England, bound in with the triumphant sea,
whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame,
with inky blots, and rotten parchment bonds:
that England, that was wont to conquer others,
hath made shameful conquest of itself.
Ah, would the scandal vanish with my life,
how happy then were my ensuing death!
IOIO THE TENDENCY OF MANY MEANS TO ONE END
"HEREFORE doth heaven divide
the state of man in divers functions, setting endeavour in continual motion; to which is fixéd, as an aim or butt, obedience: for so work the honey-bees; creatures, that, by a rule in nature, teach the act of order to a peopled kingdom. They have a king, and officers of sorts: where some, like magistrates, correct at home; others, like merchants, venture trade abroad; others, like soldiers, arméd in their stings, make boot upon the summer's velvet buds; which pillage they with merry march bring home to the tent-royal of their emperor:
who, busied in his majesty, surveys
the singing masons building roofs of gold;
the civil citizens kneading up the honey;
the poor mechanic porters crowding in
their heavy burdens at his narrow gate;
the sad-ey'd justice, with his surly hum,
delivering o'er to executors pale
the lazy yawning drone. I this infer,—
that many things, having full reference
to one concent, may work contrariously;
as many arrows, looséd several ways,
fly to one mark;
as many several ways meet in one town;
as many fresh streams meet in one salt sea;
as many lines close in the dial's centre;
so many a thousand actions, once afoot,
end in one purpose, and be all well borne
without defeat.
1011 RICHARD PLANTAGENET DUKE OF YORK
HE-WOLF of France, but worse than wolves of
France,
whose tongue more poisons than the adder's tooth!
how ill-beseeming is it in thy sex,
to triumph, like an Amazonian trull,
upon their woes, whom fortune captivates!
But that thy face is, visard-like, unchanging,
made impudent with use of evil deeds,
I would assay, proud queen, to make thee blush:
to tell thee whence thou cam'st, of whom deriv'd,
were shame enough to shame thee, wert thou not
shameless.
Thy father bears the type of king of Naples,
of both the Sicils, and Jerusalem ;
yet not so wealthy as an English yeoman.
Hath that poor monarch taught thee to insult?
it needs not, nor it boots thee not, proud queen;
unless the adage must be verified,—
That beggars mounted run their horse to death.
'Tis beauty, that doth oft make women proud;
but, God he knows, thy share thereof is small:
'tis virtue, that doth make them most admir'd;
the contrary doth make thee wonder'd at:
'tis government, that makes them seem divine;
the want thereof makes thee abominable:
thou art as opposite to every good
as the Antipodes are unto us,
or as the south to the septentrion.
O tiger's heart wrapp'd in a woman's hide!
how could'st thou drain the life-blood of the child,
to bid the father wipe his eyes withal,
and yet be seen to bear a woman's face?
Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible;
thou stern, obdurate, flinty, rough, remorseless.
1012 PISANDER HOLDING A PARLEY WITH THE CHIEFS OF SYRACUSE AT THE HEAD OF THE INSURGENTS
Bice must speak for all. Your tyranny
drew us from our obedience.
Happy those times
when lords were styled fathers of families,
and not imperious masters! when they number'd
their servants almost equal with their sons,
or one degree beneath them! when their labours
were cherished and rewarded, and a period
set to their sufferings; when they did not press
their duties or their wills, beyond the power
and strength of their performance; all things order'd
with such decorum, as wise law-makers,
from each well-govern'd private house derived
the perfect model of a commonwealth.
Humanity then lodged in the hearts of men,
and thankful masters carefully provided
for creatures wanting reason. The noble horse,
that in his fiery youth from his wide nostrils
neighed courage to his rider and brake through
groves of opposéd pikes, bearing his lord
safe to triumphant victory, old or wounded,
was set at liberty and freed from service.
The Athenian mules, that from the quarry drew
marble, hewed for the temples of the gods,
the great work ended, were dismissed and fed
at the public cost; nay, faithful dogs have found
their sepulchres; but man, to man more cruel,
appoints no end to the sufferings of his slave;
since pride stepped in and riot, and o'erturned
this goodly frame of concord, teaching masters
to glory in the abuse of such as are
brought under their command; who, grown unuseful,
are less esteemed than beasts.
I MUST obey him, for I see my friends
beset with peril. Yet my own sad fate doth with increasing anguish move my heart. May I no longer feed the silent hope
which in my solitude I fondly cherish'd?
shall the dire cause eternally endure?
and shall our fated race ne'er rise again
with blessings crown'd? All mortal things decay;
the noblest powers, the purest joys of life
at length subside: then wherefore not the curse?
And have I vainly hop'd that, guarded here,
secluded from the fortunes of my race,
I, with pure heart and hands, some future day
might cleanse the deep defilement of our house?
Scarce was my brother in my circling arms
from raging madness suddenly restor❜d,
when unrelenting fate with iron hand
a double crime enjoins; commanding me
to steal the image, sacred and rever'd,
confided to my care, and him deceive
to whom I owe my life and destiny.
Let not abhorrence spring within my heart!
nor the old Titan's hate, towards you, ye gods,
infix its vulture talons in my breast!
An ancient song comes back upon mine ear-
I had forgotten it, and willingly-
the Parcæ's song, which horribly they sung,
what time, hurl'd headlong from his golden seat,
fell Tantalus. They with their noble friend,
keen anguish suffer'd; savage was their breast
and horrible their song. In days gone by,
when we were children, oft our ancient nurse
would sing it to us, and I mark'd it well.
A. SWANWICK from Goethe
1014 MALCOLM'S CHARACTER OF HIMSELF TO MACDUFF
Mac. BLEED, bleed, poor country!
great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure,
for goodness dares not check thee! wear thou thy wrongs,
thy title is affeer'd!-Fare thee well, lord:
I would not be the villain that thou think'st
for the whole space that's in the tyrant's grasp,
and the rich East to boot.
Be not offended;
I speak not as in absolute fear of you.
I think our country sinks beneath the yoke,
it weeps, it bleeds; and each new day a gash
is added to her wounds. I think, withal,
there would be hands up-lifted in my right:
and here, from gracious England, have I offer
of goodly thousands: but, for all this,
when I shall tread upon the tyrant's head,
or wear it on my sword, yet my poor country
shall have more vices than it had before,
more suffer, and more sundry ways than ever,
by him that shall succeed.
What should he be?
Mal. It is myself I mean; in whom I know
all the particulars of vice so grafted,
that, when they shall be opened, black Macbeth
will seem as pure as snow; and the poor state
esteem him as a lamb, being compared
with my confineless harms.
LET'S talk of graves, of, and with rainy eyes,
ET'S talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;
write sorrow on the bosom of the earth.
Let's choose executors, and talk of wills:
and yet not so,-for what can we bequeath,
save our deposéd bodies to the ground?
Our lands, our lives, and all are Bolingbroke's,
and nothing can we call our own but death,
and that small model of the barren earth
which serves as paste and cover to our bones.
For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground,
and tell sad stories of the death of kings:-
how some have been deposed, some slain in war;
some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;
some poison'd by their wives; some sleeping kill'd;
all murdered:--for within the hollow crown
that rounds the mortal temples of a king,
keeps Death his court; and there the antic sits,
scoffing his state, and grinning at his pomp;
allowing him a breath, a little scene,
to monarchize, be fear'd, and kill with looks;
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