KING. And dost thou think, O Patrick, that I owe
My blood so little, as to yield to dread,
And trembling fear like a weak woman show?
Say, who shall be the first this cave to tread?
What silent! Philip?
PHILIP. Sire, I dare not go.
KING. Then, Captain, thou?
CAPTAIN. Enough to strike me dead
Is even the thought.
KING. Leogaire, thou'lt surely dare?
LEOGAIRE. The heavens, my lord, themselves exclaim forbear!
KING. O cowards, lost to every sense of shame,
Unfit to gird the warrior's sword around
Your shrinking loins! Men are ye but in name.
Well, I myself shall be the first to sound
The depths of this enchantment, and proclaim
Unto this Christian that my heart unawed
Nor dreads his incantations nor his God!
[Egerius advances to the cave, and on entering sinks into it with
much noise, flames rise from below, and many voices are heard.
POLONIA. How terrible!
LEOGAIRE. How awful!
PHILIP. What a wonder!