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By guilt or shame? No; he has always been
So unacquainted with all arts of sin

That but to be suspected strikes him dumb
With wonder and amazement.

299. O young John Talbot! I did send for thee
To tutor thee in stratagems of war;

300.

That Talbot's name might be in thee reviv'd,
When sapless age, and weak unable limbs,
Should bring thy father to his drooping chair.
But, -O malignant and ill-boding stars! -
Now thou art come unto a feast of death,
A terrible and unavoided danger:

Therefore, dear boy, mount on my swiftest horse;
And I'll direct thee how thou shalt escape
By sudden flight: come, dally not, begone.

V. Mais l'autre est un rare bonheur; De tous les trois chez nous il doit tenir la place. H. Que n'a-t-on vu périr en lui le nom d'Horace! V. Seul vous le maltraitez après ce qu'il a fait. H. C'est à moi seul aussi de punir son forfait. V. Quel forfait trouvez-vous en sa bonne conduite ? H. Quel éclat de vertu trouvez-vous en sa fuite? V. Sa fuite est glorieuse en cette occasion. H. Vous redoublez ma honte et ma confusion. Certes, l'exemple est rare et digne de mémoire, De trouver dans la fuite un chemin à la gloire ! 301. There is in prison bound, condemn'd to die, And for a crime by other hands committed, A noble youth, and my betrothed love.

Your son nay, shrink not back, nor look so sternly

Your son, as secret rumour hath inform'd me,

Mortally wounded and with little hope

Of life, can ample testimony give,

That Rayner did it not. O let him then,
In whate'er secret place he lies conceal'd,
In pity let him true confession make,

And we will bless him, heav'n will pardon him.

302. Ch. What fear you, Madam? C. That the frowning heavens

Oppose themselves against us in their wrath.

Ch. Our loss, I hope, hath satisfied their ire.
C. Oh no; our loss lifts Cæsar's fortunes higher.
Ch. Fortune is fickle. C. But hath fail'd him never.
Ch. The more unlike she should continue ever.

C. My fearful dreams do my despairs redouble.
Ch. Why suffer you vain dreams your head to
trouble?

C. Who is not troubled with strange visions?

Ch. They of our spirit are but illusions.

C. God grant these dreams to good effect be brought!

Ch. We dream by night what we by day have thought.

303. Dear mother Ida, harken ere I die.

She, with a subtle smile in her mild eyes,
The herald of her triumph, drawing nigh,
Half whisper'd in his ear, "I promise thee
The fairest and most loving wife in Greece."
She spoke and laugh'd. I shut my sight for fear:
But when I look'd, Paris had rais'd his arm,
And I beheld great Here's angry eyes,
As she withdrew into the golden cloud;
And I was left alone within the bower:
And from that time to this I am alone,
And I shall be alone until I die.

304. Forth of a desert wood an ugly beast

There seem'd to come, whose shape was thus de

fin'd:

Ears of an ass, a wolf in head and breast,
A carkasse all with pinching famine pin'd;
A lion's griesly jaw, but all the rest

To fox-like shape did seem to be inclin❜d.
In England, France, in Italy and Spain,
Yea, all the world, this monster seem'd to reign.
Where'er this cruel monster set his foote,
He kill'd and spoyl'd of every sort and state.
No height of birth or state with him did boote:
He conquer'd kings and crowns, all in like rate.
305. Speak not of treaty, speak not of surrender!

The saviour comes; he arms him for the fight. The fortunes of the foe shall soon be wreck'd: He now is ready for the reaper's hand, And with her sickle will the maiden come, And mow his haughty spirit to the ground; She from the heavens will tear his glory down, Which he had hung upon the loftiest stars. Despair not, fly not! for ere yonder corn Assumes its golden hue, or ere the moon Displays her perfect orb, no English horse Shall drink the rolling waters of the Loire. 306. O mother, best of women, I am sent

To utter the abstruse decrees of Heaven; Nor doth the Delian God against my will Fire my rapt soul. I and my virgin comrades Are stung by a foreknowledge of the shame Which waits my virtuous sire. O mother, thee I pity, and contemplate my own failings With anguish; for to Priam did'st thou bear A race most perfect, all but me: this heightens My griefs, to think I but augment thy woes; While they console thee, and their duteous zeal Hath render'd my transgression the more heinous. 307. He spake, and to his roof in haste withdrew

308.

Before him neighing, steeds, a noble gift,

Which Orithyia to Pilumnus gave,

Whiter than snow, and swifter than the wind

Prompt come the charioteers, and
the charioteers, and stroke their
chests,

With words of praise, and comb their flowing

manes.

The Prince a breastplate fastens on, rough-scal'd
With gold and glittering brass: his buckler next,
And crimson branching plumes; beside him girds
The sword which Vulcan had for Daunus forg'd,
And dipp'd it hissing in the Stygian wave.

All things have a double power,
Alike for good and evil. The same fire,
That on the comfortable hearth at eve
Warm'd the good man, flames o'er the house at

night.

Should we for this forego

The needful element?

Because the scorching summer sun

Darts fever, would'st thou quench the orb of day?
Or deemest thou that heaven in anger form'd
Iron to till the field, because, when man
Had tipt his arrows for the chase, he rush'd
A murderer to the war?

309. 'Tis time to turn our backs, to leave our homes,
Unshaken wall, unviolated fane

Rais'd by Minerva, citadel which she
And Venus with her equally protects.
Ulysses, that great queller of our hosts,
Brings Philoctetes now. Now let us fly
Even to Mycena: let us carry now
Within our quailing bosoms all those gods,
Among the rest Palladium, who have stood
Stable and strong against all former wars,

And to Diana let us sacrifice

Upon the summit of Taygetus.

310. M. O miserable change! is this the man, That invincible Samson, far renown'd,

The dread of Israel's foes, who with a strength
Equivalent to angels walk'd their streets,
None offering fight; who single combatant
Duell'd their armies rank'd in proud array,
Himself an army, now unequal match
To save himself against a coward arm'd
At one spear's length? O ever-failing trust
In mortal strength! and oh! what not in man
Deceivable and vain? Nay, what thing good
Pray'd for but often proves our bane?
311. Sudden the god a lion stands ;

He shakes his mane, he spurns the sands:
Now a fierce lynx with fiery glare,
A wolf, an ass, a fox, a bear.
Had I ne'er liv'd at court, he cries,
Such transformation might surprise ;
But there, in quest of daily game,
Each abler courtier does the same.
Wolves, lions, lynxes, while in place,
Their friends and fellows are their chase;
They play the bear's and fox's part,
Now rob by force, now steal by art.

312. This is the place, the centre of the grove.

Here stands the oak, the monarch of the wood:
How sweet and solemn is this midnight scene!
The silver moon, unclouded, holds her way
Thro' skies, where I could count each little star.
The fanning west-wind scarcely stirs the leaves;
The river, rushing o'er its pebbled bed,
Imposes silence with a stilly sound.

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