John Dryden

“ Trick. Thou art a forsworn man, however; for thou sworest to love me eternally.
Limb. Yes, I was such a fool, to swear so.
Aldo. And will you have that dreadful oath lie gnawing on your conscience?
Trick. Let him be damned; and so farewell for ever.— [Going.]
Limb. Pug!
Trick. Did you call, Mr Limberham?
Limb. It may be, ay; it may be, no.
Trick. Well, I am going to the nunnery; but, to shew I am in charity, I'll pray for you.
Aldo. Pray for him! fy, daughter, fy; is that an answer for a Christian?
Limb. What did Pug say? will she pray for me? ”

“ O brave Troilus! the prince of chivalry, and flower of fidelity!
Cres. Peace, for shame, peace!
Pand. Nay, but mark him then! O brave Troilus! there's a man of men, niece! look you how his sword is bloody, and his helmet more hacked than Hector's, and how he looks, and how he goes! O admirable youth! he never saw two-and-twenty. Go thy way, Troilus, go thy way! had I a sister were a grace, and a daughter a goddess, he should take his choice of them. O admirable man! Paris, Paris is dirt to him, and I warrant, Helen, to change, would give all the shoes in her shop to boot. ”

“ At such an age! what saw the Gods in thee,
That a cock-sparrow should but live three years,
And thou shouldst last three ages? he's thy better;
He uses life; he treads himself to death.
Thou hast forgot thy use some hundred years.
Thou stump of man, thou worn-out broom, thou lumber!
Nest. I'll hear no more of him, his poison works;
What, curse me for my age!
Ulys. Hold, you mistake him, Nestor; 'tis his custom:
What malice is there in a mirthful scene?
'Tis but a keen-edged sword, spread o'er with balm,
To heal the wound it makes.
Thers. Thou beg'st a curse? ”

“ Would make him knight: he longs to kill a Grecian:
For should he stay to be a man, he thinks
You'll kill them all; and leave no work for him.
Priam. Your own blood, Hector.
Andro. And therefore he designs to send a challenge
To Agamemnon, Ajax, or Achilles,
To prove they do not well to burn our fields,
And keep us cooped like prisoners in a town,
To lead this lazy life.
Hect. What sparks of honour
Fly from this child! the gods speak in him sure:
—It shall be so—I'll do't.
Priam. What means my son?
Hect. To send a challenge to the boldest Greek. ”

“ One moral, or a mere well-natured deed,
Does all desert in sciences exceed.
Thus prose may be humbled, as well as exalted; into poetry.
012 PROLOGUE.
True wit has seen its best days long ago;
It ne'er looked up, since we were dipt in show;
When sense in doggrel rhimes and clouds was lost,
And dulness flourished at the actor's cost.
Nor stopt it here; when tragedy was done,
Satire and humour the same fate have run,
And comedy is sunk to trick and pun.
Now our machining lumber will not sell,
And you no longer care for heaven or hell;
What stuff will please you next, the Lord can tell. ”

“ But 'tis too short a blessing,
And love too long a pain.
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'Tis easy to deceive us,
In pity of your pain;
But when we love, you leave us,
To rail at you in vain.
Before we have descried it,
There is no bliss beside it;
But she, that once has tried it,
Will never love again.
The passion you pretended,
Was only to obtain;
But when the charm is ended,
The charmer you disdain.
Your love by ours we measure,
Till we have lost our treasure;
But dying is a pleasure,
When living is a pain.
Re-enter Torrismond. ”

“ If you confess, 'twas wisdom Paris went;—
As you must needs, for you all cried, Go, go:—
If you'll confess, he brought home noble prize;—
As you must needs, for you all clapped your hands,
And cried, Inestimable!—Why do you now
So under-rate the value of your purchase?
For, let me tell you, 'tis unmanly theft,
When we have taken what we fear to keep.
Æne. There's not the meanest spirit in our party,
Without a heart to dare, or sword to draw,
When Helen is defended: None so noble,
Whose life were ill bestowed, or death unfamed,
When Helen is the subject.
Priam. ”

“ Ajax. You shall see
I am not like Achilles.
Let us confer, and I'll give counsel too. [Exeunt.
SCENE II. Enter Pandarus, Troilus, and Cressida.
Pand. Come, come, what need you blush? Shame's a baby; swear the oaths now to her, that you swore to me: What, are you gone again? you must be watched ere you are made tame, must you? Why don't you speak to her first?—Come, draw this curtain and let's see your picture; alas-a-day, how loth you are to offend day-light! [They kiss.] That's well, that's well; nay, you shall fight your hearts out ere I part you. ”

“ Ajax. Tell us the news, I say.
Thers. You say! why you never said any thing in all your life. But, since you will know, it is proclaimed through the army, that Hector is to cudgel you to-morrow.
Achil. How, cudgel him, Thersites!
Thers. Nay, you may take a child's part on't if you have so much courage, for Hector has challenged the toughest of the Greeks; and it is in dispute which of your two heads is the soundest timber. A knotty piece of work he'll have betwixt your noddles.
Achil. If Hector be to fight with any Greek,
He knows his man.
Ajax. Yes; he may know his man without art magic. ”

“ Gerv. If I were worthy to read you a lecture in the mystery of wickedness, I would instruct you first in the art of seeming holiness: But, heaven be thanked, you have a toward and pregnant genius to vice, and need not any man's instruction; and I am too good, I thank my stars, for the vile employment of a pimp.
Wood. Then thou art even too good for me; a worse man will serve my turn.
Gerv. I call your conscience to witness, how often I have given you wholesome counsel; how often I have said to you, with tears in my eyes, master, or master Aldo—
Wood. Mr Woodall, you rogue! ”

“ Andr. No notes of sally, for the heaven's sweet sake!
'Tis not for nothing when my spirits droop;
This is a day when thy ill stars are strong,
When they have driven thy helpless genius down
The steep of heaven, to some obscure retreat.
Hect. No more; even as thou lovest my fame, no more;
My honour stands engaged to meet Achilles.
What will the Grecians think, or what will he,
Or what will Troy, or what wilt thou thyself,
When once this ague fit of fear is o'er,
If I should lose my honour for a dream? ”

“ Zookers, I cannot answer it to my conscience.
Wood. Nay, an your conscience can suffer you to swear, it shall suffer you to lie too: I mean in this sense. Come, no denial, you must do it; she is rich, and there is a provision for your life.
Gerv. I beseech you, sir, have pity on my soul.
Wood. Have you pity of your body: There is all the wages you must expect.
Gerv. Well, sir, you have persuaded me: I will arm my conscience with a resolution of making her an honourable amends by marriage; for to-morrow morning a parson shall authorise my labours, and turn fornication into duty. ”

“ Lorenzo takes up the purse, and pours it into the Friar's sleeve.
Nay, good sir;—nay, dear colonel;—O lord, sir, what are you doing now! I profess this must not be: without this I would have served you to the utter-most; pray command me.—A jealous, foul-mouthed rogue this Gomez is; I saw how he used you, and you marked how he used me too. O he's a bitter man; but we'll join our forces; ah, shall we, colonel? we'll be revenged on him with a witness. ”

“ Wood. Believe me, madam, lovers are not to trust to-morrow. Love may die upon our hands, or opportunity be wanting; 'tis best securing the present hour.
Trick. No, love's like fruit; it must have time to ripen on the tree; if it be green gathered, 'twill but wither afterwards.
Wood. Rather 'tis like gun powder; that which fires quickest, is commonly the strongest.—By this burning kiss—
Trick. You lovers are such froward children, ever crying for the breast; and, when you have once had it, fall fast asleep in the nurse's arms. And with what face should I look upon my keeper after it? ”

“ Would you see fairer visions, take this night
Your Torrismond within your arms to sleep;
And, to that end, invent some apt pretence
To break with Bertran: 'twould be better yet,
Could you provoke him to give you the occasion,
And then, to throw him off.
Enter Bertran at a distance.
Leo. My stars have sent him;
For, see, he comes. How gloomily he looks!
If he, as I suspect, have found my love,
His jealousy will furnish him with fury,
And me with means, to part.
Bert. [Aside.] Shall I upbraid her? Shall I call her false?
If she be false, 'tis what she most desires. ”

“ A word, my lord—Your pardon, Diomede—
Your brother Troilus, to my certain knowledge,
Does lodge this night in Pandarus's house.
Hect. Go you before. Tell him of our approach,
Which will, I fear, be much unwelcome to him.
Æn. I assure you,
Troilus had rather Troy were borne to Greece,
Than Cressida from Troy.
Hect. I know it well; and how he is, beside,
Of hasty blood.
Æn. He will not hear me speak;
But I have noted long betwixt you two
A more than brother's love; an awful homage
The fiery youth pays to your elder virtue.
Hect. Leave it to me; I'll manage him alone ”

“ Enter Limberham, with a great Sword.
Limb. Disloyal Pug!
Trick. What humour is this? you are drunk, it seems: Go sleep.
Limb. Thou hast robbed me of my repose for ever: I am like Macbeth, after the death of good king Duncan; methinks a voice says to me,—Sleep no more; Tricksy has murdered sleep.
Trick. Now I find it: You are willing to save your settlement, and are sent by some of your wise counsellors, to pick a quarrel with me. ”

“ The truth is, the audience are grown weary of continued melancholy scenes; and I dare venture to prophecy, that few tragedies, except those in verse, shall succeed in this age, if they are not lightened with a course of mirth; for the feast is too dull and solemn without the fiddles. But how difficult a task this is, will soon be tried; for a several genius is required to either way; and, without both of them, a man, in my opinion, is but half a poet for the stage. Neither is it so trivial an undertaking, to make a 381 tragedy end happily; for it is more difficult to save, than it is to kill. ”

“ Wise men would be glad to find a little sense couched under all these pompous words; for bombast is commonly the delight of that audience, which loves poetry, but understands it not: and as commonly has been the practice of those writers, who, not being able to infuse a natural passion into the mind, have made it their business to ply the ears, and to stun their judges by the noise. But Shakespeare does not often thus; for the passions in his scene between Brutus and Cassius are extremely natural, the thoughts are such as arise from the matter, the expression of them not viciously figurative. ”

“ O, fortune has determined for me. It is just here, as it is in the world; the mistress will be served before the wife.
Trick. How now, sir, are you rehearsing your lingua Franca by yourself, that you walk so pensively?
Wood. No faith, madam, I was thinking of the fair lady, who, at parting, bespoke so cunningly of me all my essences.
Trick. But there are other beauties in the house; and I should be impatient of a rival: for I am apt to be partial to myself, and think I deserve to be preferred before them.
Wood. Your beauty will allow of no competition; and I am sure my love could make none. ”

“ Why Judith, come out, come out, huswife.
Enter Judith, trembling.
What villain have you hid within?
Jud. O Lord, madam, what shall I say?
Mrs Brain. How should I know what you should say? Mr Brainsick has heard a man's voice within; if you know what he makes there, confess the truth; I am almost dead with fear, and he stands shaking.
Brain. Terror, I! 'tis indignation shakes me. With this sabre I'll slice him as small as atoms; he shall be doomed by the judge, and damned upon the gibbet. ”

“ It is true, the faults of the plot are so evidently proved, that they can no longer be denied. The beauties of it must therefore lie either in the lively touches of the passion; or we must conclude, as I think we may, that even in imperfect plots there are less degrees of nature, by which some faint emotions of pity and terror are raised in us; as a less engine will raise a less proportion of weight, though not so much as one of Archimedes's making; for nothing can move our nature, but by some natural reason, which works upon passions. ”