No More Learning

Hear me, O Earth, hear me, O Hills, O Caves
That house the cold crowned snake ! O mountain brooks, I am the daughter of a River God,
Hear me, for I will speak, and build up all
My sorrow with my song, as yonder walls
Rose slowly to a music slowly breathed,
A cloud that gathered shape : for it may be
That, while I speak of little while
My heart may wander from its deeper woe.
"
waited underneath the dawning hills,
Aloft the mountain lawn was dewy-dark,
And dewy-dark aloft the mountain pine
Beautiful Paris, evil-hearted Paris,
Leading jet-black goat white-horned, white-hooved, Came up from reedy Simois all alone.
"
sat alone white-breasted like star
mother Ida, many-fountained Ida, Dear mother Ida, hearken ere die.
mother Ida, hearken ere die.
Far off the torrent called me from the cleft
Far up the solitary morning smote
The streaks of virgin snow. With down-dropt eyes
II OO
:
a
a
I :
I :
it, a
(ENONE.
Fronting the dawn he moved; a leopard skin Drooped from his shoulder, but his sunny hair Clustered about his temples like a God's:
And his cheek brightened as the foam bow brightens When the wind blows the foam, and all my heart Went forth to embrace him coming ere he came.
" Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die.
He smiled, and opening out his milk-white palm Disclosed a fruit of pure Hesperian gold,
That smelt ambrosially, and while I looked
And listened, the full-flowing river of speech Came down upon my heart.
' My own CEnone, Beautiful-browed CEnone, my own soul,
Behold this fruit, whose gleaming rind ingrav'n
" For the most fair," would seem to award it thine, As lovelier than whatever Oread haunt
The knolls of Ida, loveliest in all grace
Of movement, and the charm of married brows. '
" Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die.
He prest the blossom of his lips to mine,
And added, ' This was cast upon the board, When all the full-faced presence of the Gods Ranged in the halls of Peleus ; whereupon
Rose feud, with question unto whom 'twere due: But light-foot Iris brought it yester eve, Delivering, that to me, by common voice
Elected umpire, Here comes to-day,
Pallas and Aphrodite, claiming each
This meed of fairest. Thou, within the cave Behind yon whispering tuft of oldest pine, Mayst well behold them unbeheld, unheard Hear all, and see thy Paris judge of Gods. '
"Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die.
It was the deep mid noon : one silvery cloud
Had lost his way between the piney sides
Of this long glen. Then to the bower they came, Naked they came to that smooth-swarded bower, And at their feet the crocus brake like fire, Violet, amaracus, and asphodel,
Lotos and lilies : and a wind arose,
And overhead the wandering ivy and vine,
(ENONE.
This way and that, in many a wild festoon
Ran riot, garlanding the gnarled boughs
With bunch and berry and flower thro' and thro'.
" O mother Ida, hearken ere I die.
On the tree tops a crested peacock lit,
And o'er him flowed a golden cloud, and leaned Upon him, slowly dropping fragrant dew.
Then first I heard the voice of her, to whom Coming thro' Heaven, like a light that grows Larger and clearer, with one mind the Gods
Rise up for reverence. She to Paris made Proffer of royal power, ample rule
Unquestioned, overflowing revenue
Wherewith to embellish state, ' from many a vale And river-sundered champaign clothed with corn, Or labored mine undrainable of ore.
Honor,' she said, ' and homage, tax and toll, From many an inland town and haven large, Mast-thronged beneath her shadowing citadel
In glassy bays among her tallest towers. '
" O mother Ida, hearken ere I die.
Still she spake on and still she spake of power,
' Which in all action is the end of all ;
Power fitted to the season ; wisdom-bred
And throned of wisdom — from all neighbor crowns Alliance and Allegiance, till thy hand
Fail from the scepter staff. Such boon from me, From me, Heaven's Queen, Paris, to thee king-born, A shepherd all thy life but yet king-born,
Should come most welcome, seeing men in power Only, are likest gods, who have attained
Rest in a happy place and quiet seats
Above the thunder, with undying bliss
In knowledge of their own supremacy. '
"Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die.
She ceased, and Paris held the costly fruit
Out at arm's length, so much the thought of power Flattered his spirit ; but Pallas where she stood Somewhat apart, her clear and bared limbs O'erthwarted with the brazen-headed spear
Upon her pearly shoulder leaning cold,
The while, above, her full and earnest eye
(ENONE.
Over her snow-cold breast and angry cheek Kept watch, waiting decision, made reply.
" ' Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control, These three alone lead life to sovereign power. Yet not for power (power of herself
Would come uncalled for) but to live by law, Acting the law we live by without fear ;
And, because right is right, to follow right Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence. '
" Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die. Again she said : ' I woo thee not with gifts. Sequel of guerdon could not alter me
To fairer. Judge thou me by what I
So shalt thou find me fairest.
If gazing on divinity disrobed
Thy mortal eyes are frail to judge of fair, Unbiased by self-profit, oh ! rest thee sure That I shall love thee well and cleave to thee, So that my vigor, wedded to thy blood,
Shall strike within thy pulses, like a God's, To push thee forward thro' a life of shocks, Dangers, and deeds, until endurance grow Sinewed with action, and the full-grown will, Circled thro' all experiences, pure law, Commeasure perfect freedom. '
Here she ceased, And Paris pondered, and I cried, ' 0 Paris,
Give it to Pallas ! ' but he heard me not, Or hearing would not hear me, woe is me I
" O mother Ida, many-fountained Ida,
I Idalian Aphrodite beautiful,
Dear mother Ida, hearken ere
die.
Fresh as the foam, new-bathed in Paphian wells, With rosy slender fingers backward drew
From her warm brows and bosom her deep hair Ambrosial, golden round her lucid throat
And shoulder : from the violets her light foot Shone rosy-white, and o'er her rounded form Between the shadows of the vine bunches Floated the glowing sunlights, as she moved.
" Dear mother Ida, hearken ere I die. She with a subtle smile in her mild eyes,
am, Yet, indeed,
And I beheld great Here's angry eyes, As she withdrew into the golden cloud, And I was left alone within the bower ; And from that time to this I
am alone, And I shall be alone until I die.
(ENONE.
The herald of her triumph, drawing nigh Half-whispered in his ear, ' I promise thee The fairest and most loving wife in Greece,'
I shut my sight for fear : But when I looked, Paris had raised his arm,
She spoke and laughed :
" Yet, mother Ida, hearken ere I die.
Fairest — why fairest wife ? am I not fair ?
My love hath told me so a thousand times.
Methinks I must be fair, for yesterday,
When I past by, a wild and wanton pard,
Eyed like the evening star, with playful tail Crouched fawning in the weed. Most loving is she ? Ah me, my mountain shepherd, that my arms
Were wound about thee, and my hot lips prest
Close, close to thine in that quick-falling dew
Of fruitful kisses, thick as Autumn rains
Flash in the pools of whirling Simois.
" O mother, hear me yet before I die.
They came, they cut away my tallest pines,
My tall dark pines, that plumed the craggy ledge High over the blue gorge, and all between
The snowy peak and snow-white cataract
Fostered the callow eaglet — from beneath
Whose thick mysterious boughs in the dark morn The panther's roar came muffled, while I sat
Low in the valley. Never, never more
Shall lone (Enone see the morning mist
Sweep thro' them ; never see them overlaid
With narrow moonlit slips of silver cloud, Between the loud stream and the trembling stars.
" O mother, hear me yet before I die.
I wish that somewhere in the ruined folds, Among the fragments tumbled from the glens, Or the dry thickets, I could meet with her The Abominable, that uninvited came
Into the fair Pelelan banquet hall,
And cast the golden fruit upon the board,
(ENONE.
And bred this change ; that I might speak my mind, And tell her to her face how much I hate
Her presence, hated both of Gods and men.
" O mother, hear me yet before I die.
Hath he not sworn his love a thousand times,
In this green valley, under this green hill,
Ev'n on this hand, and sitting on this stone ? Sealed it with kisses ? watered it with tears ?
O happy tears, and how unlike to these !
O happy Heaven, how canst thou see my face ? O happy earth, how canst thou bear my weight ? O death, death, death, thou ever-floating cloud, There are enough unhappy on this earth,
Pass by the happy souls, that love to live :
1 pray thee, pass before my light of life,
And shadow all my soul that I may die.
Thou weighest heavy on the heart within, Weigh heavy on my eyelids : let me die.
" O mother, hear me yet before I die.
I will not die alone, for fiery thoughts
Do shape themselves within me, more and more, Whereof I catch the issue, as I hear
Dead sounds at night come from the inmost hills, Like footsteps upon wool. I dimly see
My far-off doubtful purpose, as a mother Conjectures of the features of her child
Ere it is born : her child ! — a shudder comes Across me : never child be born of me,
Unblest, to vex me with his father's eyes !
" O mother, hear me yet before I die.
Hear me, O Earth. I will not die alone,
Lest their shrill happy laughter come to me Walking the cold and starless road of Death Uncomforted, leaving my ancient love
With the Greek woman. I will rise and go Down into Troy, and ere the stars come forth Talk with the wild Cassandra, for she says
A fire dances before her, and a sound
Rings ever in her ears of armed men.
What this may be I know not, but I know That, wheresoe'er I am by night and day,
All earth and air seem only burning fire. "
190 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. By LUCIAN OF 8AMOSATA.
[Lucian, one of the foremost humorists and men of letters of all time, was born in Asia Minor during Trajan's reign, about a. d. 100. He studied for a sculptor, but finally went to Antioch and devoted himself to literature and ora tory. He died in extreme old age. His works, written in Greek, are largely satirical burlesques on pagan philosophy and mythology and on the literature of his day, with some stories. ]
Antilochus (Son op Nestor) and Achilleus.
Antilochus — What sort of language was that, Achilleus, you addressed to Odysseus the day before yesterday about death; how ignoble and unworthy of both your teachers, Cheiron and Phoenix ! For I overheard you, when you were saying that you would wish to be a servant, bound to the soil, in the house of any poor man " whose means of support were small," rather than to be king over all the dead. These senti ments, indeed, some abject Phrygian, cowardly, and dishonor ably clinging to life, might, perhaps, be allowed to utter ; but for the son of Peleus, the most rashly daring of all heroes, to entertain so ignoble thoughts about himself, is a considerable disgrace, and a contradiction to your actions in life ; you who, though you might have reigned ingloriously a length of time in Pthiotis, of your own accord preferred death with fair fame.
Achilleus — But, O son of Nestor, at that time I was still unacquainted with the state of things here, and was ignorant which of those two conditions was the better, and used to prefer that wretched paltry glory to existence ; but now I already per ceive how profitless it is, even though the people above ground shall parrotlike sing its praises to the utmost of their power. With the dead there is perfect sameness of dignity ; and neither those good looks of mine, Antilochus, nor my powers of strength are here : but we lie all alike under the same murky gloom, and in no way superior one to the other ; and neither the dead of the Trojans have fear of me, nor do those of the Achaeans pay me any court : but there is complete and entire equality in address, and all dead men are the same, " both the coward and the brave. " These thoughts cause me anguish, and I am grieved that I am not alive and serving as a hireling.
Antilochus — Yet what can one do, Achilleus? For such is the will of Nature — that all certainly die : so one must abide
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
191
by her ordinance, and not be grieved at the constituted order of things. Besides, you observe how many of us, your friends, are about you here. And, after a short space of time, Odysseus, too, will certainly arrive ; and community in misfortune, and the fact that one is not alone in suffering, brings comfort. You see Herakles and Meleager ; and other admired heroes, who, I imagine, would not accept a return to the upper regions, if one were to send them back to be hired servants to starvelings and beggars. —
Protesilaus, one op the Victims oe the Trojan War, seeks to avenge himself by an assault on helen.
Your exhortation is friendly and well meant ;
Achilleus
but, I know not how, the remembrance of things in life troubles me, and I imagine it does each one of you, too. However, if you do not confess it openly, you are in that respect worse off, in that you endure it in silence.
Antilochus — No, rather better off, Achilleus ; for see the uselessness of speaking ! And we have come to the resolution to keep silence, and to bear, and put up with not to incur ridicule, as you do, by indulging such wishes.
JEakua [gatekeeper'] — Why are you falling upon Helen, and throttling her, Protesilaus?
Protesilaus — Why Because was through her met with my death, iEakus, leaving behind me my house half finished, and my newly married wife widow.
JEakus — Blame Menelaus, then, who led you to Troy, for the sake of such woman.
Protesilaus — You are right. It's he have to call to
account. — Menelaus
No, not me, my fine sir, but Paris more likely, who, contrary to every principle of justice, ran off with the wife of his host — myself. Why, this fellow deserves to be throttled not by you only but by all Hellenes and foreigners, seeing he has been the cause of death to such numbers.
Protesilaus — Better so. Never, therefore, assure you, will let you out of my hands, " ill-fated Paris " (taking him by
the throat).
Paris — Then you do an injustice, Protesilaus, and that, too,
to your fellow-craftsman. For myself, also, am devotee of Eros, and am held fast prisoner by the same divinity. And
I
I a
I
I
it,
I
a
?
it a
192 DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.
you know how involuntary a sort of thing is love, and how a certain divinity drives us wherever he wishes, and it is impos sible to resist him.
JEakus — I will maintain the cause even of Eros against you. Why, he would himself acknowledge that, likely enough, he was the cause, as regards Paris, of his falling in love ; but that of your death, Protesilaus, no one else was the cause but yourself, who, entirely forgetful of your newly married wife, when you brought your ships up at the Troad, so rashly and foolhardily leapt out before the rest, enamored of glory ; on account of which you were the first, in the disembarkation, to die.
Protesilaus — You are right. Would therefore it were possible for me to get hold of Eros here !
Protesilaus — Then, I shall, in defense of myself, make a still juster reply to you, ^Sakus : it is not I am responsible for all this, but Destiny, and the fact that my thread of life was so spun from the first.
JEakus — Rightly, too. Why, then, do you blame them?
Aias (Ajax) and Agamemnon.
Agamemnon — If you in a fit of madness, Aias, killed your self, and intended also to murder us all, why do you blame Odysseus ; and, the day before yesterday, why did you not even look at him, when he came to consult the oracle, or deign to address a word to your old comrade and companion, but haughtily passed him by with huge strides ?
Aias — With good reason, Agamemnon ; for he was the actual and sole cause of my madness, seeing that he put himself in competition with me for the arms.
Agamemnon — And did you consider it your right to be un opposed, and to lord it over all without the toil of contest ?
Aias — Yes, indeed, in such respect ; for the suit of armor was my own, as it was my uncle's. Indeed, you others, though far superior, declined the contest for yourselves, and yielded the prize to me ; whereas the son of Laertes, whom I often saved, when in imminent peril of being cut to pieces by the Phrygians, set himself up to be my superior, and to be more worthy to receive the arms.
Agamemnon — Blame Thetis, then, my admirable sir, who, though she should have delivered over the heritage of the arms
PISIDICfi. 193
to you as her relative, took and deposited them for general competition.
Aias — No, but Odysseus, who was the only one to put himself forward as claimant.
Agamemnon — It is excusable, human as he was, he had great longing after glory, very pleasant acquisition, for the sake of which every one of us also underwent dangers seeing, too, he conquered you, and that before Trojan judges.
Aias — know what Goddess gave sentence against me but not allowed one to say anything regarding the divinities.
But as for your Odysseus, however, could not by any means cease from hating him, Agamemnon not even Athena her self should enjoin upon me.
PISIDICfi. 1
By ANDREW LANG.
The daughter of the Lesbian king,
Within her bower she watched the war
Far off she heard the arrows ring, The smitten harness ring afar And fighting on the foremost car,
Stood one who smote where all must flee Fairer than the immortals are
He seemed to fair Pisidice
She saw, she loved him, and her heart Unto Achilles, Peleus' son,
Threw all its guarded gates apart,
A maiden fortress lightly won.
And ere that day of strife was done,
No more of land or faith recked she But joyed in her new life begun, —
Her life of love, Pisidice'
She took gift into her hand,
As one that has boon to crave
She stole across the ruined land,
Where lay the dead without grave, And to Achilles' hand she gave
Her gift, the secret postern's key
By permission of the Century Company.
vol. II. — 13
1
J it
:
a
;
;
a
a
!
I
if,
;
! ;
:
if
:
it is
; :
a
194
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
" To-morrow let me be thy slave ! " Moaned to her love PisidicS.
At dawn the Argives' clarion call
Rang down Methymna's burning street ;
They slew the sleeping warriors all, They drove the women to the fleet, Save one that to Achilles' feet
Clung — but in sudden wrath cried he,
" For her no doom but death is meet,"
And there men stoned Pisidice.
In havens of that haunted coast, Amid the myrtles of the shore,
The moon sees many a maiden ghost, Love's outcast now and evermore.
The silence hears the shades deplore
Their hour of dear-bought love ; but thee The waves lull, 'neath thine olives hoar,
To dreamless rest, PisidicS.
GREEKS AND TROJANS. By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. (From " Troilus and Cressida. ")
[The legend of Troilus and Cressida is entirely un-Homeric, bat for some reason took hold deeply of later poets. He is only mentioned once in the Iliad, and that casually near the end (Book 24, line 257), while she is not mentioned at all. The aged Priam, in his frantic grief over Hector's death, thus assails his other sons (Pope's translation) :—
" Wretch that I am! my bravest offspring slain, Ton, the disgrace of Priam's honse, remain! Nestor the brave, renowned in rank of war, With Troilns, dreadful on his rushing car,
And last great Hector, more than man divine, . . . All those relentless Mars untimely slew,
And left me these, a soft and servile crew. "]
Scene: The Gfrecian Camp, before Agamemnon's tent. Trumpets. Enter Agamemnon, Nestob, Ulysses, Menelaus, and others.
Agamemnon — Princes,
What grief hath set the jaundice on your cheeks ? The ample proposition, that hope makes
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
In all designs begun on earth below,
Fails in the promised largeness ; checks and disasters Grow in the veins of actions highest reared ;
As knots, by the conflux of meeting sap,
Infect the sound pine, and divert his grain
Tortive and errant from his course of growth.
Nor, princess, is it matter new to us,
That we come short of our suppose so far,
That, after seven years' siege, yet Troy walls stand ; Sith every action that hath gone before,
Whereof we have record, trial did draw
Bias and thwart, not answering the aim,
And that unbodied figure of the thought
That gave't surmised shape. Why, then, you princes, Do you with cheeks abashed behold our works ;
And think them shames, which are, indeed, nought else But the protractive trials of great Jove,
To find persistive constancy in men ?
The fineness of which metal is not found
In fortune's love ; for them, the bold and coward
The wise and fool, the artist and unread,
The hard and soft, seem all affined and kin :
But, in the wind and tempest of her frown,
Distinction, with a broad and powerful fan,
Puffing at all, winnows the light away :
And what hath mass, or matter, by itself,
Lies, rich in virtue, and unmingled.
Nestor —
With due observance of thy godlike seat,
Great Agamemnon, Nestor shall apply
Thy latest words. In the reproof of chance,
Lies the true proof of men : The sea being smooth, How many shallow bauble boats dare sail
Upon her patient breast, making their way
With those of nobler bulk !
But let the ruffian Boreas once enrage
The gentle Thetis, and, anon, behold
The strong-ribbed bark through liquid mountains cut, Bounding between the two moist elements,
Like Perseus' horse : Where's then the saucy boat, Whose weak untimbered sides but even now
Corivaled greatness ? either to harbor fled,
Or made a toast for Neptune. Even so
Doth valor's show, and valor's worth, divide,
In storms of fortune : For, in her ray and brightness,
196
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
The herd hath more annoyance by the brize,
Than by the tiger : but when the splitting wind
Makes flexible the knees of knotted oaks,
And flies fled under shade, why, then, the thing of courage, As roused with rage, with rage doth sympathize,
And, with an accent tuned the selfsame key,
Returns to chiding fortune.
Ulysses — Agamemnon, — Thou great commander, nerve and bone of Greece, Heart of our numbers, soul and only spirit,
In whom the tempers and the minds of all Should be shut up, — hear what Ulysses speaks. Besides the applause and approbation,
The which, — most mighty for thy place and sway, — [To Agamemnon.
And thou most reverend for thy stretched-out life, — [To Nestor.
I give to you both your speeches, — which were such, As Agamemnon and the hand of Greece
Should hold up high in brass ; and such again,
As venerable Nestor, hatched in silver,
Should with a bond of air, (strong as the axletree
On which heaven rides,) knit all the Greekish ears
To his experienced tongue, — yet let it please both, — Thou great, — and wise, — to hear Ulysses speak.
Agamemnon —
Speak, prince of Ithaca ; and be't of less expect That matter needless, of importless burden, Divide thy lips : than we are confident,
When rank Thersites opes his mastiff jaws,
We shall hear music, wit, and oracle.
Ulysses —
Troy, yet upon this basis, had been down,
And the great Hector's sword had lacked a master, But for these instances.
The specialty of rule hath been neglected :
And, look, how many Grecian tents do stand
Hollow upon this plain, so many hollow factions. When that the general is not like the hive,
To whom the foragers shall all repair,
What honey is expected ? Degree being vizarded,
The unworthiest shows as fairly in the mask.
The heavens themselves, the planets, and this center, Observe degree, priority, and place,
Insisture, course, proportion, season, form,
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
Office, and custom, in all line of order;
And therefore is the glorious planet, Sol,
In noble eminence enthroned and sphered
Amidst the other ; whose med'cinable eye
Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil,
And posts, like the commandment of a king,
Sans check, to good and bad : But when the planets, In evil mixture, to disorder wander,
What plagues, and what portents ? what mutiny? What raging of the sea ? shaking of earth ? Commotion in the winds ? frights, changes, horrors, Divert and crack, rend and deracinate
The unity and married calm of states
Quite from their fixture ? Oh, when degree is shaked, Which is the ladder of all high designs,
The enterprize is sick ! How could communities, Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities,
Peaceful commerce from dividable shores,
The primogenitive and due of birth,
Prerogative of age, crowns, scepters, laurels,
But by degree, stand in authentic place ?
Take but degree away, untune that string,
And, hark, what discord follows ! each thing meets
In mere oppugnancy : The bounded waters
Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores,
And make a sop of all this solid globe :
Strength should be lord of imbecility,
And the rude son shall strike his father dead :
Force should be right ; or, rather, right and wrong (Between whose endless jar justice resides)
Should lose their names, and so should justice too. Then everything includes itself in power,
Power into will, will into appetite ;
And appetite, an universal wolf,
So doubly seconded with will and power,
Must make perforce an universal prey,
And, last, eat up himself. Great Agamemnon,
This chaos, when degree is suffocate,
Follows the choking.
And this neglection of degree it is,
That by a pace goes backward, with a purpose
It hath to climb. The general's disdained
By him one step below ; he, by the next ;
That next by him beneath : so every step,
Exampled by the first pace that is sick
198
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
Of his superior, grows to an envious fever
Of pale and bloodless emulation :
And 'tis this fever that keeps Troy on foot,
Not her own sinews. To end a tale of length, Troy in our weakness stands, not in her strength.
Nestor —
Most wisely hath Ulysses here discovered The fever whereof all our power is sick.
Agamemnon —
The nature of the sickness found, Ulysses, What is the remedy ?
Ulysses — — The great Achilles,
whom opinion crowns The sinew and the forehand of our host, —
Having his ear full of his airy fame,
Grows dainty of his worth, and in his tent
Lies mocking our designs : With him, Patroclus, Upon a lazy bed the livelong day,
Breaks scurril jests ;
And with ridiculous and awkward action
(Which, slanderer, he imitation calls)
He pageants us. Sometimes, great Agamemnon, Thy topless reputation he puts on;
And, like a strutting player, — whose conceit
Lies in his hamstring, and doth think it rich
To hear the wooden dialogue and sound
'Twixt his stretched footing and the scaffoldage,
Such to-be-pitied and o'er-wrested seeming
He acts thy greatness in : and when he speaks,
'Tis like a chime a mending ; with terms unsquared, Which, from the tongue of roaring Typhon dropped, Would seem hyperboles. At this fusty stuff,
The large Achilles, on his pressed bed lolling,
From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause ; Cries — Excellent ! 'tis Agamemnon just. —
Now play me Nestor ; — hem, and stroke thy beard,
As he, being drest to some oration.
That's done ; — as near as the extremest ends
Of parallels ; as like as Vulcan and his wife : Yet good Achilles still cries, Excellent !
'Tis Nestor right! Now play him me, Patroclus, Arming to answer in a night alarm.
And then, forsooth, the faint defects of age Must be the scene of mirth ; to cough and spit, And with a palsy-fumbling on his gorget,
GREEKS AND TROJANS. 199
Shake in and out the rivet : — and at this sport, Sir Valor dies ; cries, O1 — enough, Patroclus; —
OrgivemeribsofsteelI I
In pleasure of my spleen. And in this fashion, All our abilities, gifts, natures, shapes, Severals and generals of grace exact, Achievements, plots, orders, preventions, Excitements to the field, or speech for truce, Success, or loss, what or not, serves
As stuff for these two to make paradoxes.
Nestor —
And in the imitation of these twain,
(Whom, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns
With an imperial voice,) many are infect.
Ajax grown self-willed; and bears his head In such rein, in full as proud place
As broad Achilles keeps his tent like him Makes factious feasts rails on our state of war, Bold as an oracle and sets Thersites
(A slave, whose gall coins slanders like
To match us in comparisons with dirt
To weaken and discredit our exposure,
How rank soever rounded in with danger.
Ulysses —
They tax our policy, and call cowardice
Count wisdom as no member of the war
Forestall prescience, and esteem no act
But that of hand the still and mental parts, — That do contrive how many hands shall strike, When fitness calls them on and know, by measure Of their observant toil, the enemies' weight, — Why, this hath not finger's dignity
They call this — bed work, mappery, closet war
So that the ram, that batters down the wall,
For the great swing and rudeness of his poize, They place before his hand that made the engine Or those, that with the fineness of their souls
By reason guide his execution.
Nestor —
Let this be granted, and Achilles' horse
Makes many Thetis' sons. [Trumpet sounded.
Agamemnon — What trumpet look, Menelaus,
shall split all
mint)
?
;
;
;
: :
a
;
is, is
:
;
a
::
;
:
it
a
is a
200
GREEKS AND TROJANS. Enter vEneah.
What would you 'fore our tent ?
Is this
Menelaus — From Troy.
Agamemnon — jEneas —
Great Agamemnon's tent, I pray ? Agamemnon — Even this. ^Eneas —
May one that is a herald, and a prince,
Do a fair message to his kingly ears ? Agamemnon —
With surety stronger than Achilles' arm
'Fore all the Greekish heads, which with one voice Call Agamemnon head and general.
^Eneas —
Fair leave and large security. How may A stranger to those most imperial looks Know them from eyes of other mortals ?
Agamemnon — uEneas —
How ?
Ay;
I ask that I might waken reverence,
And bid the cheek be ready with a blush Modest as morning when she coldly eyes
The youthful Phoebus :
Which is that god in office, guiding men ? Which is the high and mighty Agamemnon ?
Agamemnon —
This Trojan scorns us ; or the men of Troy Are ceremonious courtiers.
^Eneas —
Courtiers as free, as debonair, unarmed,
As bending angels ; that's their fame in peace :
But when they would seem soldiers, they have galls,
Good arms, strong joints, true swords ; and, Jove's accord, Nothing so full of heart. But peace, Mneas,
Peace, Trojan ; lay thy finger on thy lips !
The worthiness of praise disdains his worth,
If that the praised himself bring the praise forth :
But what the repining enemy commends,
That breath fame follows; that praise, sole pure, transcends.
Agamemnon —
Sir, you of Troy, call you yourself JSneas ?
uEneas —
Ay, Greek, that is my name.
Agamemnon — What's your affair, I pray you ?
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
^SZneas —
Sir, pardon; 'tis for Agamemnon's ears.
Agamemnon —
He hears nought privately, that comes from Troy.
jiEneas —
Nor I from Troy come not to whisper him :
I bring a trumpet to awake his ear : To set his sense on the attentive bent, And then to speak.
Agamemnon — Speak frankly, as the wind ; It is not Agamemnon's sleeping hour :
That thou shalt know, Trojan, he is awake,
He tells thee so himself.
JEneas — Trumpet, blow loud, — Send thy brass voice through all these lazy tents ; And every Greek of mettle, let him know,
What Troy means fairly, shall be spoke aloud.
[Trumpet sounds. We have, great Agamemnon, here in Troy
A prince called Hector, (Priam is his father,)
Who in this dull and long-continued truce
Is rusty grown : he bade me take a trumpet,
And to this purpose speak. Kings, princes, lords ! If there be one among the fair'st of Greece,
That holds his honor higher than his ease ;
That seeks his praise more than he fears his peril ; That knows his valor, and knows not his fear ; That loves his mistress more than in confession, (With truant vows to her own lips he loves,)
And dare avow her beauty and her worth,
In other arms than hers, — to him this challenge. Hector, in view of Trojans and of Greeks,
Shall make it good, or do his best to do
He hath lady, wiser, fairer, truer,
Than ever Greek did compass in his arms
And will to-morrow with his trumpet call,
Midway between your tents and walls of Troy,
To rouse a Grecian that true in love
If any come, Hector shall honor him
If none, he'll say in Troy, when he retires,
The Grecian dames are sunburned, and not worth The splinter of lance. Even so much.
Agamemnon —
This shall be told our lovers, lord Mneas If none of them have soul in such a kind,
a
;
:
; ;it,
is
a
202
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
We left them all at home : But we are soldiers ; And may that soldier a mere recreant prove, That means not, hath not, or is not in love.
If then one is, or hath, or means to be,
That one meets Hector ; if none else, I am he. Nestor —
Tell him of Nestor, one that was a man
When Hector's grandsire sucked : he is old now ; But, if there be not in our Grecian host
One noble man, that hath one spark of fire
To answer for his love, tell him from me, —
I'll hide my silver beard in a gold beaver,
And in my vantbrace put this withered brawn ; And, meeting him, will tell him, That my lady Was fairer than his grandame, and as chaste
As may be in the world : His youth in flood,
I'll prove this truth with my three drops of blood.
Ulysses — Amen.
Agamemnon —
Fair lord iEneas, let me touch your hand ;
To our pavilion shall I lead you, sir.
Achilles shall have word of this intent;
So shall each lord of Greece, from tent to tent : Yourself shall feast with us before you go,
And find the welcome of a noble foe.
JEneas —
Now heaven forbid such scarcity of youth !
Ulysses — Nestor,
[Exeunt all but Ulysses and Nestor.
Nestor —
What says Ulysses ?
Ulysses —
I have a young conception in my brain, Be you my time to bring it to some shape.
Nestor —
What is't ?
Ulysses — This 'tis :
Blunt wedges rive hard knots : The seeded pride That hath to this maturity blown up
In rank Achilles, must or now be cropped,
Or, shedding, breed a nursery of like evil,
To overbulk us all.
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
Nestor — Well, and how ? Ulysses —
Nestor —
The purpose is perspicuous even as substance,
Whose grossness little characters sum up :
And, in the publication, make no strain,
But that Achilles, were his brain as barren
As banks of Lybia, — though, Apollo knows,
'Tis dry enough, — will with great speed of judgment, Ay, with celerity, find Hector's purpose
Pointing on him.
Ulysses —
And wake him to the answer, think you ?
Nestor — Yes, It is most meet : Whom may you else oppose, That can from Hector bring those honors off,
If not Achilles ? Though't be a sportful combat, Yet in the trial much opinion dwells ;
For here the Trojans taste our dear'st repute
With their fin'st palate : And trust to me, Ulysses, Our imputation shall be oddly poised
In this wild action : for the success,
Although particular, shall give a scantling
Of good or bad unto the general ;
And in such indexes, although small pricks
To their subsequent volumes, there is seen
The baby figure of the giant mass
Of things to come at large. It is supposed,
He, that meets Hector, issues from our choice : And choice, being mutual act of all our souls, Makes merit her election ; and doth boil,
As 'twere from forth us all, a man distilled
Out of her virtues ; Who miscarrying,
What heart receives from hence a conquering part, To steel a strong opinion to themselves ?
Which entertained, limbs are his instruments,
In no less working, than are swords and bows Directive by the limbs.
Ulysses — —
Give pardon to my speech ;
Therefore 'tis meet Achilles meet not Hector. Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares,
This challenge that the gallant Hector sends, However it is spread in general name, Relates in purpose only to Achilles.
204
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
And think, perchance, they'll sell ; if not, The luster of the better shall exceed,
By showing the worst first. Do not consent, That ever Hector and Achilles meet ;
For both our honor and our shame, in this,
Are dogged with two strange followers. Nestor —
I see them not with my old eyes ; what are they ? Ulysses —
What glory our Achilles shares from Hector,
Were he not proud, we all should share with him : But he already is too insolent ;
And we were better parch in Afric's sun,
Than in the pride and salt scorn of his eyes, Should he 'scape Hector fair : if he were foiled, Why, then we did our main opinion crush
In taint of our best man. No, make a lottery ; And, by device, let blockish Ajax draw
The sort to fight with Hector : Among ourselves, Give him allowance for the better man,
For that will physic the great Myrmidon,
Who broils in loud applause ; and make him fall His crest, that prouder than blue Iris bends.
If the dull brainless Ajax come safe off,
We'll dress him up in voices :
Yet go we under our opinion still
That we have better men. But, hit or miss, — Our project's life this shape of sense assumes, Ajax, employed, plucks down Achilles' plumes.
Nestor — Ulysses,
If he fail,
Now I begin to relish thy advice ;
And I will give a taste of it forthwith
To Agamemnon : go we to him straight.
Two curs shall tame each other ; Pride alone Must tarre the mastiffs on, as 'twere their bone.
[Exeunt.
Scene: The Grecian Camp. Enter Agamemnon, Ulysses, Dio- medes, Nestor, Ajax, Menelaus, and Calchas.
Agamemnon —
What wouldst thou of us, Trojan ? make demand.
Calchas —
You have a Trojan prisoner called Antenor, Yesterday took ; Troy holds him very dear,
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
Oft have you (often have you thanks therefore) Desired my Cressid in right great exchange, Whom Troy hath still denied : But this Anteuor, I know, is such a wrest in their affairs,
That their negotiations all must slack,
Wanting his manage ; and they will almost
Give us a prince of blood, a son of Priam,
In change of him : let him be sent, great princes, And he shall buy my daughter : and her presence Shall quite strike off all service I have done,
In most accepted pain.
205
Agamemnon —
Let Diomedes bear him And bring us Cressid hither; Calchas shall have
What he requests of us. — Good Diomed, Furnish you fairly for this interchange : Withal, bring word — if Hector will to-morrow Be answered in his challenge : Ajax is ready.
Diomedes —
This shall I undertake ; and 'tis a burden
Which I
am proud to bear.
[Exeunt Diomedes and Calchas.
Enter Achilles and Patroclus, before their tent.
Ulysses — — Achilles stands i' the entrance of his tent : Please it our general to pass strangely by him, As if he were forgot ; and princes all,
Lay negligent and loose regard upon him :
I will come last: 'Tis like, he'll question me,
Why such unplausive eyes are bent, why turned on him : If so, I have derision med'cinable,
To use between your strangeness and his pride,
Which his own will shall have desire to drink ;
It may do good : pride hath no other glass
To show itself, but pride ; for supple knees
Feed arrogance, and are the proud man's fees.
Agamemnon —
We'll execute your purpose, and put on —
A form of strangeness as we pass along ;
So do each lord ; and either greet him not,
Or else disdainfully, which shall shake him more Than if not looked on. I will lead the way.
Achilles —
What, comes the general to speak with me ?
You know my mind, I'll fight no more 'gainst Troy.
206 GREEKS AND TROJANS.
Agamemnon —
What says Achilles ? would he aught with us ?
The better.
[Exeunt Agamemnon and Nestor.
Good day, good day.
Nestor —
Would you, my lord, aught with the general ?
Achilles — Nestor —
No.
Nothing, my lord. Agamemnon —
— Menelaus —
Achilles
Achilles — Ajax —
How do you ? how do you ? [Exit Menelaus.
What, does the cuckold scorn me ?
Good morrow, Ajax.
Ha?
Good morrow.
Ajax — — Ay, and good next day, too. [Exit Ajax. Achilles
What mean these fellows ? Know they not Achilles ? Patroclus —
How now, Patroclus ? Achilles —
Ajax —— Achilles
They pass by strangely : they were used to bend, To send their smiles before them to Achilles :
To come as humbly as they used to creep
To holy altars.
Achilles — What, am I poor of late ?
'Tis certain, greatness, once fallen out with fortune, Must fall out with men too : What the declined is, He shall as soon read in the eyes of others,
As feel in his own fall : for men, like butterflies, Show not their mealy wings but to the summer ; And not a man, for being simply man,
Hath any honor ; but honor for those honors
That are without him, as place, riches, favor,
Prizes of accident as oft as merit :
Which when they fall, as being slippery standers, The love that leaned on them as slippery too,
Do one pluck down another, and together
Die in the fall. But 'tis not so with me :
Fortune and I are friends ;
At ample point all that I did possess,
Save these men's looks ; who do, methinks, find out Something not worth in me such rich beholding
Ido enjoy
GREEKS AND TROJANS. 207
As they have often given. —Here is Ulysses ; I'll interrupt his reading.
How now, Ulysses ?
Ulysses — Now, great Thetis' son? Achilles —
What are you reading ?
Ulysses — A strange fellow here
Writes me, that man how dearly ever parted, How much in having, or without, or in, — Cannot make boast to have that which he hath, Nor feels not what he owes, but by reflection ; As when his virtues shining upon others
Heat them, and they retort that heat again
To the first giver.
AcJiiUes — This is not strange, Ulysses.
The beauty that is borne here in the face
The bearer knows not, but commends itself
To others' eyes : nor doth the eye itself
(That most pure spirit of sense) behold itself,
Not going from itself ; but eye to eye opposed Salutes each other with each other's form.
For speculation turns not to itself,
Till it hath traveled, and is married there
Where it may see itself : this is not strange at all.
Ulysses —
I do not strain at the position,
It is familiar; but at the author's drift: —
Who, in his circumstance, expressly proves
That no man is the lord of anything,
(Though in and of him there be much consisting,)
Till he communicate his parts to others :
Nor doth he of himself know them for aught
Till he behold them formed in the applause
Where they are extended, which, like an arch, reverberates The voice again ; or like a gate of steel
Fronting the sun, receives and renders back
His figure and his heat. I was much rapt in this ;
And apprehended here immediately
The unknown Ajax.
Heavens, what a man is there ! a very horse ;
That has he knows not what. Nature, what tilings there are Most abject in regard, and dear in use !
What things again most dear in the esteem,
And poor in worth 1 now shall we see to-morrow, An act that very chance doth throw upon him,
208
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
Ajax renowned. O heavens, what some men do, While some men leave to do !
How some men creep in skittish fortune's hall, Whiles others play the idiots in her eyes !
How one man eats into another's pride,
While pride is fasting in his wantonness !
To see these Grecian lords ! — why, even already They clap the lubber Ajax on the shoulder;
As if his foot were on brave Hector's breast, And great Troy shrinking.
Achillea —
I do believe it: for they passed by me,
As misers do by beggars ; neither gave to me
Good word, nor look : What, are my deeds forgot ?
Ulysses —
Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back,
Wherein he puts alms for oblivion,
A great-sized monster of ingratitudes :
Those scraps are good deeds past : which are devoured As fast as they are made, forgot as soon
As done : Perseverance, dear my lord,
Keeps honor bright : To have done is to hang
Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail
In monumental mockery. Take the instant way ;
For honor travels in a strait so narrow,
Where one but goes abreast : keep then the path ;
For emulation hath a thousand sons,
That one by one pursue : if you give way,
Or hedge aside from the direct forthright,
Like to an entered tide they all rush by,
And leave you hindmost ; —
Or, like a gallant horse fallen in first rank,
Lie there for pavement to the abject rear,
O'errun and trampled on : Then what they do in present, Though less than yours in past, must o'ertop yours :
For time is like a fashionable host,
That slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand ;
And with his arms outstretched, as he would fly,
Grasps in the comer : Welcome ever smiles,
And farewell goes out sighing. O, let not virtue seek Remuneration for the thing it was ;
For beauty, wit,
High birth, vigor of bone, desert in service,
Love, friendship, charity, are subjects all
To envious and calumniating time.
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
One touch of nature makes the whole world kin, — That all, with one consent, praise new-born gawds, Though they are made and molded of things past ; And give to dust, that is a little gilt,
More laud than gilt o'erdusted.
The present eye praises the present object:
Then marvel not, thou great and complete man,
That all the Greeks begin to worship Ajax ;
Since things in motion sooner catch the eye,
Than what not stirs. The cry went once on thee, And still it might; and yet it may again,
If thou wouldst not entomb thyself alive,
And case thy reputation in thy tent ;
Whose glorious deeds, but in these fields of late, Made emulous missions 'mongst the gods themselves, And drave great Mars to faction.
Achilles — Of this my privacy I have strong reasons.
Ulysses — But 'gainst your privacy The reasons are more potent and heroical :
'Tis known, Achilles, that you are in love
With one of Priam's daughters.
Achilles — Ha! known! Ulysses —
Is that a wonder ?
The providence that's in a watchful state,
Knows almost every grain of Plutus' gold ;
Finds bottom in the uncomprehensive deeps ;
Keeps place with thought, and almost like the gods, Does thoughts unveil in their dumb cradles.
There is a mystery (with whom relation
Durst never meddle) in the soul of state ;
Which hath an operation more divine,
Than breath, or pen, can give expressure to:
All the commerce that you have had with Troy,
As perfectly is ours, as yours, my lord ;
And better would it fit Achilles much,
To throw down Hector, than Polyxena:
But it must grieve young Pyrrhus now at home, When fame shall in our islands sound her trump ; And all the Greekish girls shall tripping sing, — Great Hector's sister did Achilles win ;
But our great Ajax bravely beat down him.
Farewell, my lord :
The fool slides o'er the ice that you should break.
vol. n. — 14
I as your lover speak ;
\E
210
GREEKS AND TROJANS.
Patroclus —
To this effect, Achilles, have I moved you :
A woman impudent and mannish grown
Is not more loathed than an effeminate man
In time of action. I stand condemned for this ; They think, my little stomach to the war,
And your great love to me, restrains you thus : Sweet, rouse yourself ; and the weak wanton Cupid Shall from your neck unloose his amorous fold, And, like a dewdrop from the lion's mane,
Be shook to air.
Achilles — Shall Ajax fight with Hector ? Patroclus —
Ay ; and, perhaps, receive much honor by him. Achilles —
I see, my reputation is at stake ;
My fame is shrewdly gored.
Patroclus — O, then beware ;
Those wounds heal ill, that men do give themselves : Omission to do what is necessary
Seals a commission to a blank of danger ;
And danger, like an ague, subtly taints
Even then when we sit idly in the sun. Achilles —
Go call Thersites hither, sweet Patroclus : I'll send the food to Ajax, and desire him To invite the Trojan lords after the combat, To see us here unarmed :
I have a woman's longing, An appetite that I am sick withal,
To see great Hector in his weeds of peace ; To talk with him, and to behold his visage, Even to my full view. A labor saved !
Enter Thersites. Thersites — A wonder !
Achilles— What?
TJiersites — Ajax goes up and down the field, asking for himself.
Achilles — How so ?
Thersites — He must fight singly to-morrow with Hector; and
is so prophetically proud of an heroical cudgeling, that he raves in saying nothing.
Achilles — How can that be ?
Thersites — Why, he stalks up and down like a peacock ; a stride,
and a stand : ruminates, like an hostess, that hath no arithmetic but her brain to set down her reckoning: bites his lip with a politic regard, as who should say — there were wit in this head, an 'twould
GREEKS AND TROJANS. 211
out; and so there is; but it lies as coldlyin him as fire ina flint, which will not show without knocking. The man's undone forever ; for if Hector break not his neck i' the combat, he'll break it himself in vain glory. He knows not me: I said, Good morrow, Ajax ; and he replies, Thanks, Agamemnon. What think you of this man, that takes me for the general ? He has grown a very land fish, language- less, a monster. A plague of opinion ! a man may wear it on both sides, like a leather jerkin.
Achilles — Thou must be my ambassador to him, Thersites. Thersites — Who, I? why, he'll answer nobody ; he professes not answering; speaking is for beggars; he wears his tongue in his arms. I will put on his presence ; let Patroclus make demands to
me, you shall see the pageant of Ajax.
Achilles — To him, Patroclus: tell him, — I humbly desire the
valiant Ajax to invite the most valorous Hector to come unarmed to my tent ; and to procure safe conduct for his person, of the mag nanimous, and most illustrious, six-or-seven-times honored captain general of the Grecian army, Agamemnon. Do this.
Patroclus — Jove bless great Ajax ! Thersites — Humph !
Patroclus — I come from the worthy Achilles, Thersites — Ha!
Patroclus —Who most humbly desires you to invite Hector to his tent,
Thersites — Humph !
Patroclus — And to procure safe conduct from Agamemnon. Thersites — Agamemnon ?