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 Eneas, and the Grecian, with you. Cres. My lord, will you be true?

To. 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 DIOMEDES.

Welcome, Sir Diomed! here is the lady,
Which for Antenor we deliver you:

At the port, lord, I'll give her to thy hand;
And by the way, possess thee what she is.
Entreat her fair; and, by my soul, fair Greek,
If e'er thou stand at mercy of my sword,
Name Cressid, and thy life shall be as safe
As Priam is in Ilion.

Dio.

Fair lady Cressid,

So please you, save the thanks this prince expects:
The lustre in your eye, heaven in your cheek,
and to Diomed
Pleads your fair usage;
You shall be mistress, and command him wholly.
Tro. Grecian, thou dost not use me courteously,
To shame the zeal of my petition to thee,
In praising her 4 I tell thee, lord of Greece,
She is as far high-soaring o'er thy praises,
As thou unworthy to be call'd her servant.

I charge thee, use her well, even for my charge;
For, by the dreadful Pluto, if thou dost not,
Though the great bulk Achilles be thy guard,
I'll cut thy throat.

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.

[Exeunt.

SCENE V. The Grecian Camp. Lists set out. Enter AJAX, armed; AGAMEMNON, ACHILLES, PATROCLUS, MENELAUS, ULYSSES, NESTOR, and others.

Agam. Here art thou in appointment fresh and fair,

Ulyss. "Tis he, I ken the manner of his gait; .. He rises on the toe: that spirit of his In aspiration lifts him from the earth. Enter DIOMED, with CRESSIDA. Agam. Is this the lady Cressid? Dio. Even she. Agam. Most dearly welcome to the Greeks, sweet lady.

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

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. Men. Patr. Paris, and I, kiss ever more for him. Men. I'll have my kiss, sir:-Lady, by your leave.

O, this is trim!

Cres. In kissing do you render or receive 7a
Patr. Both take and give.
Cres.

I'll make my match to live." The kiss you take is better than you give; Therefore no kiss.

Men. I'll give you boot, I'll give you three for one.
Cres. You're an odd man; give even, or give none.
Men. An odd man, lady? every man is odd."
That you are odd, and he is even with you.
Cres. No, Paris is not; for, you know, 'tis true,
Men. You fillip me o' the head.
Cres.
No, I'll be sworn.
Ulyss. It were no match, your nail against his
horn.-

May I, sweet lady, beg a kiss of you?
Cres. You may.

Ulyss.

I do desire it.

Cres. 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.

7 i. e. swelling out like the bias of a bowl. So in Vit

2 i. e. the gate. 3 i. e. inform.

Nest. A woman of quick sense. Ulyss Fye, fye upon her! There's language in her eye, her cheek, her lip, Nay, her foot speaks; her wanton spirits look out At every joint and motive' of her body.2 O, these encounterers, so glib of tongue, That give a coasting welcome3 ere it comes, And wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts To every ticklish reader! set them down For sluttish spoils of opportunity," And daughters of the game. All. The Trojan's trumpet. Agam.

[Trumpet within. Yonder comes the troop.

this

In the extremity of great and little,

Valour and pride excel themselves in Hector;
The one almost as infinite as all,

The other blank as nothing. Weigh him well,
And that, which looks like pride, is courtesy.
This Ajax is half made of Hector's blood:"
In love whereof, half Hector stays at home;
Half heart, half hand, half Hector comes to seek
This blended knight, half Trojan, and half Greek.
Achil. A maiden battle, then?-O, I perceive you.

Re-enter DIOMED.

Agam. Here is Sir Diomed :--Go, gentle knight, Stand by our Ajax: as you and Lord Æneas Consent upon the order of their fight,

So be it; either to the uttermost,

Or else a breath: the combatants being kin, Half stints their strife before their strokes begin. [AJAX and HECTOR enter the lists. Ulyss. They are oppos'd already. Agam. What Trojan is that same that looks so heavy?

1 Motive for part that contributes to motion. This word is employed with some singularity in All's Well that Ends Well, Act iv. Sc. 2:

As it has fated her to be my motive
And helper to a husband.'

2 One would almost think that Shakspeare had, on this occasion, been reading St. Chrysostom, who says:Non loquuta es lingua, sed loquuta es gressu; non loquuta es voce, sed oculis loquuta es clarius quam voce :' I. e. They say nothing with their mouthes, they speake in their gaite, they speake with their eyes, they speake in the carriage of their bodies.' This invective against a wanton, as well as the translation of it, is from Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, Part III. Sect. ii. Memb. 2, Subs. 3.

3 A coasting welcome is a conciliatory welcome: that makes silent advances before the tongue has uttered a word. So in Venus and Adonist

Anon she hears them chaunt it lustely,
And all in haste she coasteth to the cry.'

4 i. e. corrupt wenches, of whose chastity every opportunity makes an easy prey.

5 Securely done,' in the sense of the Latin securus, a negligent security arising from a contempt of the object opposed. So in the last act of the Spanish Tragedy:

O damned devil, how secure he is.'

6 Valour (says Æneas) is in Hector greater than va. lour in other men, and pride in Hector is less than pride

Ulyss. The youngest son of Priam, a true knight: Not yet mature, yet matchless; firm of word;" Speaking in deeds, and deedless' in his tongue; Not soon provok'd, nor, being provok'd, soon calm'd:

His heart and hand both open, and both free;
For what he has, he gives, what thinks, he shows;
Yet gives he not till judgment guide his bounty,
Nor dignifies an impair thought with breath:
Manly as Hector, but more dangerous;
For Hector, in his blaze of wrath, subscribes
To tender objects; but he, in heat of action,
Is more vindicative than jealous love;
They call him Troilus; and on him erect
A second hope, as fairly built as Hector.
Thus says Eneas; one that knows the yout
Even to his inches, and, with private soul,
Did in great Ilion thus translate14 him to me.

[Alarum. HECTOR and AJAX fight.

Agam. They are in action.
Nest. Now, Ajax, hold thine own!
Tro.

Awake thee!

Hector, thou sleep'st;

Dio. You must no more.

Ene.

[Trumpets cease.

Princes, enough, so please you.

Ajax. I am not warm yet, let us fight again.
Dio. As Hector pleases.
Hect.

Why then, will I no more :-
Thou art, great lord, my father's sister's son,
A cousin-german to great Priam's seed;
The obligation of our blood forbids

A gory emulation 'twixt us twain :
Were thy commixtion Greek and Trojan so,
That thou could'st say-This hand is Grecian all,
And this is Trojan; the sinews of this leg

All Greek, and this all Troy; my mother's blood
Runs on the dexter1 cheek, and this sinister
Bounds-in my father's; By Jove multipotent,
Thou should'st not bear from me a Greekish mem
ber

Wherein my sword had not impressure made
Of our rank feud: But the just gods gainsay,
That any drop thou borrows't from thy mother,
My sacred aunt,17 should by my mortal sword
Be drain'd! Let me embrace thee, Ajax:
By him that thunders, thou hast lusty arms;
Hector would have them fall upon him thus:
Cousin, all honour to thee!

Ajux. I thank thee, Hector: Thou art too gentle and too free a man : I came to kill thee, cousin, and bear hence A great addition1 earned in thy death.

Hect. Not Neoptolemus19 so mirable (On whose bright crest fame with her loud'st O yes

in other men. So that Hector is distinguished by the excellence of having pride less than other pride, and valour more than other valour.

7 Ajax and Hector were cousins-german.

8 Hence Thersites, in a former scene, called Ajax a mongrel.

9 i. e a breathing, an exercise. See Act ii. Sc. 3. note 2, p. 168. 10 Stops.

11 No boaster of his own deeds.

12 An impair thought' is an unworthy or injurious thought. Thus in Chapman's preface to his Shield of Homer, 1598;- Nor is it more impaire to an honest and absolute man,' &c.

Cries, This is he!) could promise to himself A thought of added honour torn from Hector.

sides,

What further you will do.

Hect.
We'll answer it ;1
The issue is embracement :-Ajax, farewell.
Ajax. If I might in entreaties find success,
(As seld I have the chance,) I would desire
My famous cousin to our Grecian tents.

Dio. "Tis Agamemnon's wish: and great Achilles Doth long to see unarm'd the valiant Hector.

Hect. Eneas, call my brother Troilus to me: And signify this loving interview

To the expecters of our Trojan part;
Desire them home.-Give me thy hand, my cousin ;
I will go eat with thee, and see your knights.2
Ajax. Great Agamemnon comes to meet us here.
Hect. The worthiest of them tell me name by
name;

But for Achilles, my own searching eyes
Shall find him by his large and portly size.

Agam. Worthy of arms! as welcome as to one
That would be rid of such an enemy;
But that's no welcome: Understand more clear,
What's past, and what's to come, is strew'd with
husks

And formless ruin of oblivion;

But in this extant moment, faith and troth,
Strain'd purely from all hollow bias-drawing,
Bids thee, with most divine integrity,3
From heart of very heart, great Hector, welcome.
Hect. I thank thee, most imperious Agamemnon.
Agam. My well-fam'd lord of Troy, no less to
[To TROILUS.
Men. Let me confirm my princely brother's
greeting;-

you.

You brace of warlike brothers, welcome hither.
Hect. Whom must we answer?
Men.

The noble Menelaus.' Hect. O you, my lord? by Mars his gauntlet, thanks!

Mock not, that I affect the untraded oath ;
Your quondam wife swears still by Venus' glove:
She's well, but bade me not commend her to you.
Men. Name her not now, sir; she's a deadly
theme.

Hect. O, pardon; I offend.

Nest. I have, thou gallant Trojan, seen thee oft, Labouring for destiny," make cruel way Through ranks of Greekish youths and I have seen thee,

:

As hot as Perseus, spur thy Phrygian steed,
Despising many forfeits and subduements,
When thou hast hung thy advanced sword i' the air,
Not letting it decline on the declin'd;"
That I have said to some my standers-by,
Lo, Jupiter is yonder, dealing life!

And I have seen thee pause, and take thy breath,
When that a ring of Greeks have hemm'd thee in,

tium, and thought the father was likewise Achilles Neoptolemus. Or he was probably led into the error by some book of the time. By a passage in Act iii. Sc. 3, it is evident that he knew Pyrrhus had not yet engaged in the siege of Troy :

And once fought with him: he was a soldier good;
But, by great Mars, the captain of us all,
Never like thee: let an old man embrace thee;
And, worthy warrior, welcome to our tents.
ne. "Tis the old Nestor.

Hect. Let me embrace thee, good old chronicle, That hast so long walk'd hand in hand with time :Most reverend Nestor, I am glad to clasp thee.

Nest. I would, my arms could match thee in contention,

As they contend with thee in courtesy.
Hect. I would they could.

Nest. Ha!

By this white beard, I'd fight with thee to-morrow Well, welcome, welcome! I have seen the time

Ulyss. I wonder now how yonder city stands, When we have here her base and pillar by us.

Hect. I know your favour, Lord 'Ulysses, well. Ah, sir, there's many a Greek and Trojan dead, Since first I saw yourself and Diomed In Ilion, on your Greekish embassy.

Ulyss. Sir, I foretold you then what would ensue : My prophecy is but half his journey yet; For yonder walls, that pertly front your town, Yon towers, whose wanton tops do buss the clouds," Must kiss their own feet. Hect. I must not believe you. There they stand yet; and modestly I think, The fall of every Phrygian stone will cost A drop of Grecian blood: The end crowns all; And that old common arbitrator, time, Will one day end it. Ulyss. So to him we leave it. Most gentle, and most valiant Hector, welcome : After the general, I beseech you next To feast with me, and see me at my tent.

Achil. I shall forestall thee, Lord Ulysses, thou!12

Now, Hector, I have fed mine eyes on thee;
I have with exact view perus'd thee, Hector,
And quoted joint by joint.
13

Hect.

Is this Achilles?

Achil. I am Achilles.
Hect. Stand fair, I pray thee: let me look on thee.
Achil. Behold thy fill.

Hect.
Nay, I have done already.
Achil. Thou art too brief; I will the second time,
As I would buy thee, view thee limb by limb.

Hect. O, like a book of sport thou'lt read me o'er; But there's more in me than thou understand'st. Why dost thou so oppress me with thine eye?

Achil. Tell me, you heavens, in which part of his body

Shall I destroy him? whether there, there, or there?
That I may give the local wound a name;
And make distinct the very breach whereout
Hector's great spirit flew: Answer me, heavens!

6 Untraded is uncommon, unusual. So in King Richard II:- Some way of common trade,' for some usual course, or trodden way.

7 Destiny is the vicegerent of fate.

1 i. e. answer the expectance.

2 These knights, to the amount of about two hundred thousand, (for there were no less in both armies,) Shakspeare found with all the appendages of chivalry in The Old Troy Book. Eques and armiger, rendered knight and squire, excite ideas of chivalry. Pope, in his Homer, has been liberal in his use of the latter. 3 i. e. integrity, like that of heaven.

8 As the equestrian fame of Perseus is here again alhorse was meant for a real one, and not allegorically for a ship. See Act i. Sc. 3.

9 i. e. the fallen.

10 Laomedon.

12 Mr. Tyrwhitt thought we should read:--'I shall forestall thee, Lord Ulysses, though!" 13 Quoted is noted, observed. The hint for this scene of altercation between Achilles and Hector is furnished by Lydgate.