LOCRINE.

And drove them almost to a shameful flight;
I that e'erwhile full lion-like did fare

Amongst the dangers of the thick throng'd pikes,
Must now depart, most lamentably slain

By Humber's treacheries and Fortune's spites.
Cursed be her charms, damn'd be her cursed charms,
That do delude the wayward hearts of men,
Of men that trust unto her fickle wheel,
Which never leaveth turning upside-down!
O gods, O heavens, allot me but the place
Where I may find her hateful mansion.
I'll pass the Alps to wat'ry Meroe,
Where fiery Phoebus in his chariot,

The wheels whereof are deck'd with emeralds,
Casts such a heat, yea such a scorching heat,
And spoileth Flora of her chequer'd grass;
I'll overturn the mountain Caucasus,
Where fell Chimera in her triple shape,
Rolleth hot flames from out her monstrous paunch,
Scaring the beasts with issue of her gorge;
I'll pass the frozen zone, where icy flakes
Stopping the passage of the fleeting ships,*
Do lie, like mountains, in the congeal'd sea:
Where if I find that hateful house of hers,
I'll pull the fickle wheel from out her hands,
And tie herself in everlasting bands.
But all in vain I breathe these threatenings:
The day is lost, the Huns are conquerors,
Debon is slain, my men are done to death,
The currents swift swim violently with blood,
And last, (O that this last might so long last!)
Myself with wounds past all recovery,

Must leave my crown for Humber to possess.

[ACT II.

Strum. Lord have mercy upon us, masters, I think this is a holy-day; every man lies sleeping in the fields: but God knows full sore against their wills.

Thra. Fly, noble Albanact, and save thyself,
The Scythians follow with great celerity,

And there's no way but flight or speedy death;
Fly, noble Albanact, and save thyself.

[Exit THRA. Alarum.

Alba. Nay, let them fly that fear to die the death,

That tremble at the name of fatal Mors.
Ne'er shall proud Humber boast or brag himself,
That he hath put young Albanact to flight:
And lest he should triumph at my decay,
This sword shall reave his master of his life,
That oft hath saved his master's doubtful life:
But oh, my brethren, if you care for me,
Revenge my death upon his traitorous head.

Et vos queis domus est nigrantis regia Ditis,
Qui regitis rigido Stygios moderamine lucos,
*I. e. floating.

Nox caci regina poli, furialis Erinnys,

Diique deaque omnes, Albanum tollite regem,
Tollite flumineis undis rigidaque palude.

Nunc me fata vocant, hoc condam pectore ferrum.

Enter TROMPART.

77

[Stabs himself,

O, what hath he done? his nose bleeds; but I smell a fox: look

where my master lies. Master, master.

Strum. Let me alone, I tell thee, for I am dead.

Trom. Yet one word, good master.

Strum. I will not speak, for I am dead, I tell thee.

Trom. And is my master dead?

O sticks and stones, brickbats and bones,

And is my master dead?

O you cockatrices, and you bablatrices,

That in the woods dwell:

[Singing.

You briers and brambles, you cook-shops and shambles,
Come howl and yell.

With howling and screeking, with wailing and weeping,
Come you to lament,

O colliers of Croydon, and rustics of Roydon,

And fishers of Kent.

For Strumbo the cobler, the fine merry cobler

Of Caithness town,

At this same stour,* at this very hour,

Lies dead on the ground.

O master, thieves, thieves, thieves!

Strum. Where be they? cox me tunny, bobekin! let me be rising: be gone; we shall be robb'd by-and-by.

[Exeunt STRUMBO and TROMPART.

SCENE VI.

Enter HUMBER, HUBBA, SEGAR, THRASSIER, ESTRILD, and

Soldiers.

Hum. Thus from the dreadful shocks of furious Mars, Thund'ring alarums, and Rhamnusia's drum,†

We are retired with joyful victory.

The slaughter'd Trojans, sweltering in their blood,
Infect the air with their carcasses,

And are a prey for every ravenous bird.

Est. So perish they that are our enemies!

So perish they that love not Humber's weal!
And, mighty Jove, commander of the world,
Protect my love from all false treacheries!

Hum. Thanks, lovely Estrild, solace to my soul.
But, valiant Hubba, for thy chivalry

Declared against the men of Albany,

Lo! here a flow'ring garland wreath'd of bay,

As a reward for this thy forward mind. [Sets it on HUBBA's head.

* Battle, tumult.

† Rhamnusia, a title of Nemesis,

Hub. This unexpected honour, noble sire,
Will prick my courage unto braver deeds,
And cause me to attempt such hard exploits,
That all the world shall sound of Hubba's name.

Hum. And now, brave soldiers, for this good success,
Carouse whole cups of Amazonian wine,

Sweeter than Nectar, or Ambrosia ;
And cast away the clods of cursed care,
With goblets crown'd with Semeleius' gifts.*
Now let us march to Abus' + silver streams,
That clearly glide along the champain fields,
And moist the grassy meads with humid drops.
Sound drums and trumpets, sound up cheerfully,
Sith we return with joy and victory.

[Exeunt.

ACT III.

Enter ATE as before. Then this dumb show. A crocodile sitting on a river's bank, and a little snake stinging it. Both of them fall into the water.

Até. Scelera in authorem cadunt.

High on a bank, by Nilus' boisterous streams,
Fearfully sat the Egyptian crocodile,
Dreadfully grinding in her sharp long teeth

The broken bowels of a silly fish.

His back was arm'd against the dint of spear,

With shields of brass that shined like burnish'd gold:

And as he stretched forth his cruel paws,

A subtle adder creeping closely near,

Thrusting his forked sting into his claws,
Privily shed his poison through his bones,

Which made him swell, that there his bowels burst,
That did so much in his own greatness trust.

So Humber having conquer'd Albanact,
Doth yield his glory unto Locrine's sword.
Mark what ensues, and you may easily see
That all our life is but a tragedy.

SCENE I.

[Exit.

Enter LOCRINE, GUENDOLEN, CORINEUS, ASSA RACUS,
THRASIMACHUS, and CAMBER.

Loc. And is this true ? Is Albanactus slain ?
Hath cursed Humber, with his straggling host,
With that his army made of mongrel curs,
Brought our redoubted brother to his end?
O that I had the Thracian Orpheus' harp,
For to awake out of the infernal shade

*I.e. Bacchus, son of Semele.

†The Humber.

Those ugly devils of black Erebus,

That might torment the damned traitor's soul !
O that I had Amphion's instrument,

To quicken with his vital notes and tunes
The flinty joints of every stony rock,
By which the Scythians might be punished!
For, by the lightning of almighty Jove,
The Hun shall die, had he ten thousand lives:
And would to God he had ten thousand lives,
That I might with the arm-strong Hercules
Crop off so vile an hydra's hissing heads!
But say, my cousin (for I long to hear),
How Albanact came by untimely death.
Thra. After the traitorous host of Scythians
Enter'd the field with martial equipage,
Young Albanact, impatient of delay,

Led forth his army 'gainst the straggling mates;
Whose multitude did daunt our soldiers' minds.
Yet nothing could dismay the forward prince:
He with a courage most heroical,

Like to a lion 'mongst a flock of lambs,
Made havoc of the faint-heart fugitives,
Hewing a passage through them with his sword.
Yea, we had almost given them the repulse,
When, suddenly from out the silent wood,
Hubba, with twenty thousand soldiers,
Cowardly came upon our weaken'd backs,
And murther'd all with fatal massacre:
Amongst the which old Debon, martial knight,
With many wounds was brought unto the death;
And Albanact, oppress'd with multitude,
Whilst valiantly he fell'd his enemies,
Yielded his life and honour to the dust.
He being dead, the soldiers fled amain;
And I alone escaped them by flight,
To bring you tidings of these accidents.
Loc. Not aged Priam, king of stately Troy,
Grand emperor of barbarous Asia,
When he beheld his noble-minded son
Slain traitorously by all the Myrmidons,
Lamented more than I for Albanact.

Guen. Not Hecuba the queen of Ilion,
When she beheld the town of Pergamus,
Her palace, burnt with all-devouring flames,
Her fifty sons and daughters, fresh of hue,
Murther'd by wicked Pyrrhus' bloody sword,
Shed such sad tears as I for Albanact.

Cam. The grief of Niobe, fair Amphion's queen,

For her seven sons magnanimous in field,

For her seven daughters, fairer than the fairest,

Is not to be compared with my laments.

Cor.. In vain you sorrow for the slaughter'd prince,

In vain you sorrow for this overthrow.

He loves not most that doth lament the most,
But he that seeks to 'venge the injury.
Think you to quell the enemies' warlike train
With childish sobs and womanish laments ?

Unsheath your swords, unsheath your conquering swords,
And seek revenge, the comfort for this sore.
In Cornwall, where I hold my regiment,*
Even just ten thousand valiant men-at-arms
Hath Corineus ready at command,

All these and more, if need shall more require,
Hath Corineus ready at command.

Cam. And in the fields of martial Cambria,
Close by the boisterous Isca's silver streams,
Where light-foot fairies skip from bank to bank,
Full twenty thousand brave courageous knights
Well exercised in feats of chivalry,

In manly manner most invincible,

Young Camber hath, with gold and victual.
All these and more, if need shall more require,

I offer up to 'venge my brother's death.

Loc. Thanks, loving uncle, and good brother too;
For this revenge, for this sweet word, revenge,
Must ease and cease my wrongful injuries:
And by the sword of bloody Mars I swear,
Ne'er shall sweet quiet enter this my front;
Till I be 'venged on his traitorous head,
That slew my noble brother Albanact.

Sound drums and trumpets; muster up the camp;
For we will straight march to Albania.

SCENE II.

[Exeunt.

Enter HUMBER, ESTRILD, HUBBA, THRASSIER, and Soldiers.

Hum. Thus are we come victorious conquerors

Unto the flowing current's silver streams,

Which, in memorial of our victory,

Shall be agnominated by our name,t
And talked of by our posterity:
For sure I hope before the golden sun
Posteth his horses to fair Thetis' plains,
To see the water turned into blood,
And change his bluish hue to rueful red,

By reason of the fatal massacre

Which shall be made upon the virent § plains.

Enter the Ghost of ALBANACT.

Ghost. See how the traitor doth presage his harm;

See how he glories at his own decay;

See how he triumphs at his proper || loss;

O Fortune vile, unstable, fickle, frail!

* I.e. my government. + The sea.

† I. e. surnamed

I. e. green.

I Own