SCENE II.
Eul. Though Orpheus' harp, Arion's lute, the chimes
Whose silver sound did Theban towers raise:
Though sweet Urania with her ten-string'd lyre,
Unto whose stroke the daily-rolling spheres
Dance their just measures, should with tune and tone
Tickle my air-bred ear; yet can their notes
Those fabulous stones more enter, than my soul.
Lead, poppy, slumber, stupefy my heart;
But Bedlam grief acts gambols in my brain.
The Centaur's wheel, Prometheus' hawk, the vulture
Of Tityus, Sisyphus' never-mossy stone,
The tale of Danaids' tub and Tantalus' gaping,
Are but flea-bitings to my smart. I've slain
A kinsman—more, a friend I dearly lov'd:
Nay more, no cause provoking, but in rash
And hellish choler.
I thought my love had cannon-proof been 'gainst
A world of injuries; when see, all is split
By a small wind. Cursed be thou, my sword,
The instrument of fury! cursed hand,
Which mad'st the thrust! but most accursed part,
Whose ruddy flesh triangular boil'd in flame,
Like an Ætnean or Vesuvian salamander!
That breast I so could hug, that faithful breast,
That snowy white, I with dark sanguine stain'd;
And from the wound's red lips his panting heart
Did seem to say, Is this a friendly deed?
O no, Hirildas: bears can harmless play,
Lions can dally, and sheathe up their claws;
I only, worst of brutes, kill friends in jest.
Why does Androgeus, kindly-cruel, keep
Me from their sentence? say, law bids me die;
If law should not, I'll make that law myself.
Shall ensigns be display'd, and nations rage
About so vile a wretch? shall foreign hoofs
Kick up our trembling dust, and must a Cæsar
Redeem my folly with a kingdom's fall?
First may I stop black Cerberus' triple jaws.
Die, die! thou hast outliv'd thyself. Thou only,
Phœnix of females, still dost bind and bound
My runagate spirit in these walls of mud;
From thee and for thee 'tis I breathe. Yet how
Borrow can I his shape, or use mine own?
Odious before, now worse than hell-born goblin,
With brand and chains to scare this dove, all quaking
'Twixt wrath and fear. But time may favour win;
When hope doth fail, then knife or rope begin. [Exit.
SCENE III.
Cassibelanus, Belinus, Rollano.
Cas. Wisdom, confirm my sense! what seem'd their number?
Rol. Rising from shore, conjecture might descry
A thousand ships with painted prows to pave
The briny fields of Neptune; their broad sails
Did Nereus canopy, Titan's taper veil.
As nations twenty-nine 'gainst Troy built up
A floating Delos of a thousand ships,
To plough the liquid glass; no frame of Pallas,
No crafty Sinon; but those wooden horse
Did Troy dis-Troy. So Troynovant shall feel
Her mother's fate; Achilles comes again,
And Pergamus again shall sink in dust;
They threaten. [Exit.
Cas. Wonder! what can their arsenals spawn so fast?
Last year his barks and galleys were debosh'd;[330]
This spring they sprout again: belike their navy,
Like the Lernæan adder, faster grows
The more 'tis prun'd. They come their last. Lord deputy,
Lead on the present troops, and levy new.
'Twere best, I think, to let him land, lest view
Of his huge navy should our commons fright.
Retire ourselves to some place of advantage,
Entice him from his ships; so cut the veins
Which nourish both: enclos'd he cannot 'scape.
Bel. I rather judge, we should oppose his footing,
Using the benefit of our natural mound.
Cas. Uncertain 'tis where—when, he makes inroad:
To furnish all, unlikely: to neglect
Any were dangerous as Pelides' heel,
Our shores are large and level: then t' attend
His time and leisure would exhaust the state—
Weary our soldiers.