown,
Of dying well; though doom’d but once to die.
Nor let life’s period hidden (as from most)
Hide too from thee the precious use of life.
Early, not sudden, was Narcissa’s fate. 898