By Cressid's rule: rather think this not Cressid. Ulyss. What hath she done, prince, that can soil our mothers?

Tro. Nothing at all, unless that this were she. Ther. Will he swagger himself out on's own eyes? Tro. This she? no, this is Diomed's Cressida : If beauty have a soul, this is not she ; If souls guide vows, if vows be sanctimony, If sanctimony be the gods' delight, If there be rule in unity itself,

This was not she. O madness of discourse,
That cause sets up with and against itself!
Bi-fold authority! where reason can revolt
Without perdition, and loss assume all reason
Without revolt; this is, and is not, Cressid!
Within my soul there doth commence a fight
Of this strange nature, that a thing inseparate
Divides more wider than the sky and earth;
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;

* Love.

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'dt 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.

Ulyss.
Your passion draws ears hither.

O, contain yourself;

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 :-My courteous lord, adieu :

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, Æneas, 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.

* Helmet.

+ Compressed.

Concupiscence.

TROILUS & CRESSIDA.

WORDS WORDS MERE WORDS, NO MATTER FROM THE HEART;
Tearing the Letter
GO. WIND TO WIND. THERE TURN & CHANGE TOGETHER."

London:Published by Thomas Tegg NIII. Cheapside, July, 11814.

Printed by Diven & Son

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.
And. My dreams will, sure, prove ominous to the
day.

Hect. No more, I say.

Enter Cassandra.

Cas.

Where is my brother Hector? And. Here, sister; arm'd, and bloody in intent : Consort with me in loud and dear petition, 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 :

* Foolish.