Ulyss. Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back, | Than breath, or pen, can give expressure to: Wherein he puts alms for oblivion,1 A great-sized monster of ingratitudes: All the commerce that you have had with Troy, Those scraps are good deeds past: which are de- And better would it fit Achilles much, vour'd As fast as they are made, forgot as soon In monumental mockery. Take the instant way; Or, like a gallant horse fallen in first rank,2 present, Then what they do in Though less than yours in past, must o'ertop yours: That slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand; Remuneration for the thing it was; High birth, vigour of bone, desert in service, To envious and calumniating time. One touch of nature makes the whole world kin,- The present eye praises the present object: Whose glorious deeds, but in these fields of late, Made emulous missions' 'mongst the gods themselves, And drave great Mars to faction. Achil. I have strong reasons. Ulyss Of this my privacy 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. Achil. Ulyss. Is that a wonder? Ha! known? And in this bag, which I behinde me don, I put repentaunce for things past and gone. F. Q. b. vi. c. viii. st. 24, 2 The quarto wholly omits the simile of the horse, and reads thus:- And leave you hindmost, then what they do at present.' 3 New-fashioned toys. 4 Gilt, in this second line, is a substantive. See Coriolanus, Act i. Sc. 3. Dust a little gilt means ordinary performances, which have the gloss of novelty. Gilt o'er-dusted means splendid actions of preceding ages, the remembrance of which is weakened by time. 6 i. e. the descent of deities to combat on either side. Shakspeare probably followed Chapman's Homer: in the fifth book of the Iliad Diomed wounds Mars, who on To throw down Hector, than Polyxena: Patr. To this effect, Achilles, have I mov'd you: A woman impudent and mannish grown, thus: Is not more loath'd than an effeminate man Be shook to air." by him. you Shall Ajax fight with Hector? perhaps, receive much honour Those wounds heal ill, that men do give themselves: Seals a commission to a blank of danger; Achil. Go call Thersites hither, sweet Patroclus; To see great Hector in his weeds of peace; Ther. 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 out; and so there is; but it lies as coldly in him as fire in a flint, which will not show without knocking.12 The man's undone for ever: 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 his return to heaven is rated by Jupiter for having interfered in the battle. This disobedience is the faction alluded to. 6 Polyxena, in the act of marrying whom, he was afterwards killed by Paris. 7 There is in the providence of a state, as in the provinence of the universe, a kind of ubiquity. It is possible that there may be some allusion to the sublime description of the divine omnipresence in the 139th Psalm. S There is a secret administration of affairs, which no history was ever able to discover. 9 The folio has 'ayrie air.' 10 So in Hamlet:- To keep thy name ungor'd.' 11 i. e. a sly look. 12 Thus in Julius Cæsar : That carries anger, as the flint bears fire, Who much enforced shows a hasty spark, And straight is cold again. man, that takes me for the general? He is grown | During all question of the gentle truce: a very land-fish, languageless, a monster. A plague of opinion! a man may wear it on both sides, like a leather jerkin. Achil. Thou must be my ambassador to him, Thersites. Ther. 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 on me, you shall see the pageant of Ajax. Achil. 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 magnanimous, and most illustrious, six-or-seven-times-honoured captain-general of the Grecian army, Agamemnon. Do this. Patr. Jove bless great Ajax. Ther. Humph! Patr. I come from the worthy Achilles,- Patr. Who most humbly desires you to invite Ther. Humph!' Patr. And to procure safe conduct from Aga memnon. Ther. Agamemnon? Patr. Ay, my lord. Ther. Ha! Patr. What say you to't? with all my heart. Ther God be wi'' you, Patr. Your answer, sir. Ther. If to-morrow be a fair day, by eleven o'clock it will go on one way or other; howsoever, he shall pay for me ere he has me. Patr. Your answer, sir. Ther. Fare you well, with all my heart. But when I meet you arm'd, as black defiance, Dio. The one and other Diomed embraces. Ene. And thou shalt hunt a lion, that will fly Dio. We do; and long to know each other worse. ne. I was sent for to the king; but why, I know not. Par. His purpose meets you: "Twas to bring To Calchas' house; and there to render him, Ene. Achil. Why, but he is not in this tune, is he? Achil. Come, thou shalt bear a letter to him straight. Ther. Let me bear another to his horse; for that's the more capable3 creature. Arhil. My mind is troubled, like a fountain stirr'd: And I myself see not the bottom of it. [Exeunt ACHILLES and PATROCLUS. Ther. 'Would the fountain of your mind were clear again, that I might water an ass at it! I had rather be a tick in a sheep, than such a valiant ig[Exit. norance. ACT IV. SCENE I. Troy. A Street. Enter, at one side, Par. See, ho! who's that there? 'Tis the lord Æneas. Par. A valiant Greek, Æneas; take his hand: E've. Health to you, valiant sir, 1 Sol Macbeth:- My voice is in my sword. 2 Lute-strings made of catgut. One of the musicians in Romeo and Juliet is named Simon Catling. 3. e. intelligent. 4 i, e. conversation while the truce lasts. He swears first by the life of his father, and then by the hand of his mother. 6 i. e. I bring you his meaning and his orders. Par. Ene. Good morrow, all. [Exit. Par. And tell me, noble Diomed; 'faith, tell me Even in the soul of sound good-fellowship,- Dio. Par. You are too bitter to your countrywoman. For every false drop in her bawdy veins A Trojan hath been slain: since she could speak, Par. Fair Diomed, you do as chapmen do, 7 The merits of each being weighed are exactly "We'll not commend what we intend not sell.' Not sell sounds harsh: but such elliptical expressions are not unfrequent in these plays. Ene. Come, he is here, my lord, do not deny him; Ene. Who!-nay, then.-Come, come, you'll do him wrong ere you are 'ware: you'll be so true to him, to be false to him: Do not you know of him? yet go fetch him hither; go. Cres. Come, you are deceiv'd, I think of no such thing.[Knocking. How earnestly they knock!-pray you, come in; I would not for half Troy have you seen here. [Exeunt TROILUS and CRESSIDA. Pan. [Going to the door.] Who's there? what's the matter? will you beat down the door? How now? what's the matter? Enter NEAS. ne. Good morrow, lord, good morrow. Ene. Is not Prince Troilus here? 1 i. e. the roguish or thierish crows.' Ribaldry signified roguery, naughtiness, or loose conduct of any kind, among our ancestors. It may, however, be used in the sense of obscene, Tro. Tro. How my achievements mock me! I will go meet them: and, my lord Æneas, 2 i. e. venefici, those who use nocturnal sorcery. 3 The hint for the following scene appears to have been suggested by Chaucer. Troilus and Cresseide, b. ii). v. 1561. 4 Capocchia, an Italian word for fool. ture [Exeunt TROILUS and NEAS. Pan. Is't possible? no sooner got, but lost? The devil take Antenor! the young prince will go mad. A plague upon Antenor, I would they had broke's neck! Enter CRESSIDA. Cres. How now? What is the matter? Who was Cres. Why sigh you so profoundly? where's my lord Tell me, sweet uncle, what's the matter? Cres. O the gods !-what's the matter? Pan. Pr'ythee, get thee in; 'Would thou hadst ne'er been born! I knew, thou would'st be his death:-O poor gentleman!-A plague upon Antenor! Cres. Good uncle, I beseech you on my knees, I beseech you, what's the matter? Pan. Thou must be gone, wench, thou must be gone: thou art changed for Antenor: thou must to thy father, and be gone from Troilus; 'twill be his death; 'twill be his bane: he cannot bear it. Cres. O you immortal gods !-I will not go. Cres. I will not, uncle: I have forgot my father; Cres. Tear my bright hair, and scratch my praised cheeks, SCENE III. The same. Before Pandarus' House.] Injurious time now, with a robber's haste, Par. It is great morning;1 and the hour prefix'd And haste her to the purpose. Tro. A priest, there offering to it his own heart. [Exit. [Exeunt. The grief is fine, full, perfect, that I taste? And violenteth2 in a sense as strong Crams his rich thievery up, he knows not how : And scants us with a single famish'd kiss, Ene. [Within.] My lord! is the lady ready? 5 Cres. I must then to the Greeks? Tro. Hear me, my love: Be thou but true of heart, Cres. I true! how now? what wicked deem' is this? As that which causeth it: How can I moderate it? For it is parting from us : Tro. Nay, we must use expostulation kindly If I could temporize with my affection, Or brew it to a weak and colder palate, No more my grief, in such a precious loss. O heart, O heavy heart, Why sigh'st thou without breaking? where he answers again, Because thou canst not ease thy smart, By friendship, nor by speaking. There never was a truer rhyme. Let us cast away Tro. Cressid, I love thee in so strain'd a purity, Pan. Ay, ay, ay, ay; 'tis too plain a case. What, and from Troilus too? Is it possible? Our lock'd embrasures, strangles our dear vows 1 i. e. broad day. It is a familiar French idiom,— C'est grand matin. 2 This verb is used by Ben Jonson in The Devil is an Ass: 'Nor nature violenceth in both these.' 3 Consigned means sealed, from consigno, Lat. Thus in King Henry V. It were, my lord, a hard condition for a maid to consign to. See Act iii. Sc. 2. 4 An obscure poet (Flatman) has borrowed this thought :- My soul just now about to take her flight, Methinks I hear some gentle spirit say, 5 So in Macbeth. 'That tears will drown this wind.' I speak not, be thou true, as fearing thee; Cres. O, you shall be expos'd, my lord, to dangers Tro. And I'll grow friend with danger. Wear this sleeve." O heavens-be true again? And swelling o'er with arts and exercise; (Which I beseech you, call a virtuous sin) Cres. O heavens! you love me not In this I do not call your faith in question, nant : 7 Deem (a word now obsolete) signifies opinion, surmise. 8 That is, I will challenge death himself in defence of thy fidelity. 9 In Histriomastix, or the Player Whipt, a Comedy, 1610, a circumstance of a similar kind is ridiculed, in a mock interlude wherein Troilus and Cressida are the speakers. I cannot but think that it is the elder drama by Decker and Chettle, that is the object of this satirical allusion, and not Shakspeare's play, which was probably not written when Histriomastix appeared, for Queen Elizabeth is complimented under the character of Astrea in the last Act of that piece, and is spoken of as then living. 10. e. highly accomplished: quality, like condition, 6 The expression has before occurred in Act i. Sc. 2, is applied to manners as well as dispositions. 11 The lavolta was a dance. of this play. Tro. Ene. [Within.] Nay, good my lord,Come, kiss; and let us part. Par. [Within.] Brother Troilus! Tro. Good brother, come you hither; And bring Æneas, and the Grecian, with you. Cres. My lord, will you be true? Tro. Who I? alas, it is my vice, my fault: While others fish with craft for great opinion, I with great truth catch mere simplicity; Whilst some with cunning gild their copper crowns, With truth and plainness I do wear mine bare. Fear not my truth; the moral of my wit' Is-plain, and true,-there's all the reach of it. Enter ENEAS, PARIS, ANTENOR, DEIPHOBUS, and DIOMEDdes. Welcome, Sir Diomed! here is the lady, At the port, lord, I'll give her to thy hand; Dio. Fair lady Cressid, So please you, save the thanks this prince expects: The lustre in your eye, heaven in your cheek, Pleads your fair usage; and to Diomed You shall be mistress, and command him wholly. Tro. Grecian, thou dost not use me courteously, I charge thee, use her well, even for my charge; Dio. O, be not mov'd, Prince Troilus; Let me be privileg'd by my place, and message, To be a speaker free: when I am hence, I'll answer to my lust: And know you, lord, I'll nothing do on charge: To her own worth She shall be priz'd; but that you say—be't so, I'll speak it in my spirit and honour,-no. Tro. Come, to the port.-I tell thee, Diomed, This brave shall oft make thee to hide thy head.Lady, give me your hand; and, as we walk, To our own selves bend we our needful talk. [Exeunt TROILUS, CRESSIDA, and DIOMED. [Trumpet heard. Par. Hark! Hector's trumpet. Ene. How have we spent this morning! The prince must think me tardy and remiss, That swore to ride before him to the field. Par. "Tis Troilus' fault; Come, come, to field with him. Dei. Let us make ready straight. Ene. Yea, with a bridegroom's fresh alacrity, Let us address to tend on Hector's heels: The glory of our Troy doth this day lie, On his fair worth and single chivalry. Ulyss. 'Tis he, I ken the manner of his gait; Enter DIOMED, with CRESSIDA. Nest. Our general doth salute you with a kiss. Ulyss. Yet is the kindness but particular; Twere better she were kiss'd in general. Nest. And very courtly counsel: I'll begin.— So much for Nestor. Achil. I'll take that winter from your lips, fair lady: Achilles bids you welcome. Men. I had good argument for kissing once. Patr. But that's no argument for kissing now: For thus popp'd Paris in his hardiment; And parted thus you and your argument, Ulyss. O deadly gall, and theme of all our scorns! For which we lose our heads, to gild his horns. Patr. The first was Menelaus' kiss ;-this, mine; Patroclus kisses you. O, this is trim! Men. Cres. In kissing do you render or receive ? Cres. I'll make my match to live.' Men. I'll give you boot, I'll give you three for one. May I, sweet lady, beg a kiss of you? Cres. SCENE V. The Grecian Camp. Lists set out. Agam. Here art thou in appointments fresh and I do desire it. Ulyss. Why, beg, then. Ulyss. Why then, for Venus' sake, give me a kiss, When Helen is a maid again, and his. Cres. I am your debtor, claim it when 'tis due. Ulyss. Never's my day, and then a kiss of you. Dio. Lady, a word;-I'll bring you to your fa[DIOMED leads out CRESSIDA. ther. 5 i. e. I'll answer to my will or pleasure, according to my inclination. 6 i. e. preparation. 1 The moral of my wit' is the meaning of it. Thus in the Taming of the Shrew, Act iv. Sc. 4:-'He has 7 i. e. swelling out like the bias of a bowl. So in Vitleft me behind to expound the meaning or moral of historia Corombona, 1612:-signs and tokens,' 2 i. e. the gate. 3 i. e. inform. 4 Troilus apparently means to say, that Diomed does not use him courteously by addressing himself to Cressi da, and assuring her that she shall be well treated for her own sake, and on account of her singular beauty, Instead of making a direct answer to that warm request which Troilus had just made to him to 'entreat her fair.' The subsequent words justify this interpretation : 'I charge thee, use her well, even for my charge. - Faith, his cheek Has a most excellent bias.' |