Oxhide

“ I was the man that wept, sir, you were the man that made me weep; you touched my heart, sir, you touched my heart.
WHITE. (aside) Really, a most sensible old gentleman!
DE W. Lingering at the door, I learned that the prisoner was acquitted. So I walked home, and I said to myself—Whitewash is my destined son-in-law. I as a manufacturer of fancy soap remove physical impurities from the skin; Whitewash effaces the blots that calumny has cast upon innocence.
WHITE. Innocence!
DE W. Of course; no one knows better than you that that poor persecuted being was innocence itself. ”

“ In such words as these did her father Jove address her: “Dost thou, my daughter, unaided, attempt to change the insuperable decrees of Fate? Thou, thyself, mayst enter the abode of the three sisters, and there thou wilt behold the register of future events, wrought with vast labour, of brass and of solid iron; these, safe and destined for eternity, fear neither the thundering shock of the heavens, nor the rage of the lightnings, nor any source of destruction. There wilt thou find the destinies of thy descendants engraved in everlasting adamant. ”

“ I'm fully satisfy'd!
"This Boy shall stand a living Mark, to prove
"My Husband's Baseness and the Strumpet's Love:
"But Vengeance shall awake: those guilty Charms
"That drew the Thunderer from Juno's Arms,
"No longer shall their wonted Force retain,
"Nor please the God, nor make the Mortal vain. ”

“ So sink his dying features; and, forsaken by its vigour, the neck is a burden to itself, and reclines upon the shoulder. ‘Son of Œbalus,’ says Phœbus, ‘thou fallest, deprived of thy early youth; and I look on thy wound as my own condemnation. Thou art the object of my grief, and the cause of my crime. With thy death is my right hand to be charged; I am the author of thy destruction. Yet what is my fault? unless to engage in sport can be termed a fault; unless it can be called a fault, too, to have loved thee. And oh! that I could give my life for thee, or together with thee ”

“ For he will not understand the engravings on the shield; the ocean, and the earth, and the stars with the lofty heavens and the Pleïades, and the Hyades, and the Bear that avoids the sea, and the different cities, and the blazing sword of Orion; arms he insists on receiving, which he does not understand. What! and does he charge that I, avoiding the duties of this laborious war, came but late to the toil begun? and does he not perceive that in this he is defaming the brave Achilles? If he calls dissembling a crime, we have both of us dissembled. 450 xiii. ”

“ Nor all her od'rous Tears can cleanse her Crime,
Her Plant alone deforms the happy Clime:
Cupid denies to have inflam'd thy Heart,
Disowns thy Love, and vindicates his Dart:
Some Fury gave thee those infernal Pains,
And shot her venom'd Vipers in thy Veins.
To hate thy Sire, had merited a Curse;
But such an impious Love deserv'd a Worse.
The neighb'ring Monarchs, by thy Beauty led,
Contend in Crowds, ambitious of thy Bed:
The World is at thy Choice; except but one,
Except but him, thou canst not chuse, alone. ”

“ Why do I not urge on the bulls against him, and the fierce earth-born warriors, and the sleepless dragon? Heaven fore fend! and yet that is not matter for my prayers, but for my Shall I then betray my father's throne? and shall an unknown stranger be preserved by my aid, that, when saved by me, he may sail off without me, and become another's husband, while I, Medea, am left for punishment? Ifhe can do that, if he can prefer another woman to me, let him perish, ungrateful man. ”

“ What didst thou say, O Abu Zeyd, when forth thou wentest ?
Or was thy talk a deceit to her, O Abu Mukheymer?
Wert thou false and untrue, O beautiful one, O hero?
If that thy speech were truth, then come thou to her succour."
And I called to her with a sign, " Nay, be not wrath in thy anger;
Only the foolish are wrath." And she answered with a gesture,
"Victory be to thee, O Prince, and a life of glory;
Mayest thou still of thy foes the snares outwit, the deceptions.
Lo, my soul is a ransom for thine, and love I this anguish
So but I know thee true, and minded not to betrayal." ”

“ She found the Veil, and mouthing it all o'er,
With bloody Jaws the lifeless Prey she tore.
⁠The Youth, who could not cheat his Guards so soon,
Late came, and noted by the glimm'ring Moon
Some savage Feet, new printed on the Ground,
His Cheeks turn'd pale, his Limbs no Vigour found:
But, when advancing on, the Veil he spied
Distain'd with Blood, and ghastly torn, he cried,
One Night shall Death to two young Lovers give,
But she deserv'd unnumber'd Years to live! ”

“ Once more my Thebans, yielded up my life,
And sheltered thine: but 'twas not in my power.
The blood of guilt must flow, thou standest accused.
Defend thyself: if thou art innocent,
None shall rejoice so much as Œdipus;
Nor as a criminal shall then receive thee,
But as my noble friend, as Philoctetes.
PHILOCTETES.
I thought myself, indeed, above suspicion:
From many a base assassin has this arm,
While Jove's dread thunder slept, relieved mankind.
Whom we chastise, we seldom imitate. ”

“ Nor is there a lack of sophistication greater than your rank;
It is likely that you too have felt Cupid’s bow:
Defend the standards of your own army in me.
If she asks how I am, say that I live in hope of night;
The soft wax marked by my persuasive hand tells the rest.
While I speak, time flies: deliver the tablets [to her] when she is quite free,
But nonetheless make sure she reads them immediately.
I order you to study her eye and brow as she reads:
Even from a silent countenance one can know the future. ”

“ It is a case where the punishment seems out of all proportion to the crime. Even when we take into account the passion, the pride, and the curiosity of Œdipus, we still feel that the criminal has been in a measure "the victim of a mistake"—that he is a mere puppet in the hands of some superior and relentless power. ”

“ Unless to sport, and play a Fault should prove,
Unless it too were call'd a Fault to love.
Oh cou'd I for thee, or but with thee, dye!
But cruel Fates to me that Pow'r deny.
Yet on my Tongue thou shalt for ever dwell;
Thy Name my Lyre shall sound, my Verse shall tell;
And to a Flow'r transform'd, unheard of yet,
Stamp'd on thy Leaves my Cries thou shalt repeat.
The time shall come, prophetick I foreknow,⁠
When, join'd to thee, a mighty [1] Chief shall grow,
And with my Plaints his Name thy Leaf shall show. ”

“ Jove appear'd
In royal dignity. The Ocean power
Standing she pictur'd, with his trident huge
Smiting the rugged rock; from the cleft stone
Leap'd forth a steed; and thence the town to name
The privilege he claim'd. Herself she paints
Shielded, and arm'd with keenly-pointed spear.
Helm'd was her head; her breast the Ægis bore.
Struck by her spear, the earth a hoary tree
She shews producing, loaded thick with fruit.
The wondering gods the gift admire ”

“ Now, O'olo, with coolness, had already marked an old chief of towering stature and magnificent appearance as the one whose head he would take, unwishful of a boy's, or that of a person of no importance, and him he pressed hard in the rout, and at last laid low with the butt of his weapon, straddling his body, and prepared to hack at his throat with his knife. ”

“ He spoke, and quickly the cattle were driven from the mountain and headed for the shore, as Jove had directed, to a spot where the great king's daughter was accustomed to play in company with her Tyrian maidens. Majesty and love do not go well together, nor tarry long in the same dwelling—place. And so the father and ruler of the gods, who wields in his right hand the three-forked lightning, whose nod shakes the world, laid aside his royal majesty along with his sceptre, and took upon him the form of a bull. ”

“ Yet they could shoot darts of fire, as many a rash lawyer who had fallen under their censure could bear witness. At such moments the judge had a peculiar habit of drawing up his long back and seemingly to distend himself with all the dignity which his cumulative years and honors had endured, and of bowing his neck to make the focus of his eyes more direct as he peered above his rimless glasses. He did not find it necessary to reprimand an attorney often, never more than once, but these occasions never were forgotten. In his twenty-five years’ service on the bench, he never had been reversed. ”

“ My dear delightful Plains, and Cities fly?
No, let the impious People, who have sinn'd.
A Punishment in Death, or Exile find:
If Death, or Exile too severe be thought,
Let them in some vile Shape bemoan their Fault.
While next her Mind a proper Form employs,
Admonish'd by their Horns, she fix'd her Choice,
Their former Crest remains upon their Heads,
And their strong Limbs an Ox's Shape invades.
⁠The blaphemous Propætides deny'd
Worship of Venus, and her Pow'r defy'd:
But soon that Pow'r they felt, the first that sold
Their lewd Embraces to the World for Gold. ”

“ Nisus, my father, take vengeance upon me. Thou city so lately betrayed, rejoice at my misfortunes; for I have deserved them, I confess, and I am worthy to perish. Yet let some one of those, whom I have impiously ruined, destroy me. Why dost thou, who hast conquered by means of my crime, chastise that crime? This, which was treason to my country and to my father, was an act of kindness to thee. She is truly worthy10 of thee for a husband, who, adulterously enclosed in wood, deceived the fierce-looking bull, and bore in her womb an offspring of shape dissimilar to herself. ”

“ Now primal slumbers rul'd o'er weary breasts,
Tir'd with their toil diurnal. Silent, she
Her father's chamber enters, and (O, dire!)
The daughter from her parent's head divides
The fateful lock! Her wicked prize possess'd,
Forth from the gate she issues; and the spoil,
So cursed, with her bears; as through the hosts,
(Such boldness gave the deed,) she seeks the king,
Whom thus, astonish'd and aghast, she hails:—
“To wicked deeds love sways; behold me here,
“Scylla, from royal Nisus sprung; to thee
“My household gods and country I betray:
“Thee, sole reward I seek. ”

“ Dark Night had cover'd Heav'n, and Earth, before
I enter'd his unhospitable Door.
Just at my entrance, I display'd the Sign
That something was approaching of Divine.
The prostrate People pray; the Tyrant grins;
And, adding Prophanation to his Sins,
I'll try, said he, and if a God appear,
To prove his Deity shall cost him dear.
'Twas late; the graceless Wretch my Death prepares,
When I shou'd soundly sleep, opprest with Cares:
This dire Experiment he chose, to prove
If I were Mortal, or undoubted Jove:
But first he had resolv'd to taste my Pow'r ”

“ Beneath the new-grown bark: around the boughs,
As yet her limbs, his clasping arms he throws;
And burning kisses on the wood imprints.
The wood his lips repels. Then thus the god:—
“O laurel, though to be my bride deny'd,
“Yet shalt thou be my tree; my temples bind;
“My lyre and quiver shalt thou still adorn:
“The brows of Latian conquerors shalt thou grace,
“When the glad people sing triumphant hymns,
“And the long pomp the capitol ascends. ”

“ And there must be inquiry as to Richard Revel, who was sheriff when the said Robert escaped - - from his custody.
10. Osbert of Reterth appeals Odo Hay, for that he assaulted him as he was returning from Bodmin market, and in the king's peace and wickedly struck him on the hand with a stick, and afterwards struck him on the arm with his sword -so that he is maimed; and this he offers to prove as a maimed man. And Odo defends it all. And that [Osbert] is maimed is testified by knights sent to see him. Judgment: let [Odo] purge himself by ordeal of iron because of this appeal. ”

“ No execution in such a town as this for these ten years past! one might as well live amongst the savages.
SECOND EXECUTIONER.
It is a pitiful thing to be sure, but don't despise us altogether, Mr. Master: we shall improve by and by, please God; and here is a fair beginning for it too, if the Lord prosper us.
FIRST EXECUTIONER.
Ay, thou wilt, perhaps, have the honour of hanging a thief or two before thou art the age of Methuselah; but I warrant ye, the beheading of this young nobleman here by the famous executioner of Olmutz will be remembered amongst you for generations to come. ”

“ But the youth spoke to the prayerful assassin in tones of astonishment and inquiry. "Say, you must be crazy! Why don't yeh strike somebody that looks as if they had money?"
The assassin, tottering about on his uncertain legs, and at intervals brushing imaginary obstacles from before his nose, entered into a long explanation of the psychology of the situation. ”

“ You yourself will prove indulgent; so that her cause will prove better than your own cause. He that is silent, is strong in his resolution; he that utters many reproaches to the fair one, asks for himself to be satisfied by her justification. I would not venture, 1266 after the example of him of Dulichium, to dip the vengeful arrows, nor the glowing torches, in the stream; I shall not clip the empurpled wings of the Boy, the God of Love; nor through my skill shall his hallowed bow be unstrung. 'Tis in accordance with prudence, whatever I sing. ”

“ The Love of Acis, (Heav'ns!) I cannot bear.
But let the Stripling please himself; nay more,
Please you, tho' that's the thing I most abhor;
The Boy shall find, if e'er we cope in Fight,
These Giant Limbs endu'd with Giant Might.
His living Bowels, from his Belly torn,
And scatter'd Limbs shall on the Flood be born:
Thy Flood, ungrateful Nymph; and Fate shall find
That way, for thee, and Acis to be join'd. ”