And yet the spacious breadth of this division.
Admits no orifice for a point, as subtle

As is Arachne's broken woof, to enter.
Instance, O instance! strong as Pluto's gates;
Cressid is mine, tied with the bonds of heaven:
Instance, O instance! strong as heaven itself;
The bonds of heaven are slipp'd, dissolv'd, and loos'd;
And with another knot, five-finger-tied',
The fractions of her faith, orts of her love,
The fragments, scraps, the bits, and greasy reliques
Of her o'er-eaten faith, are bound to Diomed.

Ulyss. May worthy Troilus be half attach'd
With that which here his passion doth express?

Tro. Ay, Greek; and that shall be divulged well
In characters as red as Mars his heart

Inflam'd with Venus: never did young man fancy
With so eternal and so fix'd a soul.

Hark, Greek; As much as I do Cressid love,
So much by weight hate I her Diomed:

That sleeve is mine, that he'll bear on his helm ;
Were it a casque compos'd by Vulcan's skill,
My sword should bite it: not the dreadful spout,
Which shipmen do the hurricano call

Constring'd in mass by the almighty sun,
Shall dizzy with more clamour Neptune's ear
In his descent, than shall my prompted sword
Falling on Diomed.

Ther. He'll tickle it for his concupy'.

Tro. O Cressid! O false Cressid! false, false, false! Let all untruths stand by thy stained name,

And they'll seem glorious.

7 knot, five-finger-tied,] A knot tied by giving her hand to Diomed.

8 May worthy Troilus-] Can Troilus really feel, on this occasion, half of what he utters ? A question suitable to the calnı Ulysses. JOHNSON.

9

concupy.] A cant word, formed by our author from

concupiscence.

Ulyss.

O, contain yourself;

Your passion draws ears hither.

Enter ENEAS.

Ene. I have been seeking you this hour, my lord: Hector, by this, is arming him in Troy;

Ajax, your guard, stays to conduct you home.

Tro. Have with you, prince:

adieu :

My courteous lord,

Farewell, revolted fair!—and, Diomed,

Stand fast, and wear a castle on thy head'!
Ulyss. I'll bring you to the gates.

Tro. Accept distracted thanks.

[Exeunt TROILUS, ENEAS, and ULYSSES. Ther. 'Would, I could meet that rogue Diomed! I would croak like a raven; I would bode, I would bode. Patroclus will give me any thing for the intelligence of this whore the parrot will not do more for an almond, than he for a commodious drab. Lechery, lechery; still, wars and lechery; nothing else holds fashion: A burning devil take them.

:

[Exit

SCENE III.

Troy. Before Priam's Palace.

Enter HECTOR and ANDROMACHE.

And. When was my lord so much ungently temper'd, To stop his ears against admonishment?

Unarm, unarm, and do not fight to-day.

Hect. You train me to offend you; get you in By all the everlasting gods, I'll go.

1

:

and wear a castle on thy head!] i. e. defend thy head with armour of more than common security.

And. My dreams will, sure, prove ominous to the day. Hect. No more, I say.

Cas.

Enter CASSANDRA.

Where is my brother Hector?

And. Here, sister; arm'd, and bloody in intent :
Consort with me in loud and dear petition 2,
Pursue we him on knees; for I have dream'd
Of bloody turbulence, and this whole night

Hath nothing been but shapes and forms of slaughter.
Cas. O, it is true.

Hect.

Ho bid my trumpet sound! Cas. No notes of sally, for the heavens, sweet brother. Hect. Begone, I say: the gods have heard me swear. Cas. The gods are deaf to hot and peevish' vows; They are polluted offerings, more abhorr'd

Than spotted livers in the sacrifice.

And. O! be persuaded: Do not count it holy

To hurt by being just it is as lawful,

For we would give much, to use violent thefts,

And rob in the behalf of charity.

Cas. It is the purpose, that makes strong the vow: But vows, to every purpose, must not hold:

Unarm, sweet Hector.

Hect.

Hold you still, I say;

5

Mine honour keeps the weather of my fate:
Life every man holds dear; but the dear man
Holds honour far more precious-dear than life.—

2 dear petition,] Dear, on this occasion, seems to mean, important, consequential.

It is the purpose,] The mad prophetess speaks here with all the coolness and judgment of a skilful casuist. "The essence of a lawful vow, is a lawful purpose, and the vow of which the end is wrong, must not be regarded as cogent." JOHNSON.

Enter TROILUS.

How now, young man? mean'st thou to fight to-day? And. Cassandra, call my father to persuade.

[Exit CASSANDRA.

Hect. No, 'faith, young Troilus; doff thy harness,

youth,

I am to-day i'the vein of chivalry :

Let grow thy sinews till their knots be strong,
And tempt not yet the brushes of the war.
Unarm thee, go; and doubt thou not, brave boy,
I'll stand, to-day, for thee, and me, and Troy.

Tro. Brother, you have a vice of mercy in you,
Which better fits a lion, than a man.

Hect. What vice is that, good Troilus? chide me for it.

Tro. When many times the captive Grecians fall, Even in the fan and wind of your fair sword,

You bid them rise, and live'.

Hect. O, 'tis fair play.

Tro.

Fool's play, by heaven, Hector.

Hect. How now? how now?
Tro.
Let's leave the hermit pity with our mother;
And when we have our armours buckled on,
The venom'd vengeance ride upon our swords;
Spur them to ruthful work, rein them from ruth.
Hect. Fye, savage, fye!

For the love of all the gods,

Tro.

Hector, then 'tis wars.

6 Which better fits a lion,] The traditions and stories of the darker ages abounded with examples of the lion's generosity. Upon the supposition that these acts of clemency were true, Troilus reasons not improperly, that to spare against reason, by mere instinct of pity, became rather a generous beast than a wise man.

7 You bid them rise, and live.] Shakspeare seems not to have studied the Homeric character of Hector, whose disposition was by no means inclined to clemency.

Hect. Troilus, I would not have you fight to-day.
Tro. Who should withhold me?

Not fate, obedience, nor the hand of Mars
Beckoning with fiery truncheon my retire;
Not Priamus and Hecuba on knees,

Their eyes o'ergalled with recourse of tears;
Nor you, my brother, with your true sword drawn,
Oppos'd to hinder me, should stop my way,
But by my ruin.

Re-enter CASSANDRA, with PRIAM.

Cas. Lay hold upon him, Priam, hold him fast:
He is thy crutch; now if thou lose thy stay,
Thou on him leaning, and all Troy on thee,
Fall all together.

Pri.

Come, Hector, come, go back: Thy wife hath dream'd; thy mother hath had visions; Cassandra doth foresee; and I myself Am like a prophet suddenly enrapt, To tell thee that this day is ominous: Therefore, come back.

Hect.

Eneas is a-field;

And I do stand engag'd to many Greeks,
Even in the faith of valour, to appear

This morning to them.

Pri.

But thou shalt not go.

Hect. I must not break my faith.

You know me dutiful; therefore, dear sir,
Let me not shame respect'; but give me leave
To take that course by your consent and voice,
Which you do here forbid me, royal Priam.

S with fiery truncheon -] We have here but a modern Mars. Antiquity acknowledges no such ensign of command as a truncheon. The spirit of the passage, however, is such as might . atone for a greater impropriety.

9

shame respect;] i. e. disgrace the respect I owe you, by acting in opposition to your commands.